#me: *talking about my mxtx obsession*

[happypeachsludgeflower]

I was chattering my sister’s ear off on the phone earlier about the tgcf brother!huaqing fanfic I’m writing and she was hmn-ing along sounding like she kinda wanted to die (she’s never watched or read a mxtx story and did not understand anything I was saying).

And somewhere along the way the connection cut my ramble short (no clue when though because I just kept talking) and now she’s not answering her texts…

I have been ghosted by my own sister.

[zykamiliah]

what about bingqiu?

this is my response to this post. i didn't want to reply in the same post because it's going to get really long, and i disagree with almost everything, so this way i may avoid the discourse. haha. anyway, i'm gonna try to answer each of op's points.

-why bingqiu are a couple:

♦ because despite everything, they've chosen each other. not because they're soulmates (though mxtx did pull the string of fate thing), but because they genuinely want to spend time together

it's very subtle but they do share some values and similarities: they both repay kindness with kindness and believe that one should pay back those who hurt you twofold/tenfold. furthermore, they are both petty bitches. as @fireandgrimstone pointed out here, they're both busybodies: they get restless if they aren't doing something.

on that note: self-preservation is not a core value they share. sqq is terrible at self-preservation. from the first moment, instead of minding his own business, he risked losing points (which would terminate his account and kill him) just to protect binghe when he was being bullied by ming fan and co. sqq couldn't stand by watching someone being bullied. then during the demon invasion, he was ready to risk his own life to protect all the cqm disciples. he was willing to self-destruct to take out sha hualing.

the thing is that sqq likes to lie about himself and say everything he does is out of self-preservation, but it isn't true.

so, if it wasn't out of self preservation, why did sqq pushed binghe into the endless abyss? yes, it needed to happen, but he didn't do it to save himself. he can't hurt binghe just to protect himself. he did it because he brainwashed himself into believing this was the best for binghe, that binghe needed to in order to become strong and achieve his fate.

(chapter 4: conference)

♦ because they give each other what they need. consistent love, support and understanding was something lbh really needed, and those 2-3 years before the immortal alliance conference did wonders for binghe to allow himself to feel vulnerable and be more in touch with his own feelings. this will get screwed up post-endless abyss but sqq does encourage him in the extras to express his feelings and talk about what he thinks and feels.

now, what lbh gives to sqq may not seem obvious (thank you for the help, luuny!♥), since sqq's layered narration is tricky to deconstruct, but by the end of the novel lbh can get past sqq's tsundere/savin face bullshit. sqq has all his toxic masculinity ideas and internalized homophobia that he keeps dragging everywhere he goes, and his relationship with lbh, who was supposed to be the epitome of masculinity, has allowed him to shed off some of it. but not all. thus, lbh knows when sqq needs to be pushed or coaxed into doing something he already wants to do but thinks he shouldn't want and doesn't know how to justify (sex for example). lbh also gives sqq the whole domestic package: someone to dote on, someone that does the chores and takes care of him, because frankly sqq is good at many things but he fails at self-care.

♦ domesticity and companionship. for bingqiu it wasn't like other couples who were first attracted to each other from one reason or another and from then on the relationship developed. the first period of their relationship is mostly platonic (poor binghe is suffering the teenage hormones), and was based on the easy domesticity and companionship they shared. and honestly that's such a simple yet beautiful kind of love. they genuinely like spending time together, living together, talking to each other. they never get bored of being together or of each other, which brings me to

♦ the obsession. like, it's honestly hilarious how obsessed they are with each other. sy was already obsessed with pidw protagonist bingge, but in svsss he got to love and get obsessed all over again with his own binghe aka bingmei. and from lbh's pov it's more or less the same: he had a complicated relationship with original sqq, which was the start of it all, but the person he loves is not the cold shizun from the past who he needs to prove himself to, but the one that's always trying to protect him, even if it's from himself. in both cases, their relationship started with distance, with the shadow of the other version of each other they'd known before. but what made them fall in love weren't those ghosts from the past, but the person they could see underneath it all: the hardworking boy that just wanted to be loved, and the closeted man who wants to give love and help others and have a purpose and belong to something (binghe understands that sqq would be unhappy if he couldn't visit cqm, qjp and his sect siblings). this relates to the fact that

♦ they understand each other better than anyone else. it takes them time, but that's the point of their journey and by the time we read about their relationship in the extras, we can see that despite everything, they not only understand each other very well but actively try to understand each other better. they already made the mistake of making too many assumptions, and they're not doing that again.

________________

another point that op got wrong:

off the top of my head an example would be how bingge (he-with-no-shen-yuan) took a harem of beauties so he could control xin mo but bingmei (he-with-shen-yuan) decided to just... cripple people's cultivation (...) what i'm getting at is that binghe was willing to pay other people's lives just so he didn't have to be intimate with anyone except shen yuan.

bingge too was cripping other cultivators to get ride of the excess of demonic qi, it's just that after he captured the three nuns from tianyi overlook they taught him how to achieve the same result using dual cultivation. (thanking @stardust-falling for their notes on this topic!)

(chapter 9: borderlands)

[rozaceous]

ive read mdzs years ago and stalled on tgcf (mainly bc i got really busy and then forgot everything lmao), but never really tried scum villain. if you don't mind, can you share why you like it? personally, the summary didn't really draw me in and the animation looked unfortunately really .... low budget.

hi anon! you've activated my trap card, which is Talking About Things I Enjoy At Length! congratulations! congratulations! congratulations! important things must be said three times!

