Focus on Mi Lu: No-one can leave my forest labyrinth

[extrapenguin]

Mi Lu is the illusion weaver we see in episodes 36-37. She is one of Ye Zun's loyal subordinates, and her name is very punny: she is 米露, and 迷路 means "to lose the way" or "labyrinth". She's a true believer in Ye Zun's cause and, like Zhu Jiu and Ye Zun, racist against Yashou. Her only objection to Ye Zun's plans is their reliance on Ya Qing. As a direct consequence of her attitudes, she ends up driving a wedge between herself and Ya Qing (by trying to escalate the intra-Yashou conflict and telling Ya Qing that the Dixingian goons Ye Zun gave her won't obey her, a Yashou), thus quickening the break between Ya Qing and Ye Zun.


Kneeling to her boss.


Brushing aside a gun and Ya Qing's qualms.


Using her labyrinth powers.

1. What role do you think she played in Ye Zun's movement? Do you think she was doing work in Dixing similar to what Zhu Jiu did in Haixing?

2. Do you think Ye Zun approached her (for her mindfuck power similar to the Nightmare Master's), or she approached Ye Zun?

3. How long do you think she's been on the surface?

4. What do you think her power is? Creating postentially-illusory trees, or creating illusions identical to features of the landscape? How specific is her labyrinth power?

To the best of my knowledge, there are no Mi Lu fanworks. (Prove me wrong?)

So - come and talk about Mi Lu! Share links to meta, picspams, and related fanworks, new or old! Self-recs whole-heartedly encouraged. Basically, this is the place for anything you want to say or link to about Mi Lu.

Important: If you're commenting with meta/discussion/thoughts, please say whether you're coming from a novel perspective, a drama perspective, or a blend of the two, so we don't end up talking past each other. Thanks!

Comments

[trobadora]

As a direct consequence of her attitudes, she ends up driving a wedge between herself and Ya Qing (by trying to escalate the intra-Yashou conflict and telling Ya Qing that the Dixingian goons Ye Zun gave her won't obey her, a Yashou), thus quickening the break between Ya Qing and Ye Zun.

You know, this is an excellent point. I know Ya Qing had her doubts prior to this, but I do wonder how that scene would have gone if Mi Lu hadn't pushed her so much.

What role do you think she played in Ye Zun's movement? Do you think she was doing work in Dixing similar to what Zhu Jiu did in Haixing?

What do you think that kind of work would have been in Dixing? Recruiting people with the right talent? Because that's most of what Zhu Jiu did, wasn't it, apart from focusing on the Hallows? Which doesn't apply in Dixing and everything else was in the service of that.

Mi Lu doesn't sound like she'd be good at recruiting people - very outspoken and forceful, not good at diplomacy is my impression of her. And obviously that's worst when she interacts with humans and Yashou, who she doesn't respect, but she seems the same when interacting with Ye Zun. I'm not sure what she could have been doing for Ye Zun while Ye Zun wasn't yet in charge down there. Come to think of it, we don't know when she started working for him ... maybe she hasn't been for very long?

Do you think Ye Zun approached her (for her mindfuck power similar to the Nightmare Master's), or she approached Ye Zun?

I could see that going either way. She seems like a fanatic, and regardless of who made the first step, she would have been a perfect fit for him.

What do you think her power is? Creating postentially-illusory trees, or creating illusions identical to features of the landscape? How specific is her labyrinth power?

I always thought it was illusions identical to the surroundings. Her labyrinth was mixing her illusions in with the trees that were actually present, so she's not overriding the existing surroundings entirely. Inserting trees in the middle of a city would make it pretty damn obvious right from the start what was real and what wasn't - and that was all our heroes needed to be able to find her and get out. Hher entire bearing doesn't seem like someone with a mostly-useless power ... *g*

[extrapenguin]

I know Ya Qing had her doubts prior to this, but I do wonder how that scene would have gone if Mi Lu hadn't pushed her so much.
I think she'd have taken the rest of the Yashou hostage and fought the SID, but beyond that ... idk. In canon I suppose having Zhu Hong win the Yashou Sacred Twig thing was a bit of a relief as it gave her a graceful out. It'd have taken more time and been messier, at the very least, especially if it lasted long enough Professor Ouyang turned up to yell loudly. It'd be an interesting canon divergence prompt nonetheless.

What do you think that kind of work would have been in Dixing? Recruiting people with the right talent? Because that's most of what Zhu Jiu did, wasn't it, apart from focusing on the Hallows? Which doesn't apply in Dixing and everything else was in the service of that.
I think getting out of the pillar was one of Ye Zun's big goals, and might not necessarily have required the Hallows, so it's plausible she was investigating non-Hallows methods of getting Ye Zun out of the pillar. Or perhaps doing research and planning on taking over Dixing. I agree that she was likely terrible at recruiting people.

Her entire bearing doesn't seem like someone with a mostly-useless power ... *g*
True! She does speak a lot about her forest labyrinth, but I suppose it might be just convenience. Given the dearth of plants in Dixing, she can make any sort of labyrinth. (Or has been in Haixing for a long time, yet not finding any Hallows?)

[waterscroll]

One thing that struck me about Mi Lu, she's one of the few villains or antagonists who doesn't seem to be upset or angry or hurt about a particular thing in her backstory. (That I noticed? I might have missed it.) I wonder if she has a particular thing that she's angry about that we aren't told, or if she's just generally resentful towards surface-dwellers. It's also interesting that someone from Dixing would hate Yashou, it makes me wonder what anti-Yashou racism would mean to someone from Dixing. From a Dixing perspective, are humans and Yashou just all lumped together as surface-dwellers/ people who cut them a bad deal after the alliance? Or are Yashou seen as somehow worse, as genetic relatives of theirs who sold them out?

Also, Mi Lu is very fun to watch because she is pretty and powerful and fearless. I'd have been happy to see her get another episode.

[extrapenguin]

You're right, Mi Lu is just ... generally resentful without a founding trauma. It's refreshing! There she is, in the midst of men being villainous due to manpain/abuse/mind control, and the reason she's in it is because she enjoys the villainy. And yeah, she's fun to watch. I'd have been very happy to have her get another episode or three. Maybe replace Wang Xiangyang with her? *g*

it makes me wonder what anti-Yashou racism would mean to someone from Dixing. From a Dixing perspective, are humans and Yashou just all lumped together as surface-dwellers/ people who cut them a bad deal after the alliance? Or are Yashou seen as somehow worse, as genetic relatives of theirs who sold them out?
I think a little bit of both? Given what we see Zhu Jiu, An Song, et al know (or rather not know) about the surface, it's plausible that a large chunk of Dixingians just don't know about the Yashou's existence and thus treat the information as "there are actually two types of surface dwellers". Some would definitely go for the "race traitors" route when learning that the Yashou were on the surface and didn't lift a finger to help the plight of Dixing, too. I guess there might also be some societal squick about turning into an animal, but that'd require some worldbuilding and probably stem from the original Dixingian-Yashou split.