#i don't like mxtx but the fact that she thought up such a complex plot.... insane

[lryghe]

META; the life and death of transmigration

Word count: 1075

Reading time: 4 mins

I’ve put the word count and reading time at the top of today's post so readers can click off when they realise the length (transparency is key), since this post isn’t MXTX related. I just wanted to air out some thoughts I had regarding how transmigration stories incorporate the previous lives of the people whose body they are occupying. Because it’s always so interesting to see how authors work around the ethical issues surrounding actually possessing someone's body. There’s the classic ‘they died in a fever so it’s morally okay to act however I want because they're dead, I’ll just keep them in my thoughts every now and again’ move, which is boring. There’s also the ‘they were a horrible person so it doesn’t matter what I do because I’m not abusing people like they were’ but that’s even more boring!

Of course, lording over other people’s morals is rarely excusable, but it's frustrating to see in transmigration stories because it’s such a lazy way to explain things. When the possession is done well, it’s really refreshing to see. Take Penelope Eckhart from ‘Death is the Only Ending for the Villainess’ (I read this novel around when it first came out in 2019, so my knowledge is a little rusty on some things), who notes very early on that she will never forgive the people around the original Penelope, because she knows she doesn’t have the right. Since she’s not Penelope, she can’t forgive them for how they treated Penelope. And this is so important because it highlights an issue with the transmigration community and its stories. If you aren’t the original, who are you to forgive and move past the inexcusable actions of others? You yourself cannot absolve another person of their sins, and this was explored so beautifully through Penelope, because she sympathises with the villainous girl who’s body she inhabits, which means that while she’s ensuring her own survival, the author can add depth to the new Penelope’s character, and can develop the plot in a way that allows for other characters to be explored too. Adding guilt, or remorse, or even sympathy towards the original adds meaning to the character, in the way that many transmigration authors are sorely missing these days.

In reference to the clear morality issues surrounding this genre, it often results in a less than interesting plot and characters. With the family of the original, the transmigrator rarely holds weight in the other person's family, a distance is drawn, and characters surrounding the original are placed to the side in favour of the newer, more interesting characters that the author can barely develop. But this itself presents a new dilemma, because exploring the family of the original and their relationships would add a new layer of depth to the story as a whole and allows for an exploration of the main characters moral grounds, but allowing the transmigrator to get close could result in something as painful as the family noticing the original is gone, or even worse, noticing but not caring. In a novel I recently read, the main character's brother is the one who is possessed by a transmigrator, and everyone notices this change, but they end up ignoring the fact they know it isn't actually him, simply because they themselves judge it to be a change they like more so than the original.

But it’s an objectively painful thing to consider, because what if people did care about the original? What about their family, their loved ones, their close friends? This type of complacency authors and audiences, even characters in the novel itself, hold towards the surroundings of the transmigrator is something that had ruined the complexity of characters in transmigrations. Not even the main characters are spared from the one-dimensional fates they are thrown into by lazy authors, and oftentimes, characters feel hollow because they don't have remorse or even feelings beyond the need to ensure their own happiness and safety. This in turn ruins the immersion the reader has in the story, because how can you enjoy a novel where the surrounding characters are so painfully empty, the main character has no depth to them at all, and the plot itself would have to be based entirely on action, which is torture to read on a good day.

I feel like I should explain more on the bashing of the ‘lazy author’ since it’s obviously a rude thing to say, and writing is an incredibly difficult thing to do on a good day. But after seeing the influx of one dimensional transmigration stories, it’s so difficult to appreciate them. The inclusion of morals and ethics surrounding the cast of the novel results in a deeply gratifying storyline and whole character arcs, which draws in fans who appreciate deeper levels of writing. It adds complexity! Spice! Layers and hidden meaning! Authors who lack any type of internal character monologue beyond a moment every hundred chapters about the originals pitifulness, or beyond their brilliant schemes they plot in their mind that turn out perfectly and give the main character a million billion dollars and women and a lot of prestige, are what I’m referring to with ‘lazy authors’. The lazy author is complacent and singular with their writing, which draws in a large audience, but the audience are like sheep, drawn to effortless and boring stories which they can consume without thinking too hard about it.

However the blame isn’t totally placed in authors, as authors usually write for audiences. The media landscape surrounding transmigration stories is run by audiences who want to see instant gratification, the new main character appearing and beating people up or flaunting their beauty/wealth/fame and so on and so forth. But this instant gratification that the masses seek ruins complexity and whole narratives. It rather reminds me of SVSSS, how Airplane, despite having a deeply thought out and complex world, for lack of better word, sanitises it to appeal to a wider audience of dude-bros who just want shitty porn.

