#lise does meta

[veliseraptor]

rereading the villainous friends extra and

Xue Yang was about to split his sides laughing. "You should've gotten a mirror and looked at your face. That smile was nasty. It was so fucking fake I could have thrown up."

Jin Guangyao snorted. "What do you know, you little delinquent? One has to smile, no matter how fake, no matter how disgusting it is."

Xue Yang lazily replied, "You were asking for it. If anyone dared say I was raised by a whore, first I'd find his mom, fuck her a couple hundred ties, then drag her out and throw her into a whorehouse for others to fuck as well. Then we'd see which one of us was really raised by a whore. Simple."

Jin Guangyao laughed as well. "I certainly don't have such refined hobbies."

"You don't, but I do. I don't mind taking care of it for you. Just let me know, and I can go fuck them for you, hahahaha..."

Jin Guangyao said, "No thanks. Save your energy, Xue-gongzi."

head buzzing full of thoughts mostly:

I will never not love the fact that Jin Guangyao calls him "Xue-gongzi." do you think anyone else does that because I don't and I think Xue Yang finds it hilarious and also kind of adorable (and I think Jin Guangyao is both sincere and also knows Xue Yang finds it funny)

I feel like sometimes I see fellow Jin Guangyao apologists talking about Jin Guangyao like...just tolerating Xue Yang or dealing with him because his father told him to, and the thing I love about their dynamic so much is actually that it seems like Jin Guangyao is genuinely, ruefully fond of him

like here, Jin Guangyao has just had a very nasty experience that we know later on is what finally pushes him over the edge w/r/t Jin Guangshan, and Xue Yang makes Jin Guangyao laugh. by being crass and absolutely kind of gross, but Jin Guangyao's understated verbal reaction ("I certainly don't have such refined hobbies" "save your energy, Xue-gongzi") read to me as teasing.

also between this and Xue Yang's cutting out He Su's tongue after he insults Jin Guangyao too far earlier: Xue Yang's love language is horrific violence. other people will say "do you want me to kill them for you" but Xue Yang will actually do it and be very proud of himself about it.

anyway. just some feelings about them again and I feel like I'm failing to verbalize them appropriately. maybe I should go try to write that "jgy teaching xy to read" fic now

[eleancrvances]

andrei bolkonsky is truly the most "dead since the beginning" character. in his last few days he reaches a very explicit state of undeathness ("they were not attending on him (he was no longer there, he had left them) but on what reminded them most closely of him—his body"), but really, is it the first time he has been like this? in his first chapter, when he walks into anna pavlovna's soiree, "it was evident that he not only knew everyone in the drawing room, but had found them to be so tiresome that it wearied him to look at or listen to them". he goes through the social motions but doesn't really feel them (except with pierre, who understands instinctively many things about him, like that their meeting before borodino is their last), and he's just like that before the end. the night before austerlitz he declares "death, wounds, the loss of family—i fear nothing", and it's close to the absence of terror and general feeling he feels after his last nightmare. he's assumed to have died at austerlitz by everyone and reappears at home with zero explanation. the same thing happens after borodino. during both the near-death experiences, he feels some sort of "awakening" ("death is an awakening"). he identifies himself in an old oak tree that appears to be dead until spring (love) draws some last signs of life from him. and literally the only thing that seems to keep him alive is his last-minute unwillingness to separate himself from love, which to tolstoy is life - "i cannot, i do not wish to die. i love life—i love this grass, this earth, this air". this man is a zombie. he returned from the metaphorical and literal (the battlefield) land of the dead not once but twice with terrible wounds, despite all his efforts he can never find a complete and lasting connection to liveliness but falls back again and again in his mechanical, detached way of moving through situations. even his connection to natasha, life and joy, is perceived to be doomed from the beginning by many. "ah, my friend, it has of late become hard for me to live. i see that i have begun to understand too much" he says to perhaps the only person he has always been honest with, pierre, before receiving his final wound. and when he does die it's impossible to tell. marya can't pinpoint the moment when he's gone physically, and as for his spirit, even little nikolai knows it was torn from him earlier. but it doesn't feel like a sudden and new thing. we've seen him in this state before, though perhaps not on this level. but really, it looks like his struggle to keep death out of the room has been going on throughout the entire novel, and he could never hold the door completely closed. we've never seen him completely alive. on a meta level too, because he is maybe the only main character tolstoy didn't base on anyone but created from scratch, with the specific intention to kill him. when did he die exactly? at borodino? at austerlitz, where tolstoy originally intended him to? when he had his nightmare? when he left natasha? when lise died? when his mother died? before we ever met him, it seems. he died in a dream.

[radical-desiderium]

The Myth of Brain Sex

There have been many small studies which claimed to have finally and decisively located a concrete sexual dimorphism in brains. In 1995, a Nature study confidently concluded that language-processing in women occurred more diffusely across the hemispheres of the brain than in men (Shaywitz, 1995). The study’s sample base was 38 right-handed people, 19 male and 19 female, making “small” a highly apt descriptor. In 2008, a meta-analysis of previous studies on sex differences in language lateralization refuted the results of the 1995 study, finding no difference in the execution of language tasks or the structure of the Planum Temporale involved therin, but interestingly enough, did conclude that males are more likely to be left handed (Sommer, 2008).

The rise of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, or MRI, has brought about a whole new avenue for studying the brain and subsequently reinvigorated the search for brain gender. One particular 2005 MRI study of 21 men and 27 women done by the University of California looked at correlations between IQ and grey matter in different areas of the brain (Haier, 2005). This study was, and I believe still is, particularly influential on the prevalence of brain dimorphism as a popular belief; it gained a great deal of public recognition, despite it having a small sample size that makes any results far less significant. A small study such as this could have some level of merit, but its conclusions would have to be confirmed by much larger studies, and the fact is that much of the public’s conclusions about the meaning of the study reach far further than the study justifies. A further 2021 meta-analysis of 3 decades of MRI and post-mortem data attributes the difference in the ratio of grey matter observed in the 2005 study to the difference in brain size between males and females, which is about an 11% average difference between an adult male and an adult female, with male brains being larger (Eliot, 2021). The difference in brain size can also explain differences in regional cortical volumes and inter- or intra-hemispheric connectivity. When comparing across populations, the study found minimal consistent differences in male and female brains other than brain size. In her article discussing the idea of brain sex, which she refers to as neurosexism, neuroscientist Lise Eliot points out that many neurological studies similarly do not control for brain size, thereby unconsciously increasing apparent male-female difference (Eliot, 2019).

In her 2019 book the Gendered Brain, neuroscientist Gina Rippon likens the process of the publishing and refuting of studies claiming brain dimorphism to a game of whack-a-mole. I find this to be a highly fitting metaphor. The idea of brain sex is not new, and the concept has plagued science for centuries. A new study always rears its head, claiming to have succeeded where all previous studies have failed, and it shortly proceeds to become obsolete, but not before it gets misconstrued and twisted by public misinterpretations which are then perpetuated long past the study. So if the evidence has never been strong for brain sex, why does the myth persist? In my humble opinion, it persists regardless of the evidence stacking against it because people want to believe it. They want to believe that there’s something inherent to it, that gender resides in the brain, that you’re born liking pink or liking blue, because they want to justify the society in which they live and the way they live as simply natural. If you believe in brain sex, you don’t have to fix existing societal inequalities. Instead of addressing the prejudices and biases that prevent women from seeking careers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), you can simply say that women are just not as mathematically-minded and the disparity results from that. Instead of confronting the idea that gender roles are enforced on children from birth, you can say that women inherently like pink and all that follows. There’s no need to challenge any existing beliefs or examine your own actions. Believing in brain sex is easier than acknowledging the omnipresent influence of culture. Psychologist Cordelia Fine put it most succinctly:

“Popular neurosexism permits us to sit back and relax, with its seemingly neat explanation of our social structure and personal lives. The answer, ‘Oh, it’s the brain,’ offers a tidy justification for accepting the status quo with clear conscience (Fine, 2008).”

