"Why Else Would Wei Wuxian Do What He Did For Jiang Cheng If Not Because Of Love?"

TGCF characters if they lived in real life dynasties

✦ Mei NianQing - (Xia) Shang dynasty

✦ Xie Lian - Han dynasty

✦ Hua Cheng - Hmong population

✦ Shi QingXuan - Song dynasty

HC that wwx likes to ramdonly sing and even bounce in a little dance, his voice is so pretty sometimes random young master try to hire him or swoon him to be his little spoiled caged bird, LWJ is ENRAGED

The boys are back! Back to save the day!

Okay, so I thought Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng’s friendship was one of the best parts about season 1 (because you gotta build them up in order to watch them fall, right?….). I especially enjoyed how in the last episode, while everyone else was pretty much horrified/despairing about seeing the Yiling Laozu!Wuxian for the first time, Jiang was just like, “You look great for a demon lord, man–now let’s go kick some Wen ass together!”

Good times.

one mild sentiment i see echoed around alot is that despite everything, wei wuxian failed to “save” the wen remnants, that him going to such great lengths was an effort in vain. but... no?? he did accomplish alot by taking them to the burial mounds. he gave them time. he gave them a period of peace and community life. he gave their elders a sense of togetherness. he gave them a chance to heal some of their wounds together. he prevented their slow, agonising, brutal, INDIGNIFIED deaths at the labor camps, prevented their daily suffering under the oppressive guards.

as wen qing said: they all should have died a long time ago but wei wuxian’s efforts did bear sweet fruits, however bitter the end might have been.

and here’s the thing. the wens survived through wen yuan. their legacy still remains because all the remnants and wei wuxian (and ofc lan wangji) fought to see that happen. imagine if they hadn’t, if wei wuxian wouldn’t have done anything. the wens would have seen their demise in the labor camps with nary a mention of their deaths. they would have been wiped out without ever getting the chance to say their piece or take their stance. as things went, atleast wen qing and wen ning faced their deaths bravely, as leaders of their community. atleast, wen yuan could live a fulfilling life. atleast the wen remnants had a year and more together, to enjoy some of the peace the post-war cultivation world was enjoying.

and that is what wei wuxian gave up everything for. a cause greater than himself.

“No one can walk a single-plank bridge their entire lives and never fall”

I think about this quote daily

I am in love with the idea of Hua Cheng being intrinsically connected to Ghost City in such a way that he can subconsciously manipulate it.

Ghost City’s streets are winding and confusing, but when Hua Chengzhu walks through his territory, the streets straighten themselves out, creating a clear path for him. Strangely enough, Hua Cheng doesn’t realize this until Yin Yu meekly asks for directions to a certain location in Ghost City, still settling into his new position as a servant to a Ghost King. Hua Cheng, annoyed, snappishly tells him that it’s literally down the street and four buildings down, and that if Yin Yu couldn’t find it, then he was too blind to manage the administrative areas of his city. Yin Yu, confused and intimidated, shakily tells Hua Cheng that there are no roads or buildings in the vicinity of Paradise Manor, and that when the street does start, it winds in three different directions. Hua Cheng gives him an incredulous look and tells him to just do as he’s ordered. Yin Yu walks away defeated.

Hua Cheng secluding himself when the isolation of searching for a forgotten god creeps up on him. Ghost City, used to their lord disappearing in irregular intervals, doesn’t find it strange when no one has seen Hua Chengzhu for several days. Panic starts to set in, however, when dark clouds gather above the city and a torrent of blood rain falls from the sky like a bad omen. The ghosts become frantic, believing it to be an ominous sign that they had displeased their lord. Hua Cheng, who had locked himself in his room in Paradise Manor, weeps his despair and desperation into silky, crimson pillows to the sound of rain for three days straight. He never realized that he nearly caused a flood of blood in his own city. In fact, Yin Yu, who had taken up the responsibility of cleaning up the city, wisely chooses to say nothing on the matter when Hua Cheng eyes his blood soaked robes with a questioning glance. This happens rarely over the course of the next eight centuries, but it occurs often enough for the denizens of Ghost City to stop panicking when it happens. They call it ‘the crimson torment’ and have learned to be especially nice to their lord in the following days. Miraculously, the blood rain stops after Xie Lian shows up, and Ghost City is eternally grateful. Xie Lian learns about ‘the crimson torment’ before Hua Cheng does, hearing about it from a group of gossiping ghosts. But when Xie Lian asks Hua Cheng about it, concerned for his husband, Hua Cheng tells him that he was never aware that such a thing even happened.

Hua Cheng mindlessly sending out an attack towards a trouble making ghost in Ghost City. The attack is restrained and certainly not as powerful as it could be, but it sends the ghost flying into a wall anyways. Normally, that would be that, but Hua Cheng was particularly frustrated that day. The echoes of the ghost’s wailing pierces his mind and worsens an already bad headache. Xie Lian, who’s standing off to the side, hurriedly walks toward Hua Cheng and gently guides him away. Hua Cheng goes willingly and complacently, as he always will for his beloved husband. That doesn’t stop the murderous thoughts brewing in his head, though, and before he knows it, there is a slight rumble beneath his feet. His thoughts spiral out of control and he doesn’t notice the Earth quaking beneath him until the buildings and stalls around him collapse. It’s the first time that Hua Cheng is forced to acknowledge the subconscious control that he holds over Ghost City and that moment secretly mortifies him.

Night meeting sketch

Let me photograph you in this light

themes I have identified in mxtx's work:

good intentions are useless without the ability to execute them. however, that doesn't mean they aren't important

when you set yourself on fire to keep others warm the people you're trying to help usually end up burning too

consider problem solving solutions other than trading genocides back and forth

hereditary nobility is a farce

the people in charge are just as liable to be selfish, overwhelmed, greedy, and incompetent as anybody else

clear and honest communication is very important in a relationship. or else.

better late than never.

One of my favorites from last year 💜