The Controversial Queer FanFic That Shut Down AO3

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[HeyRowanEllis]

Let me know your thoughts about anything we covered in the video - from parasocial relationships to queer censorship - in the comments!

[arutlit]

So thankful for you making a video with inclusion of eastern queer media. As popular as a lot of titles are, the vast majority of content gets ignored in analyses and essays.

[tiadeets]

As someone who has been very involved in the international danmei community for the past few years and already knew basically everything you talked about, I was very interested in how you would present it. It was, as always, really nicely done and I now have a good video I can send to people who might be new to the fandom and want a good primer. I particularly like how you're bringing it back to our communities here because too often the discussions surrounding Chinese censorship of queer content lacks nuance and forget about real queer people both in China and elsewhere closer to home. I am very happy to see your continued work not to do that!

[nininoona]

As a huge fan of Chinese danmei; specifically, BL Xianxia stories like MDZS (Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation); the hardcore censorship of the CCP caused a massive upset in the BL, fanfic, and queer communities at large. Specifically with the MDZS fandom, the censorship was infuriating. When it was announced that MDZS would be getting a live-action adaptation, fans were both incredibly excited and worried (with good reason) because we KNEW that all the explicit queer elements of the story would be cut out completely. And that's exactly what happened. Like it has always happened, ever since the drama Addicted got shut down and pulled while airing in 2016.

For those who had never read the novels: they would enjoy the show for the bromance and fantasy element and the story. (And don't get me wrong, it's very good for what it is. I highly recommend) But for those of us who knew the original source material intimately, it was so very heartbreaking. The fact that Seven Seas got the right to translate, and distribute, the original work was a godsend for all of us who were forced to read the fan-translated versions on carefully hidden blogs. They had to be hidden, because if Chinese censors found them they would be shut down immediately.

All in all, this whole situation is just terrible on so my levels. For the authors whose very lives could be in danger simply for writing the stories that they want to be told, to the fans who just want to read a good story in the genre they love, and everyone in between.

[yz]

I'm Chinese. I don't think 227 is about fan economy or the show or Xiaozhan or queer fanfics or whatever. They don't care what it is about. They just need an excuse to block any platforms that people can freely post their works (and opinions, even in the form of fanfics) on, especially when the server is not in China and the organization is out of their control. They probably didn't notice that AO3 was such a big platform with huge amount of Chinese contents before 227 but the fandom drama drew their attention.

edit:
While I understand that "anti"s exist in every fandom and online harassments and dramas just happen and do harm to everyone in the fandom, even in "Western" countries (and racism, bigotry, moral judgements and whatever things can be used as weapons), I think what makes 227 so special is how the fans actively wanted to get the Chinese government involved. By censorship and inconsistant policies, the Chinese government on purposely created such an environment that none of the fandoms or content creators feels safe being in, making some fans believe that if they actively prove that their idol/work/fandom fits in all the values that CCP promotes, they can be "safe" and "protected", while proving other fandoms being against such values is the most effective way to shut them down. By doing this, censorship itself is weaponized. But this kind of mindset is such a delusion cuz the government don't actually value any fandoms for a single bit and they're all disposable when necessary, and under this mindset no fandom is "safe" anymore cuz it's just a matter of time that someone cancels everyone! While the government and its policies are the true elephant in the room, I think this is the reason why the Xiaozhan fans got so much hate after the 227 drama.

[luce]

Yeah as someone who was in China during the events it’s infuriating. I’ve lived there for 20 years and I hate China for masquerading itself as a communist party while practicing state capitalism, i hate it’s censorship laws and how much I had to watch people around me be silenced for it.

In high school art pieces getting confiscated because it’s was too ‘controversial’. I love the people there and the culture and especially the people who basically raised me (my parents weren’t around so it was mostly others) but I had to leave my parents for my own mental health, i miss it a lot but I dislike the CCP. As a queer person I just couldn’t live there anymore not that my home country is much better but at least queer media isn’t censored from existing sigh.

[CheeseduckClaire]

Lately I've been reading some fan-translated "Baihe" (aka GL, Yuri, Lily, Lesbian) novels. In them, they often talk about how the political environment around same-sex relationships are so much better now than they used to be. I always thought that they were talking about reality, but after seeing this video I realized that they were setting their story in a fictional version of China where they wouldn't be oppressed for who they love.

