#but it didn't really stick with me like mdzs did and this is why

[qeireinier]

I think what Original Luo Binghe did to Shen Jiu parallels what happened between Wei Wuxian and Wen Chao. Let me yap.

Look this might sound stupid to you but I just rewatched MDZS and I JUST saw some similarities with PIDW. After coming out of the Burial Mounds, WWX literally tortured WC before his death. The Burial Mounds is a place of literal torture and WWX went through HELL in it without his golden core. Because of what? Because of WC, he's the one who threw him into there.

It's an eye for an eye. WWX must've gotten his organs rearranged, bones crushed by constant attacks from walking corpses, eaten corpse fingers to survive, and many other horrors MXTX didn't mention. So WC SHOULD feel all of that, as payment for his sins to WWX and all other people he inflicted.

With LBG and SJ, the Endless Abyss is almost no different than Burial Mounds except it's festered with demonic instead of resentful energy (I think they're not really the same type?) and various types of beasts iirc. So even with his golden core, it's still harder for LBH because he barely knew how to avoid or fight them, where their weak spots are, etc. And instead of 3 months, it's 5 YEARS so it's enough time for his hatred for SJ to fester like a fairytale witch's soup. In the very beginning, he must've also gone through hell. Maybe the beasts ripped his limbs apart, stabbed his eyes, pulled his tongue out and only because of his Heavenly Demon blood that he recovered himself back (probably). It's very different from running away from resentful corpses because you KNOW just how to fight them off, even though it's just impossible for their number.

So, seeing LBH making SJ into a human stick doesn't surprise me too much. It's the case of an eye for an eye. No, it's still wrong, I'm not justifying it. I'm just making my analysis. THAT'S why it reminds me so much of WC's death.

Even both of the MCs have a demonic object in their hands, the Stygian Tiger Seal and Xin Mo. Both are untamable and capable of driving their holders insane. What differs our MC however—is that WWX has things to lose, and that's why he's often shown to be holding himself back from a killing spree. Hell, he's even the actual most righteous character in the novel.

While LBH doesn't have anything left to lose. He doesn't have a family, friends, all these wives and servants probably don't mean much on him. Also, his demon blood affects his mindset, giving his brain more "predatory instincts" as I'm gonna call it. Added with the fact that he spent more time in the Endless Abyss and how his mind had been corrupted by Xin Mo, LBH would pull a "No More Mr. Nice Guy, Heh >:)". That makes him not so kind as to give SJ the mercy of death. He probably wanted to keep SJ alive for 5 years or maybe forever til his brain finally decides "yep, that's it, go die or whatever idc anymore". Yeah, until BingggeMei extra happened and we could probably assume SJ's death is never gonna happen, but that's for another story nevermind.

However, it does mean that the latter won't hold himself back. The point where he crosses the line is when he burns down the CQMS, kills the Peak Lords, and even went so far as to merge the demonic and mortal realms. That's what differs him from WWX, so much. It's literally canonically said that he's not the nice kind of protag.

SO in conclusion—when I see people talking about how "SJ didn't deserve all that", I'm between agreeing and disagreeing. What LBG did to SJ is terribly inhumane, but that's to be expected from a demon emperor like him. Hey I'm a SJ stan, it doesn't mean my views are completely biased. Especially considering what LBG possibly went through in the Endless Abyss for five years as a mere disciple without a sword like Xuan Su.

I think this is why PIDW readers rooted for LBG, because the story was from his POV. Tragic MC, thrown into the pits of hell by his cruel master. Our perspective is widened through reading SV and we can see the tragic POV of SJ and so we start to root for him too. No, it doesn't mean that either of these 2 are completely right in their choices, the both of them are very flawed and they're trapped in this cycle of abuse, very harmful to the surroundings. We can't fully fault or justify them. Yes, they need therapists, perchance one hidden behind a very powerful barrier in case any of them decides to attack the poor therapist.

But this realization—the parallels between LBG&SJ and WWX&WC—just kind of amazes me. Okay, ted talk ends, thank you for surviving through, if you don't have any nice words to say please scroll away :(

[salternateunreality2]

I'm watching The Untamed (adapted from MDZS aka Mo Dao Zu Shi), which is a Chinese BL/drama.

So far, I have found it easiest to understand the unfamiliar names and characters by comparing them to FF7 characters.

