#And in this case he already had Xie Lian and Hua Cheng's connection with Xie Lian on the mind...

[fluffypurpleglitterdemon]

Hua Cheng using his real appearance as his "Someone's about to get fucked up" look...

[darlingpwease]

Yandere omega Hualian who keep get rejected by they alpha but still made they nest just for them to comfortable

But imagine this Yandere Omega Hualian but Alpha have puppy with someone else how will they fell about that and what will they do

my dear puppy,

♡ unhealthy behaviour, animalistic behaviour, parenthood (variation with & without consanguinity), poly relationship, modern au for variation with consanguinity; single parent!reader

In fact, neither HUA CHENG nor XIE LIAN will have a problem with the fact that you already have a puppy / puppies. The fact that you reject their nest or send mixed signals will bother a lot more.

XIE LIAN in general has a strong 'parental instinct' and would like to have puppies someday, even if he needs time to agree to — if the 'puppy' is not an addition to you; in that case, XIE LIAN very quickly and smoothly immediately reaches the stage of 'let's raise a puppy together', accepting with everything you have, including a small (or not so) lump in your hands. After all, it's your puppy — and now it's the puppy of your entire pack of you and your two omegas, so it's natural that they adopt them and raise together, even if there is no blood relationship. Your puppy will easily get attached to someone like XIE LIAN, who easily manages to hide steel in silk, and, in the end, he builds soft nests and smells so delicious, making them feel so comfortable that soon the very idea of leaving him seems wrong — especially when you see that your puppy genuinely loves his and it's mutual. XIE LIAN doesn't mind your puppy at all and considers them his own, so why should you leave? Haven't you already found the perfect omega parent for your little cub?

HUA CHENG is even more flexible and relaxed in this regard — he is generally indifferent to the aspect of the presence or absence of puppies. Although, of course, if there is a puppy or if the puppy considers him a parent, then you will not be able to easily leave HUA CHENG — but he is generally not that type of omega. He wants to keep you close, not because you have 'nowhere else to go' or 'no one is letting you go', but because you don't want to leave yourself — if you see that he is so perfect, then why would you want to leave? This is much more reliable and will be a stronger anchor for you, because in other cases you can try to escape, having an opportunity, but when no one is better than him, then who can you go to? It's the same with a puppy — he didn't have good parents or a nurturing community, so his experience is literally molded on the basis of the behavior of you and XIE LIAN, but he really tries, combining his 'omega instincts that feels the milky smell of a cute puppy whose parent is now' and taking an example from XIE LIAN, who grew up in a loving and prosperous family and knows how to handle puppies, even if this is also the first time for him.

(in my opinion, in the omegaverse world, especially in the ancient one, the collective upbringing of all puppies is generally widespread, including those who are not related by blood, so no aspect of 'jealousy' for someone else's puppy or for the fact that you had someone is the exception rather than the rule; besides, in the end you are with them and you will stay with them, and the fact that you had someone before does not matter to the two of them, as long as they know that this 'someone' does not matter to you now.)

puppy with a blood relationship / is your biological puppy

XIE LIAN and HUA CHENG have nothing against the fact that your puppy has no blood connection with them — after all, it is now a puppy of your pack that you will raise together; when you are look for your little one and your omegas in different nests or when you bend down to the nest for a puppy only to be playfully dragged inside by one or two pairs of hands, you try to be careful in the future — but you still get caught over and over again.

XIE LIAN and HUA CHENG are often scenting the puppy and likes to sleep with them, either with you by their sides and with the puppy on your chest if possible — and they have no problems even if the puppy is very small and often wakes up at night or is generally anxious and restless and often needs the presence of others. For XIE LIAN, this experience is a study of his own parenting and how much he himself is ready and would like to give birth to another puppy for you if you wanted, while HUA CHENG is experiencing a mixture between getting the experience of parenthood and re-childhood, which he did not have.

In the end, the three of you raise the child as a common one, where he has one alpha parent and two omega fathers (a semi-playful 'who's papa who's daddy' is attached, but your puppy probably uses names along with letters from their name like daddy / papa lian / cheng and other variations depending on their pronunciation), and your puppy grows up in a more than happy and loving family even if he inherits some of their intense traits and attitudes towards you, especially if they are omega.

If you don't want to talk about the origin of the puppy or if about their parents, then they are fine with it — it doesn't matter what happened before, it's important that this is their puppy and you are now their alpha, since your puppy considers them his omega dads, which is especially important if your puppy is also an omega.

If you continue to communicate with the puppy's parent, they will be much more wary and jealous, even if they know that they should trust you. They are both quite possessive and are looking for regular confirmation from you as an alpha that they are only your omegas and that you are only their alpha, and it gets even worse when they feel that the omega with whom you once conceived your puppy is still in touch with you. HUA CHENG is much more open to direct aggression or belligerence, especially if the omega parent also has a heavy temper — and although HUA CHENG will not show you this, he will be more than sarcastic and annoyed at the sight of them. XIE LIAN, on the other hand, behaves outwardly more peaceably, keeping the thought that, after all, thanks to them, their pack now has such a sweet and cute puppy, but he will not particularly try to calm HUA CHENG, especially if he sees that your former partner is behaving 'wrong' — and not that he is at all wants to stop HUA CHENG...

puppy without a blood relationship

Explain to them from the outside why you have a puppy who never gets older than a certain age and considers you to be his only parent, not remembering either the past before a certain age or his second parent. You yourself are not sure how it happened, and whether what you unintentionally did is some variation of ghostly forces or the like, — but they are closer to the spirit than to the ghost, they like to cling to you, they never grow up and call you their alpha parent, and you don't mind at all, even if you can explain little to others.

Neither HUA CHENG nor XIE LIAN ask anything, however. Your puppy is cute and charming, and whoever they are, both omegas instantly adopt them and make them their puppy as well, treating them as a single puppy within the pack and easily calling themselves their parent, even if you may initially feel embarrassed by how easily they accepted this whole situation and your 'strange 'puppy.

