#i personally think jl's reactions to his uncle's threats have more to do with not wanting to disappoint him than actual fear

[touchlikethesun]

i super extra don't want to get involved in mdzs discourse, but i did see a post in the jc tag earlier today that was like "jc fans shouldn't pretend like jc wasn't physically abusive towards jl because why else would jl flinch away from him in this one scene it's like you guys don't even know canon" and i blocked that person bc i didn't like their tone and just moved on, but the post did bother me a bit because i was pretty sure i would have remembered a time where jc had been genuinely violent with jl. but who knows, i'm new here, i don't have a photographic memory, maybe i did forget.

except now i am watching the untamed and jin ling says basically word for word "my uncle's never hit me, he's all talk." and ik drama canon is not book canon, but i'm pretty sure in book canon one of the things people constantly say about jiang cheng is that, when it comes to his loved ones, he's all bark and no bite. (wwx being the only sorta exception but even then...) idk i'm not saying jc has never done anything wrong, i'm not saying he's an uwu softie just the cuddliest of teddy bears, but like there is a swath of difference between having a bad temper and being abusive and like that's a distinction i find important and one i will keep making when dealing with jc

if you disagree with what i've said here, pls feel free to block me that's what that button is for x

[trensu]

Episode 49: The One with Too Much JGY and Not Enough Wangxian

Very little wangxiantics in this episode, guys, there’s like, VERY LITTLE wangxiantics

The fact that the show is bringing us down to breadcrumbs again is Homophobic 

But let’s get through this!

blah blah blah jgy acts all pathetic blah blah blah lxc engages jgy in a convo blah blah

lwj has to go in and be like, bro, please, don't talk to him

and wwx is like, yeah, you literally just told jc not to talk to him, follow your own advice dude 

lxc is like, hm, you make a good point...i shall continue talking to jgy regardless

jgy continues with his pity party speech and i continue not to care

BUT THEN LXC KNEELS DOWN TO SPEAK WITH JGY MORE INTIMATELY????

WTF LXC STOP THAT RIGHT NOW

lwj is like BRO

lxc is like I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING BRO

and i'm like DO YOU THO?

now he's going to question jgy and counting on him answering truthfully??

WHAT HAS HE DONE TO MAKE YOU THINK HE'LL DO ANYTHING BUT LIE, ZEWU JUN??

so we get a much less entertaining Q&A session accompanied by jgy's flashbacks 

(can we go back to lwj's drunken Q&A sesh? I’d much rather question drunk!lwj than sober!jgy)

the only point i had any actual sympathy was when jgy brings up qin su and her mom bc qin su and her mother deserved better

Ooh, lxc is getting super judgy about jgy killing jgs

This is where you draw the line, lxc?? c’mon.

i mean, judge him for how he did it, sure

there was no need to involve all those innocent women in the murder

but really, killing jgs was the only good act of public service jgy did

give credit where it's due, pal.

HELL YEAH IT'S BITCH-SLAP JGY TIME AGAIN

LOL EVEN WWX AND LWJ LOOK SURPRISED THAT LXC DID THAT

oh noooo lxc is asking about jzx and oh, wwx is PISSED

Wwx grabs the front of jgy's robes and hauls him up and yells in his face “WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO? SAY IT!”

cue flashback scene to jgy tricking jzx 

AND NOW MY BRATTY SON IS YANKING THE FRONT OF JGY'S ROBES SCREAMING WHY? WHY? TELL ME WHY DID YOU HAVE TO DO IT??

HIS VOICE IS ALL CRACKED AND HOARSE AND HE'S CRYING 

I WANT TO WRAP HIM UP IN BLANKETS AND COZY THINGS AND PROTECT HIM FROM ALL THE BAD THINGS IN THE WORLD

jl collapses to his knees and my beautiful sunshine boy falls to his side and scoops him into his arms 

BC WWX LOVES HIS BRATTY NEPHEW AND GOD DAMN IT, JL DESERVES HUGS AND AFFECTION

oh jgy was about to touch jl's face and i was like DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE I WILL CUT THAT HAND OFF YOU

but then he pulled away bc i am very fearsome actually wwx was glaring at him 

and ofc jgy can't have people being sympathetic to anyone NOT him so he's like, what about me, huh? you never ask why I personally had to suffer!

