#and i’m howling at go for the flautist

[mistressaccost]

my notes from my first read of soc are so chaotic dear god

[hunxi-guilai]

Do you have any thoughts about people saying wwx nearly destroyed the world, ruined countless lives, etc. and then gets to come back and pretend like he did nothing wrong? Esp. in regards to him telling JC to leave things in the past, the improbability of everyone deciding to forgive the yiling patriarch etc. I honestly don't agree with this reading of his character because to me if anyone hates wwx the most it's wwx himself and I feel like he is going to try to fix it beyond the bounds of the book but I don't know, maybe I'm not being v. objective about it? And there's a lot to say about trauma responses but idk.

But does he? Does Wei Wuxian really get to come back and pretend like he did nothing wrong?

There’s a wonderful, chilling exchange in S3E9 of the audiodrama; a cultivator confronts Wei Wuxian about the ramifications of his past actions, the bloodbath at Nightless City, the tragedies he caused directly and indirectly:

Wei Wuxian: 那你究竟想怎么样？你究竟想要什么？他没了一条腿，我碎尸万段，你失去双亲，而我早就家破人亡[...]请问你们还要究竟怎么样？/ Then how do you want this handled? Exactly what do you want? He lost a leg -- my body was torn to thousands of pieces; you lost your parents -- my home and family were lost much earlier... I would like to ask -- exactly how do you want this handled?

Cultivator: 没用的。魏无羡，无论你做什么，都不要指望我会原谅你！永远不会！/ It’s no use. Wei Wuxian, no matter what you do, don’t hope that I’ll forgive you! I’ll never forgive you!

Wei Wuxian: 没谁让你原谅我。我做过的是，不光你记得，我也记得。你不会忘；我更不会忘。/ No one asked you to forgive me. What I’ve done, not only you remember, but I also remember. You won’t forget; neither will I.

Keep in mind that this happens after the second siege of the Burial Mounds -- Wei Wuxian has already drawn a spirit lure flag on his clothes, functionally sacrificed himself to save a mob that was clamoring for his blood not an hour earlier. Even after that stunt, he is not, by any stretch of the imagination, forgiven.

So a lot of the trickiness of this conversation about Wei Wuxian’s culpability, and what some kind of “justice for Wei Wuxian” might look like, is that, well, CQL and MDZS have very different takes on the relative moral grayness of its protagonist, which is a subject that has had a lot of ink spilled on it and one I’m particularly ill-suited to discuss. At least within the narrative of CQL, with the addition of the second flautist and the reveal that Wei Wuxian did not, in fact, lose control but was rather sabotaged by other people, does powerfully suggest that Wei Wuxian isn’t as guilty as the body count would imply. But even with the addition of the second flautist and the sabotage, the question of Wei Wuxian’s guilt isn’t something that can be calculated easily.

That being said, I absolutely do not think CQL!Wei Wuxian comes back to life with zero consequences for his actions--he spends much of the present timeline wearing a mask precisely because he will be hunted down and killed if people find out his true identity. He gets hounded out of Lanling and stabbed; during the second siege of the Burial Mounds, we’re treated to the assembled cultivators howling for his blood. It’s very clear that Wei Wuxian telling Jiang Cheng to leave all of their bad blood in the past is not the conclusion to their relationship, and one needs only to search on AO3 for the subgenre of ‘yunmeng shuangjie reconciliation’ to see many, many different takes on how the consequences of Wei Wuxian’s actions come back to bite him.

As for the “improbability of everyone deciding to forgive the yiling patriarch,” well, I think that’s less of a reflection on Wei Wuxian’s culpability and more part of the narrative’s focus on mob mentality and the fickleness of reputation. I don’t think Wei Wuxian is forgiven, per se; it’s more like public opinion has found a more convenient target to displace its mindless hatred on, especially with the new discoveries of the day (Wei Wuxian essentially sacrificing himself  during the second siege of the Burial Mounds, Sisi and Bicao’s... everything). Wei Wuxian hardly pretends he did nothing wrong, but he has the remarkable ability to let bygones be bygones, to acknowledge that he cannot undo the hurts of the past, and to turn, relentlessly, towards the future. Wei Wuxian, of all people, knows how rare and precious a second chance can be, and he seizes it with both hands.

I think folks who think Wei Wuxian got off easy are kind of missing the point of the narrative’s take on vengeance and justice -- Wei Wuxian is an impossibly perfect case study for the question of “what happens after you’ve taken an eye for an eye?” Wei Wuxian has already died once -- what else would you have him do? Die again? How long would you have him crawl through the mud, repenting, until you are satisfied with your execution of justice?

