In re Jiang Cheng
Jan. 10th, 2020 12:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
branchandrootAlmost 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.
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.
no subject
Date: 2020-01-11 01:12 am (UTC)So, yes, go Wen Ning, Therapy Zombie.