#just for him to sacrifice everything

[onthemerits]

we talk abt sel giving up his humanity to save bree but consider:

bree having no more than ten minutes to speak to her mother— the woman whose death motivated the entire first book— and using a few of those minutes to ask about sel’s mother to try and ease his pain and save his humanity——

there’s so much love and care and growth in that act— even aside from bree’s loyalty and care for sel, she’s come so far from the girl consumed by grief, driven by an obsession with her mother’s past.

she couldn’t even connect with her ancestors the first time mariah tried to help her. she was too overwhelmed with thoughts of her mother and their lineage, scared that her mother wouldn’t want to talk to her, scared of facing her mothers death head on.

now, she gives up time with her mother for the chance of helping sel— and herself by proxy. this is a far cry from the bree prepared to sacrifice everything to solve her mother’s “murder.”

and no one should be shocked by the end of bloodmarked.

[noxcheshire]

I am sick, dizzy, and can barely think but you know what would be WILD?

If the DC universe was an echo of Danny’s world. What if the continents of their planet shifted enough where Amity is now in New Jersey and had then become Gotham.

And when Danny died underneath the portal a part of his death fractured and imprinted itself into those various worlds. One of them being Gotham, where Danny’s home ironically used to be where Wayne Manor used to be.

So just imagine it, you’re coming back from patrol, grimy, sweaty, and with questionable intentions by dressing as an overgrown bat when suddenly the lights dim. It dims and brings darkness, only enough light to catch the beady marble eyes of the bats you fear.

And then electricity jumps in the middle of the room, flinging itself around like an agitated snake in wide open circles.

Everyone is backing away, some weary, some cursing, some just half way out of their own suit.

And then a child — barely as old as your youngest now, flickers to life before you, screaming and screaming, wailing in pain as the scent of burning flesh mingles into the air. You can see the boy, black hair and blue eyes that underneath the bright light that burns them is causing black to turn white, and blue to turn green.

The electricity crackles and when the boy is about the drop, limp, certainly lifeless, he vanishes as if nothing had ever been there.

But he comes back, he always comes back, in the moment of calm and in the moment of despair, echoing that painful wailing of death.

It’s so wrong.

It’s very, very wrong.

It didn’t even matter anymore why the boy showed up, only that this moment of pain continues to haunt the cave of heroes.

Continuously haunting, even as some whispered apologizes when the boy appeared. Continuously haunting, even as some provided songs of comfort when the boy appeared. Continuously haunting, even as stories of Gotham are told and promises (though uncertain and flimsy at best) are spoken to the wailing boy who always drops fast and disappears just as quickly.

Always, it was the same.

Until one day it wasn’t.

The electricity crackled like it always did. A spark, and then a calamity of light. And the boy would be there, uncurling himself into a tense position as he would wail.

But not this time.

Instead the boy curled himself in the air, calm as can be, almost as if he were sleeping. Even the electricity that they have learned to dance away from was calm, gentle, like ocean waves.

And when the electricity vanished, the boy did not, instead dropping to the floor where Dick was quick to catch him, grunting in preparation of weight only to show alarm at how thin the boy truly was.

On that face that has haunted them all for months is just a boy, sleeping, and scarred. A boy breathing very slow, slower than what they would like, but here in the physical realm with them.

Dick brushed back bangs of black hair, and slowly, ever so slowly, glazed blue eyes stared back.

[adrift-in-thyme]

Something that really struck me about this update is Time’s behavior. He doesn’t smile. Not once. He doesn’t abide the boys’ shenanigans. He scolds them like he hasn’t since the Like Like incident. He shoots the skulltula down with ruthless exactness (very badass I gotta say).

He’s not just concerned or on guard for this threat. He’s terrified.

[harrowedsoup]

Anyway Wake lives in my mind rent free and the fact that she’s the Mary to Gideon’s Jesus and John’s god is just!! So crazy to think about!! I’m not catholic enough to really appreciate it but I LOVE that about her and I wish I saw more people talk about it.

