yunmeng-jiang

[yunmeng-jiang]

Also, while I'm in a posting mood, I will just say, there seems to be an incredibly skewed view of how much leeway people are willing to give JGY.

I've discussed it multiple times, but, in-world, the only person who's willing to really hear JGY out and consider his situation is LXC. LXC does this consistently throughout the narrative, and, as we see repeatedly, it is not blind faith, but rather LXC being the only one willing to take circumstances into account, which he does as early as responding to NMJ about what happened at Langya, and as late as the explanations in the temple sequence. This is grace, but not a great deal of leeway, as especially in the latter part of the book, LXC is quite tough on JGY, it is just that he remains the only one willing to actually listen and look at the whole situation. No one else will do even a fraction of this for him, and the "sob story" he is often criticized in fandom for making use of is actually functionally useless, as, in the narrative, his background makes him an object of ridicule rather than one of pity.

This brings me to how much leeway JGY is given in fandom spaces and, having been around them for quite some time, the answer is: not a lot. As I have said before, JGY is a difficult character, and obviously no one is under any obligation to like him, but the amount of grace extended to him by fandom at large is vanishingly small, especially given the context of the narrative and its characters, and it is much more likely that any given fan of the material will echo the sentiments of the gossips at the end of the book than, like LXC, seek to look at the whole picture of JGY and to understand his reasons.

It seems that, to many, it is unacceptable for there to be anyone at all, whether it be LXC in-world, or those of us who find JGY interesting in fandom, who wants to look at the full situation and at JGY as more than just his worst moments, and any attempt to discuss any kind of context becomes a sweeping statement of giving JGY all possible leeway and excusing everything.

[yunmeng-jiang]

ok everyone shits on jiang cheng for blaming wei wuxian for the invasion of lotus pier but like?? wang lingjiao LITERALLY SAYS that they came to get revenge on him because of his actions in the cave. she says that. in front of everyone. and then yu ziyuan reinforces that with her last words to him. so like the idea absolutely did not come out of nowhere!!

[yunmeng-jiang]

I can’t believe I have never thought about how Quan Yizhen was so unhinged by constantly sneaking gold into XL’s donation box because he was nice to him and Yin Yu and him using that unhinged behaviour will get when he learns about how much Hua Cheng has done for Yin Yu.

[yunmeng-jiang]

Wei Wuxian’s Canonical Guide to Defending Yourself in the Face of Allegations:

Nah, I’m too poor to afford that particular scheme.

Couldn’t have been me; IDK who you even are Jin Xylophone or whatever your name is.

It wasn’t me, but if it was, I would’ve done a MUCH better job, I tell you what 😒

In conclusion:

[yunmeng-jiang]

nice pair of characters who trust each other more than anyone else in the whole entire world it would sure be a shame if one of them betrayed that trust for the sake of trying to keep the other alive. it would sure be a shame to love someone so much you destroy them

[yunmeng-jiang]

it's long been a headcanon of mine that shen yuan either has ADHD or is at least on the attention-deficit spectrum, also because i love projecting onto fictional characters;

he shows an intense, obsessive focus on specific topics that interest him, like web novels, and PIDW in particular (remembering things about beasts, wife-plots and characters in great detail)

he's impulsive, jumping in front of luo binghe, blurting out things he doesn't mean to, making decisions on a whim, not considering or not realizing the impact his actions have on himself or others (like him self-detonating and then being surprised people didn't handle that well, or how he handles situations with luo binghe post-abyss).

he seemingly lacks an overall view of social expectations (though this one is more understandable given that he's transmigrated), often saying things that "shock" other characters or having his intentions be misunderstood because of the word choice and his obliviousness regarding intimacy.

he has trouble keeping track of his belongings, like losing his fans, forgetting he has binghe's jade pendant

he is easily distracted and forgetful, like when he means to be more of a "scum villain", yet sees luo binghe and immediately falls into the habit of praising him, forgetting his original intentions. whenever he sees things that interest him, he starts rambling in his head about it, to the point he loses track of time and forgets that others are in the room with him (the moment with six balls where he laughed and then slapped himself). also him forgetting who gongyi xiao was, despite rambling about him earlier.

he seemingly struggles to maintain interest in tasks that require constant attention, especially if they're not stimulating or rewarding to him (whenever it's plot-related or a beast he's the first one there), describing himself as "lazy" despite doing plenty of work and engaging in many activities.

he seems to have difficulty planning and struggling to meet deadlines, which was especially obvious about the Endless Abyss quest, which he had plenty of time to prepare for, yet forgot about.

especially the last one made me point and say "adhd", because seriously, that important of a deadline and my man just forgot while he was painting and reading. also him misplacing his fans and being able to ramble for hours about his favorite beasts.