But, whoever they are, your omegas are absolutely fine with you and your puppy, creating nests and willingly basking in them, cuddling with them and with you, considering themselves a full-fledged family.

You and your puppy are suspicious?... Maybe, but you are their alpha — you have always been, are and will be — and as long as that's the case, nothing matters.

in my opinion, if you have a puppy with another and you are happy with another, then they won't do anything about it.

of course, you expect HUA CHENG to remain flirtatious, and in modern au he may be the type who will still try to attract your attention, but they are more than respectful and understanding, especially if you are straightforward with refusal.

they will instantly return to you if you find yourself free again, though, but they will not intentionally break the family, even if HUA CHENG is characterized by the position of 'if someone is better, then there is nothing wrong with leaving for the better' — but he does not consider himself good enough for you because of the unstable self-esteem, while XIE LIAN is more than patient, although no less open in his intentions.

[pockettgcf]

Yin Yu Appreciation Week 2024 Day Two - Shipping - "Stay"

(i wasn't able to do day one, but i'm trying to do a few days of yin yu appreciation week with some ficlets! enjoy a slightly angst-themed week to go along with the prompts hehe) a continuation of this post by @mdzs-owns-my-ass-i-guess. thank you again for taking my brain worms!!

“Stay.”

It had started as a simple command there in Qiandeng Temple one late night. Yin Yu obeyed, as he always did.

“I will always be here for you,” Yin Yu had assured. “Have faith in me,” he had begged.

Yin Yu had never known a love like Crimson Rain Sought Flower’s. For decades, he assumed that Hua Cheng’s obsession was unfounded, or based on childish obsession, but he quickly learned that this was not the case. Hua Cheng had so much love inside him that it was overflowing, and Yin Yu thirsted for a precious few drops of that excess.

It had taken months for either of them to mention what happened that night, when the smell of alcohol tinged Hua Cheng’s breath and his arms held Yin Yu tight before that statue of the Crown Prince of Xianle. When it did come up, the ghost king was once more in distress. Hua Cheng had been out for several weeks, chasing down a lead that he was sure was connected to Xie Lian. He had returned to Paradise Manor empty-handed. Yin Yu knew better than to ask about his efforts, so he attended to the manor and Ghost City as if nothing had happened. He gave his reports to Hua Cheng to catch him up on goings-on, and he bowed low to take his leave. 

“Wait,” Hua Cheng said.

“Chengzhu?” Yin Yu responded.

“...stay.”

Yin Yu’s mind was drawn back to that night. His stomach burned with that bittersweet fire that been kindled. Surely he was mistaken. Surely Hua Cheng didn’t mean-

“Stay.”

For centuries, the ghost king had persevered in his search for his beloved alone. Yin Yu presumed he would remain this way for the rest of eternity, searching every boundary of every realm with utmost certainty that his gracious, noble Someone was out there. On one hand, Yin Yu thought him foolish to believe such a love could ever be returned. On the other, Yin Yu craved its burning light to shine upon him once more. Slowly, cautiously, he came closer to Hua Cheng. Cold silver vambraces wrapped around his back, and a face was pressed into his chest. There was no alcohol this time. No trembling. Only dense, sorrowful silence.

The second time was no easier to process than the first. Nor was the fifth, tenth, twentieth. Stay became something much more. From a messy, tearful hug in the temple, it evolved into something… something Yin Yu couldn’t quite describe. More than once, Yin Yu found himself on Hua Cheng’s lap. More than once, he found himself in Hua Cheng’s bed. Yin Yu’s desires were different from Hua Cheng’s, he quickly realized. Laying on crimson silk sheets, fully clothed, they would curl up together in silence. Hua Cheng’s hands would grip Yin Yu’s robes, but he never attempted to strip them off. His lips came close to Yin Yu’s neck when he hid his face there, but they never made contact.

Yin Yu knew why. Of course he did. It only made the fire inside him burn hot as the desert sun, and he was a man desperate for a drink of that loyalty and devotion. So he held tighter, willing his desires to be made clear without acting on them.

Stay, Hua Cheng would send through the communication array when they were on opposite sides of the city. Yin Yu knew it was a summons, and he obeyed. No other words were exchanged. Yin Yu had already said too much that first night, and he feared with Hua Cheng in his right mind, anything more might scare him away. He was terrified that the moments they shared would suddenly cease. Yin Yu couldn’t take the thought of it.

Stay.

It became the first prayer he’d received in years. To feel like a god, he realized, he had to continue to obey.

[eruhamster]

Have you headcanons about a AU where Shi Qingxuan would have been the supreme ghost and He Xuan the god?

Yeah! I've got a bunch. And more started flowing as I started blabbering. Wrote a ton:

He Xuan was probably meant to be a civil god. He wouldn't be the wind lord, he'd be more like Ling Wen. He wasn't cultivating anything, he was a famous governmental worker known for being great at what he did and not taking bribes.

Shi Qingxuan would still have the attachment to wind as a ghost, similar to Nüba or Princess Iron Fan from Journey to the West. In fact, this bit of info about Princess Iron Fan sounds fairly Shi Qingxuan-esc:

3. I think Shi Qingxuan would maintain a female form as a ghost. He prefers it and usually only turns into a man on his brother's demands. I can talk about how it's a baby blanket and how him ditching crossdressing after his brother's death is character growth, but in this sort of AU I think he'd typically appear female.

4. I bet Shi Qingxuan and Hua Cheng would get along. Hua Cheng already seems to tolerate him more than anyone else other than Xie Lian, so I think that the ghost realm would be more or less as harmonious even though Shi Qingxuan isn't relegated to the seas. I feel like there'd probably be miscommunication and they'd be worshipped as a couple and SQX would be rumored by ghosts to be his wife - which would add for extra drama and miscommunication when Xie Lian shows up and hears about the 'wife' stuff LMAO

5. For how she would have enough resentment to become a ghost and not just pass on... I think it'd probably come about from resenting not being able to live a proper life. She was already a heavy drinker in her cultivation days, I could see it slowly weighing further on her that she's stuck in the shadow of her brother's glory - she has to witness all of it but can grasp none of it, because she's not as talented as he is but if she leaves his side, she'll be predated on by the Reverend of Empty Words. She has to live in constant fear and can't even be herself because her brother is so controlling. I think all it would take would be a particularly depressed round of drinking that ends in her wandering and being caught, and the Reverend mentioning that his original target was Shi Wudu and that Shi Qingxuan was just the second option. I think that'd make him snap and cause enough resentment that he couldn't possibly let himself pass on.

