Jiang Cheng came to me crying and told me to post this on Tumblr

Jiang Cheng is so. Is just so. He’s WWX’s shidi. His Sect Leader. His brother. His not-brother. His best friend. His enemy. His executioner. His most important person. His chance at forgiveness. His childhood sweetheart. His estranged acquaintance. His wife. His ex-wife. His home. Always, always his.

JC, just days after he barely got any credit for running pillar to post to save his brother with barely any rest and succeeding in saving him, had his core melted, and he had all of a week (maybe?) to come to terms with the fact that he didn't have it anymore before WWX gave up his core for him, after which he became a sect leader overnight without the support of his family in the middle of a war which started because his entire sect was decimated, and right when he thinks everything is okay and the war has ended his brother defects and his sister is married into a different sect, his brother in law is killed by his brother, his sister dies for his brother and he's alone again, (except for a child he's now responsible for).

This obviously traumatized him and he acted very negatively towards both WWX and all demonic cultivators. Especially WWX.

But that doesn't erase who he was before all of this, or even during it. He loved his brother and gave up his life for him. He was a boy king who made his sect one of the great sects after it was razed in the war. He raised his nephew while grieving for his family and raised him well, (JL is a bit immature and arrogant, but he's intelligent, righteous, and strong willed).

In this essay I will-

You know the Canon Jiang Cheng tag was never made to be a "safe space" for JC antis when JC antis literally already had other tags for their posts that JC fans respectfully stay out of (Anti JC tag, JC critical tag, JC bashing tag etc).

You already had tags for your community. You made the Canon Jiang Cheng tag to demean Jiang Cheng fans and act as though your interpretations are gospel and you know it. Not only that, you use this tag to mock and insult us in the same breath.

Your community has been just as bad for jumping on fans for simply liking a character. Your community has even willingly entered JC fan spaces, screenshot our prompts, and fanfictions just to laugh at them with all your mates. So yes, actually. JC antis have been VERY vile towards other fans, too.

As someone who came in as a Wangxian fan first, I left that community and strayed away from the mainstream side towards the JC side because of all the bullying within the Wangxian community in general.

Your bullying doesn't even stop with JC fans. You've bullied JGY fans, BottomJi fans, Chengxian fans, and Xicheng fans alike. You have turned away so many people just because they're enjoying a work of fiction in the way you don't like. So stop acting like you're a victimised community. You are not. You are still able to enthuse about your favourite characters in the main tags without receiving hate for it. If we did that, we have to be prepared with the block button or risk facing a barrage of hate from the nasty side of the Wangxian community.

I'll stand here and condemn the misbehaviour of toxic JC fans who bully people. But I expect you JC antis to do the same with the people on your side of the fandom. The fact is, you never do. All I see on this tag is JC antis belittling fans, then playing victim the moment you are called out for your needless character and fan bashing.

Accept accountability and grow up.

The way he instantly swoops in to comfort Jin Ling the very moment he sees he is upset and hurting 😭😭

He doesn't tell him to "man up" or "suck it up." Instead, he's instantly rushing in to comfort him, to let him cry and ask who had hurt him.

Jiang Cheng went beyond the expected norms of a leader in an ancient time period. He allowed Jin Ling (the sect heir of a powerful sect) to express a moment of vulnerability and not once shamed him for it.

He allows Jin Ling to be a normal teenager, for that was robbed from him thanks to the actions of adults who were supposed to be making a brighter and happier future for the next generation. Jiang Cheng didn't want to make the same mistakes as his predecessors. He wanted a safe world that was free from war and terror, so his nephew could live a long and fulfilling life. He wanted to raise and nurture a boy his sister would be proud of 🥺

canon jiang cheng has an excellent fashion sense💜

HEY that's MY emotional support morally ambiguous misunderstood full of trauma touch starved yearning for love drenched in blood responsible for numerous atrocities comfort character who is TRYING & u will TREAT them with RESPECT

TFW you're invested in an interesting fic that is super long but a WIP so you get excited for the next update only to discover that they've swerved into Jiang Cheng bashing.

I truly do not care if you hate the character, you do you, but fucking TAG THAT SHIT.

IT HAPPENED AGAIN.

This time the author noted at the end of a chapter that they purposely did not tag their Jiang Cheng bashing "b/c canon amirite?!?!??! 😀"

And yeah, you are right. But also completely wrong.

Please TRY to understand that your interpretation of a character is not universal. Please TRY to show respect to your fellow fans by tagging something you know they don't like.

Please grow the fuck up.

endless gifs of jiang cheng [7/ ∞]

As bad as YZY is for Jiang Cheng I think Jiang Cheng has far more daddy issues then mommy issues.

With his mother, as awful as she is to Jiang Cheng he always knows where he stands with her. When she’s upset with him he’ll know why. He’s upset by her, hurt by doesn’t stay up at night thinking about it.

But with JFM he’ll never know where he stands with him, what can he do to make JFM like him. He agonises on why his father doesn’t like him. He wants his father to like him so fucking badly.

If anyone has mommy issues more it’s likely Yanli and WWX than Jiang Cheng

Important chart btw

Why we love Jiang Cheng.

Context: Damn I'm tired of this message that "only perfect people allowed in fanfic." I get it, escapism etc. etc. but then just read fluff and stop bitching okay pls thnx

Maybe it is b/c I'm old, but I see so much "discourse" complaining about how characters react in traumatic situations which really shows that those ppl have never actually BEEN in a traumatic situation.

I'm so happy for them but also SHUT UP.

People do not behave in their own best interests when traumatized, even if they THINK they are. Brains simply do not work correctly when under extreme duress.

Irrationality is baked into trauma.

It's hard to accept that the creators made a character you love (or hate) behave poorly but really look at why. Characters who go off the rails when hit with death, betrayal, and injury are reflective of what really happens.

Explore that instead of pretending that trauma is easy to deal with.

I wish it were easy. I wish nobody ever had to live through trauma-brain fuck-ups.

Sometimes I enjoy reading about characters who hate themselves for their trauma-brain fuck-ups as much as I hate myself.

(especially if they, like me, are fighting the hard journey through recovery and self-improvement, which, I need to point out, is a path blocked by ruins and pitfalls and sand-traps and rodents of unusual size. Sometimes it's just necessary to not feel so alone.)

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This is an edited repost of an old twitter thread which I think was in reaction to (as usual) people blasting fictional character Jiang Cheng for existing.

Jiang Cheng & Wei Wuxian | missing wwx

I am genuinely obsessed with how jiang cheng goes from "youngest sect leader in an age with a weak, newly rebuilt sect who can't risk upsetting the jin sect" to "if you're going to offend someone, make sure you don't offend the jiang sect or sandu shengshou"

#there are three things jiang cheng is unambiguously better at than wei wuxian#mean comments that will echo around in his targets heads when they’re trying to sleep#fashion#and leading a small group of people back from the brink of a genocide to a position of prosperity and stability (@winepresswrath)