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 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 ^^'
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An eye-opening article about Danmei Radio Dramas in China:
https://supchina.com/2021/11/04/the-wild-wonderful-queer-world-of-chinese-radio-dramas/
It’s good. Especially if you’ve experienced the absolute exquisite excellence that is the MDZS radio drama, you’ll enjoy reading it :)
Some quotes:
These societies recruited their own production staff and talent, who collaborated to produce radio dramas and release them online for free. These are known as “web dramas” (网配剧 wǎng pèijù), in contrast with the professionally-produced “commercial dramas” (商配剧 shāng pèijù) that came later. These creators spent time, labor, and often cash on recording equipment, studio time, music, and other services, and made no money from their productions. What they did was, as they like to say, “generate power out of love.”
Despite this move toward a more general taste, danmei remains the most popular genre in radio dramas. At the time of this writing, danmei seasons account for 19 of the top 20 most-followed list on MissEvan. ….Topping the most-played list is The Founder of Diabolism (魔道祖师 módào zǔshī), with each season exceeding 100 million plays.…. Even on Ximalaya — which has a much broader audience than MissEvan’s younger, more female-dominant audience to whom danmei content most appeals — six of the 10 most popular radio dramas are of the danmei genre.
Sometimes the standard can seem arbitrary. “Take kissing for instance,” she says, “some may think eight seconds is okay and let you pass, but some others may think five seconds is too long and must be reduced to four seconds.”
My books arrived from Taiwan. I’m going to start my Traditional Characters, top-to-bottom, right-to-left re-read from the inn in YunPing (where the bookmark is).
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
😁
“If I can play a monkey and shoot illogical dramas, how difficult can these problems be?”
Words to live by 🥰
I love you, 朱一龙!
EN translation of Zhu Yilong's Esquire Sept 2018 Cover Issue Feature Interview by wenella
朱一龙:我来不及膨胀
Zhu Yilong: No time to swell
ESQ: When did you realise that you became popular?
Zhu Yilong: I was filming (note: My True Friend) so I didn't feel anything... But when I went to record Happy Camp in Changsha, I was shocked to see so many people at the airport. Even the police was mobilised.
ESQ: Your fans praise you for maintaining the integrity of your acting despite a bad script. How did you do it? What do you think of imperfect dramas?
Zhu Yilong: I managed to develop pretty good tolerance over the years. If the script isn't great or is illogical, I will sort out the character's development and his lines to make it better. If not, it will be impossible to act.
ESQ: How do you feel about your previous acting experiences?
Zhu Yilong: How many good dramas are produced in a year now? Good dramas that excite audiences, that are praised by the industry, that feature excellent actors & directors? Probably one drama a year? With such limited good productions, it is hard for actors to land themselves in good roles. In fact, even though many actors are constantly acting in new shows, they rarely get the chance to play a role that they they really want. Well, one can choose to say, "I will not act if it isn’t a role that I like." But if you don’t act, who will approach you with roles in the future? If I didn’t accumulate a decade of acting experiences after graduating, how can I be sure that I will do well when I receive a a good script? Hypothetically, I could have taken up my role in Guardian even as a fresh graduate, but the result would definitely be different.
ESQ: Probably a tricky question; what motivated you to create your role as Savage in Hunting Savage (2011)?
Zhu Yilong: I was quite resistant initially. I thought, a savage? How do I play a savage? When I first started, I felt that I had to sort out the character's story. I was on very good terms with the director and we came to a consensus: let's just have fun. And we did.
ESQ: What did you learn from this experience?
Zhu Yilong: That all actors need experiences like this. It will help to build your resilience. After filming Hunting Savage, I found it easier to face other problems. I mean, what problems? If I can play a monkey and shoot illogical dramas, how difficult can these problems be? Therefore, whenever I encounter any problems with my scripts now, it isn't as devastating as before. I am able to resolve the issues. I have a better mindset and I do not shy away from any difficulties or challenges.
