I've Been Obsessed With Jiang Cheng Since Halfway Through My First Watch Of Cql, And Here's Why. He Always

I've been obsessed with Jiang Cheng since halfway through my first watch of cql, and here's why. He always keeps doing better than I expect him to.

(wow, this got long. rest is under the cut!)

He's introduced as the brother-killer, the ruthless sect leader with a reputation for being merciless. Then cut to the flashback, a Jiang Cheng who is fifteen, surrounded by his sister and brother and happy about it, occasionally doing stupid teenager things, trying so very hard to be Ideal Heir, while Wei Wuxian is the prodigy that keeps stealing his thunder effortlessly. And you go, "oh, I know this story. It's a tragedy, because these brothers loved each other once, but one's ambition will eventually breed jealousy which will fester into hate and end, tragically, in the death of the better half." It's Cain and Abel! You've seen how it ends, it's the first scene you see, of course that's where it's going!

And then you see how the three siblings help each other survive a frankly horrible and abusive household. They try to do for each other what their parents couldn't; Yanli tries to be their mother, Jiang Cheng doesn't believe the rumours about Wei Wuxian being jfm's illegitimate son or hold it against him as he very easily could've learnt to from his mother, and Wei Wuxian does his darned best to get jfm to acknowledge and love his son as he does for Wei Wuxian.

You keep waiting for the other shoe to drop!! Yunmeng burns, Jiang Cheng chokes his brother in the rain, and you think this is it, this is where it finally breaks. But he sticks with his brother and sister, he makes some stupid decisions in his grief and pays dearly for it. When he wakes up without a core he is broken, his 'ambition' is destroyed, and you remember him choke his brother and think this is it, and then... it isn't. Other than the one grieving rant in the rain, he never blames his brother for their loss, never demands that he fix it all. When Wei Wuxian does come with a solution, Jiang Cheng doesn't act like it's something he was owed. It's his brother, his brilliant genius brother, who miraculously fixed this impossible thing! He's the most Jiang of them all, of course he achieved the impossible!

And then he's the young sect leader in a bloody war, needing to win, needing to prove his worth and his sect's worth at every turn. This is where he becomes the ruthless, powerful man we meet in the first few episodes! Only.... he finds Wen Qing, who is the enemy in the eyes of the Jianghu, and offers to protect her (only her because he knows his limits, he can't protect all her people and his own, and his duty to his sect is first). He goes looking for his brother, months on end, haggard to the bone.

Then Wei Wuxian shows up wielding a power that's the worst taboo in their world, a power frighteningly similar to the power-drunk villain that they war is being waged against! He's doing unspeakable things, terrible torture in the name of revenge! Ah, so this is what it finally is! The moment they finally fall out for good, where Jiang Cheng cannot abide to tarnish his sect's reputation with Wei Wuxian's, and their love turns to hate.

But.... Jiang Cheng sees what he's done, and the first thing he does is to hug him tight. He asks about Wei Wuxian not carrying his sword, but even after the diplomatic nightmare of a war council, Jiang Cheng is just worrying. It's the most open, the most honest we've seen him so far, and he is concerned for his brother. He shuts it down when Jin Zixun tries to pick a fight. He takes responsibility for the person everyone's wary of, because that's his brother and he trusts him! He's hiding things, yes, but one day he will be ready to talk and Jiang Cheng will wait till then.

Then the war's won (by Wei Wuxian, of course!) and he has a sect to rebuild. And his brother is not at his side. First he's slacking off and drinking around town, then he runs away with the Wens to the Burial Mounds. It's terrible for the sect's and Jiang Cheng's own precarious position in Jianghu. Surely, this is the last thread of Jiang Cheng's love for his brother, the beginning of the man we were introduced to? But it's fucking not! Yes, he's frustrated. Yes, he's mad. And yet, he doesn't force his sister into a diplomatically advantageous marriage (which I strongly believe is the bare minimum of being a decent human being, but is something that wouldn't have been a questionable or dishonourable thing for him to do in the culture and world this story is set in) because she is not a pawn and he respects her choice above the politics! He tries to defend his First Disciple, his brother, and is overshadowed by much more powerful leaders who are bigoted and/or afraid of his power. And when it all goes to shit, they fight! This is the end of it, surely? But no! It's all fake! They fight, make up a lie about how the Yunmeng Jiang has supressed Wei Wuxian and his Wens in the Burial Mounds so they can live without being under attack for however long, and then have shady meetups to discuss their nephew's name!!

