a demiurge (in|of) clay

I regret to inform you that at least 75% of what I post is reblogs of Miraculous Ladybug fan art, and most of the remainder is other things I thought were pretty and/or funny. Nerdy explainers like the one that caught your eyes are few and far between. Also, I can’t be relied on to tag anything consistently.

The Enigma of Amigara Fault

This short story by Junji Ito is about a fault that appears in Amigara mountain after an earthquake. The earthquake exposes countless human-shaped holes in the mountain which seem to have been made about a thousand years ago. People, intrigued by these  silhouettes, gather at the site and that’s when things get creepy.

things fall apart and there’s anarchy everywhere; falcons fly freely and can’t be compelled.

Dimming the tide there is blood in the water and everywhere customs of innocence drowned.

Held by the worst is a fervent intensity; lacking conviction the best run aground.

Surely there must be some kind of apocalypse; surely epiphany must be at hand!

Visions unbidden from Spiritus Mundi of something awakening out on the sand:

Head of a man with a leonine frame and a pitiless gaze that’s as blank as the sun;

sleep became nightmare by passage of centuries long before eons of slumber were done.

Higgledy piggledy, beast of antiquity, imminent, just as the prophecies warn,

You have to ask the owner if you can pet the dog. It's rng-based if they'll let you.

Why?

he had so many ideas that he went 'whatever!' in his inability to pick, and Jiang Fengmian had 'suibian' engraved on the blade of the Very Important and Powerful Spiritual Sword that he was presenting to his favorite, most-talented disciple. who by receiving it completed his social transition from 'doomed vagabond orphan' to 'member of the cultivating gentry class in his own right, albeit by the skin of his teeth.'

that sword name is a dad joke.

every time anyone mentions the name of that sword, whether they know it or not they are invoking the ghost of jiang cheng's father. (which, remember that in any scene involving jiang cheng where the name is used for some bonus oof moments.)

what the name 'Suibian' teaches us about Wei Wuxian is actually something way more interesting and illuminatin imo than his having chosen that would be.

#but we all see in the whole novel how wwx was groomed to feel indebted to the Jiang #and thank them for being allowed to cultivate and to live etc #so he will lean into the joke. he will be grateful. #he loves cultivating and he loves the sword so he will even love the name it was given #because he wanted so badly to give it a good important significant name he couldn't decide #and he looked up to the authority figure in his life for help in that task! #and the authority figure made it... a dad joke.

#so yeah he is cool with suibian. it's funny it's an amazing conversation starter it can even be interpreted #as a philosophical statement of detachment just like bochen! #but. how much of it was him actually vibing with it #and how much was him doing the best out of a bad spot the Jiangs put him in (via @mdzskilledme)

hm...maybe? but like. he told his master to pick. that's what not settling on an answer to a question ('what name do we put on your sword') and saying 'whatever' means.

'suibian' is 'as you please,' wei wuxian very literally handed this choice off to jiang fengmian, completely on purpose.

he rushes to cover his ass when he gets into trouble. pays the tab for his shoplifting. he lets him off ongoing punishments, on the implicit basis that yu ziyuan can't be trusted to assign them fairly, so as someone who outranks her he can dismiss her will as wwx can't.

(he can't take away her will, or her authority, without becoming an abusive husband, and i will always wonder why wei wuxian canonically doesn't beef with yzy in front of jfm, though he's perfectly willing to pick a fight in the master's absence. possibly very much as yzy cites jfm's absence as cause to deprioritize that he wouldn't tolerate what she's doing to wwx during wlj's invasion.

what is he avoiding? is it just courtesy, to an authority figure he actually respects? consideration for jfm's feelings? not wanting to disappoint him? it can't just be curating his reputation, because that would be ooc. is he more afraid that jfm won't take his side, or that he will, and then for the first time the problems in their marriage really will be his personal fault?

i think it might be the last one because not wanting to let yzy be right about him does crop up as a motive elsewhere imo. and i like it because it resembles his motives for lying to jiang cheng later in interesting ways.)

this guy took this kid home and housed him in his son's room, instead of with the other disciples, not caring who judged or how jiang cheng or yu ziyuan felt about it. (or more accurately, completely misunderstanding how jiang cheng would feel about it, since his goal was for them to be best friends.) he got rid of the puppies that triggered his trauma without a second thought.

in the only all-family scene the jiangs get (because jyl leaves before yzy comes in during the bedroom scene) the major argument is over whether wei wuxian should be forced to go to qishan with jiang cheng, who is being compelled by his parents due to threats from the wen, or should be given a choice whether to go or not.

yzy wants him to be compelled because that would be more 'fair' to jiang cheng and make a point that wwx is beneath him and less valuable; jfm wants to offer him the choice because he doesn't agree with any of those premises and thinks where you can give someone a choice, you should. jfm wins.

that's the pattern: he prioritizes wei wuxian's happiness and autonomy. even at the expense of his reputation and the comfort of other members of the family, to whom he owes more. he goes as far as he ought for wwx's sake and then a bit further.

so this is what happened, right?

🚫 You are not allowed to dub or post this to other websites, including Instagram, YouTube, weheartit, Pinterest, etc.

The random person I have tied to a chair in my basement: "Mmf mmf mmf!"

Tell us in the tags!

Sergey Belik