trying to understand TO GAZE UPON WICKED GODS ✨💀

Leave a comment if you understood the Mandarin in the thumbnail lol
I can't even begin to describe all of the feelings about this being my biggest video project to date. What a rollercoaster ride this was!
Content and trigger warnings: colonization, death, addiction, violence, murder, war, torture, child abuse, misogyny, discussion of real war crimes from WW2 (idk how else to describe that), and et cetera
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Intro and Outro created on Canva
Ending Music from StreamBeats! www.streambeats.com/
"Quirky Dog" track created by Kevin MacLeod

[@dylanrodrigues]

I think the worst aspect of this saga is that the author's family directly suffered the brutalities of the Japanese occupation. I saw her post about it like, "I wish grandad could read this novel too 🥺🥺" like I don't think you should, bestie, this is not how you honour the memory of people who've suffered through war and crimes against humanity

[@nyanchat2657]

someone here pointed out that the romance is less zutara and more katara + ozai which isn't even the most cursed thing about this book

[@Tamaki742]

Coming here just to say support the cover artist, her name is Sija Hong!

[@irritatedlibrarian9057]

Antony actually flat out told her before that his people were experimenting on her kind. Ruying was told no less than 3 times about the experimentation.

[@noga9895]

Antony: we've been running experiments on your people... Ruying: Baihu: they're running experiments on your bestie Ruying: MONSTERS (It does have the implication that Ruying doesn't take issue with human experimentation, just human experimentation on people she cares about, which, well...)

[@shawnyang435]

I clicked because of the “I love my snake mommy” in the thumbnail…

[@OtomeGameHell]

At this point, I really, really wish fantasy books could deviate a little from cosplaying real-life cultures into fantasy 1:1 versions with different names (but with the same gods, deities, and terminology). Bring back conlang and heavy worldbuilding and make it a little harder for us to identify the real-life comparisons. I feel like a lot of this author's problems could have been solved by Pangu deviating from China 1:1 worldbuilding and the Romans having another name lol

[@morleywritesbooks]

"why snake bad?" "a smom if you will" 🤣

[@P12technomage]

"why snake bad?" is going to stick with me forever, thank you

[@thekatlife]

the "why snake bad" is a really good point!

[@Arisutocrat]

WHY SNAKE BAD THO? Ok I finished watching I understand the reference now. The Neptune, Pluto, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades line got me to actually LMAO. Also Qi cells... T cells but Qi cells LMAOO "How do the drug trials work in Rome?" I'm gone. Thank you for your service, Grace. I enjoyed your video as a dramatic reading with very helpful footnotes and analysis along the way. Also glad I don't have the finish the book myself, so thank you again for reading and sharing your thoughts so my Chinese ass doesn't have to. We're in marble debt now. I lost my marbles so many times through the duration of my watch. I honestly wouldn't wanna read the rest of the series. I think I'd have a brain bleed trying to finish it and the writing style is definitely NOT for me. I'm with you tho, I hope Antony dies. Colonizer and romance aside, he's just so melodramatic and talks too much. The unit 731 stuff didn't sit well with me oh lord. Its incorporation felt tacky ngl. Kinda tangenty but related to your point that anything can happen in the rest of the series. I was on board with the capri trilogy with the E2L - I always felt like that series is so clear with its writing and direction even if I didn't know what would happen exactly on my first reading. Here, it was like... mixed messages everywhere (aside from "colonization bad" that's clear, I guess). Maybe I'm biased since Capri is my fave and I knew who was endgame ahead of finishing. But anyway I'm rambling. I love seeing a fellow pacat fan in the wild!

