#JC anti's don't interact challenge

[flyndragon]

One of the biggest problems with any half-serious reconciliation between WWX and JC is the fact that WWX's post-canon family, the ones he now loves as much if not more than JC, all have reason to loathe and mistrust the latter (LWJ - look at canon, LSZ and WN being the 'leftovers' (JC's word) he wanted put down and whose entire family he voluntarily led and contributed the most to slaughter. I don't think any of the three would 'ban' a detente but they couldn't possibly want JC (cont)

2/ in THEIR lives and why should they? WWX wouldn;t ask of of them. So how do you think the WWX and JC would manage to connect - just at Koi Tower? JL would probably like that, and it would respect WWX's other loved ones' feelings and history.

Anon, first of all - thank you for sending me my first ask? I am very much not an expert on anything mdzs, and have only written one (arguable) meta on why I like a ship. I haven't published any fanfic (due to my own insecurities, not necessarily because I don't write it, lol) on this topic either.

But, if you really want my little opinion about it, I can give you a couple thoughts! In a list, because that's how my brain functions.

1. Lan Shizui - He is going through a time after canon, but that is completely disconnected to JC! He probably has very few thoughts about the guy post-canon other than the fact that one of his adopted dads really doesn't like the guy.

He basically is rebuilding his identity as a Wen and learning more about them (implied by his post canon road-trip with WN) and is going to be busy reconciling this new identity he may have suspected was missing but didn't know about with his identity as a Lan. Jiang Cheng wasn't the only person at the siege! LQR and LXC were there too!! That's his uncle and (essentially) his grandpa! I think he's going to be way more preoccupied with the deep emotional issues from that than he will from any interacting WWX does with JC

And we also have to question how close is he with wei wuxian post canon in our fanfic. I know we as the fandom and fanfic authors love to make them act as a father and son, completing, along with LWJ, a nuclear family. But LSZ has lived the vast majority of his life without any idea he had a connection to the yiling patriarch! They share a cute moment at the very end, but he's off to find himself with WN. Lan Shizui has been raised by lan wangji and had wei wuxian as an occasional babysitter for 6 months or so when he was four, and he only has barely started remembering that time in his life.

When I look at Shizui I don't think he has the power or desire to stop WWX from reuniting with his brother. And, even if he wanted to, I don't think any reconciliation would make a big enough impact in his life such that JC was 'forced' on him. Even if jiang cheng visited the cloud reccesses, LSZ is gone. And even if they were there at the same time, would they be forced to interact? The way JC is most likely to be 'in [shizui's] li(fe)' is through Jin Ling. Which isn't going to be affected by the relationship between wwx and jc.

2. Wen Ning - Admittedly, I am the least familiar with his character out of the three you cited. But, although his big snapping moment with the golden core reveal, I don't know how specifically afraid of or pissed off at JC he is post canon. I think he mostly doesn't like Jiang Cheng for emotionally hurting WWX more than for anything involving the Wen. WN participated in the war, he knows what JC went through. I think that if he sat down for a minute and contemplated the things he said at the reveal, I think he would know they were a bit unfair. If he is going to be angry at JC for the burial mounds siege, he also has to be angry with LQR, LXC, a lot of unnamed cultivatiors from every other sect, and most minor sect leaders. Along with anger for the previous major sect leaders who are now dead.

And he wasn't even at the siege.

I think that most of wen ning’s anger at JC is on behalf of wwx, who he feels was wronged by JC. So if wwx wanted to reconcile, I highly doubt WN would stand in his way. And again, as with shizui, I don't automatically think that wwx reconciling with jc means that WN is automatically going to be forced to interact with JC.

3. Lan Wangji - Why does lwj hate jc? Seriously. You said 'look at canon', and I agree, LWJ does hate JC in canon. and JC responds to that hate with hate. It’s not hard to nail down - LWJ hates jc because of wwx. because even though he was at wwx's death and knows that JC didn't actually stab his sword into wwx, he firmly believes that the actions JC took drove wwx to his death. Its the same reason he hates himself during the timeskip.

That, and LWJ is used to being the only petty bitch in the room (cloud recesses). He doesn't have the emotional insight to recognize that sometimes yelling at someone can be a sign of how much you care. They have different communication styles, and that mostly comes with lwj judging how jc interacts with wei ying. Though we, as the audience, with wwx's pov and our own insight, see they love each other, lwj cannot. So he thinks JC is just actually being mean for no reason.

But again, like WN, he is weak for wei wuxian. if wei wuxian chooses to have a better relationship with his brother, LWJ might protest but I think he would ultimately relent.

This will mean he might have to spend actual time with JC, but ... he's chief cultivator. He's GOING to have to anyway. Not to mention, it seems like he did anyway, judging by their junior night hunt supervision.

I don't think wei wuxian would mind their continued animosity. In fact, in certain scenarios, like their night hunt chaperone death glare match, I bet he'd find it kinda funny.

4. You seem to taking specific umbrage with JC calling the wen remnant 'leftovers', and believe that he specifically wants wen ning and wen yuan to die. You probably took this specific word from chapter 73 of the exiled rebels translation of mdzs. If you look a bit closer, you can also notice that JC's next line of dialogue "I doubt you'll even return all of them". He is making this argument because he wants the brother he loves to be safe and somewhere JC can protect him. He is, throughout this entire scene, pointing out that this is a political disaster and how this hurts both his brother and the jiang. and even then, he does NOT expect all of the wen clan to be returned. He is expecting Wei Wuxian to smuggle a few (or even a lot!) of them away - perhaps people like granny and any children?

Also, wen ning is a fierce corpse who just killed some dudes. Although he did so justifiably, he is still the sort of demon that cultivators kill all the time, and wwx hasn't shown that its even possible to bring back his consciousness. We know he will, but that’s a ridiculous idea to the average cultivator. JC doesn't think he's telling WWX to kill a person at this point but a zombie, which they as cultivators kill all the time.

5. But, in the end, should LSZ, LWJ, and WN all hate JC's guts and refuse to even look at his fucking face post canon - they DO NOT control wei wuxian. WWX has met someone and listened to what they wanted him to so when he wanted the opposite perhaps three times in his entire life. If there is a reason that he thinks he should go talk to his brother, if there is a reason he thinks he should go to lotus pier, if there’s a reason he thinks his brother doesn't hate him anymore and wants to have WWX in his life, WWX is GOING to GO. That’s just his nature.

(the reasons are obviously the territory of fanfic)

WWX respecting 'other loved ones' feelings and history' does not mean denying himself of an equally important relationship in his life. Maybe it means not taking them when he goes to visit JC (and yes, I mean at lotus pier). Maybe it means not talking about Jiang Cheng to them. But it doesn't mean abandoning any hope of ever having a positive relationship with his brother again.

Reconciliation is not about them. Its not about how much hurt JC arguably caused other people surrounding WWX. Its about these two brothers reconnecting with the last person from their family living.

#no extremes here! #wei wuxian #can have a positive relationship with his husband and his best friend and his son and his brother at the same time #also #if i have two people in my life that dont like each other #the solution is not to simply abandon one #and i feel sorry for you if that is your go to solution #i will absolutely understand some people will respond that #jiang cheng #is different because hes an abuser or some shit #but your wrong and if you want to know why you can simply click on my blog and backread #JC anti's don't interact challenge #but also i would like it to be clear that I love all of these characters just #so much #and i didn't mean any of this to be negative towards any of them #they're all precious precious babies #lan wangji #lan shizui #wen ning #mdzs