#a meta about jiang cheng colour me surprised

[black-n-white-wings]

As long as it stays in good fun, I'm good. I can appear blunt and then defensive. And I think that's a good way to roundabout to your main argument. So many people are defensive of Jiang Cheng because the hate I, at least, see in Tumblr for this character is out of line. Vile. And it's sometimes used against the fans themselves.

So, to clear some things up. I don't think the Wen deserved to be killed more than the Jiang, or less. I think, however, pulling the events out of context give the misunderstanding. It is wrong, for us, for people to be killed after a war, we've got history with it and the Geneva convention. However, in a society where honour and basically the law of the Talion (not sure if it's the correct English phrasing, I'm french) it was a move that was not considered out of line. Extreme, definitely, and the Jin camps were nothing short of monstrous even in mdzs as seen by the reaction of the other sect leaders when wwx mentions them. They asked for proof, sure, but nmj looked bothered and lxc closed his eyes, so he didn't like it.

For Jin Ling, I'm sorry but we'll keep disagreeing. I don't see Jiang Cheng's attitude as abuse. He's rough around the edges, sure. He could gain by being more composed and polite, clearly. But again, mxtx showed several times that kids with such a strong character did not run toward their abusers for comfort. They tensed, fawned, shut down, lashed out, but never just happily ran toward them. And so, while I think that kind of parenting is not ideal, it is not *abuse* per se. Especially in a culture that did not do the whole gentle parenting. We must keep analysing in context, it's vital. Wwx is an absolute outlier. An anomaly. That's why he's at first admired and then despised. He does not fit in this society.

Lwj, I may be biased. I don't like that character and I found him lacking substance both and being pretty surface level. But I agree he was probably the one that worked on changing the Lan. But why should ljy insult jc to his face with no retaliation, speak badly with no repercussions in such a society? I love the sociopolitical aspect of stories and mxtx choosing not to develop it was a bummer for me. But jc is patient with the Lan's bullshit because he clearly has, post time skip, the means to "punish" them with trade deals and alliances. The Jiang are the only sect that thrived without any support from the other sects. He can fuck around without finding out. Would it be a dick move? Absolutely. But could he do it? No doubt.

About the denial of being a victim, I think the core of the problem is that no one in this book is able to see their own shortcomings. Therapy is not a thing in the Jianghu. But he tried. Trying to get answers was, in my opinion, his way to try to heal and move on. And he was denied that. By wwx. Multiple times. And wwx does not have the moral high ground about the Wen because filial duty, which is vital to their society, demanded revenge. For jc, even if for us it seems strange, not avenging his parents and his sect was out of the question. And even if he had decided not to do so, the Jin were after the Wen. A big, already respect sect leader such as nmj was not able to stand his ground in front of jgs, how could have jc who was a child and isolated?

I admit wwx was kind of tossed back to life without a breather, but he remembered being dead, it is said so in the book I think? I don't have an exact quote but he says something about being a quiet little ghost and not a vengeful spirit. Maybe he had time to think for a bit while being dead? I don't know for sure, it's just a mention and maybe I got it wrong, but it is a possibility.

Jiang Cheng changed. He's a parent, a good, respected leader. In my opinion, the problem is that 1) the book only shows him reliving his traumas with wwx coming back to life and he does NOT handle his issues gracefully, and 2) the book is wwx's pov 90% of the time. I thought you had CQL as main reference because of the comment but, since you read it, you can see the book is clearly biased. Many times it skips about parts that should be important. CQL is my favourite adaptation and I liked it more that the book but maybe that's for another time, I'm already rambling too easily as it is.

About wn being the one that delivers the news of the gc reveal and how he handles it, @insanefiercecorpse answered my post, and I think they raised a good point. The fact a creation of wwx, the only one able to understand what jc could feel, chose to hurt him so bad was insane to me. The blow that the core was not his was hard enough as it was with how little self-esteem he has.

