#cql txp

[llycaons]

'poor heroic tragic saint jiang cheng' is actually my favorite jc misinterpretation it is just so fucking funny. I'll watch the man advocate to abandon a group of political prisoners to state-sanctoined genocide, constantly yell about his issues, threaten his nephew and everyone else around him, and abuse his power to intentionally trigger his traumatized brother bc he's mad at him and I go online and see posts about how he's so strong and noble and a great parent/leader despite suffering so much. LIKE

[llycaons]

I'm going through my likes now and ran into a post about how jc never told wwx about the way he lost his core and yeah like thank GOD that never came up bc what would it have even done at that point. wwx already did everything humanely possible (and then some) to keep jc in power and to prevent the jiangs from crumbling. and jc did what he did. maybe it'll make wwx a bit more sympathetic in retrospect, maybe he'll thank him, but he's not going to drop everything and try to rejoin the sect bc of it. he's just not someone who lives in the past like that and at this point his relationship w jc is so mired in violence and pain that it's hardly going to overshadow all the damage jc has inflicted on him. and jc not telling him isn't 'one final tragic miscommunication between brothers who still love each other' it's a genuinely mature decision to let the past go and stop relying so heavily on debt and obligation as a basis for a relationship. like if jc told wwx and wwx felt bad enough that he returned to living under jc that would just be due to guilt and do these ppl really think jc wants THAT again?

[llycaons]

I don't have anything interesting for the rest of it like pretty basic stuff for lwj (classical music, nature documentaries, maybe romance or fashion/design), wwx I think would have a huge range of interests including various genres of music, fashion, political commentary, social justice, music and fashion subcultures, science/technology, gardening, BUT nhs along with the art and the birds would be really into those gossip rags. well I guess that's a magazine but he seems to be the type to just love gossip. JINGYI ALSO that boy loves to gossip. jyl listens to book reviewers!!!!

[llycaons]

also also

I find it rly interesting that op ascribed specific het gender roles to two men for zero reason when literally nothing in their actual behavior or presentation or dynamic or self-identification makes them anything but...two men

[llycaons]

very narrow window of time in which teenager/adult wwx was theoretically killable (after losing his core) and wen chao fucked it up by dropping him into the mass grave in which he invented an entirely new form of cultivation and became one of the most powerful characters in the series. in trying to torture him wen chao sealed his own fate and that of his entire sect. massive L

[llycaons]

I do think there's something going on between jgy and lxc but I don't think anything ever actually happened bc jgy is far too invested in the theater of his own virtuous self-denial AND because physical or emotional intimacy is too close to vulnerability and I don't think he'd allow himself that. so I never really buy AUs where they're actually lovers

[llycaons]

I think the reason cql has so much emotional resonance with fans is how widely applicable the emotional drama it taps into is, despite the extremely specific circumstances. loneliness and isolation as a young teenager...the struggle to communicate honestly...a fraught, tense family dinner...just wanting to be with your family...grieving not just people but the life you thought you'd have...I just think about the video of that mom watching cql and crying as wwx cries, saying she knows just how he feels. its sad, but its also cathartic and can be comforting

a lot of this emotional resonance is driven by wwx, and it's so meaningful to witness and experience with him not despite but BECAUSE of his wildly variable behavior. because it's all true to him, you know? even when he lies, he's sincere and passionate (angry, happy, heartbroken, in love, smug, mischievous, murderous, gentle, sarcastic, brutal) and so many people can see their experiences in him because he genuinely has such a vast range of emotion.

[llycaons]

also reminds me of the olden cql days where there'd be popular blogs joking about jc and lwj needing to meet in a parking lot and just punch each other. it's a fun image and probably would be very cathartic to jc but it rests on the assumptions that 1. jc and lwj solve their interpersonal issues in the same ways, which is physical violence 2. their issues with each other would be alleviated, and 3. they're important enough to each other to warrant that kind of catharsis.

all of which I think indicate misunderstandings of the respective roles their characters play in the story, as well as the personalities involved. like jc who holds grudges for decades even after traumatizing the object of his bitterness would not just be satisfied by getting a few hits in. and its a very immature way to handle things too...

