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miyu-hyperfixates · 4 years

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The Untamed and MDZS appreciation and recommendation post

Okay so fair warning to my small amount of followers, this blog will probably be full of MXTX contents starting from now, because I’ve fallen into MXTX’s hell and I don’t see myself climbing out any time soon.

I’m not even kidding in the span of three months, I’ve watched CQL (like 4 times), watched the special edition, watch the MDZS donghua, read the novel, read the manhua, read a fair amount of fics, discovered the SVSSS’s characters through a few crossover fanfics, started to read SVSSS, then TGCF (as well as their respective manhua up to the last translated chapters) and well generally immersed myself into the fandoms. And I LOVE it! And I have so, so many feelings and thoughts about the characters, the plots, the relationships, everything, that I don’t even know where to start!

Okay so for those who don’t know what the hell I’ve talking about. MXTX stands for Mò Xiāng Tóng Xiù who is the author of three amazing novels: Mo Dao Zu Shi (MDZS) [also called Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation], The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System (SVSSS) and Tian Guan Ci Fu (TGCF) [Heaven Official’s Blessing]. The Untamed or Chen Qing Ling (CQL) is the chinese drama adaptation of her most well known (as of now) novel MDZS.

I am going to talk about CQL/The Untamed and MDZS (novel version) in this post... But it will probably be followed by posts about TGCF and SVSSS too.

I’ve tried to be pretty vague on several points so that should keep the spoilers at minimum, in case you didn’t watch CQL yet.

[More under the cut]

Okay so as someone of Asian descent who was born and raised in an European country and spent her formative years watching wuxia and xianxia, The Untamed/CQL is the kind of representation that I really didn’t know I needed and I am so, so glad that I gave it a chance. (Big, big thanks to @shit-happens-bitchachos for reblogging so much CQL contents that the frequent presence of it on my dash got me curious enough to start watching it).

Watching The Untamed for the first time feels like coming back to a home that you once thought would be frigid but actually became very warm and welcoming without you noticing because you have been away for so long. And it feels both nostalgic and new, in the best possible way. It’s a wonderful feeling, really.

Where to find it?

You can watch the drama english sub version on Netflix, Viki or Youtube, just typed “The Untamed” and you should find the episodes easily.

To be honest, though I am very thankful for the existence of such platform, I have a slight [read huge] dislike of Netflix’s choice of translation for any Asian movie/tv shows. I mean I’m not going to go off on a debate about official translation vs fan translation, nor westernization and how doing so not only take off a huge layer of subtle/or not so subtle communication but also participate to erase part of the culture. [Because I have opinions about this and I am still very much so cringing about all the “Yanli”s, it is really not the point I’m trying to make right now. ]

So out of the three version, I’d lean more on the Viki version. To be clear though this choice isn’t based on the accuracy of the translation, but strictly on the choice of naming and title convention.

As for the novel, you can find here a complete english translation made by the Exiled Rebels Scanlations group.

The plot

I’m not going to go into detail about the plot, because I’m sure a lot of people out there managed to do so in a way more articulate way that I ever could.

So basically CQL is about Wei Wuxian, aka the Yiling Patriarch. The Yiling Patriarch is like this huge urban legend that everyone warns their children about, except he actually existed. Why such a reputation? Well, in a Cultivation society where people used spiritual energy to fight and exorcise creatures full of resentful energy (such as ghost, ghouls and other things), the Yiling Patriarch is actually the guy who decided that he was going to use resentful energy to fight resentful energy. What he is doing is called “demonic cultivation” and if you want a western equivalent it would be quite close to using necromancy. And if you want an idea of how blasphemous such method of cultivation is deemed, it would be the equivalent of going to a Christian exorcist organization and yelling loud and clear to all the people there that you’re gonna desecrate the tombs of all holy people and use their corpses to fight ghost and other dark creatures.

So the legend/story of the Yiling Patriarch goes as follow: The Yiling Patriarch and his army of corpses were actually quite useful to turn over the tide of a war that shook the foundations of the Cultivation World, annihilating the strongest Sect of the five Great Cultivation Sects (that lorded over the cultivation society). But some time afterwards the Yiling Patriarch revealed his true colors, and killed more than 3000 cultivators (among them his elder sister and her husband - orphaning their one month old son) before finally ended up being killed by his own little brother.

And now sixteen (or thirteen in the novel) years later, Wei Wuxian’s soul got called back because of a dark ritual. The ritual involved giving up their own soul and offering their body to summon up the soul of a dead, evil, person. The soul summoned would have to accomplish the task the summoner wished for, or the soul would be forever destroyed without being able to ever reincarnate. And so, Wei Wuxian woke up in the body of Mo Xuanyu, a young man who was abused by his family and wished for revenge. While trying to work out what he is supposed to do, Wei Wuxian quickly realized that the Mo family is actually being targeted by fierce corpses that are acting way more aggressively than they should. Turns out that it was because of a possessed spirit sword [a cut out arm in the novel].

Afterwards he encounters Lan Wangji, an esteemed cultivator, one of the strongest of his generation, coming from one of the most righteous Cultivation Sect. And the thing is, Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji appear to have quite a complicated history that dates back to their teenage years. And CQL/MDZS is not only about how they decided to investigate the mystery of the possessed sword/arm (which ended up digging up a lot of secrets and conspiracy ), but also about Wei Wuxian’s past, starting from when he was 15 and meeting Lan Wangji for the first time.

