#so it’s not like I have nothing to read I just see the Mxtx fandom appears to like mdzs more than TGCF and I wanna see that for myself

[crimsonmonsoon]

I really liked TGCF (obviously… obsessing over Qi Rong still) and I want to try MDZS but I’m put off by sex scenes. Like I want to read it because I know it’s probably really good but I don’t want the smut to ruin it for me.

[thatswhatsushesaid]

this person has me blocked, which is something i used to genuinely lament because occasionally i'd see bits of their very thoughtful commentary floating across my dash, and i'd find myself sighing sadly over what other gems of wisdom i was missing out on by not having access to their blog. i'd even lament about it via dms to some of my pals who did still have access to this person's blog. what interesting discussions must have been happening beyond that "???" "this is no one" "uh, who??" opaque door that tumblr always presented to me whenever i clicked on this person's username? would i ever know?

a friend this morning: want to see a bad take to get mad at

me: obviously yes

anyway as it turns out, it looks like i'm missing out on exactly nothing, actually, so that's a huge relief

more seriously, recalling the insightful commentary that i have seen this person reblog in the past when it has come across my dash, i am frankly in awe of this one, because it is so profoundly disconnected from reality and how people experience stories. like i'm not even sure where to start with peeling back all of the wrongness layers at work here because i haven't taken my adhd meds yet this morning, but the primordial stupidity at this take's core (coming from someone who is clearly smart, ftr, i am targeting the stupidity of the concept, not the person) has made me genuinely angry. it's not even just about applying this framework to mdzs, though of course it is principally about that because this book DOES actually place class front and centre at multiple points in the narrative. it's the idea that we just shouldn't be having conversations about classism, or sexism, or [x]-ism, in the romance genre, because don't we realize the point is the romance, actually?? these other things clearly don't matter and aren't worth talking about??? and this mindset is so utterly foreign to me because at no point have i ever felt compelled to stop myself from thinking thoughts about a book because "oh, but this is genre fiction, i need to turn my brain off to read and enjoy this, i forgot." or "this thought is not appropriate because genre fiction, i'd better stop thinking it before i ruin the story."

like. i am deeply, deeply sorry for this person, actually, that they are not picking up on precisely what mxtx is putting down in the text, especially considering mxtx has explicitly explored themes of class in at least two of her novels (i'll get back to you on including svsss once i've read it). but also, a critique of class in the jianghu, or how mxtx has written her female characters, is entirely as valid use of fandom time and energy as writing one more definitely original and not remotely repetitive thinkpiece on the power of wangx!an's morally good love to overcome all obstacles (not saying OP wrote any of these, just that there ARE a bunch of them out there).

like. why do you want to simplify the experience of reading and thinking and talking about these books? why do you want to push for more boring analysis of stories? why are you using your platform to encourage this? i'm so mad about it actually. people listen to you, and this is what you're encouraging them to do: think less.

[helly-watermelonsmellinfellon]

There's something I don't see talked about enough in the SVSSS fandom.

The System.

I just received a comment on one of my fics - which has post-canon SQQ and SQH able to still use social media - suggesting that it would be very easy for people in the real world to point out that these characters using fake accounts to post on real life social media sites would easily be doxxed and the System would have no ability to do anything about that.

Something I have noticed among a lot of people who read this particular book is that not a lot of consideration is given to the very thing orchestrating everything. We often think of the system as a ridiculous guide or rule book that exists solely to give the protagonist what he wants/deserves. We don't really approach it for what it is.

This was my reply to that comment:

Doubt it. The System is able to kidnap people from their worlds and place them in other worlds and bodies in those worlds as punishment. And if you don't do as it wants, to the specification it doesn't directly detail, it can send your soul to an alternate version of the present world to be tortured in another body. I sincerely doubt an abstract, otherworldly being like that, which never receives consequences for anything it does because there is apparently nothing that can canonically challenge it, is going to be threatened by doxxing. If it can create things, link universes together, steal souls, and can be anywhere at any time, I wouldn't expect it to be incapable of manipulating people's perception. I even mentioned how in this fic, it WILL erase SQQ's sister's memories if he chooses to reveal his identity to her, but it becomes too much for her to handle. This suggests it has power anywhere and can do whatever it wants. So, in my mind, if someone actually tried to doxx their accounts, it's either going to lead nowhere, lead to somewhere fake, or the info will be stripped from their lives entirely the moment they find anything/nothing.

It was a very nitpicky kind of comment in my opinion, which warranted this response, but my response just made me realize that the System is effectively an amortal, omnipresent, and omnipotent Entity. It literally doesn't go away. We even think it's over and the Extras tell us, via SQH, that it's still there and still in control.

Think about it.

Think about every single thing that happened because of the System's actions or demands. It literally never faces consequences because there is nothing that could hope to punish it. I've only read 1 fic where higher beings step in to punish the System for kidnapping, coercing, and torturing innocent people for its amusement.

Because that IS something it can do. With ease. And seems all too happy to do.

The System is very dangerous and it's weird how this is something people forget when reading fanfics. SVSSS is the kind of book where crack ideas can work in the frame of the canon story because a character like SQH exists. Because he wrote PIDW with every single plothole and contrived story beat for the sake of money and survival, we can have the weirdest shit happen and blame it on his lack of imagination when writing PIDW. It doesn't need in-depth nitpicking to make it make sense. MXTX gave us a very large and generous sandbox to play in.

You don't need to rationalize a crack plot. And you should always keep in mind that canonically, the System is a terrifying Entity capable of outrageous things. It shouldn't be the deal-breaker that the Entity that kidnaps, gaslights, coerces, tortures, and manipulates people is capable of fantastical feats in a fanfic.

[white-lotus-pavilion]

Qi Rong and Shen Jiu

You know something I am not all that surprised at the characters that I like the most in MXTX's novels are Qi Rong and Shen Jiu.

And in all honesty this is because of the fact that they are both villains who essentially have so much depth to them but it only gets revealed near the end when they are no longer part of the story and the potential that they have to become amazing characters not good people but just amazing characters is essentially wasted by the end of the novel and it leaves me just hanging and so invested in their stories.