also as an adult lwj is not someone who uses physical violence to manage or express his feelings. lwj can be petty but thats going way farther. and lwj wouldnt even care enough about jc to engage in that. and if he did he would win. canonically hes strong as shit and has fended off jc before even when his main focus has always been wwx. like he doesn't care about getting in a good punch or whatever. he would simply not do that I'm afraid. he would just leave

[llycaons]

now that's got me thinking what the character would listen to on the radio or in podcasts and the only thing I can say is I think jc gets really into sports. like he doesn't appear to have specific interests or skills like nhs or wwx do and you COULD say he listens to business stuff for 'the company' (sect) but that's a familial obligation thing and not something he does for pleasure. but I can see him REALLY enjoying and getting invested and passionate in sports and good for him he needs the outlet

[llycaons]

thinking about wwx in 33 and. this is bleak

the saddest part about wwx's death scene to me is how resigned he is. like...I feel like that scene is less sad than everything that leads up to it and causes it, because we know we'll see him soon and this is the worst it'll ever be, and he'll be joking and smiling and reunited with loved ones again soon enough.

but watching someone so vibrant and full of life and joy and love not only turn to that cliffside intentionally, but look so at peace as he does it...it's one of the most quietly heartbreaking things in the entire show. he's crying, a little, but it's clear how far he's gone. and death is the only way forward he sees, and he's at peace because living is truly too painful for him in that moment, and this character who fought so hard to live for his entire short and painful life is just letting go. it's haunting

[llycaons]

wild how long it took us to learn about wwx's deathly phobia of dogs. iirc it was mentioned in the flashback arc but not dwelt upon for very long, and that's because we were too busy watching wwx get traumatized in realtime by the 16 other things that will haunt him for the rest of his life until he succumbs to the despair and kills himself

[llycaons]

I can't exactly compare cql to other chinese shows, but I've watched a lot of american and british shows with close male leads (scrubs, spn, sherlock, house), that constantly no-homo their relationship both in words and actions, and there is such a difference between writers who think two men being gay is repellent/joke material and writers who are working within the limitations set on them to imply two men are in love with each other. scrubs literally had an song called "It's Guy Love (There's Nothing Gay About It)", like no-homoing is when when writers have a male character say something that could be construed as romantic/sexual and immediately follow it with 'but don't worry, I'm not gay because that would be gross and horrifying!' and it's a joke like I can see why people can read wx as non-romantic I guess but the actual term 'no-homo' refers to a very specific form of denial that I haven't once seen in the show. like maybe wwx laughing after saying something flirty in CR arc might read as him thinking the idea of them together is funny but that happens like, a few times early on (which can have several different interpretations, too!) and afterwards I can't think of a single moment in cql where either of the leads no-homos the other

[llycaons]

'why didn't lwj and wwx confess in cql if they knew how they felt' well wwx has a lot of baggage and is terrified of commitment because his life experiences have taught him that he can't really rely on or trust people, that vulnerability is dangerous, and to be self-reliant to the point of destructive isolation. and lwj is a highly sensitive person who is terrified of loss through rejection but who also knows wwx is extremely self-sacrificing and debt-minded and doesn't want to pressure or guilt him into anything both because he cares a lot abt wwxs autonomy but also because of his own parental baggage. plus like, the traumas. the WAR. they were so young man. and then wwx was DEAD. and then just think of the political situation wwx was in. I mean there's a lot of different reads but I feel like those are pretty solid

[llycaons]

found a post that talked about how militant jc fans resent wwx for simply existing because they, like jc himself (a perhaps uncharitable reading) view wwx as belonging to jc and all his struggles and triumphs should belong to jc in turn. and tbh I really think they landed on something with that because that dual entitled/desperate mindset really crops up so often. like pairing jc and lxc so that jc gets a lan too and framing it as jc getting the superior one, making wq and jc best friends/married who talk shit about wwx behind his back, making his struggles so much worse than wwx's, making him a stoic martyr when his father hates him (wwx's fault), or siphoning off all wwx's good qualities (his honor, brilliance, courage, compassion, heroism, selflessness) and ascribing them to jc because they think jc just naturally deserves them.

it's quite pathetic and it's just never going to work because he was constructed as the character whose relationship with wwx falls apart. he's kind of inherently doomed. you have to work with his canon traits if you want to remediate that relationship, not just give him what he wants and let him act like a dick and pretend everything is fine

it was a really long post and I don't like using the word reactionary outside of a political context but it was def insightful