[@julieb.8751]

This is easily the most in-depth review of this novel I have seen! From what I have heard of it so far, I knew I probably wouldn't read it myself, but have been intrigued enough to want to see other peoples' takes on it. I think you bring a really detailed and nuanced perspective. It was also really nice to have you explain where some of the place and character names originated from in the real world history and mythology of China! I also found your "Why snake bad?" discourse to be really insightful. Thanks for providing this, I have definitely subbed! 🐍

[@SpiritTakoizu]

Paused around 1:27:40 to comment that Anthony and Ruying being based on Zutara almost feels like an insult towards Zuko's character growth throughout the Avatar series, not gonna lie 💀 Also isn't the setting and themes surrounding this book kinda too close to real life to be basing the main pairing off of Zutara? 😭 I find myself wondering, why the hell is the colonizer the main love interest when it could've been the Phantom guy...(assuming that he could've been an option). Even worse was that his character sounds like he wasn't even as well-developed as Zuko to be justifying Ruying's interest in him... Anyway, I'm still watching this. Trying to not be too harsh on this book because hey, pretty sure Molly X. Chang worked really hard on creating this world. And I guess sometimes your protags don't always have to be in the right... Maybe they can be girl-failures, like how Ruying seem to be doing throughout this book (as how i've been listening so far) 💀 EDIT: After watching til the end, I concluded that this is indeed one of them girl-failure books. However, I still think that it could have probably been reframed better..? Maybe lessen the romance aspect? Give Ruying more internal struggles against liking Anthony...? Idk, maybe deepen the psychological impact of knowing that you're liking a guy that helped actively colonize ur entire nation...? Deepen the angst..? But yeah idk, I didn't read the book, not planning to either since I can't stomach the themes, but either way, thanks for the video, it was an interesting watch.

[@whiteraven562]

I saw someone on Tumblr say that Antony/Ruying felt more like Azula/ or even Ozai/Katara

[@SpiritTakoizu]

@@whiteraven562 that would definitely make more sense 😂

[@xRaiofSunshine]

@@whiteraven562ewwwww

[@nyanchat2657]

@@whiteraven562 definitely more ozai/katara, which isn't even the most cursed thing about this book

[@asdfghjklasdfghjkl321]

I love how you're not the only reviewer who summarized chapter one as FMC girly pop walking down the street with a skip ranting about colonialism 💀😭😂 Edit: OMFG that's so true and until this video it never freaking clicked that we don't see a single Roman woman in the novel???? Edit 2: I still cannot believe his tragic backstory was that he killed his own parents to move up in society 😐 Edit 3: I think even if this a colonizer romance or not, I think this video made me realize some things. • I think even if this book isn't a colonizer romance, I don't think it is a good book anyways, even in spite of this criticism. • Whether or not this book is a colonizer romance, its not a book that makes me want to read the second one because as I said above that its not a good book anyway. • I think the fact between readers if this is a colonizer romance or not in the first place I think is telling. Because I think if the book wasn't able to say one way or another, especially regarding unit 731, is not something I think should be left open to interpretation. • Not to be repetitive, but for readers to pay like what, $25.00, for another installment, and another $25.00 for the 3rd book, just to see if altogether if this is definitively a colonizer romance is crazy to me. Just to be clear, I 100% agree that we'd need to read all 3 books to find that out for sure, but why would someone take thier free time and money to see if that's true or not from a book that's not even good????? Anyways, this was such an excellent video and I loved how detailed it was!!! If you don't already, you should totally offer editing services ❤❤❤

[@ChibiJirachi]

Thank you so much for putting in the work for this review! The board was definitely needed. Also sad about no map (it's a fantasy = must come with map). I laughed out loud for Joker as the picture for the Phantoms and then lost it when I saw Liu Qingge for Prince Feng?! Wonderful use of photo references. Your board and map should be inside the book. My conspiracy theory/hope is that Anthony is a red herring. I'm wondering if our supposed "Zuko" of this Zutara reference is actually Baihu? This is definitely the wildest 1st book in a trilogy I've ever seen. This is definitely a library series where I just see how the off the rails roller coaster is faring.

[@bunnyandherstuff]

I have yet to read the book. But as someone from HK (born and raised and lived there my entire life except for a few years overseas for work), I generally get a bit annoyed because those who grew up in mainland china will say the opium war is a dark stain but my ancestors take most of the sh*ts from being a colony afterwards. I originally really wanted to read this book because of the Cate Corraine situation, but now I’m just not as keen.

[@heyimsasa]

reading this as a chinese woman after following the marketing was so jarring for me. thank you so much for the in depth review and insight. subscribed!