Wake, who had an incredibly messy relationship with two people at once, being cast as the Virgin Mary? Having God’s child only for them to be killed for the good of mankind?? Yet Wake’s hard refusal of anything related to motherhood because Gideon was never supposed to be anything other than a tool?? OG Gideon/Pyrrha being her own twisted version of Joseph????

[yangjeongin]

SKZ as DND CLASSES: WARLOCK FELIX

warlocks are seekers of the knowledge that lies hidden in the fabric of the multiverse. through pacts made with mysterious beings of supernatural power, warlocks unlock magical effects both subtle and spectacular.

[matenr0u]

Very normal about this Belle/Beast parallel in particular:

I came to fight for Belle.

And though I am on my own, I will fight.

I won’t leave without her.

That’s why I’m here.

[thefallenangel2008]

I'm sorry, but the fact that Stan could have become just like his father but he still ended up being supporting and encouraging towards Mabel, Dipper, Soos and Wendy despite everything... I'm- I'm sorry but I love that man so much YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND.

[lockandkeyblade]

After everything is said and done you cannot tell me Ventus would not fall irrevocably in love with Sora, Roxas, and Xion.

This is the child who has constantly wished for friendships and connections and, bang, wow, looks like shattering your soul and going into a coma for ten years gives you like... your evil counterparts twin, your own twin, and the cutest girl ever? And all of your hearts are either connected or adjacent in so many ways that you may as well be family, may as well slap some definition on it that makes sense.

Ventus would love them. He would love them so unconditionally it would almost physically hurt. He would absolutely drive Terra and Aqua insane because if he isn't spending time with them he is sneaking out to harass his new family.

Going to Destiny Islands so he can spend time with his Second Chance. He gets Sora to show him everything he knows about the islands and then has him hop on his Glider so they can discover a fair bit more. Riku and Kairi can have the play island with him, that's their spot, but Ventus gets to have the skies with Sora, and that's better.

They eat traditional dishes and he teases Sora about paopu and sure, maybe he's got a different kind of education, but he throws himself into learning ahead of Sora so that he can be there when Sora feels stuck. He meets Sora's mom and she becomes his aunty, eventually she makes him a bedroom in the attic and he cries but uses it at least three times a week, if not more.

He helps Sora (and eventually Riku and Kairi) figure out how to lie with the truth when it comes to other worlds, so it feels more natural settling in around people who cannot know the full spectrum of their adventures. He breaks the rules because Sora needs him to, and sits down Sora's mom to tell her everything, to heck with the rules. He smiles when Sora comes home and his mom hugs him to her chest and tells him how proud she is, so proud, and when he tries to sneak out as Sora starts crying, he's shocked when he's pulled into the hug as well. No one leaves the couch cuddle that night.

And Roxas, gosh. Roxas is... he is such a challenge at first. And Ven really struggles to understand that, needs Lea to sit him down and explain Nobodies on a deeper level than the records that are on their Gummi Phones, until he gets that maybe Roxas really struggles with having the same face because he has had so, so little that really belongs to him, and him alone.

They struggle until Ven comes up with a plan. They struggle until he invites Roxas up to the clock tower with ice cream, and Ven talks. He shares what it was like to find out he was half a person and that being whole would just make him a weapon, all the powerful people who let him down even when they should've been protecting him. He talks about losing his friends and losing himself for ten years, he talks about struggle.

And when Roxas talks about struggle right back, he listens. He doesn't judge. He hugs him tight when Roxas cries and promises him he'll make sure none of that ever happens again and they will never, ever mention this conversation after this day but Ventus will never, ever forget his promise. He drags Roxas into doing things he knows Roxas has never done before and watches him relax completely when, once confronted about why he's so excited to do this, Ven admits he's never done these things either.

He doesn't try and skateboard, he never invites himself up to the clocktower again. He doesn't integrate himself with Hayner, Pence, and Olette. He finds something new for both of them, something neither of them have claimed, and sometimes they both hate it, sometimes Roxas isn't impressed, but sometimes they both love it and things go from new to theirs and that's all Ven needs. That's all he needs.

And throughout all of this Xion constantly tries to fade into the background and Ventus never lets her do that alone. A lot of their initial time together is just spent sitting quietly, and sure, Ven feels like he's vibrating quietly out of his skin the majority of that time, because he has so many questions and he wants to reassure her that his interest is to be there for as long as she'll allow him in the same breath.