Now the thing is in regards to Shen Jiu this want for more of his story and more of him as a character is very taken care of as I have been a part of the SVSSS fandom for a while and the abundance of art and fanfiction of him as the centered character is amazing and there's so much depth that is delved into when it comes to his character and I absolutely adore the SVSSS fandom for this and it is one of the main reasons they are part of my main fandoms.

We saw that his character was so interesting and he has so much to give as a character and we sunk our teeth into it and he's one of my favorite characters in the entire SVSSS series because of the fact that he is a character that is taken so seriously. He is a character that people actually think about an in turn write about and the fanfics that are centered around him are absolutely amazing and I adore every single one of them.

Now the thing about Qi Rong is that this is not the case for him. For him I desperately want more fic where he is the center focus. Where he is the one who is being delved into as a character. There are so many aspects of his character that I find so interesting.

The fact that he is essentially an abused child who grew up to become an abuser adult and then who after centuries adopts a child who essentially was just like him and helps that child heal (even if he does it in his own deranged way)

Like, that is so interesting! The past of someone who used to be abused turning into an abuser and then not reforming but finding that one person whom they can see themselves in and making it so that there's one less person in the world who becomes a horrible person. (even if it is under the gize of 'toughening them up'

There are so many aspects of his character that I find so interesting, so many can be delved into but there are essentially no fanfics or fan art about him that really go in depth into this aspect of his character. Fics and arts that really delve into what it is like to be Qi Rong. coming from and abusive household. Coming into wealth but not receiving the affection (the real affection) and understanding he needed to heal and than going right back to being abused for centuries and his self sabotaging character. The thing about him is that he is incredibly self aware of all his horrible actions and I neeeed more exploration of that!!! He is a character that fills me with so much grief because I'm like there is an amazing character right there in this fandom who is as complicated as Shen Jiu who is as hated in Cannon as Shen Jiu! Someone who has such an interesting compelling story that you have to do a double take and be like how can I expand on this.

And the fact that the potential with his character unlike SJ is being completely wasted is so devastating to me. I want fanfics that are basically all from his point of view from when he was being abused by his father to the very end of tgcf when he dies and oh my God I can't find anything and it pisses me off and it makes me want to cry because this is a travesty! a devastating travesty.

It's to the point where I'm reading tgcf fanfiction he comes up and he is portrayed as just this one-dimensional bad person I skip the parts where he is in because there's nothing interesting about his character that is being portrayed. There are so many parts of him that are so interesting the fact that even though he is crass and a horrible person his truth speaks so much louder than his lies... I want people to delved into that more.

I'm just in need of more QI Rong centered fixed that go deeper into his psychological mental state and how he views the world because he's such an interesting character but he's not talked about enough.

And don't say do it yourself. I'm deep into a small fandom that I am cultivating and am currently deeep in the brain rot for so there is no way I can focus my attention on that and sadly can't write anything for qi rong.

Fellow authors I beg you!!!

[danmei-confessions]

I truly think SVSSS deserves a revision more than any of MXTX's other novels.

I love the novel, yes, but it is poorly written. MXTX rushed the chapters after Bbingqiu's reunion due to using VIP lock for the first time and it makes the writing distinctly worse. I understand that she was young while writing it, which is the whole reason why it deserves a revision. The novel could have so much more potential than it currently does and it's no wonder that it's her least popular when even fans of her other novels choose to not read it due to being uninterested.

So much more story could be added, or just minor details. For example, we barely know anything about the 12 peaks all together, and unless you make up facts, there's practically nothing on their peak lords too. I see complaints about the SVSSS wiki being empty regarding the peak lords and I hate to say it, but that's NOT due to the moderators but rather pure lack of content. Hell, most of the facts that do existed were only in the light novel and not in the web novel at all. There's such little information it's really not shocking that the fandom runs on head-canons. In all 100 chapters of her novel, half of it in slightly plot, while the other is SQQ being... SQQ.

I have so many thoughts on the potential SVSSS has:

Despite it being mentioned that there are 'plenty of minor sects' we only hear the name of one.

Despite sects like Tian Yi or Zhao Hua being a part of the main 4, we know almost nothing about them, how they run, or their disciples/sect lead (literally the only named Tian Yi disciples are the 3 nuns). We also don't know their locations, what locations they control, or their history

The past events of SVSSS (before SY transmigrated) are so messy. Theres only 2 timelines I've found here on tumblr and even those are so different from each other. Theres no clear years compared to TGCF or MDZS and its so frustrating. This also leaves characters practically age-less (other than like. Binghe) unlike her other characters.

Almost none of the side-characters grow development with anyone other than Shen Qingqiu. I say 'almost' but I can not name any off the top of my head. There are characters that have/had such interesting relationships that were completely thrown out the window For The Plot. This is so.... disappointing, considering other character's relationships make up the plot! It's not only the MC!

Everything being rushed is heartbreaking, and with a re-write I think arcs such as the Holy Mausoleum, Jin Lan, Borderlands, etc could become SO much more interesting. Alongside that, the Mai Gu Ridge situation was blown off so fast?? Like, it was mentioned that the Endless Abyss was breaking through CCM, then just never mentioned again...

Power Scaling. Fights. Actual fights between people who aren't LGQ or LBH. We only really got NYY/LPM, MBJ/his uncle, and TLJ/LBH. Most of those were ALSO rushed.

The System's appearance was reduced LARGELY in the later chapters-almost like MXTX forgot about them. The whole first 2 volumes include The System so much, and its unique! functions! all for it to be disregarded and those functions to never be used other than the jade necklace.

Actually going into the wonderous world of PIDW that is claimed to have interesting weapons (only Xin Mo was shown), locations, plants (only Qingsi and that one thats too long for me to feel like typing shown), and creatures (only rly ZZL and Madam Meiyin shown).

That's all I really have right now. I'm not trying to be an anti of MXTX's other novels. I just think that SVSSS has so much potential that she could have brought out if she had chosen to revise it. I love TGCF and MDZS very much, they have great scaling, brought-out potential, and relationships that SVSSS so could have.