Cue another flashback in which JGS IS A FUCKING DOUCHEBAG 

I HOPE HE ROTS IN ANCIENT FANTASY CHINA HELL

HALF OF THE PROBLEMS WERE A RESULT OF HIM NOT BEING ABLE TO KEEP IT IN HIS FUCKING PANTS

ROBES

WHATEVER

ugh i hate jgy too

he's essentially telling jin ling that oh, i killed your father bc your grandfather was scum of the earth

AS IF JZX AND JL DESERVED TO SUFFER FOR JGS'S SINS

FUCK YOU JGY

suddenly jgy takes my bratty son hostage!!

wwx shouts "JIN LING" as he jerks towards his only nephew

BUT IT'S TOO LATE, jgy already has that garrote AROUND JL'S NECK

WIPE THAT SMUG SMIRK OFF YOUR FACE SU SHE

I WILL END YOU

god i need to stop threatening people, i have no ability to back it up

lol jc is like WWX YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO TAKE ALL HIS WEAPONS AWAY!!

and wwx is like I DID! 

siblings always find time to bicker, even in dire situations

lwj tells them that jgy hid the garrote inside his body 

bc lwj is smart and observant

but ewwww, the idea of yanking that gold string out of a vein squicks the hell out of me

yuckyuckyuck it makes my skin crawl

jgy tightens the string around my bratty son's neck and everyone freaks out, obvs 

oh jc loves his nephew so much! he's all like, if you need a hostage take me instead and leave jin ling alone!!

JC IS A GREAT UNCLE, JC LOVES HIS FAMILY SO MUCH, JC DESERVES TO RECONCILE WITH HIS BROTHER AND HAVE A LOVING HAPPY FAMILY

jgy is like, nah bc of Reasons

then my sunshine boy is like, hey aren't you forgetting smth jgy? what about your loyal lackey here?

but ss is an idiot and is like, don't worry about me boss!

and jgy is all, cool thx lackey

now lxc and jgy do some more chitchat i don't care about

suddenly there is ominous knocking on the doors AND A WILD LAN SIZHUI APPEARS!!!

He got chucked into the temple like the football lol

NOW WEN NING IS HERE! HE’S COVERED WITH RESENTFUL ENERGY, CARRYING BAXIA LIKE A BADASS

Dude, for real, wn looks so cool here

letting the tip of the saber scrape ominously against the stone ground and walking with slow measured steps

and baxia is freaking glowing

nhs calls him "brother" but i'm pretty sure he knows it's not nmj and just said it to freak jgy out

wwx ofc recognizes wen ning

AHHHHHH WWX IS DOING HIS EERIE WHISTLE AGAIN, I LOVE IT WHEN HE DOES THAT

SO COOL, WWX, SO COOL!!

his brow is all furrowed when he sees wn is not reacting and he starts to whistle more earnestly

wwx: what's happening? why is wn not listening to me? could it be...?

cut to lwj, looking all serious bc hey, this is actually a serious situation 

lwj: he is possessed by the blade spirit

wn roars and vaults over the distance between him and jgy with baxia raised high and it looks freaking AWESOME

lol we get a quick shot here of nhs panicking and ducking behind su she

jgy lets go of the gold string around jl's neck to flee from wn which gives wwx an opening

Wwx dives forward and wraps himself around jin ling

Then he twirls them to the side away from incoming baxia and crashes them both to the ground where they're safe

as this is happening, lwj sees his opening and draws bichen

we get a quick moment where wwx and jc are both fussing over jl, it’s super sweet!

AND THEN WE GET A SHOT OF JGY'S DISEMBODIED ARM 

THE CAMERA STARTS TO TILT UPWARDS 

WE SEE THE HEM OF LWJ'S PRISTINE WHITE ROBES FRAMED BY BICHEN 

BICHEN HAS RIVULETS OF BLOOD STREAMING DOWN THE BLADE

THE CAMERA CONTINUES TO TILT UPWARD UNTIL WE SEE LWJ STANDING TALL, FACE GRIM AND SERIOUS AND JUST OVERALL HOLDING HIMSELF IN AN IMPOSING BADASS WAY

wwx is looking at him like HOLY SHIT LWJ

Which is a totally reasonable reaction bc holy shit lwj

HA, now jgy only has one arm

I may not be able to follow up on my threats but it is gratifying to see lwj follow through for me lololol

gross, ss is all begging for medicine to help jgy

stfu ss, nobody likes either of you two

wn's blow struck the ground and cracked it before so now he's back up doing his steady creepy walk to finish what he was going to do

lwj's brow furrows and he sits himself down, cross-legged and summons his guqin

lol i love how he summons his instrument tbh

he just wooshes his flowy sleeves and his guqin glitters into existence

it looks very Magical Girl and i appreciate that

someone needs to draw lwj in a Magical Girl outfit IMMEDIATELY

lxc gets his flute out and our lan bros do a duet to chill out the angry sword spirit

