#the tgcf fandom is thriving right now

[yeyayeya]

The new changes to the uncensored TGCF revised version are 👀

[bigbadredpanda]

Hi,, I hope I'm not bothering you with this and I'm sorry if my English isn't good, I hope you can understand my questions. I've been thinking about this for a while now and I tried to find information online but I found nothing.

MDZS is the first Chinese Novel I've read and I still haven't finished it yet,,but I've heard about rumors that said that MXTX is in jail, because she sold copies of her books. The rumor isn't true, however it made me wonder something,, I know China's censorship on lgbt related stuff is really heavy and that's why the donghua and drama adaptations of MDZS and other bl works are censored, but I didn't know that authors couldn't sell their novels.

So my question is,, how does MXTX earn money if she isn't allowed to sell her works? She has already finished 3 Danmei novels, and her works are really popular, they even have manhua, donghua or drama adaptations. The adaptations have earned quite a lot of money, but since she's an anonymous writer, does part of it even go to her?

To make the drama, the donghua and the manhua, producers had to ask her permission, I think. So, since the adaptations are doing well, she should get part of the profit, but how does it work? If the Chinese Government really is against lgbt themed works, shouldn't they have done something about her?

I really love her works and I hope that she earns something since she is the one that created all of them. Thanks for considering my question!!

Hi both of you and welcome to the cnovel fandom! Quick intro of the author, MXTX uses a pen name like many webnovel authors, it’s the abbreviation of Mo Xiang Tong Xiu which literally means “Ink Fragrance, Copper [Money] Stench” (墨香铜臭). Fun fact, it’s her mother who coined that name. MXTX wished to pursue a major in literature during university but her mother wanted her to graduate in economy instead while keeping writing on the side, that way she would have the fragrance of ink in one hand and the stench of money in the other.

We also know that she is fairly young, she wrote Scum Villain while she was a university student and she started working on the outline of MDZS in her final year. Tian Guan Ci Fu (Heaven Official’s Blessing) is the third book she completed and a fourth novel is/was in the works, its provisional title is “No rest for the death god” and is supposed to be a supernatural story taking place in a modern setting.

MXTX is one of the most popular webnovel authors on Jinjiang Literature City, the webnovel platform, but her popularity also comes with a great many detractors. You’ve heard some of the malicious rumours circulating in the English-speaking side of the fandom, it’s just a drop in the ocean compared to the outpouring of heated controversies in the Chinese side as the latter can have real-life consequences. There is a different nexus between the creator and the audience and the fandom culture is not the same either, it can be quite deleterious due to the tendency to report any content that one disagrees with.

Censorship in China is... ever-changing and nebulous. How severe it is depends on the medium. Nevertheless, gay literature (同志文学) does exist in China and it is distinct from danmei. I also want to nuance a bit the pervasive idea that anything lgbt is systematically and relentlessly censored in China. The reality is more complex than that and it would be dismissive of the hard-fought gains and visibility that Chinese lgbt activists have obtained these past two decades (some concrete examples: the work of the lgbt centre in Beijing or the pride festival in Shanghai). I don’t know if people are aware of this but lgbt dating apps are thriving in China, the most popular one, Blued, is also the largest lgbt social network worldwide. With that said, the official policy towards homosexuality is the three No’s: “no approval, no disapproval, no promotion”. A stance comparable to the “don’t ask, don’t tell”. It’s not explicit persecution but it manifests in the silencing of public discussion and the limiting media representation of homosexuality. In 2017, the top media regulator that oversaw radio, film and television  issued guidelines banning a number of things, this included obscene and violent content, homosexuality, superstitious pseudoscience (such as reincarnation or spirit possession). On top of that, there is also an ongoing crackdown on online pornography that gets increasingly intense. And that concerns everyone on the internet, it’s astonishing the lengths netizens will go to in order to circumvent the censorship, new slang is developed to refer obliquely to banned words, fanfics are published in image format to prevent text recognition, etc... The censorship might be increasingly prevalent but netizens push back with their resourcefulness. Pushing back is also not without significant risk. Perhaps you have heard of the case of the danmei author that received a severe jail sentence? A few Western media picked up on that and criticised the ruling that was deemed homophobic. Chinese reactions tell a slightly different story, the author's crime was not writing danmei, she was in fact accused of making a profit by illegally producing and disseminating pornographic material. I’m not too keen on the details but it seems she printed the books herself and sold them online. To some Chinese observers, the ruling was not discriminatory because she did break the law. To others, it was absurd because this law dates from an era when internet barely existed and it would have been much more laborious to mass-produce and share porn at that time. There’s a bit of truth in all these points of views. It’s also not disingenuous to say that lgbt content is more likely to be targeted than het content even if the charges are not directly lgbt-related.

