like i always see kids saying that yuki killed himself because mafuyu told him to do it and he loved him so he did it??????? like what kind of dumbass would do something like that???? way to totally ignore the obvious facts like him coming from a broken family overworking himself and having clearly untreated psychological issues that even mafuyu failed to notice to the pont of being triggered by a small fight.

they romanticize the shit out of mafuyuki's tragedy instead of viewing it as it really is, two children that were doing adult things and making a shit ton of mistakes bc of their inexperience and lack of maturity which doesn't make them  bad or toxic, just immature kids learning and making mistakes. like it is a fact that mafuyu was bratty af with yuki he was demanding and wanted to be cared for and protected like if yuki was his prince charming and not another kid that also needed to care for himself  and yuki took the role too fucking seriously seeing mafuyu as some fragil princess that needed to be sheltered and serenated instead of an equal who should also be included on the things he did on his daly life and allowing him to see and shoulder his mental struggles with him, the relationship was so imperfect but to new stans they are the posterboys for soulmates.

and in my humble opinion mafuyu is still too immature for a new relationship, he's not over his ex and of course he'll never totally be and that's fine but he needs to heal and let go of him because bringing someone along and leading them on when you know you still haven't healed is unhealthy, he doesn't see how it affects ueonoyama bc he is not doing it on purpose he still 16 and lacks some emotional intelligence and uenoyama is also so young and so in love that he's putting his own mental health aside to dedicate himself to his bf who still doesn't even trust him enough to tell him the whole story about his ex and he has to put the pieces together while acting like some sort of middleman between mafuyu and a ghost going as far as selflessly composing both their songs for each other.

i don't doubt mafuyu's feelings for ue but as shizu said if you're not ready to give it your all then just don't do it at all! their relationship isn’t even developing even his childhood friend called him out yet stans defend this nonsense to death...

It says it in the hopes and dreams and twitter feeds and tumblr asks of jiang cheng stans of course. jiang cheng's 'tale of woe' isn't that he lacked the power to pay off his life debt and help Wei Wuxian save the innocent Wens, it's that he let Jin Guangshan play him like a fiddle & use his existing resentment against Wei Wuxian, his envy and the daddy issues he so dearly clutches to his bosom, to turn against the guy he'd known for half of his life. A guy he knew was only adamant about doing the right thing & the last person who would seek to grasp power from him. But in a way jc also used JGS to justify it to himself.

The book goes into this. It tracks jc's building resentment towards WWX and the growing divide in their world views from as early on as their time in the Wen indoctrination camp (arguably even earlier). Later it shows how jc overhears all the credit WWX is getting for what he did during the war & night hunt and for reestablishing the Sect. Then it shows how JGS plays on those things. (Not to be misunderstood with 'forced jc'. jc certainly felt some measure of satisfaction to have all his twisted, hateful feelings and resentments towards WWX validated by someone in power, socially & politically) Then lastly it has JGY summarize and confirm the whole thing. JGY doesn't whip this out of nowhere in the temple at the end. mxtx doesn't make it up on the spot, it's woven into the narrative.

salt up here, substance/quotes etc under the cut:

if you can't prove your toxic fav is a sad uwu baby w canon & facts just shout over everyone else & fiGht them >:-/ is indeed peak jc stan energy so this checks out lmao

1️⃣➕1️⃣=3️⃣ ❌

Canon good trait 1: He's uhhh... he's persistent

Canon good trait 2: ?????

“Before the valley was a row of shacks built temporarily for the prisoners of war to spend their nights. Leading Wen Qing, Wei WuXian saw an old, bent-over figure from afar. Cloaked in rain, the figure walked slowly, carrying a large flag. When it walked nearer, it became clear that the person carrying the flag was a wobbly old woman. She carried on her back a young toddler who paid attention to nothing but nibbling his fingers, fixed into position by a few cloth rags. The old and the young walked to and fro across the road. The old woman found the flag to be quite difficult to carry. She had to rest after walking for just a few steps, putting down the flag.

Seeing this, Wen Qing yelled with red eyes, “Granny! It’s me!”

“The old woman probably couldn’t see or hear well. She couldn’t tell by sight or by hearing who the person was. All she knew was that someone approached and shouted something at her. She hastily took up the flag again, her face full of fear, as though she was scared that she’d be found out and scolded.”

-

“The flames flickered now and then within the faint strings of rain, but their blaze nonetheless illuminated the hundreds of heavy silhouettes on the path.

The prisoners were all ghastly pale, their steps dragging. They weren’t allowed to use spiritual powers or any other instruments, not only by the LanlingJin Sect’s precautions against them, but also because it had to be punishing. Over a dozen inspectors, bearing black umbrellas, rode on horseback through the rain as they scolded.”