[@12makbe]

My problems with this book went on and on. Ruying isn't likable and her motives flip back and forth like a flag in the wind. But by far, my 2 biggest things? -Why doesnt the fantasy china have gunpowder? She potrays them as helpless. So helpless that they don't even have medicine?? THE COUNTRY INSPIRED BY CHINA?! The place that hisorically pioneered some of the most extensive herbalism and medicine in history? It felt SO much like "oh look how much better the white people- I mean, the Romans, are. I got the idea she wanted magic vs science. But she still could have achieved this without erasing critical chinese achievements in gunpowder, armor and medicine. And then the time jump.... holy shit. Chang's defenses that this isnt really a romance and Ruying is just being manipulated fall flat, because we don't get to see it! We literally jump from her sad but willing to cry in his arms (despite, you know, EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED TO THAT POINT) to her head over heels for him 6 months later. Its SO JARRING.

[@nodrarb140]

don't know about this book but I think asian fantasy is done really well with the Poppy War series, The Jade city series, She who became the sun+ he who drowned the world, and The Daughter of the moon goddess. I also loved Julia Lovell's new translation of the Monkey King.

[@tammietriestoread]

every single thing i have learned about this book has convinced me that i will despise it but i am loving this video!

[@tammietriestoread]

i have to assume jiang is a reference to jiang ziya? but also idk because he's not really a god per se

[@blob9907]

This video is so delightful and in depth, a great critique. I hope you get lots more views!!!

[@personal_jinx]

tbh she lost me the moment the invading empire was Rome. Like,,, why? fr why?? it's so stupid that I paused the video and had to take a lap. So, in a parallel universe of our world where the Roman empire never falls and presumably survives long enough to have not only missiles and guns but also the ability to rip open a portal to some fantasy version of China? Is that what she's tryna tell me? And if so,,, WHY? It would have been so much easier to just make up an entirely new fantasy empire that doesn't raise a million questions about the shoddy world-building. Because Pangu is already so close to just being China so why not just make it alternate universe China if you don't want to make up a new oppressing empire? It's so bewildering to try and figure out whether there are alternate universes (Pangu vs our world) and different timelines within each of those alternate universes (our timeline vs the Romans' timeline). And also somehow God's (capital G) also exist in both of the universes? imo she should have either created two fantasy empires loosely based on real ones or make them both different verions of our world, in which case she would have to do significantly more research and write with considerably more nuance and sensitivity, than I think sh'e's capable of. (don't even get me started on the names Antony gives of the Roman gods, half of whom are greek and duplicates of one God, that actually broke me). My brain is overheating from thinking about this. If your world-building is going to be this haphazard and hand-wavey at least try not to make it so stupid it makes the reader angry. Either explain yourself or simplify it so it can be figured out via context clues and reader imagination. It's both overly convoluted and so vague as to be meaningless at the same time. I have a headache and I haven't even allowed myself to think about Ruying and Antony and the whole weird magic sytem that is not a system. But it's cool. I'm fine. // Lord have mercy. I wrote all that before we got Romeo & Juliet and the Pangu creation myth. And the fact that te roman emperor "found" the portals??? Like they're just naturally occurring?? This is exhausting. I can't believe you got through this. Truly stronger than the troops

[@toyosibee.mp3]

WHY! SNAKE! BAD!

[@NC-dw1ir]

what do you mean some readers don't like a map? they don't have to read it. like some people are getting offended that the book has a map? if you're writing a fantasy story in a world you made up, it needs a map.

[@rae3781]

If im being honest the music in the background simply adds to the vibes ✨️

[@yichng9088]

This is so in-depth, I love it! I'm very wary of this book because of its total whiplash in heavy topics vs. ✨~romance~ ✨ so I really appreciate your deep dive. I loved all your MHA / X-men / Grishaverse / ATLA references and comparisons as well, it's not that those pieces of fiction are necessarily perfect, shining examples on the topic of magical racism and colonization either, but To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods feels v shallow in comparison

[@RiaJaize]

"Why snake bad?" would also have occurred to me while reading this book. I tried to (mentally) rewrite that myth to accomplish her two goals: to say that the magic-users were specially created by the snake-goddess, and that the myth promises that even someone born evil can become good. The goddess would have had to do something outright evil, like kill another god for selfish reasons; and then perhaps, once she is ostracized and lonely and regretful, her tears fall onto the earth and form people. In its present form, though, it doesn't do what it's supposed to. And also, snake should not be bad in this context -- as you possibly may have pointed out a time or two. :)

[@maggie7000]

Just discovered this while working on my grad research. Thanks so much for providing hours of spectacular background accompaniment for what would otherwise be monotonous drudgery! I've watched/heard so much about this book and really appreciate your depth of thoughtful explanation and just your overall presentation and vibe! Definitely going to be returning!

