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the way i understand it, we’re shown nmj warning lxc about jgy, both subtly and blatantly...but lxc reduces it to nmj being brash/harsh/hateful of jgy, as if nmj was just irrational after the war, ignoring that jgy only gained a name and recognition bc of nmj....
i never really got the idea that lxc was completely clueless and equally a victim as nmj bc i don’t think that’s quite true? he was manipulated by jgy yes but nmj was open w him, and there were several instances were lxc ignores those warnings so as to maintain peace at any cost?
which, and this isn’t a fully fleshed out thought yet so pls feel free to correct me :3–in jgy being wwx’s foil, lxc is also lwj’s foil in some places.... the contrast b/w lwj seeing past wwx’s claims that he’s completely fine and everything is under control,
being able to....understand wwx at his core and know about how difficult everything was for him and his reasoning behind those necessary struggles. vs lxc who resists right until the very end to think critically about what jgy is telling him, presenting to him? this one is weak
but one part I def will think more about is how while on the surface both jades dismiss societal bias against their loved one, there’s a difference in like why? omg words don’t work but I’m thinking...ppl say wwx is son of a servant, talk down on modao, all of wwx’s ~crimes~
but lwj doesn’t care to deny the things wwx is or has done? lwj doesn’t view wwx as anything other than his equal despite socioeconomic bg so others calling him servant has no bearing on how lwj treats him,
lwj doesn’t care for how modao affects wwx’s body and health, but he doesn’t flinch away from whatever grotesque things wwx did w modao, the means wwx had to take to survive—even before he knew wwx had no other choice—were not....shameful?
even at nightless city, ofc we know lwj doesn’t deny what wwx’s just done, he acknowledges and confronts and accepts his subsequent punishment and then he works at healing, doesn’t let himself fall into crippling grief like his father did, despite his mourning and regret
but lxc can’t tolerate jgy being viewed as the son of a prostitute even though he Is, bc just like jgy, lxc is unwittingly placing value judgements on their socioeconomic positions, he does not want to deal w jgy’s upbringing or the steps jgy took to becoming powerful,
to admit that jgy is a prostitute’s son would be to lessen jgy, to grapple w jgy “doing what he had to” for wrh during the ssc would be to confront the possibility that they went about it the wrong way, to heed nmj’s warnings would be to accept that jgy is what ppl say...
omg like yk how not recognizing that some women are just genuinely terrible ppl is also misogyny, like not even allowing them the humanity of cruelty, placing them on a pedestal that dehumanizes the same as those who actively think so women are worthless/lesser? that’s xiyao
so then even at guanyin temple, it’s exposed not only that lxc didn’t know anything about jgy, but that he doesn’t /want/ to know? he wants everything to be a lie, he hopes for a shred of redemption even as more grotesque things are revealed, he needs that pedestal intact
his trust in jgy was so tenuous the entire time that confronting the error also makes his sense of self shatter, in having to confront jgy’s complexity he knows nothing about himself, questions what type of person he is, forces himself into seclusion and crippling grief
vs the reason WHY lwj fought back at nightless city was bc he knew that he understood the core of wwx, and he knew himself enough to know that their morals and truths and cores were the same, even when he couldn’t feel wwx’s
lwj grieves and mourns and hurts, but this is a process rather than the final destination.....!! vs in paralleling lxc going into seclusion with their father, it’s implied that the grief will be what’s central for lxc :/
lxc is ac little better off than their father bc he eventually gets married to produce heir (I GUESS!!!! Useless when wwx’s womb is so fertile!
) but I think the implication of hurt as being rather than feeling is meant to stay with us
) but I think the implication of hurt as being rather than feeling is meant to stay with us
