#like they're both abt love and devotion and righteousness and hierarchies and status so they have similar themes but the structures of them

[tvxcue]

like theres inevitably going to be comparisons between tgcf and mdzs bc they were written by the same author and mdzs feeds into tgcf and they do have a lot of points of similarity but they’re also so different. and it makes for interesting stories in conversation with each other bc they’re basically inverted.

like they both have the same focus on the main relationship that makes the story revolve around them but the thing abt mdzs is that even though it’s abt wangxian, it’s also not abt them. tgcf is explicitly abt xie lian, the whole story and plot revolves around him not just bc he’s the main character but bc he’s the focal point of the antagonist which is what makes him the main character in the first place. like xie lian isn’t a passive character but he’s not very active in moving the story along, he’s kind of just floating through it while other characters bring him into it. and it culminates with bwx and that entire confrontation but even from xie lian’s first ascension it was all something that was orchestrated for him to respond to.

but with mdzs, yes wangxian are incredibly active characters making all these choices that move them forward in the story but they’re just a footnotes in the novels action. wei wuxian and lan wangji’s story is abt them and their relationship and the bigger plot serves as a backdrop for that. in the drama it is a little different bc the bigger story kind of “clears” wwx’s name and kind of changes things for him in that regard but in the novel, it doesn’t even really do that, it offers questions about morality and righteousness that do change how certain characters feel abt wei wuxian and challenge the structure of the world they live in. in the end, the big confrontation is abt other characters finally revealing themselves while wangxian basically make out in the corner like they don’t give a fuck who killed whose brother! yeah wwx still saves the day but it’s not abt him even though it is quite literally abt him as the main character.

#like they're both abt love and devotion and righteousness and hierarchies and status so they have similar themes but the structures of them #are almost entirely opposite. which is really interesting especially within their genre bc it is all abt the main couple and what that #might obscure does play out in interesting ways a lot of the time. like i do think it can be a flaw sometimes bc things just shift so fast #so you have someone being murdered in the most horrifying way you could imagine one scene and the next is the main couple making out. #a transition that happened in both of the books. but also with mdzs i think it's more effective bc wx aren't the main characters the Plot #even while they're the main characters of the story. so you get all these things going on around them that they're also picking up on and #reacting to and trying to figure out right until the very end. and then they don't really care all that much bc they're being the most #annoying couple you know while they and everyone they know is being held hostage. and in tgcf the bigness of the story is kind of.....too #much sometimes and i do get it's part of the story too bc xie lian is however many years old and hes lived such a long and complicated life #that of course there's going to be so many characters that form a part of it but also. let's calm down a little. but also that just really #works for him as a character! bc it is abt stuff just happening to him and him just kind of. dealing. like the thing with the revenant is #such a good encapsulation of that bc it follows him for like a year i think and he just. doesn't care. he just floats around until it leaves #bc xie lian has just become someone who deals with shit when it comes his way! #speaking #i feel like ive said this before but it's just interesting to me!