“The iron brand within the inspector’s hand was the same kind as what the QishanWen Sect’s servants used. It was only that the shape of the brand at the top was changed from the sun crest to the peony crest.

As Wei WuXian took note of this, cold light flashed within his eyes.”

-

“As he was about to turn around, a slight-figured prisoner called him, “… Mr. Wei.”

Wei WuXian turned to look at him, “What?”

The prisoner’s voice quivered slightly as he pointed in a certain direction, “There’s… There’s a house on that side of the valley. They use it to… lock people inside and beat them up. Anyone who dies would be dragged outside and buried. Some of the people you’re looking for might be over there…”

-

The dead: “In the area stood slantingly around a dozen tattered figures, tall and short, men and women. Some of them gave off the stench of rotting flesh. The one who stood at the front was Wen Ning, whose eyes were still open.

His face was as pale as wax and his pupils were dilated. The blood at the corner of his lips had already dried into a dark brown. Although his chest didn’t rise and fall at all, it was obvious to see that half of his ribcage had collapsed.”

I'm sure ppl have probably answered this more elaborately, but for me I always saw it as when LWJ visited things were more or less at a stalemate between WWX and the cultivation world, so he probably wanted to let seething but semi sleeping dogs lie. More importantly jiang cheng's actions after visiting the Burial Mounds made it very hard, if not impossible to overturn public opinion.

“After the fight, Jiang Cheng told the outside that Wei WuXian defected from the sect and was an enemy to the entire cultivation world. The YunmengJiang Sect had already cast him out. From then on, no ties remained between them—a clear line was drawn. Henceforth, no matter what he did, they’d have nothing to do with the YunmengJiang Sect!”

If his own martial brother, after visiting the Burial Mounds, declared Wei Wuxian the enemy of the entire cultivation world and cast him out wanting no association with him isn't that in the eyes of the cultivation world irrefutable confirmation that WWX is beyond redemption and the Wens are actually a danger?

“A few months passed like this. Aside from how the world’s comments on Wei WuXian worsened even more, there was no progress.”

It would be one thing for LWJ to add his voice to jc's voice if he'd shown even the slightest support for WWX, but like this I don't know who he could have even told. He'd spoken up for WWX before when JGS was trying to smear his name. Unlike jc he wasn't a Clan leader himself. JGY & JGS already knew the people in the Burial Mounds were not a threat. Had jc revealed the life debt he owed the Wens NMJ might have been receptive but since jc stayed silent that's not the case. LQR didn't exactly like WWX. LXC was being very deftly manipulated against WWX by JGY, naturally seeing jc abandon him would solidify this impression, and he already perhaps believed his little brother's judgement to be compromised re: Wei Ying.

He was the only one left to clean up the mess. How could he leave the scene? He reassured the crowd as he ranted, completely exhausted, “Young Master Wei really is too impulsive. How could he speak in such a way in front of so many sects?”

Lan WangJi spoke coldly, “Was he wrong?”

Jin GuangYao paused almost unnoticeably. He immediately laughed, “Haha. Yes, he’s right. But it’s because he’s right that he can’t say it in front of them, correct?”

Lan XiChen seemed as if he was deep in thought, “Young Master Wei’s heart really has changed.”

Hearing this, pain flashed across the light pair of eyes under Lan WangJi’s knitted brows.”

Here LXC draws his conclusion even after JGY's words are pitted directly against LWJ's. I think this scene is very telling.

In WWX's second life LWJ does not hesitate to publicly pledge his support for him when his identity is revealed, in a way tying their fates together and I'd say really raising the stakes for LXC to get involved at least to investigate JGY. Because we see when it comes to judgement or opinions, at least when it comes to WWX, LXC trusts JGY's a bit more than LWJ's. This isn't really his fault alone, JGY is just a masterful manipulator especially effective against someone with as good a nature as LXC. Even WWX acknowledges this during empathy:

Lan XiChen sighed as well, his attacks persisting, “MingJue-xiong, he was undercover in Qishan, and sometimes there would be some things that… could not have been helped. When he was doing these things, in his heart he was also…”

In his heart, Wei WuXian shook his head, ZeWu-Jun, he’s still… too kind, too pure. After a second thought, however, he concluded that he was only so guarded toward Jin GuangYao because he had already known about the various suspicions, whereas the Meng Yao in front of Lan XiChen was someone who had gone undercover without a choice, enduring humiliation alone. The two held different viewpoints, so how could their feelings be compared?”

However though LXC might prioritize JGY's judgement I believe he will always prioritize LWJ safety and wellbeing. & seeing him stand by WWX, especially knowing how his little brother bore the discipline whip unflinchingly for WWX that's a big incentive to listen to WWX this time around. So from that it would seem that if LWJ had just thrown his support behind WWX vocally and publicly in the first life things maybe might have worked out diferently BUT! In this second life... it's not really LWJ's public support (and LXC's investigating) that shifts the scales. It's Nie Huaisangੈ ✩‧₊˚ who has been leveling the playing field from behind the scenes and forcing JGY to act recklessly, throwing the skeletons in his closet in front of all the leaders in cultivation society- skeletons he didn't have the first time around.

