Very quick very self indulgent #junmei sketchy after work cuz lately I’ve been having a lot of feelings for them 🥲
I just wanted to see young Crown Prince of Wuyong getting comforted by MNQ after the fall of the Kingdom… I apologize it truly is self-indulgent but just had this picture in my mind and wanted to get it out… 🥲
One of the things that I was always a little confused about was how Mei Nianqing describes that over the centuries, as Jun Wu watched Xie Lian during his second banishment, he 'calmed down' from the displeasure of Xie Lian failing to meet Jun Wu's expectations in Lang'er Bay. Why would he calm down, watching Xie Lian? After all, he was suffering, sure, but we can see from Yong'an and Banyue that he was still living in accordance with his principles, standing strong despite his experiences. What made Jun Wu think that what he was seeing was a sign that Xie Lian, upon ascending and witnessing the sins of the gods up close and personal, would finally give in and become the second White No-Face?
And I realized that, just like he does across the entire series, he was probably projecting on Xie Lian, wasn't he? He probably thought (or, decided to believe) that deep down, each indignity Xie Lian suffered built up resentment and frustration, that he bargained with himself at every hardship, that he was struggling not only physically but also mentally. Surely a man like that would falter, to see that such indignities continue even among the gods.
And I wonder if this is perhaps a look into Jun Wu himself. Is this a sentiment Jun Wu developed over the years, accustomed to hiding away all the ugly and angry pieces of himself, waiting until he was alone to let them out? Or is this perhaps a sentiment that he always carried, deep down? Even as a prince, did he feel some little niggle of resentment when things didn't go his way? When soldiers killed civilians to take their land? When worshipers turned away but still expected to benefit off of him?
When his friends said he'd changed, to suggest human sacrifice, had he truly? Or was he simply finally showing a part of himself that he'd never expressed before? One that grew stronger the more he endured, but that had always been there, deep down?
Or maybe Jun Wu didn't think any of this at all, and he just wanted to see Xie Lian crack, one way or another. But I wonder if we can read deeper into this than that.
so far I've only seen the "haha jun wu was so funny putting fengqing in charge of the same domain" take and yes it is objectively a hilarious thing for him to have done but has anyone considered he did that hoping they'd fail? i mean look at yin yu and quan yizhen. being in charge of the same domain didn't work out so well for them. I'm betting jun wu was hoping something equally devastating would befall fengqing so that when xie lian eventually ascended again he'd be without his old friends and all alone. put the two known for hating each other together and let them fight over the south and surely they'll end up destroying each other right? well jokes on jun wu fengqing are the worst kind of codependant and they ain't going anywhere