#control pod

[sw5w]

Sebulba Takes Off

STAR WARS EPISODE I: The Phantom Menace 00:59:58

[wizard-loving-wizard]

thinking back to suvi in arc 3, when she was figuring out how to fulfill her geas spell, i was absolutely cheering for her to succeed. i'm very emotionally driven. the witches were so scary. it was such an interesting narrative needle to thread, having something that Has To Happen, and everything with the library of stars and Task was just so cool! it was fun and triumphant!!

and now at the end of arc 4, seeing the progress the citadel has made and steel alluding to their grander plan it's like....yeah, of course. of course this is what it was all along. turns out Suvi's mission was actually the key to unlocking Turbo-Arcano-Fascism. and now the citadel is WAY closer to their goals, all thanks to Suvi's mission! and im sitting here thinking back on how i cheered her on while she was doing it, like

[berribabyy]

Currently trying to concept my season 1 jon. This guy wants to be viewed as the pinnacle of professionalism so bad he straightens his hair just so he can do it all fancy. Ohhhh how he changes….i can’t wait to give him his pretty long hair

[alliumrl]

Yuri Ivanov Augmentation

Beyblade EP 50

Subject: Yuri Ivanov

Neural enhancement. Muscular strengthening. Heightened aggression. Supression of unnecessary emotions.

Process complete. Releasing subject.

He is now the ultimate human weapon, incapable of defeat.

[scarycatipillar]

i can’t stop thinking about aubrey wood

she is haunted by what she’s done but still has that spark inside her that drives her to do it again. she’s killed people, captured people, destroyed countless prisons and private cryo-suites, she’s blown up ships, she’s condemned the world to a new age in civilisation, but she’s also saved people, she’s built a sanctuary where people get to make the choices she did not get. you can live a life free of the fear that you’ll be hunted by a corrupt organisation who is centred around cryotech, you can live or die in peace

and she did all of this because of her part in developing cryotech, she cannot live with her action and so seeks to amend them every chance she gets.

warren was put in red valley because of her, gordon was shot because of her, teddy bears picnic was facilitated by her, at-least that’s what she thinks, so she saved warren and gordon (going against her own ethos to do so) and she spent 20+ years obliterating any trace of overhead left

she can only place so much blame on bryony for what happened at red valley because she chose this line of work in the first place but this also means she sacrifices actual rational reason for self loathing and a seeking of retribution

aubrey’s own doubts about her ability’s and her incessant need to prove herself better than bryony is going to be her downfall and i pray she sees hester is in fact right and somethings aren’t her fault

[withthewindinherfootsteps]

Wei Wuxian and Narrative Agency – Part Three

For Xiantober Day Five: Past and Present, in which the author gets very unhinged about what parts of the past are shown and how that’s affected by the present!

(Part One | Part Two | Full version on AO3)

The Power of Agency: Shaping the Narrative

When I've discussed Wei Wuxian's agency previously, I’ve talked about how what’s shown and omitted tells us about a character, and we’ve talked about the character himself. Though this is a niche topic, it’s not necessarily something out of the ordinary to analyse, and we can assume everything up to here has been in some way intentional.

This? Linking structure to a character’s in-universe preferences?

This is where we get unhinged.

Before I start, let’s quickly establish something which will be important later: although Wei Wuxian is the central character, MDZS isn’t strictly from his POV. While omitting events a character doesn’t like to dwell on and concealing things the character wishes to hide is common in books with only one narrator, MDZS has multiple narrators which it switches between relatively quickly. This includes Wei Wuxian, but it also includes nearly every major character that appears in the story, and omniscient narrator as well. As a default, this format doesn’t lead to this deliberate shaping and omission because of one character’s preferences, since we have many other sources of information and events – which is what makes Wei Wuxian’s influence over the narrative and structure so interesting. We could have access to a lot more information, and access to it at different times, than we do (and that’s not an insult, quite the opposite!).

