The Art of Dialogue and the kitchen knife scene

[china_shop]

I was watching a YouTube video about how to write snappy dialogue (banter) by heyjameshurst. The creator used examples from The Princess Bride, The Empire Strikes Back, His Girl Friday, and The West Wing to illustrate that good dialogue is like a tennis match, a playful competition, and in each volley the tension escalates to "a sudden, sharp reveal of truth."

Afterwards, I was thinking about it in terms of Guardian, and the first scene that came to mind was the kitchen knife scene. Wow, this is a stellar example of what the video talked about! It's dynamic because every line fires back in a way that is difficult for the other person to respond to. (Often they're reacting to the subtext -- or actually, what they perceive the other's subtext to be -- rather than the words, and sometimes slightly at cross-purposes, so lines that could be non-sequiturs feel seamless.) And the truth is forced out of them. It's so impressive!

ZYL: I woke up because I was hungry.
SW: *turns and drops the knife*
ZYL: *strides over and grabs his wrist* Don't you think of lying to me. What did you do in order to heal my eyes?
SW: *starts to leave*
ZYL: You used the Longevity Dial.
SW: *stops*
ZYL: *moves to his side* You shared your life force with mine. You used your power to neutralize the corrosion of my body. Am I right?
SW: My... My... My body's energy structure has suffered a severe blow. I need to exchange all my energy.
ZYL: It must hurt a lot.
SW: *ghastly smile* Fortunately... Fortunately, I'm used to getting injured.
ZYL: I do not deserve what you are doing for me.
SW: You're worth it.
ZYL: *explodes* Then, what do you want me to do? Be indebted to you? To bow to you? You are not immortal! Why should I so casually owe you a life?
SW: This life is what I'm returning to you.
ZYL: ??????
SW: You should rest soon.

There are so many truths here!! <3 <3 <3

Thinking about it also made me realise something about Shen Wei's initially trying to leave and his "Fortunately, I'm used to getting injured" line, which I will explain in six screencaps:













Newsflash, Shen Wei: Zhao Yunlan's tactics are no more reassuring or less infuriating when you try them.

Comments

[china_shop]

In chapter 7, just above the bit you quoted, Zhu Hong says, “The Reincarnation Dial represents the sun rising in the morning and setting in the evening. Just like how the scales of the black fish in the Wangchuan River only lie in one direction, it’s only possible for an older person to borrow time from someone younger, not the other way around. Director Zhao, I think you’ve misunderstood [Li Qian].”

But that might be just her understanding. Maybe the Dial can transfer years from someone with a longer remaining lifespan to someone with a shorter one. But you're right about the other person having to be dead first, boo. (Maybe GCC was dead-ish/mostly dead when he came back from Dixing?)

But even then, they could heal people without a noticeable cost. :D

Which appears to be what happens with CSZ and GCC. But it's different for Weilan because of the energy corruption (and ZYL isn't dead).

[facethestrange]

Lol damn, how did I manage to miss this! Thank you for the quote! :D

"But that might be just her understanding. Maybe the Dial can transfer years from someone with a longer remaining lifespan to someone with a shorter one."

That could make sense too (it would still be going only in one direction), but I don't think it's the case because she's reading from the book from the Netherworld. It's not a direct quote, but I think she's just rephrasing, not interpreting, so I'd say 'older to younger' is indeed impossible.

So yeah, in the end the rules are just not directly transferable between the novel and the drama, and I like that they didn't even try, they just made up their own ~rules~. :D (Which are not rules at all because who even knows how the Hallows work, but that's a feature, not a bug. :D)

[china_shop]

Ah, right.

So yeah, in the end the rules are just not directly transferable between the novel and the drama, and I like that they didn't even try, they just made up their own ~rules~. :D (Which are not rules at all because who even knows how the Hallows work, but that's a feature, not a bug. :D)

Yes, exactly! All the fixits and reinventions!! :D :D :D

[trobadora]

it’s only possible for an older person to borrow time from someone younger, not the other way around

Oh, I'd entirely forgotten about that!

So glad we don't need to adopt this for the drama, LOL, the Hallows work in mysterious ways however we like them! *g*

Which appears to be what happens with CSZ and GCC. But it's different for Weilan because of the energy corruption

Yes! You know, I'd always believed that SW gets white energy corruption because he cures ZYL's black energy corruption, and I'd wondered about the effects on CSZ from using the Sundial, but somehow I hadn't quite put it all together properly until I wrote that comment above about equivalent exchange. Of course CSZ will be fine and won't have white energy corruption - GCC didn't have black energy corruption! Whatever curing him cost him, it had to be in some ways equivalent to what GCC was suffering from. Duh! *headdesk*

(Which makes me think of Li Qian again, who brought her grandma back to life - so did she give her part of her own lifespan? It would make sense. But then there's clearly more going on with these two, given that Li Qian's grandma ended up as a spirit inside the Sundial at least for a little bit ...)

