Tbh if you think about it, Jin Guangyao left the world having enacted more good (widespread safety infrastructure that saved countless lives) than inflicted evil (killing his family & sworn brother, wiping out clans, enabling demonic cultivators)
Like the lives he saved is probably in the tens of thousands while the ppl he killed to get to/stay in power is probably in the dozens
Now. I’ve mentioned here… and here… and here and here and here some thoughts on Fox and her Rebel King. But enough is never enough and there is no such thing as too much when it comes to fox and bellamy.
My favorite thing about Fox’s feelings toward Bellamy is the uncertainty in them. Does she love him? Yes. Is she in love with him? No, but she could be if she let herself. Does she trust him? More than anyone.
Bellamy is, as I’ve said before, Fox’s hero from a storybook. Bellamy gave her leadership on the ground, laid claim to her and the kids where the adults abandoned them, brought food when the kids were hungry, gave her a protector when Trikru attacked. Bellamy became everything to Fox in a short amount of time. And he, unlike the adults, never disappointed her. Ok that’s a lie, he did disappoint her when he turned on Murphy, but he never turned on her specifically.
He fought when the dropship was attacked before the kids could get in. He was left outside the mountain and he fought through hell to get to his kids, and when she was facing down death, alone and terrified in a cold stone room, out of LITERALLY nowhere Bellamy arrived, saving her life.
Bellamy is her constant reliance. He has always been honest with her, always defended her, always been there for her even when there was no logically way he should have been. Fox would follow that boy to hell and back barefoot and she’d do it all over again if he asked her to. And she’d be wearing a smile while she did.
“Shen Qingqiu was wrong not to see the other characters as people” but why would he? His early experiences showed him the System is capable of changing the mental state and intelligence of other characters. The world literally will defy the laws of logic to not let Luo Binghe die. The System forces him to follow certain significant plot events and keep the original story on track.
Why wouldn’t Shen Qingqiu think that the characters were fully under the control of the System and/or tied to the behavior and personality prescribed to them in the original novel? Why wouldn’t he think that the overall plot would tend towards course correcting to the original plot?
People are so mean to Lan Xichen which I hate so much because he is so kind and caring and cute. Like the main three criticisms I see are
He says Wei Ying was Lan Zhan’s only mistake which is so understandable bc of course he is going to be resentful of the guy who made his brother turn on his own clan and then just straight up died and broke his heart. Like, imagine your own sibling fell for someone who didn’t reciprocate and was willing to throw their future away for them, and then later it seemed that person knowingly played with your sibling's feelings. You’d also be like “Girl, no! He’s a mistake! Stay away from him!"
He carried out the punishment for Lan Zhan fighting his clan when he didn’t have to but like how unfair would it be to let a guy who broke the rules off the hook just bc it’s his brother? Even if he was objectively doing the right thing by defending Wei Wuxian (arguable, bc Wei Wuxian had just killed thousands, intentionally or not), it would set such a bad and unfair precedent.
He was friends with Jin Guangyao — Jin Guangyao legitimately cared about him though, and had shown he could be trusted in so many ways! Why would Lan Xichen be suspicious of him? Who wouldn’t be doubtful when someone accused their loved one of heinous crimes, even if it was true?
Anyway in conclusion, Lan Xichen has done nothing wrong, ever, in his entire life.
I’ve always kind of assumed Binghe was a good person darkened by hardship the way many complex characters are but now that I stop and think about it, was he ever really “good” in the way that he wanted to help and protect people, even if he didn’t know them? Even starting as a pure and innocent white lotus I don’t know if he could be classified as anything other than neutral
Explanation of what each alignment means here or here
[Note: I didn't put anyone for Neutral Good or Chaotic Neutral because most Good and Neutral characters in MDZS tend towards Lawful due to the tenets of their sects, so there weren't any major characters that fit.]
Justifications below:
Lan Wangji, Lawful Good - Prioritizes upholding good through the principles of his sect and of himself. Leans a little more chaotic when he's with Wei Wuxian.
Wei Wuxian, Chaotic Good - Protecting people and upholding good is very important to him, but he normally does it incidentally when he comes across injustice rather than seeking. He acts very flexibly based on the situation. He also generally doesn't conform to expectations, rules, and norms of cultivation society, even going against it if necessary to protect those who need it.
Lan Qiren, Lawful Neutral - Prioritizes upholding his sect's principles above anything else, even if it is not always "good" (e.g. campaign against Wei Wuxian and the Wen remnants).
Jiang Cheng, True Neutral - Prioritizes his family's survival and well-being above anything else, including the well-being of others unrelated to him. He'll do what's necessary to keep his sect and family safe but doesn't put too much weight on the principles and expectations of the cultivation world.