6. But I also don't think even in a worst case scenario, Shi Qingxuan would be the kind of ghost who wants revenge. We see in the story that ghosts stay around for all kinds of reasons. Like the revision has the pink skeletons, who were prostitutes who had to dance for clients in life, and in death they dance for themselves. I think Shi Qingxuan would be like that. An afterlife of doing anything and everything she ever wanted, but wasn't allowed. And so that pre-Reverend fate that the State Preceptor saw of wealth, the "earth-shattering fate" that drew the Reverend to her in the first place, comes to be. She becomes a wind calamity known for debauchery and hedonism. "Some say Black Winds Withers Harvest is actually a man, and only dresses as a woman for fun!"

7. I think also in this AU, Shi Wudu would probably want to avoid the connection altogether because even though he loves his brother, nothing can be done and it just makes him look bad and brings down his image. That they're related would probably be a closely held secret. Jun Wu would probably use that to his advantage. Perhaps Shi Wudu tries in secret to do things to attempt to assist his brother with moving on (like Pei Jr was doing in the Banyue arc). Maybe Shi Qingxuan is horrified at him killing people for his resentment, and after talking it out with Hua Cheng, he declares to Shi Wudu that the thing that would ease his resentment would be to prance around the heavens. And so Shi Wudu makes it happen, not knowing this was half Shi Qingxuan just wanting to see what it was like, half assisting Hua Cheng in his love quest by being a spy. And then He Xuan is assigned to be working on weeding out the corruption of the heavenly court, and, hm, doesn't Shi Wudu's whereabouts seem suspicious? And this Earth Lord is nothing like the Ming Yi he's investigating, and... I bet it's easy to recall that Shi Wudu had a brother that at some point disappears in the records, when his name and birthdate stand out as his own.

[jayktoralldaylong]

I had to read this twice just to make sure I hadn't typed it myself. XD. It's rare to find any Jun Wu sympathisers in this fandom.

That being said, hey, Mei Nianqing tried....his reasonable best. Although it ended up accidentally enabling Jun Wu down the path of more corruption. I think the real problem was that Jun Wu needed his nonsense beaten out of him for a second, but there was literally no one strong enough to do so. Bro wiped out most of heaven, that is no small feat. I think deep down inside he was really tired of living but he couldn't find any real excuse to die since nothing was killing him.

Some theorise that he is actually a ghost like Hua Cheng and the others which makes things worse cause he can't even rest in peace. He's haunting the world, crying out for justice but he's already killed every single enemy and has yet found no peace. I feel really sorry for him. I am very glad that MXTX made the narrative choice not to kill him and now he gets a chance to start over, to try to heal, to restart with Mei Nianqing now that Jun Wu is finally in the listening mood again.

Also, not being able to find Mei Nianqing for 2000 years, that's bullshit from someone who successfully and systematically ruined Xie Lian for 800 years. 😅 I think he was just avoiding him because he was scared of actually killing Mei Nianqing and losing his last connection to anything that was a semblance of a time when he was loved, actually loved.

On the case of Feng Xin, I frequently sympathise about the hopeless situation. Because Feng Xin DID continuously ask Xie Lian what was wrong, but Xie Lian could never answer thanks to the stupid immortality collar that healed every wound he suffered. He had no evidence. He sounded to everyone like he was running mad. Bai Wuxiang really worked hard to break that poor boy in every which way. You know a break down is complete when the victim can't even talk about it.

I can't ever forgive Jun Wu for what he did to Xie Lian, he was nasty for that. But I can't help but feel sorry for him all the same. He's watching Xie Lian go through all that and still find a way to be happy when he never found that for himself and it tears him apart. It tears him apart that there was no one strong enough to stop him from completely destroying himself, or someone devoted enough to stay at his side and protect him from himself. It is not at all an easy feat to weather the mental breakdown of a powerful god. Hua Cheng.... Hua Cheng is an admirable little soldier. Every time Xie Lian was about to give up, he'd be there to help him find his feet once again. He gave Xie Lian little reasons, small nudges to keep pushing, to keep trying, to hold on just a little longer.

Listen, I know Jun Wu has done horrible, unforgivable things as a result of his bitterness and his anger and his grief and his resentment, and nothing can make up for the suffering and the anguish that he caused so many people, especially our sweet Xie Lian. I know that.

But... I still can't help but wish that someone, anyone, just one single person, had listened to his story and told him,

Hey. I'm really sorry that happened to you. That was a horrible thing to have to go through; no one could have deserved that. You tried your very hardest. You tried everything that you could think of to do. I'm sorry that not a single person appreciated your efforts. I'm sorry that they only used you. I'm sorry that they scorned and ridiculed and renounced you. I'm sorry that everyone left you all alone in the end. The fact that you tried should have counted for something. The fact that you even thought to try should have meant something.

I just think, maybe if someone had told him those words at any point in time, then things might have been different. Maybe he could have changed. Maybe his heart wouldn't have frozen over. Maybe he could have turned himself around.

For as much as he wanted to corrupt Xie Lian and make him his 'successor', I think maybe deep down, a part of him actually just wanted to be vindicated. To have his suffering be understood. And while Xie Lian did not owe him a single ounce of sympathy, if he had shown him even a little bit and said the above, I'm willing to bet the great White Clothed Calamity would have broken down crying.

Xie Lian himself was saved by a single act of compassion, after all.

There's just not enough empathy in stories.

[spockandawe]

Thank you for your answer....If you don't mind me asking again, what are your top 5 favorite moments from TGCF? Sorry if you've answered this question before.