Also, I don't disagree that wwx belongs to lotus pier and saw the Jiang as his family. But jfm was a bitch, and he never made it official, never clarified his position in the family. It HAD TO bring repercussions for how the children themselves saw their place in this dynamic. And wwx himself would rather fuck off, did it and said "it's for the good of the sect, okay bye" when jc begged him and then threatened him to come back home. And after fleeing, he's suddenly back as if nothing had happened. As if he had not chosen everyone but the Jiang several times. And again, as a reader, I don't blame him, I understand his point, but jeez he knows how much of a wounded animal jc is and still teases, pushes, breaks boundaries.

I never read other stories from mxtx because, honestly, I struggled to read mdzs in full. I don't like the main characters and that's tough to get through once that happens. For me, wwx and lwj are too far from the rest of society, too aloof and they just bypass most of their society's conventions with little to no repercussions. I think I did a previous meta on this, if you're curious, but that's really a personal opinion.

When I analyse a story, I try not to get out of its context, it's very important, and the logic of it. Reforms, changes, the work to make society better is a great plot, but it has to be done well. Wwx didn't try to change society. He tried to get what he wanted no matter which rules he had to break. He resurrected Wen Ning for himself, not Wen Ning. He freed the Wen because wq and wn saved them first and foremost. Not because he thought what had happened to the Wen was unfair. Hell, he probably killed a few that did not deserve it according to our modern standards a few times. And to just shimmy back to your main point not to get too far off again, that's why, I think, jc's fans are so defensive. He's easy to hate and wwx's fans give wwx the status of an untouchable saint when he's not really better. He's just the protagonist. If jc or jgy were the protagonists, that would be a whole other story, they would not be vilified as much.

That's the problem when the mains are above everything in a story. Every character of this fucking book are bitches that need therapy istg, but the spotlight is not flattering to all of them. That polarises the story, and surface level reading doesn't allow for subtlety.

So as a jc fan, I agree he's not perfect, but compared to some other characters? He plays his role beautifully. He has people that rely on him and he chooses them, every time. He has responsibilities and he never ran from them. He is a parental figure despite not needing to be one, and he fought to be part of his nephew's life, and in my opinion he did so well for a traumatised teen that suddenly became a parental figure. He's brash, harsh, trigger-happy but he's fair (maybe except to wwx), level-headed, a brutally efficient politician (because let's remember it's what he is!) and a leader that has the safety and well-being of his people as top priority. If not, they would not have loved him this much. They'd have left. They're not Jiang by blood. And the other sects would have crushed his when he was weak and instead he is SO STRONG in the game.

So yeah, I'm protective because the analyses are biased, pulled out of the context of the story. For instance, jc's presumed vile homophobia always makes me laugh. Wwx is homophobic ffs!! It's the norm! And I think he takes it pretty well, considering! It's just he hates lwj and has conflicted feelings about hating or loving wwx!! Everyone is homophobic! Lwj has a fucking mental breakdown at realising he is! You can't fault a character for being written as the context they're put in demands! And let's not talk about mxtx's writing on women. It's just atrocious, no wonder the analyses are batshit, there's nothing there.

I hope I was less off-track this time and that you see my point better about your confusion on why people can seem so protective of the character. Some just want to play with their blorbos but others just try not to get too frustrated fighting the windmill antis are!

I don’t think Wen Ning told Jiang Cheng about the golden core because he wanted him to know he owed Wei Ying or any of the sort. Like a lot of people seem to think that and therefore conclude Wen Ning was out of line. But it’s more likely that he did it to give Jiang Cheng the wake up call he needed. Because he has lived for 13 years in denial of the truth in that Jiang Yan Li’s death was not Wei Yings fault and he himself had a hand in his brothers demise. It was meant to be a reminder to him of who Wei Ying actually is and the made version he has in his head is a perception that has been warped by his anger and grief. It’s meant to be a reminder of how much Wei Ying loved him. Jiang Chengs anger is understandable but it doesn’t justify him treating Wei Ying the way he did and putting all the blame on him without ever trying to comprehend the choices his brother made and why he made them.

