#mxtx saying he's not the worst guy on the docket

[mxtxfanatic]

More out-of-text evidence that Jiang Cheng and Xue Yang are parallels filling the same niche in their separate personal dramas:

Everyone should know what Jiang Cheng’s keyword is without me saying it. In the beginning, I thought with with XY’s existence, Jiang Cheng’s negative energy would definitely seem skimpy. Who knew he became the ultimate superstar of the comment section?

—MDZS postscript, exr

Male Host: Okay, next question. A reader asked: Does Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian really have a friendly relationship? And was Jiang Cheng's actions really a result of hatred? What is the Jiang Cheng that you envisioned? Some readers dislike Jiang Cheng. MXTX: In my mind, Jiang Cheng does have some fans, and these fans are really vocal about him. So, I think there's a lot of people who like him. They don't treat him as the bad guy. And it's not just a simple friendship with WWX. I think their relationship is complicated, just like Xiao Xingchen and Xue Yang....

—this interview

MXTX is constantly comparing Jiang Cheng and Xue Yang, even outside of the actual novel. While they are not the exact same character ("parallel" does not mean "identical," after all), Jiang Cheng and Xue Yang play similar roles in the story to certain characters close to them. There's a reason why this parallel seems to be the go-to on her mind. This comparison is intentional.

Xue Yang and Jiang Cheng are Parallels

I wanted to make sure I covered this in my Yi City arc reread since it became such a hot topic on my blog for a minute. Wei Wuxian and Xue Yang are not parallels; Xue Yang and Jiang Cheng are. Here are two quotes from each individual about their never-ending hatred and perpetual thirst for vengeance paid over and over in blood:

Wei Wuxian retorted, “He’s already a dead man. I’ve also died once. What else do you want?”

Jiang Cheng pointed at him with his whip. “So what? He can die a thousand times, or even ten thousand times, but it’ll never appease the fury in my heart! Since he wasn’t destroyed then, then fine! I’ll personally destroy him today. I’ll go and torch him now, then scatter his ashes in front of you!!”

–Chapter 23: Malevolent Part 1: Running into Gunpoint, taming wangxian

“If you wanted to avenge yourself on Chang Ci’an for breaking your finger, you could have just cut off one of his and been done with it,” Xiao Xingchen said in disbelief. “If you absolutely cannot get over your grudge, then break two, or ten! Or you could have even cut off his arm—even that would have been better! Why did you have to kill his entire family? Don’t tell me you think a single one of your fingers is worth more than fifty lives?”

Surprisingly, Xue Yang pondered this carefully for a while. As though he found Xiao Xingchen’s question very strange, he replied, “Of course. The finger was mine, while those lives were other people’s. No matter how many I killed, it wouldn’t have repaid the debt. It was only fifty or so people—how could it make up for my single finger?”

–Chapt. 41: Flora IX, fanyiyi

Both of them use their trauma to lash out at innocent people who have done nothing wrong to them: Jiang Cheng chasing after Wen Ning (who, in fact, aided the Jiang heir at risk to his own life) despite having already successfully murdered his entire family for the crimes of the long-dead Wen Chao and Wang Lingjiao; Xue Yang chasing after the Chang Clan despite Chang Ping being the clan leader and not his father who hurt him.

At the same time, Xue Yang’s response provides a deeper look into why they have this mentality. “The finger was mine, while those lives were other people’s…” he says, “It was only fifty or so people—how could it make up for my single finger?” At the end of the day, Xue Yang and Jiang Cheng consider themselves above everyone and everything else, including laws and morality. In fact, this is their morality. In their world, they are justified in kidnapping and torturing people to death for reminding them of someone they do not like and are validated in annihilating whole clans because they consider an individual to have committed an offense against them. The lives of others mean nothing in their worldview; it is only their lives that hold any and all intrinsic value that must be protected at all costs.

[khattikeri]

This response got long, sorry for sidetracking! I'm just floored with how much more Yi City makes sense through this lens; I had no idea this interview of MXTX existed.

With Xue Yang being a direct parallel to Jiang Cheng (that too, confirmed by the author), it makes the tragedy and the parallels of all the other characters involved in the subplot even more apparent.

Namely in that Xiao Xingchen and A-Qing are both parallels to Wei Wuxian, and Song Lan shares many similarities to both Lan Wangji and Wen Ning.

Xiao Xingchen, like Wei Wuxian, is an incredibly righteous and kind cultivator with a sense of humor. Plus they both have ties to Baoshan-sanren's mountain. MXTX says herself that Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian's relationship is complicated like Xue Yang and Xiao Xingchen's. Xue Yang is obsessed with keeping Xiao Xingchen attached to him and getting revenge; Jiang Cheng likewise blames Wei Wuxian for his insecurities and grief and is constantly pursuing him almost entirely to nurse his own grudges.

People tend to say that Xue Yang also having origins as a mistreated youth on the streets makes him a parallel to Wei Wuxian, but that's not true. He's far more vengeful and selfish in his thoughts and actions; A-Qing, who is brash but still good at heart, is much more similar to Wei Wuxian if you ask me.

If Xiao Xingchen represents Wei Wuxian's initial reputation as a good cultivator, A-Qing is the other half: someone who spent the majority of her life as a street orphan. Like Wei Wuxian, A-Qing ultimately chooses to do the right thing to help others even if it causes her harm in the end.

