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least-carpet · 1 year

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MDZS characters and Western astrology: Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng

I was thinking about the pure comedy of Jiang Cheng, Wei Wuxian, and Jin Ling all being Scorpios (genuinely fucking hilarious move by Ms. MXTX) and was like: but what is the rest of everyone's chart?? (I was also like is this too niche? but I assume this fandom is full of other queer people and some of y'all must also be into astrology, right? Right?)

That's biting off way, way more than I can chew. HOWEVER. Some Big Three placements (sun, moon, rising) seem more reasonable. (Has someone done this already? Is there consensus?)

Does it make sense to analyze this work through the lens of Western (rather than Eastern) astrology? Probably not! This is just for fun. Take it with many, many grains of salt.

TL;DR I think Wei Wuxian has a Gemini rising and a Sagittarius moon to go with his confirmed Scorpio sun, and that Jiang Cheng has a Capricorn rising and a Cancer moon to go with his confirmed Scorpio sun. If you're an astrology fan then you know that I'm saying WWX is wildly annoying and Jiang Cheng is a champion grudge-holder from hell. Still thinking about Lan Wangji.

Wei Wuxian

I don't think he has a lot of earth placements, if any. My guy is brilliant, dynamic, impulsive, and completely shitty at managing practical stuff and long-term consequences. He's also otherwise pretty well-balanced, so I think he likely has one of each of the other element. Scorpio provides a fixed water sign. I would guess that he has Gemini as his rising sign and Sagittarius as his moon sign.

I love a big Gemini placement, but they are incredibly annoying. Charming-annoying, outgoing annoying, won't shut the fuck up annoying. This also means that his rising sign would trine Lan Wangji's sun sign, which is a generally harmonious aspect. Gemini is a mutable air sign.

I think his moon sign has to be a fire sign, and I want to say that it's Sagittarius. This would put it into his 7th house of committed partnerships. I feel like it's suitable there for a variety of reasons. But truthfully, this pick is purely based on vibes. Sagittarius is idealistic, likes to lead through teaching, and is the fire sign most prone to just straight-up escaping if feelings gets too real. The avoidance and idealism are linked; the desire to maintain distance comes from the desire to maintain the idealism, which might not survive conflict or intimacy. IME they're also wild-ass party animals who love a drink and hold it well (said with the greatest affection and admiration). Sagittarius is a mutable fire sign. That said, I would also buy Aries or Leo.

For more about Gemini risings, check out Alice Sparkly Kat's breakdown here.

Jiang Cheng

Contrary to Wei Wuxian, I would guess that his chart is a lot less balanced. He's shrewd, grounded, and effective. He's also got Big Fucking Feelings. With that in mind, I think his moon sign is another water sign (water ruling the emotions) and his rising sign is an earth sign. Specifically I think his moon is in Cancer (the cardinal water sign) and his rising sign is Capricorn (the cardinal earth sign).

The Cancer moon-Scorpio sun combo is a pretty brutal one-two hit. Congratulations, you now have every feeling and you will get over them precisely never! The other important thing to know about the moon is it sometimes represents the mother; Cancer is additionally ruled by the moon; in my experience, people with notable Cancer placements have particularly significant, overdetermining relationships with their mothers. With the rising sign I've picked, it'll be in the 7th house of committed partnerships—which, uh, his mother's relationship to his father and how that relationship is explained to him absolutely affects how he understands partnership. That's why dude is still fucking single when it would make a lot more political sense for him to marry and have a kid. He experiences partnerships through the lens of his mother's disparagement, humiliation, and rejection, because he's always been identified with her by his family. I digress.

Anyway, now that we have a person who has comically huge feelings, how do we account for his political success? I think his rising sign is Capricorn. Out of the earth signs, Taurus is too lazy (I say, with my own Taurus rising—Nie Huaisang is also a Taurus sun) and too slow getting started. Virgo is too idealistic, it loves a system, it wants things to be simple. It has incredible hustle but what I've noticed about people with big Virgo placements is that they struggle with the disjunct of how they think things should work and how things actually work. It also is a sign with a tendency to wilfully impose itself on others. Capricorn, meanwhile, is pragmatic, strives for self-control, and is sensitive to boundaries. This also puts his sun in his eleventh house, which is the house of the collective. Jiang Cheng's life trajectory is public leadership, which he's born to, groomed for, and sacrifices hugely in pursuit of.