(i also stalled w tgcf btw, bc it's so long that i could never summon up sufficient interest. and i will say that the svsss donghua is less than inspiring. i thought it was fun but that's speaking as someone who watched it after already being in love w the source content, so ymmv. i wasn't a particular fan of the animation style either, but considering that scum villain is the black sheep of mxtx's works in terms of the official content that gets produced, i was glad for what i could get.)

reasons to love scum villain!

hilarious use of unreliable narrator. shen qingqiu is one of my top favorite characters ever. he's not stupid or even, despite common fan depiction, all that oblivious--he's just incredibly genre-savvy and hasn't realized that the genre has changed. also he's hysterical.

but then sometimes, too, you look more objectively at things he glosses over and have a 'wait a sec' moment bc it's actually deeply disturbing.

it has a really fun way of of playing with transmigration stories and tropes. this was, in a sense, my intro to chinese web novel conventions as a western reader, and you can learn a lot bc mxtx is busy poking fun at all of them.

phenomenally meta.

luo binghe is a fantastic character. ppl who don't like him--i'll meet you out back. ostensibly the protagonist of the novel sqq has found himself in, supposedly blessed with every talent and the world prepared to fall at his feet, but MAN is it hard being luo binghe.

ppl will make a big deal abt lbh being obsessed w sqq but fail to acknowledge that sqq is just as weird and obsessed abt lbh. epitome of that AITA response of:

liu qingge

mxtx does so much with her villains, always.

as much as some of the miscommunication between sqq and lbh is contrived, it's also literally the only way that things could play out and makes absolute sense.

this classic scene, given utterly without context:

After a pause, Shen Qingqiu changed his angle. "What's your name?" The first one replied. "Six Balls." "What does that mean?" "When I was born, my pa held me and said I was six balls heavy." Shen Qingqiu was speechless. Shot put balls or ping-pong balls?! This kind of name is absolutely meaningless.

i think, honestly, my favorite thing abt scum villain is that you can read it quickly and have a good time, but if you're taking your time and paying attention, there is so much more happening underneath the surface! it's such a clever book, i'm honestly stunned (and humbled) that mxtx produced this as her first novel and at such a young age.

[danmeiblr]

Finally, a Danmei Blog for Lesser-Known Danmei, Some of Which Are Not Even Translated Yet

Hello, hello, I’m Miya, a voracious danmei reader that gobbles novels every night like it’s her daily sustenance. I’ve been reading danmei since late 2018, and like most people in English danmei spaces, I was introduced to it through MXTX’s Mo Dao Zu Shi / Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation. Since then, I’ve read many other danmei, like all the other popular ones—Little Mushroom, The Husky and His White Cat Shizun, Devil Venerable Also Wants to Know, etc.

Anyways, I have read almost all of the novels the English fandoms are currently obsessed with. Because of this, I often can’t relate to the excitement you guys still have over them because those novels feel like ages ago to me. I’ve long moved on from them and found other novels I love more. (I also read the bulk of those popular novels during my depression era, and I don’t wanna bring up memories of that)

So yeah, I sometimes feel like an outsider in English danmei spaces because nobody wants to talk about the novels I wanna talk about because nobody even knows about them 😭😭😭

Thus, this blog was born.

Mainly, I will be liveblogging the danmei I’m reading. I used to post them on my main @miyamiwu, but I’ve recently transferred my liveblogs from there to here. Just a fair warning: my liveblogs won’t be spoiler-free. I also don’t use spoiler tags because, well, nobody even knows the novels I’m blogging about so nobody would care if it’s a “spoiler” 😭😭😭

Aside from this, I will also post:

reviews of some of the great novels I come across

recommendation lists (you can also ask me for recs!)

rough English translations of the scenes I’m reacting to (otherwise, I won’t make sense)

general thoughts on danmei genres and tropes

translation ramblings

Basically, anything and everything about danmei.

Some stuff about me:

I run the @lizonkanovels website and used to post MTLations

I am studying Mandarin, but I’m nowhere near fluent in it. (I’ve also been too busy with college that my studies have been put on-hold.)

I loooove talking about the intricacies of translation and even took a class on translation theory before. You will see this reflected in some of my posts.

My favorite genres/tropes: whodunit, unlimited flow, horror, broken mirror, and 甜宠 (lit. sweet love/pampering, fluffy novels basically).

Current favorite danmei: Fourth Perspective by Mo Chen Huan

Also a fan of the 188男团 series by Shui Qian Cheng. My favorites in the series are Years of Intoxication and Blazing Armor

Well, that’s pretty much it. If you’re interested in discovering new danmei to read or just learning more about danmei, feel free to follow me~

You can also check out what novels I’ve posted about on my Danmei Directory:

https://danmeiblr.tumblr.com/directory

(If you’re on the mobile app and can’t access the link above, just copy it and paste it directly on your browser.)

[mikkeneko]

What we miss when we don't talk about friendship (in MDZS)

I'd like to open with the statement that this is not about shipping -- none of my thesis is to say "don't ship this" or "this ship isn't real." People can and have shipped whatever the hell they want and should continue to do so for as long as it makes you happy. It's not even a question of "sure you can ship it but it's not CANON," because the MXTX canon is wonderfully good at being ambiguous and supporting multiple interpretations.

What this thesis is to say is that some of these themes and motifs to explore are about friendship, and they don't tend to get talked about much, because people are mostly focused on the romantic and sexual dimensions of a dynamic. Romantic and sexual dimensions are great, but they don't annihilate or even subsume platonic dimensions -- yes, sometimes you can be a lover and a friend, but sometimes you can just be a friend and not a lover and that's no less important. As a post I saw recently said which stuck with me -- don't remember the poster, alas, but it was something in the vein of -- "it's not about the intensity of the relationship, but the flavor of it." Platonic character dynamics can be just as obsessive and consuming as romantic dynamics, they can be discussed and analyzed separately without needing to invalidate romantic and sexual dynamics.

So! That disclaimer aside, let's talk about: FRIENDSHIP IN MDZS, and what we miss when we don't talk about friendship as a dynamic in this story separate from romantic and sexual interest. Friendship shows up repeatedly in this story with its own sub-plots and arcs and undercurrents and hazards separate from the romance that's going on, and it's mostly going on with the Lans.

