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scrolling twitter today and then coming over here is like walking out of a burning building and then walking into the calm remains of a building that burnt down 5 years ago and has been reclaimed by nature.

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via MicroSFF on Twitter https://twitter.com/MicroSFF April 24, 2019 at 01:52PM

Of villainy, causality and guns (or: what did Mo Dao Zu Shi do better than most novels?)

For some time now I’m showing off my excitement for MDZS, both anime and novel version, but then I realized that so far I didn’t share any actual thoughts. And I have a lot to say about this series. A lot. As lumping together too many subjects never works, now I’m going to stick to just one topic. Or two, fundamental for MDZS: reasons and guns. 

No, it wasn’t a joke. Have you ever heard about Chekhov’s gun? If your answer is yes, good for you. If your answer is no, let me explain it very briefly. Anton Chekhov, a Russian play-writer, once wrote that “If in the first act you have hung a pistol on the wall, then in the following one it should be fired. Otherwise don’t put it there”, explaining that any detail included on the stage should be necessary for the play. Though the rule was first referred to theater, now it’s often used for writing, too. If a scene doesn’t serve any meaning to the plot as a whole, don’t include it. If you can cut a scene and your story doesn’t change, your scene is unnecessary. I’m a little sensitive about this matter (a quirk of my studies, I suppose) and I noticed that many NYT bestsellers struggle a lot with following the Chekhov’s gun rule. Character development or relationship should never develop outside of the story; the story should develop them. And you know what is one of the best, the greatest, the most stunning examples of the perfect gun rule? Of course, Mo Dao Zu Shi. Oh god… this novel is brilliant. 

Unchronological narration of MDZS is both its biggest strength and weakness. But I don’t want to share my “buts”, so I’m gonna look at the bright side of this novel - the author didn’t follow the chronological order of events, meaning that she perfectly knew what she was going to write. There was no place for improvisation, letting characters to take control and observing what would happen. No, this story is planned from the beginning to the end (and I was amazed by the amount of awareness that the author showed). Certain things did happen in the past. Certain things caused the situation we see in the first chapter. And we slowly learn how small decisions can lead to great consequences.

I can simplify it and say that Jiang YanLi was killed because Wei WuXian protected Mianmian. Am I right? Maybe no, because those two events have nothing to do with each other. But maybe yes, because if we cut the scene where WWX tries to help an unknown girl, Jiang YanLi would never die. Causes and effects are definitely one of the strongest parts of MDZS. Notice how every little scene gives something to the story: if WWX didn’t stand up for Mianmian, he wouldn’t incur Wen Chao’s anger. If he didn’t incur his anger, Wen Chao wouldn’t try to harm him. If they weren’t on bad terms, Wei WuXian would never offend Wen Chao and Wen Chao would never send Wang Lingjiao for Wei WuXian’s hand, what later resulted in Lotus Pier massacre and so and so. Every action has a beginning. Nothing happens without a reason. And even a small scene, seemingly unimportant, is a part of the bridge to Wei WuXian’s backstory. This is seriously one of the best and well-thought novels I’ve read in a while. A lot of stories - praised stories for younger audience - are long for the sake of being long, show scenes that in the long run bring nothing to the actual plot. Maybe some people don’t pay attention and don’t care (and this is fine, of course!), but if you read books with intention of checking if the plot is consistent, and if one event leads to another, many books… just fail. You wouldn’t believe how often I come across a well-written book filled with pretty scenes, I must admit, but completely pointless. And now try to skip any scene in MDZS. It would be hard, right? Not always it has to be a big reveal, often it’s just a small element but it does come back later, and there’s a reason the author described it. Every moment, big or small, leads to the tragedy and to the later adventures. 

Causality is also one of the reasons why I love Wei WuXian’s character, and it’s a big thing as he’s a trope that I usually hate with burning passion - a villain that later turns out to be a good guy. I love horrors. I love darker stories. And I love villains with some good reasons. But mind you - good reasons don’t mean the same as good excuses. I think that a negative character should always have their own motivation and substantiation for their action, but it should be never reduced to suggesting that their crimes were justified. If an antagonist is supposed to be a good person, first they must realize their actions and atone for their sins, then become a positive character with actual development. So I’m all for villains turning into good people (with hard work) and I despite villains turning out to be good people (from the beginning). The reason is that such trope is usually handled poorly, and uses one of two motives; either we get to know reasoning behind their actions and a tragic backstory is enough for characters to forgive their villain - to quote a popular meme, cool motive, still a murder - or suddenly we learn that all actions we took as evil were actually meant to help the main hero. We just didn’t interpret it right! When authors use this trope, I often feel that I’m either treated like an idiot and developments I was observing for two books were meaningless (so why describing them???), or can’t believe that doing a bunch of undeniably shitty things is a justification just because the alternative also sucks. 

