#guys. guys. vote jingyan

[etirabys]

After years of knowing I should watch Nirvana in Fire but not watching Nirvana in Fire, I am finally doing it! (@catchaspark has a good intro if you want a reasonably quick rundown)

There are two things I really appreciate about this show, 13 episodes in.

The first is that it has a lot of politics, and the politics are SO VERY MUCH ABOUT REAL THINGS. Unlike a lot of fictional court intrigue which feels like empty backstabbing backed by theoretical armies or votes, the power-holding characters are always managing people, moving around stuff, navigating bureaucracies, finding the right people to bribe, and deciding which valuable lieutenant to reward. There is major drama because a guy occupied with the impending execution of his son is too emotional to deal with staffing issues in a department. The explanation of a plot rests partly on what shipping lanes exist for luxury commerce. I can’t recall another piece of media that feels so economically real, where power rests on stuff and people. It feels like a love letter to the workings of a state.

The second is every scene Mei Changsu is in with his childhood best friend Jingyan, whom he is trying to gaslight gatekeep girlboss to kingship. Ohhh. The tension is incredible. Jingyan has a maladaptively rigid morality, and Mei Changsu clearly

loves this about him

knows that he needs more Slytherin allies to win the throne

wants to be that Slytherin ally without altering Jingyan

So he’ll line up perfect shots for Jingyan to take for political advancement, and then point at his employee who’s standing in the courtyard and say, “I trust him absolutely as a courier, because his family still lives in the territory I control (and I’ll have them executed if he steps out of line).” Coolly tolerating – no, inviting – Jingyan’s disgust. And I wish to say also that Mei Changsu does all of this in a manner that is simultaneously Proper and Languid. The man will wake up from a nap in the sluttiest manner possible when Jingyan enters the room so he can go, Oh? :) Would you like to deeply collaborate with me and in a real way put your life in my hands while defining yourself in opposition to me? :))