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anotherlinewithout-a-hook · 2 years ago

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(Preface : Okay so gollowing the news of Moonbin I have not been coping well and it is currently 4a.m as I write this. I guess in a weird way this is healthier coping mechanism than my other one's. So I am diving into different theories because I would much rather think about 3zun than....yeah.anyhow, my mind is still scattered so please excuse me if the wording and order and grammar is off. ) That being said,

This was really interesting to read! And as 3zun and the Yi City arc are quite literally most of my favourite parts of MDZS, CQL and all other abbreviations linked to this series. I had some thoughts.

I am not trying to argue or start anything, because I truly did enjoy the post above. And hearing from someone with like, you know...actual knowledge on literature. (As opposed to me ranting to my friend who knows nothing of MDZS qnd me who knows next to nothing of literature.) Also I am *not* a literature major(although I wish to be, sigh) my highest qualification is English A levels (which include a lot of literature but is not comparable to Uni Grad) so my thoughts have nothing to do with the structure from a literature point of view. Rather, how I interpreted the story.

I have watched all of the live action and donghua, however I have only read the manhua up till chapter 250 and I have about 40 chapters(excluding the extra chapters) of the book left to go. So my opinion on this is based only on that! Maybe my thoughts will have altered once I finished those.

So, with the parallel thing, I guess it had never been in the front of my mind. Like subconciously I noticed some similarities. But like OP I also think it is more fun to think about them as more than parallels BUT also the idea that they could be parallels is thought provoking.

I like the concept of the parallel in this instance(once again from a reader's pov) because it highlights exactly what I love about MXTX. The fact that her books can be interpreted thousands of ways based on your walk of life and all that. Also that the characters represent real people.

Where I get confused with this is the actual meaning of parallel. I have not studied literature in depth so I know of the concept but not deeply. The definition I am working with is this:

But in this definition, does that mean it is okay that the characters aren't exactly similar?

Because the way I understood it, if we used the more common comparisons (XC and XC, JGY qnd XY qnd SL and NMJ) then a comparison can be drawn because not only are their story lines similar, but so are their characteristics. So it becomes easier to see how the two arcs emphasize each other, which I think is the main point of a parallel?

Whereas if we look at it from annon's perspective, the comparisons drawn share a theme, but not an arc or even similar characteristics the way I see it. Is it then still a parallel if the story lines (because of the order of events)are so different?(or is this what a parallel is all along?)I am unclear on this so if someone can explain this to me, it would be great!

Either way the parallel notion made me compare the characters and that made me think more about their stories and what they represent to each of us. (Which I have been doing since 2019 seriously pls send help.)

Seeing as I don't understand fully what a parallel is, I am just going to draw Comparisons between the different Characters and Arcs and leave everyone to their own thoughts

Much like OP, I naturally assumed the comparison would be between these two so my thoughts on that.

There are a lot of similarities between all of them if we look at it from this perspective.

Similarities Lan Xichen and Xiao Xingchen

- Both meet their eventual (arguable) human form of a downfall at a time of loss.(XXC of his bestie [and eyes] and LXC of his home). 《Actually, in CQL Lan Xichen meets Jiggy on those teachings when they present the gift with Huaisang, yet for some reason I vividly remember Xichen in MDZS meeting Jiggy for the first time while in hiding. It could be that CQL changed it up for the sake of the audience but it could also be because of my terrible memory and my disorganized thoughts. This may not seem like an important change but here's the thing, if XC met Jiggy first as a member of the Nie Sect, then there was inherent trust on his part as he trusts the Nie Clan. It also changes Jiggy's intention if he already knew of Xichen's status amd kindness.》

- Both end up feeling as though they have failed on a basis of their moral compass nearing the end of their arc.

- Both are seen to be this pillar of morality within the story but a deeper look at their stories proves otherwise.

- They have a strong moral compass, yet a gentle approach(as opposed to their counterparts, SL amd NMJ). But this gentle approach is what causes their lapse of judgement?(if I can call it that?)

- Light element in their dynamics.

