31 Days of the Untamed: rewatch - day 9
9. A view you hold that you think is rare or unpopular in the fandom.
This took me a while, and then it was so obvious.
It took a while because in many respects I'm quite flexible with my views and the readings I accept. Obviously there are some hard limits (like my views on Xue Yang or Sect Leader Yao) but I don't think they are out of line with fandom majority views. So between that flexibility and me largely agreeing (flexibly) with general orthodoxy, I was really stuck.
But of course, who better to get me out of line with general orthodoxy than chaotic good gremlin Wei Wuxian.
Yes, the one where he shows up out of nowhere, takes Lan Zhan's drink for him, and threatens Jin Zixun.
Almost any reading of that I have seen says that he is way too confrontational, maybe even losing control. I don't see that. My view is that he is being entirely (!) reasonable.
Premise 1: He's just been told by Wen Qing what's going on and he knows that there is some urgency in looking for Wen Ning. (We saw this.)
Premise 2: He wants to save his friend and saviour. I think we agree that there's nothing wrong with that? (If we don't agree, then the rest of my argument won't sail but then I'm also not sure we should be knowing each other. :)
Premise 3: He thinks both Jiang Cheng and Lan Zhan are... not kindly disposed towards him. He knows Jiang Cheng is fed up with him, and Lan Zhan doesn't like his cultivation. Jiang Cheng has also made his views about Wens fairly clear.
So Wei Wuxian arrives, drinks, and refuses to sit down because he is in a hurry. Sure that might be called rude but matters are urgent. This is the driving factor here.
He asks Jin Zixun politely if he could have a word with him in private.
Jin Zixun, quite rudely, says 'after the feast'. This doesn't get a rise out of Wei Wuxian. He asks how long he might have to wait. Jin Zixun says 6-8 hours, then 8-10, then till tomorrow, clearly trying to goad him.
When Jin Guangshan asks if it's really that urgent, Wei Wuxian responds quite plainly that it is. But Jin Zixun still won't talk to him in private.
That's when he starts questioning him in public. What else was he supposed to do? Go away and hope for the best? With a shithead like Zixun? Come on, he's not dumb.
So he explains the situation with everyone around. Not his choice. He tried.
He gives Zixun the information required to identify Wen Ning and reveals some pretty bad stuff at the same time. This could have happened in private, saving Zixun face, if Zixun was not an arse. So... well, he talks and he asks. Entirely reasonable given the situation. What else could he have done?
When it's pointed out that Wei Wuxian is disturbing a banquet inappropriately, he apologises. He bows. He's trying to de-escalate, not escalate. He just wants answers and I'm like, yeah, we need answers. He even explains himself -- when does Wei Wuxian ever do that normally?
Wei Wuxian wants to find Wen Ning.
Then Jin Guangshan goes on about the Yin Tiger Seal and Wei Wuxian shuts him down. Fair. Everyone goes on about Wen dogs and then he really looks like he's about to lose it. I know. Everyone in the room thinks so too. But... he's really just rolling out the Yiling Laozu to get what he wants. He seems barely controlled, and uncontrollable, and they buy it. But watch him once he has what he wants. Look at him once Zixun spills. There's no 'making himself calm down', no 'reining in the immense power he was about to unleash'. He looks bored.
So no, he didn't make any friends but how can you if they all stand in the way of you saving someone? And he wasn't about to lose control because... well, basically, he wasn't. Look at the switch when he has what he wants. One second all threatening YLLZ. Next second, pleased and totally normal. This was a show. [There are currently
comment(s) on the Dreamwidth version of this post. | post a comment @ Dreamwidth]
This took me a while, and then it was so obvious.
It took a while because in many respects I'm quite flexible with my views and the readings I accept. Obviously there are some hard limits (like my views on Xue Yang or Sect Leader Yao) but I don't think they are out of line with fandom majority views. So between that flexibility and me largely agreeing (flexibly) with general orthodoxy, I was really stuck.
But of course, who better to get me out of line with general orthodoxy than chaotic good gremlin Wei Wuxian.
Yes, the one where he shows up out of nowhere, takes Lan Zhan's drink for him, and threatens Jin Zixun.
Almost any reading of that I have seen says that he is way too confrontational, maybe even losing control. I don't see that. My view is that he is being entirely (!) reasonable.
Premise 1: He's just been told by Wen Qing what's going on and he knows that there is some urgency in looking for Wen Ning. (We saw this.)
Premise 2: He wants to save his friend and saviour. I think we agree that there's nothing wrong with that? (If we don't agree, then the rest of my argument won't sail but then I'm also not sure we should be knowing each other. :)
Premise 3: He thinks both Jiang Cheng and Lan Zhan are... not kindly disposed towards him. He knows Jiang Cheng is fed up with him, and Lan Zhan doesn't like his cultivation. Jiang Cheng has also made his views about Wens fairly clear.
So Wei Wuxian arrives, drinks, and refuses to sit down because he is in a hurry. Sure that might be called rude but matters are urgent. This is the driving factor here.
He asks Jin Zixun politely if he could have a word with him in private.
Jin Zixun, quite rudely, says 'after the feast'. This doesn't get a rise out of Wei Wuxian. He asks how long he might have to wait. Jin Zixun says 6-8 hours, then 8-10, then till tomorrow, clearly trying to goad him.
When Jin Guangshan asks if it's really that urgent, Wei Wuxian responds quite plainly that it is. But Jin Zixun still won't talk to him in private.
That's when he starts questioning him in public. What else was he supposed to do? Go away and hope for the best? With a shithead like Zixun? Come on, he's not dumb.
So he explains the situation with everyone around. Not his choice. He tried.
He gives Zixun the information required to identify Wen Ning and reveals some pretty bad stuff at the same time. This could have happened in private, saving Zixun face, if Zixun was not an arse. So... well, he talks and he asks. Entirely reasonable given the situation. What else could he have done?
When it's pointed out that Wei Wuxian is disturbing a banquet inappropriately, he apologises. He bows. He's trying to de-escalate, not escalate. He just wants answers and I'm like, yeah, we need answers. He even explains himself -- when does Wei Wuxian ever do that normally?
Wei Wuxian wants to find Wen Ning.
Then Jin Guangshan goes on about the Yin Tiger Seal and Wei Wuxian shuts him down. Fair. Everyone goes on about Wen dogs and then he really looks like he's about to lose it. I know. Everyone in the room thinks so too. But... he's really just rolling out the Yiling Laozu to get what he wants. He seems barely controlled, and uncontrollable, and they buy it. But watch him once he has what he wants. Look at him once Zixun spills. There's no 'making himself calm down', no 'reining in the immense power he was about to unleash'. He looks bored.
So no, he didn't make any friends but how can you if they all stand in the way of you saving someone? And he wasn't about to lose control because... well, basically, he wasn't. Look at the switch when he has what he wants. One second all threatening YLLZ. Next second, pleased and totally normal. This was a show. [There are currently
comment(s) on the Dreamwidth version of this post. | post a comment @ Dreamwidth]