Part 1: Lan Xichen and friendship

A cornerstone of this analysis has to do with a meta post I read very early on in the fandom about the Lans when viewed through a Confucian lens. Lan Qiren in particular is a very, very Confucian character, and he raised his nephews to those traditions and values. The pertinent one here is the topic of the "Five relationships" which outline the relationships that a man of authority can expect to have throughout his lifetime: self to ancestors, self to descendents, self to authorities and subordinates, self to marriage partners, and self to friends. Each one comes with a set of strictures and requirements which when added up combine to a world that is very, very emotionally taxing and extremely short on interpersonal and emotional support. He is expected to obey and submit to guidance from his seniors, but he can't ask them for help. He is expected to lead and govern his subjects, but he can never be wrong or show weakness or doubt. It's especially important, I think, that Lan Xichen is raised to expect that even any romantic relationship he might have (read: marriage to a woman) would not actually be emotionally supportive to him in any meaningful way; it would be another set of obligations to uphold, another place he would be expected to be remote and poised and never show weakness or ask for help.

The exception is friendship. Friendship is the only relationship structure Lan Xichen can have in his life that has any hope of actually being nurturing and emotionally supporting to him, a place he can let down his guard and ask for help with the expectation of receiving it. It becomes very clear from very early on that friendship means everything to Lan Xichen as a character. He enters the story with a strong, supportive friendship with one of the only true peers a man of station can have (Nie Mingjue) and it's clear that this has formatively set his expectation of what a friendship can and should be. Lan Xichen really wants to be the Friendship Is Magic guy. He believes that friendship is the best way to solve problems, and that everybody would be able to solve their problems if only they had a friendship like his, and that belief is a lot of what runs him into a meat grinder later in the story. He thinks that Nie Mingjue and Jin Guangyao are capable of maintaining a friendship post-war, and does not understand why they cannot, and his attempts to friend-matchmake the two of them ultimately lead both to disaster.

Part 2: Lan Wangji and friendship

The header says Lan Wangji, but this is actually about Lan Xichen again, and about Wei Wuxian. A pretty common joke in the fandom is that Lan Xichen is "the #1 WangXian shipper," that he recognizes Lan Wangji's sexual and romantic attraction to Wei Wuxian from very early on and supports him in pursuing such a relationship. It's a nice joke, but I think it misses the mark, because the looming specter of their parents' disastrous and traumatic marriage means that Lan Xichen would never approach the idea of his brother entering into a romantic relationship so cavalierly. (Lan Qiren, in some ways, had a clearer notion of what shape Lan Wangji's interest in Wei Wuxian had the potential to be than Lan Xichen did, perhaps because he doesn't have the same obsession with friendship; if he has any close friendships of his own, we're not shown them.)

Lan Xichen is not encouraging Lan Wangji to have a romantic summer fling. Lan Xichen encourages his association with Wei Wuxian specifically because he thinks Lan Wangji needs friends. Not just in the sense of any parent or adult wanting their child to make friends, but specifically in the context of these restrictive hierarchical relationships that hem in their world. Lan Xichen is afraid that Lan Wangji will be alone, and emotionally starved, and have no one he can ask for help or rely on, because that is his experience of a world without friendship. (Lan Wangji, of course, is not in the same position as Lan Xichen because he has Lan Xichen to rely on.) Lan Xichen wants Lan Wangji to have the same kind of friendship that he himself has with Nie Mingjue, and he thinks that Wei Wuxian has the potential to be that kind of friend. That is the context in which he encourages their association, and tries to arrange for them to have time together, and to become closer; not as a potential romantic partner but as a steadfast emotional and logistical support through Lan Wangji's adult life.

If Lan Xichen knew that Lan Wangji would fall in love with Wei Wuxian (had already started to,) I'm not at all sure that he would have encouraged that. In pretty much any arc past the Lan Lectures, he doesn't, both because Wei Wuxian stopped being a good candidate for supportive friendship (he's clearly got too much of his own shit going on) and because he realizes that what is developing in Lan Wangji bears very little resemblence to his own relationships. He might not outright try to sabotage the relationship but he's clearly worried about its potential to bring disaster on Wangji -- and he's very correct to be worried, as it turns out.

Part 3: Lan Sizhui and friendship

So, All Of That Happens; Wei Wuxian dies, Lan Wangji is laid low for years and seems poised to grieve for the rest of his life; Nie Mingjue dies and takes Lan Xichen's support with him. Now we come to the present day, and the present day has Lan Sizhui and Lan Jingyi.

Let's take a moment to step back and ask from an analytical perspective: Why is Lan Jingyi, as a character, in the story? Assuming that in a novel as polished as MDZS, each element is included for good reasons. Why is Lan Jingyi in the story and why is he Lan Sizhui's best friend? In the new world we're introduced to, the Lan are already represented, and very positively represented by Lan Sizhui. Lan Jingyi provides a convenient avenue for both exposition-dumping and sass -- saying the things that everyone else is too polite to say -- but we could have gotten that through another character (Jin Ling also plays this role) or introduced another Junior who isn't Lan, like Ouyang Zizhen. Why is it important to the story that Lan Sizhui and Lan Jingyi are friends?

The Juniors in general represent hope for the world to change, hope for the new generation. In Lan Sizhui and Lan Jingyi, we see that the terrible loneliness that drove their seniors to disaster in the previous generation, is averted. Lan Sizhui and Lan Jingyi have a friendship that is close and true, and we are never given reason to doubt it. Their priorities are aligned; it's unlikely that Sect politics or personality conflicts will ever drive them apart. They have what Lan Xichen craved: a friendship that will support them through tragedy and disaster. Their friendship stands to demonstrate that in the new generation, things will get better.

[veliseraptor]

Top five canon ships from your fandoms?

canon ships? what're those. also I mean. how "canon" are we talking, like, explicitly canon, implicitly canon, they-get-together-at-the-end canon, they-at-some-point-were-a-thing canon, plausible-deniability-canon, it's complicated

but okay, to try to take this in the spirit it was probably meant

Hua Cheng/Xie Lian from TGCF. one of the most incredible things about TGCF is that it actually made me wholeheartedly and enthusiastically ship a completely canon and...relatively functional...ship. I mean, they've definitely got their dysfunction (Hua Cheng get some self esteem and maybe pedestalize Xie Lian a little less challenge) but they're weirdo4weirdo and friends in a delightful way that makes me really enjoy how they do it. I'm not saying they invented love, as the saying goes, but they're certainly good at it.

