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sid_guardian2020-08-01 09:50 am
china_shop) wrote in sid_guardian2020-08-01 09:50 am
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Focus on Ji Xiaobai, Zhou Weiwei and the other Zhou Weiwei
Ji Xiaobai, Zhou Weiwei and the other Zhou Weiwei are the characters in the Mirror Girl case in episodes 5 and 6. (If I understand correctly, they're not in the novel.)
Zhou Weiwei is miserable and hates her life. One day, in her room, she declares, “I don’t want this face anymore. Whoever likes it can have it!” Her mirror reflection, a Dixingren, jumps at the opportunity, and they agree to swap places for a year.
Once out in the world, Mirror Weiwei gives herself a makeover, meets a boy and falls in love. They move in together. They get engaged. She’s scared it’s all an illusion, but he reassures her.
Ji Xiaobai and Mirror Weiwei cuddling, in love.
Original Weiwei trapped in the mirror, watching ‘her’ life improve without her.
Original Weiwei is jealous, thinking the life Mirror Weiwei has made – and the boyfriend she’s found – should be hers. When the year is up and Mirror Weiwei won’t swap back, Original Weiwei attacks her in the bathroom. They're interrupted by Xiaobai. Then Xiaobai comes home to find his fiancée missing. He calls the police, who pass the case on to the SID.
After some investigating, Zhao Yunlan leaves and Changcheng and lao-Chu take Ji Xiaobai to a nearby park. They hear a magpie sing, and Changcheng encourages Xiaobai to make a wish that Weiwei will come home. In the way of fairy tales, this returns the wrong Weiwei to him.
Xiaobai soon realises she’s not his Weiwei. She tries to gaslight him, but she’s distant, she doesn’t drink her milk, and she’s not wearing the ring he gave her.
Xiaobai approaches the SID again, via Changcheng. Zhao Yunlan & co arrive at the flat, but Weiwei is gone. Following advice from Shen Wei, they all go into the trippy mirror dimension, where they hear the Weiweis arguing over the ring. Mirror Weiwei says, “I gave you everything. Why can’t you leave me with a souvenir?”
The ring floats by, and Ji Xiaobai catches it.
Original Weiwei appears and throws herself into Xiaobai’s arms. Then Mirror Weiwei shows up. He recognises her and goes to her, but Zhao Yunlan points out she has no shadow.
Mirror Weiwei is tearfully glad Xiaobai recognised her.
Xiaobai is scared to see his Weiwei has no shadow. (Apparently he hasn’t been paying close attention to all the photos he’s been taking.)
Frightened, Xiaobai recoils back to Original Weiwei. Mirror Weiwei says, “I’m the Weiwei you love.” He responds, “When did you start pretending to be her?”
Original Weiwei calls Mirror Weiwei a monster in a successful attempt to discredit her in Ji Xiaobai’s eyes.
Incensed, Mirror Weiwei summons energy and threatens to blow them all up. The Envoy arrives in a three-point landing, restrains her and takes her to Dixing.
Mirror Weiwei trapped in the Envoy’s dark energy coils.
Later, Zhao Yunlan confirms Original Weiwei isn’t Xiaobai’s fiancée. Xiaobai leaves her. Everyone is miserable.
Original Weiwei gives Xiaobai a back hug, to stop him leaving. It doesn’t work.
Moral: People are not interchangeable like snow mobile parts. /gratuitous Due South reference
Original Weiwei
Original Weiwei is jealous of other girls, and depressed and dissatisfied with life to the point where she’s willing to stay in the mirror dimension for a year, watching the world instead of living in it. But her jealousy extends to her replacement. As the ‘real’ Weiwei, she feels entitled to everything Mirror Weiwei gains, including her boyfriend. When the year is up, Original Weiwei tries to take her life back by force and later calls Mirror Weiwei a monster. Afterwards, she feels no remorse about breaking up the happy couple, and she’s hurt when Ji Xiaobai leaves her.
Mirror Weiwei
Mirror Weiwei is the daughter of one of Shen Wei’s mission team who searched Haixing for the Hallows (I think?). The Envoy calls her an orphan, but she did live with her father long enough that she remembers things he used to say, and presumably had a pre-Weiwei name. We don’t know how she ended up in the mirror, but she’s there for years, dreaming of the world outside but not making a move until Original Weiwei agrees to swap places. Once out in Haixing, she makes the best of her new life, but she’s afraid someone will notice her lack of shadow and keenly aware her agreement with Original Weiwei is running out.
Disappointingly, she and Original Weiwei have their hair parted on the same side.
About Ji Xiaobai
Tearful Xiaobai knows he’s choosing badly.
