To Heal Is To Touch By Winglesss

Zewu-jun, do you know who this person is?

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do you have any thoughts on yunmeng bros and moral differences? like, golden core/shijie/broken promises aside, what about the fact that jc (and every other cultivator) was ready to let all wens be killed? like i love my sibling to death but if i found out that she was okay with standing aside while innocents were slaughtered (or even if she wasn't okay, that she WOULD) and telling me to just not care about the injustices in the world, i would never be able to look at her the same way ever again

god, do I have feelings about these moral differences or what...

so first of all, let’s start with a quick acknowledgment of cultural bias when it comes to morality and moral priorities in CQL; for those of us in the U.S., we’ve been having a lot of conversations lately about silence and complicity and the responsibility of the individual to effect change in the society they participate in. Let’s take a moment to recall that this is a very U.S.-centric conversation, and thus, cross-applying our standards of complicity vs. action and the relative moralities thereof to a fundamentally non-Western text is already something that should be raising eyebrows.

You with me still?

Great, now let’s talk about young sect leaders Lan Xichen and Jiang Cheng, and why they cannot make the same decisions that our protagonists can make.

One of the things I find most compelling about Lan Xichen and Jiang Cheng as characters is that their lives are not their own. I think it’s important to realize what it means for those two to be sect heirs: they are born into leadership. They carry responsibility from the moment they come into the public eye. This is something that is especially important to grasp if you’re coming from an environment like, say, the U.S. -- because democracy, there is generally the assumption that if someone is a politician, it’s because they chose to become a politician. They wanted to do this. No one is forcing you to run for office; no one is compelling you to take up the burdens of governance and administration. You choose this fight.

This is not so with hereditary sect leadership.

Jiang Cheng and Lan Xichen are born into their roles; they are trained for this from birth, told that the purpose of their lives will be to lead their sect, and lead it well. Don’t mistake me -- it is undoubtedly an honor and a privilege to be a sect leader, for material reasons and power/influence reasons and fame/legacy/reputation reasons, but the key thing to note here is that, from birth, sect heirs are defined not by their individuality, but their future role.

This is why Jiang Cheng is such a killjoy in Gusu summer school and evil Wen summer camp; sure, Wei Wuxian is just being Wei Wuxian, and that’s just how he is -- lovable, mischievous, a bit of a scamp and a troublemaker -- but Jiang Cheng is the future sect leader of Yunmeng Jiang. Wei Wuxian’s conduct reflects on Jiang Cheng, and on Yunmeng Jiang’s reputation.

Jiang Cheng’s life is not his own.

In 《清平乐》Qingpingyue / Serenade of Peaceful Joy, a period drama about the life and times of 宋仁宗 Emperor Ren of Song, the narrative (at least for the first ten episodes, tbd if I make it through the next, uh, sixty) is heavily preoccupied with the question of how personhood can survive in the stifling environment of leadership. Time and time again, our young emperor has to confront the consequences of his actions, the limitations of his freedom, because he is never just Zhao Zhen, a boy who wants to see his birth mother just once before she dies -- he will always be the son of Heaven, the Song Emperor, a model of behavior for all under heaven. He must be careful with what foods he favors -- rumors that he prefers a certain delicacy can kick off a craze among the nobility and wreck havoc on the part of the economy surrounding fruit import and preparation. His empress is chosen for him -- she must be virtuous, and capable, and most importantly, not so beautiful that she would distract him from his civic duties (this being a cdrama, they take certain liberties with this last one).

Okay, you say, but he grows up in an environment of lavish privilege; he will never want for anything materially; he has armies of servants to reshape the world around him to his will.

Yes -- but all of this comes at the cost of his personal happiness. Always, always, he will be forced to put the good of his people, the governance of his dynasty, before his own desires, because he takes his role as emperor seriously. Leadership is an honor, a privilege, a burden -- and most of all?

It is not one he chooses. It is one he’s born into.

(can you nope out of this role, abdicate and abandon your position? perhaps -- but the precedents are few, the journey afterwards unknown, and one should not underestimate the pressure to perform as others demand, hope, expect you to)

We see this dynamic -- personal, selfish preference pitted against ‘the good of the many’ or ‘the good of your constituents’ -- play out on a smaller scale with Jiang Cheng and Lan Xichen. They aren’t emperors, sure, but they are given the same privilege, the same honor, the same burden of leadership. They can’t do things just because they want to; they always have to consider the future of Yunmeng Jiang, the wellbeing of Gusu Lan. They have the immense power and wealth that comes with being able to mobilize an entire cultivation sect to do your bidding; in return, they are responsible for the safety and protection of their people.