Felix Harrowgate &/ Mildmay from Doctrine of Labyrinths. look, if there's explicit incestuous attraction at at least one point I think it counts. this is one of those ships that straddles the line between & and / for me a lot of the time, because any sexual stuff aside it's so intense and intimate that, like. it might as well be a "classic" ship, just without the sex, and we're agreed that something doesn't have to have sex in it to be a ship, right? and there is the canonical one-sided incestuous attraction, so, like. it's not even completely without the sex.

Vegas Theerapanyakul/Pete Saengtham from Kinnporsche. cannot believe that this is canon thing that actually happened in a show that I watched. made 4 me. incredible. forever grateful to Kinnporsche for giving me this gift.

Caleb Widogast/Essek Thelyss from Critical Role. I feel like it's canon enough? maybe that's controversial but I'm going to stand by it. fascinating dynamic, two fucked up people being fucked up together, atonement arcs that aren't usually my thing but crossed with a wondrous amount of wizard hubris and people who are both kind of bad at being people. I'm into it.

Chu Wanning/Taxian-jun from 2HA. this spot was more of a toss-up but ultimately I settled on these two. I specify Taxian-jun here because while I really enjoy Mo Ran/Chu Wanning other flavor it's truly the Maximum Fucked Up that gets/got me. the hate/love/obsession of it. so good, I'm rolling around in it like a cat in catnip. thank u Meatbun for giving this to me with all its laundry list of associated trigger warnings

I feel like everyone should know how fucking tempted I was to put xuexiao on here. because it was very tempted. they're so close, you guys, I would argue implicitly canon, but, well. probably not what you meant, anon.

a number of what I'd call "plausible deniability canon" ships from mxtx, really. but again, spirit of the question.

[overshelter]

REVIEW: The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System

WARNING: Contains numerous SPOILERS, so CAUTION!

Okay. What can I say about this baby? I am simply OBSESSED and FOURTEEN for Luo Binghe. He is without a doubt my protégé, my precious, my everything! I would give my soul, my ass, my dog... EVERYTHING FOR HIM AND NEVER SORRY!

You may think I'm exaggerating, but I'm not. He's just a baby who needs a lot of love and a few therapy sessions. And, okay, maybe a few Love Yourself lessons with Kim Namjoon... I'm getting off track, but AGAIN...! Obviously, he's not my only favorite thing about this story. I love Shen Qingqiu. Like, SO MUCH! He has an extremely fun, attractive and captivating personality. Even if that personality is represented more internally, and externally, he's just trying to keep a poker face. Yet he's still that protagonist who will make you laugh at REALLY dubious moments – Mountain Maigu, I'm looking at you! – and make you question your own sanity because of it. But that's precisely why you simply can't help wanting to continue. Nor can you forget the fact that SV is very gripping when you realize how deep it goes into the characters' emotions. Especially, for me, when we see one in particular. Luo Binghe has a psychological journey that is the equivalent of a rollercoaster ride. He's broken, he's breaking and then getting back on his feet, only to fall a little further. It was really painful to get to the final chapters and see how clearly destroyed he was. How hurt, lonely and desperate he was. There were moments when I really just wanted to pick him up and smack that dear author. But, well... there wasn't much I could do. At least she didn't trick me and it was a happy ending. Well, I've already talked about the main couple – more about Binghe, but what can I do if I just love him so much? –, now I'm going to bring up another topic that I loved. The fact that SV is a great satire on novels with studly protagonists with a harem, where everything can be summed up and solved with sex. Mo Xiang Tong Xiu hit all the right notes here, bringing situations where it was possible to feel the criticism with an almost cruel veracity. The Maigu Mountain scene was undoubtedly the highlight of this satire. Because in it we have a Binghe completely fucked up emotionally and psychologically, without any conscience, with a fucked-up sword controlling him and a Shen Qingqiu who thinks that the whole situation can be solved with sex. Just because that's "common sense" in this kind of novel. And what really resolved everything in the end was the dialog. Something very simple, right? Simple, but difficult to execute. Even more so when you've had an eternity of misunderstandings between you and the other person. And that's precisely the situation BingQiu finds himself in almost from the start of the novel. And, of course, with a little extra help from the system that seemed obsessed with making everything worse. Honestly? I'm shocked at how smoothly and well things turned out. It could have been worse, believe me. Well, apart from that, another thing that stuck with me was the writing. God, I could drown in this shit and I'd still be begging for more! MXTX has a writing style that is really extremely captivating and that doesn't let you go once it's got you! Even more so thanks to the fact that you can REALLY feel the development and growth of the relationships between the characters. Both with the main characters and the secondary ones. Some may not get much attention, but you'll definitely still feel captivated by them at some point. The comedy here is also pure gold! I remember losing my breath and choking up several times while reading... So, to sum up... Read it. READ SV AND JOIN ME IN THE CIRCLE OF PROTECTION FOR LUO BINGHE!!!

[talk-danmei-to-me]

Just finished vol 4 and I have questions...

Mainly does Meatbun do side ships? (Seriously as a consumer of many a bl mxtx no side ships rule is wild to me but I digress)

Because I need to talk about Xue Meng and Ye Wangxi. Separately.

Xue Meng, my boy (at this point I'm convinced he's more repressed than Chu Wanning ((I mean Chu Wanning has discovered the joys of masturbation and is really getting into those sex dreams at this point, so like, not so repressed anymore)))

What is your obsession with Mei Hanxue? He touched you up one time, are you angry about it or do you want it to happen again?

Now Ye Wangxi - he's definitely in love with Nangong Si, right? I'm not imagining this. And also, is Mo Ran for it or does he just really hate his ex wife for torturing Chu Wanning?

In that moment, Mo Ran decided: no, Nangong Si was not going to marry Song Qiutong.

2ha's romantic comedy bug strikes again!

[joys-of-everyday]

MXTX's women

Let's do ✨discourse™✨

Addendum: I checked out twitter (x now?) for the first time in ages and... um... maybe this isn't a good time for discourse. But hey, I love mxtx so I'm just going to do a Shen Yuan and pretend absolutely everything is fine.