Alice Sparkly Kat also wrote a breakdown for Capricorn risings.

I wanted to put Lan Wangji in here, too, but I'm still rotating him around in my brain... I kind of think he might have both an Aquarius rising and an Aquarius sun. He has big Saturnian energy.

#jiang cheng #wei wuxian #yunmeng shuangjie #those two PLUS jin ling being scorpios... amazing #mdzs astrology headcanons #just making up facts about my blorbos. don't mind me #mdzs +#astrology #least-carpet thoughts

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tentative-wanderer · 5 years

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Grandmaster of Legal Cultivation 律道祖师

Law Students + Flatmates AU. Enjoy!

The Exam Life + A Whole New World

“Lan Wangji.”

Pin-drop silence.

“Lan Zhan.”

The person in question remained as immutable as an ancient stone statue of the Buddha.

“Second Brother Lan~”

“WEI WUXIAN!” Jiang Cheng roared, slamming his evidence law notes onto the table.

Slightly cowed, Wei Wuxian gave him a sheepish glance, but mumbled: “I wasn’t calling you...”

“I don’t care if you were calling god or the devil; if you don’t shut the hell up, I swear I will stuff this book down your throat.”

Pursing his lips, Wei Wuxian surveyed the web-like blood vessels spreading across the whites of Jiang Cheng’s eyes and his tattoo-like eyebags. “I think you should take a break. If you keep this up, your mum is gonna bring a claim against the uni for inhuman and degrading treatment.”

Wei Wuxian didn’t think it was possible for any more blood to drain from Jiang Cheng’s pallid face, but Jiang Cheng managed it. “Shit, what article was that again? And what’s the relevant case...” Rubbing a hand wearily across his eyes, Jiang Cheng dragged his laptop towards himself and started typing. “E-C-H-R...”

“Article 3, Gafgen v Germany.” The glacial presence at the table finally broke his silence.

“Unfair! You answered him but not me, even though I was practically begging.” Wei Wuxian sprawled across his notes, his cheek on the paper.

“Focus,” said Lan Wangji, a hint of reproof in his tone. The exam on Thursday was looming over their heads like a storm cloud, yet Wei Wuxian didn’t seem to worry about whether or not he had an umbrella.

“I’ve been focusing for hours, it’s my break time now.” Wei Wuxian turned and prodded Jiang Cheng. “You two should stop for a while too. Especially you, zombie man.”

“If I stop now, I will sleep and never wake up again in this lifetime,” said Jiang Cheng darkly.

“I would offer you some coffee, but I’m afraid any more of that will kill you. Bubble tea instead.” Wei Wuxian got up and stretched like a cat, the line of his back a graceful arch. He met Lan Wangji’s quiet gaze and threw a mockingly sultry look in his direction. “Wanna come with me to...get some?”

Lan Wangji knew Wei Wuxian was talking about tea, but his brow creased slightly anyway, to Wei Wuxian’s delight. Still, Lan Wangji refrained from expressing any admonishments as he tidied his books and papers and stood up.

“Look how far you’ve come,” said Wei Wuxian approvingly as he ambled down the street, Lan Wangji at his side. “Just last year you would have called me ‘pathetic’ if I so much as twitched the wrong way. Now you can even tolerate innuendoes.”

Lan Wangji lowered his gaze. “Mm.”

“Speaking of coming so far, I can’t believe we’re already approaching the end of our second year. Have you figured out your plans after this degree?”

“No,” said Lan Wangji. But he knew Wei Wuxian had. Wei Wuxian was going to become a barrister, and an incredible one at that. Lan Wangji was sure of that. No one could tear their eyes away when Wei Wuxian gave his speeches in debates and moot competitions. He was confident, eloquent, and excellent at thinking on his feet. Furthermore, he was sociable—a soft skill that Lan Wangji had never realised was crucial for life and for most employment prospects in the field of law until he was in his late teens. By then, Lan Wangji was already an ice cube. An ice cube who was unsure if he was cut out to be a lawyer. Lan Wangji was a stoic and single-minded worker, not a socially adept energy-filled multitasker. That was Wei Wuxian.

