Twin Jades - Tumblr Posts
At one point Lan Qiren has held his nephews' hands, carried them in his arms, wiped their tears, picked them up when they fell, fed them, straightened their clothes, taught them to hold a brush, etc. etc.
I think about that a lot
And then I think about how Lan Qiren has just so desperately wanted his nephews to turn out well, how he wanted them to be different from their father.
And I wonder if Lan Qiren watches Lan Wangji get whipped 33 times and thinks about how once his little hand could only hold two of Lan Qiren's fingers at a time.
And I wonder if Lan Qiren sees Lan Xichen in seclusion and remembers when he struggled to hold chopsticks but tried again and again and again until he got it right.
If through everything, when he's scolding and punishing his nephews, he thinks back to their first days in his classes when they sat so seriously at the very front. Their chubby faces determined to do well.
Lan Qiren is definitely misguided and harsh, but I think he's also extremely motivated by his love for his nephews. They were thrust upon him, and he raised them the best that he could.
Because that's the other thing--Lan Qiren didn't decide to have these kids. They aren't his sons. But he did what he thought was best for them. He scolds them, he punishes them, but he's at least always there.
I picked up rereading MDZS (first time with the official English release) after resisting the urge for hella months. (I both want to and desperately don't want to move on from these series LOL.) I never picked up on the Nie brothers having different mothers?? And I don't think the impact of that is clear on the plot? But I wonder what the story is there and if it explains why (beyond the whole fake incompetence thing) NMJ is how he is with NHS. I wonder if NHS internalizes something about what happened to his mother in a similar way to how LWJ does with his. I want to KNOW.
Also, I think this means that the Lan brothers are the only fully blood related sibling unit? We spend so much time focusing on the chaos of offspring brought about by JGS that I feel the rest of the sibling dynamics are understated. Potentially the Wen siblings as well, though I don't recall if any detail is provided about their parents. I wouldn't be surprised if they were half siblings as well. The Jiang trio has its own dynamics, blood relation between JC & JYL but none with WWX, yet intense care and affection all the same (among other spicier details).
These tiny details of chaos and instability do so much to set up this world that has been at war for over a hundred years (this story being the conclusion of it... or one part of it, or a hopeful continuation of temporary peace). A generation of parents lost or disconnected (or just shitty). A generation of youth parentified and sent to war too young. Terrified elders fearing the ways the world could get worse or established power could be threatened.
MDZS from Lan Wangji's perspective is a disillusionment. A interrogation of the status quo created out of survival, firm and unquestioning, but simultaneously lifeless. Wei Wuxian comes in representing pure resilient joy in the face of tragedy, a wine stain on pristine white fabric an artifact of the revelry the night before in the face of darkness. Wei Wuxian the bonfire during the long night, promising life and warmth and chaotic joy and a future that is worth living and fighting for. Lan Xichen's disillusionment strikes also through relationship, but much differently.
(Of course I start this post just pondering family relationships and end up waxing romantic yet again about Wangxian because I HAVE THE BRAINROT SO DEEPLY.)
A generation of orphans raising a new crop of hope, rambunctious and resilient and curious. It's not the blood relation that matters, but who cares for your future, who fans your flames with love and wisdom. Who strokes your hair and makes you soup or fits you to sect colors regardless of how you were found sick in a tree trunk.
Who protects you from whatever Nie Mingjue was protecting Nie Huaisang from, the sturdy older sibling shielding their baby brother while also grumbling about their need to toughen up. A protection and expression of care that drove NHS to devise a plan so extensive it involved bringing someone back from the dead for justice.
The tiny details, ugh. They drive me insane.