[yunmeng-jiang]

THIRTY-ONE DAYS OF JIEJIE(LY) — day nine with bonus didi !

[yunmeng-jiang]

I've always thought that........... honestly, if JGY wanted to kill A-Song and if he really was completely and entirely as bloodthirsty/evil as some people say he was....do you really think he would have let him get as old as he did?

[yunmeng-jiang]

[yunmeng-jiang]

THIRTY-ONE DAYS OF JIEJIE(LY) — day one + with bonus a-cheng and a-xian !

[yunmeng-jiang]

i don’t usually go for “brutalizing and disempowering a character as a set-up for helping them grow” aus, but.

an au where nmj gets his core melted could be really fun. and unlike the usual ways this genre of aus works, this one… avoids the usual issues i have with it/they work for me in this case because

a) it prevents him from continuing on with saber cultivation, which is the thing that causes big sword rage brain disease. so he wouldn’t degenerate like he does in canon because of it. 

b) unlike a lot of other characters, i think he does actually need to experience being helpless and weak and surrounded by people who are much stronger/more durable than you, some of whom want to kill you or hurt you to be able to understand that position and have meaningful sympathy for it. and fuck he would HATE IT and it would do a n u m b e r on him but the end results could be really interesting

c) ok maybe i’m a little bitter about the sheer amount of things that are allegedly fixes that rely on either brutalizing and disempowering jin guangyao or adapting “barefoot, pregnant, and in the kitchen” to apply to jin guangyao to “keep him out of trouble uwu” which. disgusting. maybe i think turn about is fair play and if the goose is made to endure it maybe the gander oughta try it too. 

d) I’m just imagining cql nmj with tears in his eyes screaming “STOP BEING NICE TO ME” at Meng Yao/Jin Guangyao because he is actually being extra sensitive about this whole Thing because he Gets It and as big of a game as nmj talks… he doesn’t actually want to be anything like meng yao. anyway. their dynamic, with meng yao/jgy now the one who is actually more physically powerful/threatening, and who is doing his best to make sure nmj doesn’t feel threatened/feel weak (like he did) while nmj is just not handling this well? Good shit.

e) and then there is Huaisang. The potential there. damn.

f) The Struggle would be Real in terms of turning to demonic cultivation/the dark side if he and wei wuxian did go “same hat.” Because like. He HATES being powerless. He NEEDS to be able to protect his people. but also the other pillar that his vision of himself stands on is that he is a good and just person. and so he can either restore pillar one or keep pillar two intact. that’s fun!

anyway. Consider.

[yunmeng-jiang]

Modern mdzs series

1) Wei Ying

[yunmeng-jiang]

Okay, enough is enough! Do you know how often I see Liu Qingge slander? People are always saying 'oh haha LQG never fills out reports because he can't read' or 'LGQ's handwriting is so bad it takes hours for SQH to decipher it!' and I am sick of it!

The Liu's are canonically a noble family which means that LQG is, at the very least, the first son of a Liu branch family. I'm not going to pretend that LQG cared about being a proper young master even as a child, but his parents definitely did! Baby!LQG was absolutely stuck inside and told he had to finish his calligraphy practice before he could go fight his cousins.

Liu Qingge may have known he was destined to join the Heaven Through Violence Peak™ since he was four years old, but by god (or rather by his parents sheer force of will) was he going to join with excellent calligraphy. His passions may be swords and violence, but stop pretending that has anything to do with his intelligence and/or literacy!

Liu Qingge can read and his handwriting is beautiful, okay?

(He still never fills out reports though)

[yunmeng-jiang]

we don't talk enough about the fact that lan wangji named his spiritual instrument after himself. why did he do that? does he see it as such an extension of himself that there's no point giving it a different name? does he just suck at naming things? if it broke would he give its replacement a new name or would it just be wangji again? much to think about.

[yunmeng-jiang]

one day postcanon, wei wuxian finds out that jiang cheng is dating! however, wei wuxian disapproves of the person jiang cheng is dating; he thinks this person is only trying to take advantage of jiang cheng.