Wei Wuxian, Wei Wuxian. Wei Ying, who barged into his room on the first day and proceeded to shamelessly make himself comfortable on Lan Wangji’s chair, in Lan Wangji’s life, in his thoughts and dreams.

Had Lan Xichen not coerced him into renting a room in a shared flat instead of a single room in a student hall, things would have been so different. He wouldn’t have had the chance to listen to Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng’s surprisingly witty bickering at mealtimes, watch Jiang Cheng wrestle the last muffin from Wei Wuxian’s claws (“If you eat more you’ll explode! I refuse to clean your guts off the floor.”) and grumpily push it towards Lan Wangji, or be dragged out by Wei Wuxian to plays, pubs, tourist spots and social events. He wouldn’t have had the chance to hear Wei Wuxian ramble, sometimes randomly and sometimes earnestly, about his ideas, opinions, and ideals, and be bugged until he shared his own.

It would have been a dreary world.

“...Lan Zhan? Earth to Lan Zhan!” Startling out of his reverie, Lan Wangji turned to face Wei Wuxian. He realised that Wei Wuxian had extended a finger, presumably to poke his cheek, and now that finger was closing rapidly.

Wei Wuxian’s fingertip brushed against his lips.

“...Oops.” The culprit removed the offending appendage sheepishly.

It was only a brief touch, but it made Lan Wangji feel something that lasted longer than a careless brush should.

Lan Wangji wouldn’t put it past Wei Wuxian to quickly follow up with an offhand tease, but Wei Wuxian unexpectedly remained silent as they resumed walking.

EDIT: there’s a new ficlet for this AU :) click the #my mdzs fic tag to read it

#魔道祖师 #the founder of diabolism #grandmaster of demonic cultivation #mo dao zu shi #mdzs #my mdzs fic #wei wuxian #jiang cheng #lan wangji #wangxian #it’s hard to write LWJ #BC HE HARDLY TALKS #i admire mxtx for managing a character like him

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fatalism-and-villainy · 4 years

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Do you recommend the Untamed novel? I found only one English translation but I haven't watched the show yet but it all seems so interesting. Which should I read watch/read first in your opinion?

Apologies for not getting to this sooner! Tumblr has been hiding inbox notifications if I don’t click on them soon enough, which might contribute to my forgetting, but it’s my own brain functioning recently that is probably mostly to blame :/

Anyway! It’s hard to say if I would broad-scale “recommend” something given how different people’s preferences are, and I don’t know what you personally are into. I will also say that my impression of the novel likely does not give it justice, since I read it in translation and thus very likely missed nuance; I also read it after I watched The Untamed, so my impression of the world was already filtered through CQL’s visuals and the actors’ performances, and thus I can’t speak very well to how it holds up on its own.

However, the novel definitely has considerably more worldbuilding and a bit more in the way of character backstories (particularly for its main antagonist), and some of the punchiest supernatural imagery from the novel wasn’t adapted into The Untamed (mostly for censorship concerns). Its themes are the main draw of the author’s writing, I think - it’s got some really compelling commentary on class prejudice and disposability, the conditionality of good reputation, the limits of revenge and punitive justice, and the unreliability of rumour and popular narrative.

If you’re the kind of person who’s into the physicality of death, then I imagine the necromancy aspect would appeal as well (I know this is part of the draw for Novy @coldwind-shiningstars :P ).

Also, Wei Wuxian (both in the novel and CQL) is, I will say, also such a fascinating protagonist - I was telling Novy the other day that I’ve never seen a character quite like him before. He’s got so many seemingly diametrically opposed sides to him, managing to be both extremely buoyant and overflowing with energy and vivacity as well as chilling and terrifying, without ever seeming out of character.

The place the novel doesn’t quite work for me - and why I’ve been reluctant to revisit it - is how the romance is developed. MXTX is very fond of intense, passionate, long-suffering devotion on the part of her love interests, which I get, but for me, MDZS doesn’t do a good enough job of justifying why Lan Wangji would fall in love with Wei Wuxian and be willing to commit an unthinkable social transgression for him. Their relationship is less close than in the show, they share fewer significant moments together early on, and young Wei Wuxian displays very few qualities that I can see Lan Wangji admiring.

