#and even if they knew his true identity i don't think it'll change people's perception of him

[ladsofsorrow24]

i think from the recent chapter, fujimoto might touch on the aspect of celebrity/idol culture...

[hunxi-after-hours]

(1) Because of you I just binged Nirvana in Fire in three days. I can think of nothing else since. In perusing tumblr, consensus seems to be that MCS was gaslighting Jingyan. Playing devil’s advocate, I can rationalize why MCS continued lying. Jingyan made it clear that he didn’t like or fully trust MCS because he views him as a schemer. Their relationship was purely political. From MCS viewpoint, that opinion doesn’t necessarily change. After MCS recovers from torture, there are heaping waves

(2) of guilt from Jingyan. But the two of them never discuss this. There’s no apology or explanation. MCS may see that there is no longer dislike and he’s gained more trust. But he doesn’t know that the trust is now complete, especially as Jingyan shows lack of trust by trying to ferret out the secret with Consort Jing when he’s asked to drop it. If MCS were to confess that he was Lin Shu, would Jingyan believe him or would he think he was scheming again?

I don’t think Jingyan would have believed it during their fight in the snow. And I don’t think MCS trusted Jingyan enough afterwards to make that confession. For me, Jingyan had to find out from a third party. Your thoughts? (3)

a...anon, you good? that's a lot of episodes in three days, I know this show is really good but 安全第一啊，这速度有一点可怕

anyway, uh, Mei Changsu was absolutely out here gaslighting Xiao Jingyan for a solid fifty episodes. is that even a point of contention? because setting aside the gap between the internet's memetic use of 'gaslighting' and the actual dictionary definition of 'gaslighting,' Mei Changsu absolutely lied to Xiao Jingyan about his identity with the intent to deceive, that's like, not at all a question (whether Mei Changsu was out to undermine Xiao Jingyan's perception of memory and reality is a different accusation we really don't need to get into). manipulate + mansplain are kind of Mei Changsu's whole deal, when you take a moment to think about it

attempting to assess whether it was morally correct of Mei Changsu to lie to Xiao Jingyan, though, I think is rather missing the point of plot-necessitated deception in this narrative. it's not about whether Mei Changsu did the right thing, whatever that is — he simply did what he had to do, in the extremely limited time that he was given

basically, I think that Mei Changsu's reasons for lying to Xiao Jingyan re: identity are four-fold:

the practicalities of secret-keeping: the fewer people know about a secret, the less likely it'll get out, and the whole "Mei Changsu-is-actually-the-presumed-dead-and-pronounced-traitor-Lin Shu" is a pretty hefty secret

Lin Shu's friends are, across the board, absolutely terrible at keeping secrets. we love Meng Zhi but we attempt to minimize how much deception he has to pull off, and Nihuang is a classic example of someone who cannot restrain her instinctive reaction to throw hands whenever someone insults her Lin Shu-gege

Lin Shu's friends are also, across the board, overly protective of him. a major reason why Mei Changsu chose not to disclose his identity was precisely because he knew that their concern for him would interfere with their ability to get anything done. look at how badly Xiao Jingyan took it when Mei Changsu waltzed into the Xuanjing Bureau, and that was before Xiao Jingyan understood the true compounded danger of Lin Shu offering himself up to Xia Jiang. Mei Changsu knows his friends, loves them, and is keenly aware that if they knew who he truly was, they'd be so concerned with his safety that literally nothing would get done because they'd all be too busy fretting. Mei Changsu needs to appear as an aloof, distant third party in order to make his arguments as compelling as they are, and to make the gambles it takes to succeed

Lin Shu's legacy: this is one of the most fascinating and compelling reasons why Mei Changsu keeps his identity hidden — his complicated relationship with his own past and personhood. One of the things that makes Mei Changsu such a complex character is how alienated he is from himself. in order to become what Xiao Jingyan needs, Mei Changsu becomes everything Xiao Jingyan (and in all likelihood, young Lin Shu) hates — political, conniving, clever, manipulative, coldly practical, vicious, deceptive. while he remains the mysterious, anonymous Mei Changsu, his stratagems are challenging to Xiao Jingyan's morality and worldview, yes, but if he reclaims the identity of Lin Shu, there would be an additional shadow of betrayal and tragedy cast over his every word and action. it wouldn't just be Xiao Jingyan looking at him with cold standoffishness, but also an additional undercurrent of horror and pity and disappointment — is this what you've become, xiao-Shu? Mei Changsu can't afford to get too close, because then everything will become too messy, too personal, too emotional, and he literally does not have the time to deal with that

in the last few episodes of the show, both Mei Changsu and the Liang Emperor agree on this — Lin Shu cannot come back to life. let Lin Shu, the brightest youth in the capital, die a brilliant, tragic legend, canonized thirteen long years ago into the past. let his legacy remain unsullied by deception and political maneuvering. let Lin Shu rest in the northern wilds of Meiling, and let Mei Changsu join him, quietly, without fanfare, because that's the only place he truly, truly belongs

tl;dr I don't think it's a question of whether or not Mei Changsu was gaslighting Xiao Jingyan, or even whether Mei Changsu was justified in lying to Xiao Jingyan. it's about narrative and necessity, identity and relationships, trust and emotion, legacy and love. it's about how much you would sacrifice to see your goals achieved, even if the price is your past self and the relationship that mattered most to you in the world. it's about the exquisitely crafted yet understated grief, and tragedy, and sorrow underlying the shape of their world, and it's about gently showing your loved ones how to let go of you before you leave, because you know you cannot stay