longlivehualian

[longlivehualian]

LITBC Episodes 1 and 2; Differences in Mediums

I finally watched the first two episodes of litbc, and I am absolutely in awe. This show is doing a brilliant job at presenting the story in a way that remains authentic to the themes and storyline of the book but at the same time bringing in a new perspective that gives us a new take on the story. This is a perfect example of what an adaptation should be like; true to the story but also bringing something new unique to the different medium.

The third question the book club discussion post brought up actually happened to be one of the foremost things on my mind while I was watching the first two eps. How does the broader lens of the show affect our perception, as the audience, of the characters in Go Young's life? My initial impression was that the show was...kinder to the characters than the book was, in particular Nam Gyu and Mi Ae. But I've come to think that, rather than the show being the kinder one, it's simply a difference of perspective. In the book, a majority of our understanding of the events comes from Young, who has strong opinions and a cynical worldview. K3 is barely mentioned and is presented to us as the kind of person Young views him as; overbearing, dramatic, and in the end, entirely unimportant. With the show, we're able to see things from Nam Gyu's perspective a little and understand him more. Similarly, in the book we're only able to see Jaehee from Young's perspective and feel a similar sense of betrayal as he does, while the show, by allowing us to see the actual confrontation between Mi Ae and her boyfriend, helps us feel more empathy for her. I think that the show allows us to learn more about Go Young by developing the characters of the people he interacts with—his interactions with them tell us more about him because we know more about them.

I think an appropriate parallel to draw here would be the difference between a friend ranting to you about a horrible person in their lives that you know practically nothing about—in which you're honor bound to vehemently agree and join in on the bitching—and watching your friend have issues with a person you are better acquainted with—wherein you're far more likely to act as more of a mediator and try to get your friend to calm the fuck down.

I also think it's worth noting that at the end of the first two episodes, Mi Ae and Go Young seem far more friendly than Jaehee and Young; most noticeably due to the lack of Young's bitter internal monologue. I'm fairly certain that even in this iteration, Go Young's feelings aren't all that different, the difference lies in the perspective of the show, which is far less intimate with Go Young than the book.

While the book club was still running, I wrote a little about Jaehee here, in particular about her being an ally, her acceptance of Young, and her failure to understand him. But I think the show made it clearer that this failure to understand the other person went both ways. I think a few people had pointed this out last time, but the show made it far more clear; though Mi Ae and Go Young were close, their friendship was based largely on their shared experiences as outcasts and their similarities, and they rarely ever discussed anything deeper about themselves. The show makes this quite explicit with Mi Ae pointedly refusing to talk about her mother and Young simply never bringing his up with her. So, it was to be expected Mi Ae beginning to conform more to society's expectations would drive a wedge in their relationship. The show also makes it abundantly clear that Mi Ae drifting away from Go Young was a major factor in him being enraged at her when she confessed to having outed him—to him, it was something like the final nail in the coffin, proof that Mi Ae had changed.

I'm really enjoying the way this show is enriching our understanding of not only Go Young but also the other characters of the story; allowing us even more insight into these incredibly complex characters. I'm also quite excited to see the way the different directors will impact the episodes and what the entire show will be like as a collective—something to thing about next week.

[longlivehualian]

I absolutely loved the first two episodes of Love in the Big City, and I thought all of the adaptation choices were brilliant, but the part that hit me most as I was watching and that my mind keeps circling back to relates to this question from @bengiyo:

In the novel, we see everything through Young's rather biting and cynical internal monologue, while in the drama we see other characters through a broader lens. With this different perspective, how does Mi Ae's outing of Go Yeong and the fallout change compared to the novel?

I think for me, this shift that allowed us to see Mi Ae outside of Yeong's perspective enhanced my empathy for her and for the choices she made. Because it all comes back to this quote, originally from the novel and used verbatim in the show:

"Through me, she learned that being a gay man sucks, and through her, I learned that being a woman equally sucks."