I'm sure ppl have probably answered this more elaborately, but for me I always saw it as when LWJ visited things were more or less at a stalemate between WWX and the cultivation world, so he probably wanted to let seething but semi sleeping dogs lie. More importantly jiang cheng's actions after visiting the Burial Mounds made it very hard, if not impossible to overturn public opinion.

“After the fight, Jiang Cheng told the outside that Wei WuXian defected from the sect and was an enemy to the entire cultivation world. The YunmengJiang Sect had already cast him out. From then on, no ties remained between them—a clear line was drawn. Henceforth, no matter what he did, they’d have nothing to do with the YunmengJiang Sect!”

If his own martial brother, after visiting the Burial Mounds, declared Wei Wuxian the enemy of the entire cultivation world and cast him out wanting no association with him isn't that in the eyes of the cultivation world irrefutable confirmation that WWX is beyond redemption and the Wens are actually a danger?

“A few months passed like this. Aside from how the world’s comments on Wei WuXian worsened even more, there was no progress.”

It would be one thing for LWJ to add his voice to jc's voice if he'd shown even the slightest support for WWX, but like this I don't know who he could have even told. He'd spoken up for WWX before when JGS was trying to smear his name. Unlike jc he wasn't a Clan leader himself. JGY & JGS already knew the people in the Burial Mounds were not a threat. Had jc revealed the life debt he owed the Wens NMJ might have been receptive but since jc stayed silent that's not the case. LQR didn't exactly like WWX. LXC was being very deftly manipulated against WWX by JGY, naturally seeing jc abandon him would solidify this impression, and he already perhaps believed his little brother's judgement to be compromised re: Wei Ying.

He was the only one left to clean up the mess. How could he leave the scene? He reassured the crowd as he ranted, completely exhausted, “Young Master Wei really is too impulsive. How could he speak in such a way in front of so many sects?”

Lan WangJi spoke coldly, “Was he wrong?”

Jin GuangYao paused almost unnoticeably. He immediately laughed, “Haha. Yes, he’s right. But it’s because he’s right that he can’t say it in front of them, correct?”

Lan XiChen seemed as if he was deep in thought, “Young Master Wei’s heart really has changed.”

Hearing this, pain flashed across the light pair of eyes under Lan WangJi’s knitted brows.”

Here LXC draws his conclusion even after JGY's words are pitted directly against LWJ's. I think this scene is very telling.

If someone believes they will be chummy bros if Wens aren’t nasty, cool, you do you. Just don’t read a properly tagged fic then.

There are quotes from the novel sitting in my drafts proving it won’t happen. But I have shit confidence about writing metas as a newcomer here.

So I’ll leave that to more experienced people.

My point is - The ideological differences between JC and WWX are just too vast. You can almost say you’re pitting a conservative against a progressive here.

What I think would happen?

JC would turn out to be a leader WWX absolutely cannot, in good conscience, follow. They’ll clash ideologically on many factors, things that will be more serious and impact others. Like not sending help if there are no expectations of money or glory. Or giving political support to something even if it harmed someone, just because the proposal came from allies. Or not supporting someone from less noble backgrounds. (All of these things JC has done in canon)

WWX will eventually realize the ideological differences run just too deep and he will leave.

JC and WWX are almost as much a poor match as JFM and YZY. But WWX isn’t someone who can be worn down with constant bitchiness. He also isn’t someone who is stuck in a marriage.

I don’t believe that twin prides thing would ever happen, even in my worth of a good man au.

That’s the reason why the Jins were so pushy at the end of SSC. They were in a position of power, and knew that they would have had their way even if others disapproved of their politic. This is why there was this scene during the Phoenix hunts in which sect leaders (LXC & NMJ from memory?) disproved of defenceless people being used as target practice, but ultimately did nothing.

The thing is, it is canon that JC’s own people are afraid of approaching him with their concerns. The people of his territory don’t approach the Jiangs for help unless the matter is deadly. This is supported by novel text. This is the state of YungmengJiang after it is one of the remaining three great sects, an economic, political, and martial powerhouse.

Lan XiChen, “Not since a few days ago. Currently, it is in the hands of the YunmengJiang Sect.”

A sect leader spoke, “Sect Leader Nie, I don’t think you’ve heard yet. Yunmeng’s Sect Leader Jiang is quite powerful in the area.”

Another person added, “How can he not be? Wei WuXian alone can face millions, so who’d he be scared of? He can just sit there controlling his area, unlike how we’re always running for our lives. With such luck…”'

(Ch.48, ExR translation)

wei ying but round