#hes also the sandu shengshou esteemed angry grape tsundere uncle himself put some respect on his name

[body-inabyss-heart-inparadise]

Wei Wuxian is Jiang Fengmian's favorite shield- I mean child

Ok random thought Ik yes cos it's literally 4 in the morning but I was just thinking about the yunmeng duo because when am I not?

But anyway yes for all the 'wwx is jfm's fav child!' and 'jc had to endure favouritism all his childhood even as the younger brother and that's why he is the way he is!' wwx really didn't even get a goodbye from this man...

like this is his reaction:

“Wei WuXian, “Uncle Jiang!!!” As the shock passed, Jiang Cheng kicked the side of the boat furiously. The boat kept on shaking. “Father let me go! Let me go!” Jiang FengMian, “I will go back to find Third Lady.” Jiang Cheng glowered at him, “We can go back and find her together, can’t we?!” Jiang FengMian stared into his eyes. Suddenly, he reached out. Only after pausing in the air did he finally touch Jiang Cheng’s head, slowly, “A-Cheng, be well.” Wei WuXian, “Uncle Jiang, if anything happens to you, he won’t be well.” Jiang FengMian turned his eyes to him, “A-Ying, A-Cheng… you must look after him.” He returned to the larger boat.”

Chapter 58: Poisons, Part-3

there's so much resignation in wwx's words but also love that he knew wasn't going to be returned? especially in cql. wwx was calling out to jfm just like jc was becos he didn't want him to die. somewhere inside him he saw jfm as a bit of a parental figure and wanted to say his goodbyes, (even though he also knew at the same time that jfm never truly saw him as a son, as he repeatedly told jc). and for all his lifetime of favouritism and love, jfm didn't even say goodbye to wwx properly. didn't even acknowledge that a goodbye was to be said. it wasn't even on his mind. he said 'protect jc.'

Before we go any further though, I do want to point out that this is not a post calling jc a spoiled brat or undeserving of the emotional response he had because honestly jc? valid crashout.

If my brother suddenly became emo and broke a promise he made again and again and killed my brother-in-law I'd be hurt too, but anyway moving on,, (JK ik i downplayed it but ykwim)

Anyway so yes, fucking jfm and yzy okay; I hate when people fanon jfm as this soft parent who understood wwx's feelings as an orphan and took care of him while yzy abused him like no??? clearly not??

jfm could've stopped all these bullshit punishments anytime but he didn't. and before anyone says that he had no option before yzy let's not forget that yes he did bow his head before her, at the end of the day, he was still the sect leader. we can see this in the way he was able to send the dogs away and in fact bring wwx to lp in the first place!! yzy clearly didn't want him there from day one. he was the embodiment of all her insecurities (in her head) so yk that's why she treated him like that (also classism but not the point)

he clearly had the powers in such serious matters, but he never did anything. also to remind you he never stopped wwx from going to the wen hostage camp pre-sunshot like??? girly just said well if you want to. AS IF HE HAD A CHOICE. the was yzy made him feel guilty for even existing in the same sphere as them how could it be that jc would go and not wwx?

I firmly believe jfm was just as much of an abuser as yzy, but he certainly thought he was the saint out of the two; but as much as I love the 15-foot oil painting of wwx beside the passport-sized photo of jc and jyl memes, they're just not true.

ok quick jc digression cos-

Do I think jc's wrong in thinking they're true? no. ofc not. he's a kid that's grown up in the shadow of his leonardo da vinci ass brother, admiring him, but also being made to feel as less than him constantly (by both yzy AND jfm) and on top of this his father always seems to punish jc for breathing too hard but when wwx drunk dials his ex during an important sect meeting it's 'attempting the impossible' like bro I would be pissed too.

I'd become one of those evil chinese step-brother characters but jc isn't???? like he literally isn't. he loves wwx with everything in him even though he feels jealous given the heaps of evidence that he's so incompetent that his own father loves his martial brother more than him. like he had to give his dogs away. the precious male heir to an affluent cultivation sect had to share his room with someone who had holes in his shoes (which he immediately accepted and threw a micro tantrum over and asked to come back with a lot of tears on the first night??? he's a sweetheart)and he's expected to treat him like a brother but oh reminder that he's actually not. he's just a servant so don't bow your head to him or even be nice to him but oh, also aren't you close to him and respect him but he clearly doesn't respect you he's better than you and, and, and-- it never ends

and yet the most jc did was scream--with a lot of tears--you promised to be by my side?? which yes. wwx did indeed promise that. repeatedly. so jc thinking that wwx was favoured and got his way even after his parents died was valid. it makes sense.

but doesn't mean it's true.

The truth is that jfm and yzy both raised wwx to be their childrens' shield because they literally only took him in because humanity, but beyond humanity they literally weren't concerned with his well-being. yzy repeatedly beat him over literally anything--with a top grade spiritual weapon, might I remind you--and jfm never stopped it.

in fact, he even asked wwx to kneel down for long hours as a form of 'light punishment' and oh he was so nice🥹 but also he let wwx walk into a hostage situation because let's be honest he agreed on that with yzy secretly. he never tried to find wwx's parents' ashes or place them in the ancestral hall (they were best friends btw guys🥹💞). he didn't even tell him about them. in fact, we can infer it was a really uncomfortable topic that wwx was made to feel he couldn't mention. and probably so much more but you get the point. he wasn't 'lenient' with wwx-- he just didn't give enough of a shit.

giving away dogs because of his crippling fear and giving him new clothes is literally the bare minimum it's not favouritism. in every other way, he didn't give a shit. he never corrected wwx in sect matters and rules because it didn't matter if he learned--he was just a subordinate. but it did matter if wwx could foght properly. yk all those flashbacks with jfm teaching wwx enthusiastically how to fight? and how to fight well? human sheild. literally his job. wwx is an investment to him.