This is, of course, in stark contrast to Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji, our protagonists and moral centers in CQL. They are the second(ary) sons, unbeholden to the same demands and responsibilities of sect heirs. This is why the two of them can swear on a floating lantern to protect the weak and eliminate the wicked, why they can truly live by the principle of 问心无愧 wenxinwukui. It’s why they can put their personal principles and desires before their pre-existing loyalties and responsibilities; it’s why Wei Wuxian can tell Jiang Cheng to cast him out from the Jiang Sect; it’s why Lan Wangji can leave Gusu during those sixteen years to appear wherever the chaos is.

Jiang Cheng and Lan Xichen do not have the same freedom of movement, freedom from obligation, freedom to do as they like.

Their lives are not their own.

The problem of the Wen prisoners-of-war post-Sunshot may be a question of simple morality to Wei Wuxian -- right or wrong, black or white -- but not so for, well, literally every other character in the room. The facts are these: the Qishan Wen sect just tried to eliminate the other cultivation sects through blood and the blade, through massacres and monstrous cultivation. In fact, Qishan Wen has personally tried to kill over half the people in this room. Cloud Recesses was set ablaze. Yunmeng Jiang has been decimated. For better or for worse, Lanling Jin has emerged as the most powerful cultivation sect post-Sunshot, as a center of both economic wealth and power.

Both Yunmeng and Gusu are in sore need of both wealth and power.

Neither Lan Xichen nor Jiang Cheng are in a particularly good political position at the moment -- in Guanyin Temple, Jin Guangyao says to Lan Xichen: and when Gusu Lan re-built Cloud Recesses, who was it who sent you aid? In all these years, have I ever sought to suppress Gusu? Have I ever done anything except support you through every means possible?

Since the sets for Lotus Pier and Cloud Recesses remain identical before and after Sunshot for budget/logistics reasons, we don’t really feel the scope of the devastation, the sheer scale of what was lost. Jin Guangyao’s words offer us insight as to exactly what Lan Xichen and the Gusu Lan sect were going through in the slow process of rebuilding, the long road to recovery.

Lan Xichen is clearly troubled by the treatment of the Wen sect prisoners; in episode 23, he is the one who pushes back against Jin Guangshan and Nie Mingjue, arguing for clemency. But in deciding how to handle the question of the remaining Wens, Lan Xichen has more to consider beyond the morality of the situation -- he has to assess the aid that Lanling is sending his sect, whether Gusu can afford to anger Lanling at the moment. Lan Xichen, because he represents the interests and wellbeing of his people, has to remain silent, smile mirthlessly, make nice with people Lan Wangji would sooner stab with Bichen.

Lan Wangji can take his sword and stalk out of a cultivation conference, can burn bridges as he likes. Lan Xichen cannot, because those are not only his bridges he would set fire to, but Gusu Lan’s.

How old is Jiang Cheng, when his parents are killed, his home destroyed, and the burdens of rebuilding and leadership laid heavy on his shoulders? Eighteen? Nineteen? Twenty at most -- he is floundering in the dark, trying to do the work of experienced leaders and politicians while his own trauma sinks, heavy and leaden, to form the foundation of the bitter, wounded person he will become. We know Jiang Cheng has self-esteem issues -- compound that with a public role of leadership he wasn’t remotely ready for and the political, paternalistic pressure from Lanling Jin to conform and fall in. Meanwhile, back in Yunmeng, they are still scrubbing the blood from the floors of Lotus Pier. The bridges Lan Xichen does not dare burn? Are the same bridges Jiang Cheng hesitates next to, torn between his separate loyalties.

Jiang Cheng has lost so much, already, and is spread so thin -- he can’t protect everyone he needs to, everyone he wants to (and he wants to protect Wen Qing, the comb, track the comb!) and so, Slytherin primary that he is, he settles. My siblings, he thinks. Let me have these two.

And Jiang Yanli marries out (to Lanling Jin, no less; another reason to stay in Lanling’s good graces). And Wei Wuxian turns Jiang Cheng down, turns Jiang Cheng away when all Jiang Cheng wants to do is to bring Wei Wuxian back to Lotus Pier and keep him safe, and that rejection breaks something in Jiang Cheng, too.

It’s also important to realize that we know that the Dafan Wen are harmless, that Wen Qing and Wen Ning are good people who helped the Yunmeng trio in their time of need, but others don’t know this. In the multi-clan debate on the floor of Douyan Hall in episode 27, Lan Xichen and Jiang Cheng both try to vouch for the Dafan Wen. It’s Nie Mingjue, of all people, who argues against them; Nie Mingjue who considers the Dafan Wen just as guilty as the Qishan family, Nie Mingjue who argues that because they were silent, because they were complicit, because they didn’t actively fight back against Wen Ruohan, that they do not deserve mercy.

(are we seeing the underlying themes and parallels here?? are we seeing them???)