The few things that you’re probably going to feel/think while watching the few first episodes

Confusion I think I’m not even kidding when I say you’re supposed to be in a state of perpetual confusion for the first two episodes... There’s this huge info dump, in the first five minutes of episode 1, then you’ll have to navigate this new world feeling as confused as dead-for-sixteen years Wei Wuxian... You’ll meet dozens of characters and if you can’t remember their names or who they are it’s normal don’t worry. Each character has a birth name (Wei Ying, Lan Zhan) and a courtesy name that (Wuxian, Wangji)... And so if you see Wei Ying or Wei Wuxian just know that it refers to the same person. And to complicate things further some characters also have a title (Yiling Patriarch, Hanguang-Jun) other people might use to refer to them. So really, if you want to understand what is going on, you might want to note the name, title and relationship down... But it’s kinda tedious? I promise it is unnecessary as those characters will all be introduced properly in the flash-back starting at the end of episode 2, and you’ll fully be able to get used to them and keep track of them. Of course, if you managed to remember a few names, once the character is being introduced in the past, you’ll get a “ Oh so at some point, this is going to happen to them” sort foreshadowing/foreknowledge, which is neat, I guess. [I recommend going back to watch the first two episodes, once the flash-back is over, to fully grasp what was going on there].

What the hell am I even watching? Okay so this one might only just be me but I was pretty hooked by the story by episode 3... and then I reached episode 8 and 9 and I kid you not, I went “Oh boy... that’s.... yeah okay... *cover face with hands*”... So I was cringing pretty hard for those two episodes out of second-hand embarrassment at the extras actors acting level... Like woah... It was supposed to be scary and threatening and all but I couldn’t just take them seriously? (You’ll know what I’m talking about when you get there)... That with some plot points made me seriously consider stopping right there.... But thankfully I didn’t. So you really just need to pass the first two episodes [which are really good] and cringe your way through the two most abyssal episodes in the show (in my opinion) and everything will go smoothly afterwards. Though to be fair, it might be explained by the fact that no one expected that CQL would have the highest number of reviews of Chinese drama, nor that it would be the highest earning drama of 2019 and certainly not that it would accumulate 8 billions views on Tennent by May 2020. Where am I going with this? Well it was certainly no Game of thrones in terms of budget... That’s what I’m trying to say. It had a low budget production... and well in a fantasy world where everyone and their grandma use supernatural power to fight each other and demonic creatures, special effects are a must. Choices had had to be made [and while I am very thankful for the aspects they decided to use the money on] the special effects were very touch and go.

Okay but are they going to be together or is this another case of queerbaiting? So if what you’re asking is “will we ever get a kiss, a love confession or definite proof of their relationship?”. The very short answer is “No.” You’ll never see any of those on screen for the very simple and good reason that there are censorship laws in China regarding queer relationship on screen. “So it’s basically queerbaiting?” Again no. CQL was adapted from a BL chinese novel. In the novel there is absolutely no room for doubts that they are together. But because of the censorship the producer teams had to remove all definite and obvious proof of romance, but it also means that they had to be creative and anything in the subtext or subtle areas was a go. Like really they crammed more homoerotic text (like at this point is this even subtext) in the show than in all other kinds of adaptations (including the novel, where we get kissing, sex and eloping). It got the point that contrarily to the novel, donghua and manhua where the whole Cultivation world thought Lan Wangji hated Wei Wuxian and that they couldn’t stand each other,in the show everybody and their dogs knew that the two were very close. Also, while I absolutely hate that those censor law exist and am very disappointed that such homophobic mentality still exist and that we won’t get a full adaptation and explicit of their love story, I must say that because of this my demisexual ass absolutely love the depiction of their love in the show. I mean, when you don’t have the “easy way out” of kissing and sex and so all to show that they is definitively romance material going on here... You have to get creative, you have to convey it with all other gestures... touching, gazing at each other and so on... And it creates such a soft but intense and intimate environment around them...By the way I’m not trying to negate their sexual relationship in the novel (#LetWangxianFreelyExpressTheirSexualLives)... I’m just saying that I’m not sure the producing teams would have gotten to such a length in the show if they could just have adapted the explicit romance scenes. Now if somehow they’d had managed to keep the same level of intense subtext and be able to adapt the romance scenes too, that would have been the best, but well...

The reasons you should still absolutely watch/read it?

The plot

The way all those character journeys and stories are interwoven in such a cohesive picture is nothing short of amazing. And the way that Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji unravel events that happened more than a decade ago piece by piece [or rather body part by body part] is so very well done. And of course half way through, you think that you’ve got the full pictures, and you’re sort of gloating all the while because you see it coming from miles away and how can the cast be that stupid... And well you are not wrong. Watch out for the canary though. The show chose to move a few things in term of timeline (character appearing and events happening way before they were supposed to... )... They also added a few original plot points in the past.... So as a results it feels slightly less cohesive and coherent than in the novel. Anyway I won’t go into details here because I’ve got this super long post planned where I’d detailed all the differences between the novel and the show and why some things worked in my opinion but not other. CQL and MDZS are what a properly balanced plot-driven and character-driven show/novel look like.

The relationships

Of course, Wangxian (Wei Wuxian/Lan Wangji) should absolutely be mentioned. Because throughout the story in the past, you watch as young, wild, ingenious, thinking-out-of-box Wei Wuxian meet an equally young seemingly inflexible, impassive, following 3000+ rules in his daily lives Lan Wangji, you watch how their personality clashes before finally acknowledging each other skills, you watch how they hurt during the war, how quickly they had to grew up, you watch how one of them had to watch the other walking down a quickly crumbling path, being alienated by the world without being able to help, you watch how they lost each other, before finally finding each other again after sixteen/thirteen years. And then you can finally watch how soft they are with each other, how in-sync they are, the trust, the devotion, the willingness to stand by each other against the whole fucking world. And as I already mentioned before, because of the censure law in China, you’ll never can’t and will never get to see Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian say “I love you” to each other on the show. It still manages to convey “I love you” in every other possible way without having them actually say the words. I mean at this point it can’t even be considered subtext... It’s plain text written in bold underlined font that can be read in every single one of their interactions, and sometimes even when the other isn't even there, [It's basically subtitles! Hah! Okay getting out of there].