It is a SephZack romance (@prismaticpichu), if Genesis were Zack's adoptive brother and Angeal acted as Sephiroth's older brother. Some rough approximations of scenes from the c-drama:

Zack: hey hey hey hey hey

Seph: 👀

Zack: you're cute 😉

Angeal: 😏😏Did you hear that, Sephiroth, Zack thinks you're cute 😏😏

Seph: 🫣

Zack: have a snack!

Seph: no

Angeal: Seph, have the snack. Both of them 😏😏😏

Seph: 😳😳😳😳

------

Genesis: Zack. Zackary. WHY are you flirting with the overpowered stick in the mud?!?! Stop it! Leave the man alone!

Zack: He's so cute though! Like when he smiles!

Genesis: that man has never smiled in his LIFE.

-------

Angeal: Hey Seph, I think you should go on this mission!

Sephiroth: As you wish.

Angeal: 😈

Zack: HOWDY! I'm here for the mission, ready to go, bud?

Seph: 😳

Genesis: 🤦

---------

Zack: look, I made an origami kitty out of our mission report! For you!

Sephiroth: 🥴

Zack: YOU SMILED!!!! GEN LOOK, HE CAN SMILE!

Sephiroth: 😐 😳

Genesis: THAT IS A GRIMACE! No offense, Sephiroth.

Sephiroth: None taken. 😳

Angeal: 😈😈😈😈😈

----------

(He really is doing his best and his best is the flattest affect this side of the Mississippi)

(He also saved that kitty in his special box the minute Zack was out of sight, and after scolding Zack for not following the rules.)

-------

Zack: I'm going to save the dumbass trooper that dropped his weapon and went back for it!

Sephiroth: ...

Zack: HANG ON BUDDY, I'VE GOT YA! (he does not got the trooper, he only barely reaches him and is now trying to figure out step 2)

Sephiroth: *jumps down, picks up Zack and trooper by their collars, jumps back up*

Zack: aww, thanks bud, but can you grab my hand? This is uncomfy!

Sephiroth: no.

Zack: whyyyyyyyyyyy

Sephiroth: I don't allow people to touch me.

Zack: *extreme pouting*

Trooper: 🤡

--------

This did not happen in the drama, but @errantnight and I decided it should be canon for the FF7 adaptation: Genesis ran away as a small child, and his parents got great publicity out of it, but didn't actually look for him. He made his way to Gongaga and was instantly adopted by Zack (and the Fairs).

Zack just saw him walking down the road, toddled up, grabbed his shirttail, and said "Peepo." Genesis couldn't shake the toddler and Zack's mom invited him in for dinner. Zack never let go and still calls him "Peepo" to this day. Only in private now, but as a toddler, it was constant.

Despite Gen's best efforts, he's also known as:

Genny

GenGen

Sissssssssssss

Blehblehsis

Genevieve

Vivi

Wed (red)

PeepoPeepo

--------

Side note:

A translation choice led to the leader of the group telling everyone to levitate their weapons, then stand on them to escape the water monster by saying "EVERYONE! RIDE YOUR SWORDS!"

When I tell you my inner 13 yo almost perished, I am only exaggerating a little.

[weiwuxianismybae]

My fandom pet peeves

Lan Wangji’s dislike of Jiang Wanyin

So, I dived back into the world of fanfiction and was quickly reminded of all the fanon things I hate. Starting with Lan Wangji’s unreasonable dislike of Jiang Cheng. In order to promote "Wei Wuxian's little brother Jiang Cheng", Lan Wangji's very good reasons to hate Jiang Cheng are reduced to some petty, stupid bs like "He [LWJ] didn't like how often Jiang Cheng hit Wei Wuxian." And later on we get this gem: "After some time LWJ understood that violence is JC's way of showing affection." Like, wtf? If my younger sibling (and I have one) showed their affection through violence, I wouldn't see it as love, but as abuse, 'cause that's what it is. And I'm not talking about the normal sibling fighting because that's not what Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng's relationship is. I mean, just reread the Cloud Recesses Study arc. The only thing Jiang Cheng seems to know is how to belittle and criticise Wei Wuxian. I'm not gonna lie, I found some of the remarks quite funny (I'm a passive aggressive bitch myself), but when that's the only thing that comes out of Jiang Cheng's mouth, it really starts to eat at you. I deeply respect Wei Wuxian's ability to not take it seriously. And when Lan Wangji’s actual grievances with Jiang Cheng are stated, we get the "but he [JC] still loved his brother" nonsense. Lan Wangji’s real reasons to dislike Jiang Cheng are as follows: abandoning Wei Wuxian, being the prime reason and catalyst of Wei Wuxian's death, spreading hateful rumours about Wei Wuxian (who else could have been the source of "WWX is responsible for Jiang Clan's massacre" if not the only surviver, besides Wei Wuxian, of the said massacre?), and hunting down the so-called demonic cultivators because "what if that's actually Wei Wuxian." I commend Lan Wangji’s restraint, because if it had been me, I would have long since punched that guy in the nose. And I absolutely love Lan Wangji’s attitude of "I won't look at you; I won't speak to you. Sizhui, you may speak on my behave."

