#but this post was long efuckingnough already LMAO. I didn’t even get to xichen/wwx brother in laws!!

[meteortrails]

something important to understanding the lan brothers, I think, is the fact that from as early as either of them can remember xichen has held himself responsible for interpreting between the rest of the world and his little brother. like literally from kindergarten age onward, they have built an unspoken understanding strong enough it comes across as near telepathic, and they both rely on this to help wangji navigate the expectations placed on them and the minefield of interactions outside their family. there’s no world where xichen wouldn’t bend over backwards for his baby brother, where he doesn’t worry about him and do his best to take care of him, bc from childhood that’s been his job! that was his responsibility!! someone had to worry about his brother’s social and emotional wellbeing and he was the only one stepping up to the plate!!!

and like, in a lot of ways this is the root from which so many things about their relationship come from - xichen’s fierce protectiveness specifically over his brother’s feelings and happiness, their shared reticence and struggle to actually with words discuss what they’re going through (they’ve never needed words before, why would they need them now?), even xichen’s tendency to meddle in his loved ones lives (big brother always knew best before, surely he does now!). like idk i just think that in mdzs the sibling relationships are so important and fundamental to understanding who the characters are, so to talk about xichen or wangji you’ll always in some sense be talking about who they are to each other bc it’s such a base part of who they are now.