“The three rules of the Librarians of Time and Space are:

Shadow Hide 3 - Line Holtegaard

Danish , b, 1980 -

This is a perfect time to read the brilliant and unforgettable graphic novel(s) Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, about growing up in Iran during and after the Iranian Revolution, and the rise of the oppressive theocracy that persists to this day.

Both graphic novels are available free online (Persepolis vol. 1, Persepolis vol. 2)

Here's the Princess Mononoke comic I made for the @ghiblifanzine :) Been thinking a lot about how San found her place in the pack as a young half-human, half-wolf child and how her family loved her from the very beginning!

- MDZS Vol. 1, Prologue

One of the great ironies of the prologue. In the three years mentioned, we have Jiang Cheng who is still clearly not at peace and obsessed with hunting Wei Wuxian down, one clan exterminated by Xue Yang, at least one clan but probably more exterminated by Jin Guangshan and Jin Guangyao as fuel for Xue Yang's research and the elimination of political opposition for the position of Chief Cultivator, the downfall of two famous folk heroes, Song Lan and Xiao Xingchen, the murder of Nie Mingjue and the beginning of the Nie clan's decline.

Past that point in the timeline, we also have an entire city being decimated for the restoration of the Yin Hufu and yet another clan being exterminated for the death of Jin Rusong.

In some ways, it feels like there was more disruption in the postwar years than the years leading to the Sunshot Campaign. The first siege of the Burial Mounds really was a turning point for the cultivation world. In particular, the increasing normalization of family extermination reveals a lot of unflattering truths about the people who sought power in the postwar era. Not even Wen Ruohan used family extermination as a first strike, and he was a warmonger who enjoyed torture. The Wen remnants were isolated and imprisoned in camps to be abused, but I think it is important to note that even they did not face family extermination from a cultivation world that had justifiable reasons to hate the Wen clan.

it is easier for readers to comprehend internal conflicts and while there are internal conflicts in the story they are ultimately not the reason behind the tragedy of wei wuxian's first life and the wen remnants' fate and consequent slaughter. to put it in other words: the first siege was not the result of wei wuxian's direct action or inaction, it was a part of systematic issue of the jianghu and their ostracization of wei wuxian and the wen remnants

and i also know that many ppl want wei wuxian to have a happier ending in his first life. wouldn't it be better if he and everyone who he loved were alive and safe and unharmed? and it is far easier to imagine a fix-it plot when the problem is on the actions of the individual. wouldn't the situation change if only character A did this? won't there be a happy ending if only the villain died earlier?

and don't get me wrong: i love myself a fix-it fic and i like a lot of them for mdzs. but this post isn't about fics

so, returning to the previous point: it is far easier to blame the individual. but the main conflict in mdzs is not an internal one, it's an external conflict: a man vs the world, a man vs society. and mxtx shows us that in this kind of conflict, the man and his ambitions will always perish: whether it be wei wuxian or xiao xingchen or even mianmian and lan wangji who tried to defend wei wuxian (lan wangji spoke in wei wuxian's defence several times, but did anyone listen? no). she is very realistic in this, actually, and i love her messages and ideas specifically in mdzs as they are the closest to my own

mdzs is a very realistic novel in general: even though headcanons and fanons about "modao" and how it was corrupting wei wuxian and the yin hufu being a cursed artifact with its own mind are very prevalent in the fandom, it's not like that at all in the novel. there are no voices coming from the yin hufu which want wei wuxian to kill anyone and everyone and drive him mad. wei wuxian doesn't even use modao and guidao isn't the reason for his unstable mental state but rather all the truly horrific and terrible situations that he was faced with in such a short term i'm left wondering if there is anyone else who could have lived through all of this like he did

but i digress. my main point: i don't deny that there are internal conflicts in mdzs, but the reason behind the tragedy of the first siege, the slaughter of the wen remnants, wei wuxian's death — the reason for all of this is a systematic issue born from the privilege and hypocrisy of the jianghu and its ruling class, not a consequence of an individual's action or inaction. the system put in place will always be much more sturdier than one person's claims

wei wuxian in front of all the clans accuses the jin clan and specifically jin zixun of kidnapping and using violence against the wen clan remnants, and no one bats an eye. mianmian speaks for wei wuxian, saying that killing four guards who were abusing the prisoners is not senseless slaughter, and she is put down and her words are dismissed as she is just "a maiden madly in love". lan wangji also speaks for wei wuxian, and without anyone's support, not even his clan's or brother's, his words are silenced and spoken over and dismissed without further notice

hell, even wen ning: jin guangshan organised a public execution and no one questioned jin guangyao why wen ning was alive and well and summoned on dafan mountain!

