#Jin Guangyao

[bibookdemon]

Jin Guangyao-core

new tone indicator drop

/lie /ht (half-truth) /uc (uncited) /manip (manipulation/manipulatively) /fmg (fearmongering) /pgd (propaganda) /gslt (gaslighting) /yc (you're crazy) /ys (you're stupid) /wh (with hate) /vi (violence/violently) /at (attack) /evil /harm /kill

[gloriousmonsters]

xue yang: yeah my sword is called Making Disasters Happen

jgy: mine is called Hating Life <3

sms:

sms: ᵐᶦⁿᵉ ᶦˢ ᶜᵃˡˡᵉᵈ ᶠᶦᵍʰᵗ ᵗʰᵉ ˢʸˢᵗᵉᵐ

xy: sorry. what.

sms: mine is called 'fight the system'

xy: ...

jgy: ...

jgy: minshan I kind of need the system to advance my -

sms: well I'm not going to do it now!

[randomness-is-my-order]

the myth of helplessness and the “hands-tied” rhetoric for authority figures in mdzs

i’m pretty sure every one of us has seen this notion echoed around for atleast one of the clan/sect leaders when it came to their compliance and/or active participation in the wen remnants’ genocide as well as their prior lack of help/refuge for the wen remnants once wei wuxian had rescued them. while this goes beyond just the way the cultivation world’s leaders handled the aftermath of the sunshot campaign (namely, their lackadaisical approach to helping civilians, exploiting those weaker than them, etc.), i’ll start with the genocide because that’s the crux of it all. that’s the nail in the coffin, that’s the biggest proof of why i feel so fucking angry whenever i see this sentiment of excusing/justifying/or even explaining why the sect leaders did what they did.

and like most skewed interpretations of mdzs (and i don’t mean this in a haughty superior way of only MY way of reading the text being THE right way but i feel like this is something we all have noticed after traversing the fandom waters for a while), this too begins with jiang cheng.

now, let me clear: jiang cheng, in full sobriety and clarity of thought, led the siege of the burial mounds to kill a group of innocent people, which included elderly women and men and a child. you would think this should be obvious but i’ll retierate: NOTHING justifies this, nothing excuses this. the same applies to every single sect leader and sect affiliated member who went for the siege that day and participated in the killings, whether directly or indirectly. this isn’t a nuanced situation and i personally feel that a discussion that begins with the premise of muddying the culpability of the people involved in the genocide shouldn’t even be entertained because the reasons do not matter. they just don’t. it doesn’t matter that nie mingjue’s personal philosophy stemming from his upbringing and loss gave him a narrowminded view of the “wen-dogs”. it doesn’t matter that jiang cheng was sunken in grief and rage after losing his sister. it doesn’t matter that the lans were convinced of wei wuxian’s deviousness and found it paramount to put an end to him and his affialites. it doesn’t matter that some were operating on half the information because when you march into the temporary residence of your supposed foes and kill them all in cold-blood despite them being unarmed and untrained—the weight of ensuring that your violence has a meaning, a justification is on YOU! if you’re committing this act, you have to make sure you aren’t being led blindly by manipulating rumors and ideals.

even before the genocide, before the nightless city massacre, before the qiongqi path ambush—the way i’ve seen handwaving of jiang cheng’s mindset regarding the wens is a little baffling. “he had the burden of being a sect leader” “he had to protect his clan, his hands were tied!” jiang cheng wielding power and authority are often repackaged as baggage that his poor self is so tragically saddled with. it genuinely puzzles the shit out of me. have we all forgotten about “with great power comes great responsibility”?? jiang cheng’s responsibility as a cultivation sect leader goes beyond just the immediate thought about his sect and towards the cultivation world as a whole and how injustice was taking place by a fellow prominent clan. we know this is extremely important because the whole reason the sunshot campaign happened and why it came down to a war was because of prior negligence by the clans towards the congregation of power by the wens. to recognise the same methods now being employed by the jins was, infact, part of jiang cheng’s responsibility. just saving your own neck doesn’t work, when the larger picture is considered. besides, giving the wens the backing of the jiang clan would NOT have brought down instant doom upon the jiangs. that was the whole point. that was why jin guangshan felt it necessary to put ideas into his head and lead him to a path of hostility towards wei wuxian (which is still a choice jiang cheng made, mind).

also, while we’re at it, you’re telling me that the jiang clan rebuilt in part due to wei wuxian’s insane gravitational pull towards aspiring cultivators, would NOT have stood behind wei wuxian if jiang cheng had only tried? hell, i would go far as to say that some jiang disciples would have WANTED to join wei wuxian’s side. there was risk. there would be trouble. but that doesn’t mean jiang cheng had no option. the path of least resistance leads the crooked men, does it not? besides, being a leader is not about tucking tail and keeping your head down. it’s about making the difficult choices and yes, for jc, in this scenario, refusing to help the wens and wei wuxian was the easy choice.

