#like what was he thinking in that moment jdsfhdkjsfs

[fixielixie]

back again to complain about unnecessary changes cql made that 1) made their own writing look bad and 2) didn't need to be changed in the first place so why would they have even bothered.

so we all know the famous "at least i'll die by your hands, hanguang-jun" scene from right after wwx breaks the wens out at Qiongqi Path. it feels like a much more dramatic version of the confrontation wangxian have at nightless city as the sects begin a battle again wwx, where wwx says "I knew since the start that we'd have to fight a real right like this one sooner or later. You've always found me disagreeable no matter what."

so i have a few issues with cqls choice of everything with the moment. firstly being, /why/ did wwx feel like lwj was out to kill him? this was before wwx had really made an enemy out of himself and yet he immediately jumps to the idea that yes lwj will kill him one day. cql made the point of smoothing out wangxians earlier relationship, and a lot of the headbutting they continued to do throughout all of wwxs first life in the novel was cut out. they had wholesome moments together in cql, of bonding and growing closer. so i literally cant understand how wwx has jumped to something so drastic considering so far their biggest disagreement was over his use of demonic cultivation. hell, they see each other again after this at the burial mounds.

also just to nitpick while im at it, why was lan wangji even there???? doing nothing when he saw that oh wwx was right, the jins were abusing the wen prisoners. like wen qing and wwx went there on foot and lwj must have used his sword so ... why wasnt he there like hours before.

in the novel, not only does it make more sense for wwx to think they were going to fight for real one day, but he also never makes any mention of lwj wanting to kill him. he /knows/ lwj doesnt want to kill him. in his mind lwj wants to punish him by bringing him back to the cloud recesses. not once has lwj made it seem like he wants wwx dead, so why would wwx jump to that conclusion. also its not wild for wwx to assume that he and lwj were destined to fight properly one day, over the cause of the war and the years after it tension had been rising between the two, and they were known for fighting over the smallest things back in their youth. wwx knows lwj as someone who's willing to pull a sword out on him for showing him porn, of course he would have expected a real fight to break out over something as serious as this.

also just in terms of narrative structure and yanno .. pacing, the moment at nightless city between wangxian makes this whole battle feel so much more tragic. lan wangji is despertaely trying to stop wwx before things go to far, already knowing that it probably already has, wwx is so sure he knows what lwj is thinking and is so blinded in his own loss of judgment that he cant see this.

"any sane person would be able to tell that lan wangji's voice was clearly shaking."

"he [wwx] felt that everyone loathed him and he loathed everyone as well."

i think my biggest problem with cql is that they take emotionally charged moment like this from the book, dont bother to do any of the lead up and pacing that makes the emotional impact hit that much harder, and rely on the actions crying a bunch in hopes that it conveys the same feelings. and i think this scene showcases this perfectly. cql could have just... not added this scene and instead used the dialogue from the text and moved this entire interaction to nightless city (tho im pretty sure they have this exact same discussion there too). like there was no reason for it.