It helps that the chemistry between the two actors is absolutely mind-blowing. And the acting is nothing short of amazing. If you’ve been in the spn fandom then you might know that Jensen is king of the micro-expressions ... well I’m afraid that he has been dethroned by Wang Yibo (Lan Wangji’s actor) in my mind.

But really, wangxian is not the only relationship worth mentioning in CQL/MDZS. One of the other huge highlight in my opinion is the several siblings dynamics. There are about seven sets of siblings among the whole cast and because shitty, shittier and shittiest parents were apparently the norm for their generation, we get to see the trope of “eldest child basically raised their younger siblings” in five different flavors. Of course the main focus is on Wei Wuxian and his siblings, but it doesn’t mean that you can’t see the sheer care and protectiveness oozing out of the other four sets of siblings. As someone who loves family bonding (and especially found families), I really appreciate the fact that among those sets of siblings, there are some that are related by blood, some who are half-siblings and some who are not related biologically but consider themselves siblings regardless. And while all their relationships are different - because they are different people - they all do share the same love for their siblings. “How far are you willing to go for your siblings?” “How much are you ready to sacrifice for them?” The show answers those two questions in various all throughout the story in a more or less oblique way, and right there lies the motivation behind a lot of the characters’ actions, good or bad. Their relationship with their siblings is actually one of the major driving force of the characters (Wei Wuxian among them). And I love it, because it shows that love comes in a many, many forms.

The overarching themes

“What’s right, what’s wrong? Who’s good, who’s evil? Who’s strong, who’s weak?”

In such an elitist society who will judge you at the drop of a hat (especially if you have the bad taste of coming from a more unfortunate lineage), how can you define the difference between “right” and “wrong”? Wherein the midst and the aftermath of a blood thirsty war, the distinction between “good” and “evil” more often than only lies on where you were born and/or your family name rather than where you actually stood or what you did in the war. This right here is the very huge underlying theme that is being woven throughout the show/novel. Not only are we, the viewer/reader, invited to think/judge for ourselves based on the actions of the characters... But our main character, Wei Wuxian verbalizes those doubts and questions explicitly a few times and implicitly in the stand and choices that he decided to take. And due to Wei Wuxian’s influence, Lan Wangji who is used to follow his 3000+ rules on a daily life basis without ever questioning them, starts to do so. (“Do not befriend evil.”, “Be righteous.” ) What does it mean to be righteous? Must the notion of righteousness always align with general opinion? How do you define the ‘evil’ that you are not supposed to befriend? Is my definition the same as yours? Is my definition the same as the rest of the world? And if it is not the case, does it necessarily means that I’m in the wrong? And the very obvious answer to those questions is “No, there is no visible line between ‘right’ and ‘wrong’, ‘good’ or ‘evil’... Nor is there any universally agreed on way to act in order to fit in one category or the other...” And this answer is illustrated in all the ways those numerous characters are depicted: their love, their hatred, their fear, their pain, their joys, their tears, their motivations, their frustrations, their shortcomings, their hidden or not so hidden agenda, their flaws... All of them are depicted in such an awesome and wholesome human way. They are not fully good or fully bad, they are human, with all that it entails... Main characters and main villains included (or rather, I’d say especially them) [Though the show tended smooth and cover this aspect a little bit more than the novel in my opinion]

“Don't you understand? When you’re standing on their side, you’re the bizarre genius, the miraculous hero, the force of the rebellion, the flower that blooms alone. But the second your voice differs from theirs, you’ve lost your mind, you’ve ignored morality, you’ve walked the crooked path.” (Jiang Cheng)

Another theme that is strongly address here is the matter of “Public Opinion”. Despite (or rather because of) how fickle it is, public opinion, rumors (no matter how unfounded) could so easily ruins your reputation, your standing. And if you loose their favors than all your previous actions (no matter how praised it had been in the past) would be seen with a blackened lens. I remember feeling as frustrated as Wei Wuxian at the lack of logic, the rhetoric employed and the sheer hypocrisy that had been portrayed by the mass. I think that there is one character that can be easily recognized as the pure personification of “Public Opinion”, he is without a doubt meant to be the “voice of the mass, of the bystanders whose opinions shouldn’t really matter but actually does a lot”. I won’t tell who it is, it’s pretty obvious if you watch the show... And I think that we are meant to feel annoyed at such characters. I think we are meant to be as frustrated as that one character who at a mass gathering tried to make a stand, tried to do the right thing, but was quickly shut down with dubious rhetoric and blatant disregard because their voice didn’t carry enough power. And last but not least, the show/novel broaches the issue of how social standing is considered very, very much dependent on your circumstance of birth. Like I said before the cultivation world in CQL/MDZS is inherently elitist. In order to be able to cultivate you must learn the proper techniques and at a quite young age. But it is not something that you could do on your own unless you’re some kind of genius or prodigy. Which means that you must attract the attention of a nearby sects or begs them to take you in as a disciple. It means though that you’ll probably start a little later than the disciples that were born directly within the sect [inner disciples], meaning you’ll probably end being weaker. However even if by some truly dedication and perseverance you manage to the same level as the inner disciples, you’ll still only be seen as an outer disciples, nothing more than cannon fodder in the eyes of society. In all the major sects, there is a distinctive mark, objects that only disciples coming from the sect family line are allowed to carry, as an irrevocable sign of their high standing in society and their inherent privileges. There are some exceptional circumstances though where someone of low birth status might reach this elitist sphere. But no matter how high they reach, how outstanding they are, in some way they will always be reminded (sometimes behind their backs, sometimes subtly, sometimes right in their face) of the stigma of their birth. There are three characters in particular, whose journeys mirror and foil each other a lot. And I think it is very interesting to see this “son of a prostitute” or “son of a servant” or “street rat” or “bastard” advanced through society. They all received very different upbringings, despite all starting more or less at a low point. And I liked that the way they decided to live later on and how they tackle/handle the cultivation world is very much reflected and influenced by their upbringings rather than the circumstances of their birth. It brings up this very strong message that, if they are the way they are it is not because of who their parents are, but rather how the people around them reacted to them. The way they are right now is not the fruit of their birth but a direct consequences of the rejection/acceptance of society. And so when you look at them, you can’t help but see their journeys as a three forking road paths reflecting the other like twisted mirrors. You look at their actions now, then back their different circumstances and you can’t help but think “Ah, that is what might happened if things were different.” [There is a reason that canon-divergence and time travel fix-it are my favorite tropes... my bias is really showing here... haha] And it really, really hammers on the importance of kindness in the face of misery and discrimination. Kindness and acceptance at the right moment, no matter how small can change everything. Sometimes, something even as small as a candy.