In the carnage of Nightless City, their sister dies at his hands, and the horrible realisation dawns that this is what pushes them over the brink, literally. And then!! AND THEN!!!!! EVEN THEN IT WASN'T ENOUGH FOR HIM TO KILL HIS BROTHER!!! The first scene was a lie, WEI WUXIAN HAD TO THROW HIMSELF OFF!!!!!! And when he's finally back, what does Jiang Cheng do? Kill him? ban him from ever returning to their home? No! He wants to drag him back home and make him apologise, explain himself!!

A lot of this is very focused on the brothers, but even outside of that, Jiang Cheng keeps subverting the expectations that the story builds for him right in the beginning. For all the talks of 'disciplining' his nephew (which could unquestionably entail some form of corporal punishment, as we see in other parts of the story) and the childhood Jiang Cheng himself had, the idea of his Jiujiu raising his hand against him is unthinkable to the point of incredulity for Jin Ling. When Jin Ling has his breakdown over Suihua on the Lotus Pier docks, I was full bracing myself for Jiang Cheng to yell at him for crying in public without any shame or dignity, but what does he do? Calls his nephew to his side and demands to know who made him cry, so he can fucking wreck them for daring to do that! He has a mere day to process the Golden Core reveal, and after all the yelling, he actually apologises to his brother!!

Then, in the mother of all sucker-punch moments, we find out that the one grief-riddled, frustrating moment of apparent stupidity whose domino effect this entire thing has been, was in fact Jiang Cheng willingly sacrificing himself, sect be damned, to save his brother and sister. And like!! How do you have such a character who simultaneously is and is not what he seems to be!!!

I (and a lot of the audience) immediately played into the simple brotherhood-destroyed-by-jealousy plot that it seems to be at first, but that's the intention! The entire story keeps showing how misleading, how vicious rumours can be and how horribly it can affect who someone is in the eyes of society. We see this happen in the story, of course, but the narrative also relies on the audience to make the same mistake, to take the tropes that seem obviously implied at the start, and then unravels the true complexity of the story as it moves forward. We got played by the narrative and it was so worth it!! Wei Wuxian is the prime example, of course, but cql (and mdzs from what I gather, though I haven't read the books) does it with such nuance and brilliance for Jiang Cheng, how do you not immediately lose your entire mind about it for the rest of forever!!!!!

Mike and Will are two sides of the same coin. But Mike's curse is invisibility

I really love how @aemiron-main brought to light the idea that Will is a representation of LGBTQ people who are actively targeted because of their sexuality, and hated by their parents—parents who clearly perceive them and hate them for it (or at least one of them does, like in the case of Lonnie).

Meanwhile, Mike is a representation of LGBTQ people who slip through the cracks, the invisible ones, the ones their parents can’t see even though they desperately want to be seen and understood by them.

And I think it’s such a brilliant idea to have written them this way, to portray these different realities within the LGBTQ community—because yes, the 80s setting fits, but it’s not just about that. It breaks down stereotypes by showing us the overlooked representations, the so-called invisible community, the one Mike represents—so invisible that even the general audience of Stranger Things (aside from film students who know how to read cinematic language, and LGBTQ people who understand because we’re way less affected by the lens of heteronormativity) can miss it.

The fact that Mike and Will are both gay but in completely different situations is so fascinating. Whether it’s Lonnie or the bullies, or the people in town filled with judgment and prejudice, or even the ones who mean well—like his mom, his brother, and his friends—everyone sees Will.

Lonnie and the bullies take his sensitivity as an insult and attack him for it. Joyce and Jonathan cherish it and accept him for who he is. But either way, he’s seen.

And that’s the double-edged sword: being visible means he’s an easy target for hatred and violence. That’s why no one—not even Hopper or Ted Wheeler—was surprised at the idea that Will might be a victim of a hate crime.

But on the other hand, the people who love him and accept him can see him. They notice immediately when something’s wrong. They know when he’s not okay. They realize right away when he goes missing.

Who ever noticed that Mike was suffering? How long would it have taken for the Wheeler parents to realize Mike hadn’t come home if El hadn’t saved him from falling off that cliff?

Like the post said so perfectly—people don’t recognize Mike’s difference.

Sure, he’s spared from the bullying—kind of. He still gets bullied for his frog face, for being a nerd. But before Will disappeared, he didn’t seem to be targeted by the homophobic slurs that were directed at Will.

It’s not that they hate him. It’s that they don’t see him.

And that would explain his obsession with superheroes and people with powers, but also his desire to be normal. Deep down, Mike wants to be different. He wants to be seen. He wants to be himself—but he also knows how dangerous that is. He’s seen what happened to Will. And to El.

And one really important thing that aemiron-main said (which I think would explain the cliff scene so well, and which I really hope Season 5 will explore):

Will represents gay men who die from hate crimes. Mike represents gay men who die by suicide.