Usually contracted authors of webnovel platforms have a more secure status. They get a fee from the purchase of VIP chapters as well as tips from the readers. Other sources of revenue arise when webnovels get popular enough to get the opportunity to be published through official channels or when adaptation rights are sold (I assume that the author receives a share of that deal but perhaps does not get any further financial gain from the adaptation or its merch).

To support the author, I would suggest purchasing TGCF on Jinjiang (guide) or buying the physical versions of her three novels in Chinese (shop, change to English with top-right world icon), the special boxsets of MDZS and TGCF come with tons of goodies!

Hope I could be of service and that my tirade was mildly informative ^^'

[yummysuika]

PSA re: tgcf pdf removed

i'm sure some of you have noticed the tgcf pdf has been removed from the carrd.

i just wanna clarify that the pdf wasn't removed solely because of the one incident, tho it did expedite the decision.

the various e-formats were created for ease of reading for everyone, and they weren't meant to be reformatted for actions that violated copyrights.

the pdf was password-protected from the beginning to prevent manipulation beyond only viewing, and unfortunately there were too many who were able to get around it without permission, and going as far as giving others instructions on doing the same thing. when incidents escalate to the point where they can potentially jeopardize the online versions and possibly the future of an official release, i have to pull the plug.

the gdocs, mobi, and epub remain available. only the pdf is removed right now. the gdocs app has a dark mode option, if not you can download the dark mode extension for your browser. kindle supports mobi, and epub for the rest. e-reader apps that support these formats are widely available for free.

i hope everyone understands that my providing this is a courtesy and not an obligation.

i love tgcf and want to spread it widely, but that doesn't change the fact that these online versions do take away from mxtx. if you have the means, please do support mxtx legally and purchase her works whether they be hardcopies of mdzs or sv, or the digital version of tgcf.

i'm very happy to see that the fandom is thriving and mxtx's works are being celebrated, so please do not put me in a killjoy position and we can all continue frolicking in merriment for a while longer uwu

as for 2ha and the other titles, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

Tgcf raw

How to buy the raw

Links on where to purchase mdzs/sv hardcopies

[thegreymoon]

hi! feel free to ignore this if you don't want to get into it, I totally understand. but I'm confused why some people are feeling certain i*mmortality (or any bl in fact) won't air anytime soon? of course I've seen some of the unfortunate news lately, but nothing specific about bl has been mentioned right? wouldn't t*gcf not continue filming then? sorry if this is annoying haha I'm just confused 😅 thanks for reading whether or not you answer! 😊

Hey, anon!

I think that it's highly unlikely that HYX will air this year. It very obviously was supposed to air, but things are what they are and all we can do is be sad and disappointed about it now.

With that said, I do think it will air eventually, once things settle down. I believe that the current situation in the c-ent industry is unsustainable in the long run and that it will go back to being (somewhat) normal, but that this initial phase is dangerous, so everybody is laying low. The fact that TGCF is still filming definitely tells me that the people who know way more about the situation than you and I are also expecting things to settle down.

