#ggdd fan art

[rainbowsky]

Stunning LWJ fan art from Zhangdi頔哒頔.

[potteresque-ire]

My favourite, out of my favourites. ❤️ 

The eyes, oh, the eyes. The profile is perfect, the lighting is perfect, the necklace is perfect, the water drops are perfect (honestly, I’d cling on that skin too if I were a H2O). 

c-turtles often call Gg 女媧炫技之作. 

女媧 Nvwa is the Mother Goddess of ancient Chinese mythology, the creator of humankind but unlike Bible!God who stopped at the prototype (Adam), she handcrafted the first humans one by one. 炫技 is to flaunt one’s skills, and 作 is the finished work; product. 女媧炫技之作 is, therefore, the product of Nvwa flaunting her skills. 

Some may have noticed that my blog is strangely devoid of human faces, despite my being a GgDd fan. Confession: I can be a bit weird about looking at images of humans, in that I require mental preparation to look at them. I don’t know why that is: their visual complexity, perhaps. As such, while I love beautiful faces as much as everyone else, too many of them, and I still get overwhelmed. They take energy away from me.

I can look at this photo all day though — this is an exceptionally rare thing; I’ve encountered < 100 photos like this in my life. Art is calming to me and so, I wonder, if my brain has decided that this photo has crossed the line between reality and art.

What can I say? Our Mother Goddess Nvwa is, apparently, 1) a show-off, 2) grossly unfair, and 3) debtor of the major sleep I lost last night. 😊

[pharrezychica]

On the third anniversary of CQL airing I felt the need to post something about it.

Because this drama means so much to me… I jumped on the wagon pretty late. I kept seeing posts here about it but didn’t want to fall for the hype, so I put off watching it for a long time. I finally gave in more or less a year later, I think it was late summer of 2020. And I’m so glad that I did. I fell in love with the story, the characters, the setting… It was my first Chinese drama and it blew me away. I started reading the novel soon after (and lots of fics!). 2 years later and I still love this drama so much, Wei Wuxian and Lan Wanji story changed me. It’s such a beautiful, meaningful story, with so many layers, touching not only on friendship and love but also family, politics, the weight public opinion has and what it can do… I’m not articulate enough to express all that this story is but it left such a big impact on me.

And of course Wangxian love story. Gave a new meaning to what soulmates really mean. At no point that romance turned cheesy, it’s so beautifully written in all of its moments. And Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo were truly the perfect Wei Wuxian and Lan Wanji. No one could have captured their essence and their feelings as well as those two did.

And now almost 2 years later, CQL has an even bigger meaning to me, now that I care about Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo as much as I do.

Another case of me not wanting to give in… When I first saw people “shipping them” I thought it was just another case of fans shipping the actors based on the story, reading too much into things. So I didn’t check on the actors and stayed away from what at the time thought was RPF.

Then a friend of mine (that I didn’t even know had seen CQL) mentioned GGDD, talked about their story and I started to look into things… And months later here I am. A full fledged bjxzsdz turtle.

And so CQL became even more meaningful to me. I’m so thankful to those who produced this drama. To those who fought to have it made. To those who cast all of the actors, each and every one perfect for their roles. For being the place where GGDD had the time and freedom to get close and be free with their feelings. That summer truly must have felt like a dream to them. It brought them so much, and in return gave us so much.

So thank you A-ling. For being an amazing piece of art. For giving us XZ and WY. For bringing them together. For… True Feelings 💛

[rarelyagoodthing]

A warm welcome to all fellow bxg/turtles who are coming from other social media! I have prepared you all a gift (especially for baby turtles!) and also decided to properly introduce myself to this fandom 💛

The Tumblr yizhan fandom had always been peaceful and is a peaceful place for fans of both gg and dd. From my experience, which is a bit limited (I tended to keep my interest in all things gg and dd offline and with my friends), this place had and has far less trouble than the Twitter fandom. I had always advocated for peace and to not engage antis so my advice to you is to curate your space and spare yourselves needless headaches by avoiding them entirely. We are fans of both gg and dd and that's all that matters.

Pay attention to tags because unlike Twitter, Tumblr heavily depends on tags. My advice to you is to follow tags that are of interest to you and to locate fellow bxg within them.