I feel like a lot of the discourse around MXTX and sexism don't hit the mark? Things like 'there are few female characters', 'the female characters die', 'the female characters don't hold positions of power' are not indications as to whether a piece of work standing on its own is sexist. For example, you could write an entire novel about a sexless robot (which miserably fails the Bechdel test because there is only one character) and that says nothing about whether the work itself is sexist. This is an caricature of an example and of course, overall trends give a very different picture to individual works, so its not to take such works off the hook either. Similarly, including sexist troupes isn't inherently sexist, but equally arguing something is a 'critique' isn't a shield against criticism. Critique can be done badly, critique can become outdated, critique itself can be critiqued.

But equally the counterargument to this can't entirely be 'but look at x, y, and z - aren't they great female characters?'. Look, I love mxtx's women. I can write essays (plural) about mxtx's women. Many people already have. Then again, Eowyn from lotr is arguably a pretty deep character, but I would have problems if lotr was the best example of female representation we could come up with. The point being, the existence (or lack thereof) of strong female characters isn't (entirely) the point, even though it's often made out to be. Don't get me wrong, good female representation without strong female characters is... erm... hard. But if it was the crux of the argument, the discourse could be killed in three tumblr posts.

The bigger question(s) (possibly) is: What is its intent? How is that intent received?

SVSSS, MDZS, and TGCF are all extremely different pieces of work. SVSSS in particular stands out, because at its heart, it is satire. While debates around what kind of comedy is and isn't good exist independently of SVSSS, needless to say, judging satire in the same way you would say a murder mystery or a romantic fantasy is not advisable. Sha Hualing is a sexy demon lady whose clothes rip off in the middle of a battle. Why? Because that's saying something about a particular trope of a particular genre.

(Side note: I have opinions on how we shove different BLs together when they really shouldn't be under the same umbrella and how this muddies the discourse unnecessarily. I'm talking about Killing Stalking btw)

For SVSSS, if you get it, you get it (it's impossible to read without understanding this). While some loose threads exist about how female characters could have been more developed... man, do you know how much development my boy Mu Qingfang got? You're not sexist if you punch everyone (only half ironic here). (In terms of character development I also think this might be a fandom thing as well as a SVSSS thing.) But I think more relevantly, SVSSS tells you something about the way MXTX writes critique.

If you didn't notice, SVSSS is critique on two levels. First is the blatant critique of the harem genre, and the second is more subtle critique on BL, on fandoms, on webnovels, on literature. But while we get Shen Qingqiu's commentary guiding us through the first bit, this drops during the second bit. It takes Shen Qingqiu so long to realise that what he's living through is a crazy mishmash of BL tropes that the only narration you get on this is Pure Confusion. To realise Luo Binghe and Shen Qingqiu's early interactions is commentary on the 'dark and obsessive love' trope, you need to immediately realise that Shen Qingqiu telling you Luo Binghe is trying to kill him is just... Wrong. So (possibly, ofc I've no idea what's going on in the author's head) the intent is critique. But intent is meaningless without it being conveyed to the reader. So how are we meant to 'realise' what is going on?

Firstly, MXTX tells you. Shen Qingqiu goes: 'damn Luo Binghe isn't acting like in those weird danmei novels' and you're meant to go 'oh weird danmei novels I know about those'. Second is her very obvious use of tropes (even flagged!). 'Clothes rip/disappear in the middle of a serious situation, isn't this weird? Where have we seen that before?'. And thirdly, by introducing a sense of absurdity. Luo Binghe and Shen Qingqiu's relationship is presented in such an unconventional way (the master-disciple pair which generated a famous porno!) that it forces you to engage with it critically.

Okay, so what does that have to do with sexism? Take MDZS. We have a set of very tropey characters - 'the older sister', 'the scary mother', 'the strong independent woman', 'the damsel in distress'. We have explorations and subversions that go beyond tropes: Jiang Yanli's character shaped by her experiences in an abuse household, Yu Ziyuan's pride and loyalty, Wen Qing's well... everything, and Mianmian needs no explanation. We have flags to tell us we are meant to care about these issues: most obviously Mianmian experiencing gendered harassment for speaking up. All the women die! Yeah, isn't that a problem. Because it's the women sacrificing themselves, women silently taking on burdens, women chained by the circumstances of the world around them and still making choices about what is important to them (and it's often not themselves). The women aren't in positions of power/aren't shown to be as competent as the men! They're literally put down when they speak up, and don't the wives have a great time with their husbands. MDZS is critique of society. MDZS's women too are a critique of the society they (we) live in.

But not all critique is good critique! The first way that critique can fail is if it just isn't registered as critique by the reader. And this isn't always on the reader. If the author isn't clear enough on this, then they have failed to execute the intent of their work. And to this extent, I've heard enough people say that MDZS is maybe sexist as a first reaction (myself included) to think that yeah, maybe this wasn't well done. The flags are scarce. The subversions of tropes are subtle enough to be missed in it's entirety. Then again, MDZS often ends up as people's gateway piece into danmei, when it is probably better understood with more context - for me, coming back to MDZS after a big BL reading spree was exceptionally enlightening. As to whether it could have been better done in the bounds of the genre, without detracting from the banging story it was... I honestly don't know.

One way to go about it is, well... TGCF. Here everything is laid out to you to an almost bizarre degree. 'Look, isn't this a Hard Question' the narrative stops to tell you at multiple points, from Bai Wuxiang and Xie Lian's back and forths, to 'I don't know if what I did was right' speeches on a regular basis (maybe not regular but it was enough to notice). The troupes are still there but their twists are far more obvious. Xuan Ji is the 'deranged woman' who is (we are told multiple times) surprisingly normal and competent when she isn't around Pei Ming. Yushi Huang and Banyue are just obviously strong, competent, and in positions of power. Shi Qingxuan shines in all of her wonder, kindness, and unfortune. The flags are more glaring as well: Just Pei Ming's Existence, Ling Wen's whole backstory, Jian Lan's tragedy... And it probably worked? Since people seem to complain significantly less about any supposed sexism of TGCF.

Do I like it? I like elements of it. Ling Wen is honestly great.