“all that pride–all gone.”

at her lowest, wen qing went to wei wuxian and allowed him to see her that way. partly because her family was so much more important than a game of saving face and partly because if there was someone who would see her in such a state and not think ill of her and continue to respect her, it was wei wuxian. because he’s also been at his worst, circumstantially, and it was exactly in those days that their initial bond/friendship was forged.

there is alot of talk about debts when wwx and the wens are concerned but i think the way they helped each other transcends the obligation of debts. of course, you simply cannot overlook who was owed what, given the setting but it’s interesting that we have this passage to make us reflect on the true nature of wei wuxian and wen qing helping each other:

when wei wuxian had bid her farewell, carrying jiang cheng on his back, wen qing had told him this: “no matter how this war ends, we do not owe each other anything from now on. our debts are cleared.” her haughtiness was clear as day in his memory. but last night, she had clutched his hand in a death grip and almost dropped to her knees as she pleaded.

“wei wuxian…wei wuxian…wei-gongzi. please help me. i have no one else to turn to. you have to help me save a-ning! i really have no one else, i can only come to you!”

it’s the way that following wen qing’s refuge of wei wuxian and jiang cheng, there was a sentiment of: oh the wens did this to you and now we, also wens, have helped you just to compensate a little. let’s settle these debts and leave them behind. and this is despite wen qing clearly stating that the wen clan’s actions do NOT reflect her own and that she’s only ever saved lives, not taken any. and yet she declares “our” debts as cleared as if she had taken some accountability anyway. it’s part that and part her attempt to obscure what her actions towards wwx and jc truly were: an unconditional show of support and help. and wei wuxian knows this and it is only reasonable and honorable to still see the help as a debt owed later down the line.

and the same thing repeats itself when wen qing comes to wei wuxian and explicitly asks for help. there is a sense that this isn’t about some give-and-take or reciprocation of prior debts. it is simply a person reaching out to someone in their most desparate times, hoping their hand will be held. and wei wuxian does hold her hand and they remain each other’s staunch supporters through the rescue and the hellish survival in the burial mounds that follows.

wei wuxian trusts wen qing with his wounds and wen qing opens up her most loved ones to wei wuxian’s care. for two people who spent their lives looking after their loved ones, shouldering massive burdens and going through the destruction of their respective clans, their intrinsic understanding of each other makes their bond so special, so grounded. they both took massive risks to help each other out and they both did what was right over what was easy to extend that help to each other.

despite my fair share of problems with the cql, i appreciated that scene with wq and jc where wen qing made it clear that she couldn’t pursue anything with jiang cheng because he wouldn’t stand by her. he simply didn’t have the guts. and this is reflected in the novel canon, in the sense, that if debts owed are the metric to measure who could have helped wen qing, jiang cheng was also on the list and he was obligated to aid her as much as, if not more than wei wuxian (and i say this because the whole reason wwx ended up staying under wen qing’s extended care was because jc was injured. he would’ve left as soon as he was discovered had he been alone). and yet wen qing doesn’t ever approach jiang cheng. her only option is wei wuxian because she knows, deep down, that he would truly help her and go to greater lengths for her than any debts would warrant. that he would understand.

and thing is, despite being the outliers of their clans, they both (+wen ning) embodied their mottos. “attempt the impossible”/“knowingly do what you know you cannot do” for the jiangs and “every kindness should be returned” for the wens (very hilarious ik) and that is just one amongst the hundreds of commonalities they shared.

he has full awareness of how his station is looked down upon in the cultivation world and so while others in his situation may bend or break–wei wuxian cleverly toes the line between the two until taking a stance becomes necessary. he deeply understands the ugly dynamics running within the jiang family and clan and acts accordingly–be it his prompt efforts to placate jiang cheng or his conscious silence when madame yu is in a mood or even his acceptance of the whipping in lieu of restoring stability for the clan. despite his personal biases against jin zixuan, he can recognise his bravery. even his scandalous move to begin undressing in the cave shows that he knows exactly what would make lan wangji tick.

hell, i’d say even his initial thought about how the resentment of the dead can be redirected towards a target shows his striking comprehension of how emotions work in general. what’s more, he’s able to recognise the machinations nie huaisang had employed and he was also aware of the bigger picture associated with how fickle and easily swayed mob mentality was when everyone took part in bashing jin guangyao when certain truths came to light. when he was first brought back to life, he quickly and correctly deduced what kind of life mo xuanyu must have led and how he could act in order to easily humiliate the mo family. he empathised with jin ling and yet realised how he was brought up left something to be desired and so, tried to inculcate some of his own highly regarded values to him.

@giftober 2024| Day 8: "home"