Works Cited under the cut:

Eliot, L., Ahmed, A., Khan, H. et al. Dump the “dimorphism”: Comprehensive synthesis of human brain studies reveals few male-female differences beyond size. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews 125, 667-697 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.02.026

Eliot, L. Neurosexism: the myth that men and women have different brains. Nature, 566, 453–454 (2019). https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-00677-x

Fine, C. Will Working Mothers’ Brains Explode? The Popular New Genre of Neurosexism. Neuroethics 1, 69–72 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12152-007-9004-2

Haier, R., Jung, R., Yeo, R. et al. The neuroanatomy of general intelligence: sex matters. NeuroImage 25, 320-327 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2004.11.019

Shaywitz, B., Shaywltz, S., Pugh, K. et al. Sex differences in the functional organization of the brain for language. Nature 373, 607–609 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1038/373607a0

Sommer, I., Aleman, A., Somers, M. et al. Sex differences in handedness, asymmetry of the Planum Temporale and functional language lateralization. Brain Research 1206, 76-88 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brainres.2008.01.003

[studiesof-fandom-primaryblog]

The Journal of Fandom Studies

Volume 1, Number 2, 1 October 2013

Augmenting fan/academic dialogue: New directions in fan research by Paul Booth [DePaul University]

Fan studies as a discipline is still in its infancy. But even given this nascence, there have been significant shifts in the ways that it has theorized, studied and investigated fans over the first two and a half decades of research. As scholarship, fan studies has moved away from ethnographic investigations of fans as the main object of study to focus instead on the output of fan discourse as the key mode of examination. At the same time, scholars like Henry Jenkins and Matt Hills, both central to the discipline, have opened dialogue about the nature of the fan/academic, often called the ‘aca-fan’. This article uses the lens of aca-fandom to analyse fan answers to interview questions at a large Midwestern Doctor Who convention. Fans were asked about the role that fan studies has played in their life, how they perceive the study of fans and whether fan studies as an academic discipline has an effect on their fandom. The fans’ answers reflect a critical awareness of fandom but a general ignorance of fan studies. This article argues three points to take away from this. First, fan studies needs to refocus attention back onto fans themselves through ethnographic work. Second, the discipline needs to refocus its output less on esoteric academic titles and more on popular venues. Finally, fans and academics should engage in specific dialogue to open up avenues for new fannish and academic exploration.

A case of identity: Role playing, social media and BBC Sherlock by Ann McClellan [Plymouth State University]

Many fans of Sherlock Holmes are now extending their interest in the famous sleuth into the world of social media. In particular, the BBC’s modern adaptation, Sherlock, seems to have grabbed the public’s attention with multiple character role plays on Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr. It remains unclear, however, whether to categorize these narratives as fan fiction or role play game. This article explores the genre differences between fan fiction and role play game and identifies specific genre characteristics that place social media fan narratives in the role play game category. While adaptation studies and much of fan fiction center on issues of fidelity to the source text, role play scholarship emphasizes recreating the world of the sourcetext. Role playing both expands the boundaries of the original series in that it provides viewers with more—more stories, more character development, more adventure—but it is also limited by the constraints of the original show’s characterization and overall narrative arc. Online role play characters must speak like their source characters, they must interact with other characters from the show in textually appropriate ways, and they must respond to new situations in ways that are consistent with their televisual counterparts. Looking specifically at BBC Sherlock role plays on Facebook, Tumblr and Twitter, this article explores the ways in which contemporary audiences are using social media to challenge traditional understandings of genre, world building and fandom in order to approach a greater verisimilitude of play.

‘Drinking the Kool-Aid’ of cult TV: Fans, followers, and fringe religions in Strangers with Candy and Veronica Mars by David Scott Diffrient [Colorado State University]

This article explores episodes of the contemporary American television programmes Strangers with Candy (Comedy Central, 1999–2000) and Veronica Mars (UPN/CW, 2004–07) so as to ascertain and discursively frame the complex relationship between cults (or neo-religious organizations) and cult TV. Although different from one another in many respects, these two TV series share an interest in the cliquish formations of high-school life that divide students into warring camps of insiders and outsiders. Moreover, both programmes contain pivotal episodes in which the ritualistic practices of fictional cults are presented ambivalently – as a source of humour yet also as a gateway through which the unconventional female protagonists pass on their way to self-discovery. That journey has extraordinary resonance for fans or ‘followers’ of these programmes. As argued by Jonathan Gray in his recently published work on ‘affect, fantasy, and meaning’, fans and followers are viewers who are ‘most involved in their consumption’. As such, Strangers with Candy and Veronica Mars deserve scrutiny as steadfastly worshipped texts conducive to the kinds of meta-consumptive discourses and practices that might shed light on culturally entrenched attitudes related to neo-religious activities. 

Community clip show: Examining the recursive collaboration between producers and viewers of a postmodern sitcom by Rekha Sharma [Kent State University]

In the new media landscape, exclusive communication within a TV show’s creative team or amongst its fans is no longer sufficient to maintain the continuation of the programme. Instead, a community arises through the collaboration of those behind the scenes and those in front of the screens. By utilizing interactive technologies, showrunners and audiences have redefined notions of media consumption and mass media. An illustrative case is NBC’s postmodern sitcom, Community (Harmon, 2009–). The show features metadiscourse on media production, responds to viewers’ feedback and preferred narratives and shares the creation of meaning with the audience. As a result, the show has developed an ardent following because viewers feel their concerns are directly addressed by the show’s creative team. Further, their contributions challenge the conventional belief that fan interpretations are merely secondary discourse to the primary television text, as Community fans’ works have helped shape the televised narrative. One episode, Season 2’s ‘Paradigms of Human Memory’, deals with the creators’ and viewers’ mutual conceptualization of time and reality encapsulated in the series.

‘I’m not a lawyer but …’: Fan disclaimers and claims against copyright law by Jenny Roth and Monica Flegel [Lakehead University]

Fan fiction has become increasingly widespread, and online discussions between fans about fan fiction and copyright reveal the extent to which fans are both governed by and resist copyright law, as they understand it. As complex agents both within and outside of law, writers and supporters of fan fiction reveal the problems of speaking against law from a position that is regulated by law, a position creative re-producers are forced to occupy in an increasingly copyrighted, patented and trademarked world. So long as those whom the law is meant to regulate see themselves as legitimate shapers of that law, even though they inhabit space outside the formal mechanisms of law or the legal world, the law will not be effective. When fans with little or no legal expertise invoke and interpret copyright, they reveal that copyright does not attend to the complex realities of creative production, nor the very active consumption, engagement with, and re-articulation of cultural artefacts and texts in society to effectively police at the grassroots level.

Continuing The West Wing in 140 characters or less: Improvised simulation on Twitter by Inger-Lise Kalviknes Bore and Jonathan Hickman [Birmingham City University]

Sharing some of the findings from a study of fans tweeting as characters from US TV drama The West Wing (NBC, 2000–2006), this article uses data from Twitter observation and fan interviews to examine how participants negotiated the structures of Twitter through this activity. In particular, we consider what implications that negotiation has for the resulting fan text; for how participants perform fandom through this medium; and for how they perceive the value of their fan practice. Through this investigation, the article demonstrates some of the ways in which Twitter facilitates and constrains articulations of audience engagement.

Keywords: Doctor Who; aca-fan; academy; convention; fan; interview; BBC Sherlock; Facebook; Sherlock Holmes; fan production; role play; social media; world building; Strangers with Candy; Veronica Mars; cult TV; cults; fandom; religion; active audiences; interactive media; postmodern sitcom; television fandom; textual poaching; virtual community; authorship and authority; copyright law and legal discourse; fan policing;  fanfiction; law and society; producer/consumer relations; TV drama; Twitter; audiences;  online communities; television.

[hamliet]

Hi, i heard you are a big fan of F.M. Dostoevsky. He is also one of my favorites. After reading Karamazov Brothers I found out, what quinxes from TG re very much resembles Dmitriy, Ivan and Alesha. Like, Mustuki is obviously Dmitry torn apart between her worst tendencies simmilar to her "father" and sympathetic heart. Urie is skeptical and constatly dissatisfied with life like Ivan, and Saiko faithul and optimistic like Alesha. What do you think? Would be a pleasure to read meta from you.

YAY another Dos fan!!!

Hmm, that’s interesting! I do agree about the parallels to an extent, but personality wise, Mucchan is very much not like Dmitri... I would compare him more to Smerdyakov (the fourth Karamazov brother!) even insofar as well... cats are concerned. Yet, what you point out is true as well. Perhaps Mucchan is actually a combination of Dmitri and Smerdyakov, because there is definitely the father issue and sympathetic heart that are lacking in Smerdyakov’s character.