[inessencedevided]

The Untamed, episode 35 - watching notes

Jin Ling just freed wwx for ... whatever reason. Wwx thanked him by knocking him out ... for whatever reason. Just so we all now where we're at right now ;)

Btw, I assigned wwx and lwj their own heart-colours for no goddamn reason other than boredom. Wwx is 🖤 and lwj is 💙

Aww, jiang Cheng has never hit Jin ling. At least that hasn't changed yet. He's all "tough love" in theory, but really, he never acts on his threats.

Speaking of Jin Ling: I feel like he tries really hard to emulate his uncle, but doesn't have the trauma to back that grumpy attitude up, so it just comes off as bitchy :D

Staring at your bro as he's standing on a britch, bathed in moonlight, the water facing shadows on his perfect hair ... you're so dreamy ... bro

You know why he's sticking with you, wwx?

Seriously though? Their love is one of the healthiest I have seen in any story in a long time. I'm sure others have already written meta posts about it that go way deeper and are way more well thought out than anything I could say at this point, but still ... at no point in the story so far (except maybe when wwx jumped off that cliff, but I'd say those were extraordinary circumstances) did they ask something off each other that they weren't willing to give. Wwx may have wanted lwj to stay and stand with him when he saved the Wens, but he accepted lwj's decision without question and didn't hold a grudge when they saw each other again, quite the opposite. And lwj? He was worried about wwx choosing the demonic path for what it would do to him, but he let him make his decisions anyway. The point is, their individual lives and the decisions they had to make, independent of each other, let them apart. But when fate made their paths cross again, they were right there, ready to lend a hand without question.

Their only flaw as a couple is that they are too goddamn emotionally damaged and/or closed-off to properly communicate their goddamn feelings ...

But I'm still not through with the show, so who knows, maybe I just wrote some bullshit 😅

Oh, I forgot the leg curse!

Quick! Get Snape! He'll fix you (for about a year)

Awww ... lan Wangji remembers how wwx wanted to carry him on his back and wwx doesn't 😭😭😭

The look on his face :(

Who would have thought that one day, wwx would be the one to reject physical contact, while lwj insists on it ...

This scene makes me weirdly emotional and I don't know why! 😭

No, I know why ... because wwx has learned not to ask for or expect help from anyone since these first days of them knowing each other and here lwj is, offering it anyway :')

Never has a piggyback ride been so romantic :D

Nie Huaisang!!!

His vocabulary seems to have shrunk to a single sentence

Lwj even readily gives wwx liquor ... 😱

You know who wwx reminds me of when he's in detective mode?

Okay okay lwj, you don't have to support his alcoholism quite as much

So Nie Huaisang just implied that he has some sympathies left for wwx 🥰

Than again ... that might be because their clan doesn't practice what the other sets would consider proper cultivation either, right? I get why wwx would scoff at that

I gotta ask: why, WHY would you become a grave robber in a world where seemingly every second dead person comes back to habit people???

That's just dumb

The flashback. Gosh ...

Is this a role reversal au? Now it's wwx who won't let lwj undress him to look at his wounds

Lwj's smile when they're playing together!!! 😭😭😭

Poor Nie Huaisang. He just wants to collect his Fans and have his ancestral burial grounds not repeatedly demolished by cultivators

*stressed fan waving increases*

Oh no

The fuck?

Is this was qui deviation looks like? 😱

Poor Nie Huaisang 😔💔

Okay so, the central question rn is: who killed nie Mingjue?

Jin Guangyao was there ... I have a suspect 🧐

Oh not again! (With the framing wwx)

I wonder if Nie Huaisang did recognize wwx after all. I'd be surprised if he didn't

How did lwj recognize him? Should I rewatch the first 2 episodes?

The same wine house they've been to before and this time it's lwj who "drags" wax into it. At this point, I'm pretty sure these parallels are intentional

Oh nice, wwx agrees with me :D

Wait ... is this ... because wwx's memory is somewhat lacking and lwj wants to refresh it ... if so, I'm sad now 😥

Oooohhh! They're talking about Xue Yang! When was that episode 6 or 7 or something? They expect me to remember that? 🙈

Oh so Xie Yang changed allegiance from the wen clan to the Jin clan. Why am I not surprised?