I feel like I’ve rambled on a lot today, I actually apologise. I don’t mean to rag on people, as transmigration is a really good genre regardless. This particular line of thought comes after me reading ‘The Third Wheel Strikes Back’, which, while frustrating at times, is a really, really good transmigration, that ticks all the boxes I explored before (as in the things a transmigration SHOULD be doing).

#meta #transmigration #this is outside of my usual sorry #death is the only ending for the villainess #villains are destined to die #penelope eckhart #possessor regressor reincarnator #that’s the novel about the brother for anyone wondering #svsss #airplane shooting towards the sky #shang qinghua #twsb #jesse venetiaan

[curiosity-killed]

Hi....If you don't mind me asking, who are your favorite MXTX characters (top 5 from each novel)? And why? I'm sorry if you've answered this question before.

Aw of course I don’t mind! Though I feel like my answer is going to be a disaster bc I love these casts so so much aha let’s see:

✨ SPOILERS AHEAD ✨

MDZS/CQL

1. Wei Wuxian

Ah so I feel like this is obvious based on the sheer quantity of things I produce and the effort I put into hurting him 😅 but yeah! I love how much of a classical tragic hero he is and I love how much love he has and how that gets twisted around and shaped into a collar of spikes around his own neck. I saw gif sets of wwx before I ever knew about CQL and my reaction was “fuck. I’m going to love him” and I do! And I love that he does learn from his past and I love most of all that he learns to accept the love he is given and is able to make a happy ending in a place of being loved and held in respect and appreciation

2. Wen Qing

On the other hand, I did not expect to be like “mine now” with Wen Qing. Don’t get me wrong, the sexy immortal look got me but it wasn’t really till I started writing fic that I was like ohhhhh Oh Boy. Wen Qing is brilliant and ruthless, fiercely loving and aloof and cold. I love that she gets the lose-lose challenge of balancing what is right for her family vs what is right in the world, what she owes to her sect and what she owes to individuals. The golden core transfer is my favorite dubious science experiment in p much all media I’ve consumed. She gets to be so human—prickly and tough and also achingly gentle and afraid and putting on a tough face and sometimes still crying. “I’m sorry and thank you” ! Im!!

3. Jiang Yanli

The first fic I wrote for this fandom was literally “Jiang Yanli died no she didn’t” lmao I do feel like I underserve Jiang Yanli in that I often fall prey to using her to further the complexity that the male characters are permitted while denying her the chance to be given the same space for development and breath — something to work on! But in that, I really genuinely love how tightly she binds herself to her family and how she tries so hard to be what others need her to be—and then she does make a choice for herself and for a single moment at least, she gets to be loved and to be happy and to have this, a husband and a son and a place, for herself. And terribly I love how much she permeates the story still after death. She is the unspoken voice, the face turned from the camera but always still present, carried in the hearts and names and memories of the ones left behind

She deserved better but—I am weak for the tragedy of it all

4. Jiang Cheng

Another surprise (tho hardly surprising in hindsight): Jiang Cheng is just...horribly understandable. He makes terrible choices and his greatest heroism is undone by a choice made for him or, in the case of “killing the Yiling Laozu” is a lie. He is such a youngest sibling who doesn’t want to be the youngest until all at once, he’s the one in charge and he doesn’t want it at all. He is full of anger and hurt and so much love he doesn’t know what to do with it, doesn’t want it anymore, has no place to put all of its terrible, overwhelming flood.

5. Lan Wangji

I almost didn’t put Lan Wangji or Jiang Cheng on here and then I realized that this is sort of a list of characters I’m pickiest about in fic and...yeah. I think what I love best about Lan Wangji is his journey of grief and healing and through that, his decision to step into world. Where Wei Wuxian’s decision to travel and be removed from the cultivation world (in varying degrees depending on your headcanon preference lol) is really, really important to me, Lan Wangji’s decision to go from being an isolated lone agent working apart from the systems of the world to being involved and invested in changing those systems and working to make them better is also really important to me. I’ve talked before about how relatable Lan Wangji is to me (esp with regards to our interaction with the outer world) and there is something deeply hopeful and comforting about post-timeskip Lan Wangji being in his like mid-/late-30s and still making decisions and growing and changing and choosing to invest himself in the world and the future

yeah. i have thoughts here that I don’t really have the maturity, life experience, or articulation to put into words but Lan Zhan Good basically