As for Urie and Ivan... I laughed because Ivan’s love story is very similar to Urie’s! Much like Ivan (and Katerina) he refuses to acknowledge that he loves Mutsuki until--well, the story doesn’t tell us if he ever did. But in an ideal character arc for him he would/should have told Mutsuki in the end, when it was almost too late. It was indeed almost too late for Ivan and Katerina, and the story also ends with us not knowing if Ivan will survive his illness, but knowing that Katerina is by his side.

As for Saiko and Alyosha... mmm, well Saiko’s a NEET and Alyosha’s a monk at first. (Does this make Hsiao Lise? Aura or Kaneki, Grushenka?) They both choose to emphasize their love for those who are hurting in their family when no one else will. Alyosha’s a little more proactive as a character than Saiko is, but still, they’re kind of the heart of the group.

Going off of that, both “trios” of characters do fall into traditional trio characterizations: For alchemical story divisions, Saiko and Alyosha are heart, Urie and Ivan are mind, and Dmitri and Mutsuki are body. In psychoanalytic theory Mutsuki and Dmitri are still parallels are represent the id, in that they both give in to their basest desires; Urie and Ivan are the superegos, in that they focus on rules and society; Saiko and Alyosha are ego, in that they mediate between the two. (You can also argue that Fyodor Karamazov is id, Smerdyakov is superego, and all three brothers are ego in another respect.)

This was fun! Hilariously, I dreamed about the Quinx last night, so I enjoyed your ask!

[curiosity-killed]

Fic Ask meme! One or all of the following: 9, 15, 23, 51

fanfic questions

9. What are the best things about your current fandom?

oh gosh uh maybe just the depth of it? MDZS/CQL fandom really just goes hard on meta, art, fic, AUs, translation, cultural explanations — I feel like I could go into a daily research dive and still not reach saturation (which uh as my url suggests is ideal)

also i’ve read more Tang Dynasty poetry in the last three months than I ever expected to read in my life. and i always need more poetry so! win-win-win

15. Is there an obscure ship which you love?

uhhhh hm. honestly i’m pretty basic and inevitably wind up with the main pairings in any fandom asdljhk BUT ever since reading Lise’s lwj/jc hate-fucking fic (By Proxy) I am absurdly into this entire concept which I don’t see a lot of so? does that count?

23. Name a fic you’ve written that you’re especially fond of & explain why you like it.

surprising no one and being extremely fitting since you’re the one asking: every grave an offering! (yes this is the cannibalism fic lol)

honestly, it’s just really satisfying to me? like wwx-in-Burial-Mounds is one of the most underexplored parts of this fandom imo and one of my favorite sandboxes. I personally don’t find it super creepy bc I’m the one who wrote it, but I’m just kinda pleased with how I wove my ideas about resentful energy, wwx reanimating himself (more or less), the Burial Mounds, and playing with the question of how much of wwx’s narration reliable/real and how much isn’t. rereading it i’m still just like “yes!” by the end

51. Rant or Gush about one thing you love or hate in the world of fanfiction! Go!

oof so this is super standard but i reeeally hate when people make characters too one-dimensional. like i get it: balancing characters is tough and getting all their human nuance isn’t super easy. but. i just despise caricatures

[theshadowedqueen82]

Fic Writer’s Week Day 6

Give a shout out to the writers you love, or make a post saying what you like about them and their writing… anything that shows how much you appreciate them!

Lise is one of my favourite fanfic writers. She has a fantastic grasp on all the characters, and her fics always make me cry/smile/laugh/feel emotions. She has a ton of fics (as in over 300) and mainly writes Marvel (mainly Loki or Stoki). All of her stuff is amazing and you should definitely read it. She also is at @veliseraptor posting amazing meta and pictures of seals.

KaylaNorail has only 6 fics but every single one of them is gold. She does not get enough recognition as all of her fics are perfection. She mainly writes Marvel, with lots of Brodinson feels and fantastic characterisation of Loki. You should definitely head over to her Ao3 and read all of her fics. And leave nice long comments because she deserves it.

foolondahill17 is an author that I just discovered, but their work is fantastic and I regret not finding it sooner. Lots of Marvel fic, most of it gen. Right now they’re writing stuff for Loki but they also have a lot of Natasha centric fic, which the fandom needs a lot more of and especially fic of this high quality.

Coneycat has written some of the most touching fics that I have ever read. I honestly think that she must have a degree in psychology or something because she breaks down character motivations and relationships beautifully. She writes mostly Marvel (Loki centric) stuff, with a huge crossover series called Housemates that I would recommend to anybody (Marvel crossover with Being Human TV show, but you don’t need to have watched any Being Human). She also has a tumblr at @coneycat with cute animals.

LadyCharity is the last author on the list but by no means the least, as she is one of the only authors who have made my cry. Her fics are mostly Marvel and so well written, with feels all over the place that will stab you in the heart and really good character exploration and magnificent prose. Go read her stuff.

[andryuska]

Modern Andrei and Lise?

send me a topic to write a meta about ( accepting )

i’ve actually been meaning to make a post / page about andrei’s modern biography, and lise is an important part of it, so thank you for asking about this! SO the headcanon i have for modern andrei and lise is that they were dating in high school, and it went very, very badly.

basically, andrei spends a lot of his early years ( after he’s emigrated to the united states at a young age with his father & sister ) with only one friend, but with big ideas about glory and success and love. he goes into high school, and in the tenth grade, hits it off with lise very quickly, and pretty well. they have, for a short while, a very soft and pure relationship that the both of them thoroughly enjoy, and andrei is happy. except high school is an unkind place for a very nerdy loner with little interest in anything, and as he starts to grow disillusioned with the system and his family life alike, as does he in his relationship with lise.

the turn for their relationship comes a year later when at a party, the two of them try and get together, and andrei realizes very quickly that physical intimacy is not something he’s ready for. he runs out before anything happens, and turns cold to lise for some time afterward. they are still dating, in a very cold and social way, but they don’t spend time alone, and whenever pierre talks to andrei about it, he’s obviously very unhappy with it, but ( in true andrei fashion ) won’t talk about it.

and then summer break comes around, and andrei does not talk to lise for almost the entire time. she finally manages to see him, but only to tell him that her family is moving away, and that they’re over. there’s a certain guilt in it for andrei —- he obviously can’t control her family moving, but that growing apart, that causing her to pain of being so cold, has an effect on him. the summation of this guilt and that very bad memory of them trying to be physically intimate has a very negative effect on him ; he feels worthless and guilty, and begins to question that idea of love he’d had, because his relationship, with a girl who he did love even if he denies it, he begins to question whether or not love is good.

pair that up with the terrible loss of his mother, and the fact that his home life is very, very awful, and there you have a recipe for college and adult andrei to have permanently bad ideas of love that doesn’t really get fixed for quite some time —- only in the modern au wherein anadrei is a thing does he ever really begin to recover ( believe it or not ) and otherwise, he goes off to live a lonely life in the military, having altogether quit trying with love after his experience with lise, and in the first year of his undergrad, his also not - so - good experience with natasha.

[alleyskywalker]

2 and 20 for War and peace and Star Wars

For this meme.

2. Are there any popular fandom OTPs you only BroTP?

Mmm. I don’t think there are any? Most of the character I care about and really enjoy as friends in these fandoms I’ll either also ship or not can see the appeal of the ship even if I don’t actively ship it myself (e.g. Andrei/Pierre).

20. What is the purest ship in the fandom?

I...I kinda struggle with the tumblr purity definitions? Like, does this mean what’s the healthiest ship in general or do the characters themselves also have to be Precious Cinnamon Rolls or...?

I guess for SW, it’s probably Stormpilot. For War and Peace...IDK, all the ships in this fandom have their issues and snags? I think Pierre/Natasha are supposed to be this, but canonically, her level of self-diminishing devotion to him kinda rubs me the wrong way? Marya/Natasha could maybe be this, I guess? Maybe? You know what, fuck it, I know: Lise/Mlle Bourienne. Or, on a more meta level: Sonya/Happiness.

[scannain]

The 16th annual Tribeca Film Festival yesterday announced its lineup of 57 thought-provoking and diverse short films in competition, including 36 world premieres. Three of the films announced come from Ireland; Vincent Gallagher’s Second to None,  Benjamin Cleary and TJ O’Grady-Peyton’s Wave, and Jim Sheridan’s 11th Hour.