To begin: we’ve established that times such as Wei Wuxian’s time on the streets, his three months in the Burial Mounds and his loss in the Siege aren’t shown because Wei Wuxian has little agency there. But that’s not the only special thing about them. They’re also the three most traumatic times in his life, and so moments Wei Wuxian himself either can’t remember, or doesn’t like to dwell on.

This is why discussing Wei Wuxian’s treatment of tragedy in his life was important. Firstly, it shows he doesn’t focus on the tragedy in his life, so the idea that the narrative not focusing on this tragedy relates to his character has merit; secondly, it affirms that this is not a passive trait, but a choice. Therefore, when the narrative omits events due to this aspect of Wei Wuxian, it’s respecting not only a character detail – which would be cool by itself – but also an active decision. One that shapes the story it’s made in.

In other words, its very structure is respecting Wei Wuxian’s agency!

Now, of course there are flashbacks to other moments of his past he probably wouldn’t like to dwell on, too. But within the structure, they’re only shown when Wei Wuxian is thinking about them (or when he has reason to)!

Wei WuXian hadn’t woken up yet. His eyes were still tightly shut, yet his hand didn’t let go either. He seemed to be dreaming, muttering, “… Don’t… Don’t be angry…” Lan WangJi seemed somewhat surprised. His voice was gentle, “I am not angry.” Wei WuXian, “… Oh.” Hearing this, as though he finally felt assured, his fingers loosened. Lan WangJi sat beside Wei WuXian for a while. Seeing that he was motionless again, he was about to stand up when Wei WuXian grabbed him with his other hand, hugging his arm and refusing to let go. He shouted, “I’ll go with you, quick, take me back to your sect!” Chapter 63, EXR translation

Which, of course, is him dwelling on…

Lan WangJi spoke one word at a time, “Go back to Gusu with me.” Hearing this, both Wei WuXian and Jiang Cheng were surprised. Quickly afterward, Wei WuXian laughed, “Go back to Gusu with you? To the Cloud Recesses? Why go there?” He immediately seemed to realize, “Oh. I forgot. Your uncle Lan QiRen hates crooked people like me. You’re his proudest disciple, so of course you’re the same as him, haha. I refuse.” Chapter 62, EXR translation

…the painful flashback immediately preceding this. The third set of flashbacks (which are also painful) are a similar case. Look at the contex:

He lifted the bottom of his robe, revealing a prosthetic leg made of wood, “This leg of mine was destroyed by you, that night in the Nightless City (…)” (…) “Wei WuXian, I won’t ask you if you remember or not. Both of my parents died by your hands. You owe too many people. You definitely won’t remember them either. But, I, Fang MengChen, will never forget! And never forgive you!” (…) “In the fight at Qiongqi Path, my son was strangled to death by your dog Wen Ning!” “My shixiong died by poison, his entire body festering due to your cruel curse!” Chapter 68 (immediately preceding the flashbacks), EXR translation

And Wei Wuxian’s own thoughts and words:

Wei WuXian looked at the cultivators before the Demon-Slaughtering Cave. Their expressions were the absolute same as those of the cultivators from the night of the pledge conference, pouring their wine on the ground as they took the pledge to scatter the ashes of the Wen Sect’s remnants and him.  (…) Wei WuXian, “Now it’s time to ask just whom it is that treasures it so much. It’s like Wen Ning. Back then, some certain sects or so were scared to death of the Ghost General. They said they’d kill him on the surface, but behind their backs they hid him for over ten years. How strange. Who was the one that said his ashes had been scattered back then?” Chapter 79 (immediately succeeding the flashbacks), EXR translation 

Once again, Wei Wuxian’s own thoughts relate to the flashbacks we’ve just been shown. And, as I previously mentioned, though all the events which are shown are tragic, they’re also events which Wei Wuxian’s own choices and actions shaped – which he has this to say about:

“The things I did, not only do you remember them, I remember them too. You won’t forget them, and they’ll stay even longer in my mind!” Chapter 82, EXR

Admittedly, this applies more to the third set of flashbacks than the second (which is still fitting as the third set was the most recent), as in the second, although he still had agency within and influence over his circumstances, the majority of the pain was caused by others’ actions (excluding, of course, the Golden Core transfer… which is something we know stays for a long time in his mind, albeit with a caveat we’ll soon discuss). But it’s still important to note – especially considering that otherwise, focusing on this very painful time in his life wouldn’t seem like something very in-character for Wei Wuxian to do.