I've been keeping a list of background (ent. industry/politics/culture) posts for newcomers to yizhan. I am somewhat a person who tends to archive a lot of things and keep them organized and available at all times. I hadn't really kept my archive up to date (2022 is a busy year for me) but I hope you'll find the following posts helpful!

Older:

Dangai 101 phenomenon

Is it reasonable to blame gg or dd for the behavior of antis?

Breaking the CP (Couple)

The Cultural Context

How does shipping them openly affect them?

BJB to criminalize “soft violence”

CP competition (Why must the supertopic be Num.1?)

Regarding dd being hated on because of CQL

Fandom Talk (post 227)

gg going through a rebrand?

CCTV Reporting on Homosexuality: 2005-2017

The bitter relationship between solo fans and cpf

Regarding CQL and BL

Questions regarding bjyx

On clothes and style

Artists in long-distance relationship

Economic value of cpf

Turtles being banned from events

Unpacking Asian masculinity

gg's pr response (relating to 227) - more here

Breaking the CP #2

On Style - here, here and here

Sharing Clothes

(industry-related) about LGBT and “CQL”

bjyx supertopic lore

about Ace Troops

about Instagram accounts

Meta series on ZZH's incident - the upheaval of c-ent in 2021

Regarding dd leaving DDU (ttxs)

More recent:

Meta series on propaganda reposts

About Chinese paparazzi

The Big Politics Meta

About the inspirational ads

Article on Fan Culture in China

The people these posts come from have been my favorite posters in this fandom and my "go to source" even back when I was a baby turtle in 2020.

If you're totally new and are looking for a good place to start with these two then you can check the timeline compiled here (or over here) as well as check out:

BXG Calendar

GG and DD’s Projects

Glossary of BXG Terms

A bit more about me: I just recently made this blog more ggdd-oriented but have been a fan of these two since late 2020. I'm an older turtle that had kept an eye on both of them yet had decided to essentially resurrect this old blog of mine and make it more ggdd-oriented. I will be here to stay as their fan (even if I get a bit busy) because I realized that connecting with fellow bxg outside of the friends I talk with would be a welcoming experience. I love them both equally and a lot (I share passions with both gg and dd; art, racing, dancing, etc.) and if you decide to follow me, I post under the "ragt speaks" tag where I'll either fawn over them separately or talk about candy. If you have any questions (be it that you're looking for something, want to get to know me more, want my opinion on certain topics, etc.) please feel free to ask me!

A few facts about me are that I have been learning Chinese for three years now (very slowly progressing but getting there), that I'm a lesbian, heavily into poetry, art and dramas.

Again, a warm welcome to all of you! It always fills me with joy to see new fans of both gg and dd since they're amazing! I also hope I'll be able to connect to as many bxg/turtles as possible. 💛

[yumi-starlight]

I recently fell in love with the drama The Untamed, adapted from the novel Mo Dao Zu Shi, and since have been obsessed with the two lead actors Xiao Zhan ad Wang Yibo.

I've been hunting for many things to fill the void now that The Untamed events and promotions are all done, watching a lot of YiZhan content as a result.

Then a thought came to me after seeing Legend of Fei trailers, where Wang Yibo plays Xie Yun... that the character Xie Yun and Xiao Zhan's Wei Wuxian from The Untamed would seriously get on like a house on fire!

Though that means a very bloodthirsty and jealous Lan Wangji as his love is getting courted by the charming man (even though both are basically Wang Yibo)!

So to scratch this itch....I decided to draw the scene. Not bad right?

[accio-victuuri]

Hi V! This isn't about GGDD, but was wondering given your time in the fandom (esp. thru last year with 227) what you think the likelihood of ZZH making a comeback is?

Hey Anon! I’m gonna keep everything under the cut so people who are not interested can easily scroll along. Tho this is not directly related to GG/Web, I will answer as it makes us see more of what it’s really like as a celebrity in China.

Let’s start w/ this : 227 is different from what is happening with ZZH.

Now, with the likelihood of him coming back — It’s gonna be hard. Don’t keep your hopes up is what I’m saying. His supertopics and account being suspended. His name being scrubbed off his works in streaming platforms. Peacekeeping movie denouncing him from the movie. Getting banned by China Association of Performing Arts ( tho some people are saying this is temporary only ). Brands dropping him as endorser. All of these are equal to being blacklisted. It will make being associated w/him a challenge and I’m sure ZZH wouldn’t want to trouble others.