TGCF

1. Xie Lian

suuuurpriiiiise!! Yeah honestly mxtx’s mains in TGCF and MDZS really just hit all my buttons basically. What appeals to me most of all about Xie Lian is, fittingly, how he is humanity taken to extremes. His capacity for incredible kindness and compassion is equaled with his capacity for cruelness and ruthlessness. His heaven-shaking highs are matched with calamitous lows. He is the hyperbolic of what it is to be human—and he is also the small moments, the wildflowers and the maple leaves and the mundane chores and the comfort of whispered conversations late into the night. I could quite literally go on for pages about what I love about Xie Lian but I am not Hua Cheng and can restrain myself LMAO

2. Hua Cheng

of all the characters on these lists, Hua Cheng is the one I’m pickiest about tbh! When I say I love him for similar reasons as Xie Lian I don’t actually mean this as being similarities between the two but the fact that both of them so richly convey mxtx’s points about the nature of humanity and what it is to be human. Hua Cheng is both the boldest and most arrogant of all and also the most vulnerable, the one who shies away from the truth because he’s braced for it to hurt and isn’t sure he can take it. He is gory blood rain and an umbrella to shelter a fragile bloom; he is a blade whose wounds only heal if he permits it and he is a sacrifice that he brushes aside as a fit of madness. *pats his head* this boy can fit SO MUCH inside him that he refuses to acknowledge

3. Jun Wu

Definitely my favorite antagonist in recent reading. I was doubtful of him from the start (something something issues with authority something something probably should talk to my theoretical future therapist shhh) but the unfolding of his reveal was so delightfully painful and exquisite that I was like “YES!!!” reading all of it. About the epitome of a satisfying plot twist imo. But about the character himself, I love how he parallels so many — Xie Lian in his rise and fall, his glory and disgrace; Hua Cheng in his fixation and ruthlessness; He Xuan in losing himself to the plot and not knowing how to move forward. I love that he feels beyond human in a way the others don’t—he’s so old and has gone through so much and he doesn’t feel things the way humans do anymore, doesn’t remember right how love squeezes the heart or how hate can exist without acting on it. I love that he thinks he knows how to control everyone and that it’s such mundane things that fool him: Xie Lian’s absurd stubbornness, Hua Cheng’s foolish faith, Yin Yu’s...emotional maturity??? Not Sure how to verbalize that one. But in the end, he is defeated by both the humanity of others and by his own—he’s so tired. He’s exhausted in a way that gods and ghosts aren’t meant to be. He is, under the armor and the masks, the curses and the power, human—benevolent and cruel, evil and good.

4. He Xuan

I love my fish man! No but really I love how He Xuan is so fixed on his one goal that he refuses to acknowledge anything else in his (after)life—which doesn’t make it go away. I love that he is left unmoored, purposeless through the very act of completing that which gives him purpose. I love his long con and the ways he clings to himself but loses himself not in the act but in the telling himself it’s an act. I love that he tries to be a moral man and then becomes a ghost king, a calamity. His reveal is also terribly badass and I do love his bone fish wholly unironically. Like I’m not going to get a He Xuan tattoo (for one thing I’ve been meaning to get a tattoo for 5 years and still haven’t gotten around to it) but also. B o n e f i s h

5. Mu Qing

Of course! The Jiang Cheng of tgcf lol Mu Qing (which my phone desperately wants to autocorrect to my Qing) is so...gah he’s such a mess! And he so fully commits to the belief that no one will ever see and understand him as he is but will always view them through their own convictions about him and his actions — which is simultaneously heartbreakingly lonely and also. Sir You Are a Clown. I genuinely think he’s owed apologies from both Feng Xin and Xie Lian for their treatment and assumptions of him and think that he would be HORRIBLY offended at the thought (while secretly touched? But like secretly even to himself). He will never explain himself and will just clam up tighter the more people accuse him and it’s such a self-sabotaging behavior and also so horribly relatable. I love u sir, you’re a disaster

SVSS I have not read but I do really like the moshang art 😂

#long post #asked & answered #lol sorry this is so long and incoherent #the truth is that I really love these stories and their casts #and I think it’s v hard to extricate the characters from the cast #because they are so deftly and beautifully interwoven #but here are the characters I think are my favorites lol #loosely in order #tgcf spoilers #also this is why I prefer tgcf to mdzs tbh? #jgy is intellectually interesting to me and a good antagonist #but not personally compelling in the way jw is