Of course, this can all just be explained by good writing. It is best to insert flashbacks when they’re relevant to the characters and events in the present day! But it is interesting to compare these to the start of the (not painful) Gusu flashbacks, which open this way:

At a later time, Wei WuXian pondered upon the reason why his relationship with Lan WangJi wasn’t good. Getting to the root of the matter, everything started when he was fifteen, coming to the GusuLan Sect with Jiang Cheng to study for three months. Chapter 13, EXR

Again, considering the circumstances around which these flashbacks take place – returning to the Cloud Recesses for the first time since the lectures, and meeting Lan Wangji once more – it makes complete sense for Wei Wuxian to be thinking about these events*. So it does fit the pattern of Wei Wuxian dwelling on something, thus leading to the narrative dwelling on it, too (and being shaped by his thoughts)… but there’s another layer to this. Importantly, it is the only flashback where Wei Wuxian’s present thoughts don’t lead to this happening, with his thoughts at an unspecified future time leading to it, instead. I like to interpret this as the text saying that, since these events aren’t something Wei Wuxian wouldn’t focus on in normal circumstances, he can dwell on them at any time. Therefore, they’re free to come up in the narrative at any time as well, even if he’s not dwelling on them in the present moment!

So, to summarise: Wei Wuxian’s decision not to focus on the painful times in his life directly influences the narrative to not focus on these times. When painful times are brought up and shown to us, it’s in the context of him thinking about them in the present day, and even then, his most painful moments still aren’t shown to us. His agency in this regard is still respected by the narrative structure.

This is the main way his agency influences the structure of the narrative, but I’d like to talk about the revealing and concealing of information, too. For example, I said I’d talk about the Golden Core transfer – though Wei Wuxian does think about this many times, as evidenced by his internal narration in Chapter 103. But unlike everything we’re shown through the flashbacks, this is something Wei Wuxian is actively trying to hide from others. And the narrative respects this choice (Wei Wuxian’s agency, again), never reveals it even when it would be relevant in the flashbacks, and we find out not through narration, but through a character’s dialogue!

And to clarify – I know these aspects may not be in the book for this exact reason. Showing flashbacks in relevant moments is good writing, concealing an important plot point you want to do a reveal for is necessary writing, and MXTX has said she didn’t want to write about Wei Wuxian’s time in the Burial Mounds, due to not liking to write transformation sequences (and also because it would not be pleasant at all, which likely also applies to Wei Wuxian’s death). That doesn’t prevent it from also being intentional – MXTX’s intelligence is shown in many aspects of this book, and there’s nothing disproving it – but there’s no proof for either option, so I won’t pretend there is. I bring this up because I know this feels like I’m overanalysing, as I feel that way as well.

But, whether it’s intentional or not, it exists in the text, and I adore it – so, regardless, it’s something I’ll explore. Because taking this into account… We aren't just told about Wei Wuxian having agency, we aren’t just shown it in the text, we aren’t even just shown it through which parts of his past are shown and hidden in the structure of the text (as I talked about in Part One). The parts of the past that are shown and hidden also have an in-universe reason for being shown and hidden, this reason being the choices he makes! Agency is the ability of a character to influence the story they’re in, but Wei Wuxian’s agency, as a property of a character who only exists in-universe, shapes the out-of-universe structure as well! That’s how we’re shown its importance! How cool is that?