The movie sets and props So I mentioned before that the budget of CQL really wasn’t that high and they had to make choices. And I could only applaud their choices, because really, wah! Just look at the main sects locations, the scenery, the backgrounds. It’s so beautiful!! [Had I had any gifing talent I would have included them so that you could get the full mind-blowing experience... so I’ll just send you to @gusucloud blog, where all the gifs and edits are amazing, (Cloud Recesses here and Lotus Pier here) and in this post have my lame-ass screenshots instead.]

The fine details, the workmanship in most of the props in the background, the swords!!! *Incoherent flailing*

[I didn’t manage to get any close-up of the swords... but believe me, they are piece of arts!]

The music

The soundtrack of the show is absolutely amazing and beautiful.

You know how in movies and tv shows couples always seem to have “a song”... like “Oh! Look our song is playing!”... Weeeeeell...

Wangxian do too and it’s literally their song, as in their actors are singing it. You can of course hear it in the ending, but... but! I think the way it was used within the episode was very striking. It’s one of the many ways the producer teams managed to convey the romantic aspect of their relationship. And it was very well done.

Wuji, by Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo

Wuji, instrumental piano + flute + Zither version

Just imagine, dude just resurrected from his 16 years of deadness and you see him moping at night by playing this beautiful tune with a freaking leaf... just because he saw some cultivators wearing the same uniform as Lan Wangji... So at this point you know that this song might means something but well, you don’t really get it...

The second time you hear this tune, we are on a mountain, and it’s through a bamboo flute that Wei Wuxian used to appease and calm down an agitated corpse [who he apparently knows]... He is luring ‘it’ out to a safe place, so he is playing the song while slowly moving back one step at a time. Then his back suddenly bumps into someone... This person catches his hand. The flute playing abruptly stops and the full instrumental version with piano+flute is suddenly blaring out in the background. And then it’s as if the whole world stops as they gaze at each other, while the music keeps playing. And really, you might fully understand the weight of their gazes, or their history, but you know that it’s there... That’s the moment where you look at them looking at each other, grasping at each other wrist, where you can still hear their song in the background... and can only go “Oh. Oh.” [Then of course a purple ball of pure anger just had to come and interrupt them. Excuse you, they were quickly having a moment there. Kidding aside, It was such a nice scene, it’s hand down one of my favorite scene of the whole show, and the music played a really huge part in my opinion.]

And if it wasn’t enough to hammer it down. The third times will definitively do it. So both of them are fifteen years and meet each other for the first time, when Wei Wuxian goes to study at Lan Wangji’s sect. Of course there first impression of each other is disastrous, what’s with Wei Wuxian insisting to come inside despite having lost his invitation and Lan Wangji clearly stating that no one is allowed without invitation. Of course it doesn’t help that after running back to fetch his lost invitation, Wei Wuxian snuck in after curfew (breaking a protective ward on his way), while smuggling two jar of alcohol. All of the above are forbidden in Cloud Recess, by the way. So our boy just casually broke three rules and then who catch him, right when he is climbing over the wall? Lan Wangji, who’s on patrol, of course. [Like I said, disastrous first impression]...And so after frostily listing all the rules Wei Wuxian broke not even five minutes in , Lan Wangji tries to bring Wei Wuxian to be disciplined. Wei Wuxian, of fucking course, resists. And the two proceed to fight (sword and all).

Cue their song playing as they cross swords on the rooftop of Cloud recesses, under the light of a full moon night.

If that is not a meet-cute I don’t know what it is.

Anyway this song is played many, many more times in the show and I’m not talking about them because I don’t want to spoil anyone.

Also as an aside, they don’t appear in the show... But there are character songs that have been recorded. Some of them sung by the actual actors and other not. And while all of them are really good, if there is absolutely one that you must listen to, it’s “Bu Wang” by Wang Yibo the actor of Lan Wangji. Make sure to watch the official MV only after watching the whole show (because it’s spoilery) and to activate the cc for the lyrics translation. It’s such a beautiful and painful song; and a very insightful reflection of Lan Wangji’s character. I love it.

Lan Sizhui and A-Yuan

No argument or explanation needed, you’ll see when you get there. I dare you not to like those small fluffy cinnamon rolls!

The Junior Quartet

Okay those ducklings deserve a whole sub-section on their own. Not only because they are all amazing kids but because of what they represent.

What is really great here is that since the story takes place over the span of 16/13 years, you get to see three different generations at various stage of their development. In the past you get to see the parents generation at their sum-up while there child, the following generation [Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji etc] from their teenage years to young adulthood. Then in the present you see the teenagers reaching the age their parents were (more or less, probably slightly younger) and the next generation (the ducklings) about the same age as Wei Wuxian’s generation were at the beginning. And the juxtaposition between the two pictures is just so, so very telling because the differences are glaring.

