If Song of Wasteland had been released, readers and critics could have discussed it properly. If it handled slavery poorly, people would have criticized it, reviews would have reflected that, and future authors could have learned exactly what worked and what didn't.
By canceling the project before anyone could read the full story, what lesson was actually learned?
Not "here's how to handle sensitive history responsibly."
The lesson becomes: "Don't touch certain historical topics at all, or you risk being mobbed before your work is even released."
That doesn't encourage better storytelling. It encourages self-censorship.
Criticism is important. Let the work come out, then criticize it based on what it actually says—not on assumptions about what it might say.
i underestand your pov and tbh if it wasn't for some stuff used in chapter 1 i would have 100% agreed with you. i'm gonna lay down what i truly didn't like based on what we got
1- the white savior: Gerome freed the slaves just because he lost his family as he said "go and be your family before it's too late" like i said if he didn't lose his family he wouldn't even care about them
2- he used the word "slaves" then changed it because the war is over and the "terms" has been changed
3- the native guy said "i'm your slave" even if it was sarcastic, he still used the word "slave"
now let's imagine a black person and a native person reading this and see how the guy who is supposed to represent them used the word "i'm your slave" knowing very well how bad people with colors were treated and they had no humain rights to back them up compared to white people, they'll be angry ofc. now let's switch roles, imagine a non asian person (americain or european or africains) pick a dark time for korean/asian peoples where they were not treated like humain being and they were slaves and killed ect without a proper research and use that dark traumatizing times as a plot for BL smut, do you think they'll be fine with it? do you think they'll agree to finish the work and buy it when it's gonna talk about how tragic it was for them? ofc not
i understand that we shouldn't judge a book by the cover or by one chapter only but even Jaxx herself said she made a mistake for picking that dark times for a genre like BL and apologized for it.
First of all, thank you for taking the time to explain your perspective respectfully instead of simply dismissing mine. I genuinely appreciate that.
I actually understand your concerns, and I think they deserved to be discussed.
What I wish had happened instead was this:
"Let's work through this together."
Let's explain why certain scenes or dialogue are hurtful. Let's suggest changes. Let's help the author rewrite parts that don't work. Let's show that sensitive historical topics can be handled with care and respect.
That way, everyone learns. The creator grows, readers feel heard, and future authors have a better example to follow.
Instead, the project ended after its introductory chapter.
To me, that's a missed opportunity. I'd rather see creators learn and improve than become afraid to write about difficult historical topics at all.
Thank you again for having a genuine discussion. Even if we don't completely agree, conversations like this are far more valuable than shouting at each other.
no need to thank me at all, each have their own opinions and each opinion either we like it or not should be respected
i think cacelling was the best option for her at that time, she literally got death threats over this work
i agree that, they should've have spoken with her and educated her about that time and how tragic it is for many people (to this day) i'm an irish so i underestand why they're angry, this whole mess could've been solved easily, yet again they went for death threats and telling her to off herself. she could've re used the same characters in different timeline or like you said rewrite and change or like i said in another comment try both routes where she educate non americain how the history while adding romance (it would be nice to see two people with different race and social levels to fall in love and be us against the whole universe) i'd read it and support it and even black people and native people would appreciate it as well since it's accurate and it's breaking the rules of that time with a very good representation as well
but what pmo is that people want THIS dark plot and they didn't care for the safety of the author because they know well if she continue the same story it's not gonna end well for her
this is why i want this petition gone and we can make a new one where we ask for a rewrite
i literally just noticed there is a petition signed by 1k people asking jaxx to continue this project and to geoblock it since they WISH TO SUPPORT THIS and saying how the white guy (forgot his name) Gerome or something freed the slaves..
guys are we fr right now? Gerome's family owned slaves their whole life, he only freed them because he lost his family, if he didn't he wouldn't, they called him "young master", he called them slaves then changed it because the war was over.
saying shit like " it's a work of fiction" when it's clearly not, the characters are indeed fiction but the time and era are not. to use people with colors traumatic history too goon on is insane. But if this was about white peoples and the "mistreat of white genes" lol some of y'all would be furious.
the least the defenders could do is ask to re-use the same characters but in a different story and era in time (cowboy x cowboy would be so nice to read)
again DON'T USE OTHER PEOPLE TRAUMATIC HISTORY TO GOON, it's not about fiction or whatever, it's about what's right and wrong
and how tf can we remove that stupid petition?