Read on Twitter
lrt death of fou ts’ong was a big deal in the overseas Chinese circles my parents are in, and I rt’d in part for that, but also because it made me think about the very, very, very widely held viewpoint in English-language fandom perception that modern AU’s are easier to write
than writing in the canon timeframe, and it’s based in part on the idea that modern stuff is “easier,” that you have to do less research and “know less.”
and I totally totally get that, on one level. ancient Chinese measurement systems! ancient Chinese time counting! wtf did
and I totally totally get that, on one level. ancient Chinese measurement systems! ancient Chinese time counting! wtf did
bathrooms look like and how did people take a shit! oh god, what the fuck!
but at least that’s what you’re looking up, right? you’re trying to nail down facts about toilets and sticks of incense and li. you’re reading wiki and academic articles and squinting at diagrams.
but at least that’s what you’re looking up, right? you’re trying to nail down facts about toilets and sticks of incense and li. you’re reading wiki and academic articles and squinting at diagrams.
if you want to write a modern mzds/cql AU where the chars are Chinese — and thank god in this fandom I haven’t seen a lot of intentional whitewashing, unintentional is a whole other story — there is the research to make sure you have people ordering from the right internet
Retailers and paying by phone, but there’s more, right? how do you situate your fic in the modern mainland class system? how does the astounding reshaping of China in the last 30 years show in your fic? how did the parents and grandparents of your modern au characters deal with
these events, and how has it shaped the characters you want to have fun sex in a Beijing apartment?
and saying, “oh I’m just writing a fun fic,” well. that’s a political position, too, both in the general sense of willful ignorance is the equivalent of a stance, but also b/c
and saying, “oh I’m just writing a fun fic,” well. that’s a political position, too, both in the general sense of willful ignorance is the equivalent of a stance, but also b/c
pretending the past doesn’t matter is an actual, active specific goal of the current government. google stuff about the suppression of ti////anne//men anniversary for a particularly famous example. watch those videos of young students smiling and laughing and hoping and singing
on their way to peacefully protest for a better free China, and knowing how many of them were murdered, how many of them were subsequently tortured, how many of them disappeared, how those hopes were broken — this is not even the distant past. That was thirty years ago.
And
And
does this mean that nobody should write fun fic set in m***a inland China? No, absolutely not. I’ve written in it, and I adore a bunch of fic set there. Does it mean every modern au needs to turn into some tedious ass issuefic about [insert hot button issue]? I fucking hope not.
But the widespread perception of modern AU’s being “”easier”” makes me really sad.
just to reiterate: this is not a callout or subtweet or attempt to shame anyone or shitstir. at all. this is me lying in bed at god-o-clock in the am having a feeling about a general fandom thing and. you know.
a man who left everything behind because he knew he’d be forced to
a man who left everything behind because he knew he’d be forced to
denounce his father, which he did not want to do, being a traditional Confucian boy.
and then being helpless when his parents were tortured to death by the very state he managed to escape.
and then being helpless when his parents were tortured to death by the very state he managed to escape.