I’m going to borrow the words from qrbat who wrote this wonderful fanfiction, “tell some storm” on ao3.

The parents generation was a generation of Pride and Greed, it was a generation that lauded standing your ground no matter what and refusing outsider help. They were the generation which raised their children as a “generation of War”. A war that they started and that their children, teenagers, had to fight and end for them. And in comparison the junior generation seems so unexperienced so soft... and that’s a good thing, because it means that those children hadn’t had to experience the hardship of war, hadn’t had to grow up so fast because they basically didn’t have any decent parental figures to help them. Instead of perpetuating the cycle of hate and war started by their elders, the generation of War raised the next generation as a generation of peace, as a “generation of Love” and acceptance.

And it is amazing because the juniors, simply by being who they are, are embodying this message from Wei Wuxian’s generations to their parents “See? This is what it means to parent. I had to sacrifice my childhood and innocence to fight your war and I still managed to raise such amazing and kind children, what was your freaking excuse? I will not be like you. Times are changing and they are changing for the better.”

*Look at length of the post* *snort* Right. Okay, would you believe me, if I told you that in the beginning this post was supposed to be an appreciation post for all three of MXTX’s works and not just MDZS because I was afraid it would be too short? Yup so turned out I had a lot more things to say than I thought. Please feel free to react or just message me about anything MXTX’s fandom related... I am desperately in need of friends to discuss with about MXTX’s stuff!

#mo dao zu shi #mdzs #mdzs appreciation #cql #cql appreciation #the untamed #mxtx #wei wuxian #lan wangji #wangxian #mine

3 notes · View notes

goingknowherewastaken · 6 years

Text

This is a writer shaming post.

Maybe “shaming post” isn’t the most accurate description for this post.

“Tip/Heads-Up Post On How Writers Can Get More Readers” is a more accurate description...with the twist that it is written in a salty and Done^TM manner thanks to the amount of bullshit that’s happened in the past year.

Basically, I am fucking done with it. Done with the pathetic bullshit that has been going on for the past how many fucking months - hell, this goes beyond months! Fucking years this shit has been happening in the fanfiction community and I am done with seeing this shit continue to happen.

Fucking. Done.

Anyways first and foremost before I get into this, I am not forcing anyone do any of these. Then again maybe I should be because these things are all things that have been repeated by all of a lot if not all of us writers and many writers have not bothered to improve on different points that I am about to make. So maybe consider these and how badly you want to improve your writing and note count, yeah? And dear god please stop with the bitching and moaning.

*sips tea* So, let’s get started, shall we?

♦♦ No one is obligated to read your work because SURPRISE everyone has their own preferences.

What does that mean????? It means that not everyone likes everything so they may skip it if they don’t like what their reading. If what you put for the fic is a turn off then they won’t bother reading it or if halfway through they realize they don’t like it then they will leave it.

So maybe the reason you aren’t getting notes is because it’s simply something that some people aren’t into. And don’t you dare get mad at the readers for that nor should you be trying to force them to read your stuff.

► Follow up point! There might also just be a small fandom for whatever it is you just wrote for!! Just keep writing!!! You never know, people might become curious and join the fandom for your content :D

♦♦ You gotta know your audience (for Reader Inserts).

Who are you writing the fic for? Women? Men? WOC? Trans men? Everyone?

Everyone has preferences for their fics, but the preferences get more intricate when you look at various demographics.

Women of Color are not going to finish a reader insert if they see details (from terms to gifs) that would make the reader a white woman. Men are not going to read a fic for a female reader.

It’s fine to tailor a fic to a specific demographic. Great, actually! But you need to be mindful and respectful of it. If you say the fic is going to be a gender neutral fic then you gotta make sure that it is gender neutral. Reader Inserts should always be race neutral unless you are tailoring it to a minority. Don’t try to get high and mighty about the “what about white people????” shit. Just don’t.

Speaking of which...

♦♦ Step away from what you know.

A phrase that many cling to often gets brought up in these moments: Write what you know.

A dangerous phrase.

“I don’t know how to write for X because I’m not X.” It’s the usual statement said when people are asked to write for something that they are unfamiliar with.

Now, if you’re a new writer - I mean brand, spankin’ new - and are still figuring out the writing world - you get a pass to say this, but the longer you’re writing...

No. N - fucking - o.

Sticking to what you know and not exploring new themes and views stunts your growth. You do not improve. You do not grow as a writer. You do not grow as a person.

Challenges and learning new things help us grow and become better...and get more readers.

♦♦ Just because you can write it doesn’t mean you should.

Oooooh boy.

Everyone raise your hand if you’ve ever had a bunch of people come at you telling you that what you wrote is bad. By bad I don’t mean that they’re saying that it was badly written, but that what you wrote was insulting and/or wrong and you should never write that again.

If you raised your hand then I sure as hell hope that you heard those people out because if you didn’t and you just went into a pissy “waaaah these people are being mean and telling me to stop this and I don’t understand why and I don’t want to stop” mode then you need to pull your head out of your ass.

Sometimes, we do get readers who just want to nitpick everything and it’s easy to dismiss them. I had a person once tell me that I needed to stop using large spaces between paragraphs because they didn’t like large spaces. You’re damn right I ignored them because it was a stupid thing to pick at. (The spaces were due to the writing program I was using fyi.)

Other times, though, if many people are bringing it up, then it is something to be listened to.

► Example - Cisswapping. I said Cisswapping not Genderbending. Both deal with changing the gender of a character for a work. Now there are instances of genderbending that are acceptable - like if the character can canonically shift their gender at will and/or identify as genderfluid; there can never be enough fics written about trans characters or readers.