No ... what happened to Xiao Xingchen and Song lan? 😥

Did lwj just take a shot???? 😱😱😱😱😱

Ha! That's gonna be interesting next episode :D

You know what I liked most about this episode? Lan Wangji was so obviously happy!! (Maybe aside from the last scene) For him, the things he did this ep were practically bouncing around with glee. It warmed my heart 💙🥰

[unequippedwit]

An Informal and Incomplete Essay on One Fangirl’s Feelings and Descent into Mo Dao Zu Shi

So, if you’ve even glanced at my blog of late you’ve noticed a lot of dolphin screeching in regards to a series called The Untamed/Chén Qíng Lìng/陈情令.  Or, something else called  Mó Dào Zǔ Shī/魔道祖师.  (Hint, they’re mostly sort of the same thing as The Untamed is MDZS’s live action drama with a whole ass stable of attractive).

Someone on my dash had done a recommendation list of things that they had watched and enjoyed and I made the glorious mistake of looking at the summary given, shrugged my shoulders, and said “Why not?”.  I proceeded to change my entire life simply by turning on my PS4, tap-tapping my way to YouTube, and settling my behind in my easy chair where the cat and my knitting proceeded to fight for space.

I’m not going to say how many hours total that I’ve spent to watching/listening to the various adaptations (the 50 episode drama, the 23 episodes released of the donghua, and the first season of the audio drama), or reading the manhua, or reading the OG novel, but, I am going to say it’s a lot.  Yes, I’ve calculated it and no I’m not telling.  Oh, hecking heck it is a lot.  And, considering that I’ve only really been into it since the beginning of August, well, even I’m impressed and I know how I can get in regards to hyper-fixation.  I’m so glad that I have also dragged my BFF along for the ride.

I can say with some confidence that a part of the reason why I have done a full sprint down into this magnificent madness, as I cackled with glee and mass binge postings of gorgeous fanart, memes, and Wang Yibo and Xiao Zhan’s faces, is that I was semi-floundering in the MCU fandom and post-release of Endgame, even more so.  There had been a lingering sense of fatigue and this was needed.  The fandom, for all that it is a fandom with its own faults and no fandom ever escapes them, is refreshing and new and a joy in a way that the MCU has been missing for me for quite some time.

Now, as to what actually kept me engaged I’m going to cut, because there’s A LOT and it’s going to get long folks.  And a smidgen spoilery.

On the surface, the plot itself is simple.  A supernatural who-dunit and where-is-it, a large and eclectic cast of characters, with two main leads who fit the one goes by-the-book and other is a renegade trope to perfection.

Then the series actually starts with the MC’s horrorific violence filled death, a bunch of vicious gossip, and someone waking up in a body that sure the heck ain’t theirs.  Simple?  Not so much and that’s just the first chapter.

And, oh, god, the characters in this series are just everything little ol’ me could want.  Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian have catapulted themselves to I STAN levels in my hierarchy of Favorite Fictional Characters and even secondary characters make me cry/scream/laugh/*insert every other emotion* on a level I haven’t experienced in a very long time.  I would die for Wen Ning, any version.

In this cast we get several sets of foils and a whole host of morally grey characters.  No one, with the possible exception of the Juniors in the present timeline, are not guilty of at least something.  Our protaganist, Sunshine Idiot Genius Hero Wei Wuxian has caused the death of 3000-5000 fellow cultivators, dug up countless graves, and risen the dead at a level that’s, well, not been seen by me in any sort of fictional setting that has necromancers.  Look, I like stories with necromancers.  He is also someone who doesn’t hesitate to do what is right, loves his family and his friends, and a lot of the above actions were in direct relation to him wanting to protect those that are precious to him.

With such a set of complicated characters I get a whole murderboard worthy set of complicated relationships and often complicated motiviations that make me want to cry tears of emotion.  Wait, no, backtrack that as there is no want, I have cried tears of various emotions as something else is discovered or thought about or I see someone giving me some good, good meta to chew on.  Yunmeng Twin Heroes being one potent source of me wailing, “MAH BABIES” while clutching at my face is a good example.  Jiang Cheng is such a misunderstood character.