"Lans only love once"

Please tell me I'm not the only one who gets toothache whenever I read this. When I came across it for the first time, I didn’t think much of it. Like, at first, I thought it was cute, but then it started grinding on my nerves. Why? Because it diminishes Lan Wangji’s love, trust and devotion to Wei Wuxian to a mere fate thing that is beyond your control. He is already being reduced to some block of ice (by the mob in mdzs and the fandom), and now you also simplify such an important part to his character. Like, where did this even come from? Yes, we have the famous Lan "I will leave this world, because my love is no longer in it" An and Lan Wangji, but that's it when it comes to die-hard romantics in the Lan Clan. The story of Qingheng-jun and Madam Lan is not really romantic (I'm not gonna speculate on what there was and wasn't between them because Lan Xichen telling Wei Wuxian about his parents had a different purpose, namely, to esteblish Lan Wangji as someone who doesn't just listen to what his elders have to say, but as someone who seeks to understand and then judge the reasoning by his own moral beliefs). And that's it. So where is "Lans only love once" coming from??

So why did I write all of this? Well, I'm just tired of seeing this over and over again. Aren't we all so creative? Come up with new head-canons (so that I have more things to criticise /jk) or stick to canon characteristics. Please.

[gentlegentian]

I feel like the true cruelty of the lan sect is a really overlooked topic in the mdzs fandom, because when you think about it...

they practically forced madam lan into marriage so she wouldn't be executed because she killed one of her teachers, but gave her no trial or chance to explain why, and once she was married they simply locked her away and that was that. qingheng-jun then locked himself into seclusion once he had a kid and that was that, had no business with the rest of the sect and left xichen and wangji to grow up alone.

not to mention the fact that wangji even being born is suspicious... xichens conception makes sense, as they would've needed a sect heir, but wangji? how would he have been concieved, if madame lan was trapped away and qingheng-jun was in seclusion. either this is a plot hole im looking way too deep into or theres something darker happening there

in any case, the twin jades most likely did not have a good childhood. like at all. their father was completely absent, and once their mother died they were practically parentless. sure lan qiren raised them, but he was also acting as the lan sect leader whilst qingheng-jun was away, so i doubt he held much involvement in their raising other than making sure they stuck to the rules and were fed etc

SPEAKING OF THE RULES. the punishments the kids in the lan sect had to deal with?????? the fact that nhs, wwx and jc were beaten for rule breaking whilst they were staying at the lan sect as pupils just makes me wonder how badly they treat their own lan disciples if thats how they treat special guests from other clans. they were fifteen when that happened, FIFTEEN, so clearly the lan sect has no problem with LITERALLY BEATING children to teach a lesson.

its basically just abuse to keep a system in place, and it makes me wonder just how many times the twin jades suffered like that as kids to be as 'perfect' as they are as adults

the lan are so corrupt in their ways and i hate how we dont fully see that in the story until wangji is whipped for protecting wei ying. the whole situation is so fucking cruel and unnecessary it makes my blood boil whenever i reread/rewatch that part, because yes wangji did wrong by injuring the elders but the only reason he did so was because they were refusing to listen to him and quite literally trying to murder his lover.

i get he committed treason or whatever by fighting the elders but 33 whip lashes all in one go with NO breaks or healing time?? with a magical cultivated punishment whip as well, its genuinely like they were trying to kill him. even if he didnt die from the lashings themselves he could've gotten an infection, or had severe blood loss, or hell they coulve broken his spine with the force of it. it took so long for him to heal from that, and it left him with so many scars both physical and mental. that level of injury would've likely left him with some form of chronic pain or illness as well, and it was just so cruel for a situation that didn't ever need to come to this.