The selected shorts, 40% of which were directed by women, and include filmmakers from every corner of the globe, were curated from a record 4,385 submissions. They will be presented in 10 distinct competition programs, consisting of five narrative, four documentary, and, for the second year, one animated program. In addition, there is the Sports Shorts program as part of the 11th annual Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival, sponsored by Mohegan Sun.

A film still from WAVE. Photo credit: Burschi Wojnar.

Academy Award-winning Irish short director Benjamin Cleary (Stutterer) co-directs, with TJ O’Grady-Peyton, and writes Wave, which will have its world premiere at the festival. A sometimes funny, sometimes heartbreaking story of a very isolated person, Wave tells the story of Gaspar Rubicon, who wakes up from a coma speaking a fully formed but unrecognisable language, baffling linguistics experts from around the globe.

Second to None

Second To None tells the story of Frederick Butterfield, a failed inventor who has always played second fiddle to his mere one minute older twin brother Herman. When Herman becomes the world’s oldest man, Frederick finally sees his opportunity to be first place. He’ll just have to kill his brother to do it.

Written and directed by Vincent Gallagher and produced by Damian Farrell as part of the Irish Film Board/RTÉ Frameworks scheme, the film is animated by Jason Watts (Igam Ogam) with stunning production design and character fabrication coming from Aoife Noonan (A Terrible Hullabaloo) and Pierre Butler respectively.

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Written and directed by Jim Sheridan, based on a true story by Lise Hand, and starring Salma Hayek Pinault, 11th Hour explores what unites rather than divides us, against the dramatic backdrop of 9/11. Maria José (Salma Hayek Pinault) and her Irish husband run a bar in uptown Manhattan. On the evening of 9/11 it is heaving with shell-shocked locals and battle weary troops from the NYPD, united in disbelief, grief and anger. On the TV screens, the sports channels have been replaced by news channels that swirl with images of the collapsing Twin Towers and the face of terror suspect Osama Bin Laden. The atmosphere in the bar is very tense, with everyone looking for someone to blame for the horrific attack on the city. One angry member of the NYPD brandishes a loaded pistol: ‘Just in case.’ Others join him. An older cop tries to calm the perilous situation when a surprise visitor enters the bar. Maria José seizes the occasion to take back control of her bar in an unexpected and bold way, leaving everyone to reflect on how profoundly the entire landscape of America had been changed when the Towers fell.

Speaking about his film, multiple Academy Award-nominated director Jim Sheridan recalled:

I read an article by a journalist called Lise Hand, and I said to her I thought it was a great idea for a story on 9/11. And 9/11 had imprinted on my mind, it was the first time everybody in New York came together, but it seemed to be that from that event the world took a very different turn. I thought of Lise’s story and I said you know that could be a timely thing but we have to do it in three months. So I wanted to make something that was showing what America was before 9/11 because I think it’s changed since then.

Producer Rachel Lysaght added:

We’re so proud to have the international premiere of 11th Hour at Tribeca. The festival’s strong connection to 9/11 makes this a very special, and emotional event – particularly to screen the film in front of a New York audience only a half a mile from Ground Zero.” Also speaking to the movie’s ambition, writer and producer Oskar Slingerland; “9/11 was a very painful time for New York, the USA and the entire world actually. Making a movie about it is risky and 11th Hour no doubt brings back those dark memories but we hope the audience will feel it does so in a respectful way.

Salma Hayek Pinault spoke to the timely nature of the movie:

I do think that the only way that humanity can survive is if we start falling in love again with humanity for all that it is. Or else we’re going to kill it. And we have to again fall in love with life – but not just yours. Life itself, and learn to respect it.

11th Hour is a Hell’s Kitchen production in association with Universidad de Guadalajara and Canal 44 in association with Underground Films.

The Shorts program is a part of the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival, which runs April 19-30.

  Animated Shorts Curated by Whoopi G

The Animated shorts program showcases imaginative storytelling and captivating craft.  This program is suggested for those 14 and older.

Curpigeon, directed and written by Dmitry Milkin. (USA) – New York Premiere. A heartwarming story about the power of community support during a time of grief, this action-oriented CG-animated short film centers around a group of park pigeons and their old men pals who come together to help one of their own get through a great loss.

Summer Camp Island, directed and written by Julia Pott. (USA) – New York Premiere. Oscar has to accept that his totally normal sleepover with Hedgehog isn’t going to be totally normal.

Odd is an Egg (Odd er et egg), directed by Kristin Ulseth, written by Maria Avramova, Kristin Ulseth. (Norway) – North American Premiere. Odd is terrified of his head – until one day he falls in love with Gunn and his life is turned upside down, freeing him from his worries in the most expected way. In Norwegian with subtitles.

Angel (Mon Ange), directed and written by Gregory Casares. (Switzerland) – International Premiere. Eva and Mr. Corbeau have long felt a reciprocal affection and attraction, but the world of humans and the world of animals don’t mix – until one autumn evening, at the masked ball organized by Eva’s father in honour of his daughter.

The Talk: True Stories About The Birds & The Bees, directed and written by Alain Delannoy. (Canada) – New York Premiere. There are things in life you never forget. One of them, like it or not, is “The Talk.”

Second to None, directed and written by Vincent Gallagher. (Ireland) – New York Premiere. Second to None is a black comedy in stop motion about the world’s second-oldest man who learns that ambition can be a killer.

Escape, directed by Limbert Fabian, Brandon Oldenburg, written by Limbert Fabian, Brandon Oldenburg, Angus McGilpin. (USA) – World Premiere. A euphoric vision of the future is presented through this cinematic poem about the challenging yet world-changing power of invention as a lone space explorer crash-lands on a desolate planet and must find a way to make her new home habitable.

Dear Basketball, directed by Glen Keane, written by Kobe Bryant. (USA) – World Premiere. Kobe Bryant’s inspiring poem Dear Basketball is stunningly drawn to life by veteran animation director Glen Keane and set to the music of legendary composer John Williams.

  Shorts: Disconnected

Communication is key in the struggle to be heard

Wave, directed by Benjamin Cleary, TJ O’Grady-Peyton, written by Benjamin Cleary. (Ireland) – World Premiere. A sometimes funny, sometimes heartbreaking story of a very isolated person, Wave tells the story of Gaspar Rubicon, who wakes up from a coma speaking a fully formed but unrecognizable language, baffling linguistics experts from around the globe.

Big City, directed by Jordan Bond, Lachlan Ryan, written by Jordan Bond. (Australia) – New York Premiere. Vijay, a lonely taxi driver who recently moved to Melbourne, picks up Chris, a stray drunk who befriends him, and over the course of the night, Chris experiences some of Vijay’s troubles and Vijay learns to see the city in a new light.

Big Sister (Ahotcha), directed and written by Michal Gassner. (Israel) – International Premiere. Gili has a clear and violent agenda towards male sexual offenders, and finds it difficult to comprehend the limits of her power to repair the world when she discovers her younger brother is suspended from school for a similar violation. In Hebrew with subtitles.

Life Boat, directed and written by Lorraine Nicholson. (USA) – World Premiere. Six teenagers are led into an intriguing game of survival by their guidance counselor.

he Navigator (Kartleseren), directed and written by Mikal Hovland. (Norway) – World Premiere. A film about trust, human vulnerability, and the fragility of power, The Navigator focuses on Jon, who gets the chance of his lifetime reading the pacenotes for his big brother in the upcoming rally championship, but is distracted by a new girl in town. In Norwegian with subtitles.

The Suitcase, directed and written by Abi Damaris Corbin. (USA) – World Premiere. The ordinary life of a Boston bred baggage handler is turned upside down when he steals a suitcase that contains terrorist plans. Inspired by true events on 9/11.

  Shorts: Human Condition

Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness

Shooting War, directed by Aeyliya Husain. (Canada) – World Premiere. TIME magazine photographer Franco Pagetti tells the stories behind three photographs as a metaphor for the Iraq War to reveal the impact the conflict has had on a country, a region, and the world.

Skull + Bone, directed by Victoria Rivera. (USA) – World Premiere. For 200 years every Mardi Gras has started the same way: Dressed as skeletons, armed with bones, the Northside Skull and Bone Gang wake the city before dawn with drums, chants and ceremonial knocking on doors to warn people against violence, gunplay and other negative influences on the streets.

Revolving Doors, directed and written by James Burns. (USA) – World Premiere. A portrait of American recidivism produced over a span of two years, Revolving Doors follows Jason, who, despite attempts to retain meaningful employment, fails and returns to prison, devastating his family.