But I love the subtlety with which MDZS weaves its themes and tbh I think some of the magic was lost there. (I love TGCF to bits for different reasons but yeah)

Does MXTX's writing of women merit discussion? Of course, everything merits discussion. Particularly MXTX's works which rely so heavily on genre tropes to craft themes. Is MXTX's work sexist? Idk, I would say no, but these things are Hard Questions.

But my feeling? My true feeling? At the very least, it is So. Much. Better. than a huge amount of work that tries to be feminist and pitifully fails.

My current pet peeve is the 'strong independent woman'. Depicting a sexist society then including a 'strong independent women' with no true appreciation of the realistic struggles she would face, as if the only barriers that we face within these societies is to stop being a loser... is worse in my books than not including any women at all. Or 'strong independent women' who turn out to be utterly pathetic and in constant need of saving. Or 'strong independent women' who have no other personality than being the 'strong independent woman'. The intent here is to come across as feminist and progressive without critically engaging in anything. It's paper thin.

Ultimately, the core theme of MDZS and TGCF isn't about women's experiences (whereas SVSSS is, I would argue, right into the nooks and crannies). Do these works explore such themes to the extent it explore privilege, conflict, and oppression? Not really. But you can't do everything - the role of an author is inherently about choosing what to prioritise. And given what it does do, I think it does some pretty neat things.

[neutronity]

Heaven Official Blessing Thoughts

To avoid shouting into my friends' faces about this series, I'll shout some things here. Be warned, spoilers (sort of).

HuaLian is a god tier ship.

Why? Easy. Because it's another take on the fan ascending trope, which is hard to do well. It's a ship that at first, XL is a literal God who has asked a small hopeless and luckless child to live from him. Talk about an imbalance, right?

Well, sometimes those worshipful and obsessive relationships end in tragedy and darkness. But here, while Hua Cheng's obsessive worship never disappears, it becomes something that is consented to. Xie Lian knows of this, and he leans into it.

Add to that, Hua Cheng spent 800+ years growing himself to become someone worthy of protecting Xie Lian. He became matched in power and cleverness to the one who he devoted himself to.

When they finally reunite, Hua Cheng is Xie Lian's equal. Not just in terms of martial prowess either, but in terms of banter and intelligence and power. Hua Cheng might not have been working so hard to guarantee that he was a worthy partner to Xie Lian, but he sure became one.

Fate ordained that their paths would cross and they would be bound to each other by the red string of fate, but it was ultimately their choice too. Hua Cheng chose Xie Lian when he was still a fledgling god, and his choice never wavered. Xie Lian too chose Hua Cheng, over and over again. There is no doubt that although Hua Cheng would continue to protect Xie Lian, he never would force Xie Lian to be with him.

People say that these two invented love, but I think the thing that made this work so beautifully well is not the destined love, but instead the chosen love.

BeefLeaf is what ships are made of

MXTX does a really good job wading into moral ambiguity. The demon kings are good as much as bad, and the gods are as bad as they are good.

So when Shi Qingxuan finds out that his brother stole someone else's fate to make him a god, and that person lost so much because of it, we're faced with asking what the price of revenge is.

We also find out that Shi Qingxuan does not bear a grudge for what He Xuan does to his brother, and that he does not change who he is when he's stripped of godhood and becomes a beggar. He is still cheerful and gregarious, still makes friends easily.

A ray of sunshine who forgives the vengeance-driven (ghost) king of gloom? And once He Xuan has gotten his revenge, instead of fading away, he's still there fixing the windmaster fan? Delicious. Delectable. Scrumptious.

We also learn that most of the gods had abandoned Shi Qingxuan nearly the moment everything fell apart, even with how generous and gregarious he always was. Xie Lian is one of the only people who remains his friend.

He Xuan, even against his will, also can't help but remain friends with the former Windmaster.

It's not canon at all, but my BeefLeaf loving brain says He Xuan stays and takes care of Shi Qingxuan until Shi Qingxuan ascends again. And even though it's clear that they're married, He Xuan still denies it.

Banyue and Pei Xiu

Ghost/God pairings are just too good. We know what Jun Wu was going for in setting up Xie Lian to take the fall for Pei Xiu's banishment, but it's also clear to me that instead of making an enemy, Xie Lian's defense and protection of Banyue (and likely jogging Pei Xiu's memory of General Hua) earned Xie Lian another dedicated ally.

I don't think Pei Xiu ever told Banyue that he was in love with her. And honestly, a 200 year banishment into the mortal realm meant 200 years away from Heavenly duties so he could be with his beloved ghost girl.

Another not-canon, but I like to imagine Banyue decides to restore her land and the oasis, and goes the route of the kiln to do so, becoming the third kickass supreme in love with a god.

Ling Wen deserves a vacation

Yes yes, the grandmaster scholar bends the way the wind blows, but can we really blame her? Poor woman has not gotten a break in centuries because she is so damn good at her job that people mistake her for a man and Heaven falls to shambles when she's gone for less than a week.

She is a queen amongst gods, and even as she will stab you in the back if she has to choose between you and her survival? Well... maybe if you gave her a vacation and some rest here and there she wouldn't have to plot your demise, okay?

Xie Lian seems to be one of the only people who comments on this and actually insists she take a vacation, and Hua Cheng is basically the worst person in the universe to make an enemy of, so perhaps Ling Wen will determine that loyalty to Xie Lian is the best way to go, and even finds that she doesn't hate that fact.

What can I say, I am a Ling Wen stan.

[miaoqing]

tagged by @holy--milk ! thank you <33

1. why did you choose your url?

miao as in meow. qing as in mu qing

2. any sideblogs? if you have them name them and why you have them.

this is one!! i also have ones i use for saving linguistics posts and sims cc

3. how long have you been on tumblr?

since september 2014 <3 quite exactly ten years . god

4. do you have a queue tag?

“q”. i’m very creative. i don’t use the queue very often though

5. why did you start your blog in the first place?

i was too lazy to rebrand my jjk twitter account into svsss/mxtx so i made a sideblog on tumblr instead. people are funnier here . usually

6. why did you choose your icon/pfp?

shizum…… cat ears…. yeah

7. why did you choose your header?

pretty ……..