We, as the audience, positioned from Wei Wuxian’s perspective with his particular insight and knowledge, are inclined take his side, to favor his actions and admire his decisions. At the same time, we see the brutal, ruthless cost Wei Wuxian’s heroism exacts on him and his loved ones -- sticking his neck out for the Wen refugees might be the right thing to do, but it costs him almost everything. It takes a special type of courage, a particular strength of will, to die for what you believe in; even Lan Wangji, Hanguang-jun, our bearer of light does not step out to protect the Wen refugees the same way Wei Wuxian does.

Wei Wuxian may downplay his heroism as the right thing to do, anyone would have done the same in my place, but I think that it’s incredibly important to realize how exceptional Wei Wuxian is, and that holding every other character to this standard is both unrealistic and unfair. The narrative casts Wei Wuxian’s actions as going above and beyond -- his remarkable ability to sacrifice is precisely what makes him so heroic to us. But his sacrifices are not bloodless or wholly unproblematic either. These choices are not made in a vacuum, and the particular balance of relationship and obligation, responsibility and leadership, makes both the issues and the characters grappling with them complex and compelling.

Quick rundown of the Jiangs being excluded from great sect stuff after the Sunshot campaign:

Exhibit A: no Jiang representation in the venerated triad. This is the only one I’m 100% certain is supported by the novel, but it makes up for it by being doubly insulting in the novel/donghua canon, because in that story, the Sunshot campaign was pretty much Jiang Cheng’s project. He was the one rallying the lesser clans to fight, he was the one who convinced the great clans to join the effort, and he led the battle. He had Lan Xichen’s support, but it was still his war. But even without all that, one, the Sunshot campaign wouldn’t have started if not for what happened at Lotus pier, and two, it wouldn’t have been won without Wei Wuxian, first disciple of the Jiang clan. And yet, the group of special sworn brothers who everyone will remember and respect, who represent a better post-Sunshot world has no one from the Jiang clan.

Exhibit B: maybe not as strong as the other evidence I’m pulling, but worth noting is him getting ignored when he speaks up at conferences. He did try to defend Wei Wuxian, Wen Qing, and Wen Ning! But everything he said was just brushed aside (and in some pretty weak and hypocritical ways I might add). I’m pretty sure that nothing he brings to the table is actually considered.

Exhibit C: in the one discussion we see about what to do with the Wen remnants after the Sunshot, Jiang Cheng isn’t even in the room. This is a matter that should be decided at some major conference, with input from every acknowledged sect, but it happens in basically a private conversation where Jin Guangshan tells Lan Xichen and Nie Mingjue what he thinks should happen, the two of them make token efforts to uphold justice for the remnants, Jin Guangyao comes in halfway through to suggest Qiongqi pass as a location for a prison camp, and they all say okay and leave. No Jiang input in sight, even though again, this was the Jiangs’ fight.

I went through work today wondering from where a nice fruity fragrance was wafting through, making my day 100% better. A full 6-hour shift later I came to the realization that the smell was coming from MY HAIR as I had changed my shampoo just a day prior.

Top dumbass culture, I swear 🤦🤦🙍

Chapters: 3/? Fandom: 陈情令 | The Untamed (TV) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Jiāng Chéng | Jiāng Wǎnyín/Lán Huàn | Lán Xīchén, Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī/Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn, Jiāng Yànlí/Jīn Zǐxuān, Mèng Yáo | Jīn Guāngyáo/Niè Míngjué, Niè Huáisāng & Wēn Níng | Wēn Qiónglín Characters: Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn, Jiāng Chéng | Jiāng Wǎnyín, Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī, Lán Huàn | Lán Xīchén, Jiāng Yànlí, Jīn Zǐxuān, Wēn Níng | Wēn Qiónglín, Wēn Qíng (Módào Zǔshī), Original Characters Additional Tags: Fluff and Angst, Murder Mystery, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Slow Burn, Misunderstandings, Eventual Happy Ending Summary:

Jiang Cheng has known all his life that things don’t last. Love, friendship, bonds all are temporary and so he finds comfort in his routine life circling between his work and a social life consisting of handful of friends.

But when he encounters a strange case and a stranger Lan Xichen after a fateful string of events, he is forced to reassess his values.

Chapter 3 is here…. And Lan Xichen is introduced. 😌

Oh God!!!

Now they’re all dead hearts to you

Untamed Fall Fest: Day 28 - Decay

Chapters: 2/? Fandom: 陈情令 | The Untamed (TV) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Jiāng Chéng | Jiāng Wǎnyín/Lán Huàn | Lán Xīchén, Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī/Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn, Jiāng Yànlí/Jīn Zǐxuān, Mèng Yáo | Jīn Guāngyáo/Niè Míngjué, Niè Huáisāng & Wēn Níng | Wēn Qiónglín Characters: Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn, Jiāng Chéng | Jiāng Wǎnyín, Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī, Lán Huàn | Lán Xīchén, Jiāng Yànlí, Jīn Zǐxuān, Wēn Níng | Wēn Qiónglín, Wēn Qíng (Módào Zǔshī), Original Characters Additional Tags: Fluff and Angst, Murder Mystery, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Slow Burn, Misunderstandings, Eventual Happy Ending Summary:

Jiang Cheng has known all his life that things don't last. Love, friendship, bonds all are temporary and so he finds comfort in his routine life circling between his work and a social life consisting of handful of friends.