Yeong and Mi Ae connected with each other because they were both living outside the accepted norms and were isolated and lonely as a result. The forms of oppression they experienced were not the same, but it was a point of connection and the foundation of their deep bond. They fell in love with each other because of their shared choice to be themselves loudly, and fuck the social consequences. They were each other's most important person, regardless of who they were dating. And so when Mi Ae, shaken up after her abortion and exhausted by trying to fight the social tide, made the choice to stop being true to herself and conform, of course Yeong felt abandoned. And then when she outed him to protect her conformity, betrayed.

In the novel, we learn about Mi Ae (Jaehee) outing Yeong (Young) from him, and it's presented to us as a callous betrayal, because that's how it felt to him. But in the show, we get to see Mi Ae make that decision. We see how cornered she felt when her boyfriend confronted her about the lies she'd been telling, we see his genuine (justified) upset at learning she'd been living with a man he doesn't know, we see her panicking and reaching for something to smooth it over, and we can see that in the moment, it feels reasonable to her to tell her partner the truth. We can see that it wasn't malicious, and she did not intend to hurt Yeong.

But it still hurts, because in making that decision, she implicitly acknowledged that Yeong is no longer her most important person. Someone else, or at least the idea of what he represents, became her top priority, and she protected her romantic relationship rather than protecting Yeong. She still loved Yeong, but she wouldn't put him first any longer, and when she made that choice their relationship as they knew it was over. Mi Ae was ultimately captivated by the allure of social acceptance, and she chose a path of conformity that was not open to Yeong--she is, after all, a cishet woman and able to revert to societal expectations much more easily than Yeong ever could as a gay man who would struggle to pass even if he wanted to. Her choice was confirmation that, in fact, their situations do not equally suck, and she retreated to her privileged identity, leaving him behind.

And so we come to the scene that punched me in the heart more than any other in this first section: the two of them singing together at her wedding, taking one last glorious moment to be themselves again in front of people who would never understand them. In that moment I felt so sad for Yeong, that this relationship that meant so much to him was irrevocably changed, and for Mi Ae, that she abandoned these aspects of herself out of fear and committed herself to a man who looked stunned to see a glimpse of the real her. And more than anything, I felt sad about how isolating and alienating it feels to simply exist in the margins of what is socially acceptable, that conforming is always the easier choice for those who can hide, and that Yeong was once again left to struggle alone.

[longlivehualian]

Love in the Big City, Ep 1 and 2

Okay honestly, shout out to the book club people for consistently posting discussion questions, because I have not had the brain space in the last few months to come up with things to write about on my own (nor have most of the shows I’ve watched warranted hefty analysis) BUT THAT ENDS TODAY BECAUSE LOVE IN THE BIG CITY IS FINALLY OUT AND IT IS ALREADY DESTROYING ME. 

With the move to the screen, more of Go Yeong's relationships are featured in Part 1. How does this change your impression of how Mi Ae fits into his life, compared to how you originally read his relationship with Jaehee?

It was really interesting experiencing the beginning of this show because similarly to how we don’t always know exactly where in time we are during the book, we don’t know exactly where in the show until we get about fifteen minutes in to episode one and see Mi Ae clocking Go Young outside of the club. It is only at that point that we realize that we are in the prologue of Go Young’s story, experiencing the pieces of his life that were fairly influential in the person he is and the focus he has on the people around him in Part One of the book. 

Thinking about how strong/importance of a presence Jaehee was in Go Young’s life, and how heavily Part One of the book focused on his relationship between Jaehee and Go Young, Young truly sets up this feeling that it is just him and Jaehee against the world. And it is easy to believe that in the book because we don’t really see him with anyone else. We only experience Young and Jaehee’s life, their struggles, where they do and do not succeed in supporting each other through life challenges. 