At The End Of The Road: Summary and Final Thoughts

In this essay, we’ve covered how important Wei Wuxian’s agency is not only to the events of the plot, but to the structure of the narrative as well. The narrative omits periods in which Wei Wuxian has little or no agency, in favour of showing us periods in which he does, even when important events happened in the former. This indicates that who Wei Wuxian is without agency isn’t important enough to be shown to the audience, and therefore that his agency is an integral aspect of his character in MDZS. We’ve discussed how both in-universe and out-of-universe, tragedy does not define him – out-of-universe, the tragic events in Wei Wuxian’s life are used not to build sympathy but rather to show his strength of character and who he still is despite going through them; and in-universe, he chooses not to focus on the negativity and resentment caused by his circumstances or others’ actions, instead staying true to his moral compass and enjoying his life in the present day. Finally, we’ve also explored how this choice is another reason for the omission of certain events from the narrative, resulting in his agency shaping the story in a very literal way – it affects the out-of-universe structure, as well.

It’s quite fitting, for a story whose essence is about defying a conventional narrative – that of righteous clans rising up and defeating a great evil – and about a character who defies many conventional narratives on his own – that of status defining how skilled you could be, that for a golden core being necessary for cultivation and other paths being unavailable, that of a tragic but complete story of someone killed for staying true to their moral code (instead, that character returns to life and has a happy ending) – to have its own narrative play a role in such an important and interesting way.

(Or, if an image would be preferable:)

Thank you for reading!

(Part One | Part Two | Full version on AO3)

--

*This strong relation to the present day circumstances is another reason I love the flashback placement so much (and why I think it’s such a loss both screen adaptions altered it so strongly)! 

[stormvanari]

mermay means:

🦑Abyss AU🦑

disassembly drone edition

[st4rstudent]

stubborn

no text ver

[horrorknife]

hey guys. what do you think about how the color red is used to signify control in 2001 a space odyssey. what do you think about hal, with his many control nerves spanning the entire ship, whose continued existence is perpetuated by a red light? what do you think about dave’s red spacesuit, reinforcing that he is the mission commander? what do you think about the palette inside hal’s control room bathing dave in red light, hal’s blood, as he is forced to lobotomize him in order to gain back control? to survive and to evolve?

[dimension20stuff]

How can you listen to the children's adventure and dislike Suvi? How can you listen to tiny traumatized baby Suvi and not directly map that onto angry bossy adult Suvi?

[sw5w]

Teemto Shields His Eyes

STAR WARS EPISODE I: The Phantom Menace 01:05:20

[library-whale]

Re: the “Aequitas created Parker solely for Blaseball” thing from my earlier post

I think The Shelled One pretty much did the same thing with the Dans+Daniel/Peanuts+Peanutiel, too. My headcanon is they were all always like that, but shed their “disguises” once the Peanuts decree passed. They’d always been TSO’s progeny.

The difference is TSO actually did care about his kids. He was just way too much of a, uh…. “entitled splorts parent” about it. “MY PODS ARE THE BEST PLAYERS IN THE IMMATERIAL PLANE, FUCK YOU”, lmao.

(Note: Parker was also a “Trojan Player”, but not in the same sense. He was originally supposed to be the Immortals’ mascot (hence my Parkers looking a lot like one, down to being made of cloth and stuffing and… stuff.) but then they decided to give him a shot on the lineup after he immediately hit a dinger when he got curious about batting during practice. (Aequitas was just hoping someone would get incinerated and he could take their place, but that works too.))

[katiefratie]

Rasper got word from imperial magistrates themselves?? Oh back in 2 days?? MAY ASK YOUR MOTHER FOR AN EXTRACTION GIRL YOU ARE GONNA DIE

[alliumrl]

The Capture, Brainwashing, and Body Modification of Arpegius

Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem

Animated re-telling

Part 1. Visit blog for full sequence

Subject Name: Arpegius Subject Role: Guitarist Mission: Retrieve subject to control as our slave for Earth music performances

Initial capture attempt failed. Subject is at large. Pursuing...

