MDZS: Sex and Consent

Meta
Title:	MDZS: Sex and Consent
Creator:	Threerings
Date(s):	Jan - April 2020
Medium:	tumblr posts
Fandom:	Mo Dao Zu Shi
Topic:
External Links:	MDZS: Sex and Consent part 1, Archived version part 2, Archived version part 3, Archived version part 4, Archived version part 5, Archived version
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MDZS: Sex and Consent is a series of Tumblr essays written by Threerings. Threerings posted four essays in January 2020, the fifth was posted in April of the same year.

Excerpts

There’s a lot of discourse out there about the MDZS novel and claims that it is “rapey” and has a lot of consent issues.  Now, I’m not the biggest fan of the way MXTX writes sex, and I don’t deny there are problematic elements in them.  But I also feel like people who want to dismiss the entire novel as a result of this or MXTX as a writer are making pretty wild generalizations.  So I want to really examine these scenes and see how objectionable they are.  I’m also going to be talking about translation and how that affects a reader’s perceptions.

You don’t have to enjoy this content.  I mean, hell, I’ve just said all of that and I don’t enjoy these chapters.  I don’t find them sexy.  In fact, I think MXTX writes some of the unsexiest sex I’ve ever read.  I don’t think she’s good at it.  And in general I don’t enjoy non-con fics even though I can enjoy consent PLAY.  Definitely these chapters need some HEAVY trigger warnings on them.  They should not be read by everyone. Frankly, given how much controversy they have created, how people in Western fandom are willing to write off MXTX as an author entirely as a result of them, I wish the extras didn’t exist.

Fans Reactions and Replies

I think this is a needed take. Some things in the book are iffy - though nothing is worse than half of what’s considered fine in het romances novels tbh. Most really are just questionable written kink. Ironically the only thing that’s very clearly 100% a consent issue is not sex but the time LWJ kisses WWX without WWX knowing who it is

There are some weird ass kinks lmao, but everything they do is consensual which is really good, I’m also really fed up with rape apologists :) it doesn’t even trigger my ptsd with their rape kink, I guess that shows how well done it is!

Thank you so much for this meta! I was wondering how much was due to Translation issues, because the writing is sometime like that, and I got through it by treating the scenes like a fanfic, where the underlying assumption is they like each other, which lets you sometimes get away with a lot of borderline creepy stuff

thewickling, responding to Part 5: The Extras:

I read this and a point OP brings up the idea that these actions are out-of-character for Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji. This isn’t a commentary on how to feel about these sex scenes or even really a defense of them. I just find these scenes believably in character or at least not OOC.

Wei Wuxian’s entire life is characterized by exerting control and being punished for it.

He defends Mianmian and that leads in part to the massacre of his Jiang sect. He accepts responsibility for Jiang Cheng and to do so he ends up giving his golden core. He loses the ability to defend himself to defend others, but that is his choice. Then he is thrown in the Yiling Burial Mounds. He selects to become a demonic cultivator (in order to survive) and takes revenge on the Wens. People to distrust him because he’s so powerful. He chooses to defend the suriving Wens and so he loses the right to be associated with the Jiang sect and with the larger world, formally becoming the enemy of the cultivational world.

He chooses to attend Jin Ling’s 100 days - he gets ambushed and accidentally Jin Zixuan dies. He loses the people he was protecting. The world distains him so he decides to fight back - he kills his shijie. The last parts were informed by madness but in all Wei Wuxian’s life is defined by losing control. He dies from the ultimate lost of control - qi deviation/blackfire aka the inability to control his own body.

It is reasonable with those experiences for Wei Wuxian to enjoy rape fantasies. What is a rape fantasy? It’s have control taken from you in a way that is aimed and your pleasure. It’s a safe way to explore lost of control and get pleasure from it. It’s a narrative he gets to control.

As for Lan Wangji, he has all the characterization of the stereotypical gong (this is the Chinese equivalent for seme. Both of which are dated terms that are pretty much now exclusively used as fannish terms for top). These traits are being stoic, possessive, rich, and domineering. I know people will disagree that he is posessive and domineering but here are a few things he has done.

1. He stole Wei Wuxian’s first kiss by holding him down so Wei Wuxian wouldn’t remove his blindfold.

2. He’s stole gifts Wei Wuxian received from woman twice: the perfumed satchel and the flower. Of which he kept for years along with any other item related to Wei Wuxian.

3. Throughout the sunshot campaign, he would keep trying to take Wei Wuxian back to the Cloud Recesses

What stops Lan Wangji from being a typical gong is his adherence to stricture. He internalized his sects teachings. This is shown to us when Lan Wangji accepts punishment for something that Wei Wuxian forced him to do. That causes him conflict with how he wants Wei Wuxian. We see this in the scene where Lan Wangji admits to Lan Xichen that he wants to bring someone to the Cloud Recesses but they don’t want to come. We also see it when he punches a tree for giving into wanting to kiss Wei Wuxian.

After Wei Wuxian dies and Lan Wangji questions whether unwaveringly following the rules without consideration is smart. He changes. He forcefully brings Wei Wuxian back to the Cloud Recesses as he always wanted. When Wei Wuxian teases him, he is domineering and just numbs Wei Wuxian’s limbs when the more proper and likely Lan correct action would have been to punish Wei Wuxian or move to a different space. Lan Wangji still adheres to scripture but is more flexible.

Lan Wangji’s life is ruled by the thousands of Lan principles. It is completely reasonable for him to want to be domineering and give into his desires in his fantasies (especially for one when he was a teenager. Look he punched a tree because he kissed a guy and was overwhelmed). If he’s always in control of himself generally, it makes perfect sense for him to want to unrelinquish control of himself during sex. Even then he checks in with Wei Wuxian to see if he is fine with what is happening.