Ooh, this is a hard one. There are so many GOOD moments, and the whole book is so good. I doubt I’m remembering everything I ought to remember offhand, and I already preemptively feel SO guilty that I don’t think beefleaf makes it on here at all, but Hua Cheng and Xie Lian are just so amazing

5. Mu Qing and Xie Lian finally taking steps to resolve things between them. I know I just was talking about Hua Cheng, but I really truly adore Mu Qing, and I live for the tension in their friendship, and the genuinely difficult position Mu Qing is in for pretty much.... everything. I understand where all his grievances are coming from, and by that point in the book, I understand how quickly he moved to protect Xie Lian after his third ascension despite that, and the story has had the opportunity to underline the differences in the Feng Xin-Xie Lian friendship and the Mu Qing-Xie Lian friendship. And I understand what a proud, stiff person Mu Qing is. And despite that! Despite that!!!! He manages to push himself hard enough to actually tell Xie Lian that he wants to be his friend! YES! You go, babe! Acquire that friendship!!! You deserve this!

4. In book two, when Xie Lian brings little Hua Cheng back to the temple, and the Guoshi is like WHOAAAAA, this kid’s fortune is ROYALLY FUCKT. And he’s just kind of rambling on right in front of this face about how he’s got the worst luck possible, nothing will ever go right for him, he’ll bring misfortune to everyone around him, and will probably die before he’s eighteen-- And the poor kid just absolutely breaks down. This scene breaks my heart, honestly, I have a hard time reading it but also love it a lot, for the way that Xie Lian comforts and soothes him, even though based on his teacher’s words, he could have easily been like ‘whoa whoa whoa, can’t get too close to mister misfortune, amiright?’ Holding Hua Cheng and comforting him at a time like that... God, so good. I’m trying to limit myself to one paragraph per point, but I could go on and ON about this scene.

3. Right after book four, when Xie Lian busts out of the kiln, and we’ve just seen the lowest lowest lowest moment of his life (and have seen Hua Cheng standing by his side through it, doing his best to support Xie Lian even when Xie Lian is in no place to appreciate it, even when Xie Lian is being cold and unwelcoming, and so different from the kind, gentle Xie Lian he originally fell in love with. And Xie Lian comes out of the kiln, carried by the statue Hua Cheng carved of him when he was trapped alone in the kiln for ten years, looking for Hua Cheng, and Hua Cheng sweeps him up into an embrace from behind. 

2. After the last big fight, when Xie Lian is finally free of the shackles, and free of everything that White No-Face has put him through over the years, he and his friends have made it through alive-- And he realizes Hua Cheng is fading away. That whole last conversation is so INTENSE. Even knowing it would probably all resolve happily in the end, I was still a wreck, especially as Hua Cheng starts gently connecting the dots for Xie Lian about just how long he’s been there, by his side. Wildly intense, absolutely destroyed me, a+++

1. And finally, right before book four, when they’re in the cave of ten thousand gods, and Mu Qing and Feng Xin catch on and kidnap Xie Lian and Hua Cheng comes after them.  I can’t break this down into just ONE moment, because the whole build is so Much, but the resolution... Hua Cheng realizing that Xie Lian was being controlled, and understanding that was why he ran, but still leaving the talisman in place because he can’t handle how much got ripped out of his control and exposed to Xie Lian and he’s afraid. The way Xie Lian tries to move, and it looks like he’s trying to get away as Hua Cheng opens his clothing to treat his frostbite, and Hua Cheng flinches back like ‘I won’t!’ The tension of not-Mu Qing and not-Feng Xin putting on an appearance, and then it not actually being any better when it isn’t them after all, and the tension of them running together. And at that moment, Xie Lian finally, finally nudging things past that unspoken point and asking Hua Cheng who his special person is, even though Hua Cheng is still frightened and would rather leave it unspoken, in case he’s rejected, and that hug! That hug!!!!!!!! No matter what I’m forgetting in here, that is absolutely, definitely my favorite moment in the whole story.

[lansizhuis]

I’m seeing so many posts lately on how problematic and fetishising danmei is and I feel very discouraged...danmei has helped me feel more confident in my own sexuality and I never thought it was a bad thing. Can you elaborate on what some people think is wrong about danmei? Thank you

disclaimer: my response is specific to my own experiences so it’s def not a universal thing but perhaps can hopefully be considered as another perspective. and whelp im on mobile so i cant add the read more function, imma edit this when i wake up

I think this is almost the same “issue” with JP yaoi genre and how much the West have vilified the term “fujoshi”. This issue has a long af history so let me just redirect you to this short collection of threads about it. Anyhow, connecting it to danmei which now deals with CN culture on the take of BL, I think it’s a lot about outsiders to said culture demanding they be put in the spotlight aka if it’s not THEIR standard then it’s “wrong” and is therefore ~problematique~. This kind of baby activism which is performative at best mainly takes root in the Western ideology/society. I’m not saying all Westerners are like this but that a large chunk of the really loud ones are most often than not — them. I’m not even going to touch the whole fiction vs reality mentality yet (again, the relationship between the two is CORRELATION and NOT CAUSATION) but would focus mainly on nuances.

An example on why they call danmei ~problematique~ is calling the “shixiong/shidi/etc” relationships as “incest” bc they “practically grew up together”. Martial siblings in CN cultural context are NOT the same as regular siblings. A very specific example I can think of is MDZS’ Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian (disclaimer: i don’t personally ship them romantically) who have the dashixiong-shidi relationship and are “martial siblings” but NOT (blood) siblings. Wei Wuxian is technically still an outsider to the Jiang family bc he isn’t theirs by blood. And trust me on this — relationship by blood is a BIG DEAL for this cultural context.

