Sigh sometimes the MQ and FX hate, while yeah Iâm not gonna tell you how to feel about a certain character is just soâŚbiased?
Like listen. The whole gist of MXTX characters is that they are ALL flawed and do things realistic humans would do. It just pisses me off that the characters do things that make sense with their flaws and struggles but people always justify XLs pain and mistakes while absolutely hating on the rest.
And also: itâs been stated that FX looked for XL. Like literally in the first book of the novel I believe. And MQ OBVIOUSLY THINKS XL IS MAD AT HIM AND HATES HIM WHY WOULD HE GO LOOK FOR HIM WHEN HE THINKS THAT?!
Yes Mu Qing left XL when he was struggling, yes it was shitty but also: his literal MOTHER was sick, HE also lost his country, Xianle wasnât traumatic only for XL (obviously he went through lots of shit different from MQ and FX) but he ALSO lost his home, he watched his people die, he was bullied relentlessly and literally BELIEVED XL and FX didnât like him but he still STUCK with them even after he was yelled at by the entire world he wasnât enough.
MNQ as much as I find him hilarious, clearly takes every moment he can to dismiss MQ and make him feel bad about himself ever since he was 15. 15. Do you know what hearing that type of shit every day of your life can make you think? He has self esteem issues while being prideful bc heâs a human being and all humans contradict themselves people!!! He left to help his mother, and with the 33 gods scene OMG YEAH obviously it was bad but once again letâs take a look at what happened alright?
ALSO ALSO Iâd like to add he probably thought FX and XL wouldnât struggle that much, bc FX and XL have been pretty successful their whole life, he probably thought they didnât need him to survive bc heâs been told theyâve always been leagues above him.
Anyway:
1. MQ sees the officials fighting XL.
2. MQ, gets asked to fight XL while XL asks him to side with him. He has struggled his whole life to be recognized, he does and becomes a lower court official, and now heâs caught between a rock and a hard place. (Is that the saying? English isnât my first language oop)
He wants to help XL he so obviously does, but once again- he has been like a dehydrated person his entire life and now he gets a chance to have water- only for him to be given the choice to give it up for his friend. Was it selfish? Yes. But did it make sense? Obviously. AGAIN heâs been STRUGGLING his whole life- and like XL said at one point, why isnât he allowed to think for himself just once? Plus even after having the offers of being a lower court official he waits and helps XL and his family for a long time until he leaves.
3. When XL says MQ is his friend (which btw- MQ had no idea about bc again, he has the entire world tell him since he was a TEEN that he has no right to be XLs friend and that he isnât, and being a TEENAGER WHO HAS BEEN BULLIED BY HIS PEERS AND TEACHER (who btw isnât supposed to talk shit about their students bc teachers are there to teach and be patient and such) HE BELIEVES IT BC ALSO AS MUCH AS I LOVE XL LETS BE REAL HE HASNâT DONE A LOT TO HELP HIM HAS HE????
(Tumblr deleted this part I hate everything why)
It said, yes while XL defended him that one time with MNQ when he was blamed about the whole entrance to the festival thing and later on with the bullies WHICH BTW has clearly been happening for a real long time) MQ has been reprimanded by the state preceptor since he was 15. FIFTEEN PEOPLE. Do you know what hearing that his hard work will never be enough compared to others, yo be bullied endlessly like that will do to a person?
Heâs been struggling his whole life to be recognized for his work- heâs like a starving man finally being able to have some food- why wouldnât he want to keep it that way? After heâs worked SO hard for SO long why wouldnât he try and keep his head above water after drowning all his life?
Like LOOK what this kid goes through
Also before you comment on the âhe himself wasnât very likeableâ have you ever heard of self defense mechanisms? MQ has shown to be quiet and rule abiding whenever people of higher class (which btw is practically everyone) have interacted with him, however when people have bullied him (which btw he has also shown to take quietly???) he has only sometimes defended himself. Heâs always on guard- and he reacts when he thinks someone is blaming him or using his status to be prejudiced towards him. Of course heâd grow up thinking everything was a little jab- that everyone was against him, because growing up thats what he saw.
He is immediately defensive bc itâs what he had to learn to do to survive.
And MQ follows the rules because he has been taught to survive from a young age.
And even after he ascends MNQ is SO shitty to him, only showing us a bit of what MQ had to go through EVERY DAY as a TEEN. XL never took his guoshi and was like âhey man can you please not bully this guy so much? Please donât be so prejudiced towards him.â
He doesnât. And again, thats bc XLs flaw at that time is he doesnât know what others struggle with since heâs been successful and pampered his whole life, obviously he wouldnât think about that at the time which is a flaw- just like MQ has flaws as well and acts accordingly.
AND AND it also says heâs been struggling in heaven as well.
And look at that. Much more difficult. Much more? That implies he had been having it hard enough before. Guys he was STRUGGLING OF COURSE HED TRY AND SAVE HIMSELF OH MY GOD
Anyway- he takes a step forward and clearly looks torn. We donât know what he was going to do- but if he truly hated XL he couldâve easily beat him up. Itâs until an asshole literally brings up, once again, something MQ has been bullied, self conscious about since he was a kid that MQ becomes mad- and it triggers him to side with the officials- but also give XL a small mercy. Was it wrong? Yes. Did he do it with malice? No.