It will take a long time for him to come back — if he ever does, or if there is something that happens to prove his innocence. Which is, at this point is unlikely because he already apologized and said he didn’t know the implications of what he did. Hours after that post, CCTV News weibo posted something that says ignorance is not an excuse. And that he has hurt the feelings of the nation. Not just his fans or some group. The entire nation. 💀 I don’t follow other stations’ accounts but Hunan Satellite TV weibo also shared a memo that all hosts and entertainers connected to their station must abide to the Country’s values. It has always been important to show nationalism in CHN, but all the more now, especially as a celebrity.

Aside from being accused as pro-japan and associating with anti-china individuals ( which is a mortal sin for a communist country ) , the big issue here is how he was able indirectly influence some of his fans. Some of them were defending him. Which gives the message that he has influenced them to go against the ideologies of the Communist Party. The rule of thumb in C-ent is celebrities should do their best to have a Positive Influence. Good. Amazing. However, the real message is stick to what the Government is saying. Stick to the values of CCP. Use your influence to promote whatever the Government wants people to believe.

So yeah. That’s it. Don’t expect a comeback like GG’s. Nope.

[candicewright]

I can't help but wonder if this shipping isn't hurting our two precious boys? It's hard to believe at the end of the day that nothing happened between them (romantically), at least for me, but I'm so scared sometimes wondering if we're not adding even more pressure upon them. I want nothing but happiness for 🐰 and 🦁. When I look back at CQL and the BTS videos it all feels like a dream. If it hurts us so much to see how their interaction has changed and fluctuated , imagine how they must feel..

I love that you're poking my brain on this, anon! It's something I think about A LOT and I believe there's a misconception that we just ship/think they're together them for our own benefit without caring about how it can affect them when in reality that's not the case at all.

I can feel that this is going to be a long one, so I'm putting it under a cut. If you're interested in my thoughts about RPS, even if you're not a BXG yourself, keep reading!

In my opinion, it's a question of boundaries. There are two parts to consider: the shippy stuff (fic, art, headcanons, etc.) and the "real" stuff (speculation, analysis, etc.). For the shippy stuff, I think it's great as long as it's kept within fandom spaces. I have found it is not for me personally. I have tried it, but it's not something that I can get into, and that's okay! If it's for you, do it! The problem is when it's forced onto the people these works are about. That's what's caused problems in so many RPS fandoms. If they want to be a part of it, they will look for it themselves, but forcing them to see it is what makes it invasive and uncomfortable. Of course, it would be something else if they asked people to stop. It's unlikely that they ever can or will, so just keep it within the appropriate spaces and enjoy it!

For the "real" stuff, I think it's tricky. There are things that are definitely invasive like stalker pics and videos and then there's the rest, which would intrinsically be in a grey area in my opinion. Except, in this case, I feel like they want us to know, and that makes a big difference when it comes to how to approach it.

One of the main differences between this and other RPS fandoms is that ggdd don't really have the option to just...come out and say they're together. At least, not for now. Even if they wanted to, which I think they would. It doesn't seem crazy to me then that they would want to find a way to let their fans know. In fact, it's probably a great comfort to know we're here supporting them. And if that support is important, I want to be there to give it to them. I think this post puts my feelings about this perfectly:

(x)

They also haven't refuted it or made a statement, which they have done before about other CP rumors. I feel like that silence is very telling.

But regardless, I also think it's important to be able to walk away. If ever they did say they were uncomfortable with it, if they broke up, or if anything else happened, I would be the first one to leave. Respect for them must come before everything else.

At the end of the day, I think our support does mean a lot to them, and it's not hurting them but quite the opposite. It's antis and toxic fans' actions that are harmful, but luckily good people outnumber them. We must think about how to support them without crossing any lines, and apologize and rectify if we do. Just be careful and put your love and respect for them first and support them no matter what💜

Anyway, this was long and I'm sure I went off topic, but I hope this answered your question💜

[starsxinxthexbluexsky]

Hello. Can u tell more why among all ships you came to bjyx? Do u have other CP? I ha so my one CP many years ago, but I knew it was fan service and actually I didn’t follow them a lot. I just liked fics and arts of them, I think I was in love with their image figure and didn’t care much what was in real life, and ofc never knew what candies are. But here with GGDD it’s so different. It feels like I have some personalities like one side - I’m a typical shipper who like to ship for fan fun, like again arts and fics, but another part of me is really caring about them and really believe that they are szd. Thank you for your blog🌸

Hi Anon, I'm glad you like my blog (^～^)!!! I'm having fun, even though I've been doing this for a short time. 💚💛♥

This is fake. All my crazy imagination

Well, I already explained some of that here. I like bjyx, because they are both very real and innocent in their way of loving, their eyes don't lie and their ways of acting either, they are both silly and sweet in their different ways.