also this whole myth about the sect leaders not being able to do anything because their clans would become targets is sort of antithetical to the whole premise of them being sect leaders in the first place. they’re the only ones who can do something with comparatively less risk to their person and those they’re “protecting” because they have the power of organisation. if the holders of authority cannot make decisive lines in the sand and push for change and resist, who can? the disciples or civilians would have an easier time opposing the clans individually or in groups, you think? they would have less to lose? (we already have an example in the form of mianmian; the waves had to be made from the top in this time-sensitive situation).

these fanon tropes originate from somewhere i know. it’s interesting to think of how these authority figures perceive their power as burdens, how the prince doesn’t want to become king but is forced into the role, how inheritances, even the ones that favour you, can feel like shackles around your neck.

but this kind of sympathetic view of the antagonists and the wrong-doers in mdzs leaves a bitter taste in my mouth because time and again, we have been shown how these sect leaders are blissfully happy to reap the fruits of their inherited power and generational wealth and are the ones most protected by the system. jiang cheng was perfectly fine being the sect leader by default and his grievance was moreso that wei wuxian wasn’t around to be his subordinate. the less that is said about jin guangshan the better. even lan xichen’s troubles didn’t come from him holding power but from his prolonged semi-wilful ignorance regarding jin guangyao. nie mingjue, while alive, used his influence to make his voice heard and condemned the wens because that was his unshakeable opinion on the matter.

now, this isn’t to say all the sect leaders were the same brand of callous and incompetent. yes, they had their problems. yes, their positions didn’t automatically make them immune to harm. but they were not the poor little burdened leaders with “pragmatic” point of views, trying to keep their boats afloat.

the ones with their hands tied were these: the lower classes in the pyramid. the ones who relied on the clans for shelter and food. the civilians whose requests for help were denied by the cultivation sects. the wen remnants who couldn’t do anything to save themselves. wen qing and wen ning. wei wuxian, whose every avenue of help was closed. mianmian. and even, imo, lan wangji.

there’s another similar notion towards wei wuxian that because he was a subordinate and because he has lesser social standing, he had more “freedom”. what ass-backwards logic is this, to be honest? when has having lesser social status, political power and monetary resources given a person more freedom? more freedom would mean that wei wuxian could do anything he wanted and go unquestioned. more freedom would mean that he would be able to practice the ghostly path without every second person accusing him of demonic activities. you know who had more freedom? the nie sect! their resentful energy dabbling went unquestioned because they had more freedom, they were protected by the reputation and might of their clan. nie mingjue’s hypocritical stance went unquestioned because he had freedom, precisely because he had more power. wei wuxian having a big personality, being flirtatious and not being a picture-perfect version of properness (he had good manners regardless) is not having more freedom. if he had that personality and no one accused him of being arrogant and if it wasn’t used against him as means to sully his reputation, then yes, that would be true freedom. this last part is probably redundant but hope the point of it was relayed. just because wei wuxian’s able to authentically be himself despite the backlash he receives for it does not make his social standing somehow a more advantageous position to be in compared to the literal leaders of the cultivation world.

in conclusion, the sect leaders did not have their hands tied by some inherent circumstance, their thrones of power were not ill-begotten curses they were trying to escape from but all the tying was done by them and their ropes which they gleefully tied around the necks of the wens to silence them forever. and if that sentence makes you uncomfortable, great. because that’s the reality of what these people did.

[incorrectly-quoting-mxtx]

Deleted my last post bc I’m not dealing with a bunch of morons intentionally misinterpreting my words and acting like making an observation on a character is somehow an attack on them.

Y’all want an actual opinion to fight over? Fine.

I think Jin Guangyao is a horrible person, tragic backstory or not, and is certainly not the innocent, misguided child some fanfictions make him out to be.

HOWEVER, that doesn’t stop me from also thinking that Jin Guangyao is a great, well-written character.

I am not calling out certain people. I am not insulting his fans. I am not even insulting MXTX. I AM EXPRESSING AN OPINION ON A FICTIONAL CHARACTER.

[lyselkatz]

Yup! It's a XiYáo fest today, for my dear @howling-harpy ♡

Hi! For the mistletoe meme, Lan Xichen and Meng Yao, #6.

-Harpy

Hello my dear!

Thank you for this opportunity to draw them again after so long!

Have a sweet XiYáo moment, I realised too late the pose is a mix between 6 and 3 😆

...☕?/commission

[deadbeatadmirer]

*pointing to that post about the need to post pngs with functional guys*

[violaflou]

Crying solves most problems. In cases where it doesn't, it makes things worse (for those around)

[aggressivelybicaptainamerica]

I think I've finally sussed out why both JGY and LXC scratch such a good narrative itch for me: They are the opposite reactions to fundamentally the same problem.