But the payoff is the small smiles he starts to get when he goes out of his way to sit at the edge of meetings with her, when she shyly begins to share her interests and likes. The way she allows him to start giving her small gifts and ask about those interests and likes a little more often, until she's willingly sharing them with him. Until she starts to be a little more vibrant, a little more sassy (anyone who comes from him and Sora is guaranteed to be at least a little sassy), a little more herself.

That's all Ven wants, for her to be herself, and giving her the time she needs to see that makes their relationship such a soft and easy thing, but strong as steel at the end of the day.

Ventus integrates himself into their lives. He works for his connections with them with split knuckles and blood on his teeth, the first person to defend any of them, the first in the Wayfinder trio who admits his perception of Darkness is really skewed and he needs to fix that because his new family needs him to be better. As he gets better, he thinks of Vanitas and aches, because now he knows how different it could've been, if Xehanort didn't get to them first. He lost that chance.

But he won't lose his chance with the others. He becomes better, for them. He leaves behind his childhood and becomes an older brother for the first time, and he loves it.

And they love it too.

[fagulaa]

Something I really love about the Silt Verses is how, in a world of gods and monsters, how grounded Faulkner's trauma [and relationship with his father] is. Especially as the season moves on, and the stakes amp up [and up] its so unexpectedly piercing to be presented with this exploration of childhood abandonment/negligence, inter-generational trauma, the indignities and stress that comes with unexpected elder care/early onset Alzheimer's. You're so locked in to these grander, more abstract concepts that your defenses are down! Mine were, anyway. TSV is so good at cutting its grand, complex plotlines with simpler [but not shallower] gutpunches, and it just grounds the whole thing.

[autumnwhistles]

(note: this is purely from a character perspective, not a comment on CCs.)

grian and scar have now both been in opposite positions to the original 'cactus ring', and it's so interesting to compare their attitudes to sacrifice on both ends. whether or not scar threw the fight in the cactus ring, he did offer for grian to kill him before it began. grian declined this, but was clearly fighting with the intention to win during the fight itself – he's giving scar a chance, but not sacrificing.

in secret life, scar's on the other end of things. he's fighting another winner – who herself has been sacrificed for previously – and, like grian, is going into what he assumes to be a fair fight... but which is in his favour due to the others' willingness to sacrifice themselves for him. this is a common pattern for winners: in whichever order, they take the win once, and are once willing to sacrifice themselves to let another take it.

cut to wild life.

this time, it's grian in the final two once more, yet again against an – albeit more distant – ally. he's got a win under his belt already, so you might expect him to do what pearl did, what scott did, right? sacrifice their chance at glory to let another taste it for the first time.

and yet:

"I'm going to have to kill Joel"

"Can I win this? I worked so hard on this series, I'd love to win it!"

because here's an important thing about life series!grian: though he's willing to even the playing field, he's not willing to sacrifice – not when it matters. pledge your loyalty to right a wrong, yes; give lives to gain allies hours, yes; refuse others' sacrifices to fight on fair terms, yes. but in the end, no matter how much he wants to stick with friends, no matter how bad he feels about it, no matter how may "i'm so sorry"s he gives – he will put his own life first, in the end.

there's a reason he's the reason for so many of his allies' deaths, after all. and in its contrast, the wild life finale showcases this beautifully.

(and for the record, i don't see anything wrong with this from an out-of-univere perspective – it's been 5 seasons and 3.5 years since Grian's last win, and even if it hadn't been, it's the CCs place to judge fairness, not ours.)

[treasureroffelines]

‘She said ‘No need to water yourself down,

I’ll take you as you are.

I never cowered from some bitterness,

And damn sure won’t start now.

Drop the guise,

You know you’re mine.’’

- Back To Us, Ike Dweck

Sad Wade :(

[withthewindinherfootsteps]

Wei Wuxian and Narrative Agency – Part Three

For Xiantober Day Five: Past and Present, in which the author gets very unhinged about what parts of the past are shown and how that’s affected by the present!