The portrayal of queerness in general also doesn’t quite gel with me; the story is set in a world with considerable homophobia and societal backlash for being gay, and yet I also detect an implication (probably embedded in its narrative form itself) that gay relationships are something of a default assumption for how things should develop. (Think the kind of assumption you see in some fanfics where it’s taken for granted that certain characters are gay and that this requires little questioning or reorientation of one’s place, and is not really connected to any kind of identity development.) I’ve also talked before about how queerness in MDZS isn’t really based in much of a personal identity development separate from the main characters’ romance itself - Wei Wuxian doesn’t do much introspection about his sexual identity outside of his feelings for Lan Wangji. It’s perfectly valid as a writing choice, but it’s not the kind of thing that’s as likely to interest me.

(There’s also lots of kink and some dubcon stuff going on with novel!wangxian, which I know some people don’t like, but I actually really like that aspect of their relationship and it’s one of the things about their portrayal in the novel that I do carry over into my headcanon universe lol.)

That said, I know there are plenty of queer people who do enjoy and relate to the development of novel!wangxian! And I certainly see what the author was going for in relating the queer love story to the central themes of reputation, conformity, societal approval, etc. - central to Lan Wangji’s character, for example, is his struggle to reconcile his reputation as a paragon of morality with his feelings towards Wei Wuxian, and Wei Wuxian’s status as a social outcast is enriched and supplemented by his being queer. And I’ve seen people really connect with how entrenched in heteronormativity Wei Wuxian initially is. So, it really depends on what you’re looking for there.

Of course, there are also people who are more into the family stuff than the romance, and there is lots of juicy family drama in both versions of the story. It really exemplifies “every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Lots of intense, complicated sibling relationships (and parentified eldest siblings) and commentary on the generational cycle of abuse.

So what The Untamed specifically has going for it, for me, is a more developed friendship between Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji from the beginning. I just prefer my romances to be a bit more developed, and have a bit more reciprocity of feeling, and the show really does a good job of building up their importance to each other. It also has teenage Wei Wuxian displaying a lot of values that Lan Wangji appreciates, which makes Lan Wangji’s feelings seem more believable to me.

The show also displays some genuinely fantastic acting - the amount of life the actors bring to the characters, and the way they make them their own through little quirks and body language, is super impressive to me. I’ve also said before that I appreciate that the show gives me more of a sense of place - the novel is not as concerned with being evocative when it comes to location, and I think getting that from the show helps ground me in the world and emotional dynamics of the story a bit better. There’s a refrain that the show flattens or dilutes the themes or moral greyness of the novel, but frankly I think a lot of that is exaggerated or oversimplified; the show imo still has most of the themes of the novel, if they’re a bit more subtle or executed a bit differently. Certainly there’s adaptational changes I don’t agree with, but I think the show still manage to be plenty morally gray and present a number of complicated political situations where there’s really no right answer.

So as to which one you should watch first - I watched the show first, and I think that that contributed to my enthusiasm in reading the novel, since I already had the emotional context for the characters that allowed me to appreciate the writing more. (Especially since I might have found the romance tedious without the context of my preferred CQL!wangxian to frame it with.) But I might actually recommend starting with the novel, simply because a lot of the worldbuilding and plot points are a bit confusing on the first watch of the show (there’s a common joke that the first two episodes make no sense), whereas the novel has plenty of exposition that explains a bit more to the reader (particularly in convoluted sequences like Yi City).

I hope that’s helpful anon!

#'tis a long post #anonymous #replies #i am flattered that you are consulting my opinion #untaming #mdzs #the untamed #cql #Anonymous

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inspiritjun · 4 years

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MXTX novels in a nutshell

Now that I have finished all three MXTX novels, I wanted to summarize them quickly so, here are my thought:

MDZS / GDC

Among three of the books, if I have to choose one, it would be Mo Dao Zu Si, not only because of cql, the book has so many characters that made me feel things and the setting of the story suits my interest.

My favorite character in the novel, besides the main character, is Jiang Cheng. Poor boy went through so much, but still managed to lead the kingdom of his forefathers, collecting it from ruins. He could have done better, in regards to Wei Wuxian, but he gave into the situation. He was all alone, with no one to supervise, people make mistakes, esp. when they are young.