But that feeling that they truly only have each other does, for me, still translate through in the show, even though we know about his college friends and the T-ara’s wayyyy earlier in the timeline. Why? Because Mi Ae and Go Young are only able to be themselves with each other, no one else. The relationship Young has to his college friends is shattered the second they start talking shit about Mi Ae and slut shaming her, because Go Young is a closeted gay man in a crowd of heterosexuals, which is in and of itself lonely. And despite knowing the T-ara’s exist, it is clear to me that their relationship is, compared to Jaehee, superficial. They hang out together at clubs, and they’ll go to karaoke together, and they have their moments of genuine joy and connections, but their conversations have focused primarily around who they are fucking, who they want to fuck, forcing Nam Gyu to do karaoke only to make fun of him, etc. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that they aren’t friends, but I do understand why Go Young feels that he is a loner despite having this group. 

I think the book does not bring the existence of other friends in to the picture because of how heavily it is about the breakup between Jaehee and Young, and how much, how deeply, and how long it hurts Young to have lost that person. And I think we can see that from the way the show structures it too, even with more people around Go Young. Because in this instance we have comparison points between Go Young’s relationship to Mi Ae, and Go Young’s relationship to everyone else. And we can still see the breakup with Mi Ae as a tragedy in so many little ways, for both of them, and it is especially heartbreaking seeing the singular minute of Mi Ae’s wedding where she gets to be entirely herself. 

Jaehee was something true to Young, and Mi Ae is something true to Go Young. That at least is, for me, is not lost. 

What new insights did you gain from the adaptation's expansion of K3 (Kia) Guy from a few background lines into a fully realized character in Kim Nam Gyu?

I was talking about this with friends already, but it has been an interesting thing for me to think about the merits of written media versus visual media. The thing with books is we get a lot more detailed descriptions of what is happening, we can afford a handful of throw away lines about Kia guy in the book because there is a lot more content to get through. But in a visual medium time moves faster, what might be a page of detail in a book can be consumed in a matter of seconds on a TV show. So I think there is some more time to fill, which lends itself well to expanding the role of minor minor minor characters like Kia guy in to fully realized side characters like Kim Nam Gyu. 

I feel like Nam Gyu was extremely well utilized in these first two episodes, especially as he relates to showing the audience who Go Young is. Nam Gyu is kind, considerate, quick to love, and a hopeless romantic aligning himself with heterosexual romantic ideals. He is not a big drinker, not a big clubber, he lives his life slowly, and safely. He is everything Go Young is not. Go Young is a club gay, he does not subscribe to heterosexual romantic ideals, he takes more risks. But Nam Gyu feels deeply, and expresses those feelings in ways that Go Young is as of yet not capable of doing. 

I think as we continue and we see the other relationships that Go Young gets in to it is good to have examples of the kinds of people, the kinds of relationships that do not work for Go Young. It is good to see where Go Young’s personality does and does not mesh with the person he is dating, and how easily or not he gives away his love and affection. I think it was a devastating little detail to have Go Young learn that Nam Gyu died from a speeding related accident, because it was Go Young that bullied him about driving slow, and it was for Go Young that Nam Gyu was trying to change, and it got him killed. Thinking about where this story is going, thinking about the lessons that Go Young still has to learn, I think it is a vital piece of the story to show the audience the various states of permanency and loss. 

Mi Ae is lost to the lies she told to hide her true self, and Go Young will lose his most important friendship to that. Nam Gyu is lost to the way he forced himself to change for Go Young and Go Young will have no chance to correct his mistakes because Nam Gyu is dead. Go Young will lose and lose and lose, and he will learn, and change, and grow from all of it, but it is almost always too late. 

In the novel, we see everything through Young's rather biting and cynical internal monologue, while in the drama we see other characters through a broader lens. With this different perspective, how does Mi Ae's outing of Go Yeong and the fallout change compared to the novel?

I like having the ability to experience the perspectives of other people. I loved the scene in the car that shows us the moments leading up to Mi Ae outing Go Young, because you can see exactly where and how she has been backed into a corner. In some regards you can understand the logic, the reasons why Mi Ae out Go Young to her fiance. And it is extremely clear that she is not happy about it, that she knows she’s fucked up, and that she broke Go Young’s trust. You can understand how she got to this point, but you can’t say she made the right decision because it is incredibly likely that she would not have ended up in this position if she hadn’t lied about every part of her life to her fiance from the beginning. 