8. what's your post with the most notes?

the one about how the fandom exaggerates the beef between sqq and sqh

9. how many mutuals do you have?

quite a few actually??? <3

10. how many followers do you have?

more than i had on twitter but fewer than i have on instagram

11. how many people do you follow?

281 . allegedly

12. have you ever made a shitpost?

all my posts are either shitposts or academic essays no inbetween

13. how often do you use tumblr each day?

i’m addicted to the Device and also beefing so i have an unhealthy habit of constantly checking if someone has started arguing with me about something

14. did you have a fight/argument with another blog once?

IF i have…. see above

15. how do you feel about 'you need to reblog this' posts?

they can all die

16. do you like tag games?

yes ….

17. do you like ask games?

yes…….

18. which of your mutuals do you think is tumblr famous?

what does that even mean tbh ….

19. do you have a crush on a mutual?

in what way… as in that i have a mutual i want to become friends with or in the way that i’m in love with a mutual??? those are very different…. please be more specific…….

20. what is the last song you listened to?

technically stad i ljus by tommy körberg (dsvdv) but according to spotify it was pink pony club by chappell roan

21. what are you currently watching?

right now on my to-finish-watching is half an episode of wwdits, 2 eps of dungeon meshi, and 2,5 eps of bridgerton. i am horrible at watching movies and also things with episodes unless i have like crocheting to do but my current project involves a sewing machine and watching a screen while a sharp needle is hammering right by your fingers is probably. not smart

22. sweet/savoury/spicy?

depends???? i hate sweet breakfasts for example. but generally i think that after every meal you should have a little sweet treat like idk it just doesn’t feel complete otherwise. and spicy is just a type of savoury isn’t it…. save me lan gao ma….. lan gao ma save me …

23. what is your current relationship status?

i JUST got a second cat

24. what is your current obsession?

i think i’m in a rare moment of peace in between storms right now actually? which is good because i have school work to do

25. what are nine albums/songs you've been listening to lately?

so high school by t***** s**** (sorry), stand by me by shinee, just a notion by abba, chateau lobby #4 by father john misty, head over heels by tears for fears, please please please by sabrina carpenter, i know it’s over by the smiths, supernova by aespa, talk that talk by twice

i'm tagging @shizunitis<33

[ivorysodapop]

Hiya! Nice to meet you!

I'm Allie or Ivory, she/her, 21+ :D thank you for visiting my page!!

Currently into: HAVING A DEADLY A3 REVIVAL MOMENT. Nothing is worse than getting back into a fandom and you can't even experience the source material like you used to be able. Coping by putting them all in the Sims 4 also with Enstars characters and so a lot of my art rn is of that. I don't really even play Enstars those are Rizo's boys.

Ghostdadxian AU Masterlist (MDZS canon-divergence au where WWX comes back as a ghost and basically adopts MXY) Tag: #ghostdadxian au

Check out my oc slideshow if you dare!! (OPEN TO COMMENTS) The verse is inspired by Fire Emblem and ONE DAY it WILL be a game. Prommy. About a kingdom in the sky and on land and dragons and stuff. Literally always obsessed with them. If I'm not in fandom I'm drawing THEM. I also participate in ArtFight. Tag: #gsr verse

Other interests: Fire Emblem (13, 14, 16, 17), Rune Factory, MXTX works, Qianqiu, Persona 5, Youhaji (manga), Bokumonogatari, Ace Attorney (played up to 4), Genshin (not up to date), Tales of Zestiria

DMs and asks are open!! But if you want to talk about a fandom, please be at least the age it's rated. Ex 17+ if you dm me about MXTX works. I can't control what content you take in but, ya know!

Buy me a ko-fi for the doodle of your choice! Or check out my actual commissions!

[pichirobi]

I'm dropping by to say that I am so in love with your xie lian and hua cheng designs! I'm fairly certain I originally followed you for your yuri on ice art, but I've fallen a bit back into mxtx's world recently and I've been obsessed with seeing one version of hualian that doesn't necessarily adhere to the book's standard of beauty. I've been showing your art to my partner and been unable to prevent myself from talking to her about the designs and why I like them. they're just so cool. I think once upon a time, mxtx said that xl and hc work so well together because they are both eccentric in one way to the extreme, and to me somehow that is especially conveyed in your versions of them. anyway! thank you for your art! *: ･ﾟ

yuri on ice is my absolute biggest comfort show so i am alwaysss happy to take fan art requests 🫶 but i can't get enough of hualian either haha!!! i'm so grateful you like their designs because i have so much fun drawing them! 🥺🥺

i have complete respect for the source material and at the same time don't find it very interesting to draw all of tgcf's characters with the same body types and skin tones 😅 i feel like the donghua has a similar issue where the protagonists are largely drawn pale and thin. personally i think it's a missed opportunity to tell a visual story with character design; although xie lian is canonically pale and dainty, i wanted to see what kind of visual cues give off certain traits! for example, i draw xl with eyebags for what i think are obvious reasons LOL.

it warms my heart so much that you share my art with your partner 😭💗 thank you for the ask!!!

[ghooostbaby]

Rules: tag 9 people you'd like to get to know better!

ooh thank you for tagging me @baiwu-jinji :) :) that edge of the sea book sounds really interesting!

Last song: I put on a playlist of Grouper songs because it started raining hard and I needed something soft & dark to go with the ambience haha. apparently the song being played right now is called “She Loves Me That Way”

Currently Watching: Till the End of the Moon officially but it’s so emotionally intense I take frequent breaks with other things, today I was rewatching No Doubt In Us because it’s so sweet and easy

Currently reading: hmmm actually actually read, or books that I really absolutely definitely have decided I want to start reading Very Soon and have strategically placed it in a pile in a high traffic area of my home, or theory/philosophy books I read a few pages of every few months for the last few years, or (probably danmei) novels that I read a chunk of several months ago and will read more but I just haven’t felt like it yet? because there are dozens of those :P ... actively finishing The Drawing Book by Tania Kovats, various mxtx novel fan fictions or akiangel chainsaw man fan fictions. constantly reading he xuan fan fic ! i just finished vol 2 of the manga Blissful Land, 18th century tibet-based slice of life, (a french translation I got to practice french). I have also been reading in abrupt starts and stops It Was Vulgar and It Was Beautiful, a book about ACT UP and how they used art in their activism in the AIDS crisis.