Know what relationship is both complicated and not at the same time?  WangXian.  As in the relationship between Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian.  As in the romantic relationship between Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian.  As in these two Idiots wandered off and got married at the end of the novel and fucked by the side of the road for their first time and we learn that our strong and stoic Hanguang-Jun is one kinky motherfucker and Wei Wuxian is really that guy and doesn’t shut up during sexy times.  Considering that he doesn’t shut up during the rest of the time, it shouldn’t be that surprising, but, really, the man is missing a filter.  Look at the exasperated Xiao Zhan videos of The Untamed BTS where he’s complaining about the number of pages he has per scene.

But, it took time for them to get there.  It took years of hardship and anger and miscommunication and death, including Wei Wuxian’s in the beginning, to get them to the point that they are.  I won’t wax poetic about Lan Wangji, other’s who word better than I have already said so many good things about how he is fundamentally a Good Person and I won’t hear a bad word said about him and the fact that there a number of people who thought he was the villain in The Untamed for a good part of it make me cry for humanity.  Okay, I’ll wax a little poetically about him.  But, the man has his faults.  He’s not very verbal and that can and does cause problems, like leading to Wei Wuxian to believing that he hates him through most of their past, especially as they start hurtling towards the end of his first life.

I know I’m missing a lot, like how there is no true villain of the story other than people being at their worst and allowing that to lead so many of their actions.  But, really, I’m just going to go back to screaming about WangXian and sharing memes.  Oh, and a few recs because the writers in this fandom?  Fucking Aces all around.

<u>Fic Recs</u>

Five Times Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng Had a Civil Conversation, and One Time They Didn't by tabulaxrasa      Summary:  *Does what it says on the tin*Wei Wuxian's life is almost perfect now. There's just that one, angry, purple hole in it. If only there was some way to fix it.(There is. It's using their words.)     Reason I love it:  The relationship between Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian is almost as important to me as the the one between Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji and this gives me hope that there is a future for the two of them at the end of the novel.  That things can get better, never back to the way that it was because too much has happened, but they can reach a Good Place and that’s everything really.

Monotone by Seredemia

    Summary: Wei Wuxian died. Wei Wuxian died and he never came back, not after thirteen years, or a hundred, or a thousand. The year is 2019 and Lan Wangji is still here, having reached the highest point of cultivation that has gifted him with immortality. It's supposed to be a gift, an honour, yet to him it's nothing but a curse.

Wei Wuxian is dead, and life is colourless. Lan Wangji ghosts through time, simply living each day in monotone.

That is, until he meets a man who has the same face, same name, same smile as Wei Wuxian. Suddenly, there's colour and hope back in his life—but it's not long until he realises Wei Wuxian in this timeline has not escaped the sorrow that plagued his past self.

Maybe history really does repeat itself after all.

     Reason I love it:  It’s epic.  Not only in length, but in how everything is put together.  The past parallels the future in all the right ways with certain things coming together to make me cry happy tears as I clutch my cat in my arms.  And, let’s not forget Lan Wangji and his haircut.

Perfectly Arranged by Mondengel

     Summary:  Three nights before his wedding to an omega from Yunmeng, Lan Wangji meets Wei Yuandao.

     Reason I love it:  I have a fondness for ABO.  I’ve long stopped being ashamed of my enjoyment of it and I love even more when I find an ABO that gives me arranged marriages that stay so true to the characters.  Even just this little slice of life, gives us something close to the actual meeting of Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian and it makes me so happy that their happiness is well and truly implied at the end of this.

Now, there about a thousand other things to be read that one should when it comes to this fandom, I’ve only thrown a few grains of rice to show what has been feeding my appetite, but, no seriously.  The fic is so good guys.  I think I’m actually going to start throwing up recs on the regular because gaaaaahhhhh and I’m going to go read some now that I’m done word vomiting.