- They were both warned but chose to see the good in people(which technically goes against Lan Xichen's upbringing but makes sense with his walk of life) A-Qing aka "Little Blind" warned Xingchen continuously and expressed her distrust (and dislike) of Xueyang *especially in the novel*. As did Da-ge of Jiggy but this I saw more of in the live action(though, I just may not have reached that part in the book).

- They both come from a secluded background that doesn't really allow room for questioning their teachings? (To be fair no one really knows what happens on the mountain, but how much room does Xingchen have to question his teachings when he learns from Baoshan Sanren alone and is seperated from the rest of the world).

Xingchen is physically seperated from the world, and while it may seem Xichen isn't, I like to argue emotionally/mentally he is. Besides the Cloud Recesses being quite far from everything already, their teachings are done by Lan Teachers and they live in a weird moral Utopia where Good and Bad can clearly be divided, which cannonically does not stand true.

- Death. Xiao Xingchen's physically and Lan Xichen's emotionally. It really stands out to me when Wei Wuxian says to Xueyang (The spirit in this bag does not want to come back. It is utterly broken, fragmented. Something along those lines.) Which I think is how Xichen feels after Guanyin temple.

(There are many more but, yeah)

Differences between Lan Xichen and Xiao Xingchen

- One the room they are allowed to deal with their emotions. Xingchen roams the world with his bestie for a while. They are free to talk about their emotions and help each other cope. And it works for them. They share a similar world view and have similar goals.

However Xichen and his bestie in this case Mingjue, don't have time for that. They are clan leaders and can't be acting on emotions alone. And also have so much shit to get done. At first glance Lan Xichen is good, but the more you look at it, thete is no way he could have been without severely repressing his emotions.

- The third party(not because they are of less importance but in order that they entered XC²'s arcs) provides something different for them. Jiggy provides Lan Xichen a world away from High Class Society, comfort and the simplicities of life.

Xingchen seems to like how unserious (pos)life is with Xueyang. It seems he and Song Lan where so busy trying to eradicate evil and do right and start their sect not based on blood line. Not to mention how serious SongLan(and Da-ge) are. Jiggy takes care of Xichen(wherw Xichen has never been nurtured), while Xingchen takes care of Xueyang (where Xingchen has never really had anyone to nurture). Which I feel they both needed.

I don't fully understand annon's comparison but I feel it is always important to look at different views. So here is what I picked up from OP's analysis and theirs.(My interpretations might be wrong though)

Similarities bt. Xingchen and Nie Mingjue

-Disability narratives (or what they represent in their arcs)

- Both are within the novel and manhua(if I remember correctly) seen as standards for morality. And it is mentioned or at least highlighted quite clearly(to me) that they are in the different forms of media of the series.

- Their disability is taken advantage of by Xueyang and Jiggy, to lead them to their end after gaining their trust.

- They are both praised within the system that the major clans uphold and promote. They are at the top due to simple luck.(If you know about kpop, this could be simplified to BTS' song Baepsae. Xingchen qnd Mingjue are the Hwangsae or the one's feeding off of a silver spoon and Jiggy and Xueyang are left eating the crumbs of the system).

The differences between Xiao XingChen and Nie Mingjue

- Their approach. Yes they are moral paragons, but Xingchen has a more gentle approach that allows room for reformation. He is strict with his moral code but he is not as harsh or hot headed as Mingjue is. Ironically had each of them had a little more of the other's traits their arcs may have looked drastically different.

- This one is obvious but you know, the nature of their disabilities. (OP spoke about this). Xingchen is physically blind, and he was in control of the situation as he chose to give Song Lan his eyes. He has experienced life with his sight before and gave it up due to his personal belief and moral reasoning.(one could argue he didn't give it up willingly but felt it was the correct thing to do).

Da-ge has never had this chance. Qi- deviation is heriditary in his family and inherrits it. Much like someone who by today's standard we would call neurodivergent, his brain is just built that way. That has always been his view of the world. Made worse by the fact that his father did too! (Invisible disability is also different in some aspect to a visible disabilty, but I think someone with more experience with both should rather speak on this as I only have experience with the former.)