I do want to exclaim that out of all her 3 novels SVSSS has been my favorite for years. I genuinely feel upset that it was not the one picked despite how obvious it is that it has barely any NEW content. Or at the least, confirmed facts. In her QNA's most of the questions are purely MDZS/TGCF while there's maybe 2 SVSSS ones. Those few questions answered by her are literally lifelines for some fans. (Such as heights and Moshang) The novel could become popular just if the criticisms/potential of it were actually addressed. I'm not saying that casually but I am very sure of it as MXTX is a freakishly great writer and she COULD take the novel to the same heights as TGCF/MDZS if she truly wanted to.

.

[talk-danmei-to-me]

hiii! so glad to see someone giving yuwu the love it deserves 🥹🤍 meatbun is a pretty popular writer so i’m kinda surprised that yuwu is just so genuinely underrated [especially since i feel her writing in this has improved since erha] even bing an ben is more popular, i think. i’m on book 3 and i’m thoroughly enjoying it [though i’ll admit it took me a while to really warm up to gu mang, since i’d latched onto mo xi immediately like a koala on an eucalyptus tree so i was miffed at anyone who hurt him, even his love 😬]. nice to see someone spreading the word about this book 😅🫶

Convincing people to read Yuwu is my main tumblr mission! I’m glad you noticed lol.

I’m not really big into fandom outside of tumblr and dabbling in Reddit but I would say in my experience Yuwu is more popular than Bing an Ben. I love Bing an Ben, but talking about it is literally like shouting into the void.

I mean obvs 2ha is the most popular Meatbun novel which is fine, Mo Ran is one of my all time favourite protagonists. I think what I’ve noticed is that both Meatbun and MXTX got really popular at a similar time because they were the first to get licensed through seven seas. But then MXTX has an insane amount of adaptions to her name and I think that’s led to a skew in the Western fandom. More content leads to more fandom output. I want Yuwu, Bing an Ben and 2ha to have the same level of fandom shenanigans as tgcf, mdzs and svsss. But Meatbun didn’t have the Untamed doing the heavy lifting for her in Lockdown.

Meatbun adaptions are a fantasy in general. I mean I adore her, but nothing she’s written is getting through censorship at this point without ending up a pile of garbage. Just because of how she threads the romance through the narrative. It’s so good but if you take it away it just wouldn’t make sense.

And I’ve gone on a a tangent… BUT my point is that basically I’d love if Meatbun, or any other danmei writer tbh, could reach the heights of mxtx in the western fandom.

Now, back to Yuwu - Gu Mang gets you in vol 3 and then you will be as ride or die for him as Mo Xi! Cons of the memory loss plot I think. Although he had some solid scenes in vol 2.

I’m literally so excited for vol 6!

[mxtxfanatic]

so,,, does anyone else lose braincells when it comes to the mdzs fandom??? like there was this post that basically goes saying that forget about jiang cheng and lan wangji being jealous about each other when it comes to wei wuxian, the one that is winning is wen ning since wwx leaves everything to save and protect the wens, and then i see some tags talking about how wwx has his own weird moral code and wen ning is it's first victim... there is somethung about these sentences that just made me sick, it just felt so wrong?? am i the one who couldn't interpret anything in those books?? wasn't wangxian the ones that mxtx said to be morally perfect?? am i the one in the wrong?? it's been 10 minutes and i feel my brain has melted

why does wwx get painted as the villain even by his fans, when the whole plot was how he was prosecuted and villanized, judged by the the surface of his actions, when nothing about the situations and his actions itself was as simole as black and white. also calling wen ning his victim made me feel kinda of violated, like im a yiling siblings and yiling settlement supporter and truther and im kinda of suck of everyone disminishing and ignoring the relationship between them.

sorry for the dramatics, but none of my irl friends have read the books, we seem to have the same opinions on it, and i just needed a second opinion

also sorry for the english, it isn't my first language

Even when fans claim to like Wei Wuxian, the fandom perception of him is so pervasive and (has been since the original fandom BNFs became jc stans) that people will describe some of his most somber, thoughtful moments like they are crimes that we can joke about only because it’s fictional, as a irl!wwx would be “deserving of jail” (or some shit 🙄). It’s why I’m not afraid to say that some people are decidedly not fans/stans of his character, they are fans/stans of the memes involving his character. And everyone knows that the meaner and ruder you are about something in a meme, the funnier it is /sarcasm.

[user-needs-new-hyperfixation]

Now that you've finished both, what do you think are the difference between WangXian or HuaLian? Which mc and ml do you love more between both series? Which couple do you love more?

P.s Do you plan to read SVSSS? I think the best for fanfics inspiration from 3 MXTX works are SVSSS.....

This answer got way longer than I meant for it to 😅

I am all about Hualian 10000%. It's just a matter of preference, and I'll explain why I like one better than the other, but I'm not crapping on Wangxian shippers at all. Something for everyone haha!

Here's the thing. I like a lot about Wangxian. They've got a very Kirk/Spock thing a lot of the time that is eternally entertaining. But I just don't like the way they have sex. I dislike the way they have sex so much that it kind of retroactively made me less interested in the pairing as a whole. More specifically, I don't like how Lan Wangji does sex. People had warned me about it and I was like, "Eh, but I'm fine with CNC, all I need is that first C, so it's fiiiine." But. Nope. Thankfully this isn't a personal trigger for me, just a very firm preference, but I just...to quote myself in a previous post, "while the book did a good job convincing me that Wei Wuxian is into everything Lan Wangji does to him, it didn't do a good job convincing me that Lan Wangji knows that for sure, or is in control of himself, or would stop if Wei Wuxian didn't like something." That just isn't to my taste.

On the other hand, Hualian are also implied to be having rough and kinky sex, but there's much more of a feeling that they're communicating about it. I'm not expecting them to like, have a formal safeword or anything, but even just:

"Sorry, I went overboard last night," Hua Cheng apologized. It took a moment for Xie Lian to realize what he meant, and he quickly waved his hands. "Wh-what are you saying? That's not it at all--everything's fine!" Hua Cheng arched an eyebrow. "Is that so? If everything is fine even after that, does that mean I didn't go overboard last night? Does that mean I can...?"