White Riot: London, directed by Rubika Shah, written by Ed Gibbs, Rubika Shah. (U.K.) – New York Premiere. This experimental music documentary explores how a generation united against the neo-Nazi National Front in 1970s Britain through a punk fanzine, with black and white coming together through popular culture at a terrifying time of turmoil and division.

Water Warriors, directed by Michael Premo. (Canada, USA) – New York Premiere. When an energy company begins searching for natural gas in New Brunswick, Canada, indigenous and white families unite to drive out the company in a campaign to protect their water and way of life.

  Shorts: Last Exit

On the road of life there is no turning back

Oh Damn, directed and written by Pat Bishop and Matt Ingebretson. (USA) – World Premiere. After smoking too much weed on his way to meet a friend at the movie theater, Matt’s altered perception hurls him into a dark, surreal series of events that unfold across the theater.

Don’t Mess With Julie Whitfield, directed and written by Amy Barham. (USA) – New York Premiere. Julie Whitfield ALWAYS heads the Oak Tree Elementary School Fall Fantasy Fundraiser planning committee, so when new parent Rachel attempts a coup, it leads to a bloody battle that only one woman can survive.

Cul-De-Sac, directed by Damon Russell, written by Shawn Christensen. (USA) – New York Premiere. Parents living at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac discover a listening device inside their son’s teddy bear.

Retouch, directed and written by Kaveh Mazaheri. (Iran) – International Premiere. Maryam’s husband has an accident at home and, rather than saving him, she stops helping and watches him die. In Persian with subtitles.

Buckets, directed and written by Julia Jones. (USA) – North American Premiere. A girl learns the brutal sacrifices it takes to satisfy her love.

Baraka, directed by Néstor Ruiz Medina, written by Néstor Ruiz Medina, Juan Luis Cordero. (Spain) – US Premiere. In the months before the war in Iraq, two close brothers are forced to separate, soon meeting again when the war is in full swing, but neither is the same. In Arabic, English, Spanish with subtitles.

  Shorts: New York – Group Therapy

Everyone wants to share.

Hair, directed by John Turturro, written by Bobby Cannavale and John Turturro. (USA) – World Premiere. An unscripted dialogue between John Turturro and Bobby Cannavale about a man’s particularness about his hair.

Lemon, directed and written by Timothy Michael Cooper. (USA) – World Premiere. Seconds after the wedding, a bride is stunned to learn that her new husband fudged nearly everything about his past, his family, and his accomplishments—but his revelations force her to come clean about a few shocking secrets of her own.

Approaching a Breakthrough, directed and written by Noah Pritzker. (USA) – World Premiere. Back in New York after a stint in Los Angeles, Norman Kaminsky has a terrible argument with his girlfriend just before running into a string of characters from his past – and despite his best efforts, Norman can’t seem to run away from his problems.

Joy Joy Nails, directed and written by Joey Ally. (USA) – World Premiere. Sarah manages Joy Joy Nails with a cheerful iron fist – but she gets her manicured claws out when Chinese Mia, a manicurist trainee, looks to be stealing the boss’s son’s affections, soon discovering that under the varnish, everyone’s a victim. In English, Korean, Mandarin with subtitles.

The Beehive, directed and written by Jacobie Gray. (Australia) – World Premiere. A superstar socialite seeks revenge when the artist who made her famous finds a younger muse.

Where There’s Smoke, directed by Evan Ari Kelman, written by Evan Ari Kelman, Parker Hill. (USA) – World Premiere. After a tragic accident, a firefighter must convince the city commissioner he’s able to return to the line of duty.

11th Hour, directed by Jim Sheridan, written by Jim Sheridan, Oskar Slingerland. (Ireland, Mexico) – International Premiere. Based on a true story, 11th Hour recounts how, on the evening of 9/11, Maria José’s bar is heaving with locals united in grief and a building rage; a cop pulls his gun and when a surprise visitor enters Maria has to seize the moment to take back control. In English, Spanish with subtitles.

  Shorts: Postcards

Five female-centric stories where the past meets the present

Viola, Franca, directed by Marta Savina, written by Marta Savina, Andrea Brusa. (Italy) – World Premiere. It’s Sicily in 1965, and Franca is forced to marry her rapist to avoid becoming a pariah in her traditionalist community, but she rebels against the established custom and sets a precedent that alters the course of Italian history, paving the way for women’s rights. In Italian, Sicilian with subtitles.

Fry Day, directed by Laura Moss, written by Laura Moss, Brendan O’Brien. (USA) – New York Premiere. A teenage girl comes of age against the backdrop of Ted Bundy’s execution in 1989.

Dive (Salta), directed by Marianne Amelinckx. (Venezuela) – World Premiere. Julia goes back to the pool and remembers that, sometimes, life challenges ourselves to keep going and make decisions. In Spanish with subtitles.

Tokyo Project, directed and written by Richard Shepard. (USA) – World Premiere. On a business trip to Tokyo, Sebastian explores the city with a mysterious woman he keeps running into wherever he goes, discovering heartbreakingly that the truth, and the past, are as elusive as love.

Little Bird, directed by Georgia Oakley, written by Emily Taaffe. (U.K.) – World Premiere. Against the backdrop of 1941 London, Little Bird explores how far one young woman will go to create a new life for herself when the women of Great Britain are called upon to aid the war effort.

  Shorts: S.O.S.

Helping each other and our planet in these troubled times

Mother’s Day, directed by Elizabeth Lo, co-directed by R.J. Lozada. (USA) – World Premiere. The impact of mass incarceration on a generation of youth is explored through an annual Mother’s Day charity bus journey that takes children from across California to visit their mothers in prison.

The Good Fight, directed and written by Ben Holman, written by Ben Holman. (Brazil, U.K., USA) – World Premiere. Following a personal tragedy, Alan Duarte opens his own boxing gym to offer salvation and hope to others in the notorious gun violence- ridden favela in Rio de Janeiro where he was born and lives. In Portuguese with subtitles.

Silo: Edge of the Real World, directed by Marshall Burnette. (USA) – World Premiere. In this meditation on life in one of the small towns that feeds America, a young farmer and a high school senior each grapple with the dangers of farm life.

The Rugby Boys of Memphis, directed by David Darg. (USA) – New York Premiere. Follow the rise of an inner-city Memphis high school’s first rugby team and see the ways in which, for these boys, the unlikely sport is much more than a game.

For Flint, directed by Brian Schulz, written by Brian Schulz, Sharika Ajaikumar, Katharina Stroh. (USA) – World Premiere. In the face of a federal emergency deeming its drinking water unsafe for consumption, Flint’s resilient citizens rally together to forge a new narrative that is hopeful and optimistic.

Blues Planet: Triptych, directed and written by Wyland. (USA) – World Premiere. Blues Planet: Triptych explores the Gulf Oil Spill disaster and its aftermath through environmental artist Wyland who, along with 30 of today’s pre-eminent artists, recorded a new genre of global blues on the catastrophe’s anniversary.

  Shorts: Surf’s Up!

Be it surfing for solace or in one of the coldest places on earth, catch the waves

Resurface, directed by Josh Izenberg, Wynn Padula. (USA) – New York Premiere. Struggling with trauma and depression after his military service, Iraq war veteran Bobby Lane wants to cross surfing off his bucket list before taking his life.

Under an Arctic Sky, directed by Chris Burkard, written by Ben Weiland, Chris Burkard. (USA) – World Premiere. A group of surfers along with photographer Chris Burkard journey to Iceland’s north coast in search of perfect waves during the largest storm to make landfall in 25 years.

  Shorts: Viewfinder

Framing personal impressions of the past

Hilda, directed and written by Kiira Benzing. (USA) – World Premiere. Hilda is a realist tribute to octogenarian New Yorker artist Hilda O’Connell who lived shoulder-to-shoulder with the great Abstract Expressionist painters in the ’50s and became a member of the Aegis Gallery in the ’60s.

The Spring, directed by Delaney Buffett, written by Chloe Corner, Delaney Buffett, Katie Corwin. (USA) – World Premiere. In August 2016, seven female filmmakers, all under the age of 25, traveled to Central Florida to film the women of Weeki Wachee Springs, for whom performing daily mermaid shows is more than a job – it’s a craft.

The Godfather of Fitness, directed by Rade Popović, written by Zoran Amar, Rade Popović. (USA, Serbia) – World Premiere. The Godfather of Fitness tells the improbable story of how an ambitious boy from California, obsessed with grueling workouts and good nutrition, became one of the most respected men in the world of fitness.