MQ thought he was doing the right thing. MQ has always done whatâs best for him to survive bc he was raised in a family where not only where they poor, but his father was a criminal. Obviously he had to learn young to think about himself. Obviously he was selfish at that point because he finally was able to show his worth.
ALSO HIS MOTHER PROBABLY DIED IN THE TIME-SKIP HE WAS PROBABLY GRIEVING TOO OH MY GOD
AND ALSO PEER PRESSURE? THAT WAS CLEARLY PEER PRESSURE AND MQ CAVED UNDER IT BC HES HAS ISSUES OH MY GOD.
Sorry anyway letâs keep going.
Afterwards yes. He lets XL get pushed, he sees him run away. But again, this is what MQ thought was helping. He thought he was doing the right thing. He thought he was helping in his own way.
Can we also add, maybe he didnât want to fight XL? Maybe he didnât want it to keep escalating bc if it did it would mean beating XL up?
Even after the others goad him, MQ never touches XL. He couldâve hit him, he couldâve beaten him up and unloaded years of prejudice from everyone (including XL accidentally being classist- he doesnât do it on purpose of course but there have been moments when XL accidentally just never lets poor MQ ignore the divide between them)
(Letâs add crossing the line is such a good song for the two of them omg)
And while selfish he chose himself- he has been choosing XL all his life, hasnât he? Hes stood by him- why isnât he allowed think of himself once? Why canât he want to be successful, to be happy for once to have himself be acknowledged?
Am I saying what he did was good? No. But it makes sense for him and Iâm not going to demonize a person who has clearly been struggling with self worth issues, being bullied and told all his hard work meant nothing who chooses to think of himself for once.
And then even after that happens MQ CHASES AFTER HIM. Yes he doesnât help him, but chasing after him? The officials probably saw that and given the assholes they were probably shit talked him about that later.
MQ didnât have to go after him but he did. He did.
Late? Yes. But he still did it.
And even so he later also admits he did it so he could help them out- SO BEING AN OFFICIAL ALSO WASNâT A SELFISH ACT- he wanted to use it to help his friends as well
PLUS ITS EVEN SAID BY HIM HE ALSO DID IT TO HELP XL AND FX đ
Anyway he helps XL up and then apologizes. MQ apologizes.
People say him justifying his actions by comparing it to XLs robbery is not the same and doesnât compare but uh-
XL robbed someone because yes, he didnât have a choice, and he didnât do it because he liked it. It went against his beliefs and morals bc he had to survive.
MQ didnât help XL bc he was also struggling in heaven with the officials, and he clearly wants to help XL and doesnât like it, but does something that goes against his beliefs and morals because he had to survive.
And afterwards- he goes and does something that heavenly officials canât do. He gives them gifts. Which FX states that is dangerous and they canât do.
MQ does risk himself for XL- yes itâs late. But he risks his skin for XL. He clearly didnât think things would be so bad for them- he clearly thought theyâd be better off because again ITS WHAT HES BEEN TOLD HIS ENTIRE LIFE.
And then again- he apologizes.
He has had time to think- has had time to meditate away from everyone else. He has realized he was wrong. He realized he fucked up and goes to make up for it.
He made a mistake. He had no reason to do that, to give them food and then offer to give them medicine- but he still did.
And I am so sorry, but it seems hypocritical of everyone else to justify XLs actions because of his struggles, pain and grief- when while yeah, MQ didnât go though the same he still suffered, he still went through his struggles and pain.
I love XL but how come HE can act according to his feelings and pain and afterwards be forgiven but MQ canât?
XL made mistakes because the world drove him to it- because of what he went through and suffered.
MQ also made mistakes because the world drove him to it and he had suffered too.
Again, theyâre not in the same scale- but the justification of the actions is the same.
They were both driven to something and the actions they took were based on what happened to them. Then they realize their mistake and make up for it.
Phew anyway sorry for the rant itâs just. It hurts me to see characters not being treated the same- to be hated because of their flaws when the MCs get to have everything justified and ignored.
MXTX again, shows characters can make mistakes and have flaws. Hua Cheng is forgiven for his. Xie Lian is forgiven for his.
Why canât Mu Qingâs be as well? He certainly made up for it by almost dying and having a cursed shackle didnât he?
Heâs been thinking his whole life XL didnât like him. He fully believes it. And he does actions that are selfish- yes but he didnât do with the intention of hurting XL on purpose.
And then when he thinks XL is being kidnapped and stalked (which lets be clear he wasnât but for MQ and FXs POV it is lmao) by someone who has also KILLED OFFICIALS, plus is known to be manipulative and kind of crazy, get close to XL he does his best to help him??!
Like we do think itâs wrong because we have the context of everything XL and HC went through together- but MQ and FX dont.
Guys, if your friend was hanging out with a criminal who has killed your co workers, appears as if theyâve been stalking them and then have a whole place set on idolizing them (which yes I know the cave of 10k gods is a religious practice and I have defended HC from people who say itâs creepy, Iâm just giving the POV from MQ bc why would a ghost king worship a god? In universe it would be confusing and for them be creepy) wouldnât you be worried too? Hello!!! From their POV this is a horror movie đđđ
Anyway Iâll cut this rant here. Iâve been wanting to do a whole thing analyzing both MQ and FX and this doesnât even come close to everything I want to say but Iâve tapped to much.
Itâs fine to not like them. However donât shit on other people and demonize them completely without understanding their story and why they were written that way.
If yâall wanna talk about this more my asks are open đđ