But when he encounters a strange case and a stranger Lan Xichen after a fateful string of events, he is forced to reassess his values.

Updated the thing 😬😬 

Re-blogging for future reference.

Xicheng Rec List

I compiled my favorite fics for @waterandsilver after they posted they were finally seeing the appeal of Xicheng. I volunteered to give them good fics to help them understand better the appeal of our ship! So, here we go!

Post-Canon Fics

A Bit of Ruthlessness 110,111 When Jiang Cheng hears that Lan Xichen went into seclusion following Jin Guangyao’s death, it’s almost as if he can see the grabby hands of a restless ghost, reaching out for something to keep him company. For something warm and living and devastated. And as history has proven time and time again, the Lans are perfect victims when it comes to giving in to ghosts.

Yeah, no. Not on Jiang Cheng’s fucking watch.

Moments of Clarity 5,201 Snapshots of Lan Huan’s road to recovery with a helping hand from Sandu Shengshou. Companion piece from Jiang Cheng’s POV: A Present so Promising 

Faith 8,109 [Part 1 of the The Provenance of Hope series] Lan Huan isn’t sure he’s ready for this. (or, Lan Huan and Jiang Cheng meet on a night hunt.)

Visiting Cloud Recesses 7,566 [Part 1 of the Visiting Cloud Recesses series]   Since the sunshot campaign they haven’t interacted a lot outside of sect business, but Jiang Cheng has always found the First Jade of Lan gracious and pleasant to be around. Especially in comparison to his younger brother, who would never smile at Jiang Cheng the way Lan Xichen is right now, as if he’s genuinely happy to see him.

It’s easier to let go (let me hold you) 24,464 Five times someone noticed something was wrong and the one time someone did something about it.

Carried on the wind 1,129 [Part 1 of the The courtship of Jiang Wanyin & Lan Xichen series] Lan Xichen’s voice is very soft when he says: “Today is the day our mother died.”

Keep reading

Chapters: 4/? Fandom: 陈情令 | The Untamed (TV) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Jiāng Chéng | Jiāng Wǎnyín/Lán Huàn | Lán Xīchén, Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī/Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn, Jiāng Yànlí/Jīn Zǐxuān, Mèng Yáo | Jīn Guāngyáo/Niè Míngjué, Niè Huáisāng & Wēn Níng | Wēn Qiónglín Characters: Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn, Jiāng Chéng | Jiāng Wǎnyín, Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī, Lán Huàn | Lán Xīchén, Jiāng Yànlí, Jīn Zǐxuān, Wēn Níng | Wēn Qiónglín, Wēn Qíng (Módào Zǔshī), Original Characters Additional Tags: Fluff and Angst, Murder Mystery, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Slow Burn, Misunderstandings, Eventual Happy Ending Summary:

Jiang Cheng has known all his life that things don't last. Love, friendship, bonds all are temporary and so he finds comfort in his routine life circling between his work and a social life consisting of handful of friends.

But when he encounters a strange case and a stranger Lan Xichen after a fateful string of events, he is forced to reassess his values

Chapters: 1/? Fandom: 陈情令 | The Untamed (TV) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Jiāng Chéng | Jiāng Wǎnyín/Lán Huàn | Lán Xīchén, Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī/Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn, Jiāng Yànlí/Jīn Zǐxuān, Mèng Yáo | Jīn Guāngyáo/Niè Míngjué, Niè Huáisāng & Wēn Níng | Wēn Qiónglín Characters: Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn, Jiāng Chéng | Jiāng Wǎnyín, Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī, Lán Huàn | Lán Xīchén, Jiāng Yànlí, Jīn Zǐxuān, Wēn Níng | Wēn Qiónglín, Wēn Qíng (Módào Zǔshī), Original Characters Additional Tags: Fluff and Angst, Murder Mystery, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Slow Burn, Misunderstandings, Eventual Happy Ending Summary:

Jiang Cheng has known all his life that things don't last. Love, friendship, bonds all are temporary and so his finds comfort in his routine life circling between his work and a social life consisting of handful of friends.

But when he encounters a strange case and a stranger Lan Xichen after a fateful string of events, he is forced to reassess his values.

Soo... I wrote a fanfiction if anyone's interested 🥺🥺🥺

This is my first ever work so constructive criticism will be highly appreciated.