they forced him into seclusion, just like his father, and punished him for defending himself, just like they did his mother. xichen ended up similarly as well, with his seclusion after the events with jgy. the lan elders had seen the horrific end qingheng-jun and madame lan had, and yet did nothing to stop their children from facing the same trauma, even making theirs worse.

the lans praise themselves as a sect that sticks to righteousness and principles, when realistically its just full of hypocrites holding onto power by means of fear and punishment. they say that lwj broke the rules by fighting to save wwx, and yet somehow torturing him was completely within the rules of the clan.

their rules and image are merely a cover up for the downright abuse and silencing of their disciples, and its just so fucked up. i could rant about this for so much longer, but also wanna see what other people think before i delve into some of the other topics i have in mind that relate

[meimei-bunnie]

just thinking about LWJ's side of the story, which we didn't explicitly get because MDZS follows WWX's pov but we did get it through multiple minor actions throughout...

like imagine falling in love with someone who's the same gender as you, in a time where it's inconceivable and looked down upon and goes against everything you knew and/or believed about yourself. obviously, LWJ definitely had some strong denial in his teenage, which resulted in him exploding around WWX– which is literally said in the novel multiple times: WWX was the only one who elicited such reactions out of him.

I feel like he struggled with his feelings a lot at that time, and he choose to give them second place importance. he always placed more importance on sect rules, and the righteous path and the rigid mindset of the cultivation world. it doesn't matter whether it was right or wrong, because by the time he accepted his own feelings, he lost WWX in the first seige of burial mounds.

idk if there are any people who think LWJ has no character development, but if there are, then let me just say that they're SO wrong. because WWX's death affected him SO much. he regretted not choosing WWX. he regretted sticking to the rules, rather than prioritising his own feelings. and this changed him.

especially when he got a second chance when WWX came back. this time, he did what he wanted. he chose WWX over everything else. he chose himself, over rules and expectations.

and I just think that's beautiful. this is why, even though we don't get LWJ's pov in the novel, I really understand it so much better rereading it the second time. because now I get what LWJ was feeling the entire time.

[cenizasdenaranjo]

Fanfics en mi celular - parte 2

Joder la parte uno fue enorme, peeeero no llega ni a rozar los de MDZS... pero eso lo dejaré para el final.

STAR WARS

Second Chances by Lorixjake

Capitulo 14

Ben Kenobi dies on board the Death Star. Instead of becoming one with the Force, he meets his old Master and is given the opportunity to go back in time to try and prevent Anakin’s fall. Can he save his best friend or is he doomed to watch it all happen a second time?

HOMESTUCK

Take my Hand, Take my Heart by bloomissing

Capitulo 2

You know that Dave was raised to fight, but to you, everything about him seems to come from a much gentler world than your own. Just like the little world you’ve built together on this meteor.

>Dave: survive three years on this rock by MadSeason (naive_wanderer)

Growing up on a flying meteor is hard work. You know this from experience.

TG: dude what is this piece of shit you just sent me CG: TO PUT IT IN YOUR HUMAN TERMS: CG: IT’S A FUCKING LOVE STORY, DAVE.

Well, it's a bit more than that.

Over My Head by aceAdoxography, Jadells

Karkat accidentally hits Dave with his car and, upon finding out that he's concussed and has some broken bones, guiltily agrees to take care of him until he heals. Soulmate au

Songs Made on the Meteor by apocalypticTaco

Once the train of aimless tree blabber has left the station, you remember why you agreed to meet up in the first place. Leaning forward to sit up properly, you turn to Dave.

“So,” you say, “what did you want to show me?”

“Oh! Yeah, I forgot about that, sorry. The topic just fucking strayed from me like some kind of toddler seeing a candy store and waddling away from mom. Chubby little bastard gets me this time. Here.” He plops out one of those music tables onto his lap, and motions for you to come closer. - (It's music, and along the way they fall in love.)

Short Circuits, Sudden Endings by uncle_edgelord

Capitulo 3

Your name is Dave Strider.

You really wish you could remember everything.

Shadows of Ourselves by devilsalwayscry

Capítulo 3

The Game is over. You've won.

But it was a long, hard, painful victory, and the rewards have a catch, and you're all a little broken. But you'll stick together anyway because that's just what you do. You help each other cope and somehow in the end you'll make it through.

