Children of The River - frames and thoughts
This one has a really messy thought process.
Jiang Chengâs mourning clothes were intentional. The siege happened only three months after Yanliâs deathânot even a hundred days had passed. He was still in mourning. No guan, no Zidian. Just Sandu and his clarity bell.
I wanted, later on to portray that one moment in battle where Jiang Chengâs figure would mirror Yanliâs. Just for a second. Despite all their differences. The song was picked entirely for the line âIâm the riverâs daughterâ. It ties back to their childhoodâthe three of them children of Yunmeng Jiang. âJiangâ means river, so it felt fitting. Too fitting, honestly.
When I drew their expressions, there was one emotion I wanted to show most. Most depictions of the siege go straight into revenge, fury, rage. But for these two? I didnât want anger to be the main thing. I wanted to show grief.
That kind of hollowing, simmering grief that sits in your chest and never leaves. Especially with Wei Wuxianâitâs complicated. You can feel how hard heâs trying to keep it together. To stay calm. To control it. And then you see itâred bleeding into his eyes. For Jiang cheng, Thereâs that one line where Wei wuxian describes Jiang Chengâs face as full of hostility⌠but also incredibly gloomy. I just went on with it.
The blindfolded panel was very much on purposeâa way to show how both of them were just pieces in someone elseâs game. A center piece of this animatic, you could say. One small detail is I made Jiang Chengâs sword point toward his own neck. Just a hint. A quiet suggestion. That start with one truth âJiang Cheng could never have won against Wei Wuxian. And at the same time, Wei Wuxian could never let Jiang Cheng die.
To be blunt, Yunmeng Jiang was weak at that point. They were barely standing. The sect had been rebuilt, yes, but it hadnât even been five years. Theyâd lost so much. You can see it in how little they received after the Wen warâbasically scraps. Their strength was gone. What kind of people were crazy enough to follow Yunmeng Jiang back thenâ to stand behind a leader who held a single flag alone in the middle of a war?
Probably the kind who had nothing left.
The kind whoâd already lost the same.
Calling them a major force was more of a political statement than reality. they were made into a shield. Something to take the hit. Something to use.
Why make Yunmeng Jiang the main force in the first place?
A sect barely standing, rebuilt on ashes, carrying grief like second skin.
They didnât have the numbers. They didnât have the strength.
But they had Jiang Cheng.
Not because he could winâbut because he was the one Wei Wuxian couldnât kill.
That was the play. That was the advantage.
They made him a commander, not out of honorâbut because he was the only sword that could get close without being struck down.
The only one who could hold that line while the rest moved in for the kill.
They handed him the siegeâ
because they knew heâd walk straight into the fire, and Wei Wuxian would flinch.
The cultivation world had witness something. They saw what happened in Nightless City. They saw the two of them face each otherâand how Wei Wuxian let Jiang Cheng live. And they made their bet.
Not just on strength or strategy. They bet on history. On loyalty. On loveâif you want to call it that. Not romantic, but something deeper. Something messy. The love that comes from being raised together, losing the same people, breaking and still somehow holding on.
Thatâs why Jiang Cheng made the perfect shield. Maybe even the perfect knife.
They werenât just betting on power.
They were betting on love.