One of the examples on why they call danmei ~fetishizing~ is when the couple goes beyond the fluff aka having sexual intercourse of any kind. At the top of mind, the most recent discourse I saw was how antis were trying to cancel STARember (tgcf manhua artist) for making Hua Cheng sucking out the poison from Xie Lian “too sexualized” (whatever their standard is) even if it actually happened in the novel but you don’t see the same comments when they read the novel. This reminded me of when fans in EN fandom who are fluent in CN mentioned that Xie Lian gave Hua Cheng a blowjob in the temple when the ghosts were lowkey losing their shit and even gave “evidences” of it and a lot in the fandom got mad because of the same reason. These are cases of people demanding that LGBT+ content should only be “palatable” when it’s not always sunshine and daisies otherwise they’re going to brand it “fetishizing”.

Another example is the anger for when one half of the couple calls the other “wife” because it’s “forced heteronormativity” plus “fetishization”. For one, I personally know gay people who call their partners “wife” bc it’s their term of endearment and yknow most of the time it’s as simple as that. In addition to danmei context, we don’t really use or have a rule that the one being called “wife” (from those what I’ve read – 老婆) as something equal to “bottoming” but more on a ‘personality trait’ for the lack of a better word. A very specific example in mind is how Zhenhun’s Zhao Yunlan calls Shen Wei his “wife” bc Shen Wei is the one who can cook, actually cleans, etc. Note that Zhao Yunlan IS the shou/bottom which is even more contrary to the argument that wife = bottom. Of course there’s context to each story so this is not a blanket rule but just goes to show a sound point against those making a universal statement of anger against the term “wife”.

There’s a whole lot more and I definitely did not cover deeper cultural nuances but the answer got too long already haha

OKAY SO MAIN POINTS:

1. Danmei is a genre with thousands of titles under its belt — some may be considered “bad” or “good”, etc much like how in English Literature, we have “good” and “bad” ones. I bet you that those who make universal blanket statements against it hasn’t even read more than 10 novels.

2. A lot don’t understand that it’s more than okay to not like certain tropes or certain novels without having to justify it with “woke” issues. My friends have some novels I’m not very into and I have some novels they themselves are not very into. It’s normal. Human beings are, after all, different from each other in a lot of ways. What’s not okay is propagating hate over fictional preferences. Trust me, literally everything can be ~problematique~ if we try to reach hard enough.

3. MOST IMPORTANTLY — your experience with danmei is not going to be the same with the rest of the world AND YOU ARE VALID. It’s not totally about the content we consume but majorly on how we process it that matters the most. If you’re able to be more accepting of yourself with it, then that’s amazing! If others don’t feel the same then they should drop it and leave others alone who had better processing.

[coldwind-shiningstars]

ok ok prompts!!! so, I would be Delighted by some more qinxiyao family fic (deleted scenes or things you might have wanted to include in the big bang fic but didn't get to?), or, alternately, anything in the modern tcgf au? anything at all; they're all so excellent <3

both of these are such excellent prompts I started working on both of them, but the modern au got finished first! I’ll probably both a) do a lot of edits on this and b) do the qinxiyao family fic in a week or so, but here this is for now. Also, for those not in James and my brains, this is a very small part of a very large AU! Small note, all characters appearing in this fic are trans; however, He Xuan is still very much an egg and so they are referred to throughout the fic as “he/him,” although SQX at least is aware of this and wondering when to bring it up with her. She is, however, unaware that “Ming Yi” is a stolen identity and He Xuan is actually the eco-terrorist who’s been blowing up her brother’s fish hatcheries. It’s a long story. 

If Xie Lian was being honest, he didn't much like the internet. It was so bright and everything moved too fast. People used a bewildering array of slang and images. It was surprisingly difficult to avoid spending hours reading upsetting news stories. People spent days arguing about pornography. 

Also, his phone didn't really connect to WiFi very well. Even by the loosest definitions of the word, he hardly counted as a netizen.

People were usually shocked when he told them this, though, because Xie Lian's best friend was one of China's most popular beauty influencers.

Xie Lian's face appeared on her Weibo with some regularity. She talked about him often. He'd gone viral three separate times on Douyin, entirely accidentally. 

What Shi Qingxuan was most famous for, however, was makeup tutorials. He had never actually appeared in one of these, but, since there were very few people in the world capable of saying no to a very determined Shi Qingxuan, this was about to change. He was used to being in her charmingly decorated little apartment but not quite used to becoming a decorated thing himself. He'd even put on one of the outfits Hua Cheng had designed and sewn for him, based on some of his old dance costumes and a few frantic weeks of historical research, and kept swishing the skirts around his legs.

Shi Qingxuan started setting up, chattering away to Xie Lian as she did. "You need anything before we start? Bathroom, water, a snack? I edit my videos pretty heavily, so we can always take a break, but it’s good to be comfy." 

"No, I'm fine," Xie Lian said, and then had to close his eyes when she clicked on the ring light.

He fiddled with the makeup compacts laid out on the table.

Shi Qingxuan adjusted her light, scootched Xie Lian’s chair a little to the left and a little back, and then fiddled with the camera. It was quite the involved operation, Xie Lian thought; he knew a lot went into making videos, but he hadn’t realized it took this much effort before the camera was even on. Shi Qingxuan had done his makeup before, of course, but mostly just for fun, or something she could take a picture of and post on Weibo. It had been so long since he'd been filmed.

He watched Shi Qingxuan press record on her camera and then sit back and flash it a smile, putting on her Influencer Face. She squeezed his hand under the table.

“Hi everyone, welcome to Feng Shi!” she said, chirpy. “I’m Shi Qingxuan, and today we’re doing xianxia makeup with my good friend, Xie Lian. Now, for this look, we’re going to need…”

When Xie Lian was little, the makeup artists for his dance troupe had known he took about twice as long as anyone else did to get his makeup done. He was the darling of the company, though, so this was tolerated with fondness.

He didn't like the way the foundation felt on his face when it dried. His eyes watered when they put on eyeliner. He liked to spin his chair from side to side. 

He'd had much worse things on his face than paint since then, and had learned how to be still.

Shi Qingxuan patted his hand cheerfully as she pulled out the setting powder. 

"You're always one of my favorite models," she said. "You're so photogenic and so patient!"

"Thank you," Xie Lian said, and held still while she brushed it in his face.