- Their experiences with I guess the antogonists(for lack of a better word) of the arcs?(Jiggy and Xueyang). Mingjue hadn't always hated Jiggy. He was the one who took him in and trained him and promoted him and even reccomended him to the Jin clan. He hasn't always been against him. Compared to Xingchen. Every run in prior to Yi City that he had with Xueyang was negative. Literally.

- Their downfalls were brought by due to different reasons. Yes they were both taken advantage of but also, Da-ge knew it was Jin Guangyao. But he trusted Xichen's judgement. He gave Jiggy the benefit of the doubt against his will, because they were sworn brothers (brought to you by my dearly beloved, Xichen) Whereas Xingchen gave Xueyang the benefit of the doubt from the get go off his own accord.

- Their deaths, although brought upon by other people, are different in nature. Da-ge's death was inevitable. Everyone, even Huaisang was always constantly holding their breath since Da-ge started cultivating amd showing signs. He was going to die at some point, Jin Guangyao sped up the process and made it much more painful than iy needed to be.

Whereas Xiao Xingchen could have continued to roam the Earth until he ascended really. (I know there is no ascension in MDZS as it is low fantasy but it is a metaphor, okay?). That being said their deaths were still painful to watch.

I guess this is part one? Thank you to OP and Annon for discussing this. And bringing the topic up. Once again, these are all just my thoughts and probably not what the author intended.

This isn’t a very popular opinion in the fandom but I think that XY & JGY, XXC & NMJ, & to some extent Song Lan & LXC parallel each other. XY & JGY are class narratives, XXC & NMJ are disability narratives (bc qi deviation is an actual condition in Chinese medicine) & Song Lan & LXC are displacement narratives. Song Lan is affected by the destruction of Baixue Temple while LXC is affected by the destruction of Cloud Recesses. Cql plays up the parallel by having XY get involved with the Wens.

It's a very interesting angle, Anon. The literature grad in me immediately wants to dig my nails into the source material (which, as a disclaimer, I haven't read much of at all. Most of my narrative knowledge comes from CQL. So, as always - take this with a grain of salt).

I would argue that any interpretation, popular or unpopular, should not be as straightforward as a direct parallel between each character in a certain group, simply because it's more fun and narratively rich to mix things up rather than simply using character B as a mirror or vehicle for meaning in character A's development. So that said, for the themes you've pointed out, it's very interesting to consider the alternately parallel characters - for instance, placing XXC and NMJ in parallel to each other when the easier interpretation would pair XXC with LXC, or SL with NMJ for their similar personalities and light/dark motifs.

I feel like the class narrative of XY and JGY speaks for itself, considering the main plot's occupation with status, power and orthodoxy, but where you could interpret XXC's blindness as allegory and compare his "blind trust" of XY with LXC's trust of JGY (which is a metaphor I'm not entirely happy making, to be honest, because I must stress: this interpretation reduces XXC's blindness to just an allegory, and I don't have enough knowledge of the novel to claim that as a true criticism of the source material or not), you can equally claim XY takes advantage of XXC's disability to manipulate him, in the same way that JGY orchestrates and uses NMJ's qi deviation for his own advantage.

In both examples, their 'weakness' is exploited and causes them a moral downfall, wherein NMJ and XXC were both once held up as paragons of virtue in that same system that discriminates against XY and JGY. It might also be interesting to compare the nature of their disabilities as well, within the context of the novel: XXC gives up his eyes for SL, yet another virtuous act, but NMJ's qi deviation is hereditary, and holds some stigma due to its - quite literally deviant - nature. Then we have SL and LXC, who both endure the traumatic destruction of their homes, and the displacement that comes after. Interestingly, LXC finds refuge with JGY and happily 'lowers' himself to JGY's status, while SL never gets that opportunity to find another refuge. He gets the inverse: Yi City, where (to circle back to the more popular parallel) he instead mirrors NMJ in that he is also reduced to something deviant in nature.

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