No, no, but now I want to read your ideas about how wwx is set to an implosion in 1-3 years. How do you get him there? In canon, he needed jyl's death, the wen siblings death, the world against him

Another neglected anon! Sorry for the late response and happy new year!

I actually think what we saw in terms of Wei Wuxian's devolution after Jiang Yanli's death qualifies as an explosion rather than an implosion, i.e. the force was directed outwards from the centre and killed whoever was in the blast radius. I don't think he'll do that.

I do think we see him implode earlier than that though, in the post-war period, where he drinks excessively (to the point that Wen Qing comments on it), he's unreliable, his moods are volatile, he self-isolates, etc.

To be fair, a certain amount of this is related to not having a golden core and practising demonic cultivation. However, I also tend to read it as a reaction to his war trauma, since self-medicating is a pretty normal response to surviving horrifying events?

Let me be clear that I don't think he always used alcohol like this—I think his partying as a teenager became a problem in adulthood. I think that was always a risk for him for a variety of reasons (we know that he survived becoming a homeless orphan and doesn't remember big chunks of his childhood, which tends to indicate trauma) but I don't think we see it happen until after the war, during which he saw and did some buckwild shit. I also don't know that he ever developed a physical dependence on alcohol, just that his post-war alcohol use looks pretty dysfunctional given its context and all the other choices he was making.

So. Given what we know about:

his behaviour in the post-war period;

his behaviour immediately post-resurrection, specifically that we see him desperately trying to avoid people, places, and situations that make him remember traumatic events from his first life;

his partner, specifically that Lan Wangji doesn't have a real barometer for what "normal" drinking looks like, and also has a tendency to enable Wei Wuxian;

where his partner lives, the extremely calm and controlled Cloud Recesses, where everything is on a strict schedule, therefore predictable and regular, and many activities Wei Wuxian likes are just not allowed—

We have a scenario where a person who thrives in exciting situations and likes working under pressure is living in place that is quiet, regular, and predictable. He is not supposed to drink there, but has a spouse who's willing to smuggle in as much alcohol as he wants. He has thus far throughout the story distracted himself from processing a long series of very traumatic events, and has only been willing to be in relationship with people who can't or won't hold him accountable. All of those feelings are waiting to explode out of the closet he's stuffed them in and fall on his head. And now he's often in a place where there's nothing fun to do...

Like, I think that it might take a minute, since the euphoria of new love will at least provide, you know, some positive feelings, which are their own distraction. (Plus all the sex! And night-hunting!) And Lan Wangji has many qualities that make him a real support to Wei Wuxian, and that might get him through that inevitable post-honeymoon period of quiet where all his feelings pop out and come for him. But I don't think that's going to be a fun experience for anyone?

TL;DR I think eventually he will have to stop running away and actually think about what he's lost, and we know what he does with Bad Feelings he doesn't want (excessive drinking, avoidance, withdrawal from loved ones). Grief and shame are gonna get you every time!

— Jandy Nelson, The Sky Is Everywhere ↳ @asiandramanet creator bingo - black & white

i fucked up yesterday, i chopped peppers & let their spice soak into my skin. & had to draw something about it. he'd do this.

+ wen qing's anger & wen ning's concern

hmmm. Saw a bad Jin Zixuan take. Am I his defense lawyer too now? [rolls up sleeves and leans in by the mic] The reason Jin Zixuan never "spoke up against his father's war crimes, human experimentation, wiping out opposing clans over petty ambitions, and funding demonic cultivation" is because he Did Not Know About Them.

The reason JGS utilized JGY the way he did (putting him in charge of managing that shit, basically) was because JGY was 1) expendable to him, 2) loyal to the point of desperation, and 3) easy to discredit if he ever spoke out. Jin Zixuan was too busy managing his parents' marriage, too politically visible and respected, and too Self Righteous and Just for JGS to EVER involve him in getting his hands dirty for JGS's ambitions-- especially when JGY was right there and available to be exploited.

Lots of people had opportunity to stand up to JGS, and certainly Jin Zixuan was one of them, but "He knew about all the dirty laundry and said nothing" is a rancid take. At most he can be accused of not standing up to his father's more socially visible shit, and perhaps not looking too deeply at the rest. But as with so many characters in this story, keep in mind that Jin Zixuan TOO is bound by filial piety. Investigating his father for Secret Crimes would have been in itself tantamount to a crime.

Anybody who thinks he was involved in the same shit JGY was is, again, missing the entire point of the dichotomy between how Jin Zixuan and Jin Guangyao were respectively viewed and treated by their father.

jiang cheng’s immaculate phantom entrance to the Opera

huaisang, do you have spurs that jingle jangle jingle as you go ridin' merrily along--

sect leader jiang warm up sketches

Thinking about them

Jiang Yanli's death

lan wangji is in his commitment era 💚💙

(or, nie huaisang: an emotional journey)

happy bday lwj good luck w all ur endeavors! 🥳

the series tag: ★ | wallpapers: 1 | 2 | 3 | printable: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | snowglobe

this concept popped into my head fully formed when I listened to the Prince of Egypt soundtrack the other day and I am ???? losing my shit ??? over how well this song fits JGY. oh my god.

So we know in canon that Nie Huaisang formed his core eight or nine years later than his peers did. We're not told what age that is, but when WWX arrived at Lotus Pier at the age of nine or ten, JC didn't seem to have one yet and obviously WWX wouldn't. NHS may not have developed his core before Sunshot happened, which would explain why he was sent to the Cloud Recesses during the war, both for his safety but perhaps also in the hopes that he might finally reach a breakthrough in his cultivation. This does make me think of a scenario where NHS at some point falls into Wen hands and Wen Zhuliu steps up to do his thing to humiliate and disable the Nie Heir...except can't, because Nie Huaisang doesn't have a core to melt yet, so they're all just staring awkwardly at each other for a minute.

Eternally perplexed at the idea that Jin Ling's hatred of Wei Wuxian is because Jiang Cheng was just a big ol' meanie filling their nephew's ears with poison and that otherwise Jin Ling would have welcomed his father's killer with open arms. Even setting aside that literally everyone says horrible things about WWX, and that it would be incredibly politically unwise and even dangerous for JC to actively speak against, WWX super did kill Jin Zixuan. That was a pretty big thing that happened that can upset people sometimes.

not pictured: wwx and nhs rolling on the floor, laughing their asses off

" He has become a very brave man.. just like you.."

"But I think he looks a lot just like you... Yanli.."

I wanna bang my head so much you don't understand...

Shocking twist! It's a jiujiu! And a baby nephew! Made of paper! What will I think of next?? ;)

Lol but anyway. I've made a similar papercraft before, but some of you lovelies may recall that my original sketch featured Jiang Cheng with his drama design, rather than his donghua design. So this time around, I decided to give that version a try! What do you think, lovelies?

(Also - can you tell I was excited to find a yellow-and-gold paper patterned with lotuses? Because I WAS.)

What if you decapitated your enemy and then dismembered his corpse, an act for which you gained renoun during the war, but then you yourself were decapitated and your corpse dismembered i am drawing parallels i am seeing connections i am making conclusions