Love the Sinner, directed by Jessica Devaney, Geeta Gandbhir, written by Jessica Devaney. (USA) – World Premiere. Love the Sinner explores the Evangelical roots of homophobia in the wake of the Pulse shooting.

Watched, directed by Katie Mitchell. (USA) – World Premiere. An intimate and moving exploration of the experience of coming of age – under the gaze of state surveillance.

Woody’s Order!, directed by Seth Kramer, Daniel A. Miller, Jeremy Newberger, written by Daniel A. Miller, Ann Talman. (USA) – World Premiere. Actress Ann Talman finally performs the solo show she wrote for her muse: her brother with cerebral palsy.

  Shorts: Your Heart’s Desire (Narrative)

The things you want most are often deeply hidden

Alive, directed and written by Sung Hwan Kim. (South Korea) – International Premiere. A 100-meter sprinter faces challenges around the end of his career and his life. In Korean with subtitles.

Again, directed by Alexis Jacknow, written by Bekah Brunstetter. (USA) – World Premiere. A man watches Groundhog Day over and over and over again.

The World In Your Window, directed and written by Zoe McIntosh. (New Zealand) – North American Premiere. Squeezed into a tiny caravan, eight-year-old Jesse and his grief-stricken father are in limbo, existing more than living – until an accidental friendship with a V8-driving transsexual unlocks the means for Jesse to liberate his father and himself.

Iron Hands (铁手), directed and written by Johnson Cheng. (USA, China) – World Premiere. As a 12-year-old girl prepares for her final test trying out for the traditionally all-boys Chinese youth Olympic weightlifting team, she makes an unlikely connection with the gym’s reclusive groundskeeper. In Chinese with subtitles.

The Escape, directed and written by Paul Franklin. (U.K.) – World Premiere. The Escape asks whether one day we’ll all dream of ordinary lives via the story of Lambert, a normal man who, out of his element in a dangerous part of town, negotiates with the mysterious Kellan for the chance to escape into a fantasy of his own choosing.

The Foster Portfolio, directed and written by Danielle Katvan, written by Danielle Katvan. (USA) – World Premiere. Based on the original short story by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., The Foster Portfolio is an offbeat mid-century tale about a rookie investment counselor who discovers that his penniless client is hiding a million-dollar inheritance in order to conceal a strange double life.

  Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival: Sports Shorts, Sponsored by Mohegan Sun

A spectrum of stories, styles, and sports, this collection of athletically-minded short films will take audiences on a decades-spanning journey through some of the most unexpected and entertaining tales from sports legends and amateurs alike.

The Amazing Adventures of Wally and the Worm, directed by Colin Hanks. (USA) – New York Premiere. When Dennis Rodman hurts his knee with four weeks to go in the Chicago Bulls ’96-’97 NBA championship season, young assistant trainer Wally Blasé is assigned to oversee his rehab, and the two forge a close friendship over 10 wild days of fast living recounted by director Colin Hanks through animation and first-person confessions.

Bump & Spike, directed by Michael Jacobs. (USA) – World Premiere. The spectacular rise and fall of the International Professional Volleyball Association, which existed between 1975–1980 complete with “party lifestyle,” rocking arena matches and stars on the court and in the stands, is chronicled in this Michael Jacobs-directed film.

The Counterfeiter, directed by Brian Biegel. (USA) – World Premiere. Featuring actual wiretapped phone calls and surveillance video, this film explores how the FBI brought down the largest counterfeit operation in U.S. history during the summer of 1998, thanks to the help of some major league baseball players.

Revolution in the Ring, directed by Jason Sklaver. (USA) – World Premiere. The story of Cuban boxer Teofilo Stevenson, who in 1962 chose to stay in his home country rather than defect, this film examines through the lens of Cuban-American politics how his life and the life of the Cuban people were dramatically altered by the embargo. In English, Spanish with subtitles.

Run Mama Run, directed by Daniele Anastasion. (USA) – World Premiere. Run Mama Run is an examination of motherhood and athleticism through the eyes of Sarah Brown, an elite track athlete who will continue to train through pregnancy and postpartum with help of her trainer and husband Darren Brown.

#IrishAbroad: Irish shorts head to the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival The 16th annual Tribeca Film Festival yesterday announced its lineup of 57 thought-provoking and diverse short films in competition, including 36 world premieres.

[veliseraptor]

just thinking about the "xue yang never cared about xiao xingchen he doesn't have real feelings and just thinks of him as a toy" take again and @ameliarating pointed something out to me namely:

Xue Yang broke into peals of laughter. "Wei-qianbei, you're merciless!"

"Fine, laugh. Even if you laugh yourself to death, Xiao Xingchen's soul will still be too broken to put back together. He found you repulsive, yet you still insist on dragging him back so that you can play games with him."

Abruptly, Xue Yang swung from laughter into rage. "Who wants to play games?!"

"Then why did you kneel in front of me and beg me to fix his soul for you?"

Of course, someone as clever as Xue Yang must have been aware that Wei Wuxian was trying to bait him. First, distracting him with anger, and second, provoking him into shouting, Wei Wuxian made it possible for Lan Wangji to deduce his location and strike. But still, Xue Yang couldn't help replying. "Why? Hah! As if you don't know. I want to turn him into a fierce corpse - under my control! Didn't he want to be a pure, virtuous cultivator? Then I'll make him endlessly slaughter people, so he'll never find peace!"

"Ah? You hate him that much? Then why did you kill Chang Ping?"

Xue Yang sneered. "Why did I kill Chang Ping? Do you need to ask, Yiling Patriarch? Didn't I already tell you? I said I was going to kill the entire Yueyang Chang Clan - I wasn't even going to spare one dog!"

[...] Wei Wuxian said, "You sure came up with a good explanation. Too bad the timing doesn't match up. Someone like you, who can't even let a dirty look go without avenging yourself a thousand times over, someone who strikes so swiftly and ruthlessly - if someone like you really wanted to kill off an entire family, why would they wait so many years to finish? You know perfectly well why you killed Chang Ping."

"Then tell me, what do I know? What do I know perfectly well?!"

He shouted this last sentence.

"You killed them, yes. But why lingchi? Killing someone that way signifies that it was punishment. If you were only getting revenge for yourself, why did you use Shuanghua and not your own Jiangzai? Why did you have to dig out Chang Ping's eyes and make him like Xiao Xingchen?"

Xue Yang shouted himself hoarse. "Bullshit! It's all bullshit! It was revenge - was I supposed to let him die comfortably?"

"Indeed, it was revenge. But whose revenge were you seeking? How ridiculous. If you genuinely wanted revenge, you should have sliced yourself into pieces!" (MDZS, Chapter 42)

so if we're meant to buy that interpretation, then...what is the point of this passage? what is it trying to say? is it just to give Wei Wuxian a means of distracting Xue Yang and making him show himself? then why this means? and why are we taking the line that Xue Yang himself, a famously reliable narrator (?) gives (re: wanting to turn Xiao Xingchen into a fierce corpse and control him) as the truth of the situation, as opposed to Wei Wuxian's own interpretation (where Xue Yang is taking revenge on Xiao Xingchen's behalf, albeit expressed onto a different target)? and what is the point of Xue Yang's reaction after this, where he suddenly goes silent and stops responding, meant to indicate? the fact that Xue Yang gets angrier and angrier at Wei Wuxian for pressing the point?

these are all cues present for a narrative purpose, not "just because," and they're pointing in a direction that indicates that Xue Yang in this scene is lying through his teeth, whether or not he admits that to himself.

furthermore, since inevitably "but adaptation" comes up in these conversations, CQL actually retains this scene in a remarkably intact form:

coming to the conclusion based on this scene alone (not even touching the narrative surrounding the events in the past) that people who claim that "xue yang had no genuine feelings about xiao xingchen whatsoever" is to be taken as truth are not just taking the most boring possible read of this text but also at least a little actively reading against it.

[veliseraptor]

this is a tiny thing but one thing I really appreciate about xuan lu's acting choices in cql is specifically in the phoenix mountain scene when she confronts jin zixun, she communicates that jiang yanli is very clearly angry and she is just as clearly really uncomfortable about it.

