#instead we get *WWX himself* declaring that he's unstoppable (even before he breaks from society and the vilification starts!)

[poorlittleyaoyao]

YES YES YES. Adding two other replies from elsewhere in the notes:

From @sandumilfshou:

canonically isnt su she actually like pretty fucking talented/powerful but next to bitches like the twin jades, wwx, jc, nmj etc nobody looks impressive so su she gets brushed aside often? or did i make that up

From @fallcolorspringrapid:

i think i've talked about this before, but the way i make this make sense in my head is: su minshan's true genius is not in being able to control resentful energy better than wei wuxian but in realizing it is so volatile he only needs to push a little bit and the whole thing collapses into chaos. it's the equivalent to someone having the skills and raw power needed to balance ten spinning plates on sticks, and someone else coming along to throw a few rocks. #su minshan is capable and clever#but his talent lies in finding things others have already perfected and adopting the bits that benefit him#and wwx is fully in control of the resentment#...as long as no one else touches it#which possibility i don't think even occurred to him#because why would any of the others try to learn or use something they condemn as forbidden and wrong?#that said. i am on-board with the idea of powerful sms choosing to serve jgy for his emotional needs

Everyone here is correct!! The fact that his potential is overlooked because the Twin Jades skewed the curve and/or he's not from an important-enough family is critical; there's a good post somewhere about how SMS is an incredible protagonist in another story. He's resilient, inventive, and highly capable, and you can see why he and JGY appreciate each other.

(There are comparisons to be made between SMS and WZL, too, given that WZL is also a highly skilled cultivator from an obscure family who is ride-or-die for the people who recognized his talents.)

My snark about the Second Flautist isn't so much that SMS is too inept to do all of that, because he's not actually a cringefail loser and I am sorry to have accidentally slandered my special little guy. It's more that this choice is the ultimate example of how removing WWX's more villainous aspects make his CQL self a total loser when it comes to his abilities. WWX didn't invent demonic cultivation as a concept; drama OC Xue Chonghai did. He didn't rediscover that knowledge in the Burial Mounds; WRH and XY have been channeling resentment and turning people into Definitely Not Zombies with the help of the same cursed object. WWX restores WN's spiritual cognition... but since the show takes great pains to state that he's TOTALLY NOT DEAD, NO ZOMBIES HERE, NO SIR, then that means WN is just an extra-strong, extra-volatile puppet, and we've already seen people turned into puppets (ex: the Dafan Wen early in the series) go back to normal with little fanfare.

So what's left? Well, WWX is the only one to refine the Yin Iron into something controllable in the Yin Tiger Tally. And he's the first to do demonic cultivation via music and he does some cool stuff with talismans! But SMS manages to figure out musical demonic cultivation on his own, without marinating in dark energy for three months, and without the benefit of the aforesaid Yin Tiger Tally. SMS's demonic cultivation is so strong that not only can he nudge WWX's cultivation sideways, but he can do things WWX's can't. WWX's resentment clouds just kinda fly around and smack people at the Massacre at Nightless City; the energy SMS summons attacks on its own and possesses people, and WWX isn't able to combat it when he resumes playing. And throughout all this, SMS doesn't even come in contact with the Yin Tiger Tally.

And this would be fine were it not for the fact that WWX is treated both in-universe and by the narrative itself as some sort of unparalleled demonic cultivation supergenius with a heart of gold, and he's... not? He's not. He invented, like, two things, and then SMS did one of them way better and showed that the other doesn't actually matter that much! Good for him, but it uh... does undercut the core premise of the show a little.

The Second Flautist remains the stupidest but also funniest adaptation choice. Su Minshan, heretofore portrayed as a cringefail loser who needed Wangxian and Wen Ning to save his ass from the Waterborne Abyss, overrides Wei Wuxian’s demonic cultivation abilities TWICE. Not only does he seize control of Wen Ning, but he manipulates the resentment summoned by Wei Wuxian to attack people and turn them into puppets at Nightless City SO EFFECTIVELY that Wei Wuxian cannot regain control of them even on an individual basis with the Yin Tiger Tally helping him.

Su Minshan, true Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, is the most overpowered character in the entire series, and we must therefore conclude that he chooses to be Jin Guangyao’s devoted henchman rather than seizing any power for himself because he finds it personally fulfilling.