Jin Guangyao, Lawful Evil - Has a fairly strict set of principles and overall seeks to systematically rule his sect and improve the cultivation world and beyond, but achieves his goals through destroying and killing anyone who gets in his way. For the most part nothing personal, just business.
Wen Ruohan, Neutral Evil - No particular principles to guide him or goals besides keeping power. Commits many evil deeds. Leans chaotic due to unstable mood.
Xue Yang, Chaotic Evil - Does bad things because he wants to do them, not necessarily because he has a goal and definitely not because he has set principles he follows.
======================
Other Character Alignments based on my opinion:
Lawful Good: Lan Sizhui (follows Lan precepts, kind and open-minded), Nie Mingjue (strong principles directed towards justice), Xiao Xingchen & Song Lan
Lawful Neutral, leaning Good: Lan Jingyi, Jin Ling, Jiang Yanli, Jin Zixuan, Lan Xichen (all protect people because it is part of their profession; all follow clan precepts)
True Neutral, leaning Good: Wen Ning, Wen Qing (both care most about family but willing to take risks to help others in need, i.e. Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian)
Lawful Neutral, leaning Evil: Jin Guangshan (Lawful because he's a cultivator, leaning Evil because he's a very scummy guy)
True Neutral: Nie Huaisang (uses clever methods neither lawful nor chaotic to get revenge on someone who deserved it)
Lawful Evil: Wen Zhuliu (lawfulness from strict loyalty)
Neutral Evil: Wen Chao, Su She (motivated by personal grudges and greed to do evil)
Miller: Pike was a dictator.
Bryan: He was an elected chancellor. And if you don't care about that, he kept me alive for three months.
Miller: Then why did you help us turn him over to the grounders?
Bryan: To save you, Nate.
You know, it just struck me (as I browse for appropriate quotes) that this lil bit right here gets overlooked a lot.
Like reading this, I think about Fox’s devotion to Bellamy and how it’s similar to Bryan’s feelings about Pike. Yeah, Pike was violent and bloodthirsty and held onto grudges over peace and was a complete dictator. But Bryan’s right, he was elected, and s1 Bellamy wasn’t exactly a benevolent ruler (exchange your wristbands for food, anyone remember that? how about ambushing wells, threatening however idly to cut off clarke’s hand to get the wristband?) S1 Bellamy was his own kind of dictator, but one the kids chose. Just like Pike. Bellamy kept Fox alive, just like Pike did for Bryan. And we don’t know what kind of leader Pike was up in Ice Nation, maybe he was stern but fair in his own way, like Bellamy was with the delinquents. Pike downward spiraled into a power-hungry, war-hungry dictator. But Bellamy spiraled in his own way which cumulated in letting Lincoln and Kane (friends and allies) be locked up to be executed, and the 300 massacre. Bryan still followed Pike, just as Fox (as I play her anyway) still follows Bellamy into and past these spirals.
Which makes reading this hard for Fox, because she reads it from the POV of having to betray Bellamy to save someone she loves and the very thought of that makes her stomach churn.
So I think I have a new appreciation for what it cost Bryan to do this for Nate. Hating Pike makes it easy to look at this exchange and go ‘well duh you betrayed him, he was a crazy asshole dictator’. But it’s not always that simple.
tagging peeps for reasons: @indiebryan @faultedleader @leaderbuilt @omousvarii @headstrongblake
Would Fox take the chip to forget the pain of Mount Weather? Who would they have her manipulate into taking it?
Send Britt things to ramble on || ALWAYS accepting
Fox would take the chip, but not to forget the pain of Mount Weather. She’s a sharp little thing, and extremely distrusting of the adults of Arkadia, so the odds of her taking the chip just because someone’s like ‘this is great you should try it’ are very low. ( added to my headcanon that she, jasper, and monty were friends, I figure she’s probably used to turning down offers of ‘this is great you should try it’ lol ). She’s soft, but not weak, and honestly she’d feel like Bellamy and Clarke and Murphy would judge her for trying to “escape” her pain. Everyone’s got pain Fox. Not everyone takes some weird mind-altering chip to escape it.
However she is weak for her delinquents. If she found herself in a situation like Abby did, where the choice is take the chip or one of your people ( to clarify, whenever Fox references “my people” she’s referencing the delinquents, not Skaikru as a whole ) hurt or die, she’d take the chip. It wouldn’t be a logic driven choice, it would be an instantaneous, instinctive ‘stop hurting them!’ choice that she’d probably regret if/when she got out of the CoL. But she also might not, because she does consider the safety of her delinquents more important than most things. It would entirely depend on what her body was forced to do for ALIE while her mind was in the CoL.