(Part One | Part Two | Full version on AO3)

The Power of Agency: Shaping the Narrative

When I've discussed Wei Wuxian's agency previously, I’ve talked about how what’s shown and omitted tells us about a character, and we’ve talked about the character himself. Though this is a niche topic, it’s not necessarily something out of the ordinary to analyse, and we can assume everything up to here has been in some way intentional.

This? Linking structure to a character’s in-universe preferences?

This is where we get unhinged.

Before I start, let’s quickly establish something which will be important later: although Wei Wuxian is the central character, MDZS isn’t strictly from his POV. While omitting events a character doesn’t like to dwell on and concealing things the character wishes to hide is common in books with only one narrator, MDZS has multiple narrators which it switches between relatively quickly. This includes Wei Wuxian, but it also includes nearly every major character that appears in the story, and omniscient narrator as well. As a default, this format doesn’t lead to this deliberate shaping and omission because of one character’s preferences, since we have many other sources of information and events – which is what makes Wei Wuxian’s influence over the narrative and structure so interesting. We could have access to a lot more information, and access to it at different times, than we do (and that’s not an insult, quite the opposite!).

To begin: we’ve established that times such as Wei Wuxian’s time on the streets, his three months in the Burial Mounds and his loss in the Siege aren’t shown because Wei Wuxian has little agency there. But that’s not the only special thing about them. They’re also the three most traumatic times in his life, and so moments Wei Wuxian himself either can’t remember, or doesn’t like to dwell on.

This is why discussing Wei Wuxian’s treatment of tragedy in his life was important. Firstly, it shows he doesn’t focus on the tragedy in his life, so the idea that the narrative not focusing on this tragedy relates to his character has merit; secondly, it affirms that this is not a passive trait, but a choice. Therefore, when the narrative omits events due to this aspect of Wei Wuxian, it’s respecting not only a character detail – which would be cool by itself – but also an active decision. One that shapes the story it’s made in.

In other words, its very structure is respecting Wei Wuxian’s agency!

Now, of course there are flashbacks to other moments of his past he probably wouldn’t like to dwell on, too. But within the structure, they’re only shown when Wei Wuxian is thinking about them (or when he has reason to)!

Wei WuXian hadn’t woken up yet. His eyes were still tightly shut, yet his hand didn’t let go either. He seemed to be dreaming, muttering, “… Don’t… Don’t be angry…” Lan WangJi seemed somewhat surprised. His voice was gentle, “I am not angry.” Wei WuXian, “… Oh.” Hearing this, as though he finally felt assured, his fingers loosened. Lan WangJi sat beside Wei WuXian for a while. Seeing that he was motionless again, he was about to stand up when Wei WuXian grabbed him with his other hand, hugging his arm and refusing to let go. He shouted, “I’ll go with you, quick, take me back to your sect!” Chapter 63, EXR translation

Which, of course, is him dwelling on…

Lan WangJi spoke one word at a time, “Go back to Gusu with me.” Hearing this, both Wei WuXian and Jiang Cheng were surprised. Quickly afterward, Wei WuXian laughed, “Go back to Gusu with you? To the Cloud Recesses? Why go there?” He immediately seemed to realize, “Oh. I forgot. Your uncle Lan QiRen hates crooked people like me. You’re his proudest disciple, so of course you’re the same as him, haha. I refuse.” Chapter 62, EXR translation

…the painful flashback immediately preceding this. The third set of flashbacks (which are also painful) are a similar case. Look at the contex:

He lifted the bottom of his robe, revealing a prosthetic leg made of wood, “This leg of mine was destroyed by you, that night in the Nightless City (…)” (…) “Wei WuXian, I won’t ask you if you remember or not. Both of my parents died by your hands. You owe too many people. You definitely won’t remember them either. But, I, Fang MengChen, will never forget! And never forgive you!” (…) “In the fight at Qiongqi Path, my son was strangled to death by your dog Wen Ning!” “My shixiong died by poison, his entire body festering due to your cruel curse!” Chapter 68 (immediately preceding the flashbacks), EXR translation

And Wei Wuxian’s own thoughts and words:

