#fractalradio

omg you hopped on this so fast!! (ask game)

the character everyone gets wrong

ZHAO YUAN-FUCKING-ZHOU

so many people drop the sweetie from him so egregiously to concentrate on how powerful he is or to make him downright mean all of the time and that's just not him???? like yeah he's powerful but what's interesting is that he rarely ever uses it, rarely ever wants to use it. that he's so deeply nonviolent that it's a Big Fucking Deal when he steps in front of zyc when zyc is being mistreated for being a demon. he's not trying to lord power over anybody; honestly the opposite most of the time. he could squash almost anyone like a bug and instead lets the crew make fun of him relentlessly. he is not a man of ego. what he is is the kindest character in the whole show -- with some decent competition. just. let him be sweet.

also i'd love to say that people get the women wrong but people aren't writing or talking about the women at all generally 🙃

8. common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about that li lun is The Good Guy. like look is he sympathetic? to a great many people, yes, which makes sense!! (sometimes to me also. i have...complicated li lun feelings.) but is he right? NO. i actually find his anti-carceral and anti-police stances really compelling and i agree with him on that tbh!!!! however, he tried to accomplish freedom by attempting a genocide by route of two genocides. trying to destroy the wilderness when not every demon wants that is interesting!! not morally good. trying to conquer the human world -- also interesting, not morally good. i think there's a lot of conflation of real world politics with his story. people seem to see him the way they would a member of a colonized group rising up against his colonizers. but unless i am missing something by not being fluent in mandarin or in chinese cultural literacy, that's not what's happening here. though the story certainly includes that there are many humans who mistreat and oppress demons as a class, neither of these groups colonized the other. they are from and of separate places and have remained in those places. there is a lot to be said about the outlawing of migration and who has access to natural resources and who is othered. but it doesn't scan 1:1 with our world, to the best of my knowledge.

What themes would you like to write about that you feel don’t get explored very often?

Okay as you saw I already answered this but I think another specific thing I'm interested in is, like, cowardice, the consequences of cowardice -- both good and bad! -- the way that fear shapes people and communities and decisions and lives. I like when people are scared and I like when that impacts everything they do and I like when sometimes people are right to be scared and I like, like...explorations of how and why people end up prioritizing their own safety and survival over that of anyone else. I like cowardice as a violence and I also like cowardice as a survival necessity. Not a lot of good compelling cowardice in fiction that I'm encountering -- mostly it's for comic relief or only for characters who are villains or you're not supposed to like/respect. I need more John Silvers I need more Sally Reeds I need more Fitz-in- Assassin's Quests.

28. Do you need background noise to write? If so, what do you listen to?

wow true as hell.

Single words only, mostly, an “Mn.” in response to Are you enjoying this production, a “Yes,” in response to Will you be coming home for shufu’s birthday, a “Not yet,” in response to Have you received any audition invitations from Russia.

They reverence to their silent and invisible accompanist, and then Wei Ying asks again, “Well? What’s the verdict? I was expecting all kinds of corrections from you, Lan-laoshi, I’ll be honest. You used to be much more judgmental. Maybe next time I’ll throw out some Balanchine hands just to get your attention!"

"Bows take an eternity. Quick notes take longer; there will be more, tomorrow, after company class."

"Mostly, it seems to be that Wei Wuxian is completely relaxed while holding technical ballet perfection, a smile spreading across his face as he watches Lan Wangji watching."