Ji Xiaobai is sweet, naive and mostly a good boyfriend. He reassures Mirror Weiwei when she worries, and her cares deeply for her. (Though he does say, “I thought she had pre-wedding jitters and planned to take her to a psychologist.” And he tells her she has to be “a wonderful and perfect bride.” No pressure!) They have a playful, loving relationship. He takes loads of photos of them and makes plans for their future, and he notices immediately when something’s wrong (ie, when it’s not her). Ultimately, he can’t accept that the woman he loves isn’t human, but he also isn’t willing to settle for her human lookalike.
This case marks the first time Zhao Yunlan consults Shen Wei about a case, not as a suspect. It also spurs the Envoy to weigh in on the Treaty and the SID’s policy towards Dixingren.
Zhao Yunlan visits Original Weiwei and traps her with specific questions, to which she can only give vague, made-up answers. Caught out, she complains, “Are you saying I’m that monster? Open your eyes, I have a shadow.” “I never questioned the fact that you’re human,” responds Zhao Yunlan, “but I think you are not the Zhou Weiwei who was with Ji Xiaobai for a year and almost married him.”
Turns out this conversation is for Ji Xiaobai’s benefit.
Zhao Yunlan: You already know who you were really looking for.
Ji Xiaobai: To be honest, I’m lost and confused. You say this is the true Zhou Weiwei, and the other one was just an illusion. But I still feel that I’m closer to that illusion.
Zhao Yunlan: However, you’re afraid to admit it and believe it. Am I right?
Ji Xiaobai: After all, I’m just a normal person. But she—
Zhao Yunlan: All right, now everything is clear. We’re done here.
As he leaves, reminds Xiaobai that Mirror Weiwei isn’t coming back. I wonder what he would have done if Ji Xiaobai had begged for her return, instead of equivocating and being fearful.
Cut to the Envoy lecturing Mirror Weiwei before taking her to Dixing. “As you can see, people are usually defeated by their own heart. You and he are from different worlds,” he says, taking entirely the wrong moral from this episode. If she’d come out to Ji Xiaobai as Dixingren earlier, under less alarming circumstances (or if Dixingren were known and had standing in Haixing) maybe it wouldn’t have turned out this way, but naturally Shen Wei doesn't doubt the wisdom of keeping secrets.
Mirror Weiwei being lectured in the park, before deportation.
“If you had stayed hidden in the mirror and not used your powers, I could never have found you, but unfortunately, you took the same path as your father. You were greedy for prosperity and seized love by force. That is the reason for your current misfortune,” he adds, pouring salt on the fresh wounds of Mirror Weiwei’s sucky situation.
The usually insightful Changcheng sums up the case in his diary, but he’s completely missed what happened and is confused by Zhu Hong’s contempt for Ji Xiaobai.
The Mirror Girl story resonates with several of Guardian’s themes:
Other observations:
There are only a few fanworks for these characters on AO3 (including a flashfic I wrote while compiling this post):
The Influence of Mountains (4603 words) by![[archiveofourown.org profile]](https://p.dreamwidth.org/b164c54b26e4/-/archiveofourown.org/favicon.ico)
Branch
Summary: The SID introduce Dixing to the police as ordinary citizens. The Supervisory Bureau may be having heart attacks in the background.
the world outside, the world below (500 words) bychina_shop
Summary: She always knew it was too good to be true.
Once Upon a Time in Dixing (5891 words) bychina_shop
Summary: “Chief Zhao.” Shen Wei turns to the man who was and will one day be again his indomitable brother in arms, his lover and his friend. “I need you to stage a jailbreak.” (This is mostly a team caper, but it contains a fix-it for Ji Xiaobai and Mirror Weiwei.)
So - come and talk about Ji Xiaobai, the Mirror Girl and Original Weiwei! 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 them.
The story
Zhou Weiwei is miserable and hates her life. One day, in her room, she declares, “I don’t want this face anymore. Whoever likes it can have it!” Her mirror reflection, a Dixingren, jumps at the opportunity, and they agree to swap places for a year.
Once out in the world, Mirror Weiwei gives herself a makeover, meets a boy and falls in love. They move in together. They get engaged. She’s scared it’s all an illusion, but he reassures her.
Ji Xiaobai and Mirror Weiwei cuddling, in love.
Original Weiwei trapped in the mirror, watching ‘her’ life improve without her.
Original Weiwei is jealous, thinking the life Mirror Weiwei has made – and the boyfriend she’s found – should be hers. When the year is up and Mirror Weiwei won’t swap back, Original Weiwei attacks her in the bathroom. They're interrupted by Xiaobai. Then Xiaobai comes home to find his fiancée missing. He calls the police, who pass the case on to the SID.
After some investigating, Zhao Yunlan leaves and Changcheng and lao-Chu take Ji Xiaobai to a nearby park. They hear a magpie sing, and Changcheng encourages Xiaobai to make a wish that Weiwei will come home. In the way of fairy tales, this returns the wrong Weiwei to him.
Xiaobai soon realises she’s not his Weiwei. She tries to gaslight him, but she’s distant, she doesn’t drink her milk, and she’s not wearing the ring he gave her.
