In re Jiang Cheng

[branchandroot]

Almost done with Untamed, and I need to howl a little about Jiang Cheng.

Fans of his may want to skip this entry. I am not at home to Ms. Reasonable, on this one.



Because for pity's sake, really? Really? Jiang Cheng, you are a bag of dicks, I'm just saying. He was doing reasonably well up until his parents were killed and yes, of course, that's going to do a number on him. The BSOD afterwards was totally understandable.

Blaming it on Wei Wuxian was not.

If it actually had more than the most passing relation to Wei Wuxian, he might have had a point. From the traditionalist point of view, saving outsiders when it puts your own family in danger counts as selfish, not selfless, unless you're a hardcore Mohist.

But the thing is, the destruction of Lotus Pier, the death of the clan leader and his wife, none of that was done because of any action of Wei Wuxian's. That was always going to happen. The second Wen hit the point of demanding hostages and disarming them, and then using children of other clans as unarmed monster bait, it was going to be war. Pretty much as soon as Huaisang got home and told big brother about it, it was gonna be war right the fuck now. The "supervisory offices" were already being established before then. Wen Chao was already drunk on his own assumed power, by then. The only reason the other clan leaders hadn't popped off already was most likely that they were still trying to maneuver for the most favorable moment, but as soon as Wen started down the "training camp" path, the moments were only going to get less favorable, and someone was going to snap as soon as one of the kids made it home.

So the idea that Lotus Pier was attacked because Wei Wuxian refused to knuckle under and let someone be maimed in front of him without doing anything about it is bullshit. And while we're on the topic, it was Yu Ziyuan who lost her temper to the greatest impact on the timing of that attack; and it was, for her as for Wei Wuxian, the maiming of someone that was the line in the sand.

If there were the tiniest indication that Jiang Cheng is aware of this, and displacing his fear and disapproval from his mother to Wei Wuxian, I'd actually be way more reconciled to him. But no, all the indications are that he straight-up blames his parents' deaths on Wei Wuxian fighting back, from first to last.

And the cherry on top, for me, is that Wei Wuxian is so fucking understanding. He doesn't lash back, he tries to stay out of Jiang Cheng's way when they're finally forced back into proximity, lets Jiang Cheng off the hook when the man finally realizes just how much he personally, and Jiang in general, owes Wei Wuxian... Why the hell does Wei Wuxian have to always, always be the mature one, in their relationship? It really just frosts my cookies.

Basically, Jiang Cheng grew up to be his mother. Appallingly bad-tempered, unreasonable, fragile in ego, and verbally violent toward everyone around him, even when they've just finished saving his ass. I don't blame Wen Ning a jot for finally kicking him in the metaphorical nuts. Well done, that man.

In conclusion: bag of dicks.

Comments

[dancing_serpent]

Yeah, pretty much all of this. Also, he keeps insisting that Wei Ying betrayed him. What the fuck?

[branchandroot]

The only way I can read that is "you promised to compensate for all my weaknesses, and then didn't". Which... yeah, no. Bag of dicks.

[trobadora]

Yeah, this. I don't understand the widespread love for him. (I mean, I do understand that people love him. People - myself included - love all kinds of characters, many of them far worse than Jiang Cheng. But everyone seems to love him, somehow.)

[branchandroot]

Seriously, right? I just... I was expecting him to have more of a heel-face-turn than this, given how popular he seems to be!

[umadoshi]

I feel terrible for Jiang Cheng and have somewhat grudgingly developed real sympathy for a lot of his feelings, but his behavior is appalling and beyond not okay, so I'm also mad at him all the time after everything goes to hell.

(Right now scruloose and I are around ep. 9-10 as I show them the drama, and at this point I'm just kinda watching Jiang Cheng with wary pity, because what he goes through is horrendous. BUT.)

Wen Ning snapping and delivering the "YOU are going to SHUT UP and LISTEN" revelation is a thing of absolute beauty. Yes, Wen Ning. Punch him in the face with it. It's the only way to get through to him at all.

[branchandroot]

Yeah, I was with him right up until the Nightless City, and then it's just... how the hell do you manage to blame WWX for /someone else/ trying to kill him and stabbing Jie-jie instead? Just... how? Ugh.

So, yes, go Wen Ning, Therapy Zombie.

[aldanise]

That’s... squarely in line with how I feel about JC and Yu Ziyuan. And I think we see it most clearly in their interactions with WWX, but they apply it to everyone, which oddly makes the emotional excuses (about WWX) less persuasive. So I mostly wind up just avoiding Jiang Cheng-focused stories.