But Cisswapping - just changing the character’s gender...now that is a massive no-no. Like, saying that James T. Kirk (Star Trek)(male) is going to now be Jamie T. Kirk (female) - not making the character trans or genderfluid, but saying that from birth Kirk is actually female in your work - that is shitty. How do I better explain how bad this is? Hmmmm...you guys know how shitty it is when a POC character is whitewashed?

It’s that shitty and insulting.

Cisswapping characters erases and disregards so many people and their stories and struggles. See, fandom ships usually M||M and the majority of the time the people that are disregarded are people who are gay and/or trans. These are people who have gravitated to fanfiction to see themselves and those like them reflected in works because popular culture is still trying to catch up to them. We can now see more gay and trans characters and celebs in our movies and TV screens and such than we could years ago, but fanfiction will always be a sure place to find that representation.

So to suddenly find that Jane Doe decided that she wanted this popular M||M ship to be M||F ship... You bet your ass people are gonna be pissed. It takes strength and bravery to transition...but you just said that that means nothing compared to having an M||F ship.

If you are that desperate to have a character in an M||F ship, just make an OC.

Just leave the idea of Cisswap behind.

(PS - thank you @insane-sociopath ♥)

►► Follow-Up Point - Do your research before going and writing your fic. There are plenty of sources online - not to mention people to talk to - that will help you out.

► Example - And rpf ships because those involve real people whose personal lives you are disregarding for your “fantasy” and no matter how many times you cry “but I respect them!!!” the dozens upon dozens of fics and fanart you post (both sfw and nsfw) about the rpf ship says otherwise. And the hyper-analyzing of photos and stuff to say that they’re in love…it’s on the creepy side of obsessive.

Not to mention you guys tag the celebs in the ship in your posts... Like, you guys do realize that the internet is not a vacuum right? Celebs and those who know them personally can see your shit and the process is made all that easier when you tag the celebs so it shows up in the celeb’s tag. Platonic and romantic relationships between celebs have been damaged after finding out about the rpf ship you guys have been creaming your pants over.

If the rpf ship in question are both single it’s just a tad bit less weird (still weird though) and if they are a legit couple in real life it’s definitely less weird to ship them (writing nsfw stuff for them is disturbing as fuck though). If one or both are in a committed relationship with someone who is not the other half of your rpf ship then uh-uh no way did you not read the start of this example?????

Reader inserts involving celebs can be looped into this as well if you think about it. There’s usually more acceptance for reader x celeb fics, but it doesn’t mean that they are accepted by all nor that you shouldn’t be treading lightly.

To wrap up this point, you might have scared off readers because they are tired of seeing you writing something that you shouldn’t be writing. This isn’t a “well you just said that people can have preferences and don’t have to like everything” thing. This is a “you’re probably being a tactless dick” thing.

*note - many do get a lot of notes on celeb content, this section was more addressing the hate that gets sent

♦♦ People rarely have time to read your work right the minute it’s posted.

Did you know that mankind created this thing called Time and that the Earth is divided into timezones? No? Well, you’re education failed you.

See, when you post a fic online, the following people will see it - those who you tagged in it, those looking in the tags you tagged it with, those who have selected the option to be notified every time you post something, and those who are simply scrolling through their dash. The latter point is what we are going into right here, right now.

Posting it once and assuming that everyone else will do your dirty work on spreading the news that the fic is up for reading only allows for a certain number of people to see it. It is highly encouraged to reblog your own shit. A lot. Like, ten times a day or even days on end. Hell, you should still be reblogging it long after you posted it. When you reblog your work you are putting it back into people’s dashes and giving it a better chance of being seen by other people. Depending on when you post could mean if an entire country and it’s residents (aka - followers and readers) is enjoying their free time, sleeping, attending classes, or working.

So maybe the reason you’re getting no notes on it is because barely anyone has seen it due to it being posted at a bad time for them.

Also, even during free time people are busy; they could have also seen it and are waiting until a later date to read it. Or they just aren’t in the mood for whatever theme your fic is. Regardless, don’t fret or be like “well I guess no one wants to read this now” or shit like that. Give them time. Patience.

♦♦ How is your fic written?

You don’t become a fantastic writer overnight. It takes time and effort and practice. Sooooo much practice. Some people who have been around for a while will only read fics with good grammar. A thing which is actually rather rude considering those writers with “bad grammar” are usually people who are in the early stages of their writing career or they are writing in a language that is unfamiliar to them. And I give you writers in those two categories a damn huge KUDOS. Do not stop writing because a reader is rude and is like “blah your writing sucks!”

Writing takes practice and with every fic written and read we all get better and better.

►► Some extra tips for us all to look out for:

+ Research! Research! Research!

+ Massive blocks of text scare people off. Try breaking them up into smaller paragraphs when you can.

+ Take a look at your tenses. This is something I myself am working on improving in my own writing.

+ Find yourself some beta readers! They are a huge help when it comes down to figuring out your fic!

+ If it’s a long work, please use the read more option. Hitting a long post on tumblr mobile without a read more is one of the worst things and it puts many readers off.

+ Use a mix of said and adverbs; don’t be afraid of either. Adverbs can help set the scene more, but too many or using the wrong ones just makes the writing tacky; said gets boring after a while and only brings forth so much to the table.

+ Make a masterlist - preferably a mobile friendly version!! You can do this by making a text post and linking your works and then embedding that link in your tumblr bio!

+ Read! Read! Read! Reading a wide variety of fics can help improve your own!

+ Don’t steal anyone else’s fics!!!! This is just really obvious people.

♦♦ Did you do anything at all to introduce your fic to people?

