#op im sorry I ranted on ur post this turned out much longer than I meant it to

[ephemeralgalaxies]

THIS!!!!!! THIS 1000000% Like, no yeah ofc LWJ is in love with him and think he's hot bc just look at him but this is still LWJ we're talking about here, the perfect Golden Child of the Gusu Clan/Sect. To the cultivation world, he's a symbol of Model Obedience and Discipline. And he is, yes, to an extent. But more than all that, LWJ is so very stubborn. When something matters to him, when he truly feels justified and true in his morals, he defends them against the world.

He continues to visit his mother's room even after he understands that she's passed. He addresses WWX as "Wei Ying" in order to get the urgency across that he needs to stop trying to kill JZX for a moment even tho yes he very much deserves a bitch slap right now, the action of this in front of LITERALLY EVERYONE exposing how close he's gotten to such a wild card. He calls out the liars after they try to tempt JC into believing that WWX disrespected him. He talks with Mian Mian (I love her name), bonds over their dissent and discontent with the cultivation world and the instability of tyranny threatening to rip apart this fragile alliance at any moment. He visits Yiling and receives the punishment. He defends the cave against the leaders and receives the punishment. He saves A-Yuan and decides to even raise him bc he's just a child, truly innocent of all this mess, and the last piece he has of WWX. Raising him, LWJ makes sure that LSZ can defend his own morals and judge people based on their souls rather than the rumors of others (like LSZ does with WWX both when thinking he's MXY and when he's revealed as WWX). He cuts WWX off from lying, saying that he tricked LWJ to make sure everyone there knows the TRUTH: that LWJ chose this and he would and will do it again. Because he truly believes in WWX, that he's not evil (maybe not 100% good, but no one is. Nothing is black or white, good or bad. That was the whole point of his talk with LXC). Hell, LWJ even stops from solely blaming JGY for all the mess, wanting to get all the facts before passing a judgment for all these crimes. THE PERSON WHO PLACED ALL THE BLAME ON WWX IN THE FIRST PLACE.

So no, LWJ doesn't do all this because he loves WWX, he loves WWX because even with the literal world against him, he remains a person with his own morals as stubborn as LWJ's. Because he won't pass judgment on the innocent Wens. Because even after all that JGY did to him, he still can't rest with everyone pinning it all on him without evidence (like they did to him). He knows what justice means to him and he'll defend that to the end.

So maybe LWJ didn't stand with him at Nightless City. I've said in other posts that I don't think LWJ felt ready enough yet, that maybe he didn't think that WWX trusted him enough for him to stand by him until he was the only one willing to try and save WWX on the cliff. And it is all a "what if" that would be so lovely if they could have actually worked everything out before all the pain and grief and yearning. Imagine if Jin Ling grew up with his parents, Lan Sizhui being Wen Yuan with Granny and Fourth Uncle and WQ and WN. Imagine JGY having to figure out another way to redirect the blame. Imagine LWJ being open with WWX about his love and understanding. But after everything, after the whole world cut him off, after his own brother stabbed him and disowned him, his adoptive parents blaming him then dying, having to push away everyone he loves in order to protect the children of the man that saved him from dogs and starvation. After losing the part of him that connected him to this world in the first place. How could he trust, better know, LWJ? No, he needed those 16y to fester and scream for him. He needed LWJ to be the only one sure of his identity, taking care of him, playing for him, standing with him, catching him, confessing his regret to him, swearing to stay with him now. He needed those 16y for Lan Sizhui's name to hold meaning. He needed LWJ to not stand with him all those years ago, to see how ready even still LWH was to fall with WWX off that cliff if it meant the possibility of saving him (when it was just too late now. but he tried. he could've done it if LWJ wasn't alone). He needed LWJ to lose him and never move on so that when WWX does return, he knows that his Lan Zhan is serious, that he's stubborn, that WWX is not just important to him but Something to Respect and Protect even when the world begs him to turn away. He's that same little kid, waiting out in the snow every month outside doors that will never open for him again, but waiting nonetheless if only in defiance of those that closed them.

the thing is. lwj would have protected and stood by wwx's side even if he didn't love him romantically

like. i often see the order of things switched up. that lwj believes in wwx and stood up against his clan and the world for him because he was in love. no no nonono guys it's the opposite!! lwj is in love with wwx because he believes that wei ying is good, because his pre-conceived notions of him kept getting challenged, because at every corner wwx kept showing how he was actually good, and kindhearted, and capable, and smart

we even see early on how lwj behaves when he's experiencing attraction while he still thinks he shouldn't. lwj is cold and detached, he ignores him, he constantly tries to draw a line between them! we see exactly how that changed after xuanwu cave, and especially after the yiling date

he became infatuated with wei ying against his own judgement, but loving him was a choice. protecting him was a choice. he would have made that decision anyway, even if the feelings weren't there