As for if I ship other CPs, the answer is no, I have never ship other real people. They have always been anime characters or other fictional characters, I know how uncomfortable it can be to be paired with someone you don't like, it happened to me (ppl think that since I like any genre, it means that I even like stones, but obviously no, they want you to be with everyone).

I like the bjyx fanart, but I don't like +18 fanarts. I don't read fanfictions of them (I will not lie to you at first before thinking that they were szd, I did, but now for me it is impossible), most of them are sexualized and I don't like them, it is as if it invaded the intimacy of a couple, because for me they are szd. I care about them. I like to see them happy and do what they love.

I hope you are satisfied with my answer. 😋😋

[zhansww]

2020 Creator Wrap: Favourite Works

Rules: It’s time to love yourselves! Choose your 5 (or so) favourite works you created in the past year (fics, art, edits, etc.) and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you brought into the world in 2020. Tag as many writers/artists/etc. as you want (fan or original) so we can spread the love and link each other to awesome works.

Thank you for tagging me, @wei-gege and @theyilinglaozus ^-^ ♥♥♥

1. The yi/zhan timeline in my pinned post is something I am proud of. The rest of my blog is actually rather self-indulgent but with that post, I just hope it makes more people see and support what ggdd have. There’s still some stuff that’s missing but, ehem, I’ll get to that eventually xD

2. V and Jk at the Golden Disk Awards — I barely gif those two angels anymore but I still very much love them. Now that there’s an 8mb gif limit, I could actually add so many more frames to each gif there but I have no idea how I colored that. I still like the coloring.

3. simple and clear — I watched that interview and that particular answer for the first time and immediately thought of his love for gg and somehow, I actually bothered to make it into a gifset. I’m glad I did that.

4. Yibo for L’Officiel — I remember playing around with the lighting layers in that one, trying something new. For some reason, I never tried it again, tho. But I still like how it turned out there.

5. Zhan-ge in his sina interview — this took me 84 years to gif, not because of the number of frames but cuz I was so damn happy to see him again, I kept getting emotional. That was the first time he attended an event since January and the second interview he had since then.

6. Wei Ying in episode 43 — I’ve been giffing so much more in the last one and a half year than I did in the four years before that, mainly cql and ggdd. And I have slowly gotten better at coloring gifs to my liking. A lot of scenes in cql look very blue and me, I like warm colors so getting rid of the blue has been a challenge that made me improve, I think. The coloring in that scene is one of the better examples.

I'm gonna tag who I’d like to see do this, too, if they want to~ @thejingshi, @asongofguqin, @xiaosean, @light8828, @artpatriarch, @dracarysgang, @papapewds, @yibiart and @gehenna1986

[rainbowsky]

GG Shengyang long hair fan art collection

This fandom is so talented and active, sometimes it really shocks me! It was fun watching turtles everywhere totally freak out over the recent photos GG posted, but it was especially exciting seeing all the beautiful fan art that came out of it. Turtles are amazing! 💛.

Credits (not in order): ChoiMacchiato, 德黎缪, Yolk是只喵, ���力的咸苏打, 光点DAYTOY说好不哭, 肖聚山琳-Linne, 大雨落在大地上, Kirahi-LOEY, 小兔子是不能听这些话de, -licotata-, 禁萎军, 鹤無缺, 狐狐狸狸yoo, 凯kaiping, 搓扁了奶, YANi ᴷᵀ, 贾新竹, @anotherdescentintomadness

[potteresque-ire]

Here’s my response to @pussyibo, who tagged me on a post about Gg’s Li-Ning brand endorsement. 

First of all, I’d like everyone to please read @accio-victuuri‘s wonderfully written, detailedly researched post on the Li-Ning brand, the Xinjiang cotton support rally on Weibo, and the narrative the state has spun on the issue. I would’ve provided similar information in my response as well—although no way I could’ve laid it out as clearly, as to-the-point as @accio-victuuri did—because this background is critical in explaining my thoughts on this issue.