This is a huge point. See, most people don’t bother reading a work if they don’t know what it’s about. I don’t. If I can’t immediately see the ship or characters involved (not everyone likes every character or ship), warnings, a summary, or even the fandom (there’s so many Steves guys...you gotta include the last name of a Steve if you’re not gonna put their fandom) then I don’t even bother reading it. Books and movies and TV shows introduce us to these things; why can’t you?

And warnings.

♦♦ Did you post any warnings about your fic?

There are two types of people in this world. Those who see no warnings and don’t bother reading it because they don’t know what’s in store for them and others that will see no warnings and will then assume that the fic is safe.

Big surprise when they’re caught off guard by something serious and they refuse to finish the fic. If people know that you are a chronic non-warner of sensitive content then they will not be returning to read any of your work. SPOILER - NOT WARNING PEOPLE ABOUT SERIOUS AND/OR SENSITIVE CONTENT NOT ONLY EARNS YOU NO NOTE ON THAT FIC BY PEOPLE BUT IT ALSO MAKES YOU A FUCKING JACKASS IN THEIR EYES

Warnings save a writer’s ass.

I cannot stress this enough - include warnings for your fic!!! Ao3 is built on warnings (the tags are warnings people) and people seem to get readers fine there. What’s your issue with putting warnings on tumblr fics? And they help summarize a fic (summaries also can act as warnings fyi)!!!!

Some people will argue that warnings = spoilers. They don’t want to give a heads up about sensitive content in lieu of not letting anyone know a single detail of what happens. Do I need to point out what’s fucked up with this statement? You are putting spoiling your fic above the mental and emotional health of your readers? (I swear to god if you try to argue that a trigger is only something that sets off self destructive behavior you need to check yourself. What about those that end up suffering panic attacks or emotional breaks? Or that writing doesn’t trigger anything? How does seeing other visual stimuli set off a trigger but not text? People can be triggered by any number of things; it all depends on the person. We can’t tag or warn for every trigger because there are so many, but the least you can do is warn about the mains ones (sexual assault, violence, abuse, self-harm, injury,...).) If you’re really gonna be anal about that then a trade off will be putting them in the tags and then telling people they can find the list of warnings there. But you gotta tell people where to find the list of warnings.

Not to mention that this stuff will dictate where someone reads your fic. Now, a lot of people read some really sexy or violent store bought books in public, but that is strictly text. I’ve seen a lot of fics with some nsfw gifs and moodboards slipped in. Most of us are already fearless when it comes to reading nsfw stuff in public, but the visual things can get people into a shit ton of trouble. And of course you have plenty of people who are mindful of what they read in public.

Or that they don’t have to use warnings because movies and tv and such don’t give warnings. Oh, yeah, you read that sentence right. There are people who have not been paying attention at all to movies and tv and such created over the past several decades.

Or that ‘real life doesn’t have warnings’... I’m sorry have you checked the labels on medicines and other products? Or have you seen road signs? We have warnings everywhere people!!! It’s about fucking time that written works got better with it.

If you don’t have anything serious to warn about then don’t put any warnings, but if you do then dear god you should probably do some warning.

♦♦ Make sure to tag!!!!

On tumblr there are two different types of tags - the @ and the #.

The @ tag - Tagging people means that those people will be notified that you posted a fic (or they should be assuming tumblr is working properly)! If you don’t know who to tag, pose a question to tumblr asking if anyone is interested. A lot of people also are open to and encourage you to tag them if you have something that you think they may be interested in. And regardless of if you do tag people or not, people will often times approach you through comments, replies, asks, and DMs with requests to be tagged in future works.

The # tag - using tags on your fics is so fucking important. These tags are how people find your stuff. Tag wisely.

► Example - Let’s say you wrote a Bucky Barnes x Steve Rogers fic; expected tags should be - bucky barnes, steve rogers, captain america, the winter soldier, marvel, stucky, bucky barnes/steve rogers, bucky barnes x steve rogers, captain america x the winter soldier, avengers,...

Honestly, I could add more tags to that.

Another example - A Bucky Barnes reader insert fic; expected tags should be - bucky barnes, marvel, reader insert, bucky barnes x reader, bucky barnes/reader, the winter soldier, bucky x reader,...

You get the idea?

Tag your shit, but don’t over tag it. Stick to the necessary tags and don’t skimp on those, but don’t tag the unnecessary tags.

What are unnecessary tags? These tags are tags that have nothing to do with the fic and/or are not the main focus. Bucky Barnes x Reader fics should not be showing up in the Sam Wilson tag if Sam is not a main focus in the fic. Spirk fics should not be in the McKirk tag if McKirk is not the main focus of the fic.

Many people will not read your work on purpose if you pull this shit because they’re pissed that your cluttering the tag with unrelated work for not reason.

But tumblr used to say that only the first five tags will be counted towards where a post shows up in searches, but I’ve sort of found this to be false? I’ve found many posts show up in searches where the tag I searched is actually far past 5 tags in. Basically, all of the tags are valid.

So tag responsibly people!!!!

And I think that wraps it all up.

I was going to do a section dragging readers, but I think that will be for another time because this is a little on the long side. Because sometimes us writers can follow all of the above and still have no notes.

Anyways, once again, I am not forcing anyone to do any of these; it’s all up to you what you want to do in regards to your writing. I and a whole bunch of other people are just exhausted with the bitching and moaning people are doing in regards to not getting readers when there are several easy actions that could be taken to change that.

