Colonizerji

Colonizerji is the name fans use to refer to an imbroglio in Mo Dao Zu Shi fandom that occurred in July 2022 on Twitter. 
==Twitter threadfic by 3neetee==
On July 27, 2022, user 3neetee on Twitter posted a WangXian threadfic. The threadfic was a Wangxian AU in which Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji are princes of rival kingdoms, with Lan Wangji as the evil conquering prince. In the last post on the thread, they said that it was inspired by the "history of colonizers conquering via diseases," and they had written it for sweetlolixo, who had wanted Dark Lan Wangji.https://docs.google.com/document/d/1AFcOtqGQp6Y6wHzEZFu7hUKETH3dH9TnbeB_ljtTWrc/edit Screenshot of a screenshot of a tweet by 3neetee ("Statement", p.4), posted July 27, 2022. Accessed February 8, 2024.
sweetlolixo responded positively and with enthusiasm:https://docs.google.com/document/d/1AFcOtqGQp6Y6wHzEZFu7hUKETH3dH9TnbeB_ljtTWrc/edit Screenshot of a screenshot of a tweet by sweetlolixo ("Statement", p.9), posted July 27, 2022. Accessed February 8, 2024.
However, the threadfic, 3neetee, and sweetlolixo were quickly met with backlash:
Because the mention of colonization was not revealed until the end, some users who had only read the beginning initially also replied with enthusiasm before quickly backtracking.
Despite this, other fans came to 3neetee and sweetlolixo's defense, often pointing out that it was just fiction:https://twitter.com/YukineLuna/status/1552970318138032130 Tweet thread by YukineLuna, July 29, 2022. Accessed February 8, 2024.
On July 30, 2022, sweetlolixo posted an apology thread for her response to 3neetee's Twitter threadfic. As she had initially compared the threadfic to a Tian Guan Ci Fu AU, she clarified her responses here:
Shortly after posting her apology, sweetlolixo also told a user defending her that she did not appreciate it:
Many users were not happy with her apology; some went as far as to say that the only thing she was sorry for was "getting caught." Despite the sentiment of her apology, users also took issue with the way she apologized.
After her apology, sweetlolixo did not publicly speak on the issue any further. 3neetee had also locked their account, but unlocked at some point afterward. Some fans discovered in 2024 that they had not deleted the "colonizerji" threadfic in that time., Tweet by priismacolors, Posted August 8, 2023. Accessed February 8, 2024.
==AO3 fic by now_thats_what_i_call_fandom_wank==
On July 30 (possibly after sweetlolixo's twitter apology but with time zone differences it's hard to say) a Twitter user under a sockpuppet account named fandomwankparty tweeted a link to a fic they had just posted to AO3 under the username now_thats_what_i_call_fandom_wank:
The fic's title was "Most shocking!!! After attempting genocide and failing, the Emperor’s ignorant right hand man Lan Wangji got his light-bringing bussy colonized by the most savage Wei Wuxian in an attempt to teach him an unforgettable lesson!!!", and if the author's name wasn't already clear enough, they stated in the notes that it was a spitefic in response to the backlash received by sweetlolixo and 3neetee:
The fic got attention on Twitter after user fiercynonym drew attention to it., Tweet by fiercynonym, 30 July 2022. Accessed February 8, 2024. 
After being criticized by multiple users for the use of "savage," which is regarded by many indigenous Americans as a racial slur. CBC News. October 2, 2019. Accessed February 8, 2024. , the title got changed to "Most shocking!!! After attempting genocide and failing, the Emperor’s ignorant right hand man Lan Wangji got his light-bringing bussy colonized by the most [redacted] Wei Wuxian in an attempt to teach him an unforgettable lesson!!!"
Fan reactions were overwhelmingly critical of the fic. Many noted that the motivation behind it was clearly racist. 
Wayback Machine shows that AO3 user now_thats_what_i_call_fandom_wank had posted only one fic, the spitefic in question.Wayback Machine copy, 31 July 2022 (1 am?) The fic was then deleted a day after being posted.Wayback Machine copy, 31 July 2022. Both the "fandomwankparty" Twitter account and "now_thats_what_i_call_fandom_wank" AO3 account were soon deleted.
A few days later Stitch Media Mix made a blog post covering both the Twitter threadfic and the AO3 spitefic incidents. by Stitch. August 3, 2022. Accessed February 8, 2024.
==2024 Intertwined Fates Zine Controversy==
In 2024, during the Intertwined Fates controversy, a screenshot of sweetlolixo talking in a Discord server was leaked. The screenshot allegedly took place shortly after the "colonizerji" incident and her apology.
An investigative document released by the MDZS Wedding Zine claimed that there is no date on the screenshot, and thus is unable to say for certain that it took place during the colonizerji incident. However, on February 2, 2024, user anaphoricae on Twitter said that the original screenshot was sent to them, and took place on August 2, 2022, three days after sweetlolixo's apology, February 2, 2024. Accessed February 8, 2024. archive.is:
This led to users questioning if sweetlolixo's apology was genuine in the first place. 
3neetee has since deleted their twitter account. Users within the fandom continue to post about how both 3neetee and sweetlolixo are supporters of colonization because of this incident.
==Further Reading==
* Intertwined Fates
* Race and Fandom
* Reality vs. Fiction Discussion
* Callout Culture
==Citations==
Category:Mo Dao Zu Shi
Category:Twitter
Category:2022 EventsCategory:2022 Twitter