ESQ: Can you share if there were any dramas or roles played by you that were integral in shaping your acting style and approach?
Zhu Yilong: There are three shows. "Family Banquet," "Love for Three Lifetimes," and "The Story of Minglan."
Let’s start with Family Banquet. Feng Douzi’s personality is really different from mine. He is a bad student and all he wants to do is to make money. He sells houses, gets into illegal pyramid schemes; well, he is basically a rascal. I was only a year out of college when I played this character.
Looking back, I was glad that I did it. I can’t possibly do aloof and cool roles all the time. When I acted as Chi Rui in Love for Three Lifetimes, I wasn’t confident as I had very few lines. At that time, audiences often criticized actors for being expressionless. I mean, everyone loves animated and vivid performances, but Chi Rui was written as an aloof, icy, and expressionless character; what could I do about it?
ESQ: So it became a test of your emotional scenes......
Zhu Yilong: Yes, but audiences probably weren't able to understand this. I was very worried during the filming and kept discussing my scenes with the director. In the end, I didn't express Chi Rui's emotions through his facial expressions, but internalized them instead. I took his love & hatred to extremes and differentiated them.
ESQ: How did "The Story of Minglan" impact you?
Zhu Yilong: I tried to do something different in The Story of Minglan; that is, I did not design anything for my character. In the past, I had to be sure of the character’s logic and development before the filming and hence, I'd prepare extensively for my role. This was to ensure that my acting was consistent & logical. But Qi Heng had very limited scenes and the director had full control over the drama's pace. It was hard for me to tell what the eventual result would be like, so I couldn't follow my instinct.
ESQ: So what did you do this time?
Zhu Yilong: I didn't prepare much. When I first joined the set, I kept discussing my role with the director. I asked Director Zhang Kaizhou, "So what do you think of Qiheng?" I trusted him a lot. Director Zhang was very insightful and had a totally different personality from Qi Heng. Thus, he was able to look at this character more objectively. I adjusted my acting according to his demands. And as the filming progressed, I kept reminding myself to be more open-minded.
ESQ: What do you think of the relationship between an actor and good looks?
Zhu Yilong: Firstly, I don't think they contradict one another. There is no correlation between good looks and acting skills. Some genres require actors to look good. If not, it would be hard for the audience to accept them as the character. In film and tv, being good-looking can help an actor enhance the character's charisma, but this is also dependent on how the actor uses his good looks. He can’t behave in a way that impresses on audiences that all he does is to try and look good.
ESQ: You acted in a theatrical adaptation of “Devils on the Doorstep” (Dir. Jiang Wen, 2000) in college?
Zhu Yilong: Yes! I played Er Bozi (Second Neck) and all my lines were in Tangshan dialect. “I have a mouth just like my mum’s; it can’t keep secrets.” The previous version was played by Huang Bo. Several students from my cohort are particularly fond of director Jiang Wen, so we produced a new version.
ESQ: You're different from Jiang Wen. He's more flamboyant than you.
Zhu Yilong: Actually, we are pretty similar. I think flamboyance stems from one’s confidence. If you are like Jiang Wen and made a successful film such as In the Heat of the Sun (1995), you should express yourself confidently; your ideas are probably right as whatever that you say is based on the success of the work. However, if you insist on flaunting despite not having what it takes or if you think that being ignorant is cool, it is impossible for you to gain the recognition of others.
ESQ: Have you ever taken risks in your acting?
Zhu Yilong: I've always taken risks, but not without fear. I think I was a bit more daring when I first started filming. I thought that no one would watch those late-night movies on TV anyway, so I experimented with different acting styles.
ESQ: You’ve picked up some acting techniques by now, such as swallowing fake blood before puking or playing lame by stuffing a rock in your shoe. Why don't you try a smarter method instead? For example., you can get a sense of how it feels to be lame for a few days and you remove the stone from your shoe during the actual filming.