Merits and Faults of Intriguing Alien Biology by Lacertae

Capitulo 3 (omg, cuantos capitulos 3)

Karkat's first experience with human biology leaves him quite interested and a tad bit more obsessed with humans and their weird, creepy bodies than he would like to admit.

As for Dave, he has feelings of his own to consider, and things somehow work out.

Karkat/Dave, written for the kink meme. Plot more 'serious' than the summary makes it seem like.

Paint the Roses Red by EchoResonance

Capitulo 3

*Humanstuck high school AU* You can't love someone else, and you can't expect someone else to love you. Not when you can't love yourself. It takes a special kind of person to make you understand what that means, though, and an even more special person to help you embrace yourself. Sometimes, if you're very, very lucky, this person will find you all on their own, and they will never really know about the spell that they cast on you because you were too busy working your own accidental magic on them.

I spy by Royalrastafariannaynays

Capitulo 18

You're just trying to get home, have a peaceful trip, stay as calm as a troll like you can until you get back to your moirail. All that shit. You didn't expect to make any lasting connections on the train, especially ones that live in your area. You definitely didn't expect to meet anyone quite like Dave Strider. Apparently the universe likes to prove you wrong.

Somehow after that train ride, he fuses himself into your life. Another stubborn fucking barnacle with an uncanny ability to inconvenience you at every possible moment. Even while sleeping. But somehow, despite all the trouble, you still feel like he has the potential to make your life infuriatingly better. And you definitely can't act on it or let him know. Definitely.

Catch my Cold (reflections of a sick troll) by CaffeinatedCopyeditor

A self-indulgent short sequel to Catch my Eye (Reflected in the Cinema Screen) because I am ill and I like hurt/comfort.

Its cute its fluffy its dave looking after his boyfriend what more do you want.

The Calm Is Terrifying When The Storm Is All You've Known by HappiKatt

There were two kinds of trolls who went to Earth: rich shitheads with too much money and free time, and desperate assholes who couldn’t survive on Alternia, even with the best efforts of the young Condesce. Karkat hated the planet almost immediately, but with his home planet too dangerous for mutants, he really didn’t have any choice but to hide out on this weird little diurnal planet. At least he’d be safe. Or so he thought, right before blundering his way into an accidental friendship with the son of an anti-troll terrorist.

Slow burn, shifting perspectives; romance really isn't the focus here but it'll still play a significant part; extra content warnings will be posted with each relevant chapter.

all flowers (in time) bend towards the sun by Miss_Nihilist

"Maybe sex is difficult and no one ever told us."

Karkat shakes his head. "Maybe that's how it worked on your putrid planet, but sex on Alternia has to be easy. Did you miss everything I've said about us literally being fucking culled on the spot if we can't perform for the drones?"

"No, bro, I think you're missing the point. That's reproduction, which is easy. I'm talking about sex." When Karkat only continues to stare blankly, Dave turns red. "You know, um…" He ducks his head and mutters, so quiet that Karkat barely hears him, "Making love. Or whatever."

Oh.

In which Karkat's inability to relax causes difficulties in the bedroom. Dave talks him through it.

Crash Course of Planet Earth by TurkeyCat

Karkat escapes his home planet from being culled with the help of his friends. After sweeps of travel he crash lands on a distant planet named Earth. Lost and confused, a really cool human takes him in and helps him navigate his new life on Earth.

The Eurydice Suite, v2.0 by callmearcturus

Dream-sharing: a highly illegal little industry in which agents delve into people's dreams, and unearth their deepest secrets and memories.

Within this business, the Strider-Lalondes are known as the best there is — until Dirk Strider gets his fool-ass trapped within the confines of his own subconscious, with his Auto-Responder playing malicious prison warden.

To save him, the best and brightest dreamers in the world will have to form a team. Backed by the token rich friend, lead by the surliest extractor ever bribed out of retirement, haunted by the shade of the latest, greatest agent in the biz, and on the run through a dangerous tiered dream in a hostile mind... It's going to take a miracle to pull this one off.

Bring You Down by acedavestrider

“I know this is like, super fucking weird,” he says with a small southern accent, adjusting a bag over his shoulder. “Letting a dude you’ve never met before into your house and all. I swear I’m not like… the fucking Zodiac Killer or anythin’ like that.”

“I don’t really care,” you say honestly, overly tired. “Even if you are a murderer as long as you clean up all the blood you’re good in my book.”

Dave breathes out a small laugh, exhaling once through his nose. “The bar is too low, dude.”