Xiaobai approaches the SID again, via Changcheng. Zhao Yunlan & co arrive at the flat, but Weiwei is gone. Following advice from Shen Wei, they all go into the trippy mirror dimension, where they hear the Weiweis arguing over the ring. Mirror Weiwei says, “I gave you everything. Why can’t you leave me with a souvenir?”
The ring floats by, and Ji Xiaobai catches it.
Original Weiwei appears and throws herself into Xiaobai’s arms. Then Mirror Weiwei shows up. He recognises her and goes to her, but Zhao Yunlan points out she has no shadow.
Mirror Weiwei is tearfully glad Xiaobai recognised her.
Xiaobai is scared to see his Weiwei has no shadow. (Apparently he hasn’t been paying close attention to all the photos he’s been taking.)
Frightened, Xiaobai recoils back to Original Weiwei. Mirror Weiwei says, “I’m the Weiwei you love.” He responds, “When did you start pretending to be her?”
Original Weiwei calls Mirror Weiwei a monster in a successful attempt to discredit her in Ji Xiaobai’s eyes.
Incensed, Mirror Weiwei summons energy and threatens to blow them all up. The Envoy arrives in a three-point landing, restrains her and takes her to Dixing.
Mirror Weiwei trapped in the Envoy’s dark energy coils.
Later, Zhao Yunlan confirms Original Weiwei isn’t Xiaobai’s fiancée. Xiaobai leaves her. Everyone is miserable.
Original Weiwei gives Xiaobai a back hug, to stop him leaving. It doesn’t work.
Moral: People are not interchangeable like snow mobile parts. /gratuitous Due South reference
The characters
Original Weiwei
Original Weiwei is jealous of other girls, and depressed and dissatisfied with life to the point where she’s willing to stay in the mirror dimension for a year, watching the world instead of living in it. But her jealousy extends to her replacement. As the ‘real’ Weiwei, she feels entitled to everything Mirror Weiwei gains, including her boyfriend. When the year is up, Original Weiwei tries to take her life back by force and later calls Mirror Weiwei a monster. Afterwards, she feels no remorse about breaking up the happy couple, and she’s hurt when Ji Xiaobai leaves her.
Mirror Weiwei
Mirror Weiwei is the daughter of one of Shen Wei’s mission team who searched Haixing for the Hallows (I think?). The Envoy calls her an orphan, but she did live with her father long enough that she remembers things he used to say, and presumably had a pre-Weiwei name. We don’t know how she ended up in the mirror, but she’s there for years, dreaming of the world outside but not making a move until Original Weiwei agrees to swap places. Once out in Haixing, she makes the best of her new life, but she’s afraid someone will notice her lack of shadow and keenly aware her agreement with Original Weiwei is running out.
Disappointingly, she and Original Weiwei have their hair parted on the same side.
About Ji Xiaobai
Tearful Xiaobai knows he’s choosing badly.
Ji Xiaobai is sweet, naive and mostly a good boyfriend. He reassures Mirror Weiwei when she worries, and her cares deeply for her. (Though he does say, “I thought she had pre-wedding jitters and planned to take her to a psychologist.” And he tells her she has to be “a wonderful and perfect bride.” No pressure!) They have a playful, loving relationship. He takes loads of photos of them and makes plans for their future, and he notices immediately when something’s wrong (ie, when it’s not her). Ultimately, he can’t accept that the woman he loves isn’t human, but he also isn’t willing to settle for her human lookalike.
Outcome of the case: the Envoy and Zhao Yunlan
This case marks the first time Zhao Yunlan consults Shen Wei about a case, not as a suspect. It also spurs the Envoy to weigh in on the Treaty and the SID’s policy towards Dixingren.
Abusing powers is wrong. However[...] in everything, there is Yin and Yang, good and evil. Whether Haixing or Dixing, identity is only skin-deep. One’s heart cannot be judged by identity alone. – The EnvoyAfter this speech, the Envoy departs, leaving Zhao Yunlan looking dissatisfied with the outcome of the case.
Zhao Yunlan visits Original Weiwei and traps her with specific questions, to which she can only give vague, made-up answers. Caught out, she complains, “Are you saying I’m that monster? Open your eyes, I have a shadow.” “I never questioned the fact that you’re human,” responds Zhao Yunlan, “but I think you are not the Zhou Weiwei who was with Ji Xiaobai for a year and almost married him.”
Turns out this conversation is for Ji Xiaobai’s benefit.
Zhao Yunlan: You already know who you were really looking for.
Ji Xiaobai: To be honest, I’m lost and confused. You say this is the true Zhou Weiwei, and the other one was just an illusion. But I still feel that I’m closer to that illusion.
Zhao Yunlan: However, you’re afraid to admit it and believe it. Am I right?
Ji Xiaobai: After all, I’m just a normal person. But she—
Zhao Yunlan: All right, now everything is clear. We’re done here.