The Yi City arc deserved their very own story, Ah Qing is not much discussed but that girl was clever, smart and dedicated.

The juniors are much intelligent than the older generation. Jin Ling not hating on his uncle proves his maturity and that the next generation have bright future.

Nie Huaisang, I can’t help but think that in the end, he felt all alone. Wei Wuxian, who used to be his best friend once, does not feel the same way now, especially after knowing his true color. LXC and JGY, whom he used to turn to for every problems and who were so dear to him once, are no longer with him. The only thing he wanted was to avenge his brother, but after all the ordeals, I think that he was lonely, just my thought.

Xue Yang and Jin Guangyao are negative character but knowing what turned them into antagonists, can’t hate them wholeheartedly.

The only character I dislike is Jin Guangshan, that old man have done not a single right thing in life ><

WangXian relation was wholesome, not rushed, not forced, natural.

The friendship we were robbed of are:

- The triplets : WWX, JC, NHS

- WWX and Wen Qing

TGCF / HOB

Tbh, due to the immense violence, self harm, gore and such I was not quite fond of reading it initially.

But Shi Qingxuan made the plot interesting and captivated me. Every character had their own story, which were super amusing.

My personal favorite characters in the novel are:

Yin Yu - How could someone have such great heart. Sadly he had to pay high price for 2 words he spoke at wrong time and place.

Feng Xin - Loyalty is his description. Poor boy had chance at building his own family but didn’t persevere to follow his master.

Jian Lan - She is not major character but I admire her for letting her husband go, not only once but twice, for his sake. Usually females are depicted as clingy ones, even Xuan Ji had such character. But Jian Lan let Feng Xin go when she was pregnant, became a single mom, went to Paradise manor to get back her child, let go of her husband second time, even though she knew she and her child could have better future alongside him. Even though Feng Xin was willing to take up his responsibility but at what cost, she stood for herself.

Hua Cheng was always supportive of Xie Lian but never took the lead, that’s what I love about their relation.

In this too, can’t hate the antagonist truly, in fact, I feel sympathy for Bai Wuxiang.

By the end of the novel, it was a tie between MDZS and TGCF.

SVSSS

Honestly, I had zero interest in this book, but since it is one of MXTX works, I didn’t want to leave it unread.

From the beginning, I was not fond of the system, Shen Qingqui could not be himself, simply to earn some points. The major thing upsetting me was LBH and SQQ’s relationship, somehow it felt one sided the entire time. Only in the last chapter, it felt like for once Shizun initiated the skinship earnestly, not to tame the Demon King or not to coax him from crying, or forcefully by LBH. The feeling of romance between them seemed unnatural to me, no offense though.

The extras and the side stories were the ones that made the novel worth reading. Knowing Tianlang Jun’s side of story, how could anyone hate him or call him cruel Demon Lord, it was human who think not my race, they must have different motive.

Zhuzhi Lang repaying the drop of water with a fountain was incredible.

Gongyi Xiao was incredible kid, sadly his wish of going to Cang Qiong Mountain remained unfulfilled.

Liu Qingge seemed aloof and cold but was support pillar for SQQ.

Yue Qingyuan was such a marvellous parental figure.

More than the main pair, Shang Qinghua and Mo Beijun’s story fascinated me.

Hence, in a nutshell, the relation between Liu Qingge and Luo Binghe felt like that of Lan Zhan and Jiang Cheng, in-laws bitterness...lol

Both Jiang Cheng and Yue Qingyuan could have achieved better peace of mind, if they were good in communication, them hiding their true feeling made themselves and their dear ones hurt.

WangXian and HuaLian’s level of trust is dream of every pair. The feeling was mutual and their level of understanding is something only few could achieve.

#mxtx #mdzs #tgcf #svsss #gdc #hob #i had to let it out #finally can understand all mxtx quotes #love the author for her wonderful creations

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aliceindanmeiland · 3 years

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Hi....how are you? If you don't mind me asking, who is your favorite love interest in MXTX three novels (luo binghe, lan wanji, or hua cheng)? And why?