Current obsession: does this just mean an enthusiastic interest in a topic or something that is consuming you body and soul that you can't escape as much as you would like to while your proverbial wife and children cry themselves to sleep alone at night? tv and movies and music generally is the obsession that devours me, but oddly enough i have been somehow pretty balanced and chill about things lately ... i'm not even gripped with a fervour for he xuan meta as much. i AM often thinking/fantasizing about abandoning living in a city and for a life in the mythical countryside. reading/watching a lot of things about neurodivergence, adhd, trauma, climate change, social activism movements. past obsessions that don't feel as intense i still hold close to my heart: he xuan, the ocean, neanderthals, ancient cave paintings. uhh, coffee. i started taking a ceramics class and it's been really cool, I remember when i was deeply obsessed with the lascaux cave paintings how excited i was by how the drawings seemed so dynamic by how they sat on the three-dimensional and inconsistent surface of the cave in the lumps and hollows of the rock and I couldn't think of anything in the modern world in art in galleries where that was possible and felt this intense nostalgia for 30 000 years ago, but the other day i was like adfjladsjfadlskjf CLAY IS IT! and was getting excited about making a piece like the interior of a cave and drawing on it ... maybe it's a spark of a new obsession

-

ok now is the hard part. i am talkative but SHY!! there is a very small handful of mutuals who say things to me and feels very intense to tag any of the majority of my mutuals who appear in my notes often silently reblogging/liking my posts (as i do the same). i'm going to scroll my dash and when i see an avatar i have good associations with gonna tag you... sorry in advance for perceiving you. please ignore me if you want!

@unfotp​ @muigiel​ @trainstationsparrow @redheadedsidhe @yeyayeya @pretty-dianxia @twinkfvcker @lolitalarva @sparklemotioneer

[mxtxfanatic]

Hello new followers, welcome or welcome back from twitter (or another side of tumblr)! This blog is dedicated to mxtx novels but I will eventually branch out to other danmei and hopefully baihe (once one I actually like gets a full translation…). You can call me Ima, and I use any pronouns. I’m in my late 20s, and while I don’t think I post anything nsfw outside of fics on here if memory serves, I definitely talk about mature topics and will likely not engage with you on them if I realize you are underage. On that note, this blog will mostly be focusing on these novels that I've read (links to synopses and liveblog posts):

SVSSS (fan and official translations)

MDZS (exr and multiple partial fan translations)

TGCF (fan translation)

2ha (cobbled-together fan translation)

Qiang Jin Jiu (fan translation)

Nan Chan and official (fan translation and eventually official translation)

Time-Limited Hunt (fan translation)

Golden Stage (fan translation) or Golden Terrace (official translation)

Mist (fan translation)

This is not an exhaustive list. I’ve now read enough where making a list makes no sense 😅SVSSS and MDZS are my current obsessions as the books that I read on this blog (and you can find those posts under the #human reads mdzs or #human read svsss tags), so most of my recent posts are about those novels. However, I am currently reading through different translations of TGCF (postponed). Any books that I liveblog will have a #human reads [title of book] tag dedicated to it, and any books that I've read solo and enjoyed will eventually feature in my #human promotes tag.

Things you should know if you want to continue following:

I don’t take kindly to rudeness, but I’ll engage respectfully even if it is in disagreement as long as overall discussion is friendly/polite

I like the characters of all these books in their canon iterations. That means I love the stories’ heroes as heroes, villains as villains, and all canon characteristics in their proper places. I don’t begrudge people their fanon, but don’t try to force me to “see the light” on any villain in any of these books by treating it as canon. You will not find a villain stan here 😭 (I do complain about common fanon interpretations, though, so if that’s not for you, then no hard feelings.)

If you comment on one of my posts, I’ll likely respond to it. Keep this in mind if you are someone who wants minimal interaction.

Been going through some major life changes this year, so my presence here may be spotty. Can’t predict when that’ll happen or how long I may or may not be gone, but just a warning.

I will not deal with terfs, transphobes, homophobes, or racists. You will get blocked on sight.

This is a side blog. This means that I cannot:

send asks

like others’ posts or comments from this blog (even if I really want to…)

follow any blog from this blog

I can, however:

receive and respond to asks

reblog and comment on posts

receive and respond to DMs

I think this is all I want to say for now. My final note is that I love interaction! Reblog! Comment! Make tags! Send asks! Or just like things if that makes you comfortable. Welcome to the blog dedicated to my very rambley thoughts lol

[thepersialionheart]

So I've mentioned before that I just watched Sk8 The Infinity.

I also got into the whole mxtx thing a few months prior.

Here is just one observation I made which I can't let go of:

So.

Adam. This bitch. We all know what he's like.

Me and my sister watched Sk8 and there was one thing which continued to come up whilst observing him.

Adam is literally skate version of this bitch (OK sorry Jun Wu I actually like you more than Adam but still. Heck I like Qi Rong more than Adam. But that doesn't change the fact that you're a bitch.)

Both are strangely obsessed with one kid which they definitely should not be obsessed with.

Both are incredibly weird- I mean need I remind you of a particular sword in Jun Wu's possession. No sane person would have that. And Adam, well enough said. He's weird. Period.

Both are so overpowered yet they are defeated by the kid they've been obsessed with who has suddenly become more overpowered than them (obviously with the help of Hua Hua and Reki respectively.)

Both have this askewed view of the world where they always want to come out on top.

Both also see themselves in Xie Lian (in JW's case) and Langa (in Adam's case) and want them to join their askewed world.

Both also have the tired husband who was there from the very start, was there to support them in the beginning and see them grow, but now they just want them to stop what they're doing even if it means they have to fight against them to do it, yet in the end that husband remains by their side no matter what. Yes I'm talking about Tadashi and Mei Nianqing (I.e. Guoshi).

That's not even all of it but I'll leave it as that.