As he leaves, reminds Xiaobai that Mirror Weiwei isn’t coming back. I wonder what he would have done if Ji Xiaobai had begged for her return, instead of equivocating and being fearful.
The Envoy’s hot take
Cut to the Envoy lecturing Mirror Weiwei before taking her to Dixing. “As you can see, people are usually defeated by their own heart. You and he are from different worlds,” he says, taking entirely the wrong moral from this episode. If she’d come out to Ji Xiaobai as Dixingren earlier, under less alarming circumstances (or if Dixingren were known and had standing in Haixing) maybe it wouldn’t have turned out this way, but naturally Shen Wei doesn't doubt the wisdom of keeping secrets.
Mirror Weiwei being lectured in the park, before deportation.
“If you had stayed hidden in the mirror and not used your powers, I could never have found you, but unfortunately, you took the same path as your father. You were greedy for prosperity and seized love by force. That is the reason for your current misfortune,” he adds, pouring salt on the fresh wounds of Mirror Weiwei’s sucky situation.
Changcheng’s conclusion/confusion
The usually insightful Changcheng sums up the case in his diary, but he’s completely missed what happened and is confused by Zhu Hong’s contempt for Ji Xiaobai.
Themes and observations
The Mirror Girl story resonates with several of Guardian’s themes:
- Identity porn/hidden identity/lack of personal identity: Mirror Weiwei has no face or name of her own (cf. Zhang Danni, Zhang Shi (for the face part), and even, sort of, the Envoy before he’s named and takes off his mask).
- Relatedly, twins and doppelgangers.
- Stolen time, love with a time limit, love across dimensions: the agreement between Mirror Weiwei and Original Weiwei is only for a year (cf. Shen Wei/Kunlun).
- Inter-species relationships (cf. Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan, Guo Changcheng/Chu Shuzhi, Lin Jing/Sha Ya, Wang Yike/Zhang Ruonan, Zhao Xinci & Zhang Shi, Tan Xiao & Zheng Yi).
- Life in Haixing is difficult for Dixingren/Dixingren as victims: reaction to the sun, fear of discovery or expulsion, being considered a monster. It’s hard not to pity Mirror Weiwei.
Other observations:
- Presumably while Mirror Weiwei was AWOL the first time, she was in the mirror dimension with Original Weiwei. Either they were fighting for hours, or time moves differently in different dimensions. Maybe, as in Dixing, time doesn’t exist in there?
- Mirror Weiwei's story has a definite fairytale quality: she is a ‘monster’ making a bargain for a year in another's shoes; Ji Xiaobai promises to be her prince, her night and her shadow; a wish that goes wrong. But alas, true love does not save the day.
- This is one of the few early cases where Zhu Jiu doesn’t show up to take at least partial credit for the chaos.
Fanworks
There are only a few fanworks for these characters on AO3 (including a flashfic I wrote while compiling this post):
The Influence of Mountains (4603 words) by
Summary: The SID introduce Dixing to the police as ordinary citizens. The Supervisory Bureau may be having heart attacks in the background.
the world outside, the world below (500 words) by
Summary: She always knew it was too good to be true.
Once Upon a Time in Dixing (5891 words) by
Summary: “Chief Zhao.” Shen Wei turns to the man who was and will one day be again his indomitable brother in arms, his lover and his friend. “I need you to stage a jailbreak.” (This is mostly a team caper, but it contains a fix-it for Ji Xiaobai and Mirror Weiwei.)
Questions
- Ji Xiaobai says Weiwei never went out alone, especially when it was sunny, because she hated sunlight. Was that actually the case (because Dixingren have grown used to living in the dark), or was she trying to hide her lack of a shadow?
- Mirror Weiwei and Ji Xiaobai seem to have had a close, sweet relationship. Do you think she wanted to tell him she was Dixingren, or she preferred to pretend everything was ‘normal’? If she’d told him earlier, might things would have turned out differently?
- Why is there a huge mirror in their flat? Is it an escape route, for if things get too much to handle? Is Mirror Weiwei offering Original Weiwei what she herself would have wanted (a better view of the world)? Did it just come with the flat?
- Although the girl from the mirror has been living and loving as Zhou Weiwei, and we never see her use any other name, Original Weiwei is original. In the way of fairy tales, Changcheng’s magpie wish backfires and calls forth the ‘real’ Weiwei, instead of the Weiwei that Ji Xiaobai loved. Should we take this as part of Haixing’s cosmology (wishes and prophesies come true), or is it simply a TV/fiction trope? If phrased more carefully, could the SID have used magpie wishes for other things?
- Mirror Weiwei’s energy looks reddish/golden, rather than dark.
Do you think this is significant? - What do you think of Original Weiwei? Is she simply the villain of the piece, or is it more complicated than that? How must it feel to see someone living your life so much more successfully than you did?
