#like as a Jiang Cheng stan I cannot imagine a situation more miserable for Jiang Cheng than Wei Wuxian choosing to be in his life out of

[winepresswrath]

Half the time I'm like, I prefer the drama because its so much more hopeful about these clown brothers making up and they probably don't in the novel :(. The other half of the time I'm like, lol, novel!WWX refuses to acknowledge that he has feelings unless forced, he could not keep his nose out of JC's business at gunpoint, at some point Jin Ling is going to get sick if his uncles constantly keeping tabs on each other while pretending ~the past is in the past~.

CQL is my favourite for many reasons, and it's definitely the universe I'm thinking of the most when I think about yunmeng bro recon because it's the universe in which I think it is extremely obvious that they would both really like to be in each other's lives again but haven't figured out how to do that. Wei Wuxian spends the entire second life making yearning faces at Lotus Pier and then makes this face when Jiang Cheng walks away from him:

Look at how smug Jin Ling is as he plots his uncle trapping:

Sad pining uncles everywhere:

He has a lot to work with.

The end of the novel on its own is hard mode. Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji are running away together to elope and fuck in a ditch, their future connection to and level of engagement with the cultivation world is uncertain, and leaving the past in the past feels much more plausibly like something Wei Wuxian wants for himself, as opposed to the CQL version where it really just comes across to me as not knowing what else he can do to break the sadness cycle. The novel version of the temple scene has a sad lack of tender face touching! Wei Wuxian seems very exhausted and allergic to feelings and definitely to feelings about Jiang Cheng, except maybe when he's making fun of Jin Guangyao being sensitive about his mother's profession to draw fire. And when he tells Jin Ling to go to Jiang Cheng, and the Jiang Cheng giving the chenqing back to him clearly means something to him, there is stuff to work with if you're so inclined, but the heart of my clown car agenda is that I genuinely think they both love each other very deeply and are capable of being in each other's lives in a way that's good for both of them and something they both want. The novel is not making the same case CQL does.

But then we find out that a few months later they're literally night hunting with each other's children and Wei Wuxian is sitting down for heart to hearts with Jin Ling where he tells him he should trust and rely on Jiang Cheng because pushing him away to protect him will only hurt him and I'm like oh ok we're on like Donkey Kong never mind.

#like as a Jiang Cheng stan I cannot imagine a situation more miserable for Jiang Cheng than Wei Wuxian choosing to be in his life out of #guilt or obligation #and as a Wei Wuxian stan I can imagine few situations less pleasant for him than being around Jiang Cheng while being unwanted by him #it brings up some childhood issues #the only way it works is if they both want to #and also are capable of taking some deep breaths and figuring out a way to be around each other #without constantly stabbing each other emotionally #but I believe in them! #I do think novel!wwx is angry in a way that #that cql!WWX isn't #and the novel really centers Jiang Cheng's apparently abandoning #Wei Wuxian as a source of trauma and also anger for him #in a way that makes me think novel!WWX would really like to know about the Wen capture incident #like much more so than the cql version #but honestly the last we see of WWX thinking about Jiang Cheng #is pretty kind and generous #and like #I just #when I think someone sucks and I don't want to see them again #I do not tell children I love to rely on them but also be more considerate of their feelings