#i dont think i have to make the argument for xie lian either do i

[theredcuyo]

Mass murderers who won't keep killing unless absolutely necessary because their beloveds get sad when they do are my faves tbh

Specially when said beloved loves that they would do it, and only get sad because they would rather follow a healthier moral compass (Even if they will, also kill without hesitation if needed)

[irrealisms]

Reverse unpopular opinion meme: Feng Xin?

i can't tell if the 'reverse unpopular opinion meme' just means that i have to be nice about it or if i have to be nice AND unpopular? i'm probably just going to gush. this is all mostly stuff i've said on discord buuuuut whatever u get it again

anyway!!! feng xin!!! character of ALL fucking time. he makes me SAD. all he wants to do is protect & care for the ones he loves and (a) he can't, really, (b) they keep sending him away. xie lian but also jian lan! and then for 800 years he and mu qing are at each others' throats for leaving and. it's...not that simple, for either of them, really, but xie lian is gone and hating each other is easier to admit and verbalize and act on than hating themselves. (tbc they do genuinely hate each other more than they hate themselves, bc they dont understand each other, but ... they hate themselves for leaving, too, and it's easier to hate each other for leaving xie lian than to face the fact that they left too.) i think about the fact that feng xin has hongjing a lot. the thing of. in book four, xie lian loved that sword and almost wasn't able to bring himself to sell it. that sword reveals the true face of a ghost, even a supreme, and maybe if they hadn't sold it feng xin would've believed him. maybe xie lian wouldn't have to doubt himself, he could have proof for everyone, if he had it and it happened again. (and it does!! hongjing is the eventual method of reveal!!!!) they sold it, 800 years ago, and xie lian had loved it, and in book 1 feng xin has it, and hua cheng breaks it, and in book 3 feng xin has it again, repaired. i don't think fx even ever talks about it much. but there's so much there, in him finding it and keeping it and then repairing it when it breaks. it's such a ... traditionally masculine way of showing a very deep love and care? which is really very feng xin. i also think a lot about him breaking his own arm, in book 2, rather than let xie lian cause problems within his family to try and defend feng xin from punishment. and the way he loves xie lian's parents so deeply, and the ways that relationship is in some ways closer than the relationship xl has with them? and also about feng xin's bodyguard training. cries a little. the bodyguard training is related to the breaking his own arm, also...he was raised with the knowledge from very young that he is less important than xie lian, that his only sworn duty is to protect xie lian at the cost of his own safety. sometimes that's "if xie lian's in danger you put yourself in between him and the danger, you fight threats to his life and don't let them get close to him" and sometimes that's "if xie lian's starting an argument you break your own arm rather than let him cause problems". and he doesn't chafe under that, protecting + obeying xie lian is his shining purpose in life, and then book four happens and everything falls apart. i think 'dogcoded' is very overused as a description of fictional characters to the point of meaninglessness but feng xin truly is dogcoded imo!!! all he knows is follow his master & obey his master & protect his master from threats. auggghhhhh. feng xin............. every day i think about xianle trio and take immense psychic damage

(send topics and instead of salt or hot takes, i MUST talk abt smth i like about it)