Beyond The Stars by cedarbranch

Karkat Vantas was a mutant. Rejected by the universe for his cherry blood, he searched for a way, any way, to show everyone that he was worth noticing. He thought the invasion would be the perfect opportunity. He would kill some humans, get some glory, and prove himself to be more than a freak. What could go wrong?

Dave Strider was just a teenager. With an abusive brother and not much else, he kept himself moving, leaping from one distraction to the next. He just wanted something to change.

They would both get what they wanted, but in a way neither of them would have ever seen coming.

Directed to Fail by what_hasnt_been_taken_yet

Karkat spent the last five years of his life ignoring his friends to finish writing the greatest romcom film of all time. Now, he needs a director.

Fanfics que no leí en su momento y ya no podré jamás: 1

[admirableadmiranda]

Hello....Do you mind if I ask somethings?

a) In which moment or part that got you to fall in love with MDZS?

b) Can I ask your top 5 (or top 3) favorite quotes from the novel?

c) And which non-canon pair is your favorite in the novel?

So sorry if I ask quite a lot, feel free if you want to answer or not....Again, thanks a lot, ....💐

Not at all! My inbox is always open, especially if you want me to talk about MDZS. I love talking about MDZS so much.

A.) Hmm...I don't think there was one singular moment or part that got me to fall in love. As I recall I was in the middle of my third reread when I just went "Oh, I love this book so much." in the middle of the Jinlintai escape. But it wasn't because of that particular scene, it was just because I was so happy while I was reading it. It brought me a joy that I hadn't felt in a long time with a book.

B.) We're gonna stick with the top three because otherwise we will be here all day. XD

1.) The confession scene. I can quote all of it from memory. I've reread that individual section so many times I've lost count. It brings me joy on sad days, it makes me beam randomly out in public. It is just perfect.

2.) Wei Wuxian's speech just after the second siege is so good. "He's missing a leg, while I was cut into pieces, you lost your parents, while my family had long since been gone. I'm a dog who was chased out of its home. I've never even seen the ashes of my parents. Or do you hate the Wen Sect's remnants? The Wen Sect Remnants that you speak of already died once, thirteen years ago. And right now, just then, for my sake, for your sake, they died once again. This time, they've all become ashes. Let me ask you, just what else do you want me to do?" He just cuts their ego to ribbons and lays it out bare what he and the Wen sect remnants gave to these ungrateful bastards. I love it so much.

3.) My third favorite is post Guanyin Temple when Jin Ling starts weeping for JGY. I love the way that we see how much he has grown and how good his heart is. "He didn't know why, but he felt he couldn't hate or blame anyone. Wei Wuxian, Jin Guangyao, Wen Ning. Every one of them should be responsible to some extent for the death of his parents, every one of them gave him a reason to loathe them with all he had. But it also seemed like every one of them gave him a reason that made him unable to do so. But if he didn't hate him, whom could he hate? Did he deserve to lose both his parents when he was young? Was he not only unable to seek revenge, but also unable to hate someone purely and entirely?"

Just this boy has grown up saturated in hate and anger from everyone around him, but in the end he finds himself unable to continue that. He doesn't want to. He mourns someone who really hurt him in many ways because he is just that good hearted.

And last, but not least, C.) After Wangxian, my next top ship is Wen Ning and the contents of other men's wallets. Or if you want a slightly more serious one, I actually really like Nie Huaisang and Mo Xuanyu as a ship concept. It's very fascinating to me and I love that the main thing they seem to have in common is a dark streak. I would love to see some more good fics that play with that, their common ground and still genuinely caring about each other.

Thank you so much! I always love any excuse to talk about this book.

[fixielixie]

Wei Wuxian is selfish, actually~ is the deeper meaning of mdzs? I can't believe I had to read this with my own two eyeballs. Exactly how low is the reading comprehension on this site lmfao. Was his decision to give his golden core to Jiang Cheng without telling him Not A Great Idea™? Yes I think so. Objectively giving your "organ" to someone and not telling them is fucked up. But was it selfish? Exactly how? It was arguably the result of his upbringing and him feeling indebted to the Jiangs. He said it himself if I remember correctly that without the Jiangs he wouldn't have a gc anyway so he owes it to them. Which feels like unhealthy attitude to have towards oneself but like the exact opposite of selfishness. If we tried to stretch this to max, one could argue that wei wwx keeping the transfer itself a secret was selfish because he didn't want Jiang Cheng mad at him. But Jiang Cheng was mad at him anyway and if that theory was true, if Wuxian did give up his core for selfish reasons and because he's somehow selfish then this would be the first thing he'd throw into Jiang Cheng's face the second he needs to guilt trip him. You know? Like Jing Huangyao did to Xichen with "Didn't I take care of you?" in the Guanyin temple. sorry for the rant

