jiang chengs reaction to the core reveal is so heartbreaking and intimate and it is done so perfectly because there is just so much that comes together in that moment to make a very staggering point. his facial expressions are So incredibly visceral the entire time like he is so deeply horrified and angry and guilt ridden and shocked and scared and you can feel all of it coming off of him. you can just see the raw grief that swallows him in that moment, you Watch as the full force of his new reality hits him, heavy and deafening. one of the things I think wang zhuo cheng does so wonderfully with jiang chengs character is being able to make him look so impossibly small and childish and Young in the face of wei wuxians love for him, and that comes out so incredibly vivid in this scene - he looks so lost and scared, like he's only a boy, and his innocence is being shattered by this horrifying truth
it comes off as a little on the nose at first, but I think the way they work the flashbacks in in response to each thing wen nings says is actually So good. it only really works because it's being done through a visual medium, but giving us little snippets of each thing jiang cheng thinks of as wen nings spells it all out for him is a beautiful way to piece together his guilt. I don't think jiang cheng had ever considered that he could have been Wrong in any of his interactions with wei wuxian, that any of those annoyances could have held any weight aside from his brothers arrogance and carelessness, but then he has to rewrite all of it, and for the first time, we see him feel bad about the way he treated his brother - we see him realize that he was Wrong. one of the most wonderful and heartbreaking things about jiang cheng is that he remembers Everything, especially when it comes to wei wuxian, and we see that fact really torment him in this scene
and then we find out later in the temple that jiang cheng really Did run around lotus pier frantically begging people to unsheath suibian. the persise, proud, fierce sandu shengshou, feared leader of the jiang sect who is always so concerned with appearances, with being the Best, clamored around begging, Demanding, that people attempt to unsheath suibian. jin guangyao even says that he "made quite a scene", in his disbelief and horror at this terrifying reality that had just been thrust at him
his brutal expressions and the flashbacks and the way that he screams and cries and Demands that it isn't true, that wen ning is lying, the way begs and sobs for anyone, anyone at all, to be able to unsheathe suibian, all come together so perfectly to illustrate what must be the most engulfing of jiang chengs realizations - wei wuxian gave up his golden core, his happiness and his reputation and his place in society and his Life, for jiang cheng, and the only thing that jiang cheng gave him in return was a deafening anger and a dedicated attempt at hatred for 16 years. I think jiang cheng becomes a little struck by the audacity of himself, and what must be almost 20 years of guilt takes him all at once like a wave coming up fast and dragging you under
jiang cheng spent so much time and energy being angry at wei wuxian for leaving him behind, for choosing the wens and demonic cultivation over their promise, and you can see it on his face as it all comes crashing down in just a few moments, and he realizes that the first and most important thing that wei wuxian ever chose over their promise, was him
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