I haven’t reblogged the Li-Ning ads, but I must confess that the decision had little to do with politics. I’ve always leaned towards re-blogging art than real people.

That said, however, Gg’s Li-Ning ads have, of course, crossed my dash. And I’d be honest and say this as well: I haven’t really found them—or by extension, the idea that Gg was endorsing the brand—offensive, precisely for the reasons @accio-victuuri laid out. Li-Ning is a legend in China; a highly decorated olympic gymnast, he was the national pride chosen to be the final torch-bearer and torch-lighter for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. His company, established in 1990, was among the first Chinese brands with name-recognition overseas and has won high-profile international sponsorships—rare achievements among Chinese-owned enterprises, even to this day. 

Based on Li Ning’s identity and his company being a National Brand, I’d be more surprise if the Li-Ning brand doesn’t use homegrown, “patriotic” cotton, before even considering the practical reasons—Xinjiang cotton being a domestic product that eliminates the costs of shipping, tariffs etc; that it’s of such superior quality that international brands touted its use—a reversal of the usual downplaying of their products’ Chinese origin, due to the common associations of “Made in China”=“Bootleg”,“awful quality”; that makes up ~20% of worldwide cotton production—ie. most Chinese families are probably already using products with cotton from the region (blankets, for example). 

From that perspective, therefore, I’ve viewed the endorsement as little more than a case of a high-profile Chinese celebrity endorsing a high-profile Chinese brand, named after a national hero and targeted towards the local market. I breathed a little sigh of relief for Gg, admittedly—imagine if his new endorsement over those same few days had been for a brand under the Better Cotton Initiative; he would’ve been flayed alive, if the antis’ words were knives.

(And who said they aren’t?)

As such, I also haven’t considered the Li-Ning brand as “morally inferior” to Gg or Dd, or, the other way around, that Gg or Dd are “morally superior” to the Li-Ning brand. I haven’t considered drawing a moral ruler along this axis. I either believe they’re all doing what their sociopolitical environment has taught them, guided them, demanded them to do, or I don’t. Li Ning (the person and the brand), Gg, and Dd all have a celebrity status attached to them. They’ve all flourished in that one sociopolitical environment—that one they also call home.  

Ultimately, Gg and Dd belong to China. They’re the product of the country, its all powerful, all controlling regime. No one can be isolated from their backgrounds—my background colours every word I say here; likewise, there’s no place I can draw a line and separate Gg and Dd from the Communist Red behind them. I wouldn’t have posted about China’s sociopolitical environment, researched on it as a GgDd fan otherwise. 

I either walk away from them all, or I don’t. I either stay a fan, or I don’t. The latter is my choice. Every minute.

Have there been instances in which news about Gg and Dd make me especially uncomfortable? Yes. Photos of Gg in PLA (People’s Liberation Army; Chinese army) uniform for AT, or Dd in police uniform for BAH, for TTXS still give me stomach churns every time I see them. A violent squeeze of the heart.

Visceral reactions that come from, I suppose, the amyglada. More organic, primitive than thought. 

I’ve seen those uniforms in RL action—uniforms worn by those who’re truly responsible for the labor camps and mass surveillance, the torture, the unreported deaths, the disappearances; uniforms Gg and Dd have expressed support outside their drama, their host roles:

Translation: #I support Hong Kong Police too# (On red banner) “I support HK police. You can beat me up now.” What a shame for Hong Kong.

(Dd reblogged the same post originated from People’s Daily, the State-Controlled Newspaper).

I’m going to go on a quick detour and provide the backstory of this red little box, this piece of propaganda that is much more blatant than a clothing ad. I’ll explain why in a bit.

Here’s an article that explained the incident from which the quote was drawn, that occurred on 8/13/2019 during the Hong Kong Protest and the airing of The Untamed. Essentially, a Chinese state media reporter was suspected to be a spy among the protestors after taking photos, refusing to show his press pass (he was found to have one but not his own), and possessing a “I love HK Police” shirt; he was tied to the luggage cart and beaten up. The reporter said the quote in the red little box; he suffered mild injuries and was soon discharged by the hospital.  What was the background of this story, however? Why did the protestors beat up someone who could be from the press—who, regardless of their affiliation, protestors know should be protected? The protests began in June, 2019. Hong Kong had had another large scale protest in between September to November, 2014 (aka the “Umbrella Revolution”). Spies had always been an issue. Why didn’t a spy beating happen earlier?