But that of course begs the question of who she expected her fiance to be when she first started dating him. Because in the book, we learn that Young and Jaehee had an agreement to pretend to be the opposite sex in order to prevent guys from coming over to their apartment. So like, did Mi Ae start this relationship with her fiance as a casual hookup and then decide it was just the point in her life where she should get married or did she know this was the guys she was going to commit to when she started to date him? 

Either way there comes a time when you have to stop lying about your female roommate, and that time comes far before you have agreed to marry someone. 

In that moment in the car Mi Ae dooms herself to live her lie, she chooses her fiance over Go Young, and she knows it. And Go Young knows it, because the first thing Go Young ever says to Mi Ae, and the first thing he says to her multiple times after that, is “you won’t tell people, right?” (or whatever the actual wording is, point being that it is extremely important to him that Mi Ae does not out him). 

But again, the visual medium is great for me because while I don’t remember exactly how Young portrayed the confession scene in the book, I will remember how deeply ashamed and guilty Mi Ae looked when she came to tell Go Young that she had outed him. 

In order to make the show more cohesive and manage screen time, Sang Young Park has moved some elements of the story around, and in this first part he withheld the health scare for Go Yeong and also brought his friends, the T-aras, forward. How do these changes and the inclusion of the wider cast in Part 1 shift your perception of Go Yeong's college years?

I actually don’t think the more cohesive timeline has shifted my perception of Go Yeong’s college years because of how Sang Young Park has moved some elements of the story around. As I said earlier, I think the T-aras being there from the beginning is effectively utilized to demonstrate  how deep his connection to Mi Ae is. One of my most favorite parts of the book is how the existence of Kylie re-contextualizes a lot of what we’ve seen from Go Young in parts one and two. In the book, if I remember correctly, we get more of an offhanded references to his health scare. 

“...up until the incident that earned me a medical discharge.”

“the results weren’t some dramatic STD, just my urethra infected by germs, and inflammation resulting from it.” 

What I do think is interesting is that we got no information about Go Young’s military service whatsoever, and I’m curious if and how that will show up. Because in the book Jaehee acts as Young’s girlfriend while he is in the military so that he is not outed. (“Jaehee served as my loyal girlfriend throughout my six months of military service, up until the incident that earned me a medical discharge.”)  I feel like the Mi Ae story is over at this point so I am curious if they will get to Young’s military service later on in order to keep the actress around, or if removing the health scare here is why they cut the military service part from Episodes 1-2. 

Anyway, all of that to say that in Part One, Young way downplays his health stuff, focusing more on the way he experiences delays in his emotional response, only realizing that he should have been angry about the homophobia he experienced at the urologist when someone else gets mad after he relays the story. I think if they had done the health scare here it would have 1) interrupted the flow of the story and 2) tipped people off too soon to the existence of Kylie because I think it would be far more obvious if we were to see an STI screening for him at that point. I am excited to see where and how they place the health scare and the Kylie reveal because I do think it will do the same thing it did in the book to recontextualize all of Young’s behavior that came before it. 

__

That’s all from me right now, I have actually re-checked out the book, because I needed to refresh my memory and will likely post some more thoughts about changes from the book to the show if I have the time or energy.

[longlivehualian]

Love in the Big City Book Club Meta Round Up

Already so many great essays and we’re just getting started! If you haven’t had the chance to read and share everyone’s thoughts, here is your weekly round up. Any additional essays that post after today will be added to the list next week, and I'll add on a new section for each part every week as we progress.

So let's see what our book clubbers had to say!

