Awhile ago I was talking about tantric practices and someone made a really crude sexual joke about enlightenment that was... blasphemous... I can’t even repeat it... it made me so uncomfortable. So I wonder how Taoists feel about “ascension” jokes in English-speaking fandom.

There’s “i’m ascending” like “losing my mind” in Eng... but I feel when western folk get introduced to Taoist ascension, they begin conflating that with the “meme” / “slang” form of ascended. I see it appearing in period setting fics, sometimes in sexual situations...

Like someone made an urban dictionary definition of qi deviation like it’s some “Anciet Chinese Gay Fantasy” slang and I made a whole ass thread trying to explain the cultural context it comes in, and how it ties into traditional medicine and Chinese beliefs about the human body.

Thread is here for those who are interested. Anyway... a lot of these things aren’t just... quirky slang or memes... they are beliefs held by real people. In the case of enlightenment and ascension, they are RELIGIOUS concepts. https://twitter.com/asideoftrashpl1/status/1256390645482049536

I am aware that I have a reputation for sex-positivity, kink, and filthy ass pwp but... I AM religious. I have religious tattoos... We have multiple religious statues in my living room...

But in any case today I saw someone using “ascended” in a sexual scene and...

Considering how uncomfortable I was at the very crude and sexual joke about enlightenment, how do Taoists feel about sexual uses of “ascension” in fics? (I’m not Taoist.)

I feel like I should have shared the quote in question I saw today but... I didn’t want the person to feel called out if they saw my tweet...

Anyway for more context erm.. I guess I’ve observed Taoist “ascension” being used in the same way one would use the “slang” form of ascended. Like in this humorous, hyperbolic “I am ascending” way. And in this particular case, it was used in a sexual context...

Like if you’re having sex and your partner does this Thing and you’re like “I A M A S C E N D I N G” that’s one thing... but in danmei period settings if you specifically reference TAOIST “ascension” sexually in this quirky hyperbolic meme-y way in the “QI DEVIATING” way

Or in the “I am ASCENDING” way. On one level there’s this “but why ARE you conflating Taoist religious concept with the English slang usage of ascend it’s not just quirky or hyperbolic its an actual religion” but on the other... is it like... blasphemous? Uncomfortable?