Here’s an English-subbed documentary (warning: violence) that offers insight of the background—the fear and fury of the protestors. The subject is what is now known as 721 Yuen Long incident, or the evening Hong Kongers—even those who had not been involved, who had been unsure about the protests—lost their trust of the Hong Kong Police, once known as “Asia’s finest”.

That evening went like this. On 7/21/2019, the local mafia violently attacked the passengers of a late night train in Yuen Long station—passengers who weren‘t protestors (who wore black)—while the police ignored the multiple emergency calls from locals who’d spotted something suspicious, and didn’t show up on the scene while the beatings occurred. Evidences, which the documentary detailed, pointed to the Hong Kong Police, and the government that backed it, endorsing the beatings, therefore working with the local mafia to deal with the protests. 

By 8/13/2019, therefore, protestors were convinced that their opposition wasn’t beyond using very low blows to get their way. One could argue that they overreacted to the spy-reporter; the Western media, who had long trusted HKers to know what they were doing, expressed its disappointment, and the protestors soon apologised. The Chinese propaganda machine, of course, jumped at the chance of casting the protestors as bad people, and the online rally on Weibo ensued (It lasted for at least three days; Gg and Dd reblogged post about HK between 8/14/2019-8/16/2019).

That was, briefly, the story behind Gg and Dd’s Weibo reblog.

Why did I make a detour and write up this story? Because I’ve actually posted blatant propaganda on my blog—the Weibo post, with its red little box. However, does it still feel like propaganda with the story?

Therefore, I haven’t, and don’t plan on pressuring anyone to stop posting and re-blogging specific pieces of GgDd information—be it an ad as in this scenario, or propaganda material from films, series, government/state-controlled media announcements etc. That I believe everyone should set their own boundaries, be their own judge of what they’d like to share on their own blog aside, I think—and this is where my opinion may deviate from many—“canceling” falsehoods often isn’t the best way to deal with them. 

This opinion is likely, again, coloured by my background.

My observations have been this: “cancelling” is effective only if the cancelling force is, overall, significantly stronger than the force being cancelled. In the scenario that prompted this post, making Gg’s Li-Ning ads disappear from the dash is only possible if there are more fans who ignore the ads than those who post and reblog them. “Canceling” is therefore a competition of headcount, with tactics for sidekick—the side with more people, and people who are good at disseminating information, decides the outcome: whether the intended-to-be-cancelled material go viral within the fandom, or whether they die out.

I’d like to highlight this word: headcount.

This isn’t the most favourable kind of competition to participate in, therefore, if the potential opposition belongs to the populous country in the world, its members, people who may have participated in fan circles, which are essentially fan armies who’ve been used to organising, battling on social media for their idols. I’ve previously set up a hypothetical scenario, in which Dd’s supertopic members were encouraged by their government to scale the Great Firewall to Twitter, spread their support of Xinjiang cotton—a scenario that is not totally unrealistic, given that the Chinese government has previously mobilised fans for propaganda purpose. 

We’ll use this thought experiment again ~ please bear in mind, once more, that this is SJD; a figment of our imagination.

Since we’re talking about Li-Ning brand, let’s add Gg’s supertopic members to the mix. The total supertopics member count is 6.11 + 8.34 = 14.45 million, as of today (2021/04/04). 

Let’s say, only a tiny, tiny percent—0.01% of them are mobilised; that’s 1,400 people.

Is it possible to cancel the voices, the retweets of 1,400 in Gg and Dd’s i-fandom? Cut down another 90%, reduce the opposition headcount to 140. Is it possible?

There are also overseas Chinese who do not intend to spread propaganda, but believe in the story and have no qualms disseminating the information. There are also fans who wish to remove politics from fandom and pass all information along.

Here lies the frustration of those who’ve tried to raise their voice of concerns re: the policies and practices of the Chinese government on social media; and this is why I mentioned that my background informed my opinion. On social media, where headcount and whoever shouts the loudest, retweet etc the most wins the exposure game, it’s nearly impossible to win against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s propaganda machine, if the party chooses to have the machine running. 

Their side has so many people.