Or

"Is gege not coming up to join me?" But if he went up there, when would Xie Lian have a a chance to come back down? At that point, they could forget about doing anything else for a while. "Nah." Xie Lian declined politely. "My San Lang has overworked himself." "Nah," Hua Cheng laughed. "How could San Lang ever be afraid of hard work when it comes to working gege hard?"

Like. They're goofy about it and Hua Cheng loves to tease Xie Lian but they are actually talking about sex when they're not having sex. There's a degree to which they're communicating outside of the heat of the moment. And even in the amnesia extra (which makes me feel so bad for Hua Cheng omg he's being surprisingly chill but I need to write some meta about how miserable he must be during that) Xie Lian's fuzzy memories of what he at first assumes was a rape are full of the sense of being gentled and cherished and of their fingers and red strings tangling even as he's held down and roughed up.

Also the chapter opening with,

Laughing, Xie Lian pushed Hua Cheng off him -- his crushing weight was making it hard to breathe. The heat and passion had yet to subside when something suddenly occurred to him. "Oh yeah, San Lang," he began offhandedly.

That's so stinking cute I can't. They are so comfortable. Nothing in their relationship overall or in the hints of their sex life we see implies in the slightest that Hua Cheng isn't in control of himself in the most important ways (I do tend to think of him being a shaking crying coming-too-soon mess the first few times, but that's a very different kind of out of control lol). He worships Xie Lian, literally. Lan Wangji has this underlying layer of horny anger born in a repressed childhood; Hua Cheng's horny is all built on reverence. THAT IS MY JAM.

As for SVSSS, I think I will probably read it if only to try to figure out what on earth its fandom is talking about. It's...like an isekai I think? Which is not usually my thing, but at this point I feel like I gotta round out the trio haha!

[twilightarc-gm]

💥👓💛👻

😍 Specs!! Hi!! I see you with these questions 🕵️‍♂️

From this Ask Game: Here

💥 What is one canon thing that you wish you could change? (MDZS) YOU KNOW ME!!! But instead of the super obvious answer about the romantic subplot or whatever, I gotta say like, I really don't think JYL had to literally die for WWX's man-pain. Would the Present Timeline story be drastically different? Yeah, but I think it would have been better. I think it would have forced WWX to confront and resolve his past in more satisfying ways even if MXTX still makes him break off everything with JC-JYL-YMJ. Hottake, but I think it's spicier if he keeps trying to leave everything in the past but his mistakes are still alive and would like a real apology. With JC there's the whole transfer thing, mucking up who might need to apologize to whom, but with JYL it's very clear and very devastating. Where is all the angst this story could have given me?? No, I'm not going to rewrite MDZS about it 😩 I'm just going to suffer in my Yunmeng Trio feels.

👓 What helps you focus when you write? You're going to use this against me, I know it. I'm gonna be like, "Specs I can't focus." And you're going to go, "Well YOU said this helps you focus so are you doing it???" And I'll be like... "🥺" Not to be all aging-Millennial on main or anything but a shot of hard liquor, wordless music, a clear idea of a scene, and someone waiting to read what I wrote. It's a hard combo to achieve, let's be real. I have written 5k at a time with that combo though, so it's a big winner. @robinade knows nothing motivates me more than someone on discord going 👐🙏. And then I feed them the snippet and then they grade me with emotes. I'm very rewards based, who isn't? They tell you to write for yourself first, but it's always nice if I have an end goal of entertaining someone else as well, otherwise the ideas just stay in my head la-di-da style.

💛 What is the most impactful lesson you’ve learned about writing? I got nothing inspirational to say here. I think a game changer for me was doing this thing with "scenes" but like... as a roadmap. So what I do now that helps me figure out what to write is listing off all the scenes I want to write and a little blurb about those scenes (or a lot of blurb depending on how specific I have it in my mind). It's like an outline, but not very high level. Anyone that reads my stuff lately can see I label my scenes with section titles and that's from this process. It sort of fills in the for the writing advice about how, when you get to the end of one scene, make sure to write the first sentence of the next so you don't get stuck on how to start a scene when you get back to it. This format is really working for me and it's not as cumbersome as an outline (even though for big fics I have those too).

👻 What is your wildest headcanon? HOOOO it's really hard to have a "wild" headcanon in this fandom (MDZS) without someone taking the biggest offense to it. And honestly the word "wild" is doing a lot of work here, it can mean anything. So basically I have a lot headcanons but what's wild enough for this question??? BAM!! JGS uses women as human cauldrons to further his cultivation. And JGY used that knowledge to kill him.

🧡 😎 Alrighty, I think my work here is done. 🌹 🎩

[ilovereadingandstuff]

SO, I SAW THIS PICTURE RIGHT HERE ON PINTEREST...

And I thought, at first, that it was just a fanart, right??

just a fanart, a really nice one.

And, i mean, why would the novel include such a situation of Xie Lian in heat to say the least, completely overwhelmed by lust and mortal desires, accompanied for Hong-er (who i finally know it's hua cheng's younger self)...right??

Like, that kind of situation only occurs in fanfics, right?? right?!?!

so...I WAS WRONG!!

This picture is FUCKING CANON!!!

I CAN'T STILL FUCKING BELEIVE IT!!!

I can just say that...I'm falling in love with mxtx novels. That's it.

Because...IT WAS SO CONVENIENT, MAN!! BUT ALSO SO WELL DONE!!

Mister laughstocking of the three realms here was drugged in the middle of the forest by flowers with an aphrodisiac effect (basically).

And yeah!!, HE STARTED TO FEEL SO HOT INSIDE THE CAVE, Y'KNOW??

IT WAS A LITTLE TO HOT IN THERE, am i right??

So he started to stripped down, sweating like crazy, moaning, winning all the way...

and then... HE NEEDED HELP!! He was trying to keep up with the 'purity of mind' bullsh*t and was mostly going insane for bloodlust...