- Directly after this, we see Zhao Yunlan asking Da Qing, “Damn cat, what do you think about Shen Wei?” and starting to investigate him in earnest. What lesson do you think Zhao Yunlan took from the case? (Love is more important than species? Secrets are bad for a relationship? Dixingren can easily pass as human? Other?)
- How does Mirror Weiwei and Ji Xiaobai’s relationship compare to the other human/Dixingren relationships we see in the show?
So - come and talk about Ji Xiaobai, the Mirror Girl and Original Weiwei! 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 them.
no subject
“As you can see, people are usually defeated by their own heart. You and he are from different worlds,” he says, taking entirely the wrong moral from this episode.
I think one reason Shen Wei is ... not very sympathetic to either of them is because they turned on each other. He saw her as a monster (if only for a moment); she was willing to attack, to become the monster he saw her as (if only for a moment). I think he's getting judgey over that moment of mutual rejection, seeing it as revealing something deeper about them, rather than a stupid mistake made in the moment.
no subject
(Ji Xiaobai still isn't prepared to ask for her return later, when the truth is confirmed, so maybe their relationship really was doomed. *sadface*)
[1] Sidenote: he says, "If you had [...] not used your powers, I could never have found you" -- so why is it so hard for him to find Zhu Jiu's lair?
no subject
I don't think so - he just needs longer to work through this. That's allowed!
so why is it so hard for him to find Zhu Jiu's lair?
That's a very good question ... Is the warehouse Envoy-proof somehow? :p
no subject
If he'd got to spend time with her in a less intense environment, after learning the truth, maybe. Oh, actually, it isn't until that final scene that he learns for sure that Mirror Weiwei was his Weiwei from the start, rather than becoming an imposter at some point. That might take some time to digest... *pets them all, and gives Original Weiwei some Prozac*
Actually, maybe he does know about the lair. He goes there in ep 13 when he's over-extending himself looking for kidnapped/mind-controlled ZYL, doesn't he? (This is so off-topic! *g*)
no subject
Shen Wei does go there in that episode, just before he goes to the SID. But if he knew about it before, why didn't he accost Zhu Jiu there? And I think Lao-Chu also turning up there suggests they've all just discovered it? (Sorry for continuing the OT-ness! *g*)
no subject
Me too!
Oh, maybe Tan Xiao told them? Was he held there? I'm assuming the roof they skulk around on sometimes is the roof of the chess lair?
no subject
no subject
I haven't done a rewatch but this strikes me more as "if you hadn't used your powers to leave the mirror, you'd've stayed hidden, but you came out of hiding and caused a disturbance."
no subject
We don't really know what sounds his internal(?) alarm and makes him show up at crisis points, do we?
no subject
But if it's a spidey sense on using her power, wouldn't it've gotten triggered when they did the initial switch? Or is it only purely destructive power?
no subject
My feeling is that ZYL is complaining that the all-powerful Envoy keeps showing up after people have been hurt or when the SID has had to work hard to contain the danger, rather than the Envoy arriving in time to control the situation from the outset himself and prevent harm (which is presumably in his job description). It's "late" as in, "if you'd arrived ten minutes earlier, Lin Yusen might still be alive" (for example).
I don't think we know if the SID knows how the Envoy is alerted to situations that need his attention.
Maybe just the balls of furious explosive rage? Otherwise Shen Wei would have known about Wang Yike when she murdered the rapists, right?
/speculation and extrapolation :-)
no subject
As the themes you highlight suggest as well, the idea of your mirror evil twin is probably an extremely sensitive one for Shen Wei, and he might be reacting more negatively to Mirror Weiwei than necessarily on those grounds. (Why do I always end up talking about Shen Wei no matter who the character of the post is? Sorry.)
(I like the idea that the magpie wish had something to do with the eventual outcome, but I'm inclined to think its functions were basically a) temporarily cheering Ji Xiaobai up, and b) giving Chu Shuzhi a slightly new outlook on Guo Changcheng...).
Also, "Once Upon a Time in Dixing" is one of my favorites! What I really want now is a canon-divergence AU where Original Weiwei gradually gets used to living in Dixing during her year there and starts to identify with Dixingren...
no subject
Yes, it's very much a tragedy, isn't it? :-(
Yeah. *sigh* Though, as
Ha! Excellent point! Perhaps for him the whole situation is more about (or as much about) the relationship between Mirror Weiwei and Original Weiwei, even. Hmm... The shot at the end of Original Weiwei, all alone, looking into the mirror made me wonder if she was going to miss her counterpart.
You think it's more coincidence that the timing coincided with Original Flavour Weiwei coming back? That's fair. It could very easily just be Changcheng being Changcheng. *g*
Oh, is the mirror dimension Dixing, do you think? That hadn't occurred to me -- it seems so different when they go into it (and Chu Shuzhi's power doesn't work there), but maybe it is connected! That would be really interesting.