One more RL example: here’s a scholarly article detailing how Diba (帝吧), an old, popular online forum in China with 20 million members, mobilised, collectively scaled the Firewall and engaged in a cyberattack of the Facebook page of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-Wen on January 20, 2016 — the day of President Tsai Ing-wen’s first inauguration; they left a total of 26,000 comments against Taiwan independence, using Simplified Chinese (which China uses) for their font instead of Traditional Chinese (which Taiwan and Hong Kong uses)—ie, the commenters didn’t even pretend to be not from China. They were proud and open about their "Expedition”.

(China’s state-controlled tabloid Global Times—yes, the same one involved in the Hong Kong airport incident above—”concluded the campaign was a “fun normal incident” that showcased young people’s passion for politics”)

Is it possible to try to cancel something of that scale? Is it realistic?

Personally, therefore, I’ve always advocated for “immunisation”: rather than protecting a fact by wiping out its associated lies—the idea behind “cancelling” a message, not having it show up on the dash—I prefer to do so by allowing it to be visibly challenged, until observers are no longer easily swayed by falsehoods. I used Gg and Dd’s Weibo reblog re: Hong Kong police as an example—is the red little box propaganda, a challenge to the protests? Yes. Is it information that I deeply disagree with, something I wish I’ll never see again? Also yes. But by providing context to it, I’m hoping to turn it into a vaccine—something mimicking the virus, the potentially viral piece of information, but doesn’t function the same way anymore. 

Hopefully, this vaccine will also encourage stop-and-think moments that boost future immunity; hopefully, with a few more boosters, questions will come automatically with such red little boxes reappear— questions about the context, the purpose, the message. 

Questions like these, for this incident: why did the State media make this incident the “Gotcha” moment in the Hong Kong Protests, important enough for People’s Daily to make a rally-starting meme? Why was the reporter, Fu Guohao hailed as a hero, when he’d just got ... beaten up? 

What did People’s Daily, and the government behind it, want people to find when the red little box popped up everywhere on Weibo, including the Weibo of the fastest rising stars from the hit summer TV series? What belief could be expected to be instilled into the audience with this photo, published by China’s state TV station (CGTN), of the reporter tied up to a luggage cart and surrounded by black-cladded protestors?

Who looked like the strong, evil side? The meek, good side? Why, finally, was the tag about the Hong Kong Police, when the conflict was between the protestors and an alleged Chinese state media reporter?

By then, Hong Kongers were already suspicious that the Hong Kong Police had been infiltrated by China’s law enforcement arm, from hints from the different dialects the police used, how they handled the protestors etc. It was the start the final break down of Hong Kong’s autonomy. Their suspicions were not wrong. Now, with the National Security Law having taken effect since July 2020, Hong Kong’s transformation into a police state is well under way.

What does the tag #I support Hong Kong Police too# mean now?

[Please excuse my using many examples from HK because 1) I’m familiar with the details; and 2) it’s the only instance in recent history in which the outside world can see, with relative clarity, a large-scale protest against the Chinese government and its outcome.]

Here’s my humble wish: next time, when a government-sponsored memes like this get translated and posted, be it originally reblogged by Gg, Dd, or other c-ent stars, be it on Twitter or Tumblr, the vaccinated, immunised will pause and wonder: What’s the story? What’s being told inside the Great Firewall, and outside? 

If this happens, red little boxes on my blog, unpleasant as they are, are 100% worth it.

The Li-Ning ads are therefore worth it too, IMO, if they spark a conversation, a dissemination of facts and perspectives. To me, the latter is especially precious in this fandom, where significant language and cultural barriers exist.  Fans who move Gg and Dd’s news and candies from Weibo are the pillars of this fandom. Sieving through that website is hard, translations harder; it’s unfair and unrealistic to ask them to also be the background knowledge deliverers. 

I’ve tried to do a small part, but I’m ... slow. Very, very slow. However, even if the background isn’t available, I’ve found being careful, skeptical about the information is already a very good thing. At heart, this is no different from the lessons from media literacy here, except there are even more falsehoods and half-truths to wade through given the country of origin of Gg and Dd’s material, and trustworthy sources are not always available. Li-Ning brand is an example that things do not need to be blatant propaganda to carry a pro-CCP message. 

What can i-fans do then about the Xinjiang cotton situation, if competing against the Chinese government propaganda machine on social media appears to be a losing game?

