#qi-ling

(sorry if this is incoherent it's 1:22am for me)

Ooh, an ask!!! Thank you, @qi-ling! And thank you for the lovely compliment as well! ^_^ <3

I think there is definitely room for a "both/and" conclusion. I have not read the novel, but I do believe that it does make multiple explicit references to Jiang Cheng's envy-of-Wei-Wuxian-specifically, though there is at least a bit of wiggle room due to the novel being essentially from Wei Wuxian's POV. But there is also clear (if not always so explicitly stated) evidence that Jiang Cheng loves his brother.

It really all comes down to one inarguable and non-controversial point: Jiang Cheng is wildly competitive. And ambitious. He wants to be *good*. He'd like to be the *best*, if possible. But what does "good" and "the best" mean for Jiang Cheng?

If I can be allowed a brief digression, Jiang Cheng is one of the clearest examples of a Myers-Brigs ESTJ that I've ever seen. He is comfortable with (even thrives at) directing other people, likes order and organization, is not concerned with feelings over goals, and is more of a concrete thinker as opposed to an abstract one. But there is another aspect of this personality type that is pertinent to this discussion. The S-J type combination are conservative, socially conscious, and focused on society as a whole. They WANT to be pillars of the community because to them, the infrastructure of society is vital to healthy cooperative life. They want to be thought of as reliable and level-headed and dutiful. And because they believe in the importance of tradition and community, they will both instinctively and consciously choose the needs of the many over their own or the individual's needs.

What does this mean for Jiang Cheng's competitive nature? It means that- at the heart of it all- Jiang Cheng is not really being competitive for his OWN sake. Yes, it's nice to be admired and respected and lauded, and it hurts when his individual accomplishments are effortlessly eclipsed or ignored. But at the end of the day, what matters more to Jiang Cheng is that he becomes good, the best, for the sake of his family, his clan, his sect, and his ancestors. For the sake of Yunmeng Jiang maintaining its place as one of the major sects so as to protect and support its members and their dependents.

(IMHO, I think both Yu Ziyuan and Jiang Fengmian are individuality-focused types. When the former talks about dignity, duty, and propriety, she's really talking about how how it reflects upon her own self or image, while the latter is a total ISFP who hates conflict and rigid structure and is a very live-and-let-live type.)

As a natural cooperator, Jiang Cheng competes best when he can compete in the context of a higher goal. Being the best for his own sake alone is not sufficient long-term motivation for him, no matter how jealous or insecure he might be in the moment. But being the best so that he can keep up with his best friend, or please his parents, or lift up his sect... that is an endless well of motivation for him.

And as far as Jiang Cheng's natural abilities and talent go... well, as I wrote for one of my fics, talent is often ignored when genius is present. I think he is one of the most capable and promising young masters out there. I mean, look who he's keeping up with: Wei Wuxian the literal genius, the Twin Jades who have the advantage of Lan genetics and Lan Qiren's instruction from birth, Jin "access to the best cultivation instructors that money can buy and takes FULL ADVANTAGE OF IT because it's the one bright spot in his viper's nest of a home" Zixuan, and jacked-giant-with-a-semi-sentient-weapon Nie Mingjue.

And Jiang Cheng is one of the youngest among them, IIRC.

And this might be a controversial opinion, but one aspect of the golden core transfer is often overlooked: that of host rejection. The whole deal with transfers is trying to find the closest match to the lost original. We don't put adult hearts into baby chests. This is spiritual energy we're talking about; even if the core itself is a little physical thing, the likelihood of it SCORCHING THROUGH too-small or unprepared meridians is huge! In other words, Jiang Cheng could successfully host the powerful prodigy Wei Wuxian's golden core because he was close enough in power to him to not have it overwhelm him!

(I will die on that hill, btw.)

THE JIANG CHAOTICSPHERE SHALL REIGN SUPREME FOR ALL OF TIME! Also, I'm so very glad that you enjoy my insanity. :D

But I love the Jiang disciples so much! I know we get perhaps all of 20 seconds combined worth of footage, but I will remain obsessed with those background scenes forever.