[Asummersdaydreamer]

As a mdzs fan, I try not to cringe thinking about how this incident and that one fic with too many tags (fast times with wangxian??) is all that other fandoms know about this story that is so special to me.

I wonder if Coley as a fandom channel, who has delved into mdzs and tgcf, will make an appearance in the comment section 👀

Edit: the fic was “sexy times with wangxian”

[bigcat]

One thing that the remark in The Economist about LGBT societies in universities being shut down doesn't include is the fact that there were only what, one, maybe two? *Official* LGBT societies in Chinese universities. The rest all existed and were maintained on whisper networks, and they were all taken down *literally* overnight. It happened to the one I was in too.

[misguided_ghost]

fully was not expecting Rowan to make a video including mdzs but i’m so here for it, especially since the topic of this video is so important

[Arcadian-Nova]

im not sure if straight washing is the correct term to use for live action adaptations of danmei, i think straight passing would perhaps suit better? the creators of the dramas are very much aware of the queerness of the original and there are plenty of hints of varying subtleties (sometimes a reference to chinese queer history/legend) but they add an element of possible deniability, so that the queer fans can see the queer story that is supposed to be there, while the rest can think they are watching a "clean" "bromance" with possible female love interests. all the evade the censorship.

word of honor, btw, really seemed to wanna see how far they could push the boundries in a drama ahahhaha

[ItsChuckShirley]

According to my ex-flatmate that now resides in HK, Chinese historical drama do love their swooshy robes, no matter the genre.

It's one part traditional culture+ one part fashion statement + and 7 parts of HELLA EXTRA.

Also my ex-flatmate also told me that "apparently" the people in there consider LGBT as a "western influence" that "clashes with eastern tradition and custom". Yet despite that historically some of their ancestor emperors were known having a male concubine as partners "allegedly".

[jcrunolfson]

Very interesting video, as both a fan of The Untamed and as an original volunteer tag wrangler of AO3. I want to note, though, that the OTW (the parent organization behind the AO3) had already received word that the AO3 was on a list of sites slated to be blocked by the CCP before any of this happened. These events created a convenient scapegoat for Chinese (and other) fans to blame for the blocking of such a massive fanworks site, a scapegoat that wouldn't lead to their own potential political problems, but I think it's another aspect of the story it's important to know. And truth be told, the timing of the incident has always made a number of us more than a little suspicious as to the veracity of certain details. It's just awfully convenient as a diversion of blame.

[immoral_q]

I don’t think celebrities are responsible for their fans’ behaviour. Any more than fans are responsible for the behaviour of the celebrities they support. It’s a shame that Eternal Faith, Winner is King and Immortality will never get a release. I feel sorry for the cast and crew who put time, money and effort into making them. It’s also not very smart, from a strictly business standpoint, to restrict these kind of shows. I checked, and both The Untamed and Word of Honor were the top ranked dramas for their respective years of release. The amount of money that they made must have been incredible. On a more positive note, at least we have the animated versions of some of these stories to watch, and the official translations of the novels are so good. I’m currently about half way through Volume One of Sha Po Lang and I would love to see it as a live-action drama, it’s just that good.

[junkin]

taking damage every time rowan makes a video that touches the fandom im in
still really enjoyed the video!

[wanderinglizzy]

Thanks for covering this story with such nuance, Rowan. As someone from Hong Kong, the extremely real consequences of the Chinese government's censorship and homophobic policies are sadly familiar to me. So I really appreciate how you spent time discussing this cultural context, it's really vital in understanding how fans use these policies to act in toxic and damaging ways.

[cupguin]

Reminder to all the children, always save your favorite stories so you have your own offline copies!

[kristencote]

trying to imagine being a part of Xiao Zhan's team and what it must have been like to go to work that week. I think they must have accessed a human emotion none of us can comprehend

[alexm]

Good rehash of the whole mess, It's a very complicated thing.
I do have one "But" and it's that I feel the video should have mentioned that while his career NOW is OK, he had to disappear for like a year, and he did lose all or almost all his contracts. So... yeah... his career didn't end for good, but it wasn't "fine" at the time.

I'm so sorry to hear about your book! This book banning thing is... I have no words...

[nabilahalshari]

Rowan doing a video about MDZS and the 227 incident was not in my bingo card for this year but here we are.

It's nice that we get a nuanced, non-sensationalist video on the subject. Also read MDZS, everyone, it's great.