Background

AMA with Anton Hur, LITBC Translator

Translator’s note by @stuffnonsenseandotherthings

Part 1

Blueberries and Cigarettes: Universalities and Differences when reading Love in the Big City by @brifrischu

Jaehee: a good distraction–until she wasn’t by @serfergs

LITBC: Jaehee, and why she matters so much to me by @starryalpacasstuff

LitBC Part 1 – Timeline by @dylogpenchester

Love in the Big City Book Club: Part 1 by @fiction-is-queer

Love in the Big City: Reflections on Part 1 by @becomingabeing

Love in the Big City Part 1 Check in by @bengiyo

Love in the Big City, Part 1 by @emotionallychargedtowel

Love in the Big City Part 1: Jaehee by @sorry-bonebag

Love in the Big City Part 1: On Friendship by @lurkingshan

Love in the Big City Part 1: Reliable and Unreliable Narration by @twig-tea

On expectations by @hyeoni-comb

Part I: The unacknowledged relationship by @doyou000me

Rose Reads Love in the Big City by @my-rose-tinted-glasses

Two Friends Diverged in Emotional Sincerity: Reflections on Love in the Big City–Part 1 by @wen-kexing-apologist

Young’s world is small and private by @colourme-feral

Part 2

Finding Familiarity Despite Cultural Differences: Love in the Big City Part 2 by @fiction-is-queer

Hyung’s internalized homophobia and hatred for the US by @stuffnonsenseandotherthings

libtc part 2 by @hyeoni-comb

LitBC Part 2: A bit of rockfish, taste the universe by @dylogpenchester

Love in the Big City - A bite of rockfish, tase the universe by @littleragondin

Love in the Big City Book Club: Part 2 by @profiterole-reads

Love in the Big City: Part 2 by @wen-kexing-apologist

Love in the Big City: Reflections on Part 2 by @becomingabeing

Love in the Big City Part 2: Emotional Distance by @twig-tea

Love in the Big City Part 2 Check In by @bengiyo 

Love in the Big City The Playlist by @brifrischu

On Parents and Apologies Never Received by @lurkingshan

Part II: Historical Context and Hyung’s Background by @doyou000me

Rose Reads Love in the Big City (Part II) by @my-rose-tinted-glasses

Part 3

LITBC Part Three: Now Introducing, Kylie by @wen-kexing-apologist

Love in the Big City Book Club: Part 3 by @profiterole-reads

Love in the Big City Part 3 Check In by @bengiyo

Love in the Big City Part 3: Kylie Recontextualizes Everything by @twig-tea

Love in The Big City Part 3 - Notes from A Reader by @stuffnonsenseandotherthings

Love in The Big City Part 3 - Notes from A Reader 2 by @stuffnonsenseandotherthings

Love In The Big City Part 3: Words and Miscellaneous Context by @doyou000me

On Gyu-ho, the Mundanity of Great Love, and the Destructive Nature of Shame by @lurkingshan

Part 3: No Disappointment Without Expectations by @doyou000me

Rose Reads Love in the Big City (Part III) by @my-rose-tinted-glasses

Part 4

Adaptation Concerns by @doyou000me

Anticipating the LITBC Adaptations by @lurkingshan

Depictions of physical intimacy by @stuffnonsenseandotherthings 

LitBC - The Structure of Change @dylogpenchester

Love in the Big City Book Club: Part 4 by @profiterole-reads

Love in the Big City Part 4 Check In by @bengiyo

Love in the Big City Part 4: Having Trouble Letting Go by @twig-tea

Love in the Big City: Part Four- Regret, Rain, Love, and Loss by @wen-kexing-apologist

the story | relationships + Young by @hyeoni-comb

Young and Imperfect Character Growth by @lurkingshan

Young asking himself meaningful questions by @hyeoni-comb

And that's all for now, folks! Thanks to everyone who participated; it was such a fun experience discussing this book with you. Excited to get the chance to talk more about this story with all of you when the adaptations arrive later this year.

[longlivehualian]

Please go watch all of these bits from the LITBC press conference, because this show was obviously made with so much love and care, but I just need you all to see this part:

Nam Yoon Su has been consistently incredible in how he's addressed homophobic responses to his role in the show and the show itself, shutting down any nonsense with a gorgeous "I don't care, that hate sounds like a you problem" smile and I don't think I could love him more.