Do you see any other disciple fearlessly poking the Sandu Shengshou's chest wound? Or aggressively manhandling him away from a blood-soaked battlefield? Or picking up after his dramatically discarded capes as they traipse across country? How many disciples of other sects do you see happily proclaiming that their former head disciple hasn't forgotten them while his army of disquiet spirits casually murders everyone else around them?

Screams? What screams? Da-shixiong still loves us!

This chaotic behavior could only come from the Jiangs. Trained by Wei Wuxian, imbued with his spirit, and nurtured by Jiang Yanli's wondrous ability to look at her little brothers committing several scrolls of war crimes and going: Babies. MY babies.

I actually find their chaos incredibly heartwarming. For Jiang Cheng especially. While the rest of the cultivation world has spun stories about the fearsome leader of the Jiang sect, the one that you do not cross, it's so clear that his disciples give absolutely no shits about his reputation. He may be the world's Sandu Shengshou, but he's still just their hot, well-dressed, grumpy purple grape sect leader. This ancient Chinese spreadsheets-loving man who probably puts talisman trackers on all of them so that he knows where they are at all times, who spends hours lecturing them on the importance of sticking together, who trains and drills them into the ground because he wants them to be good, to be the best, so that they can be safe. So that when war comes knocking on their doorsteps again, this time, they'll win.

Even in just these short seconds of footage, you can tell their loyalty for Jiang Cheng is absolute. I love that. I love that for him. Jiang Cheng, who loses his entire family, who rebuilds his sect in the ashes of all that he has lost, who wraps himself in an armor of fury and bitterness and regret that is near impenetrable, but here is a group of disciples who peel those layers away as if they're not there at all. Who knows him, perhaps not as well as his siblings once did, but who love him in that same effortless way.

see, the thing about yu bin is that his face is very, extremely sweet. i think it's the eyes - he always looks a little lost, when he's wearing a neutral expression, which is in part why i think he was such a great choice for wen ning on looks alone! wang haoxuan, however, no matter what he kind of character he's playing, looks like a little shit. he has what i like to call "schemer brows." if he played wen ning, i think there would have been more of the wen ning who shouts at jiang cheng shining through in the rest of the show, which would've been fun, but it would've been a Different Wen Ning.

you just brought this to a whole new level ashton

like i was thinking it more in the sense of he has a news app that sends notifications for breaking news, because my sister has it and that's what i figured the og anon meant with their ask, so in my mind he genuinely can't escape it (he could, just turn off the notifications. delete the app.) but the idea of him having google alerts for every single iteration of his name and probably just as many alerts for each of member of his family?????

[answering some older asks! from this ask game]

Ship It

1. What made you ship it?

tbh the way i got into it was pretty simple - i went "hmm, who at cloud recesses would it be fun to ship nhs with" (for my "nhs kisses a bunch of people at the cloud recesses" fic) and decided that wen ning would be a great choice. plus, i already ship ningxian and sangxian, so... why not sangning?

2. What are your favorite things about the ship?

they are both sweet and anxious and trying their best! (well... no, nhs isn't trying his best actually. but i can't blame him.) but i do think they've both got some anxiety issues, and i think they're both suuuper touch-starved, and they'd love someone to go exploring in the woods with, or someone to do creative projects with, or something like that! wn is very candid, and i think nhs would appreciate that - and nhs is more socially outgoing than wn (at times, at least), and i think wn would appreciate that too.

plus, i think wn is one of the few people who doesn't completely hate nhs post-canon...

3. Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

*SMASHES INTO THIS ANSWER AT MACH 10 BECAUSE I AM A TOTAL SLUT FOR PERSONALITY TYPING* @qi-ling THANK YOU!!!

NB: This characterization is primarily for CQL/Untamed Jiang Cheng because the novel and donghua are much less familiar to me, though I still think they probably apply.