My thoughts are these, at the moment. First, please consider not dwelling on the competition, especially within fandom. Remember: getting several fewer fans to buy Li-Ning brand isn’t going to change the big picture.

Instead, if this is an area of activism you choose to participate in—please consider channeling your effort to watching the companies in your country. Put pressure on sustainability & good practice certification companies like Better Cotton Initiative, make sure they don’t, can’t have it both ways. Xinjiang cotton is either certified or it isn’t. There’re suspicions of forced labor on its production or there aren’t. The answer should be a simple yes or no, not whether the office is in Geneva or in Shanghai.

This is an answer that we, as consumers, have the right to know. Transparency in China isn’t for us to demand; we can, however, demand transparency in our own country. Remember too: it makes a far, far greater difference for one international company to re-consider its cotton source, than for one fandom to do the same. 

Meanwhile, and again, this is my humble opinion—please do whatever you’re comfortable with, that is within your ability, to fortify your stance. Should you choose to speak out online, you’ll likely meet opposition. Responses on current events from the Chinese Foreign Ministry (you can also find the spokespeople on Twitter) can offer a glimpse of the counterarguments you may meet. How will you answer them? Here’s a clip of one of the spokespeople arguing that the US used to use black slavery to pick cotton in the past. If you’re American and this is presented to you—what would you say? (Does mistakes by one country in the past mean mistakes by another country in the present is automatically acceptable?) The opposition may also use vicious words, the most extreme of which is probably “racist”. If someone call you racist—if many Twitter users scream racist!!!!!!!! at you at the same time for your critique—can you stand firm? 

[The pro-CCP camp has been taking advantage of the West’s effort to move forward from its racist past to stop any criticism of the Chinese government. It already knows the easiest way to silence the criticisms is to call whoever makes them racist.]

[If everyone fears the racist allegation, allows the conflation of Chinese government and Chinese people to take root, will there be more or less anti-Asian sentiments in the long run?]

[I’ve been called racist by writing these metas.] 

The last thing I’d like to say is this: please be kind to your fellow fans who’ve kept mum, or been hesitant about making their stance known. Some may be closely connected to China, others may not be in a psychological / health space to deal with the politics. Also, and here’s my default way of looking at this: I disagree with the idea that anyone owes anyone else a declaration of their political beliefs. I can’t imagine this issue to be an easy thing to think about for many Gg and Dd fans, myself most definitely included ~ as a (former) Hong Konger, a uniformed Gg or Dd gives me an unpleasant visceral response, but at the same time, it also means I’m used to accepting, even genuinely liking people on the other side of this political ... Grand Canyon. I can imagine the conflict, the pain this issue may have caused some fans who’re not accustomed to the latter, as being a fan, IMO, is never purely logical ~ and I mean that in the best of ways. 

Passion is the magic ingredient that separates a fan and a consumer. It’s also what makes choices difficult, when conclusions from logic, political stance included, conflict with it. Some make the hard choices quickly; some, slowly. Some make them in one go; some, piece by piece. Some never make them, let time be the decision maker.

As Dd said so famously and wisely, about the conflict between passion and logic: 愛就是這樣，沒有辦法 Love is like that. Nothing can be done.

The only common denominator is this: we’re all made to love.

❤️.💛.💚.

[rainbowsky]

GG Birthday Fan Art

Part 2 is here.

Credits (not necessarily in order): 要吵出去吵捏, 叽叽叽叽椒, 禁萎军, Kirahi-LOEY, LITHatomm, 糖六藏, 风生汐, 画画的真顺, -哦玖茠呐-, -licotata-, Qii柒柒, LING_奶不加茶, Toenly_, Yolk是只喵, 凯kaiping, 囍囍爱榴莲, 超有钱兔, 鱼massage.

[rainbowsky]

GG Birthday Fan Art part 2

Part 1 is here.

Credits: kokirapsd, 青芒玫瑰肖亦博, nao_兔兔是真的饿, 补钙的饺子奋斗版, 阿坨桑, 无情嗑药叽_, 苹果那个团子, 三更的那个枝, Kirahi-LOEY, 服气煎蛋, Zhangdi頔哒頔

[rainbowsky]

This new art from Mugui is so cute!

[rainbowsky]

Beautiful fan art by Yolk on Weibo.

[rainbowsky]

The Adventures of Sick Bobo

Created by -木鬼-, translated by Yizhan Fanart

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5