#lqr looks like he's having an aneurysm

[a-cutebird]

can we take a moment to examine how shitty & selfish lwj is post-canon and also what lxc has to endure after guanyin?

first, lwj just fucking... DISAPPEARS with the resurrected yiling laozu who's still under a great deal of suspicion (though, less now than before because he saved a bunch of cultivators’ lives during the second siege). lqr is two steps away from having an aneurysm, and the sect is in a bit of a disarray because their HEAD! DISCIPLE!!! vanished without a word. so lxc has to both calm his uncle down AND delegate lwj's duties to other trusted disciples, all because lwj couldn't wait like two more goddamn seconds to bang wwx on the side of the road without lube.

... anyways.

next, the ceremony of burying nmj/jgy's coffin. it sounds like nhs organizes the whole thing, so lxc simply has to be present, but my god, can you imagine how harrowing that would be?? there's probably still jgy's blood on the thing because the resentful energy is so strong & volatile that ppl are afraid of disturbing it any more than necessary. and just knowing that his sworn brothers are in there, trapped for at least 100 yrs... ugh. not to mention, there are probably rumors flying around the entire time that lxc is bound to catch wind of because ppl aren't as slick as they think they are (and also because no one in mdzs can speak more quietly than a stage whisper, apparently), and they'd be so fucking ridiculous, ranging from dramatized retellings of what happened to actually offensive conspiracy theories about 3zun that lxc should strike down but he's so tired, too tired, so he just... keeps a faint smile plastered on his face & feels numb - and! has absolutely no one to support him, because lqr sure as fuck won't/can't, and lwj is, again, GONE.

but then! lwj comes back!! and... announces that he's married to wwx??? which throws the lan sect into absolute chaos for the second time in 3 - 4 months. there's an uproar from cultivators who still haven't forgiven wwx (for, y’know, murdering hundreds of lan cultivators 13+ years ago - which is absolutely fucking reasonable, honestly). lqr probably gets so mad/stressed that he's bedridden for a few days. and lxc - poor, poor lxc. even though he wants nothing more than to simply empty his mind and meditate, lxc takes one look at lwj, sees that he clearly doesn't give a shit whether his family accepts his marriage or not and is therefore going to do fuck all to control the situation, then heaves the world's weariest & heaviest sigh, and does what he's done for lwj so many times by now:

addresses everyone's concerns one by one until he's managed to salvage his idiot rebellious brother's reputation once again and also managed to get the sect to at least tolerate wangxian's marriage since outright acceptance is likely out of the question.

all this man wants to do is disassociate - sorry, "meditate in seclusion" - and stop being in acute emotional pain for like five minutes - but no. the world (and lwj) can't give him even that tiniest sliver of rest.

#mdzs #lan xichen #lan wangji #lxc #lwj #twin jades #meta #look i'm not saying that lwj is a bad person #but am i saying that #he's kind of a bad brother in the months after guanyin? #oh absolutely yes #him visiting lxc before and after the family banquet depicted in the extras is the LEAST he can do #for the xiongzhang who tended to him foR THREE YEARS!!!!!!!!!!!!! #AFTER LWJ ***BETRAYED THEIR ENTIRE FAMILY*** #does lwj love his brother? #yes #but you can love someone and also fuck up at loving them #you can love someone and still end up causing them undue hardships because of your actions #and also #i 100% understand that it is hard as the younger sibling to watch your older sibling be broken #i understand that it's natural to turn your head away from that #whether consciously or subconsciously #i understand that because i am a younger sibling and i have done that before #but being understandable =/= being excusable or acceptable #anyways this was the hot take that caused me to lose like #20 or something followers on twitter hahaha