Ruoye, probably noticing the warmth, slithered out of Xie Lian's robes and curled up on top of his head so she could get the full blast of heat from the ring light. She flickered out her tongue to scent Shi Qingxuan when she leaned in with a liquid eyeliner pen.

Shi Qingxuan made little kissy sounds at her, which only confirmed Xie Lian's certainty that he had good taste in friends. Most people were startled by Ruoye originally, but how they responded to her after Xie Lian introduced them was a good litmus test.

Ruoye settled in, and Xie Lian reached up a finger to stroke her scales. 

He was feeling good, content and warm, happy to sit still. Then the apartment door clicked open, and Xie Lian stiffened.

"Ming-xiong? Is that you?" Shi Qingxuan called.

Ming Yi mumbled something back and shuffled into the room, buried deep in his black hoodie. As always, Xie Lian's first thought upon seeing him was wondering how he could see through all that hair.

The hoodie had a fish skeleton painted on it that he recognized instantly as one of Hua Cheng's drawings; it made Xie Lian smile, thinking of how insistent San Lang was that they absolutely weren't friends, no way, there was no particular reason he would make custom hoodies for Ming Yi. The fish were a coincidence. He’d even made Ming Yi custom salmon breakup boots while proclaiming it meant nothing. 

Xie Lian, wearing an elaborate hanfu Hua Cheng had designed, sewn, and embroidered himself, even making him a period-appropriate duduo to flatten his chest, absolutely did not buy any of these excuses. Hua Cheng covered people he cared about with his art. 

Ming Yi grunted a greeting and wandered off, probably to raid the fridge. Shi Qingxuan winked at Xie Lian.

“I’ll edit most of this out,” she said, conspiratorial, “But my viewers love Ming-xiong. Especially when he’s out of focus in the background. They’ve made memes. I haven’t told them anything about him. It’s good to keep a little mystery! It keeps people watching.”

Xie Lian, having no real idea what she was talking about, smiled and suppressed his instinct to nod. Shi Qingxuan began painting a flower on his forehead with red pigment.

Finally, Shi Qingxuan gently removed Ruoye from Xie Lian’s head and shoulders and settled a wig cap over his hair, then the wig she’d pre-prepared. A few bobby pins, a few tucks, and then she stepped back, grinning.

“Ta-dah! How do you like it, taizi dianxia?”

“It’s beautiful,” Xie Lian said, honestly.

“We’ll end the video here, I think,” she said, “But I’ll get some posed photos of you to edit in here if that’s alright. Oh, tilt your head back and forth a little? Good. Smile at the camera!”

Shi Qingxuan fluttered her fingers at the camera in a wave; Xie Lian waved too, a few seconds later. As she leaned forward to click off the camera he straightened his legs out to try and loosen them up. His knees made terrible crunching sounds as they stretched. 

“You can take a little break if you want,” Shi Qingxuan said. “I’ll set up the area where we’ll take photos, but I’ll try to make it quick. You’re a darling for sitting through all this, you know?"

She was already bustling around again. She seemed to have an endless fountain of energy; Xie Lian found it admirable. He laid flat on his back on her bed, careful to not get makeup on her sheets or wrinkle his clothes. Ming Yi sat next to him, eating shrimp chips. He put a few directly into Xie Lian's mouth, feeding him like a little bird, and Xie Lian felt warm. Like Hua Cheng, it could be hard to know when Ming Yi liked you, but there were ways to tell.

He let Shi Qingxuan pose him until she was satisfied with the numbers of pictures she’d taken, trying very hard not to feel like the chuunibyou teenager he’d once been. He felt himself mostly immune to embarrassment at this point, but he supposed there were always exceptions.

Eventually, they cleaned up, although Xie Lian had promised Hua Cheng to show off the full look, so he didn’t get changed or clean his face. 

“I’ll buy dinner,” Shi Qingxuan said. “We deserve it. You too, Ming-xiong!”

She herded them both out of the apartment and down the street to a small noodles stall. They all ordered (in He Xuan’s case, three bowls) and Xie Lian was fumbling for his phone when he heard Shi Qingxuan cheerfully tell the clerk to put it all on the same ticket. She tapped her phone to pay for it all before Xie Lian could protest.

A few people asked Xie Lian for pictures as they ate. He posed obligingly, hoping he hadn't spilled any sauce on his clothes while eating. When he was done, he packed up his leftovers, let Shi Qingxuan nag him into calling a Didi instead of trying to walk home, and bid both her and Ming Yi farewell. Ruoye, who had spent most of the time they were eating in Xie Lian's backpack, made a brief appearance too like she wanted to say goodbye as well.

Xie Lian clicked his own apartment door closed quietly and tiptoed over to slide his leftovers into the refrigerator. Down the hall, a light shone out from underneath Hua Cheng's studio door.

There was an old picture of the two of them on the fridge; it was them in a hospital pediatric ward group room. Xie Lian, age fifteen, was beaming at the camera, his "FIGHT! JUVENILE SLE" shirt a bright red and his pants an immaculate white. Next to him, Hua Cheng, his right eye patched with patterned tape, bald and tiny, stared up at him with devotion. 

Ruoye bonked her head gently on the freezer door. Xie Lian pulled out one of her mice and slid her gently into her tank before giving her the treat; she was swallowing the mouse as he left the kitchen.

Hua Cheng turned to him as Xie Lian opened the door to his studio. His eye got wide, and his face looked like it did sometimes when he looked at Xie Lian, like he was seeing something holy. He slid his headphones off his ears.

Xie Lian did a little twirl for him, letting him see the way the fabric moved, and then tilted his face up for a kiss when Hua Cheng came over to him.

“Gege, you look beautiful,” he said.

“San Lang,” said Xie Lian. “It’s all you and Qingxuan. I’ll get her to send you the pictures later.”

Hua Cheng kissed the top of his head. He was dressed down, in a soft shirt and pants, not wearing his prosthetic eye. Xie Lian leaned his head into Hua Cheng’s chest.

“Gege seems tired,” Hua Cheng said. “Would you like to get ready for bed? Do you need dinner or your medicine? I can help you take all that off.”