And who is your favorite protagonist in MXTX three novels (shen qingqiu, wei wuxian or xie lian)? And why?

Sorry if you've answered this question before....

These are easy lol

My favorite love interest is Lan Wangji. I have stated before that I love this character. Every one is his character traits are appealing to me. I love my cold on the outside and warm in the inside guys.

My favorite MC I have to say is Xie Lian. I honestly really admire him. With all the crap he went though he still managed to pull himself together and is firm about his beliefs. I also like to believe there are good people out there also but sometimes I fail to see it.

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aeternallis · 5 years

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Rant / Meta Analysis regarding The Untamed’s Ending

Having finally watched the last episode of The Untamed, I just wanted to take some time to sort through my thoughts about the last scenes, and what the production team had wanted to accomplish with it. As I have nothing else better to do on this rainy Sunday evening anyhow, here we go!

Oh! And for anyone who would like to continue reading, please be aware that these thoughts are strictly my opinions and how I understood the ending, so by no means do y’all have to agree with me! ^^

Personally, I found the ending quite satisfying; it didn’t leave much to the imagination that it was indeed a happy ending, and the relieved smile on Wei Wuxian’s face during that last shot was as poetic as it was fitting. The very first shot of him in the first episode of the drama is him looking broken with blood running down his chin, so the juxtaposition with the final shot of him looking healthy and smiling just makes the collective audience’s hearts sigh in content, methinks!

The scriptwriters for this show managed to give WangXian their happy ending without having to step over that line that could have taken the show off the air or kill one of them off, so for that, I’ll eternally be grateful.

I can now honestly say that in terms of Asian drama set in a historical/fantasy setting, this is definitely one of the best, despite the sometimes mediocre acting and frustratingly small budget. ❤️

The Set Up

Perhaps the biggest impression that the ending left on me would be the idea of Lan Wangji as the Chief Cultivator, because it’s one that’s unique to the live action drama. In the novel, they gloss over the political matters after the Guanyin Temple arc, so MXTX left it for interpretation. If memory serves me correctly, I believe Nie Huesang volunteered for the position, but someone please correct me if I’m wrong~

At first, I was a little bit confused as to why the scriptwriters for the show added such an original idea so late in the drama, when they’ve stuck pretty close to the source material throughout the show. But after spinning said idea in my brain for a couple of days, the realization slowly came that it was actually a marvelous and useful plot point for WangXian to get their happy ending! :D

In the novel, it was quite simple for MXTX to give WangXian their happy ending simply for the fact that the characters love and trust each other. They both can’t live without the other person, and after the shit they’ve been through, it’s only natural that they wouldn’t hesitate to take that once in a lifetime second chance to create a life together.

But in the drama, it’s different. The subtext is there, their feelings for one another jumps out of the screen, but no matter what, WangXian is not considered an official couple in the show. This isn’t to say that they aren’t or that the audience feels the same way; their relationship certainly has the development and trajectory of a regular couple had this been a drama with a het pairing as its focal point.

But alas, that’s the reality of censorship.

Ultimately, their ideals (to do what they believe is right, and to do it with their conscience clean) take much more precedence, compared to the novel. That isn’t to say that they place no importance on their feelings, but that this show portrays their morals in the most idealistic way.

In other words, they’re a romantic couple in everything but in name.

All the more reason, I think, that the show runners had to find a way around this roadblock they had no choice but to set themselves up for: without acknowledging the romance and relying on it, what excuse can they come up with to keep these two characters together?

Which brings us back to the live action’s original idea of Lan Wangji as Chief Cultivator.

Chief Cultivators

Before we fully get into the aforementioned topic, let’s first establish how Chief Cultivators are depicted in the drama: two portrayals in which although they seem complete opposites on the surface, are quite similar in nature, as this show has more than once pointed out to the audience.

During the first half of the drama, we have Wen Ruohan and his Wen Sect. As Chief Cultivator, he resided in the Nightless City. The palace is shown to be located on the side of a cliff, surrounded by volcanoes and oozing lava. He was a man mad with power and wanting an endless supply of it; by all means and purposes, Wen Ruohan was just #evil, and the show didn’t hide it. Lol

In contrast during the second half of the drama, the new Chief Cultivator resides in the Golden Koi Tower. The setting is the complete opposite from Nightless City; the skies are blue, the palace looks tranquil and majestic compared to Nightless City’s brutal design. Even so, Jin Guangyao was a man also mad with power and wanted more of it, he just knew how to hide it a lot better and under the guise of a thousand different justifications.