Wei Wuxian is not innocent in any incarnation, in any adaptation, but I don’t think the story’s focus lies in how to absolve him of blame. No, a far more interesting narrative theme to investigate is how one moves on. How do you live with the consequences? How do you navigate them, resolve them, communicate with the bereaved? What is the living cost of the wrongs you have committed? Where does justice end, and vengeance begin? When does vengeance end, and forgiveness begin?

[wwxyoudumbass]

Part 2 of the

Badass!YanLi Headcanons

also known as

Shijie Saves A-Ying

(and a thousand other lives)

Scene begins on Wen Qing looking up from her work as she hears the demon twunk shout her name.

"WHAT IS IT??" She turns to the cave as he rushes out.

What gets from his nervous ramblings is "something happened" and "I swear I didn't do anything this time" and "someone's fucking screwing with the wards!!!"

Her eyes widen in terror. "But you said–" she forces her breaths to calm down because this isn't the time for anger, "Nevermind, what's happened? I didn't hear any explosions."

"I know, right! It was that weird mushroom you'd found yesterday - the one that reacts to qi - and ugh I'm sorry I didn't include you but I'd just had this crazy idea and I got excited, and the next moment I know–" He breaks off, looking like he's seen a ghost.

She turns around to find Jiang Yanli walking through the undergrowth, Sect Leader Jiang in the undertow. She steels herself, hand on the hilt, gesturing her people to make themselves scarce. Just in case. Then she takes to eyeing the Jiangs with hostility. At least they left their disciples at the wards, so that's something.

But how the fuck did they get through the wards.

She turns to wwx to see if he's thinking along the same lines but the crazy genius is too feels-struck to think. Ugh, this is going to be tough.

The lotus lady and the emo flautist stare at each other for a moment before wwx is running to his shijie, her arms open to catch him in what must be a bone-crushing embrace. Then wwx begins to shake and Wen Qing has to turn her eyes away, the moment is too private.

Wwx can't think straight. He can't think at all - shijie is here, shijie is here and everything will be alright - he'd promised himself that he'll act all tough when jc comes and the little shit won't even suspect - but he wasn't prepared for this! Any thoughts of control and secrets and the need for pretense flees his head the moment she throws open her arms, her eyes saying, "There you are, A-Ying. You mischievous little brat."

And he's running, he's flying and he's in her arms and before he knows it he's crying but she's also crying so it's ok, why the fuck is it that easy for him to just howl into her shoulder and why the fuck does she hold him like she wants to break his ribs so she can soothe him inside out, beginning from his core? That's funny, he thinks, because if she crushed his ribs her hands would close upon empty air, haha– oh.

He hates this. He hates the whole entire world.

Gingerly, he separates from her, wiping her cheeks with his sleeve(palms dirty from his little experiment), huffing out a soft happy laugh like one does in such moments while she wipes his tears with her thumbs, smiling up at him like she's determined to set his world straight with kind smiles and warm hugs and gentle caresses alone. And she just might, lol.

"Alright then, time to whoop his stupid ass. Shijie, are you doing it or should I?" Jc looks like he's very much dying to be included in the hug but is also 100% mad at wwx. The Zidian cracks on his finger. "It's funny," he says, and wwx can tell he's going to say some mean shit, "they said you're harbouring war criminals and raising an army of fierce corpses to wipe out the gentry clans! Looks like your corpses are nothing but straw dummies building old age homes for the last couple years of these lowlives, heh."

Wwx doesn't give him the satisfaction by rolling his eyes and says instead, blatantly smiling, "Oh, you're here too. Guess it can't be helped." He bows over-the-top, "What brings you here, Sandu Shengshou?"

That's all it takes for the purple menace to rush at him. He ducks behind shijie, his favourite shield in the world. That's when jc decides that sect leaders are too cool for shit like this and straightens up, showily dusting his immaculate sleeves, rolling his eyes in I'm above you, you peasant, saying, "Ugh, you're still so childish, it's pathetic."

Wwx shrugs. He gestures for them to follow him, saying "I guess I should invite you both inside the Demon Subdue Palace."

Jc scoffs and shijie blinks at him as if checking whether all his marbles are still in place. He laughs. "Come on, it's funny! I'm the demon, and I sleep there!! Demon, Palace, Subdue." He points first at himself, then at the cave and then mimes what looks like a three-year-old sleeping.

Before jc can retort, they hear Wen Qing draw her sword. The trio turn to look and wwx's brain goes wtf, is that Lan Zhan?! And wtf is the Peacock doing here, for fucks sake!

Here's the Part 1