Zhu Yilong: I don't think there are any short cuts to acting. I can definitely try the smarter method. However, after reading the interviews and biographies of foreign actors, I realised that I haven't been able to immerse myself in my role as much as they did. This is something that I hope to achieve. (The former method) may be more harmful for my body, but I feel that it is more meaningful as I get to immerse myself in the character during the filming. If not, what is the point of acting? Using short cuts and techniques? What’s the point?
ESQ: You've played a lot of roles that are very different from yourself. Looking back, do you feel surprised by your performance? Do you feel a sense of accomplishment?
Zhu Yilong: To be honest, those roles aren’t great. I think the characters are rather superficial. Actors can express a range of emotions and play a variety of roles, but it takes a lot more to make a character deep. No actor can play one role today and another role the next day. Every role is contingent on one's experiences; you need to invest time to experience a character’s life.
ESQ: Have you been this sober since you were a kid?
Zhu Yilong: I don't know. In retrospect, it might have something to do with my dad. My dad loves to talk to me about life & values. When I was 13 years old, my dad dragged me into the snow on New Year's Eve and told me that "people need to decide how to lead their entire life." My dad is a loving father; he has never scolded or hit me. Whenever my dad was in a good mood, he’d come to pick me up from school and took me to play games. My mum would chase after us and drag me back home. She’s pretty strict.
ESQ: Your parents treat you very differently.
Zhu Yilong: Yes, I looked better when I was a child. I had curly hair and big eyes. My mum loved to tie my hair into a ponytail, apply red nail polish on my nails, and dress me in skirts or dresses. My dad, who used to practice Sanda, was very upset with my mum over this. He threw me into a Sanda training team as a way of developing my masculinity. Looking back, parental education has a direct impact on a child's development.
ESQ: You said you want life to be simpler, but characters you play to be more complicated. Why?
Zhu Yilong: Because I’m lazy (laughs). Life is so complicated every day. There are so many things to think about, it is tiring. I like a simple life; to keep interactions with people simple. To keep things simple. As for my roles, I like them to be more complicated & layered. I don’t want to play a role that will allow people to predict what will happen to him in the last episode just based on the first.
ESQ: Some people say that your generation of actors debuted at the wrong time.
Zhu Yilong: When we just graduated, the main characters on TV were played by actors such as Sun Honglei and Zhang Jiayi. We could only play their son or younger brother. We didn't have opportunities to play more sophisticated characters as we weren’t senior enough.
And when we finally made it into our 30s to play the roles that we want, audiences seem to prefer very young actors. It is as though we have missed out on something.
ESQ: Do you feel upset?
Zhu Yilong: Not really, I don't think too much about this. I'm neither a young fresh meat nor a veteran actor. If I can't play the role I want, I'll just try something else. I mean, I've played a monkey before, there is nothing that I can’t act, right?
Post translation note: It warms my heart to read a 2018 article and realise how Zhu Yilong has grown closer to his acting goals since then. This interview was probably done in Aug 2018 after Guardian concluded. I like it because it focused a lot on getting Zhu Yilong to express his views on the craft of acting, rather than to answer the usual (and meaningless) questions regarding “high traffic stars” or “idol vs. actor.” Happy reading. If you want to re-translate this thread into another language, pls DM me for permission and credit + share the link to the original post. Thanks!
i am begging you all to stop treating this site like instagram if you dont want it to be content free by next year
im loving this article written by som mycologists who accidentally got high as fuck on fly agaric
Saturday, August 7, 2021. That’s the release date for Mo Dao Zu Shi season 3!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!
Excuse me while I go schedule my Season 1 and 2 marathon so that my memories will be perfectly fresh and ready for Season 3 on August 7!!!!!!!!!
(Sources: https://youtu.be/YzvNsFSw0RY and https://www.yualexius.com/2021/01/mo-dao-zu-shi-season-3.html. I really really hope that they’re right!!!!!!)
Read the notes 😘
je croix que nous devons arrêter de parler anglais et semplicemente ricominciare a usare la nostra prima lingua quia istud clarum dii signum est ita ut nos ne loquamur barbarorum linguam