awkward perhaps to ask this on the heels of your fervent plea for chenglatan support... however. do you think xicheng COULD be interesting? like i can't see it based on what canon provides and so i don't understand the popularity of the ship, but im generally in favor of trying to explore character relations regardless... and i do think that the way it could potentially give lwj conniptions would be. funny. sorry lwj i know you've suffered

HARK! WHO DARES IMPINGE UPON MY TERRITORY IN THE MIDST OF MY BEDDYTIME ABLUTIONS........ (readies the chain lightning)

jk anon ilu mwah and since you asked nicely (and since i'm still on karma probation) let me preface this by saying what i've always said about xi/cheng, which is that Anything that could have possibly made it compelling is already done by sang/cheng but more balanced and it just makes more sense TO ME.

brother issues? lxc is a responsible older brother (though not as well-adjusted as he seems on the surface) but SC are both youngest brothers too. lost something during the war? they all did, but SC both lost brothers who were Larger Than Life both for and in comparison to themselves. sect leaders? so are SC plus their situations mirror each other's (one never wanted to be but was thrust into it. the other was destined for it but entirely unprepared to take it in that way; both came at steep costs they never expected to pay) and that's not getting into like, how they have opposite and complementary connections to grief and rage, how one is a mask to hide the other

also no offense to zewu-jun, but what exactly is he doing here. as far as i can tell, XC is mostly a ship designed to benefit jc, but how does it benefit lxc in any way? meanwhile let's look at the tragedy of nielan and how it also reflects the themes set up in the songxiao arc to be honest what's my man jc bringing to the table for lxc? more work??

ALL THAT BEING SAID. because lwj conniptions would be funny and you're talking to me the guy who's gonna make hx/yy big in the other fandom someday I WILL GIVE IT THE GOOD OL' COLLEGE TRY. it'll be hard because i am so heavily biased for SC (hence my old url) but:

maaaaaybeeeee ....... ok so it's postcanon but pre-wangxian returning from their road trip. jiang cheng is not coping well and is so very close to a qi deviation (always) and lxc is like "maybe if you listen to my binaural beats you'll calm down" because 1) jc needs to settle down a little and 2) it eases lxc's guilt about the whole nmj + jgy situation and gives him smth to think about that isn't his two dead bros chillin in a coffin. whatever so they do that and perhaps they get to talking? i'm really blanking out on who'd go first bc jc either lashes out or Doesn't Say Shit but lxc pure Dissociates just goes up in the clouds (NOT WEED) who knows. anyway maybe it starts out as a mutual pseudo-therapy session where lxc teaches jc to Chill Bro and jc teaches lxc the beauty of "don't you ever get tired of being nice? don't you just wanna go Ape Shitt?" which. idk how well it's gonna work. look at him. MAYBE we can work in the goddamn frogs into the situation. lxc calls in jc like "we're trying to grow lotuses here but--" "it's too cold. your lake bed is shit and the seeds don't like it. you don't even have frogs" and they do landscaping together. lwj comes home and finds jc dunking a bucket on tadpoles on lxc like it's frat night idk

我不知 FUCKING 道 KLDHLS I GIVE UP!!!!!!! I DON'T KNOW HOW THIS SHIP EVEN HAPPENED BUT BABY IT'S LIKE PUTTING TWO NORTH-NORTH MAGNETS TOGETHER IT'S LIKE MAKING PARALLEL LINES TOUCH I CAN'T DO IT I CAAAAAN'T IM SORRYYYYYY DO THEY EVEN TALK MUCH IN CANON?????????

(and as a side note. chenglatan canon bc, basically, i can For My Derelict Favorite my way into his heart. and poison mushroom omelet my way into his guts. please support me in my dreams <3)

in conclusion: i was brushing my teeth when i saw this ask and i spat out blood from my throat. but that is just the cadmium poisoning dw