<3 <3 <3
no subject
(And I do kind of think the magpie wish is just Changcheng being Changcheng, but then that's something I have a lot of time for ;) . omigod, imagine accidentally wishing on a Crow Yashou, that would not end happily.)
no subject
Hee! He is adorable. :-)
LOL! That would be a disaster! (Unless it was a vengeance wish, in which case...)
no subject
He reminded me later of Wang Xiangyang, and his extravagant emotions for his fiancee Su Baixia, emotions that were so easily transformed into murderous obsession.
I think that Ji Xiaobai was not in love with mirror!Weiwei any more than real!Weiwei, but that he was in love with feeling in love. Finding out that his Weiwei was a 'monster' instantly ended his love for her, now that she could no longer fit his ideal imaginations of the future.
no subject
I guess I mostly don't see those things as sinister or concerning because none of the SID seem to, either. And I think if my partner were having anxiety attacks and saying everything feels like an illusion, I might not think counselling/some kind of medical intervention was a bad idea? Especially with a history of her not being comfortable going out alone, etc. We don't know if he talked to her about it; maybe he was still thinking about how to raise the subject.
But otoh, maybe you're right and those were warning signs that he wouldn't live up to his promises to protect her, once she stopped fitting the image of what he wanted. Maybe his photography was a symbolic attempt to capture and contain her.
That makes the whole story much more tragic and rather sinister, I think! Though, I guess in that reading, Shen Wei is saving her from an unhealthy relationship by sending her back to Dixing...
Idk, I prefer my reading -- that Ji Xiaobai is flawed but basically good, and just temporarily thrown by this frightening and confusing new information about a lover he thought he knew; that their relationship was real -- but I see how you can get to your reading. *nods*
no subject
Personally I like to think that once he understood where she was coming from and who she really was, he could have loved her as she was, and things could have worked out.
no subject
I wonder about that. The boyfried got a lot of emotional whiplash going on and reacted badly to finding out he'd been misled. But if it had been a slower reveal, I think it would have gone better. And maybe, given time, he'd've come around to "yes she's different but that's not bad". Maybe he'd've rejected her for good or maybe they just needed more time. But the nature of the dixing/haixing relationship means they don't get it. :(
no subject
I like to think so, too. I suspect he has some sleepless nights ahead of him, going forward, as he second-guesses/regrets his choice.
Yes, this. :-(
no subject
More on the topic, I always feel bad for mirror Weiwei :( I wish she'd gotten a happy ending. One that didn't include original Weiwei trapped forever, preferably.
no subject
Do you think it's an "abandon hope, all ye who enter here" kind of showing him, or a "look how miserable your people are"? Or both?
Yeah, if Original Weiwei hadn't been jealous and considered Ji Xiaobai hers by right, they could have pretended to be twins! And been friends! They were clearly able to both exist in either of the dimensions at the same time (though I suppose that might have been time-limited). *sadface*
no subject
I think it's a lot of "do you really think you can be happy with Zhao Yunlan :)))". I think he does realise that Dixing at the moment really sucks and that the treaty isn't exactly fair. I'm not sure why he doesn't try harder to change the situation in Dixing, but I don't think he needs to be told that it's not good. (Although he is surprised at how bad it is, in that one moment where the guards are sent to kill the people he's bringing back? Which...was never touched upon again, iirc *long sigh*).
no subject
Yeah, he obviously knows it's bad.
I think he's doing what he can by being as lenient as he can, and arguing with the Regent as much as he can - but he's not getting any traction for making genuine changes. What is he supposed to do? You can't impose a revolution from above. All he'd be doing would be to essentially appoint himself dictator ...
no subject
A very good point! I just...absolutely cannot stand the Regent so I wish Shen Wei would do something but it's true there's not a lot he can do without betraying his own morals...
no subject
*nodnod* That's what I meant by "abandon hope". :-)
I had the impression that became more clear to him over the course of the show, starting when he took the Shadow Man back at the beginning of canon. When he tells Chu Shuzhi in ep 2, "Dixing is now a large prison of torment. Everyone has been tormented into having two faces." for some reason, I thought he'd only just discovered that. And there are subsequent moments when he progressively realises exactly how bad it is. (Insert usual disclaimers about needing a rewatch.)
Maybe he's focusing on the Hallows and bringing them back, in the theory that restoring resources is the most important first step, and political reform will follow?
no subject
Maybe he's focusing on the Hallows and bringing them back, in the theory that restoring resources is the most important first step, and political reform will follow?
Yeah, I think he's decided that that is the thing to focus on, the one thing that would make the most significant difference for Dixing as a whole.
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Sure, but no schools doesn't mean no opportunities for learning, any more than no hospitals means no healers or herbalists, right? (As you pointed out in a beta recently, Dixing may well have scholars.) It might mean unequal or unreliable access to education, but that can also be true in societies with schools. Being Shen Wei, he'll champion schools because Learning, but I don't know if "there are no schools" is in and of itself proof that things are unbearable. You know? Everyone seems to be literate.