“San Lang, you’re working,” Xie Lian said. “I already ate, so I think I’d like to sleep. But you don’t have to help.”

"Gege is more important than commissions," Hua Cheng said, and Xie Lian let him bundle him off to bed.

post about prompts! 

[hua-lian]

Hello , so um I want to request something I hope its not too much , can you maybe translate some interesting parts of that chapter where MQ ,FX XL gets to HC cave and find the statues and HC gives(?)XL a red string on his finger , and can you tell me what chapter that is ? , thanks , anx sorry if its a bother

MASSIVE SPOILERS

first of all, you have low standard if you’re asking me for translations HAHAHAHAHA

okay so the chapter that HC gives XL the red string is chapter 158, and only from chapter 173 onwards did XL, HC, MQ and FX get to HC’s cave, and I would argue the interesting parts is the whole thing but I can’t translate that without taking a year so I compromised and put summaries in between translations in [brackets]

warning, this is one hell of a long post because I don’t know how to use google docs

Red string part (Chapter 158)

Xie Lian was contemplating whether he should smash the stone wall to see what was behind, when he heard Hua Cheng: “Gege, give me your hand.”

Xie Lian: “???”

Even though he was confused, he still relented and gave his hand to Hua Cheng. Hua Cheng gently held his hand, putting his hand in his palm, his other hand covering, as if he was putting something on him. Xie Lian’s heart jumped faster, and he held his breath for a moment, at once, he raised his hand, and questioned: “This is?”

On his right hand’s third finger was a fine red string, which was what Hua Cheng put on him. Additionally, this red string continuously extended, connected to Hua Cheng’s own finger’s red string.

Hua Cheng raised his hand, showing the two’s identical butterfly knot, smiling as he said: “Tied together.”

Hearing this, Xie Lian’s face heated up, quickly he rubbed his face twice, afraid Hua Cheng could detect his unusually quick heartbeat, laughing as he said: “San Lang this is a form of magic?”

“En.” Hua Cheng slightly straightened his expression, putting down his hand, he said, “Even though we won’t leave each other on our own, we can’t guarantee there will be no outside forces. This string won’t snap, and won’t be short. Unless the other was gone, otherwise, we can definitely follow the string to find the other person.”

Xie Lian said: “Gone, meaning?”

Hua Cheng said: “Dying, or vanishing into thin air. If the string is unbroken, it means the other person is fine.”

Chapter 173

[HC and XL fall into HC’s Ten-Thousand Gods Cave, and as they continue walking XL sees a lot of different types of statues, all with their faces covered.]

Some was fully covered, extremely unusual. Xie Lian found it weird, wanting to pull down one statue’s gauze and see its face, but behind him Hua Cheng said: “Gege, I suggest you don’t.”

Xie Lian turned his head back, questioningly asked: “Why? I feel that these god statues are a little weird.”

Hua Cheng walked forward, and said: “Because it’s weird, it’s best if you don’t. Since these faces are covered, there must be a reason why. The head is where the spiritual energy assembles, if the cover is removed, allowing these weird god statues to assemble the spiritual energy, who knows what might happen. Gege, didn’t you want to find your two footmen? Since we haven’t found them, it’s best not to touch them (god statues) so as to avoid side issues.”

His words were mysterious and confusing, but it was not without reason, in the case of removing the face gauze, awakening whatever these god statues had, that would not be any fun at all. Xie Lian thought for a bit, deciding to put down his hand, and said: “I’m just a little curious as to who the god is.”

Hua Cheng, playing it down, said: “This place is Wu Yong’s national border, perhaps it’s Wu Yong’s crown prince’s god statue, not strange at all.”

Xie Lian: “I’m afraid it’s not.”

Hua Cheng said: “Eh? How can one be sure?”

Xie Lian faced him, and said: “From the murals we saw on the way here, Wu Yong’s crown prince and Wu Yong Nation’s people’s clothes, compared to these god statue’s dress style, it’s not the same. Therefore, I’m afraid that these god statues and Wu Yong’s crown prince are unrelated. Additionally, it’s possible they weren’t made by the hands of Wu Yong’s people.”

Hua Cheng laughed and said: “Really? Gege is really meticulous.”

Xie Lian also laughed, and said: “No, no. Only that the style of these god statues, whatever craft labor, clothes, or the streamline and details of the clothes, all seems to have a more modern style. For example……the style of Xian Le Nation.”

Hua Cheng raised a brow, and said: “It seems, gege has a rather deep knowledge of this aspect.”

Xie Lian said: “Where, where. It’s only that I’ve seen too many god statues, sooner or later I’ll be more perceptive.”

Even though he didn’t know why, but he kept feeling, from just now till now, Hua Cheng was a little off. After talking to this point, he seemed to be faintly nervous.

[XL decided to listen to HC, and not touch the statues, then they come across a path split into 2, and XL questions why HC immediately goes to the right if he claims he doesn’t know the place. HC makes up nonsense, saying he’s more lucky so he randomly picked the right side. XL then hears voices from the left path, and heads there despite HC calling him back. It’s MQ and FX, stuck in a hole. HC did not follow him.]

Chapter 174

[XL jumps into the hole, HC comes and brings him out, XL brings MQ and FX out of the hole. XL, MQ, and FX spend the whole chapter talking, generally about how XL knew MQ and FX were FY and NF all along.]

Chapter 175

[As they continue walking, MQ tries to touch one of the statues, and HC immediately holds a sword towards him, and reluctantly MQ relents after a standoff. Suddenly, MQ and FX grab XL and runs away from HC, and MQ mentions that the red bead XL had lost long ago was found again, and it’s the red bead in HC’s hair. XL is in disbelief, and MQ takes off a veil covering a statue’s face, and it’s XL’s face. All the statues are of him, made by HC. They then see some murals, and it’s all drawn by HC, one being Pleased God XL saving small HC, one being HC holding an umbrella over a white flower, and FX and MQ are horrified to realize that HC’s been watching XL all this time.]