SO, GUESS WHO WAS ALSO THERE?!?!

Not Feng Xin, not Mu Qing nor Wind Master...

NON OTHER THAN MISTER SATAN ITSELF, HUA CHENG!!!

I mean...when he was a kid. his younger self.

He was just thirteen back then.

So yeah!! I loved it wasn't weird the narration, to be honest. Nothing weird nor cringe happened between them even thought xl was...impotent at the moment...

because, yeah, a 20 yo guy messing up in that way with a kid 7 years younger...would have been quite weird to read, honestly.

But it wasn't!! It didn't end the way i was preparing myself to be.

And, well, for the context, it made sense all of it, obviously.

I was actually surprised.

As a obsesive reader myself, i'm used to see this kind of specific situation only at fanfiction most of times. and when they happen in canon...i've find myself reading really uncomfortable scenes which a later regret to read, y'know?

So, I was truly taken aback when I realized where all the 'yao flowers' were about, and when xl entered inside the cave with Hong-er and started going insane for the heat, lust and all...

not gonna lie, i was excited. but nervious, at the same time.

I knew that this situation could become weird at any moment with the wrong line or wrong description...but I was soooo relieved that it wasn't that way!!

I'm truly happy for that. and even when Hong-er touched him!!! even that scene didn't feel cringe nor inappropiate.

you get what i mean??

I just wanted to share my reaction with this chapter and also wanted to point out that, yeah, the novels are good. like, reallyy good.

I don't regret discovering this new fandom and show, not a bit. and yeah...i'll continue reading. I'm heading towards book 4 now, hehe.

[incarnadinedreams]

So I finally finished reading TGCF! (The main novel, I haven't gotten to the extras yet). I watched the first season of the donghua ages ago (right after I watched what was available of the MDZS donghua at the time and before I read the MDZS novel), then started reading TGCF as the first volumes of the official English versions were releasing and fell off.

My original plan was to "catch up" through book 5 and just keep up with the official releases. As soon as I finished book 5 I immediately abandoned that plan and went straight to the fan translations (whatever, I'll still be buying the officials as they release so I don't feel too guilty about it).

Anyway, I am feeling..... surprisingly normal about this book? I enjoyed it and had fun reading it and so far have not felt any inklings of obsessive derangement over it.

(Extremely long and rambling first impressions/thoughts after a single quick read below the cut, probably not that interesting. May contain major spoilers, and sorta comparing it to MDZS and specifically JC a bit just because the comparisons get pushed a lot because of the overlap in the fandoms)

Anyway, as a Jiang Cheng Enjoyer I've fairly often seen people say things like 'you should just read TGCF, Mu Qing is actually what JC stans wish Jiang Cheng was' or 'Mu Qing is Jiang Cheng but done right' and I just....... kinda don't see it?

Anyway... Is it just me? Am I stupid and missing something?

I mean, there are some obvious parallels and MXTX very clearly has a pattern/dynamic/formula she likes with the 'best friend side characters' slot, re-used some similar surface-level descriptions for Mu Qing that had been applied to Jiang Cheng (bad-tempered, sarcastic, unlikable, good looking, etc). So I'm definitely not saying people are totally wrong for seeing a connection there.

But they didn't actually feel all that similar to me beyond a handful of traits? And not only because of the tragic lack of jilfy purple electro-whip.

I think part of the problem is that Mu Qing suffered from a serious case of "tell, don't show" in his portrayal... in the text we're being told by other characters that he's so unlikable or has such a nasty personality or is so untrustworthy... but then rarely or never actually says or does anything "on camera" to show that?

Like, this isn't "he has done nothing wrong!" in the "I shall protect this precious blorbo of my heart" way, it's in the "ummmmmm... he has actually... not done anything wrong in this situation...? And I am confused as to why these characters are reacting to him in a way that is so wildly out of proportion to what has actually happened?"

As much as I love Jiang Cheng, he does at least actually say some mean things "on screen" in the novel to earn that bad-tempered sharp-tongued characterization. I might personally think he was perfectly justified in saying about 98% of them and being pissed as hell, but at least he actually does the being angry and bitter and verbal lashing out that he's characterized with. (Though I think he actually does a lot less of it than people seem to think, as most of the time he's just being pretty normal actually. But there are some scenes at least.) Of course, conversely, Wei Wuxian does also do many more actually bad things to balance it out too and make JC's on-screen anger/reactions make a lot more sense.

But Mu Qing on the other hand... a few snippy comments and some eye rolling? Everything else always ends up being someone else baselessly accusing him based on some accidental circumstances that got cleared up with reasonable explanations. His involvement in the whole turf war over the meditation place was mostly him showing up after the rest of them had already made up their minds and he was trying to de-escalate the situation without losing the job he was using to support his mother with or creating more problems.

The only kinda bad things I think he does (be okay with the idea of using the Human Face Disease against the Yong'an people to stop it from spreading in the Xianle capital city) is one of the few things that nobody actually has any issue with him for! You could argue that it was bad to get Hua Cheng kicked out of the army... but also he was 14 and there are no actual details given and tbh that kid was kinda creepy from an outside perspective (even if I liked him)...

To be honest I'd seen a few people making vague comments about his "betrayal" in the past so I knew it was coming, but "I'm gonna go take care of my mom instead of doing these former rich fuck's laundry" was so deeply underwhelming on the betrayal scale I was like "wait, that's it?"

I mean there was not even a siege involved...? Not a single declaration of hatred? Not even a little bit of threatened torture?

Anyway, I was already still feeling some kind of way about that royal laundry situation when I got to the scene in Mt Tonglu where Mu Qing is all "I was in awe of you, you're a better person than me and I wanted to be your friend" while Xie Lian is like "um well you'd spit in someone's cup but you wouldn't poison it so I don't want you to die I guess."

I just felt sort of vaguely put off by the whole exchange and the sense of a total lack of reciprocity from Xie Lian. His whole vibe is "well I don't dislike you enough to let you die, and saving people is my thing in general so, y'know, here I am saving you."