Everyone is looking at me and I hate it vs no one is looking at me and I hate it.

LXC is not a good leader. For all that he has a carefully sculpted veneer of control and authority as he was always going to be sect leader eventually, he's deeply indecisive and regularly defers to others and majority opinion even when we see him actively struggling with that. What he does understand deeply is the game of politics around him. I don't think we give him enough credit for the fact that what he really is in the narrative is a DIPLOMAT. He knows what levers to pull, what influence to push on, and how to get people who would usually be enemies to work together. It's why he's absolutely vital to resisting Wen Rouhan.

JGY on the other hand, fundamentally does not understand the power plays of the Jianghu. He's raised on naive stories and fake Cultivation books and when that false image is shattered, no one is there to help him so he gets a fun house distorted mirror of the world that teaches him that in a world where might means right, all he can be is cunning and obedient because he can't be strong. He ignores that there is supposed to be some degree of reciprocity and respect because the one time he gets it, he runs straight into NMJs rigidity, which accidentally confirms his world view, and then he goes and becomes a SPY, which while a great use of his skills is not supporting a different view of the world. Ffs his two main role models are WEN ROUHAN AND JIN GUANSHAN like of course he learns the wrong lessons about surviving this world.

And the one narrative moment they could reach each other is too full of trauma for both of them. They get SO CLOSE to a happy ending together. Instead, they're one of the biggest tragedies in the whole damned series.

[ssuminshan-official]

It's the best right🤣

Remove that gold wrapper behind him. It's not good to litter, people.

People keep litering all over Lanling. And literally behind Lianfang zun's back! 😭

[aha4550]

the guanyin arc had many emotions

[ID: MDZS fanart which has the bold red text "Nie Huaisang with the steel chair!" at the top. In the foreground, a triumphant Nie Huaisang is lifting a steel chair in the air, about to bash it over Jin Guangyao, who's flat on the ground with X'd out eyes. In the background, Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian are holding hands with soft expressions and not paying attention to the action. End ID] (ID by @nebulations)

[zhoudadudugongjin]

actually the only thing in cql that i want explained is how jiggy got his hands on king théoden of rohan's sword

[lyrelock]

He's doing. his best.

Inspired by a post by @allpiesforourown

[deathbyoctopi]

Almost all of these are utter nonsense and I can't understand how anyone can say this with a straight face, if they have read the book/watched the show. However, there are three that I would like a further explanation about, because sound off to me...

Am I misremembering this? Wasn't precisely the staircase scene the culmination of a long process of poisoning NMJ's mind, when he had his qi deviation? I don't have the book to check with me now, but at least I'm pretty sure it is like that in cql?

Not 100% confirmed, no... but very heavily implied? Either by his hand or his word. Jin Rusong did die, and it was either illness or assassination. That Jin Guangyao used his death to trample over dissidents is also pretty much truth. His death was also something JGY needed to avoid the incest secret to be revealed.

Idk, it seems to me that adding this with the other slots demerits the whole bingo, because unlike the absurd acusations JGY gets, this one is very likely a thing he did. Don't take merits away from my scheeming little blorbo.

I don't understand this one. Nie Mingjue's arm (or his whole body in cql) *were* buried in Yi City. That means at some point (likely after Xiao xingchen's death) Xue Yang met up with JGY again and helped him hide incriminating clues of his murder. Or something like that. Why the hell would that thing be under the coffin house, otherwise?

So... I don't understand the complaint with this one. what does "in cahoots" refer to, if not that? JGY knowing and approving that Xue Yang tricked Xiao Xingchen in a happy life of domestic chores and occasional obvlivious massacres? Is that the issue? I really don't understand.

Can anyone give me a bit of light in any of that?

hey jin guangyao enjoyers, let's play a game

next time the bad take harvest in the tags or on reddit or wherever is particularly bountiful, use this template to gamify your fandom experience! also if you get a bingo, i'll make you a funny meme of your choosing.

* oops yes i know jgs was never xiandu; i meant to write "as jin-zongzhu" in that square and forgot

[kittycity]

Favorite Feral Lan Wangji Moments:

- Punching down several trees after kissing his crush (derogatory) for the first time because he has no idea how to process emotions normally

- Randomly biting Wei Wuxian in the cave because he has no idea how to process emotions normally

- Getting absolutely shit faced for the first time in his life and destroying a bunch of shit around cloud recesses before branding himself with the mark his crush from 10 years ago also had because he- well you get it.

- Writing an entire love song for his crush, naming it their ship name, and then only ever singing it out loud once to said crush without him knowing (this is an important tool we'll save for later)

- Generally enjoying being a little shit and then pretending he didn't do anything when people confront him about it

Please feel free to add to this because I know there is much, much more!

[darypeacher]

[thatswhatsushesaid]

jiang cheng says "son of a prostitute" within earshot of jin guangyao, 20 dead, 44 wounded