[branchandroot]

I suspect I shall have to do likewise, yes. *shakes head*

[rheasilvia]

I absolutely agree. A lot of horrible things happen to JC, and I did cut him a lot of slack for them in the beginning - plus, as a kid he was very nice to WWX, especially since his father did show the kind of favoritism towards WX that might have made JC hate him, but didn't. So that was a big plus in his favor.

BUT. A lot of horrible things happen to *everyone* in this series - and yet, JC carries around the attitude that he personally is so very wronged, and seems too busy sulking about the UNFAIRNESS to notice everyone else suffering around him.

To me, JC mostly seems extremely weak, selfish and immature. He likes lashing out at WWX as a convenient target that he knows won't defend itself, like a child having a tantrum and hitting a parent because the swimming pool is closed. He sulks and has hissy fits and tantrums like a 12-year-old. He seems to have a constant attitude of "the way the entire world is going to shit is just not FAIR to me personally!!!". And perhaps worst of all, he is so terrified of other peoples' opinion and so petrified of sticking his neck out that he becomes a spineless tag-along who silently allows horrible things to happen - things he could have prevented, and that he knows perfectly well are wrong.

So, yeah. ;-)

(To me it also seems like he is a horrible surrogate parent to Jin Ling: completely wrapped up in his own sulk about this all being so terribly unfair to JC (what about Jin Ling??), extremely demanding, emotionally distant, harsh, with never so much as a kind word or sign of affection... even when the kid is almost killed, he doesn't show concern but just harshly reprimands him for something or other. True to type, he blames the kid for things that are absolutely not his fault, and one reaction Jin Ling has late in the series even indicates to me that he is physically abusive and actually hit the kid. His beloved dead sister's son.)

[branchandroot]

Yes! I mean, Wei Wuxian /excuses/ him with "oh, he always says the most hurtful thing he can think of when he's mad, don't mind it" and I'm just... no? That's... that's not how this works. That is not an /excuse/. Especially when it comes to a child!

And yes, spineless. He'd have knuckled under to Wen for way, way longer, telling himself it was to prevent more casualties, and that's how you wind up complicit. Ugh.

[thuviaptarth]

I am also very fond of Jin Guangyao's speech to JC in the temple blaming his jealousy and weakness for WWX's death, because it is simultaneously an attempt to misdirect from his own culpability, a distraction for his enemies, and 100% accurate.

A lot of people in this fandom have never actually had a family member who was unable to express anxiety or fear as anything but blame and rage, and I'm glad for them, but. It shows.

[branchandroot]

That, yes! Jin Guangyao really does lie with the truth.

And seriously, just /watching/ WWX field all that rage-flail makes me exhausted. Especially after the poor guy was literally dragged back to life by the heel and promptly blamed for everything all over again.

[annotated_em]

Wait. Wait. After ALL THAT Jiang Cheng just walked away without saying anything?

I retract my previous willingness to overlook his everything. Not even the fact that he threw himself in front of the Wen goons to distract them from Wei Wuxian makes up for that, because that just got him deeper into the fucking trouble. Argh. Jiang Cheng, you self-righteous prick.

[branchandroot]

For real, right? He's just so... so... /inadequate/ at this being any kind of grownup thing.

[ranalore]

Ahahaha. Oh man, Jiang Cheng.

What really frustrates me with him is that, you can see the potential for him to go a different route when he's younger. Those six months in Cloud Recesses, especially, he is Jin Ling, in so many ways, including the indications of the abusive relationship with a parent (in his case, his mother), and the potential to be better. But then at each major turning point of his life after that, and especially at each setback or disaster, you see him reflexively blaming Wei Wuxian, just as his mother did, just as she trained him to do, and by the end of the series, I know Wei Wuxian wants a better relationship with him, and I want Wei Wuxian to have everything he wants, but at the same time, I feel like the pattern is too long established. And especially given that WWX will forgive JC almost anything (hurting Lan Zhan is likely the only taboo), and give him almost anything, I'd prefer they stay as far away from each other as possible, especially since continued shock therapy via home truths from the likes of Wen Ning and Jin Guangyao isn't really feasible (and Lan Wangji would as soon run him through as look at him, I think).

All of that said, I can and have read fic which is more hopeful about reconciliation, but I find those stories most believable that contain a lot of friction, and I find them most satisfying when Lan Wangji gets to lay a few smackdowns (and Wen Ning, if at all possible).

[branchandroot]

Yeah, have to agree that, even with Jiang Cheng maybe getting to grips with the concept, they should be separated until/unless he actually manages to take those steps toward reconciliation himself. Rather than waiting on WWX to do all the emotional work. [grins] Or, as you say, let them be chaperoned by Lan Wangji and Wen Ning to keep WWX from bleeding himself out in the process. I could kind of go for that.