I think that Tencent got the wind of what was coming back in April, which is why HYX was delayed. It is expected that there will be a fandom meltdown when this drama airs. The fandom in China is frankly insane and the few BL fandoms that I've been involved in and have seen up close are easily the most toxic disasters that I have ever encountered (the i-fans are also doing their best to compete with their Chinese counterparts in this respect). Exposing the actors to all that in the midst of a CCP crackdown on toxic fandoms and the entertainment industry in general would be the same as painting a target on their backs.

Tencent sunk a lot of money into HYX and even if they were willing to throw the actors under the bus, they would not risk the drama itself, considering how much profit it is expected to earn them, provided it doesn't get banned. Another thing that makes me hopeful is the fact that this CCP crackdown is not aimed at dangai in particular, but is way more widespread and also political in nature. However, if HYX was to come out and start making waves in the middle of all this, I have no doubt they would not hesitate to make an example of everyone involved. It is simply not safe for the drama to air until the Chinese government is done with whatever they are doing right now.

Please take anything I say with a grain of salt, though, I'm not from China and I am nowhere close to being informed enough about the whole situation to give any kind of intelligent commentary on the subject, but with that said, I personally don't think that things are completely bleak.

Please don't listen to the shit-stirrers (especially on Twitter). There are all kinds of insane people congregating to cause panic and fandom infighting. Some simply thrive on the drama and want to see the world burn. The especially toxic side of the S/HL-only fandom is hurt and vengeful because their own faves got nuked and other BL adaptations are a convenient target to vent their hate, since CCP itself is off limits. Then there are antis of all kinds taking advantage of the situation in a multitude of ways. Also, there are trolls patrolling everywhere, at all hours. And last but not least, there are simply fans who are stressed themselves and are unloading their own existential dread by spreading hysteria.

Let's just wait and see. HYX cost a lot of money to produce and is set to earn back even more. That makes me super hopeful that it will not stay buried for long.

[baoshan-sanren]

Hi, baoshan -sanren,do you mind if I ask a few questions?

Who is your fav main couple in mxtx novels (wangxian or hualian or bingqiu)? And why?

Who are your fav side couple (don't have to be canon) in mxtx novels (in each of the 3 novels)? And why?

Sorry if you have answered the questions before...

Oh man, I love them all for different reasons so that’s a really hard one. I think bingqiu def goes to the bottom of that list because I feel like shen yuan is the most unreliable narrator out of all three novels (which is quite a feat, since mxtx seems to thrive on unreliable narrators). I mean svsss is many things, but a romance novel it really isn’t. And although wangxian holds a special place in my heart for the romance build up, the mutual growth and change, I think my fave is still hualian. 

I’ve always loved the idea of unconditional regard and devotion, not because it’s romantic in itself, but because in real life, reciprocity in such a relationship is highly unlikely. Crafting such a relationship, making it solid and believable and beautiful every step of the way requires A LOT. In tgcf, it required 800+ years to build and sustain, so it’s just so extremely satisfying to see it done and to see it done well. Although I sometimes think that svsss might be my fave mxtx work just for its sheer feral energy, tgcf and hualian are, in my opinion, a work of art.

And for the side couple, for mdzs it’s def songxiao 😂 It’s always songxiao. The first, second, and third fic I wrote for this fandom (only one of which was published) are all songxiao. I would sell my right kidney for the original unfinished novel these characters came from. I just think they both have so much potential, separately and together, and I fucking love their relationship dynamic. 

I actually don’t have a fave side couple for tgcf and now that I think about it, I’ve never really felt the need to read any tgcf fic either (I think I’ve read like three? next to the novel itself, I never felt like I needed fic). None of the popular side pairings in tgcf appeal to me at all. 

For svsss, I’ve read a lot of fic with liu qingge, not because I find any pairing with him particularly appealing, but because I just need to see him being loved by someone. 

I do enjoy moshang a lot. Something about creating your own perfect partner and then having to deal with all the unintended consequences of that (sort of like, be careful what you wish for) is just really fascinating to me. Plus, mobei jun is not fully fleshed out in canon, so you get a lot of leeway with his background, which is always a plus :)