Because what made the whole dynamic work in MDZS was how (even if the characters didn't necessarily know it about the other) they just cared about each other so much, to an absolutely unhinged degree, and that felt missing here. So even though WWX has some of the same vibe of negative or resentful opinions of JC at points, it hits different because they're laid on the backdrop of an utterly unhinged sacrifice specifically and uniquely for Jiang Cheng (which, unknown to WWX, was needed because of a more standard in type but but still unhinged sacrifice of his own that was specifically and uniquely for WWX)

I don't necessarily mind that specific relationship being different or less intense in TGCF (in fact I prefer that it's not just a copy-paste of the same characters going by different names with a bit more polish, the way some people made it sound like it would be), but the way that specific scene played out given the backdrop of how MQ keeps getting treated throughout the rest of the story just felt icky to me. Idk.

A lot of the way the characters interacted with each other just felt like the action and reactions were a little mismatched or something? Something about the behaviors involved didn't ring as painfully, horribly, clearly true to me as they did in so many MDZS scenes.

Anyway I did enjoy both Mu Qing and Feng Xin as characters, I'll definitely be indulging in some FengQing content (recs/links welcome if anyone actually read this far lol), just specifically their relationship with Xie Lian did not inspire in me even a teensy fraction of the depths of absolute feral obsession that the Yunmeng Shuangjie relationship does. It... just did not resonate that way with me. If I had to speculate (in a wild and baseless fashion, source: my ass), I think that toning down the intensity might have even been intentional on the author's part this go around.

Anyway a lot of that was mostly because the expectation of a strong parallel and deep reaction to the Xianle trio's relationship was pre-planted in my mind, and such expectations are generally always doomed to fall short anyway.

As far as the rest of the novel, like I said - it was generally quite enjoyable, I had fun reading it, I'm certainly not trying to trash it! I'd say I actually overall enjoyed the HuaLian relationship developing in the novel itself more than WangXian, in terms of how the flirting was executed. Like "what if you had an extremely dangerous and fervently obsessed stalker, but also make it cute". I don't dislike WangXian, but for me their relationship was just a fun side-plot and not what I really cared about or kept reading for. I did find the Hong-er and lantern ghost flashback scenes quite touching and sweet.

The first ~200 chapters (by the web novel serialization chapter numbers) I'd say were generally constructed better than MDZS, so I see where people say there was a bit of a level up there. The last ~40ish chapters the pacing felt kind of off to me, like there was just too much crammed in and MXTX just wanted it to be over and done with.

The 'uncovering secrets of an ancient lost empire/kingdom' type of plot is my absolute jam, my favoritest trope of all time, I actually loved the concepts there. It was like a two-for-one, since we got the learn about the fall of Xianle which scratched that itch a little bit, and then the full-on mystery aspect with Wuyong. I wish there had been more time spent on the mystery/uncovering information about Wuyong aspect of the plot rather than the answers coming relatively quickly.

Unsurprisingly in addition to Feng Xin and Mu Qing, I was a huge fan of Yushi Huang, Ling Wen, Shi Qingxuan, He Xuan, Lang Qianqiu (his adorable golden retriever energy is irresistible when combined with a Tragic Backstory), Guzi, Yin Yu, Quan Yizhen

Surprise favs were Pei Ming (I'd only seen through the donghua S1 so I kinda had him categorized in my mind as the offscreen God of Fuckboys, but ended up liking him an unreasonable amount) and Qi Rong

Anyway I had all of these thoughts while I was reading then felt a bit guilty about them when I read the postscript because I am the person she was afraid of coming over to read TGCF after MDZS :x

[marshymeds]

What are your fave scenes from each Mxtx work?

I probably don’t need to say this, but I will anyway! SPOILERS for SVSSS, TGCF, and MDZS below!

Ill start with TGCF since it was the first I read. There are so many scenes that I loved, and this series was so long its a bit hard to narrow down, but everything in the White No-Face arc was impactful to me specifically. The 100 sword scene, the drunk scene, the suicide scene…I just think the arc did a really good job of portraying how helpless Xie Lian felt. There was literally nothing good happening. But my FAVORITE scene from it all was the bit where the man came back, in the rain, to apologize for being angry and tell Xie Lian to suck it up and get out of the rain. Something about the scene was so incredibly human, both for Xie Lian and the man. We have a tendency to see bad and assume there will only be bad, and it wasn’t just that it was a “happier” ending to it all. It was interesting and very REAL to see someone who had yelled at him for no reason turn around and apologize, explain he’d had a bad day, and then help him out without babying him.

MDZS was the second I delved into (technically at the same time as SVSSS but that’s not important) and I loved it for a lot of the same reasons. My favorite scene is probably the one where Lan Wangji visits Yiling and runs into Wen Yuan and Wei Wuxian. Everything about the setting was bittersweet—despite all of their disagreements in the past and the situation they’re in now they walk on egg shells and just sort of. Be friends for a bit. And then, Wei Wuxian, who knows on some degree that he’s ruining himself to save these people, walks in on the Wens throwing him a large dinner. And Wen Qing says they were AFRAID to ask him. That they thought he was some scary lofty figure but have grown so grateful that they want to give back somehow. And he just feels as if it doesn’t matter anymore how hard it is. Something felt so…painful but heartwarming about this scene. Like watching an old video that includes a family member that passed away or finding something from a friendship that didnt end well but was happy at the time. Im not sure if that makes sense. In that moment, despite their troubles, they just got to exist.

For SVSSS I’ll cheat and choose something from the extras because its kind of a tie. I loved the Bamboo Branch Poem extra so much, I love Zhuzhi Lang and Tianlang-Jun’s familial relationship a lot. The Airplane extras are also very near and dear to me as a moshang lover, but I love the bit specifically where Shang Qinghua runs away and Mobei-Jun tries to take him back and is actively making concessions to do so (carrying him, offering to make noodles) because

Overall, I think what I love most about MXTX books is how human the characters seem. Theres never a “good” or “bad” outcome necessarily. The Banyue arc is a good example in TGCF, or Wei Wuxian’s struggle to save the Wen prisoners in vain and tearing himself and his relationships apart in the process in MDZS. The gods in tgcf are more human than god, and the cultivators in mdzs and svsss are still flawed despite all their training and skills. Scum Villain is a bit different because it comments a lot of fandom culture and media consumption but ultimately its commenting about the READER instead of a character—still in a very human way.