LOL WEN NING JUST STEPS ON JGY'S CHOPPED OFF ARM

DO IT AGAIN WN 😆😆😆

let me just say, i'm really enjoying watching jgy and ss cower away from the oncoming wen ning

but oh noo! jl calls out for his evil uncle and draws wn's attention and wn tries to attack him

i guess baxia senses jgy's blood on jl's robes or smth? Idk, doesn’t matter

wwx tries to do some sort of spell to stop wn but it doesn't work and in a fit of panic he yells out “WEN QIONGLIN!”

thankfully this snaps wn out of it enough that he stops baxia like, one inch from my bratty son's face

the lan bros are still doing their Magic Music thing and wn is trying to reign in baxia but baxia's pissed off so everyone’s struggling 

wwx starts his whistling again and it's rattling Plot Device 3

lxc tries to stop wwx but lwj shakes his head at his brother like no, back off

wwx turns to look at lwj, lwj meets his eyes and gives him a single solemn nod

AND WWX SMILES AT HIM BC HIS SOULMATE BELIEVES IN HIS ABILITIES AND TRUSTS HIM!!!

this is the first legit proper wangxiantic moment in the whole episode, what the heck

GIVE ME MORE WANGXIAN AND LESS JGY, PLZ & THX

jc: wei wuxian!!

wwx turns to see his brother and jc FLINGS THE DEMON FLUTE AT WWX bc apparently he's been carrying chenqing around THIS WHOLE TIME??

wwx nods to him (and omg jc is helping him, this is good, this is a step in the right direction!!) and brings chenqing to his lips

we get a shot of lwj staring at wwx as wwx starts to play 

and the background music starts to get SUPER INTENSE and EXCITING as wwx plays

CHENQING STARTS TO OOZE THAT SMOKY RESENTFUL MAGIC STUFF

we get a shot of JC watching wwx play and this is the softest we've seen him look at his brother since he came back from the dead

he's looking at him like it's finally hitting him that wwx is back, his big brother is alive and here and protecting him and jin ling bc that's what family is supposed to do

AND IF I CAN’T HAVE WANGXIANTICS, I WILL ACCEPT YUNMENG BROS TIME AS RECOMPENSE

oooh, Plot Device 3 starts to zoom around and we get a fun bit of camera work so it seems like we're seeing everything from Plot Device 3's perspective

which is kind of adorable for some reason???

it's just zipping along and it sees wwx and wwx guides its attention to where wn is struggling to control baxia

wwx starts to walk, getting both baxia and Plot Device 3 to follow him further into the temple

lwj sees this happening and whooshes away his guqin and follows bc he's always going to follow wwx obvs

WWX IS SO AWESOME, I LOVE WATCHING HIM WORK

EVERYBODY IS STARING AT HIM IN AWE AS THEY SHOULD BE BC MY SUNSHINE BOY IS SKILLED AS HECK

he manages to get baxia into the coffin with nmj before he starts coughing up blood 

But before we can freak out about that, nhs scream in the background 

so everyone runs to check out what's happening there

nhs is all SS WHY'D YOU TRY TO KILL ME OMG MY LEG IS ALL CUT UP NOW, EVERYTHING IS AWFUL, HELP HELP

and ss is like BUT I DIDN'T, HE'S LYING!!!

lol baxia just leaps out of the coffin buries itself in ss's chest

AND THAT’S IT FOR SU SHE

good fucking riddance

But also baxia is nmj's saber

DID IT HEAR NHS AND BE LIKE, NO I CAN'T LET MY MASTER'S BELOVED LITTLE BROTHER GET HURT BY THIS USELESS NOBODY???

BAXIAAAAAA

WHAT A GOOD SABER YOU ARE *CRIES*

wwx starts up his demon flute again even tho baxia seems much more chill now that it has finally killed someone 

But let's watch wwx be a badass on the flute anyway

look at my sunshine boy go! 

look at him corral all that resentful energy!

love my sunshine boy

baxia is finally subdued and wwx lays it and Plot Device 3 in the coffin with nmj

he covers the coffin using some of his wicked awesome red magic stuff

but it's taking a lot out of him i guess bc he stumbles back and lwj is right there to catch him 

bc they're soulmates and they love each other 

aND GOD THE WAY THEY LOOK AT EACH OTHER HERE

JUST, UGH

EVERY TIME THEY LOOK AT EACH OTHER MY HEART GETS PALPITATIONS

And this is the only other wangxiantic moment in this episode, wtf show

cut to the next scene, everyone's patching up wounds and whatever

lol we can hear nhs whining like a baby bc omg it hurts it hurts, lxc be more gentle

and lxc is like, chill bro it's just a stab wound

nhs is like JUST a stab wound?? r u kidding me, i'm DYING!!