Wei WuXian looked at the cultivators before the Demon-Slaughtering Cave. Their expressions were the absolute same as those of the cultivators from the night of the pledge conference, pouring their wine on the ground as they took the pledge to scatter the ashes of the Wen Sect’s remnants and him.  (…) Wei WuXian, “Now it’s time to ask just whom it is that treasures it so much. It’s like Wen Ning. Back then, some certain sects or so were scared to death of the Ghost General. They said they’d kill him on the surface, but behind their backs they hid him for over ten years. How strange. Who was the one that said his ashes had been scattered back then?” Chapter 79 (immediately succeeding the flashbacks), EXR translation 

Once again, Wei Wuxian’s own thoughts relate to the flashbacks we’ve just been shown. And, as I previously mentioned, though all the events which are shown are tragic, they’re also events which Wei Wuxian’s own choices and actions shaped – which he has this to say about:

“The things I did, not only do you remember them, I remember them too. You won’t forget them, and they’ll stay even longer in my mind!” Chapter 82, EXR

Admittedly, this applies more to the third set of flashbacks than the second (which is still fitting as the third set was the most recent), as in the second, although he still had agency within and influence over his circumstances, the majority of the pain was caused by others’ actions (excluding, of course, the Golden Core transfer… which is something we know stays for a long time in his mind, albeit with a caveat we’ll soon discuss). But it’s still important to note – especially considering that otherwise, focusing on this very painful time in his life wouldn’t seem like something very in-character for Wei Wuxian to do.

Of course, this can all just be explained by good writing. It is best to insert flashbacks when they’re relevant to the characters and events in the present day! But it is interesting to compare these to the start of the (not painful) Gusu flashbacks, which open this way:

At a later time, Wei WuXian pondered upon the reason why his relationship with Lan WangJi wasn’t good. Getting to the root of the matter, everything started when he was fifteen, coming to the GusuLan Sect with Jiang Cheng to study for three months. Chapter 13, EXR

Again, considering the circumstances around which these flashbacks take place – returning to the Cloud Recesses for the first time since the lectures, and meeting Lan Wangji once more – it makes complete sense for Wei Wuxian to be thinking about these events*. So it does fit the pattern of Wei Wuxian dwelling on something, thus leading to the narrative dwelling on it, too (and being shaped by his thoughts)… but there’s another layer to this. Importantly, it is the only flashback where Wei Wuxian’s present thoughts don’t lead to this happening, with his thoughts at an unspecified future time leading to it, instead. I like to interpret this as the text saying that, since these events aren’t something Wei Wuxian wouldn’t focus on in normal circumstances, he can dwell on them at any time. Therefore, they’re free to come up in the narrative at any time as well, even if he’s not dwelling on them in the present moment!

So, to summarise: Wei Wuxian’s decision not to focus on the painful times in his life directly influences the narrative to not focus on these times. When painful times are brought up and shown to us, it’s in the context of him thinking about them in the present day, and even then, his most painful moments still aren’t shown to us. His agency in this regard is still respected by the narrative structure.

This is the main way his agency influences the structure of the narrative, but I’d like to talk about the revealing and concealing of information, too. For example, I said I’d talk about the Golden Core transfer – though Wei Wuxian does think about this many times, as evidenced by his internal narration in Chapter 103. But unlike everything we’re shown through the flashbacks, this is something Wei Wuxian is actively trying to hide from others. And the narrative respects this choice (Wei Wuxian’s agency, again), never reveals it even when it would be relevant in the flashbacks, and we find out not through narration, but through a character’s dialogue!

And to clarify – I know these aspects may not be in the book for this exact reason. Showing flashbacks in relevant moments is good writing, concealing an important plot point you want to do a reveal for is necessary writing, and MXTX has said she didn’t want to write about Wei Wuxian’s time in the Burial Mounds, due to not liking to write transformation sequences (and also because it would not be pleasant at all, which likely also applies to Wei Wuxian’s death). That doesn’t prevent it from also being intentional – MXTX’s intelligence is shown in many aspects of this book, and there’s nothing disproving it – but there’s no proof for either option, so I won’t pretend there is. I bring this up because I know this feels like I’m overanalysing, as I feel that way as well.