[@testchannelpleaseignore2452]

1:21:09 on the Rome thing, if this is supposed to be real Rome, then his name would be something something Caesar.

[@jess.alcantara]

I'm sorry I'm answering this a good couple of days later but the same just occurred to me watching this video. There was at least one "Antony" roman emperor I can remember. I used quotation marks because, if I'm not mistaken, his name was Antonio, the Italian equivalent to Antony (please any Italian speaker correct me if I'm wrong), so I was thinking, why not use Italian names or even Latin, not americanized versions? Antonio or Antonius and Valentim. Is there a reason why this Roman empire's language seems to be English?

[@alireadstoomuch9829]

​@@jess.alcantara can confirm, Antonio in italian and Antonius in latin. The only emperor with Antony in his name was the one you'd call Marc Antony, so Marco Antonio or Marcus Antonius in the original latin. There's also Antonino Pio, whose real name was hilariously Titus Aurelius. No idea why original names weren't used, Antony feels so silly 😂

[@jess.alcantara]

@@alireadstoomuch9829 Thank you! I'm Brazilian, so we use the same names then! I just wasn't 100% sure it really was that in Italian, so thank you for confirming. Marco Antonio was the one that I remembered. The real names are really something and I still can't understand WHY Italian names weren't used. So many to choose from.

[@SJ-dl6uc]

as a first gen X-American, whose other country's been bullied by the US, i find it incredibly difficult to write about my other part of my identity competently unless i check w a couple of ppl who are well versed in discourse and linguistics, whose opinions i trust, to proofread my takes (not grammar) to ensure that my American identity has not warped my analytical skills, which can happen when you live in your second country longer than the first one. especially if it's most of your adulthood. nevermind having to check the social temp of home before i spout off anything, due to truly incomparable metrics. i truly believe, if immigrants live in a place longer than they have their original country, and if they spent their adulthood as such, they should definitely doublecheck w those who are actually living under conditions that comprise a given sitch. as someone who lives in the US, my commentary on the state of feminism and equality for non-men of my OG country is inadequate cz i don't live there and my OG country has poor social equality that markedly differs from the social inequality we see in the US. same goes w China. i really think Japanese, Korean and Chinese ppl need to be more aware of what they're writing. the amount of anti Korean propaganda in Japan is insane, the amount of anti Philippines and anti "southeast asian" rhetoric in Korea is insane, the contempt of the Chinese government for their own ppl is insane. you need to be able to tackle the ugly parts of your culture before you make a statement. I've never known a day that i was proud of my either countries. both US and my OG country have severe human rights issues, one has imperialism and the other one has dictatorship. one's bleeding their citizens dry via capitalism and the other is robbing ppl under the guise of religion. the 2,500 yrs old history of my OG country means nothing if i can't point out the hypocrisy. i don't know. i would not feel competent if i were to write such a narrow nuance. I'd definitely have a few anti war and anti imperialist activists read and give an opinion. if you're tackling a tricky subject you should ask the opposition to give their opinion. that way you can escape the echo chamber and 'Yes Men'. edit: i specifically highlighted the Chinese government because their government is v separate from their ppl. in countries w police states and controlling governments, like China and my OG country- who are bffs, the social difference and degrees of freedom are so unbalanced that you can see them as two entities. when I talk about my OG country i use the name of the country for the ppl and the political party for the government because they're not aligned. the same goes w China. in leftist political discourse the Chinese government is seen as a separate entity. the same goes w Saudi, Syria, Palestine (vs Hamas). this nuance is v important and more ppl should know this. the first rule of oppression is that the government is not the people. this is inherent and indisputable no matter the era, country, or planet. killing your Muslim population, along w other genocide methods like sterilization, censorship of information, lack of political and speech freedom, filtered internet, anti Taiwan aggression, anti Hong Kong oppression, top 4 country w the highest executions many yrs in a row... last yr they banned effeminate styles for men... yes, the Chinese gov is v v v contemptuous towards its ppl. there's no redemption here. you don't redeem dictatorships, no matter the brand.

