Hello my dear :)
I hope you’re doing well ^^ I will check out your post in a minute :)
Ah, yesterday’s update... well, the fandom transformed into a bit of snakepit afterwards lol
First of all, I wanna say that I find it really, truly upsetting that people who call themselves ‘fans’ attacked old Xian to the point where even death threats were spewed about and they caused such a riot and in the end the chapter got deleted. It is truly shameful what people think they can get away with, just because it’s the internet.
There, behind the screen, sits an actual, living, breathing person. An artist. Someone who draws a comic and publishes it for FREE almost every week. Nobody is forced to buy the merchandise, everyone can just enjoy this free content and some beautiful art. Yet people feel the need to be toxic, to say shit like “if you like this sort of content, then you’re no better than He Tian, who’s a r*pist anyway” Like come ON.
I guess everything that goes through my mind, has already been said before and I reblogged a few posts about this and a few are still in my Q. *sigh*
Well.
Those who follow me for a while now, have probably noticed that I’m a big advocate of “live and let live”. Don’t hate on ships, don’t kinkshame. I said it a million times and I’ll say it again:
It costs you nothing to ignore the content you don’t like, to walk away from the stuff that makes you feel uncomfortable. Why would you purposefully read/look at it when it enrages you that much? Do I watch videos of animal cruelty? NO! Because it’d make me cry and also angry at the abusers. I avoid it at all costs!
So why would people continue to read this comic, if they’re triggered by violence that has sexual undertones?
The audacity of some “fans” to demand that this comic should be drawn and told according to their personal needs and preferences is baffling.
Yes, obviously you’re all allowed to have an opinion. But saying old Xian is cancelled, He Tian is cancelled, telling people to boycott the manhwa... that’s not okay. In my opinion anyway.
19 Days is not my story. It’s old Xian’s story. I eagerly await new updates and sometimes I’m a little disappointed, but most times I’m excited. I accept every new content with gratitude, I embrace every direction in which this story goes. We all know that old Xian has shown great attention to detail in the past. Almost everything that has been said, everything that has been done - had a purpose. Little things you might not pick up the first time you read it, will become clear and meaningful at a later point. We’ve noticed lots of it before. So I simply trust old Xian to lead us on an exciting journey, no matter how the characters act. I’m sure there’s a reason for it.
Personally, I don’t mind reading about complicated and/or toxic relationships, about acts of violence, or even rape. I read tons of jap. mangas with themes like this and even though I prefer an intricate plot and reading about the psychological consequences of such acts, it can be mindless entertainment for an afternoon. Just because I read stuff like this sometimes, doesn’t automatically mean I endorse this shit in real life. I think it also has become very clear meanwhile, that in real life I’m a big fan of consent and condoms lol
But I’m mature enough to distinguish between fiction and reality. I can enjoy a complicated, probably currently unhealthy relationship like Tianshan in a fictional comic. (Nobody ever said it was healthy and wholesome!)
If this would happen to any of my RL friends, I’d obviously jump to action as soon as I notice.
And one more thing. We tend to forget that the boys are 15, since they often act - and certainly look - like they’re older than that. But after talking to some chinese friends, I found out that even dating before you’re a young adult, is pretty rare over there. Sex being almost completely off the menu.
Yes, He Tian forcefully started undressing Guanshan (he did that in the mountain swimming chapter too, btw... nobody was raging back then...) and he stopped when he got hit. Yes, he picked him up and plunged them both into the bathtub. I don’t see any sex though. I don’t see anyone whipping out his d*ck or asses being penetrated. Where is the r*pe everyone speaks of?
How is He Tian a r*pist? He might be a pushy asshole, sure. But he’s 15 for fuck’s sake! He won’t try to have sex with Guanshan. If what he said 2 chapters ago can be put into a sexual context, then he basically told Guanshan he’s still a virgin that has never done anything except kissing. (The norm for a 15yo teen living in china... It is often different for western countries.)
And as upsetting as it might be for us fujoshis/fudanshis - the genre of the manhwa is not yaoi. There won’t be any sexual stuff for a loooooooong time, maybe not ever. And if we get it at some point, it will never any kind of explicit as long as China’s stand on sexual content and homosexuality doesn’t change.
I think the most we could hope for, would be stuff like, that in future chapters, when they’re 18+, we see them getting out of bed and it’s clear they slept in the same bed and they’re just wearing pants or boxerbriefs and that way it might be hinted there was something going on the night before.
Goodness me, look at my dumb ramblings... lol. Anyway. I hope my stand on this has become clear now ^^;
Nothing will be eaten as hot as you cook it.
And about what you said with progress - I guess it’d be weird if He Tian and Guanshan would be all lovey-dovey from now on, at least if we take future chapters into account. Yes, they’re a lot more comfortable around each other in the future, but Mo is still reluctant and hissy towards He Tian. I guess his behaviour would be different if they’d become a cutesy couple in middle school all of a sudden lol