His addition of "our country is better than this nonsense" is so excellent, what a gem of a man.

King shit.

(seriously, go check out that Twitter thread for more interview bits, I am so excited for this show, y'all)

[longlivehualian]

BL Trope Du Jour

Giving my baby a piggyback ride.

Above: Addicted, My Engineer x3, HIStory 2: Crossing the Line, Make It Right, SOTUS, Puppy Honey, Until We Meet Again, Why R U? x2

Ingredients 

Theory of Love 

My Tee 

I Told Sunset About You 

Don’t Say No 

Golden Blood

Tonhon Chonlatee 

Together with Me 

Fish Upon the Sky 

Physical Therapy 

Secret Crush on You 

Love Stage!!! (Thai version) 

Cutie Pie

Close Friend

Meow Ears Up 

Sky in Your Heart 

Vice Versa

Ghost Host, Ghost House 

My Only 12% (also combining it with the bridge trope) 

My School President (combined it with product placement)  

Bed Friend 

Outside Thailand

Advance Bravely (switches!) 

You Make Me Dance 

Oh Boarding House 

We Best Love (one of my favorites) 

HIStory 4 

My Sky 

Kimi no Koto Dake Mite Itai 

The Untamed 

The wedding piggy… 

TharnType 

Gene asking for it in Lovely Writer 

(source) 

[longlivehualian]

Hua Cheng wearing wedding colours, Xie Lian wearing funeral colours

Hua Cheng's spiritual weapon being forged in a last desperate attempt to stay alive, Xie Lian's spiritual weapon being forged in a futile attempt to die

Hua Cheng who is dead and has died three times clinging to life with everything he has to the point where he became one of the most powerful ghosts in the world, Xie Lian who is immortal and literally can not die trying to kill himself and being self-sacrificing

Hua Cheng who loves life choosing to die for Xie Lian, Xie Lian who wants to die choosing to live for Hua Cheng (live as in actually enjoy living as opposed to being idle and suffering)

[longlivehualian]

I think Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji hate each other because they both love Wei Wuxian with all their being and Wei Wuxian loves both of them to the point it's consuming him

And neither Jiang Cheng nor Lan Wangji have ever wanted to share Wei Wuxian

But they are sharing him

Forever

And Jiang Cheng by far got the worse deal

He has his brother's core but not his presence which is not what he wanted

But it couldn't have gone any other way

Because Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian were brought together and divided at the same time by the house they grew up in

Wangxian is a love story and one I love. I would not have had any other outcome

But it came at the price of one soul in two bodies being irreparably torn apart

Jiang Cheng has his brother in a way that he cannot leave him but also has lost his brother in a way he cannot regain him

And that is why while I love the love story and happy ending of Wangxian I love the Tragedy of the Twin Prides more

[longlivehualian]

Hi there! I’m so sorry for how long it took–this week has been so hectic! I’m so excited to answer all of these haha! I’m gonna do them all in one shot, if you don’t mind~ Prepare for a huge wall of text lol:

Xie Lian and Lang Qianqiu:

Honestly I think the interesting part of this relationship is how open-ended it is. LQQ’s feelings towards XL fundamentally change after learning the truth and he has absolutely no choice but to accept the fact that everything he once thought he knew was utterly wrong. It’s still true that XL delivered the mercy kill on LQQ’s father, and took responsibility for that regardless, but he was innocent of the crimes LQQ “killed” him for in return. That’s a hard thing to grapple with. After all, LQQ went centuries ignorant of the truth, never dug deeper, and also benefitted from that ignorance by thinking he delivered righteous retribution. Possibly also ascended from it. Now to realize it’s all untrue? Such a blow for someone like that. It’s not surprising he doesn’t know how to deal with it. XL himself thought it would be unfair to take that away from him, but the truth is the truth, and no one could protect him from it (nor should they have had to) forever.