I think what struck me the most about these two portrayals is how cut off they are from the rest of the world (one is literally an ivory tower, lol) and how little both these ex-Chief Cultivators understood the nature of people.

A big part of the Wen Sect’s downfall is that because they were drunk and high on the power they’ve held onto for so long, it didn’t once occur to them that in such isolating circumstances, the smaller sects would eventually come together to rebel. So when it did happen, it was really no wonder the Sunshot Campaign was such a success, because the Wen Sect definitely got the rug pulled out from under them. When the smaller sects have been pushed and bullied around for so long and shared a common enemy, it’s an almost guaranteed hot pot for a successful coup d'état.

For any world leader, both real and fictional, this is common sense.

In that same vein, Jin Guangyao only understood the world through his own personal grievances. His very motivation for power was to avenge himself on everyone who has ever looked down on him and whether it was a big or small slight, it didn’t matter. Regardless, if one had committed a slight against him, he would repay it in full and perhaps a bit more.

So as far as portrayals go, Chief Cultivators aren’t really considered a very good thing in the show. They’re shown as not only power-hungry and manipulative, but more importantly, also isolated and stuck in their ivory towers.

LWJ as Chief Cultivator

And finally, we get to the million-dollar question: would Lan Wangji make for a good and effective Chief Cultivator?

In and of itself, this is a tricky question for me personally, as a fan of this show. On the one hand, my bias towards Lan Wangji says yes, but on the other hand... While I can admit he’d make for a trustworthy Chief Cultivator—meaning, he would know how to work through the technicalities of the job, without relying on shady political dealings and manipulations—understanding the people of their world and how/why they do the things they do would prove to be much more of a challenge for him.

Let’s not forget that although Lan Wangji has a good reputation for his honor and admirable conduct, it’s easy for people to turn against him if they don’t understand his motivation and/or his reasoning. Case in point: during episode 44, a random sect member easily called him out for his association with the Yiling Patriarch. The call out was made through the sect member’s limited view of how she perceived Hanguang-jun’s character through his reputation alone.

It also does not help the fact that Lan Wangji doesn’t really know how to express himself directly. During episode 13 when they’re making their way to the cave to find the Tortoise of Slaughter, Wei Wuxian had to work his way around his friend’s lack of skills when it comes to communicating what he needs (in this case, needing to rest his broken leg, lol). And don’t even get me started on how the man can’t lie to save his life; he’d rather not say anything and uphold his honor, rather than spout lies (mayhaps the only exception to this would be to protect the other person).

As much as it pains me to say it, Lan Wangji’s personality and natural demeanor makes for a great hive of misunderstandings. And this is only in describing his personal relationship with Wei Wuxian; what more on the grand scale of being the Chief Cultivator, when you have to deal with so many more people? T_T

If anything, the show does an incredible job of showing how Lan Wangji comes to understand the people around him when he’s with Wei Wuxian: his understanding of Song Lan’s pain when he lost his own soulmate, the struggle and determination he sees in his own brother when faced with the fact that Jin Guangyao may not be the man he thought he was.

It’s a great contrast to how he was during the time period when Wei Wuxian was “asleep.” Jiang Cheng mentions that Lan Wangji has been traveling all over the world looking for someone, yet isn’t it interesting how in those years of travel, the latter hasn’t made one single human connection outside of the people close to him at home?

While it shows serious dedication to Wei Wuxian and the memory of their history together, it’s not a very helpful backdrop to his new position, imo. In all honestly, it’s safe to say that at this point, Lan Wangji mostly gains his understanding of people through his relationship and connection with Wei Wuxian.

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, of course. If anything, it means that his connection to Wei Wuxian is a positive influence on him, and vise versa. Lan Wangji is the type of person who, although he doesn’t care for many people on a personal level, the ones that he does care for are the ones he loves fiercely and is deeply attuned to.

