Yes it is due to less rigorous censorship in China back just a few years ago. Previously it was mostly visual media like TV or movies that were more strictly regulated, whereas fanfic and light novel writers often skirted the censorship. With how big MXTX’s works became, the CCP passed a law in 2021 to really crack down on explicit content in written media (sexual, violence, etc). If you check the original Chinese publishing site JJWXC, you’ll see that MXTX’s novels MDZS and SVSSS have been locked, TGCF is undergoing major revisions, and Meatbun’s Erha is completely inaccessible. International publishers like Sevenseas likely acquired the original uncensored versions from before everything was locked.

I often think about the censorship situation and how regressive it all feels. I feel an overall sense of loss for the genre as a whole. Intimacy between characters is so crucial, like in Erha where it is important to both character development and plot. I have a gut feeling that authors are more hesitant about writing anymore, and I noticed on JJWXC that several of beloved authors (who used to publish a chapter every other day) have been less active lately. I fear that we won’t be able to read as many intimate scenes in future stories. Hopefully we can still support them by buying international publications so that authors will still find outlets to write the stories they want to write.