Subject's athletic ability is greater than anticipated. Backup requested.

Subject located.

Neutralizing.

Subject detained. Preparing for transport.

...continued in Part 2

[hellostarposts]

Episode 55 - Pest Control

Jordan Kennedy

That Jane Prentiss' paranoia will never go away for Tim and Jon.

They should’ve just let Jon watch the incineration.

I THOUGHT THAT WE WERE DONE WITH THE BUGS

I swear if this goes back to that nursing home decay pocket dimension. 

House of ants.

Next move is to burn the entire house down. Its already vacant, a little arson wouldn’t hurt.

Replace the spray with a flamethrower

Oh he’s going to open the fridge.

Stopping for a smoke break is well deserved.

GOD DAMMIT A very tall man in a brown suit showed up. That’s the same description from the nursing home ordeal.

How can the rot man be so strong?

BURN BABY BURN! DISCO INFERNO!

Told you that arson is the solution.

Also, that suit saved him from meeting the same fate as that funeral director’s hand.

Oh so this is the guy who dealt with the wasps after Jane stuck her hand into the nest.

Suspicious lack of wasps is very concerning.

At first I thought that the flesh mass in the attic was going to lead to the inset rebirth of Jane. but then remembered that this guy explicitly stated that he never met her. Only saw her dead body.

The landlord setting himself on fire is a choice. He definitely took my prior advice.

His name is Arthur Nolan, he’s got a weird flame shaped scar on his abdomen. When he presses a match to it his whole body ignites. This is obviously going to be important because he is way too chill about it and honestly seems kind of annoyed about having to deal with this kind of situation again.

Does this count as spontaneous combustion?

Man turned his traumatic experiences into a job interview.

I did not anticipate that the rot man and Prentiss would be somehow connected. How interesting.

“There’s no connection between insects and disease” yes there is. There are quite literally so many examples of that. In this instance it is parasites.

Supplemental

Increased volume of reports due to halloween shenanigans.

Awe Jon finally got a good night of sleep because he’s doing work of value.

Can’t stalk people when you are working hard for your paycheque.

First off, I deeply respect Jordan. Dude is much braver than I will ever be when it comes to insects. Second, I do not care for the reprise of the bug related bullshit. Why oh why do we need to make it clear that Jon Amhurst and Jane Prentiss are somehow a part of the same source of bullshit. And that connection is only discovered through them being burned and producing a disgusting smell. I. Hate. It. I don’t think that we have much of anything to create a theory on it. Unless the nursing home isn’t really a pocket dimension. It could be that the side effects of Jon Amhurst being in the building for too long caused the rapid decay of the building. We see a similar effect in the house that he was occupying too, the slimy walls. The ants are throwing me off though, why ants? Unless it's because they are a part of a colony, so a hive mind reference. Maybe they are just part of a decomposition analogy. Jon represents the actual decay of stuff, which is the slime (that ate that one girl's hand). Jane represents the decomposers (and I guess the infestation of insects) which precede the rot process. I am 100% overthinking this now but I don’t care. It’s managed to force me into participating in the bug crap plot. My only statement about the supplemental is that Jon needs a hobby that isn’t stalking.

[problematicsashawaybright]

More free OC lore: August is very problematic and also trying to cut down on how many cigarettes she smokes, so whenever she is "good" (ie not insane, like not causing a fight at a Denny's and getting banned because some guy is annoying while she's trying to have a nice breakfast with her girlfriend) she gets one (1) cigarette from the same package (the package lasts a long time because she is rarely normal enough to earn one). The person who doles out the cigarettes is her beautiful girlfriend, Ivy, who is desperately trying to make her normal and not insane. August is so obsessed with her beautiful normal girlfriend that it has not occured to her that she is an adult and can just. Go out and buy her own pack of cigarettes instead of earning them through being a normal human being.