I hope that wasn’t all gibbrish—I’ve been drawing and thinking about this question for a bit now and my mind is soupy from a busy week. So I hope my thoughts make sense. Thanks for the chance to ramble a bit and I wish you a great weekend ❤️🫶

[jc-aka-why-me]

So, I've been part of different MDZS/MXTX communities for years now. Got a blog, a writing related blog, was on pinterest, amino, got an AO3. I dropped out and went silent despite nearly 1.7k follower on here and a well running blog because of the fandom..

And I have to say that it's both sad and funny to see that the situation hasn't changed at all. There's really lovely people, don't get me wrong and I understand that being passionate can lead to outbursts..

But I don't know how so many people still haven't realized that MXTX really never cared even half as much as we do. That's the whole issue. If you calmly read MDZS and then take a step back to properly think it all through..

MXTX only ever cared about WangXian. She gave no other chars good traits, because she didn't care for that. She didn't redeem anyone else, 'cause she didn't care about those chars. She didn't give anyone else proper endings 'cause she never cared about them. She didn't clear a ton of things up because she didn't care.

MXTX had one passion and one goal in mind for MDZS and that was WX. That's it. She made an original char based world where her two favorites have no one really but each other, where everyone else is somehow evil or at least out of the picture. Where it's just about her pair, where they get their happy ending, smut scenes and all.

She never cared about the chars overall in either direction as much as we do - whether it's the antis or the so called apologists - our lady had one objective, one love. That was WangXian. Everyone else was written as a tool, etc. Nothing more, nothing less. Which is cool, even tho another reason why I stopped making free ads for her stuff, but it's something some on here need to realize 'cause damn are you tearing people apart for liking things you don't, having different povs etc. Y'all can exist and let each other live.

Also, of all the canon chars Lan Zhan was defo her fave 'cause he's really not getting called out on anything he does.

[mxtxfanatic]

I saw such a bad take on Jiang Cheng's character and I can't stop thinking about how terrible it is. "Jiang Cheng did nothing wrong....couldn't have handled things better because of his situation..."...something something. Why is it so hard for people to accept what's written in canon. MXTX wanted JC to be seen as an antagonist, she wanted him to be a terrible person it's so obvious from all the parallels between him and WWX's characters... A huge excuse when they try to paint him as a "sad, misunderstood uwu boy" is that he went through a lot and thought it was all wwx's fault. But so did Jiang Yanli, and she didn't have any of the reactions that Jiang Cheng did. SHE was the one who lost her husband, SHE also lost her parents the same way he did? I also reread some scenes recently...and his homophobia is so apparent especially in the scene where lwj and wwx visit his parents' shrine. ALSO, his excuse for thinking their dating is that he saw them hug under that tree??? AND HE FOLLOWED THEM TO SEE WHAT THEY'D DO AFTERWARDS😭😭😭

I'm just confused about what excuse they have that makes it so easy to overlook all the shitty things about him💀 (oh, they also seem to hate...wangxian? Like actively believe those two are annoying and that they're bad people. Which is kind of sad, since they're the main pairing of a...ROMANCE NOVEL. So I feel pretty bad for them for having to read a whole book about two characters they don't like) Just wanted to know your thoughts. JC is irredeemable in my eyes. He's not a bad guy but he is a very bad person. But maybe other people see something I don't😂

Somehow I missed this ask, but I found it right on time (after seeing some stan bullshit 🙄) . My thoughts on Jiang Cheng is that the book is very clear that he is a terrible leader, a terrible uncle, and a terrible brother (both martial and bio) who chose the path of his toxic, violent mother to pursue over his kind father. Anyone saying otherwise is not worth engaging.

People don’t see something you don’t about his character, anon; people are choosing to unsee the things in canon because they’ve imprinted on a character that only exists in fan art, fanfic, and “incorrect quotes” memes. The disconnect isn’t a misunderstanding of the story but people uninvested in the original story wanting to impose their own uninspired fandom tropes onto an already cohesive story, and I simply do not have the energy to deal with that level of denial anymore with this fandom.

[jiangwanyinscatmom]

Hi

The mxtx books read like fanfiction is making a comeback and I really can’t tell if people say it to degrade their writing or not but wanted to ask what do you think of it ?

I have a lot of annoyances with this since it was used to dismiss not only the success of a woman in mainland china, but also to have the audacity to say she didn't think of anything deeper than "writing fanfic of her own OC's from high school".

This is already grossly misogynistic to imply that women who write in high school, have no value in creativity, but also classist to say that women who do write fanfic have no want of further literary experience or have anything else to say because they happen to use the romantic genre as a device for themes. Or, because they have been in the fandom sphere, it means their own original works, are lesser despite having gained wide spread international attention. At this point, for close to a decade now.

This also started with the audacity of a fanartist, who uses said author's characters, for profit. So forgive me if I have no sympathy or refuse to see this fanfic derision from them as anything but bad faith, and just utterly demeaning to MXTX, as well as her fanbase for daring to say that this is more than just a "fanfic romance to get to guys to sleep together". It's pretentious, rude, and damn what balls you must have to dismiss another's work that they worked hours on by trying to say "it's just fanfic and nothing deeper".

[undercover-stories]

I think the fact that I’m late to the fandom also plays a part. Cause I find few haters and more JC supporters. One of my biggest pet peeve isn’t even how some of them unfairly put down other characters to prop up JC. It’s how in an attempt to protect JC some of them will see him only as a victim and strip him of his flaws and mistakes when no, that’s what made him compelling in the first place! That’s what makes his growth so satisfying by the end. And tbh I think the fact that a lot of people agreed with my original post shows how extreme JC lovers have been.

Though I’ve had arguments with antis too. Like the whole homophobic thing is so stupid. I like it as a fanon gag or crack but like you said everyone is a little homophobic in the story.