[china_shop]

Of course CSZ will be fine and won't have white energy corruption - GCC didn't have black energy corruption! Whatever curing him cost him, it had to be in some ways equivalent to what GCC was suffering from. Duh!

Ahhhhh, I've never put that together before either. Yes! Excellent point!!

But then there's clearly more going on with these two, given that Li Qian's grandma ended up as a spirit inside the Sundial at least for a little bit ...

Ooh, I wonder if Li Qian's granny tried to sabotage the energy exchange somehow because she didn't want LQ's sacrifice? Maybe that's why she got stuck in the Dial and ended up with dementia?

[facethestrange]

"Ooh, I wonder if Li Qian's granny tried to sabotage the energy exchange somehow because she didn't want LQ's sacrifice? Maybe that's why she got stuck in the Dial and ended up with dementia?"

Oh ouch, it definitely sounds like something she would do, and it also sounds like something the Dial could do if someone tried to resist it as much as the Dial can be understood at all! (And I admire her willpower - whether it's for this reason or because she just wanted to say goodbye, she managed to make herself into basically-a-ghost in a universe that doesn't really have ghosts. Kudos. :))

[china_shop]

And I admire her willpower - whether it's for this reason or because she just wanted to say goodbye, she managed to make herself into basically-a-ghost in a universe that doesn't really have ghosts.

Yes! And emerged at just the right moment to protect Li Qian. <3 <3 <3

(Maybe she's a kind of energy being like Wang Zheng, but less stable? Energy being are usually made with the Awl, but maybe the Dial jury-rigged something. ;-D)

[facethestrange]

Oooh, I didn't even think of how similar this was to the Awl's power, but obviously it is! And the Hallows can do just about anything (especially when someone as determined as Li Yufen nudges them onto the right path :D), so they can probably borrow each other's powers, why not! But I guess not fully, so it would make sense that it was only temporary.

[trobadora]

Ooh, I wonder if Li Qian's granny tried to sabotage the energy exchange somehow because she didn't want LQ's sacrifice? Maybe that's why she got stuck in the Dial and ended up with dementia?

Ooh, it's an exchange after all, so if one side resists, then ...? That would make so much sense, what a great idea!

[china_shop]

And if it does require consent for the sacrifice, that means that Xiao Guo opted in. Aww! :D

[trobadora]

I like that idea! Of course it can't be informed consent, or ZYL would have known about the cost to SW, but even so!

[china_shop]

Maybe they can only know as much as each other?

[facethestrange]

"And if it does require consent for the sacrifice, that means that Xiao Guo opted in."

Hmm, even if Li Qian's sacrifice didn't fully go as planned, it still worked, so I'd say at most it would require consent to work smoothly and perfectly. In some more imperfect way it works regardless of consent.

[china_shop]

Hmm, even if Li Qian's sacrifice didn't fully go as planned, it still worked, so I'd say at most it would require consent to work smoothly and perfectly.

Oh, great point, yeah. Hmph. Ah well... :D

[facethestrange]

"Of course CSZ will be fine and won't have white energy corruption - GCC didn't have black energy corruption! Whatever curing him cost him, it had to be in some ways equivalent to what GCC was suffering from."

Oh, fantastic point, this makes so much sense as an explanation!

[trobadora]

Yay! It only took me six years to put that together, LOL, glad it makes sense to others too. *g*

[amedia]

Of course CSZ will be fine and won't have white energy corruption - GCC didn't have black energy corruption! Whatever curing him cost him, it had to be in some ways equivalent to what GCC was suffering from.

It works so well!!! And it fits in with what we learn later in the drama, that GCC's white energy is so pure it can even be blended with black energy. Or, as Ye Zun says, "His spiritual energy is pure and bright."

"Rather, they're perfectly compatible."

So GCC couldn't have had black energy corruption!

[facethestrange]

Ooooh, this is a fantastic observation! It all fits together so neatly to explain why the exchange consequences for CSZ and SW were so different. *adores this fandom* ♡♡♡

[trobadora]

YES! That's an excellent point, thank you!