Feng Xin was simply absolutely terrified, and said: “What kind of person is this? Staring at you from 800 years till now?! Still staying with you until today? Fuck me! This is too horrifying! Is he possessed?! What does he want? Ordinary believers completely would not do this kind of thing, what does he want?!”

Mu Qing said: “There’s a plot……There definitely must be a plot! Quickly continue looking, a clue can definitely be found here!”

Xie Lian was already shocked stupid, staring at the small red boy on the wall, he hadn’t reacted yet, he only felt that there was much he hadn’t forgotten, but he had not cared to remember all the messy and confusing things which were all fighting to appear first in Xie Lian’s head, when the two beside him starting making noise. He shivered once, and asked: “What happened now?”

Feng Xin and Mu Qing were standing in front of a stone wall, as if they had seen some kind of terrible thing. On seeing that he wanted to walk over, Feng Xin quickly turned and pushed him back, and said: “Don’t fucking look!”

Xie Lian: “? What is it? What thing? Why can’t I see it?”

Mu Qing’s face also darkened, and he said: “……Don’t see it. It’s nothing worth looking at, quickly run!”

The two of them grabbed an arm, once again rushing towards a path. Dragged by them, Xie Lian said: “What are you two doing? I still have not seen the entirety of the murals?!” 

Feng Xin ran and angrily said: “No use looking! You can’t see that kind of thing! Fuck, honestly! I really have never seen this kind of fucking thing before! This kind of person!!!”

Xie Lian was confused: “You have never see what before? What’s did San Lang do?”

Mu Qing scolded: “Still calling him San Lang, stop calling him that! It’s too late to run! From now on don’t approach him! He’s not normal, he’s sick, he’s a lunatic!!!”

Xie Lian couldn’t listen to it anymore, and said: “Why are you two scolding like that? Didn’t I say, not everyone who’s not normal is bad?”

Feng Xin said: “Stop asking! I don’t know! He’s entirely different from us! He’s sick! Towards you, he……he……”

Xie Lian said: “Towards me what?”

One wants to return, the other two want to pull, the three of them were locked in a stalemate, suddenly a cold voice came from their front, and said: “Didn’t I say before, once at other’s domain, don’t touch their things randomly? Otherwise, whatever happens next, it’s hard to say.”

The three of them stiffened, turning their heads. They could only see a red figure in front of them. Hua Cheng was leaning against a stone wall, blocking their way.

Chapter 176

[They run again, and XL says he wants to ask HC about the statues and murals instead, and MQ and FX, obviously, refuses, and they both think XL is too trusting of HC. MQ puts a tally (talisman?) on him which makes him obey and prevents him from being able to speak. HC appears again.]

Feng Xin and Mu Qing instantly backed a distance. Hua Cheng did not look at them, his eye moving to one side, taking a step towards Xie Lian. Feng Xin and Mu Qing reacted when they saw who he was heading towards, quickly putting Xie Lian behind them, and said in unison: “Don’t come over!”

Hua Cheng’s expression darkened.

If this was a normal day, whoever dared to tell Seeking Flowers in Blood Rain not to come over, he would completely not care about these words, it would be weird if he didn’t laughed and purposefully headed over, but this time, he instead seemed as if he was a little afraid, not daring to act rashly, halting his footsteps.

A while later, he then slowly said: “What is the meaning of this?”

This tone seemed calm. Feng Xin instead said directly: “There’s no need to act anymore, this place has always been your nest. We have already seen these god statues, and those drawings of yours, we have seen it all!”

Hua Cheng was blocking them, hearing this, the hand behind his back trembled, two finger unconsciously curled up.

“……” He slowly drooped, and weakly said, “His Highness, has also seen?”

This tone was very low, even though this manner of speaking was nothing exciting, it was a little hoarse, clearly unusual. Xie Lian thought: “I have not!”

Actually, he didn’t see a lot, however, at this moment he couldn’t speak nor move, honestly only able lean against the stone wall in the corner, as if he was hiding behind the two, afraid to come out to face Hua Cheng, and unwilling to talk to him. Feng Xin drew his bow, and said: “Correct. Whatever…thoughts you have, we are clear. With respect to you as a Ghost King, if you still have some respect and dignity, please do not come close to His Highness the Crown Prince anymore.”

[HC, angered, fights them, and traps them in cocoon silk, then MQ says he was the one who drove HC out of the military, and then HC tells them to admit if the thing they were talking about before was true or not. MQ shouts for XL to run away, XL runs and falls down pretty much immediately.]

Xie Lian’s hands and feet were tightly bound by white thread, lying on the ground, his black hair and white sleeves scattered, his bamboo hat having fallen aside. Hua Cheng slowly turned towards him, pausing for a long time, he headed towards him. Having walked only a few steps, Feng Xin couldn’t control himself and said: “Hua Cheng!”

Hua Cheng paused in his steps, slowly inclining his head.

Feng Xin summoned up his courage to say: “You…You let go of His Highness! He’s already so miserable. Towards him, don’t……” 

Hua Cheng didn’t say a thing, walking to Xie Lian’s side, bending his knees for a bit, he picked him up.

[HC carries him and leaves, and MQ bites the silk aggressively.]

Chapter 177 (Confession!!!)

[HC carries him away, his hands stiff, and HC then notices the tally MQ had put on XL, preventing him from speaking.]

Xie Lian’s organs were in disarray, the effect of the Obey Talisman on his back starting to fade away, he moved his leg with force, letting out a “Ah.” Even though it looked like a dying fish futilely fighting its last battle and letting out a protest without any deterrence, Hua Cheng still stiffened, instantly retracting his hand, and said: “I will not!”

Seeming as if he thought his voice was too loud, and was afraid to startle Xie Lian, Hua Cheng took a few steps back, lightening his tone, and said, lowly: “Your Highness, I will not do anything. You…don’t have to be afraid.”

[XL is injured, which he hadn’t realized until HC was taking off his clothes and helping him (?), MQ and FX come again, but it turns out they were fake, and Bai Wuxiang had been pretending to be them.]

here’s a link to a translation for the confession!!