#tag: nanyin

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i started talking about this in the tags of a reblog of this fantastic post, and then i was like, ok this isn't that related, i need another post.

but i feel like one of the defining differences between li xiangyi/li lianhua and di feisheng are how they handle their own roles in the narrative.

di feisheng knows that someone has to be the bad guy, regardless of if it's an accurate reflection of them or not. he knows what his role in this narrative is, he knows how people see him, and he knows what they expect from him. and most of the time he doesn't care enough to challenge them on it, because he knows the role that he plays, and he believes that the people who know him, the people he cares about, will know better than that.

and—as we know—this bites him in the ass over and over, and he's hurt by it every time. everyone misunderstands him: li xiangyi, who believed he would have shan gudao killed, would break their treaty, would poison li xiangyi; jiao liqiao, who believed he just wanted to win at any cost; yao mo, who believed that the point was the fight. li lianhua, who even at the end, doesn't understand—or won't accept—that the what di feisheng wanted him to fight for was to survive.

li xiangyi knows he's the hero, but he doesn't understand that it's a role he's playing. he thinks it's an accurate reflection of himself and of how people see him, and he trusts that people who know him will understand that. they'll see his choices through that lens: he's not impulsive, he's decisive; he's not too trusting, he's loyal.

and—again, as we know—this bites him in the ass over and over, and—again—he's hurt by it every time. shan gudao sees him not as a hero, but a challenger, a threat. the martial world saw him as so blinded by his affection for shan gudao that no one dared tell him of the rumours that shan gudao was searching for descendants of nanyin. his friends saw him as competitive or willful or hubristic.

discovering this is so painful that it breaks him. it shatters his self image completely—li xiangyi is no longer in this world, indeed, because li xiangyi never existed the way that he thought he did.

and then we have li lianhua, who thinks he finally understands, and has that turned on its head over and over again. who thought he was a lone wanderer, but is surrounded by people who love him. who thought he was here to avenge his shixiong, but is the one to kill him. who thought he was going to save the empire, but is the one person who could destroy it. who thought the only way he could protect people was by leaving them, but never stops to wonder what his absence does to them.

li lianhua, who thought the most he had to offer anyone was his death, but never allowed himself to see how desperately his friends wanted him to live.

[kseniyagreen]

Quote the previous tags:

#cw fantasy and fictional setting racism#as specifically directed against the fictional non-han nanyin people#whenever nanyin comes up i think it's such a pity MLC didn't dare go with them where ALoN went with the moluo-cun villagers

Yes, in fact, the Nanyin Empire embodies the entire darkest and most disgusting side of traditional society. Racism, sacrifice, slavery - in its exaggerated form of mind control. Everything that the world of martial arts opposes, at least in its ideals. And by making Li Xiangyi the heir of Nanyin by blood, the narrative really tightened the noose around his neck, which gives me very ambiguous feelings. Because trying all the way to escape this dictatorial traditional plot, in the finale Li Xiangyi does exactly what the plot requires of him - he sacrifices himself.

That is, trying so desperately to get rid of the role of "Li Xiangyi the hero" , in the finale he does the most “Li Xiangyi the hero” thing. As if admitting his defeat to this role and to this society. And this is the point where I would like to see a different storyline.

Another detective case - another mirror to Li Xiangyi's life.

This time the topic is society's cultivation of victims for slaughter.

One of the cornerstones of traditional culture - all traditional cultures, both in the east and in the west.

This archetypal story is about a chosen one who was born to save the world by sacrificing themself.

But what if you're actually just a white monkey, carefully bred to be used and sacrificed to imaginary gods?

But you don’t feel this noose around your neck, intoxicated by the illusion of your own uniqueness, irreplaceability, until it becomes too late.

And if you are lucky enough to crawl away from this sacrificial fire alive, the old role is torn off from you like skin.

[ao3feed-buckybarnes]

One voice

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2Ps0HkH

by Nanyin

Gimme…so long..(hmmm) too long….

Words: 143, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types

Rating: Mature

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/M

Characters: James "Bucky" Barnes, Hermione Granger

Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Hermione Granger

Additional Tags: missing you too long

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2Ps0HkH

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