Which is exactly how i would react to a stab wound lol

now lxc is with jgy and he's like jgy if you do ONE more bad thing, i will definitely finally punish you mercilessly

then he starts checking out his armless shoulder bc lxc really is too good and not all that bright apparently

lol when wwx sees lxc tending to jgy's wounds and his face is like ugh i can't believe this guy

AND THIS IS WHEN WE GET THAT AMAZING AWESOME SHOT OF NHS'S FACE GOING ALL SERIOUS AND, LIKE, VENOMOUS

WE ONLY SEE PART OF HIS FACE, THE OTHER PART COVERED BY LXC'S OUT OF FOCUS FACE

AND NHS GLOWERS AT JGY

oh, my poor sunshine boy is wincing and holding a cloth to his STILL SLUGGISHLY BLEEDING NECK WOUND

SOMEBODY GIVE MY SUNSHINE BOY MEDICINE 

TAKE WHATEVER LXC GAVE TO JGY AND GIVE IT TO MY SUNSHINE BOY STAT

lsz is watching him very intently bc he's figuring out some things about himself and wwx that LWJ DIDN'T HAVE THE GOOD GRACE TO EXPLAIN TO EITHER OF THEM YET

lwj ofc has got his eyes glued on wwx bc, i mean, what else is there worth looking at in the Temple of Doom?

And i guess this counts as a wangxiantic too bc lsz is basically wangxian’s love child anyway!

lxc has the gall to ask nhs to hand him the medicine bottle to tend to FUCKING JGY'S (AKA HIS BIG BROTHER’S MURDERER) WOUNDS

GOD JUST LET JGY BLEED OUT AND DIE ALREADY

nhs is like sure! grabs the medicine bottle and hides it in his robes 

he makes a whole show out of rooting around in his robes to ‘find’ it and lxc goes to him to grab it or whatever so his back is turned to jgy

AND NHS, THAT CLEVER CLEVER BOY, USES THIS CHANCE

he makes a show of looking over lxc's shoulder and shouts LXC LOOK OUT!!

lxc grabs his sword and whirls around and stabs it right into jgy

and nhs is all stuttery and nervously saying how omg he saw jgy reach behind him and he thought he was gonna do something awful so he panicked

Then jgy finally sees nhs AND THAT'S WHERE THE EPISODE ENDS

So another episode with way too much plot stuff, yuck

I mean, we only got 3 actual wangxian moments?? 

What is that about, huh? THAT’S NOT EVERY GAY RIGHTS OF YOU, SHOW!

The next episode is THE LAST and we’re definitely getting wangxiantics there and i will definitely cry about it

Return to Masterpost

[crossdressingdeath]

You know, for people that try to act like JC killing/torturing demonic cultivators was justified...we really don't know anything about the people that he was killing, whether they were actually dangerous people like XY, or people who really had no idea what they were doing and probably needed a good lecture, and not...a death sentence and/or torture. I doubt everyone who used demonic cultivation was some evil mastermind, especially since, unlike in the tv show, WWX actually creates 1/9

demonic cultivation, so it's not like it's been around for years, with big bads like WRH and co. being known for using it like in the show. It's something new, and there are undoubtedly people who probably tried to be copycats of the Yiling Patriarch and had bad intentions, but there were also probably a lot of people who stumbled into it having no idea what they were doing. JC does not discriminate between these groups. When he first meets WWX, and thinks that he is MXY, JC's 2/9

immediate reaction is to say "If you see this sort of evil and crooked practice, kill the cultivator and feed him to your dogs!” At this point what exactly has 'MXY' done to warrant this? He hasn't hurt anyone. He used demonic cultivation to…trip someone over. I'd hardly call that 'evil.' To add to that, MXY is very young (in his 20s I think?), potentially even looking younger because of his smaller stature. So (as far as JC knows), here is a young man, only a few years older than 3/9

some of the Juniors in the novel, who hasn't tried to physically harm anyone, and JC's immediate reaction is to kill him without even trying to figure out his intentions, or question him, or anything. Even worse, he is TEACHING this to an impressionable teenager who will one day be the leader of his sect. He is telling his nephew to brutally murder people with no fair trial, or questioning, and he is using what could essentially be a prank as an example of this 'evil' behaviour. 4/9