I understand the temptation to be like "GO OFF JIANG YANLI, BITE HIM" but there's something that actually feels very real to me about her, being the character that she is, being both genuinely angry and not enjoying the feeling. it's not righteous anger, it feels bad and she doesn't like what she's doing, but it's important enough to her to defend wei wuxian in this situation, and she is angry enough, to go ahead and do it anyway.

and sure, some of this is about jiang yanli's general hesitation to speak up or engage in confrontation/conflict, but I can also imagine that it just straight up doesn't feel good to her to be angry, she would rather not be experiencing this emotion.

idk, this is sort of ~personal~ in some ways, but I feel like in this time where I sometimes feel like "righteous" (or maybe "justified") anger is sort of assumed to be a good and just thing ("if you're not angry, you're not paying attention"), I appreciate seeing a character who is deeply uncomfortable with feeling it.

[veliseraptor]

so I have seen a lot of people talking about this scene and Pete's reaction here specifically as "aroused by torture" (or, well. "aroused by Vegas torturing" maybe), and that is a fun and sexy read but not my personal thoughts on what's going on in Pete's weird little brain here

which is to say that what I see here is everybody else flinching and looking away and Pete just...watching. he's not enjoying it but he's not horrified either, he's just very "this is a thing that needs to be done and I'm not going to look away from that."

which taps into one of my favorite things about Pete which is that, while he is a sweetheart with an adorable dimpled smile and a lot of compassion, a devoted and loyal friend, he is also incredibly ruthless and inured to grotesque violence in a way that (this scene suggests) even other bodyguards aren't.

I guess what I'm saying here is that while I don't think Pete would enjoy torturing somebody personally the way that Vegas does, I don't think he'd have qualms about doing it, either.

(and that's one of the things I love about this show! almost everyone in it is morally bankrupt and it's great. moral standards whomst, that's not what we're here for.)

[veliseraptor]

Crime and Punishment in Mo Dao Zu Shi

So I've finally finished the essay I've been threatening to write for more than a year. A hearty thank you to @paradife-loft for early editing eyes and a coherence check, and @neuxue for further editing as well as last minute bonus translation.

First of all, a big ol’ disclaimer: I am working from a translated text where I do not have access to the original language. That generates a gap where potentially a great deal can be lost or altered in translation; hence, I’m going to avoid as much as possible attempting to do a close reading or lean too hard on language or word choice in my assessment of the novel, speaking in broader strokes. 

Additionally, I am coming at this from a perspective where I am predisposed to feel sympathy for villains/antagonists in a story, and I recognize that potentially creates a bias in my assessment. That being said, I think it’s a fair reading at the very least, if not an authoritative one. This essay will include spoilers for the entirety of the Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation (MDZS) novel, as well as The Untamed (CQL), and minor spoilers in footnotes and a brief additional section for MXTX's other novels.

I will be touching on CQL in an appendix at the end, though to a lesser degree because analyzing visual media is less of my strong point. Nonetheless I think it is relevant that, despite the alteration of story details to arguably make the morality of the story more black/white, certain thematic resonances remain. 

All that being said, my point here is: MXTX (Mo Xiang Tong Xiu) as an author, and MDZS in particular, is at best skeptical of punitive justice; to put it more bluntly, the concept of characters “getting what they deserve” is, if not directly repudiated, then certainly not the point. To put it even more bluntly, MDZS doesn’t want to punish its villains, it just kills them, which (importantly) isn’t the same thing.

[READ THE REST, IT'S LONG AND HEAVILY FOOTNOTED]

[veliseraptor]

I'm interested in your thoughts about the different way the show vs the novel cuts the timeline, and specifically in terms of how Jin Guangyao is framed. With the show, we're first introduced to Meng Yao as a young man making heart eyes at Zewu-jun and there's a very slow build up of suspicion over time, which allows viewers to get to know and like him more at first before...*ahem*... putting the villain hat on him. In the novel on the other hand (assuming I'm remembering this correctly), we're basically presented with Jin Guangyao as the antagonist almost from the beginning, setting him up for the reader's suspicion and dislike. On the other hand, there's a much more nuanced portrayal of his crimes (e.g. he's not responsible for Every Bad Thing Ever like in Untamed) and the reasons behind them, and an even more clear parallel with WWX as the protagonist. What are your thoughts?

Ohhh this is a super interesting ask and I actually found it an interesting counter to the prevailing Jin Guangyao narrative about his framing in the drama, which holds that he is straightforwardly being painted as The Villain, and while I don't think that's incorrect I do think in some ways it overstates its point. however, I actually think that something specifically about narrative framing (as in, not taking any content changes in mind) here might, perhaps unintuitively, contribute to why the Jin Guangyao of the novel is a more sympathetic figure than The Untamed (tries to) make him.

(once again I came out of CQL like Jin Guangyao Made Many Valid Points, Was If Not Right At Least 75% Justified so like. I actually don't think The Untamed was as good at making Jin Guangyao a Straight Up Villain as it was trying to be. I have thoughts about Zhu Zanjin actively acting against script and how you can feel him pulling against the prevailing narrative and I have thoughts about how that actually interacts very nicely with the way Jin Guangyao in every version of the story is pulling against a prevailing narrative that wants to relegate him to the margins in one way or another. but that's a major sidebar.)

holy hell I wrote an essay so putting the rest of this under a read more.

The point is that I think there's a few things happening here - I will note, first of all, that I don't think we actually are introduced to Jin Guangyao as a villain in MDZS. I believe the first mentions we get of him are actually fairly positive. I went back and checked, and he's mentioned a couple times early on just to note his position as Chief Cultivator (in pretty neutral to positive terms), then identified as the person who gave Jin Ling Fairy, and a few other times including the explanation that he executed Xue Yang to "show that things were going to be different." Pretty shortly after that is the scene where Wei Wuxian finds the kids playing Sunshot Campaign to see how Jin Guangyao is portrayed there (because that's a solid proxy for perception more broadly) and it's pretty complimentary!

"In these types of games, the role of the now-grand-beyond-measure Chief Cultivator, Lianfang-zun, was naturally very popular. Though he had come from a background that most people found too embarrassing to even mention, it was for this very reason that they sighed in admiration over how he'd succeeded in climbing to the top of the cultivation world. [...] He fully deserved the title, and could even be considered a legend of his time. If Wei Wuxian had been playing this game, he also would have wanted to try being Jin Guangyao." (Dew, Part 5)

I do think that's worth remembering, that it's not an immediate jump into "Jin Guangyao bad"; it happens pretty fast but not immediately.

However, it is true that by the time we actually meet Jin Guangyao on page he is under pretty heavy suspicion, and pretty shortly after that is the Empathy sequence, which involves a lot of heavy judgment on Wei Wuxian's part (a very unbiased narrator! of course!) of Jin Guangyao's badness. though that's also the sequence that reveals Jin Guangyao's involvement in saving Lan Xichen, his maltreatment by cultivators in general and Nie Mingjue in particular. So it's...complicated.

But in general, this kind of arc (starting with a character who seems fishy/suspicious or even evil, gradually revealing later on the more sympathetic aspects and drawing a fuller, more nuanced picture of them that's very far from a blanket condemnation and also gets a lot of sympathy from the narrative) is very characteristic of MXTX. She does it all the time, in all three of her books, with pretty much all her antagonists.

(SPOILERS FOLLOW: Shen Qingqiu in SVSSS starts out as a lecherous scum villain who deserves his horrible death and ends as a decidedly tragic and fairly miserable figure that even his #1 hater feels pity for, Tianlang-jun in same is an all-powerful demon lord, terror of the cultivation world -- and he was wrongly accused because the Old Palace Master coveted Su Xiyan. Xue Yang is introduced as a mass murderer and closes as a hand clutching a treasured candy. Jun Wu in TGCF receives the bamboo hat after Xie Lian's beaten him in a truly remarkable gesture of compassion.

Wei Wuxian himself, who is introduced in the first lines of the novel as a terrible evil that has been defeated - this one gets quickly overturned but the fact that it begins there is still significant. I could keep going.)

and while I feel like that's led to some problems in the discourse (namely, people make up their mind about who Jin Guangyao is right off the bat and then dismiss anything that doesn't suit that initial assumption as either false or irrelevant), I also think it's a pretty compelling way to lay out her characters, and does some very interesting things in terms of...challenging the reader to be willing to overwrite some of those early assumptions, being willing to make that change in how they assess a character (or person). I mean, that's a big part of the plot of SVSSS, actually: many of the problems are caused by Shen Qingqiu's unwillingness or inability to see that Luo Binghe is not the character he knew him as from PIDW - that Luo Binghe has changed because of Shen Yuan's decisions. The misunderstandings after Luo Binghe's plunge into the Abyss stem, in a lot of ways, from Shen Qingqiu continuing to assume that Luo Binghe is thinking and acting exactly as his counterpart would, instead of looking at the person who is actually in front of him.