But, whether it’s intentional or not, it exists in the text, and I adore it – so, regardless, it’s something I’ll explore. Because taking this into account… We aren't just told about Wei Wuxian having agency, we aren’t just shown it in the text, we aren’t even just shown it through which parts of his past are shown and hidden in the structure of the text (as I talked about in Part One). The parts of the past that are shown and hidden also have an in-universe reason for being shown and hidden, this reason being the choices he makes! Agency is the ability of a character to influence the story they’re in, but Wei Wuxian’s agency, as a property of a character who only exists in-universe, shapes the out-of-universe structure as well! That’s how we’re shown its importance! How cool is that?

At The End Of The Road: Summary and Final Thoughts

In this essay, we’ve covered how important Wei Wuxian’s agency is not only to the events of the plot, but to the structure of the narrative as well. The narrative omits periods in which Wei Wuxian has little or no agency, in favour of showing us periods in which he does, even when important events happened in the former. This indicates that who Wei Wuxian is without agency isn’t important enough to be shown to the audience, and therefore that his agency is an integral aspect of his character in MDZS. We’ve discussed how both in-universe and out-of-universe, tragedy does not define him – out-of-universe, the tragic events in Wei Wuxian’s life are used not to build sympathy but rather to show his strength of character and who he still is despite going through them; and in-universe, he chooses not to focus on the negativity and resentment caused by his circumstances or others’ actions, instead staying true to his moral compass and enjoying his life in the present day. Finally, we’ve also explored how this choice is another reason for the omission of certain events from the narrative, resulting in his agency shaping the story in a very literal way – it affects the out-of-universe structure, as well.

It’s quite fitting, for a story whose essence is about defying a conventional narrative – that of righteous clans rising up and defeating a great evil – and about a character who defies many conventional narratives on his own – that of status defining how skilled you could be, that for a golden core being necessary for cultivation and other paths being unavailable, that of a tragic but complete story of someone killed for staying true to their moral code (instead, that character returns to life and has a happy ending) – to have its own narrative play a role in such an important and interesting way.

(Or, if an image would be preferable:)

Thank you for reading!

(Part One | Part Two | Full version on AO3)

--

*This strong relation to the present day circumstances is another reason I love the flashback placement so much (and why I think it’s such a loss both screen adaptions altered it so strongly)! 

[conundrumrespeculis]

Hey...

Has anyone considered the thought of like. Maybe some of the anger Wally displays towards Barry is because he came back from death a different person kinda?

He had an entirely different upbringing and went from "Knows a Guy" (that's so many of his old stories it's fantastic. Why does he know the local gorilla actor? He's just like that) to being isolated and alienated and then also had depression on top of that.

Imagine your dad comes back from the dead after leaving you with such a dark and thick shadow to crawl out of- that he only comes back AFTER you crawled out of- and then he's not even the same guy. He's not even the man that you remember because not only have you and everyone else built him up in your memory but half his life before becoming a hero was different.

And then. y'know. The whole "accidentally trapped most of the speedsters in the speedforce" thing. And also depression can change a person. And- there's a lot okay??

Barry after Flash Rebirth and especially after the new 52 reboot is a very different character to how he started/the man Wally knew as a kid and even now like. They look the same age??? Sometimes??? that's gotta be weird. I know they're speedsters but STILL...

...

Uhhhh anyways

TLDR: Some of Wally's anger at Barry is because he's irrevocably no longer the same as he was before his death

[chraustinjesse]

Hero - Champion - Herald

Yarren Mahariel - Fior Hawke - Adhas Lavellan

More versions under the cut

[shadebloopnik]

Rereading ORV and getting to the part of the webtoon where Goryeo's First Sword says he won't let Kim Dokja die, and getting reminded that thats one of the main things this story is about, isnt it? About everyone who fell in love with Kim Dokja's story? How, eventually, people around him become attached to his cause. How they're so easily inspired by him, without him knowing it

How easy it is to love him, when he can't even love himself.

[qiu-yan]

based on this poll it seems we don't want lan wangji as chief cultivator

someone help him he's too morally good for politics :(