OKAY, so full disclosure I believe Jiang Cheng is:

MBTI: ESTJ Enneagram: 6 Humors: Choleric/Melancholic Sorting Hat Chats: Slytherin Primary, Hufflepuff Secondary Love Language: Physical Touch

Of the above, the Enneagram is the newest to me, nevertheless, the instant I began to comprehend the patterns, I became convinced that there is nothing else that Jiang Cheng could be but a 6. Let's do a quick analysis of 6 and 8 (the latter of which he is commonly typed as.) (info taken from enneagraminsitute.com and a chart that I can no longer find fml)

Type 6, The Loyalist: In Brief: Committed, Security-Oriented Type: Engaging, Responsible, Anxious, and Suspicious Fear: Being without support and guidance Desire: To have security and support Under stress: Becomes arrogant and competitive like unhealthy 3s Positive growth: Becomes relaxed and optimistic like healthy 9s

Type 8, The Challenger: In Brief: Powerful, Dominating Type: Self-Confident, Decisive, Willful, and Confrontational Fear: Being harmed or controlled by others Desire: To protect themselves Under stress: Becomes secretive and fearful like unhealthy 6s Positive growth: Become open-hearted and caring like healthy 2s

Now, according to the Enneagram Institute, there are a LOT of similarities between 6s and 8s, particularly when it comes to aggression, so it’s very understandable and arguable for JIang Cheng to be an 8 instead! If I were to try and boil the difference down to the bare minimum, I would say that 6s are more reactive, specifically reacting to their inner fears and likely to give in if the outside pressure is too great. 8s are more constantly aggressive and belligerent and are more likely to double-down obstinately in the face of outside pressure. 8s are also naturally sure of themselves, whereas 6s are no more sure of themselves than they are of everything else in life (which is to say, not very.)

To illustrate my point and the differences, Nie Mingjue is absolutely, positively an 8. He only becomes more stubborn when encountering opposition, and he fearfully keeps the secret of Nie cultivation from his little brother. Lan Xichen (and Huaisang, on a good day) brings out his best qualities, which manifest like nurturing and mothering. (See him reassuring Xichen during the Sunshot Campaign.) 8s are charismatic leaders, with a seemingly unending store of energy. They are extremely industrious, but likely to emotionally distance themselves from others then they’re stressed or focused.

Jiang Cheng is also very aggressive, but he will give in to outside influence, whether it's in the form of a united front of other sect leaders or his shixiong's continued insistence. At his core, he is a much more fearful and anxious person than Nie Mingjue is, and since he is perpetually stressed and traumatized since a young age, he is constantly worried about position and status and reputation... like unhealthy 3s. (a.k.a. Jin Guangyao.) Jiang Cheng is always nagging and worrying, which is typical 6 behavior; what is significant are the moments where he is smiling and relaxed and doesn't have fifteen thousand layers of his guard up.

As the “Loyalist”, 6s are both gullible AND suspicious-- basically, they are naturally suspicious  because of their fear, but they can be unwisely loyal to others out of a fear of being left alone (see my tag “Separation Anxiety Disaster”) and if someone has their loyalty, they will not question them but will blindly follow. (*cough* golden core transplant *cough*) They will “go down with the ship” for those they love or care for, and defend their family or community with more fervor then they defend themselves.

Because they are paranoid about security and safety, 6s like to have emergency contingency plans, and the more the better. These security measures can be physical (rebuilding Lotus Pier) or emotional/psychological (making sure his reputation is so feared that no one fucks with them again.)

Here’s a lovely little bit from the Enneagram Institute:

Until they can get in touch with their own inner guidance, Sixes are like a ping-pong ball that is constantly shuttling back and forth between whatever influence is hitting the hardest in any given moment. Because of this reactivity, no matter what we say about Sixes, the opposite is often also as true. They are both strong and weak, fearful and courageous, trusting and distrusting, defenders and provokers, sweet and sour, aggressive and passive, bullies and weaklings, on the defensive and on the offensive, thinkers and doers, group people and soloists, believers and doubters, cooperative and obstructionistic, tender and mean, generous and petty—and on and on. It is the contradictory picture that is the characteristic “fingerprint” of Sixes, the fact that they are a bundle of opposites.