So too, I think the reader is meant to do those same kinds of reassessments in MDZS as character details are parceled out. Notably, the information about Sisi and the Guanyin Temple statue is only revealed after Jin Guangyao is already dead. Everything has already happened, so why put that information in the text? It's one more signpost that says you thought you knew everything but there's still more to complicate the picture and make this even more of a tragedy. You see the same thing with Jiang Cheng and the golden core reveal at the very end - everything has already happened, the great confrontation has already gone down, but here's one more thing. Maybe it doesn't change anything in terms of the narrative, but it's there, it's important.

Now, the problem comes, I think, when people are unwilling to flex on that initial unfavorable impression, and I feel like particularly right now in general a lot of people are unwilling to...change their minds? on things? or to admit they were wrong or maybe making a judgment prematurely? And most obviously this is an issue irl all over the place but I think it happens in fiction, too. The irony here is, of course, that it's replicating exactly how cultivation society in-text responds to Jin Guangyao, namely by taking one thing about him and deciding that says everything about him, regardless of what he does.

To turn to CQL, now...I'm going to be talking about narrative structure from an Anglophone perspective because that's what I know, and that's the part of fandom I primarily engage with, recognizing that what I'm going to say about story patterns may not hold true in Chinese literature; I've read too little of it to say.

I actually think it's interesting that I actually think, while CQL is on the face of it presenting a more sympathetic look at Jin Guangyao to begin with, by putting it in a linear order where the viewer more or less knows what's going on with him through the course of the whole story in chronological order is actually in some ways a villain edit in and of itself without the extra dumping of all the bad things ever being his fault. I say that because that's actually, as a narrative arc, a very familiar one in terms of the path it follows. "Innocent young man falls into villainy" is a classic villain creation trope - and while often it can make for a sympathetic villain it is very much a story that arcs from good > bad > dead.

When it's set up in that linear sort of way, aligned with that sort of familiar path, the reader (viewer) is almost set up to expect what comes; as soon as episode 10 rolls around and Jin Guangyao does something questionable, there's an easy and immediate jump to "oh, so he's going to be one of those" and from there everything he does must be, by the logic of that familiar story, part of that path. He can't get better from there; that's not how it works. He can have a redemptive moment before death, perhaps, but overall once that downward arc begins, the expectation isn't that it'll reverse, and it's a challenge to convince people not to view the rest of the character's story - and potentially back-read into their previous actions - in a suspicious light at best or an actively hostile one at worst.

(Interestingly, I have thoughts/feelings on the way that Wei Wuxian's arc interacts with that sort of story path, which is to say as I've talked about before Wei Wuxian's first life is classic villain origin story. "A smart, clever young man with a healthy dose of hubris acquires sinister powers, gradually gets more unstable and separated from society, and ultimately goes full villain" is the basic outline of Wei Wuxian's story before his resurrection, and that is, I want to emphasize, a villain story. Obviously it doesn't end up framed that way, but viewed from outside that's what it is. The fact that he's extricated from it and gets another chance doesn't actually unwrite that - it gives him another chance.)

So CQL!Jin Guangyao might start out as a more sympathetic-seeming figure than MDZS!Jin Guangyao does, but by virtue of the linearity of his arc on screen (following a familiar narrative path to an inevitable end), I think he's pre-set up to be intractably cast in the villain role, where MDZS!Jin Guangyao, because the reveals of information about him are non-linear, wobbles more. Because the reader doesn't have all the information it (potentially) forestalls making final judgment, or at least calls for a reexamination of judgment. That interrupted arc, with its side trips and detours and glimpses of another story in which Jin Guangyao could've been the protagonist (the brothel flashback occurs to me), makes it potentially a little less easy to mark Jin Guangyao in the villain box and keep him there for forty episodes.

I would say, in general, that the novel encourages a more sympathetic read of Jin Guangyao. But I do think what you've noted here is worth remembering: CQL doesn't present him as a villain or even as sketchy from the start, and the difference is clear in the form of two characters who project "I'm a bad person!" in every scene they're in from the beginning: Wen Ruohan, and to a lesser extent Jin Guangshan.

[veliseraptor]

Inspired by 'it's not love, it's obsession': what are your thoughts on the parallels between Luo Binghe and Xue Yang?

oooh this is a fascinating one.

One of my favorite things about looking at MXTX's books as a corpus of work taken together is the ways in which you can see her evolving as a writer. I don't necessarily mean stylistically (I don't feel like I can speak to that, since I can't read the original), or even necessarily narratively (though I do think TGCF is the strongest narratively, for all it's probably longer than it needs to be). What I really mean is how you can see her coming back to the same themes over and over and exploring them with variations and shades of difference. There are very clearly things that are MXTX Concerns, as it were, that she revisits and echoes and plays with in all of her works; questions about justice and the cycle of violence are one big one that I've thought a lot about personally.

And when you're looking at the three books together, there are places where you can draw throughlines - for instance, from Yi City > Black Water Arc, or from (arguably) Xiao Xingchen > Xie Lian. In light of the trivia that Yi City comes at least in part from an older, abandoned story MXTX worked on when she was younger (per an interview with her, I believe), I feel like you can draw the line from Xue Yang > Luo Binghe as far as some of the tropes being played with. Xue Yang is (in some ways) an echo of Luo Binghe is an echo of an older story that had a character who may or may not have been named Xue Yang.

In obvious ways Xue Yang takes a different position in the story he ends up in than Luo Binghe does in his (he ends up an antagonist), but while one could look at the Song Lan/Xue Yang/Xiao Xingchen trio and posit Xiao Xingchen and Song Lan as the intended pair of whatever original story they came from, that doesn't, in my eyes, fit with the other relationships MXTX chooses to write. Xue Yang lives at a nexus of a lot of the things MXTX pokes at with Luo Binghe and, yes, Wei Wuxian, but also (to a lesser degree) Hua Cheng - the legacy of childhood violence, the importance and weight of small kindnesses in changing a person, the probing at the idea of people as irredeemable or incapable of change (and finding it lacking).

He comes from a disadvantaged, marginalized background (as do the other two protagonists) and, despite perpetrating atrocious acts of violence (Wei Wuxian actually, Luo Binghe less so in SVSSS canon but explicitly so in PIDW, which is the way Shen Qingqiu relates to him initially), kind treatment from a single person having a deep impact on their behavior. There's also the quality of deep, obsessive devotion, notably beyond death, that Xue Yang shares with Luo Binghe, Lan Wangji, and Hua Cheng (portrayed in the latter two cases as clearly and explicitly romantic and to be valued). Xue Yang doesn't occupy a protagonist role in MDZS (obviously), but he has some of those thematic qualities that tend to pop up in MXTX protagonists and/or love interests.

(Hua Cheng might stand out here, and he is different, certainly, but I would point to the very, very early identification of him as inherently ill-fortuned and bad to be around. Xue Yang has TGCF echoes, I'd say, to a lesser extent in Hua Cheng than in Jun Wu, but I don't think the echoes are absent from Hua Cheng, either.).

This positions Xue Yang, potentially, as (if we're using a crude metaphor) a little bit the Luo Binghe to Xiao Xingchen's Shen Qingqiu, with Song Lan potentially occupying more of a Yue Qingyuan place (but of course that's just speculation and we'll probably never know).

This is a lot of tl;dr but I guess the main thing I'm thinking about here is that while it's I think shallow to describe Xue Yang as a proto-Luo Binghe (or rather, ur-Xue Yang from that older story as), I think it's fair to see that relationship between the two characters as part and parcel of MXTX's revisiting, revising, and reconsidering the same themes over and over again in her work - in the same way, I think, that within the same story Wei Wuxian's parallels with both Xue Yang illustrate that same impulse. (And not, to be clear, as a simple "this one good, this one bad" morality tale; what MXTX is doing with her parallels is, I daresay, more interesting than that.)

anyway, there you have it. I feel like this went maybe a little left of what you were asking (maybe you wanted me to talk about the actual parallels in terms of character?) but this is a sub-category of that subject I personally find very fun to think about.