ASKS: jin guangyao holding jin ling hostage

[thatswhatsushewrote]

[originally posted here on september 25, 2024.]

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anonymous asked:

any thoughts on jggy holding jl hostage? i've seen ppl say he would have actually killed him if that meant a victory and some other say that it was a bluff

my answer:

i just went snooping for my meta on this specific situation since i've written about it before, and predictably i can't find my own post 🥲 but the tl;dr version of what i wrote is that no, i don't believe jin guangyao would have killed jin ling, and i don't think jin ling was actually in any serious danger from jin guangyao at any point. in danger from the broader situation they were all in? sure, absolutely. but no, jin guangyao would never have harmed jin ling physically.

that does not mean he isn't absolutely shattering jin ling's understanding of their relationship in this moment, or that it isn't a devastating betrayal of his trust by his xiao-shushu, who has always loved and cared for him. but the text of the novel makes it quite clear that jin guangyao is exerting an immense amount of control to ensure the guqin string does not even draw blood when he is holding it to jin ling's neck. and while cql made the absurd decision to have jin ling bleeding and choking from the pressure on his neck from the string (i'm still mad about that tbh), we also see the moment jin guangyao lets go of the string and then quickly shoves jin ling to safety as soon as wen-possessed-by-baxia bursts into the temple and starts to lunge for jin ling.

basically, no, jin guangyao would not have killed jin ling.