[@shawnyang435]

“The contempt of the Chinese government for their own people is insane.” I’m not disputing this, but I just feel like this sentence in your context is super weird. You are trying to say that Asians should be very careful about what they say, for example, Japanese should not be anti-Korean and Koreans shouldn’t be anti-Eastern Asians. And then out of nowhere you make a comment about the Chinese government? And the implication is what? Chinese should be careful about praising their government? (why would they? You just said the government is contemptuous of its own people). What exactly should the Chinese be careful about when making statements and how does the government play a role here?

[@kytyoy5694]

@@shawnyang435 The CCP has its hands quite literally in many companies, the internet is monitored, and people who have been critical of the government have been known to disappear only to resurface months or years later. They weren't talking about the Chinese praising their government, they were talking about Chinese citizens criticizing the government. They're also talking about the ugly sides of Asia, especially east Asia (Korea, Japan, and China). Especially since K-Pop and Anime has had booming popularity in the West (Mostly white countries), these east asian countries have been romanticized and it can reflect on an asian-american's perception of their grandparents or parent's country, especially in their writing.

[@SJ-dl6uc]

@@shawnyang435 because their government is v separate from their ppl. in countries w police states and controlling governments, like China and my OG country- who are bffs, the social difference and degrees of freedom are so unbalanced that you can see them as two entities. when I talk about my OG country i use the name of the country for the ppl and the political party for the government because they're not aligned. the same goes w China. in leftist political discourse the Chinese government is seen as a separate entity. the same goes w Saudi, Syria, Palestine (vs Hamas). this nuance is v important and more ppl should know this. plus, the Chinese gov is commiting mass genocide of every kind w their Muslim population. i think that's v v v contemptuous, as is censorship, especially of literature and history and political discourse. i can say all this cz my OG country and China are twinsies, in so far as sharing the same number of executions per yr, as well the internet filter known as Filternet. and that's not even the "frivolous" issues like social freedom etc. there's nothing redeemable about the Chinese gov. i cannot be anymore emphatic about this. they're a police state. to pretend otherwise is an insult to the suffering of the Chinese ppl. it's incredibly rude

[@sydmoong]

AMAZING JOB ON THIS VIDEO!!! i loved hearing your perspective on the worldbuilding, especially in the context of chinese myths. also “i love my snom” is gonna live in my head rent free now 😭 subscribed and can’t wait to watch more from you!! 🫶

[@rgaijin]

I appreciate this analysis. Especially since I'm still reading this book (currently in the mid of ch.15) and so far I think i agree with your points regarding part one. The heavy exposition and dialogue but I also find the way the author chose to explain the use of death magic pretty cool along with the extra perks that Ruying gets from her gift. I think I'm gonna pause and come back to this after I'm done so I don't spoil things for myself since your pretty in-depth about this. But I just wanted to share my appreciation for the work you put into this video. So thank you 🙏🏽

[@Paula-133]

Thank You for this review. And nope my eyes are so crossed. I'm used to really intense storylines but this is too much and I dont' feel a thing for any of them. OMG! the female lead is all over the place.

[@Arisutocrat]

I came in to find out what you had to say about "i love my snake mama" in relation to the book but saw your a kindgom or this tattoo and lost it LOL👀(in a good way). I love to see more chinese-inspired books, but what I saw on the page in this one concerned me... like I can give the author some benefit of the doubt that maybe this book was attempting to say something??? about prince colonizer. Maybe the skill and storytelling aren't at a level high enough to pull it off with nuance. I NOPE'D out half way through the book, so I've had to rely on other folks to sum up the rest of it for me. I am on the fence on whether it's a "colonizer romance" because I've also seen videos like Marines'. At this point, I'm not so sure whether TGUWG is a colonizer romance or not matters, because I still feel like the worldbuilding's got some unexamined orientalism woven in it regardless of whether Ruying romanced this dude or not. All that being said, I'll be watching your video in chunks, so sorry if what I'm saying is repetitive or off topic to your points which I will see in the near future!!