#long post

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sexedforthelastinbed-blog · 5 years

Text

Pansexuality

Pansexuality is generally known to be sexual attraction to people regardless of gender identity. Unlike bisexuality, pansexuality is not limited to only male and female, rather it includes people who are non-binary and non gender conforming. In Western culture, many people find it difficult to identify the difference between bisexuality and pansexuality and disregard pansexuality as a sexual orientation altogether (Mustanski, 2015). Pansexuality is a relatively new term, gaining recognition around the mid 90s. Pansexuality, like many other sexual orientations that are not heterosexual, lacks any representation in sex education. In the following interview, a young woman who identifies herself as pansexual is asked questions, some general and some pansexual specific, about her experience with sex education. The interview is meant to get a look at whether or not pansexuality is well represented in sex education and whether the interviewee felt like she learned valuable information.

Pinky:

1. At what age did you take sex ed?

It wasn’t addressed at all until my senior year of high school. I took a health class, not “sex ed”, and even then it was heavily dependent on abstinence only education. There was definitely, like, a culture of shame around people who do have sex. There were other classes that did mention it, like anatomy. She said we could ask questions during the unit but it was more about anatomy.

2. What were your major takeaways from sex ed? Did you feel like your sexual identity was being represented?

I did not feel like my sexual identity was being represented. I come from a really homophobic area. My major takeaways were probably just, sex isn’t something you can talk about or ask about. My health teacher said that girls who say that they’re pregnant after one time having sex are liars. He had issues with fertility and so he projected that on others. He told us it was almost impossible to become pregnant after one time having sex. He told us that obviously, if you were pregnant, you must be having sex more than once.

3. Did you feel like your sexuality influenced how you took in the information?

I feel like a little bit, it did, yeah. Just because I felt like it was very heterosexual, like hyper-hetersexual. Gay sex was never mentioned, at all, ever. It kinda left people to figure out stuff on their own, it was very binary definitions of female and male as well.

4. Did you feel like your sex ed class influenced how you perceived your own sexuality?

It made me feel less comfortable with males, just because I saw that it was, like, males were active and dominant. If you have sex, you’re letting it happen and sometimes you should be letting it happen. If that’s what the guy wants, you owe it to him. It made me uncomfortable with pursuing heterosexual relationships, because I felt like there was a power imbalance, sexually.

5. Was there anything about sex ed or your own sexuality that you had to learn outside of an actual sex ed class?

All of it. My mom’s a doctor and she and I have a good relationship so anytime I’d have a question, she’d be willing to answer it. It could be awkward, but she’d do it. Also, textbooks. I learned some from my anatomy textbook. The internet was my biggest source though, especially for gay shit. I don’t know what I would have done without the internet.

6. How did stereotypes and preconcieved ideas about sex ed play into your education?

I guess I kinda had these preconceived notions of what relationships were supposed to be like. Also, like, what the sexual dynamic in relationships should be like. Males were in an active role, and females were in a passive role. If females were trying to be active, then they were just bossy bitches. Especially because I grew up in a very religious community. I was also taught that two females or two males having sex was unnatural and perverted.

7. How much do you know about contraceptives?

I feel like I know a pretty fair amount because I take birth control and my mom, like, had taught me all about different contraceptives and how to be safe.

8. How was sex perceived in your household and do you think that race/class/religion had anything to do with it?

I think that religion had the biggest impact. My mom is a very supportive and understanding person but she still thinks that sex will take away a part of your soul. Especially for women, it’s always implied also that this is, like, heterosexual sex. I think that’s why sometimes I’m more comfortable having sex with women because I don’t have this idea of, like, the penetration that allegedly takes away a part of me.

9. What would you add, if anything, to sex ed in the future so that more people would be knowledgable about sex and sexual orientations, esp. your own?

So much, well, I feel like kids are gonna have sex no matter what so it’s really crucial to educate them on how to do it safely. Also how to get contraceptives. If my mom wasn’t a doctor, I would never know how to get birth control. Also, how to say no. Like, consent really needs to be a bigger topic. How to be safe, safe and enjoy it. Communication is a big thing. And then also, like, sex isn’t always a penis and a vagina and if it is, then that doesn’t always mean girl and boy.

10. How did you discover that you were pansexual? Did sex ed play a role in that?

I knew that I was queer probably when I was around 12 years old I think. I went through a lot of different labels before I decided that pansexual fit me best. Sex ed did not play any role in that. I’ve always been able to be attracted to someone regardless of their gender or without even knowing their gender.

11. What is your view on bisexuality versus pansexuality? Did this distinction ever play into your identification as a pansexual person?

I think that it did play into my identification as a pansexual person. To me, I’d always heard that bisexual meant that you were attracted to both men and women. Now, I’m being exposed to the fact that different people define it differently. Some people define it as being attracted to all genders, which is pretty similar to pansexual. So, I think it’s a personal thing. I just think I identify best with pansexual because bisexual, to me, feels very binary and I feel like that doesn’t really fit me because it erases my attraction to non-binary people and, you know, gender non-conforming people.

12. What might you change, if anything, about sex ed to have it include more about pansexuality?

Just addressing that there are sexualities other than heterosexual. I think, sexualities all across the spectrum need to be taught because I feel like people need to know that it’s okay to be attracted to no one, it’s okay to be attracted to all genders. There would’ve been such an added degree of comfort with who I was growing up if I’d grown up knowing that there are these labels that exist.

Sweetheart:

At what age did you take sex ed?

9th grade, so 14

What were your major takeaways from sex ed?

I learned not to have sex, and the condom will always fit. I also learned what Pina Colada lube taste like.

Did you feel like your sexuality influenced how you took in the information?

Yes, they only talked about heterosexual sex and relationships. One teacher even said “I won’t even talk about sex with the same people because he did not believe in it.

How did you discover that you were pansexual? Did sex ed play a role in that?

I discovered that I liked girls, then I discovered that gender didn’t really matter. I would pursue anyone who caught my eye.

What is your view on bisexuality versus pansexuality? Did this distinction ever play into your identification as a pansexual person?

Pan includes non-binary, and thats the distinction for me and thats the big difference.

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