The criminal justice system, otoh... and he does know a bit about that because he rescued Chu Shuzhi, but how much does he know? Maybe he tells himself it's usually not so bad, and it's out of his jurisdiction, at least to start with? [Insert "I am very vague about this part of canon" disclaimers.]
When he first wakes up, he seems comfortable leaving the Regent in charge, presumably assuming everything is mostly okay, and anything that isn't will be fixed when the Hallows are restored. And he probably doesn't spend a huge amount of time down there after that. (He has all of academia to catch up on! And also very little political experience.)
He tells Mirror Weiwei, "You escaped Dixing because you wanted to breathe pure air," not "to escape the politics/to go to school..." Though, granted, "breath pure air" could be a metaphor for everything Haixing has that Dixing doesn't. Idk.
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Oh no, not at all! I just meant, since he's arguing with the Regent about Dixing infrastructure, he must be aware of it to a reasonable degree. He's not blind to everything that happens in Dixing that doesn't directly relate to his job, is what I was trying (clumsily) to say. Though you're right, he probably doesn't spend that much time in Dixing, what with everything!
The criminal justice system is a shitshow. I think he knows that, and does what he can to mitigate (as with the Shadow Man), but he doesn't have the power to do more than interfere in minor ways. Not without openly opposing the Regent.
When he first wakes up, he seems comfortable leaving the Regent in charge
When he first arrives in modern Dixing, his main concern seems to be not to needlessly step on the present administration's toes, and to reassure the Regent that he's not about to sweep in and try to grasp power for himself. (I wonder if he wishes now that he'd come on stronger at the time!) But yeah, he had no reason initially to think badly of the Regent.
He tells Mirror Weiwei, "You escaped Dixing because you wanted to breathe pure air," not "to escape the politics/to go to school..." Though, granted, "breath pure air" could be a metaphor for everything Haixing has that Dixing doesn't. Idk.
I think wanting fresh air could well refer to the environment OR the political climate?
(I don't know where the "pure" comes from - as far as I can tell what he says is "you escaped from Dixing originally just because you yearned for fresh air." /irrelevant aside)
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Yeah, good point. He must know what's going on. Maybe as people started to escape up to the surface, he investigated why...
And even near the end, he lets the Regent live when the Regent says he's motivated by concern for the people, doesn't he?
Or both. :-) (Thanks for the translation note! <3)
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Sure, but no schools doesn't mean no opportunities for learning, any more than no hospitals means no healers or herbalists, right? (As you pointed out in a beta recently, Dixing may well have scholars.)
Yes! I would absolutely expect it to have scholars and healers and teachers. And as you say, everyone seems literate. I don't think Dixing's educational situation is completely dire. Or Dixing's general situation, either. It doesn't have to be unbearably terrible in all ways for people to yearn for something better.
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better late than never? - lots of words
I always wondered about how Mirror Girl's powers worked. How did she get into the mirror dimension? Can she just walk in and out as herself wherever she pleases, or does she have to exit where she entered, and can only exit somewhere else by taking on someone else's image? Is the mirror dimension connected to Haixing and Dixing both? (Can she just go right back into the mirror when she's back in Dixing?) How does it work when Shen Wei takes her out of the mirror dimension? And is she going to keep Zhou Weiwei's looks? Can she just do that, permanently take on someone else's appearance, outside the context of their original mirror swap?
Xiaobai is scared to see his Weiwei has no shadow. (Apparently he hasn’t been paying close attention to all the photos he’s been taking.)
Does she really not have a shadow in any of them? I didn’t check if that’s something we see on screen, but if so, I totally missed that before! Honestly, until recently I thought she only didn't have a shadow in the mirror dimension, and that original!Zhou Weiwei making the quip about having a shadow was her trying to draw a distinction between her and mirror!Weiwei that wouldn't actually hold if they were both there in the real world. (And now I don't know!)
Mirror Weiwei is the daughter of one of Shen Wei’s mission team who searched Haixing for the Hallows (I think?).
Yes, that's how I remember it! Wu Tian’en says mirror!Weiwei's mother was pregnant around the time her father supposedly died, so he must have met up with his wife and daughter afterwards. But we also know he was hiding in Haixing and committing crimes – so did child!mirror!Weiwei actually live in Haixing?! I feel like I’m still missing a piece of the puzzle there ...
Disappointingly, she and Original Weiwei have their hair parted on the same side.
LOL!
Ultimately, he can’t accept that the woman he loves isn’t human, but he also isn’t willing to settle for her human lookalike.
I know we already talked about this above, but just saying it again here – he's just hit with the existence of mirror dimensions and doppelgangers and not given any time to process. I don’t think we know if he can or can’t ultimately accept it.