[@juniawetmann1311]

I've met your channel because of this video and the questions about this book worldbuilding was just so fun bc I kept thinking about the world I'm creating for a rpg campaign. Now whenever I try to stablish something I'll probably think to myself "why snake bad?" shshwhshhwhshwhh Really fun video and I'm excited to see more.

[@thefatherlord5574]

this video kept popping up in my recommended and I felt like the universe was telling me to check you out! it was right in doing so! loved the video : ) last night i finally finished my university projects for the semester, so im right with you for the brain fry ;_;

[@tsanqi3577]

Thanks for the insight!

[@Redem10]

Great work on being thorough...but I have to ask...do you think the Phantom would have turn out to be a sexy bad boy version of Mao?

[@amari558]

hiiii love this so much

[@Lilthecat-lj7qo]

Wow!

[@noga9895]

I can't comment directly on using a family history of living in Japanese-occupied Manchuria for romantasy-but what I do know is that if I tried doing what Molly X. Chang did with my own family history of being Jewish in German-occupied Poland, I wouldn't be on speaking terms with them. Also, what is it with books and having to go into someone else's perspective for a single chapter of internal monologue because they don't know how to characterize them otherwise??? I hated it in Babel, I hated it in Hell Followed with Us, and I hate it here. Authors learn how to characterize through character action challenge 2k24

[@user-fp6rs1fs6c]

the poppy was also incorporated unit 731 & the nanking rape in the story. would love ur take on how it's incorporated-- some Chinese reviewers also felt it was exploitative

[@TheFlowerbeast]

He literally k worded his parents and we're supposed to feel sorry for him??? 😂

[@mariamf.7234]

i love the snake mom stuff. also tbh i dont get how ppl are comparing this to zutara at all!?

[@12makbe]

The AUTHOR marketed the book as "Zutara on steriods" which I personally don't think did her any favors

[@mariamf.7234]

@@12makbe ohhhh i see! but also wtf

[@diethylmalonate]

sometimes I wonder if I'm missing anything from not reading living fiction authors (nothing wrong as a collective, I just don't read much fiction) and then see reviews like this lol

[@toyosibee.mp3]

Part of me wonders whether the author is planning a reveal in a later book that the "Romans" we've seen thus far AREN'T actually descendants/a continuation of the Roman Empire, and that they're actually just like, organized wh*te-supremacists that co-opted "the Classics aesthetic" (like those Twitter accounts that tweet about "what happened to roman architecture") and developed the technology to *checks notes* open an multidimensional portal, in the name of ending climate change but also wanting to subjugate people....Like, there has to be a reason why the PRINCE OF ROME cited the GREEK NAMES of his own gods... But I might be over-thinking it.

[@dylanrodrigues]

Also, how come everyone's making videos on this novel around the same time? Was there another chapter in the drama?

[@thynottea]

the book was officially released recently so people are finally able to read it and make their determinations rather than just people who received ARCs

[@ribbonquest]

But why snake bad?

[@fiiooonnnna]

i think it is just very strange that both this and the poppy wars used like actual war atrocities to be a story element in their fantasy novels which imo is just a little 突兀... like it stands out when compared to the tone and style of the rest of the story and thus to me feels a little exploitative. also the poppy wars also used real Chinese mythological or historical character names for it's in-universe characters which always just takes me out of the story and makes it feel a bit more goofy overall. i just can't help but see a baby when i hear nezha idk... like i am all for using these known characters as a metaphor for the built world (eg: pangu and how that can relate to the sky opening 开天辟地 etc.) but most of the time it just feels gimmicky and nonsensical.. i actually don't know if i made much sense in all that yapping ^... sorry xx! fun video

[@pauieeepau]

Atp i don't care if it's a colonizer romance. From reviews I've consumed, this book seems to want to be an anticolonizer story while wanting to be a romance (I've seen it called a dark romance). It wants to be Zutara but also wants to Darklina. It seems to contradict itself a bit. Not for me. Nice analysis btw. Thanks for explaining the historical references as well.

[@tsi_lusine]

There's a lot of this that feels like blood libel, tbh :/

[@lordknightalex]

i feel like ive read better worldbuilding on transmigration xianxia webcomics.... also i would be much more interested in taohua as a protagonist