…JC, wtf is wrong with you. JL, don't listen to your uncle. People who claim that every single person who used demonic cultivation (or was suspected of it, since it obviously doesn't take much to convince JC) are evil are kidding themselves. And, even worse, people who claim that it's all down to rumours! Seriously, we not only see JL himself acknowledging that it happens - and he saves 'MXY' from his uncle, regardless of the demonic cultivation, because even a teenager can acknowledge that 5/9

things aren't so black and white that everyone who touches demonic cultivation is evil and must be killed - but we also hear it FROM JC's MOUTH. JC all but implies that this is something he regularly does! So don't turn around and write poor uwu JC, a victim of rumours, because he LITERALLY confirms it! And just...JC has this awful habit of putting everyone into one category. There's no grey area with him, no inbetween. He did this with the Wens, where EVERYONE with the last name Wen was 6/9

supposedly evil and deserved to die, and now he's doing it again, where EVERYONE who uses demonic cultivation is evil and needs to die. I'm not saying that them using demonic cultivation is a good thing! We know it can be dangerous, and if even WWX, the person who created it, lost control, then people who probably have no idea what they're doing should not be using it. But like I said, there are probably a lot of misguided, young people using this thing for various reasons, who might not 7/9

realise that they're in over their heads, or just how dangerous resentful energy really is, and if JC really wants to make a difference he should try to EDUCATE these people. Especially if they haven't done anything particularly abhorrent, like 'MXY' who's dastardly deeds at that point had consisted of tripping JL over. JC could talk to these people, try and make them realise that they were doing something wrong, and, if that didn't work, THEN take more physical action. But nope, he's 8/9

Just going to straight up kill them. …Yeah. Just…the fact that this guy sin charge on one of the most prominent sects in the cultivation world, and raising the future of another of the most prominent sects, is genuinely kind of terrifying. This sort of behaviour, this inability to have a more nuanced view of the world, is a very dangerous thing. And view hasn’t changed at all since his teens/early twenties just shows a worrying lack of character growth. 9/9

Oh, JC telling JL to kill ‘MXY’ gets even better, because remember, MXY was JL’s uncle. JC isn’t just getting mad at JL, a thirteen year old, for not cutting a young man who hadn’t actually hurt anyone down without hesitation; he’s getting mad at JL for not killing his uncle. That entire scene is incredibly fucked up. Like, I feel the need to restate this to make it perfectly clear: JC is getting angry at his thirteen year old nephew for not murdering his uncle in cold blood. It’s genuinely horrifying, but it’s completely glossed over so often.

Anyway, you’re right that it’s incredibly unlikely that all demonic cultivators are evil; hell, we know they’re not. WWX is right there. And other than XY and WWX himself, we don’t hear of a single threat coming from a demonic cultivator. The biggest threats to our heroes are righteous cultivators, in fact. There is nothing to suggest the sort of widespread demonic cultivation threat that would even begin to justify JC’s actions. He’s killing them because he wants to kill them, not because they’re a threat. And both JL and JC acknowledge that these demonic cultivators aren’t a threat; JL is willing to free WWX from JC on the grounds that he doesn’t deserve what JC will do to him! The fact that JL is sure JC will do something horrible to WWX if he stays suggests both that the “rumours” are actually fact and that at least some of the demonic cultivators JC catches haven’t done anything to deserve being tortured to death. At least evidence suggests JL is not following in JC’s footsteps.

JC doesn’t want to teach young and foolish demonic cultivators the error of their ways. That could’ve been a very sweet thing; trying to turn people like WWX from following his path to its horrible end. But that’s not what he wants. He wants twisted revenge-by-proxy on the brother who died before he got the chance to do these things to him. It’s like how once WC died JC was no longer interested in justice against the Wen sect, only revenge. Genocide for genocide. JC wants to assuage his own feelings even if it means slaughtering innocents. It’s childish, in a twisted sort of way, like XY’s insistence that anything he does to avenge his own pain is justified no matter how much he does.

...You know, all this makes me wonder if JC becomes another bogeyman for the civilians of the area. “The way you’re acting, Sect Leader Jiang would accuse you of demonic cultivation!” That sort of thing.