XL and LQQ’s relationship before all that, though – back when XL was Guoshi – seemed to be quite good. XL was a strict but fair mentor, who wanted to help guide this child to his fullest potential. I think he saw a lot of himself in LQQ, and wanted to do right by him. (This is an interesting parallel between XL and JW, too. How they both had protégés, but XL wanted to protect his protégé, while JW wanted to break his.) On LQQ’s side, there was definitely some idolization of his teacher. Understandable that he would be awed by the mysterious and skilled Guoshi, who not only saved him, but went on to become his teacher for years.

I think XL always continued to see LQQ favorably, and felt a great deal of guilt for not being able to give him a good life, free of the troubles he himself faced. It clearly weighs heavily on XL that they turned out too similar in some aspects, like how they lost people they loved. But it’s clear that LQQ doesn’t really blame him anymore, even if things are now awkward between them post-canon. He clearly still feels things towards his old teacher, and I think it’s interesting that he kept watch over Guoshi Grave – even had special wards around it centuries later – and when it was “disturbed” in the final extra, he immediately went down to investigate. And he also clearly wanted to do something to help XL, but didn’t know how, and was sick with guilt that he caused XL that much pain. On XL’s side, he definitely didn’t want Hua Cheng to kill his old disciple lol. (I also think it was very shocking for LQQ to see XL so… different than how he was as Guoshi! So much to process for him.) Who knows how they’ll ultimately turn out~

Backtracking a bit: the ending scene we get for them in the main novel, with LQQ returning the earring, is actually really beautiful and symbolic. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that MXTX had it be LQQ. (While realistically, he does make the most sense as King Lang Ying’s descendant, there are countless ways the coral pearl could have ended up in anyone’s hands.) That whole thing represents that your kindness will come back to you. It isn’t for nothing. That doing good and helping others IS worth it. This is not only what XL believed, and what he wanted to specifically teach LQQ, but also what one of the themes of the novel is. Kindness is difficult, and often met with harshness or even hate, but ultimately, it is worth it. Because the difference you make for one person will last an eternity.

Xie Lian and Banyue:

I think that’s a good segue into XL and BY’s relationship too! They have a very different relationship than XL and LQQ. XL was able to actually impart his beliefs on BY, who continued to always follow them, though unfortunately she turned out too similarly as well. I think it’s a bit too far to say that XL was like a father to her, but I think moreso XL was a guardian and role model who was present in her life for a while. But XL was also very busy during that time as General Hua. No doubt he was stretching himself thin trying to protect people, taking care of his myriad of injuries, and trying to look after not only BY but the other kids as well (including Pei Su).

Naturally, BY herself is extremely different than LQQ. In every single way possible. But she also took what XL taught her and wanted to do the right thing for others. I think her seeing XL protecting other people – though he often got hurt (and then later “died” for her) – was really foundational. In both positive and negative ways. Positively because helping others is good, but negatively because XL was so self-sacrificing and that carried over to BY, too. Not to mention him getting trampled to death while saving her would have been traumatic to her, though it’s not either of their faults. That’s war. And later, when XL finally healed from that months later, it was too late for him to even attempt to find her again. (Especially since he floated away somewhere, and is absolutely cursed with directions lol!)

Still, it’s clear that BY kept him in his heart and tried to follow his principles, even after death. I think she sees him now as a bit of a mentor figure, with a great deal of respect. From XL’s side, he wanted to do more for her – and probably also saw her as a beloved student of his – but is ultimately just glad she is alright now.

Personally, I like to think they catch up from time to time when they are free, post-canon!

He Xuan and Hua Cheng:

I think these two are definitely along those lines, yeah. Basically begrudging allies. They aren’t really friends, nor do they really want to be (alas), but they know it’s mutually beneficial to work together. They give each other a large amount of leeway, but definitely collaborate on what they need to. HC can give HX resources, and HX is at the very least a reliable set of eyes in Heaven (all other supposed spies aside). They don’t have any reason to work against each other, and if they work together, then they both get something out of it. Simple as that.