Context definitely matters when it comes analyzing material but I think at the same time it’s also important to know when to break out of it. Like the amount of people who use the context to justify the killing the Wen remnants, to the point where some see it as deserved is alarming. Like the context definitely adds layers to the logic used in universe but it absolutely does not justify what they did. It’s another issue I have with many JC lovers who freak out at the idea of JC having done anything horrible. That Loki effect where they take the woobification too far. Like I said, maybe if I didn’t make it clear in my original post, my issue is with fans who insist on justifying their favs even when the story itself makes it clear that they were in the wrong.

When it comes to JC’s treatment of Jin Ling I’m simply very particular about any adult verbally degrading a child, especially if they are that child’s guardian/parent. I think it gets swept under the rug as being acceptable way too often when it absolutely should not be. It has nothing to do with gentle parenting or any of the like. I simply think verbal insults and threats (even if they are empty) towards a child is unacceptable. Especially since at one point the child themselves would not have known they were empty. As I’ve said abuse is an extremely complicated issue that is rarely black and white. A lot of times it’s mixed up with genuine affection and love that is simply warped by a person’s interpretation of how to express it. Like I had no doubt that no matter what Lady Jiang did Jiang Cheng still loved her with everything in him. Even then I’m not saying Jiang Chengs actions towards Jin Ling makes him an irredeemable monster. I think he simply needs to self reflect and recognize his own faults and the fact that he’s proven to be capable of doing these things is one of the reasons I adore him as a character. I don’t think the fact that therapy was non existent in that era or the fact that his actions were culturally and socially acceptable is a good reason to excuse his behaviour. It makes them very understandable but there’s a difference.

I definitely disagree with you in regards to Lan Zhan. That might simply be how we both interact differently with the source material, which is valid, but I find him to be just as compelling as Jiang Cheng or Nie Huaisang or Wei Ying. Especially after we find out more about the past version of himself. Mxtx does this thing with her characters where you are meant to read between the lines and she allows room for readers to simply fill the blanks with their own thoughts and theories and it’s one of the things I like best about her writing because it allows more reader-content interaction. Some might consider that lazy writing but I disagree. It’s why I don’t have an issue with different interpretations of a character. Simply the resistance to criticism. I love Wei Ying but absolutely understand many of the issues people have with him though I do think some readers are more harsh with him than they should be and I think it’s a product of him being a main character and being a character that’s generally loved by most readers. Which is unfair but that’s a topic for another day.

Like people keep saying that Wei Ying kept running away from giving Jiang Cheng the answers and explanations he deserved to know and in a way he did but I disagree as to why. I think Wei Ying genuinely thought he was protecting Jiang Cheng by hiding the truth (he wasn’t). I think his actions came out of a place of love instead of selfishness especially since we have a lot of proof that Wei Ying loved his siblings dearly. I think he let Jiang Fengmian’s last words get to his head. I think the idea that he had a savior complex is an unfair oversimplification of his character the same way some people simplify Jiang Cheng to simply being a bitter hateful person. I think he’s just as much a victim of generational trauma as Jiang Cheng is but his detractors don’t take that into account the same way they do with their favs. I think by the end of the story him leaving wasn’t about him running away but about him sincerely thinking his presence would be a hindrance to his brothers healing journey and after seeing the level of contempt his brother showed him at his return, I don’t blame him for thinking that. Even if I do disagree with his decision. BUT I think the hint of reconciliation that we saw between them during the climax was mxtx’s way of giving their relationship an open ending. I think their story would have required an entirely different book and I get that mxtx might have felt it was not a story she could tell or was ready to tell. Disappointing but it’s only her second series so I’m giving her room especially since tgcf shows how much she has improved. It’s why I frequent mdzs fanfic spaces more than I do tgcf. Haven’t read svsss cause I’m finding it super hard to find a readable online version cause I don’t have the choice of getting the physical copy.

I think in regards to Wen Ning it’s really unfair to judge him for being harsh with his words. Especially since we give Jiang Cheng himself SO much leeway for being a consistent ass throughout the story and the golden core reveal was one of the few moments Wen Ning allowed himself to be emotional. He’s tried his best to take accountability for his actions throughout the rest of the story and for a character who has basically lost everything I think it was understandable to see him react the way he did with Jiang Cheng who was physically fighting with a defenseless Wei Ying at the time even if the latter ‘started it’. I think it’s really telling that it took Jiang Cheng raising his whip against Wei Ying for Wen Ning to step in. I don’t know if Wei Ying ever talked about how Lady Jiang used zidian against him as a child but I think it’s still significant enough to note.

But I definitely still think his intention was to shake Jiang Cheng out of his denial and I still think while awful, everything Wen Ning said was something Jiang Cheng needed to hear. Even if he was incorrect with some of his points. I don’t think Wen Ning was meant to be entirely accurate with his words. I think like you said he is his own unreliable narrator but he still provides a valuable perspective. Jiang Cheng didn’t need to just hear the truth. He needed to decipher some of it himself. I think it’s why his words during his confrontation with Wei Ying at the climax about how his anger was still valid was so very very important because it was. It very much was. But him recognizing that it didn’t justify his actions was what was pivotal.

Can you tell that Jiang Cheng is my Roman Empire and the resistance towards criticism by some fans is what irks me the most and not actually his character?

I don’t think Wen Ning told Jiang Cheng about the golden core because he wanted him to know he owed Wei Ying or any of the sort. Like a lot of people seem to think that and therefore conclude Wen Ning was out of line. But it’s more likely that he did it to give Jiang Cheng the wake up call he needed. Because he has lived for 13 years in denial of the truth in that Jiang Yan Li’s death was not Wei Yings fault and he himself had a hand in his brothers demise. It was meant to be a reminder to him of who Wei Ying actually is and the made version he has in his head is a perception that has been warped by his anger and grief. It’s meant to be a reminder of how much Wei Ying loved him. Jiang Chengs anger is understandable but it doesn’t justify him treating Wei Ying the way he did and putting all the blame on him without ever trying to comprehend the choices his brother made and why he made them.