But.

I'm not saying jfm was a total villain who simply abused wwx and only gave a fuck about his son. but I just don't think that jc's right in saying jfm liked wwx more than him cos that just isn't true. not at all.

he saw that wwx got along well with people, he naturally had all the qualities jfm wanted his heir to have and jfm appreciates wwx for that. I'd even say he uses wwx to goad jc to be more like him with that. he thinks ah, yes. wwx will be a good disciple. never ah, yes wwx will be a good son. no.

jc was his son and despite popular fandom opinion, I think jfm was very much aware of and infact dependant on that fact. praising your future subordinate and scolding you for the same things is a form of comparison. he's goading jc to be like this-- this is what you should be. I believe in you. I love you. You'll be a great sect leader, but for now; you're a baby and I'll teach you what you need to know.

which, yes: makes him a bad parent, but he's just a few steps behind yzy atp so yeah. we knew that. but anyway,

do I think jfm forgive more of wwx's bullshit? yes.

But I don't think it's because of favouritism. I think it's because of guilt. In two ways-

1. he knows he doesn't give enough of a shit about wwx as his parents would've liked him to, but he also does not feel he's wrong to do so.

2. he feels guilty towards his wife for the very reason she's mad at wwx existing. I think by now we all know that at the heart of it all, yzy knew that wwx didn't pose any real threat to jc's being an heir, but it was about his being raised with jc and not for jc. it's about, in her own words, her not being enough for jfm and that extending to jc when compared to cssr and wwx.

jfm isn't stupid. he knows he's bringing his first love's kid home, but that's also his subordinate's kid. it's also just a kid, in general. (well but it's also important that he's still somehow associated to gentry because let's be honest we don't see him saving any other starving kids just wwx cos of the connection.) does he feel annoyed and questioned when yzy starts with her spiel? yes. but I think he also feels guilt. I think he loves her and when it comes to her he always feels inexplicable guilt.

another thing that's interesting to me is that jfm, after deciding to save wwx, raised him in the same space as jc. he could've very easily not done this. he could've given him some separate spare quarters to live, or raised him as any of the other 'normal' disciples of the sect, but he didn't.

and this is an active choice. and this is also what yzy is most mad about. not that he saved wwx, but that he (appears to) gives the same treatment and opportunities to wwx as to jc who is the fucking heir. they live in a room, they dine together, they learn together. they were, by all means, raised as siblings.

we can see this especially in wwx's interaction with jyl. the china of that time was very strict about this. jyl being as close with wwx as she is would've been a scandal if he weren't raised as her brother (which despite this established sibling bond, yzy tries to imply and it is so delicious fucked up. i love toxic moms.)

wwx is raised as the third kid of the jiang clan. but he isn't. he's reminded of that constantly. but it's always contrasted with jyl and jc genuinely considering him family.

like, for the guy that killed wwx, jc was pretty chill when wwx reincarnated. he didn't try to kill him again or anything. just cried a lot about how wwx is too focused on his situationship to pay attention to jc. 😭🫀 like, reminder that jc is the younger brother here???

so I think it created this weird dichotomy in wwx's and even jfm's head, where wwx is very clearly not part of the family because he's a *cough* SERVANT *cough* but also that he's to be treated as equal and in fact even given more freedom than his own children. I think wwx and jfm both know exactly the nature of their relationship with each other, but what's sad is that wwx's thought process is this, in my opinion:

the jiang clan 'adopted' [fed and clothed (lucky bonus: physically abused)] him and all he's done is send jc's dogs away and impose, as he is constantly reminded, and so he is indebted with a capital 'I" forver.

they've given him so much that the only way to repay them is by a lifetime of service as was asked as a promise by BOTH jfm and yzy.

don't get me wrong. wwx loves and sees jyl and jc as family too, but the feeling of debt is so imposing that it engulf every other feeling. it starts to define every other feeling.

which is why he takes the golden core transfer option when he sees it cos: guess what, no more lifetime debt for me. he even says: now my debt is repaid. I've fulfilled my promise to you.

this is also why sadly I think he doesn't feel that staying with jc to fulfill his twin prides promise is his priority (or even on his top 10 tbh). and also why the yunmeng shuangie reconcilliation is difficult unless wwx initiates it because of all the bitter feelings he associates with the jiang famliy now.

like yes he loved them but also he was constantly made to feel like he was imposing, being inappropriate with his SISTER, making his brother feel bad and could only repay by service.

he would go back to the lotus pier of before if he could, but of before. I think we all know wwx's defense mechanism is avoidance. so yes, he loves the lotus pier of before because even though he was still in debt, none of it was his fault, and none of it hinged on his morals. he was free to do as he liked, and even though he knew deep down he wasn't cared for, on the surface he was the favourite of great deal right? he gets to be with his shijie and jc and get off with a slap on the wrist. amazing. give him 12 more please.

But yes. tl;dr wwx avoided facing the very real unwelcome atmosphere of abuse and neglect in the jiang household by bothe jfm and yzy because he truly had family there. he loved jc and jyl and they loved him, despite whatever bullshit was going on. but the price was to be a servant. but he didn't know he could be a princess too!! until he met lwj and that's why he lives in cr post-canon of his own accord.