Furthermore, A-Qing distrusts Xue Yang's demeanor and intentions the whole time she knows him. She maintains a bantering rapport with Xue Yang while they all live together, knowing that she cannot risk genuinely angering him or arousing his suspicion out of fear for how he may retaliate against her and Xiao Xingchen.

After all, A-Qing isn't a cultivator. She has no backing, no real strength that she can fight and actually win with. She only has her wits, and when push comes to shove and she does reveal her own exhaustion, fear, and hatred of Xue Yang, she dies at Xue Yang's hands.

Xiao Xingchen, on the other hand, is more willing to trust and believe that Xue Yang is a good person. He has strong cultivation ability and moral character, and is both literally and metaphorically blind to Xue Yang's cruelty until Xue Yang makes the deception clear. XXC is so distraught by the selfishness and senselessness of Xue Yang's violence towards innocents with him as a proxy that he flat out kills himself.

I think both A-Qing's and Xiao Xingchen's feelings existed in Wei Wuxian to an extent when it comes to Jiang Cheng. The gratefulness to the Jiangs for being taken in, knowing he could be made to leave at any time. The playful banter with someone you've shared space with for so long, while also maintaining an acute understanding that you aren't on the same level socially. The discomfort of having to live with someone's casual callousness, seeing and thinking it but unable to truly voice a complaint or confront it until it's far too late.

As for Song Lan, he can be best described as an interesting mix of Lan Wangji and Wen Ning. All three are upright and pretty serious individuals. Song Lan's attachment and devotion to Xiao Xingchen resembles Lan Wangji's love for (wanting to make him laugh, for example) and Wen Ning's loyalty to Wei Wuxian (in life and after being turned into sentient fierce corpses).

Song Lan is the one who Xiao Xingchen was doing things for; their goal of starting a sect not tied to clan bloodlines mirrors Wei Wuxian and Wen Ning's intent of protecting the Wen remnants in the Burial Mounds.

Wei Wuxian gave up his position to do what was right and help the Wens, including Wen Ning. Meanwhile Xiao Xingchen gave up his eyes to help Song Lan, but Song Lan was furious both with the grief of the massacre of Baixue Temple (most likely paralleling Wen Ning's grief with his family's annihilation, though Song Lan is a lot more expressive with his anger) and of Xiao Xingchen hurting himself in such a way (Lan Wangji angry at Wei Wuxian using ghost cultivation). In both cases, they are separated for years because of the fight, though the exact details do differ.

As Jiang Cheng holds a grudge is against Wei Wuxian, Wen Ning, and to a lesser extent Lan Wangji, Xue Yang holds a grudge against both Xiao Xingchen and Song Lan.

Song Lan (Wen Ning) is the one who kills (verbally tears down) Xue Yang (Jiang Cheng) by the end of their respective stories for how Xiao Xingchen (Wei Wuxian) was treated.

Can you tell I'm on the verge of tears!? So much of the story lines up with these eight characters all paralleling each other, I'm dizzy. I may have missed or misinterpreted some things since I haven't read the novels in a while but I'm honestly so amazed at the level of detail that went into MXTX's writing.

Xue Yang and Jiang Cheng are Parallels

I wanted to make sure I covered this in my Yi City arc reread since it became such a hot topic on my blog for a minute. Wei Wuxian and Xue Yang are not parallels; Xue Yang and Jiang Cheng are. Here are two quotes from each individual about their never-ending hatred and perpetual thirst for vengeance paid over and over in blood:

Wei Wuxian retorted, “He’s already a dead man. I’ve also died once. What else do you want?”

Jiang Cheng pointed at him with his whip. “So what? He can die a thousand times, or even ten thousand times, but it’ll never appease the fury in my heart! Since he wasn’t destroyed then, then fine! I’ll personally destroy him today. I’ll go and torch him now, then scatter his ashes in front of you!!”

–Chapter 23: Malevolent Part 1: Running into Gunpoint, taming wangxian

“If you wanted to avenge yourself on Chang Ci’an for breaking your finger, you could have just cut off one of his and been done with it,” Xiao Xingchen said in disbelief. “If you absolutely cannot get over your grudge, then break two, or ten! Or you could have even cut off his arm—even that would have been better! Why did you have to kill his entire family? Don’t tell me you think a single one of your fingers is worth more than fifty lives?”

Surprisingly, Xue Yang pondered this carefully for a while. As though he found Xiao Xingchen’s question very strange, he replied, “Of course. The finger was mine, while those lives were other people’s. No matter how many I killed, it wouldn’t have repaid the debt. It was only fifty or so people—how could it make up for my single finger?”

–Chapt. 41: Flora IX, fanyiyi

Both of them use their trauma to lash out at innocent people who have done nothing wrong to them: Jiang Cheng chasing after Wen Ning (who, in fact, aided the Jiang heir at risk to his own life) despite having already successfully murdered his entire family for the crimes of the long-dead Wen Chao and Wang Lingjiao; Xue Yang chasing after the Chang Clan despite Chang Ping being the clan leader and not his father who hurt him.

At the same time, Xue Yang’s response provides a deeper look into why they have this mentality. “The finger was mine, while those lives were other people’s…” he says, “It was only fifty or so people—how could it make up for my single finger?” At the end of the day, Xue Yang and Jiang Cheng consider themselves above everyone and everything else, including laws and morality. In fact, this is their morality. In their world, they are justified in kidnapping and torturing people to death for reminding them of someone they do not like and are validated in annihilating whole clans because they consider an individual to have committed an offense against them. The lives of others mean nothing in their worldview; it is only their lives that hold any and all intrinsic value that must be protected at all costs.