So much about other stories, now let’s go back to Mo Dao Zu Shi aka the only story where I love the ‘he was a good guy’ trope. I said that in MDZS, a small decision can result in big consequences. This is what happens to WWX. No matter how ridiculous it sounds without any context, he’s a type of character who turns into a villain because he is too good, and too altruistic, and loves people too much. It’s not WWX who does bad things. It’s the world. And somehow, the evil constantly ricochets and hits him. Now, appreciate how precisely the author weaved the plot to show her main character as a bad guy with simultaneous depriving him of bad intentions! Look how many elements had to be a) planned and b) correctly used to make the whole world another character, playing a role in the plot and affecting the main character. It all goes well together - WWX doesn’t try to harm anyone, yet decisions of other characters, and circumstances, and coincidence, it all suddenly makes deaths WWX’s fault. One of the most tragic things about him is how every decision he makes is tragic in consequence, no matter if it’s morally good or bad. Take a look at WWX actions. He never, I repeat never, had a real choice. Because what could he do? Look at the innocent being assaulted or stand up for them. Let a helpless girl being killed as a bait or save her. Be killed himself or resist the Wen Clan and protect his family. Watch Jiang Cheng being murdered or listen to Madame Yu’s last wish. Die in a hole or take control overevil spirits and come back. Leave the Wen Clan alone, knowing well that they would target everyone he loved, or make the move and kill them (here we must remember about this world and how they didn’t have a whole prison system and stuff, for the worst crimes people were killed, so WWX’s decision is not morally awful). See? He never has a choice. In fact, every time someone else makes a decision for him and WWX’s resolve is just a formality as he can’t do anything else. And he can never imagine consequences. Causality is back in action - in the wildest dreams WWX could never predict effects of his behavior, as well as we wouldn’t see it. Jiang Cheng is a little worried about WWX picking on the Wen Clan but he doesn’t suspect that it can result in his parents’ death because who would consider such an option? Madame Yu tells WWX that he would bring misfortune, but in the end chooses his side. Cause and effect are unimaginable and they are usually out of WWX control. He’s just very unlucky. And so he is thrown in the middle of situation he can neither control nor predict, yet he is still forced to make decisions, making consequences growing bigger and bigger. 

It’s really easy to find clear reason for any situation that happened in MDZS, and causality shows that most tropes are not bad, they’re just used badly. For example, another trope I usually hate is ‘everything could be solved with communication’ but in the famous ‘Come back to Gusu’ it just fits so perfectly! Because analyzing their relationship, another reaction would be out of character. But this is a topic for another post (only if you want). Now I just wanted to say that MDZS author holds the Chekhov’s gun and doesn’t miss the target.

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Saw it again right under the other still gonna do it

Okay, I love this:

@avenuex123 pointed out on YouTube (minute 29:00) that eps 14/15 feature a before/after marriage hairstyle change for Zhao YunLan:

“…now they live next door to each other & they are a family. Right after that in episode 15, Zhao YunLan changed his hairstyle. The actor joked that it is a signal for ‘I have found my good friend.’”

“Whereas everybody who is watching the drama is like ‘no, that means you have found your husband.’ Because traditionally in Chinese culture, when a woman marries, she changes her hairstyle.”

#married

*.*

Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan in Guardian

Bonus:

Da Qing (stating the obvious): “It seems like your ruse has failed”.

Zhao Yunlan: …. *internally curses*

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镇魂 08 | Guardian 08 [ Weilan Moment: Zhao Yunlan making a fool out of himself Part 2 ]

「 We sit silently and watch the world around us. This has taken a lifetime to learn. It seems only the old are able to sit next to one another and not say anything and still feel content. 」

- Nicholas Spark .

镇魂 33 | Guardian 33 [I miss the sun here]

A/N: I love how they were effortlessly in synch with each other.

Seriously obsessed with Three Lives Three Worlds Then Miles Peach Blossom Cdrama. more coming soon 

Wei Wuxian loves teasing Lan Wangji~ ☆

Mark Chao and Yang Mi for Harper’s Bazaar CHINA, May ‘17.

— Victor & Yuri for @vyctornikiforov Isabella, thank you for 2k18.