Tbh, the level of detail in this show is astounding when it comes to Lan Wangji and his character. During episode 46 of the golden core reveal, the audience sees mainly Jiang Cheng’s realization of what truly happened all those years ago in real-time. At that point, Jiang Cheng had only begun to realize the cost of not only his, but Wei Wuxian’s pride and honor.

In contrast, Lan Wangji had already fit the puzzle pieces together in his mind; there was no need to show his own flashbacks and moments with Wei Wuxian. Because he already understood and saw for himself the kindness and selflessness that is so deeply ingrained in his beloved, along with the evidence in front of him, there was no reason to doubt Wen Ning’s testimony.

It isn’t until we get to the lake scene though that audience witnesses the crucial realization for Lan Wangji of how...callous and almost naive his initial reaction was to finding out that Wei Wuxian has been practicing demonic cultivation. While in his mind he may have thought at the time that he was interrogating his friend with a clean conscience, I will admit that for a time, the way I (key word here is I, so don’t come at me folks) saw this scene as part of the audience, Lan Wangji was also suspicious of him.

Which is why I believe on episode 33, it was due to this that Wei Wuxian couldn’t help but ask regarding that time period in their life:

In other words, Lan Wangji’s reaction at the time, no matter the fact that he hadn’t known the truth of Wei Wuxian’s golden core yet, wasn’t done with as clean a conscience as he had once thought. It isn’t until he came to learn of Wei Ying‘s true motivation explicitly, that he realizes his own misjudgment of the situation, which I would think is very important as to how he will deal with other people as the Chief Cultivator.

This is also why, although I may have had reservations about this original idea at first, I will say that it makes for a great vehicle in keeping these two characters together all the way to the end. 😆

As the position of Chief Cultivator has been given to one of the Two Jades of Lan, I think it’s reasonable to assume that the seat of centralized power has now shifted to the Gusu Lan Sect. But, as this show has once again shown to the audience, no sect is infallible, not even Gusu Lan, for all their righteousness.

After all, let’s not forget that the Gusu Lan Sect produced Su She and the questionable morals of Lan Xichen and Lan Wangji’s father. Yikes, man...

Even if Gusu Lan is portrayed as an upright sect with many rules and regulations and has the most upright disciples, it’s no less of an ivory tower for Lan Wangji, as the Nightless City had been for Wen Ruohan and the Golden Koi Tower for Jin Guangyao.

And this is why I think in the end, Lan Wangji chose to come back to Wei Ying and travel the world with him, amongst other reasons. 😆 Because as much as Lan Wangji loves Wei Wuxian in the context of this show, he’s also not the type to let go of his responsibility, especially one he chose to accept himself.

It’s much too simple, I think, to say that he became Chief Cultivator for awhile, then once he “settled everything,” he came back to Wei Ying. If anything, this drama reiterates the fact that the world is not always so simple, especially when it comes to the thoughts and feelings of others.

Besides, what would stop the audience from thinking that Lan Wangji became a traveling Chief Cultivator, one who actually makes an effort to get to know people and understand their motivations? Although I will also point out that, in the end, whether or not he gives up the position of Chief Cultivator, it doesn’t necessarily matter.

The point of the matter is, he is a better person at Wei Wuxian’s side, as Wei Wuxian is at his, in order for them to keep and maintain their promise! ^^

And yet furthermore, which better person to travel the world with in order to understand it than Wei Wuxian, the one who arguably knows the most in regards to the nature of people, just because he’d seen firsthand what could be the worst of it? The man who usually has the keenest sense of getting to the bottom of an individual’s motivation, but also knows that sometimes, as he states in episode 43:

After all, in order for Lan Wangji to become an effective Chief Cultivator, in order for him to maintain his promise of protecting the weak and helpless whilst keeping a clear conscience and not make the same mistake as he had done with Wei Wuxian the first time, he needs to learn about the hearts of other people.

A Chief Cultivator stuck in his ivory tower would only repeat the same past mistakes, but a Chief Cultivator who knows the hearts of people and makes the effort to understand them would, I think, make the biggest difference in their world.

#The Untamed #chen qing ling #CQL #meta #meta analysis #wangxian #lan wangji #wei wuxian #mdzs #mo dao zu shi #mdzs meta

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