I think the best way to describe them is that they’re like co-workers. Even if you don’t necessarily like or agree with your coworker, you still work with them to get the job done. Maybe you’d share a meal or a drink with each other, make some small talk, but you aren’t actually buddies and you aren’t gonna hang out on the weekends.

However, I LOVE their dynamic a lot lol. This makes it sound a bit boring, but I think they have a very unique relationship. Interesting that they have a lot of similarities (which is why they can tolerate each other to begin with), but they’re polar opposites in so many ways.

[longlivehualian]

Minor TGCF details that I think about constantly

Xie Lian was an incredibly sassy teenager

Shi Qingxuan was raised as a girl

Xie Lian is turned on by Hua Cheng’s protectiveness

On Mt. Tonglu, E-Ming gets bigger when Xie Lian compliments him (HC canon praise kink)

Quan Yizhen beats up any of his believers that insult Yin Yu

In what was basically a game of truth or dare, Shi Qingxuan tells Hua Cheng and Xie Lian to remove one another’s outer layer of clothing. He Xuan cringes at this

Hua Cheng randomly puts on a fashion show for Xie Lian in the middle of a conflict

Jun Wu has a virginity detecting sword???

Ruoye and E-Ming hang out together while a disinterested Fang Xin sulks in the corner

Feng Xin spends most of his time in the mortal realm

Xie Lian only pretended to not know who Nan Feng and Fu Yao really were (also fu yao is shorter than nan feng)

Xie Lian is always sure that he doesn’t leave his bamboo hat behind anywhere!

Mei Nianqing is fine with Xie Lian being into men but doesn’t like that he’s with a ghost king

Mei Nianqing is the only person aside from Xie Lian that Hua Cheng actually shows respect

Xie Lian asked for his second cursed shackle because of Wu Ming

Qi Rong is impressed that Hua Cheng can eat Xie Lian’s cooking

When Hua Cheng is pretending to be Lang Ying, he runs away when Xie Lian tells him to bathe with him

add your fave little details in the tags/replies!

[longlivehualian]

And then Xie Lian just shakes his head at Hua Cheng’s antics lovingly

I freaking can’t

This is so them

It wasn’t in the novel, they added it, and it’s a single detail, but it’s PERFECT

It’s so them

The whole heaven is horrified, the worst Demon King of all just broke in and stole one of the officials

And Xie Lian is like

“Ah, San Lang is just messing around”

he trusts him so much already

and it’s killing me

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I love how this episode basically was:

Feng Xin: I can fix xie lian.

Mu Qing: I could fix xie lian but what's going on is way more interesting.

Hua Cheng: "i can fix xie lian" yeah? Well, I could accept him as he is. You don't like the murder? Grow up. The atrocities are part of him.

[longlivehualian]

I just found some parallels in Tgcf and Howl's Moving Castle.

• Xielian and Sophie are more than alike.. Both of them try to save their romantic counterparts in the past. Then their beloved ones have to search for them for years and years.

And Xielian and Sophie was having the least idea of all these happening.

• Calcifer and E-ming too share some similarities... When Calcifer has Howl's heart. E-ming has Hua Cheng's eye.

• Hua Cheng take Xie Lian to different places through dice technique.. And for Howl, he has a magic door.

I think there are a lot more parallels.

[longlivehualian]

shen qingqiu and the mystery of why people fear his cutest disciple

[longlivehualian]

The thing I noticed in most of the Danmei is that when a character is in deep thought about something, their soulmate will spill out the rest of the thought. They just telepathically connect. How beautiful it is

[longlivehualian]

Ok Hua Cheng is stronger than me for a multitude of reasons but the one that really sticks out at me is that if I were to spend years carving thousands of statues and painting murals of the person I was hopelessly in love with, and then they found said statues and murals, I would actually cease to exist. I would die right there on the spot from embarrassment. The fact that Hua Cheng was only nervous about it astounds me. I wouldn’t have survived.

[longlivehualian]

Shen Qiao is the rizziest rizz ever.

Man meets someone, talks, makes them fall in love and then leaves with an uwu face.

No wonder why Yan Wushi is trailing behind him.