tbh i think the person who bore the worst of the bad decision of the golden core transfer was wwx himself. its one of the main factors that lead to his downfall and then his death. jc wouldnt have been able to be the sect leader, but it would have been his family pride and his own that would have been hurt in this situation. im sure given time he would have been able to make something out of himself, plus at this stage he was already out of immediate danger, so he wouldn't have been able to fight in the war, but he could have stayed alive but sticking to his sisters side.

wwx tho, through giving up his golden core, was immediately beaten and thrown off a cliff where he had to survive in corpse hell for three months, inventing a heretic path that made him unbelievably powerful but also an enemy because of said unknown power, and then died.

like clearly giving up his core here was the worse option here for everyone but jiang cheng. but like you said, this version of wwx would always give up his golden core for jiang cheng, because he thought it was what was owed to him, that he didnt have any right to a core if jc didnt because without the jiangs he wouldnt have had a chance to cultivate one in the first place. and again like you said, this is a really unhealthy way to look at it, because ultimately the golden core was his and no one elses, he cultivated it using his own talent and merits and how powerful he was really had nothing to do with the jiangs. its the same thought process he had about yzy cuttin off his hand, than he would gladly lose a hand for the sect, because that was what is expected of him. to give up every little bit of himself for the jiang sect, whether or not they ever repaid back that loyalty to him like... at all. he was expected to blindly follow along whether they treated him well or not.

and youre right, if we stretch it you could argue that wwx didnt tell jc about it because he didnt want to have to deal with him getting angry at him. but also, i think the main reason he didnt tell him is because he knew what sort of mentality jc had, and that jc wouldnt see this as a sacrifice wwx was willing to make for the jiang sect, but rather wwx trying to one up him once again. tbh wwx doesnt even view this as a noble sacrifice on his part, he did it because he believed it to be his duty, and i dont really blame him for not wanting to deal with jcs bullshit over it when he could just pop his core into him and they can all go about his life (but heres where wwxs actual flaw is, believe that everyone can let things go as easily as he can. which is clearly not the case, and it leads him into situations such as this one).

and thats also a good point, if he did it for selfish reasons, what was stopping him after he came back to life and jc was trying to capture him, from rubbing it in his face?? trying to make jiang cheng suffer for spending a decade obsessed with finding him and using his own core to whip demonic cultivators in effort to prove it was wwx. why wouldnt he use this to his advantage to try and escape the blame that jc constantly puts on him. because he didnt do it to hold over jiang cheng or to help himself sleep at night, he gave up his core because thats what he believed he should've done as a head disciple/to pay back his debt, thats about as deep as it was for him.

also never apologise for ranting, look at what i post and im sending you back! if anyone should apologise its me D:

[thisisanmxtxsideblog]

the thing about tgcf, for me, was that yeah the romance was cute, and xie lian was a very compelling character, but hua cheng was so boring to me tbh. his only character traits are Coolness and Obsessed With Xie Lian. like....... that's it.

there's not even really a process of him falling in love he just is from the first moment. and maybe some people find that romantic and that's fair! but personally I do not get it! and then the rest of his backstory ends up ONLY being about how he is In Love With Xie Lian, that's his ONLY motivation through the ENTIRE thing. his whole misfortune/luck thing could have been expanded on as a thing that affected his goals and who he became, as could his experience of spending his formative years fighting in a losing war, or realizing he was gay as a young teen, or the whole mount tonglu ordeal, but instead all those things just ended up only being used as like... ways to show that he loves xie lian so much. no inner conflict or motivations at all from any of it or ANYTHING else that happened in the entire 800 years besides "I love xie lian obsessively."

it's just not interesting to me and it felt like such a shame when at the same time you do have characters like xie lian with all these conflicting goals and desires and the way he views himself is so distanced from the reality of both his past and his present, you have shi qingxuan who is just ABSOLUTELY fascinating and a joy to read about, ling wen of course, rain master yushi who is objectively the actual coolest character...

by the end of the novel it kind of just felt like wasted potential to me.