Will represents gay men who are too visible (through no fault of their own), whose families and the people around them sensed their queerness from a very young age. Mike represents gay men who are invisible—not hated, but never supported either.

Will represents gay men who are tormented, or taken away by force. Mike represents gay men who run away from home—or disappear by taking their own lives.

Will is a gay boy who gets picked on and called “queer” because of how he dresses. Mike is a gay boy whose clothes go unnoticed.

Will is good at hiding because he’s visible. He has to hide because people seem to see right through him.

Mike isn’t good at hiding. He’s not good at pretending to be “normal” because he never had to. He’s invisible. No one ever saw him before.

He never had to hide the way Will did.

Will had to learn how to hide and how to act “normal.” That’s exactly why he hates when people treat him differently, like he’s a “freak.” Will doesn’t want to be treated differently—because he’s always been treated differently.

Because he’s too visible. So he had to learn how to act “normal.”

Meanwhile, Mike wants to be treated differently—because he’s been invisible his entire life.

He never had to learn how to hide, or how to behave “normally,” not really. Even though now he tries, he doesn’t know how, because he never had to before.

Where Lonnie noticed every trace of queerness in Will, Ted just… ignored everything. Too busy being passive and watching TV.

Will was so visible that he couldn’t even breathe without Lonnie noticing and forcing him to play baseball, because “that’s what boys do.” Mike is so invisible he could’ve screamed “I have a girl with magical powers in my basement who’s wanted by the government” and Ted wouldn’t have noticed a thing.

Mike and Will are two sides of the same coin.

And now that I think about it… poor Mike is just lost. He doesn’t know where he fits.

Because he’s an invisible gay kid, he doesn’t feel normal—so he thinks he has to protect himself by hiding his difference and pretending to be normal. He performs heteronormativity for the whole world to see (aka the cis-het “normals”).

But at the same time, he’s not seen or accepted by the “different” ones either—because they don’t perceive his difference.

(Like when El says “no you don’t” after Mike tells her he knows what it’s like to be bullied—because she meant being different, and she didn’t see that in him.)

Mike doesn’t feel at home with the “normal” people, because deep down he knows he’s different. But he doesn’t feel different enough to be embraced by those who are different.

So he’s stuck. He’s floating in between. He doesn’t know where his place is.

Which also explains why it’s so hard for him to develop a sense of self-worth outside of being needed. Outside of being useful.

He suppresses and denies his own trauma because he thinks it doesn’t “count.” Because he didn’t go through what Will went through. Or what El went through. So he tells himself it’s nothing.

His curse is invisibility.

Even we, the audience, don’t get access to his point of view. He’s ignored, overlooked, minimized—and especially misunderstood.

And all of this gives him that aching feeling of belonging nowhere. Not normal enough, not different enough. Not this, not that.

Mike Wheeler is Vecna’s playground, honestly. If he isn’t one of his targets in Season 5, then what was the point of writing such a painfully complex character?

Mike And Will Are Two Sides Of The Same Coin. But Mike's Curse Is Invisibility

Here is the post who inspired me this post.

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trd12345

3 years ago

car chase car chase car chase

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trd12345

1 month ago

Fic idea

Dean goes to crash Sam's wedding because he found something shitty about Sam's fiance and is trying to save his baby brother

But he crashes the wrong wedding

"Don't do it! She's not who you want!" Dean yells the second he kicks open the Chappelle doors

Castiel doesn't wanna marry so and so, has been trying to get out of this arraigned bullshit for years

Sees a crazy dude crash his wedding and literally jumps at the opportunity. Doesn't think, just looks at his dad all "He's right father. She's not. I'm gay for that man!" Really awkwardly then runs to Dean, puts all his faith into this and jumps into his arms

Dean has no fucking idea what he just did, but the guards are behind him and now the groom in his arms is going "Run! Run! Run!"

And now Dean is running to his Impala, stuffing Castiel in it, and speeding away with him because fuck his life

And now Castiel is stuck in a road trip to save this random guy's brother from a sham marriage

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trd12345

3 weeks ago

Drew @maridle OC Noah :-)) <3

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trd12345

1 month ago

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trd12345

3 years ago

Using Kohaku to basically let out the voice of my heart after episode 22 :___)

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trd12345

2 months ago

Thank you to @curiousbadger for kickstarting to memory of this au of @stan-the-cinnamon-roll-uris’s au outlined in Part 1 of this post where Eddie ends up a cat with Patty and Stanley ends up an owl and in Richie’s care and eventually coming back together. Enjoy some grumpy owl Stanley

Also you can best believe the losers are rallying around their comedian friend who has recently acquired an owl from somewhere presumably and is now allowing the bird to take creative liberties in his comedy writing

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