As he leaves, reminds Xiaobai that Mirror Weiwei isn’t coming back. I wonder what he would have done if Ji Xiaobai had begged for her return, instead of equivocating and being fearful.
That’s a good question. And also, if Ji Xiaobai did end up deciding he really wanted his Weiwei back, he clearly wouldn't expect to find a sympathetic ear in Zhao Yunlan.
“As you can see, people are usually defeated by their own heart. You and he are from different worlds,” he says, taking entirely the wrong moral from this episode.
We already talked a little about this above, and about why Shen Wei might not be particularly sympathetic to either of these two, but I was also wondering how much what he tells her is because he's taking her back to Dixing. Stopping Dixingren from being in Haixing is supposed to be his job, so he can't have people there know he's not fully on board with that - whereas with Wang Yike, he's letting her stay in Haixing and with Zhang Ruonan, so there's no need for him to pretend.
The usually insightful Changcheng sums up the case in his diary, but he’s completely missed what happened and is confused by Zhu Hong’s contempt for Ji Xiaobai.
I really like that Zhu Hong thinks he should have known better and thinks badly of him!
Ji Xiaobai says Weiwei never went out alone, especially when it was sunny, because she hated sunlight. Was that actually the case (because Dixingren have grown used to living in the dark), or was she trying to hide her lack of a shadow?
Like I said above, I'm not sure about her shadow, but even now I still like to think she genuinely didn't/doesn’t like sunlight. There have to be Dixingren like that!
Mirror Weiwei and Ji Xiaobai seem to have had a close, sweet relationship. Do you think she wanted to tell him she was Dixingren, or she preferred to pretend everything was ‘normal’? If she’d told him earlier, might things would have turned out differently?
I think if she’d told him, at least he could have made an informed decision. And I'd like to think he'd have loved her regardless of where she came from. What can I say? I like happy endings, and I like Haixing/Dixing couples. *g*
Why is there a huge mirror in their flat? Is it an escape route, for if things get too much to handle? Is Mirror Weiwei offering Original Weiwei what she herself would have wanted (a better view of the world)? Did it just come with the flat?
I thought it was so original!Weiwei could watch. Initially they did have an agreement, after all, and I think that might have been part of it?
In the way of fairy tales, Changcheng’s magpie wish backfires and calls forth the ‘real’ Weiwei, instead of the Weiwei that Ji Xiaobai loved. Should we take this as part of Haixing’s cosmology (wishes and prophesies come true), or is it simply a TV/fiction trope? If phrased more carefully, could the SID have used magpie wishes for other things?
Huh. Are you saying you're taking GCC's magpie wish seriously as something that had a real-world effect? I always thought it was narratively calling on fairy tale tropes, and turning them into dramatic irony, but in-universe it was only superstition.
Mirror Weiwei’s energy looks reddish/golden, rather than dark.
I don't think the colours matter. If they were meant to be meaningful, they're pretty inconsistent.
What do you think of Original Weiwei? Is she simply the villain of the piece, or is it more complicated than that?
Original!Weiwei is really something. I totally understand her initial feelings, and even her jealousy and resentment of mirror!Weiwei - but her entitlement towards Ji Xiaobai, and her apparent lack of any understanding of what she's (trying to) do to him is pretty appalling.
What lesson do you think Zhao Yunlan took from the case? (Love is more important than species? Secrets are bad for a relationship? Dixingren can easily pass as human? Other?)
If Shen Wei really is Dixingren, he wants to know sooner rather than later. *g*
Re: better late than never? - lots of words
and this is her in a photo:
(click through for bigger view)
It looks to me like there's a slight blur of shadow in the photo, but it's not normal? I think ZYL noticed there's something weird about the photo and suspected something Dixing-y was going on from the outset.
Re: better late than never? - lots of words
Re: better late than never? - lots of words
Re: better late than never? - lots of words
I assume so? I mean, if we met her again in the drama, she'd look the same, don't you think? So I think she's spent so long as Weiwei that she defaults to that now.
Maybe it's a matter of exposure. Or maybe, after her father died, her mother took her into the mirror and kind of... specifically (randomly?) made her Zhou Weiwei's reflection? I have no idea.
That's a good point -- it could well be The Envoy (role) speaking, rather than Shen Wei (person).
*nodnod* I like that idea, too.
I think it was a superstition that worked. You know, like how prophesies always work in TV-land? I don't think anyone in the show took it seriously, but when I went back and watched, and Original Weiwei phoned just after they made the wish... it seemed suggestive? But maybe not! Maybe it was pure coincidence.
Yeah. Her sense of ownership. Ugh!
Ha! That works. :-)
Re: better late than never? - lots of words
Actually ... I don't think I do? I mean, outside of fantasy canons where prophecy literally exists, I always just took it for the dramatic irony "careful what you wish for" thing, without any implied actual causality. I never thought it was "actually working", just a narrative trope.
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