it's funny how wei wuxian and cheng xiaoshi get similar treatment in most fandom discourses. They are chaotic, protective (overprotective), genius, and have a strong sense of justice, cares too deeply- and there is a pause. They are SO DENSE. Very few meta actually give credit to their complex inner monologue. It's easy to label them as 'dense' (they sometimes are but that certainly isn't all. But we love jokes, so we let it flow). They are perpetually disoriented. We need to talk more about Cheng Xiaoshi's psychological nuances. Similarly, Wei Wuxian's difficulty of accepting and 'naming' the kind of relationship he is in with Lan Wangji is not always a matter of joke. 'Dense' are those people who can't comprehend because they do not find anything to analyse that deeply. For those two though...it's the opposite. Emotional conflict gives rise to a kind of multi-fold emotional complexity. Idk but I had a phase when objectively I knew that that person cares about me more than normal but subjective beliefs overpowered any rationality. The more sincere and genuine the love is, the more emotionally dependable and trustworthy a person is, the harder it becomes to believe that that person likes me back. You know, that kind of liking. It's a feeling which I don't know how to categorize. It's intense, it's so intense when a certain emotion called 'love' makes you confront the ugliest narratives you have about yourself.
I wish Link Click delves a bit deeper into Cheng Xiaoshi's consciousness, however dubious and unreliable it is, let us see the conflict. Conflict is important, oversimplification on the other hand is damaging.
I am re-reading MDZS novels. I will start with vol 4 because I am an impatient 🦆. This time, I will focus on Wei Wuxian more than anything. God help me do this.