#Fengqing being loyal to Xie Lian

[beautifulsnake2162020]

So I was rewatching Season 2, Episode 6 of TGCF/Heaven Official's Blessing and something that didn't caught my eye the first time around was the look that Feng Xin and Mu Qing has after Xie Lian is escorted to be under house arrest in his palace.

It's like they both know that whatever Xie Lian says about killing the Yongan royal family it's either not entirely true or there is something that's not adding up. They may have their differences but they both know Xie Lian enough to know that he's definitely hiding something. And with the political affairs of the Heavenly court, neither of them could blame him.

Which makes me think that their visit to Xianle palace was to help him and get the truth from Dianxie so that they may assist him once again. It's really telling that Mu Qing is able to see through Xie Lian's act and Feng Xin doesn't deny that he is right. Instead Feng Xin intentionally instigates a fight between him and Mu Qing.

Now, I just want to say that it is entirely possible that they just get caught up in their squabbles and Xie Lian had been out of heaven for 800 years so he wouldn't have noticed how much Feng Xin and Mu Qing changed during that time.

And maybe a part of me is just overthinking this - but in this instance I don't think that their fight was simply because of a squabble but was planned.

Think about it - nobody would question if these two ended up arguing or fighting. The only reason why I find it suspicious was because of Xie Lian's internal monologue saying that it is odd. But had it been anyone else in heaven nobody would think it strange that these two are fighting. As a matter of fact no junior official that was standing guard even bothered to go inside to investigate why it seems there's a commotion because it's common knowledge that Feng Xin and Mu Qing in a confined space would end up in a fight.

And that was the point.

They both know how many spies heaven has and they both know Xie Lian is clearly protecting a secret that would explain everything, but he can't say anything because of a better reason. And the only way they could get him to spill the beans to them while keeping everyone else out of the way is if their fight induced Xie Lian to confess what is really going on. Only the two of them would know the secret and Xie Lian would be safe to share it because it would be masked by the commotion of their fighting.

And then Hua Cheng initiates his abduction of Xie Lian and they immediately stop and work as a team. Their differences in how they report to the rest of the heavenly court on his abduction might just be to keep up appearances.

But maybe that's just me overthinking. But this is my headcanon now.

[arohuacheng]

is anyone else up thinking about how pei ming is aptly named as the god of love not for his affairs but for how open he is with his friendship and his devotion to people especially in comparison to the cold detachment of the rest of the upper court. how the three tumors are the only real honest friendship that we see in the upper court and how pei ming is the most openly affectionate of those three. how pei ming is consistently looking out for shi qingxuan even as she disdains him. how pei ming is both an ally and a friend to the main group in the last act just because he's sociable like that. nobody else? just me?

[notyixiangs]

big fan of characters who understand each other so well that they are able to use each other’s weaknesses against each other. characters who have been inseparable for so long (whether they like it or not) that they’ve witnessed each other’s crest and fall and studied each other’s dispositions like specimens beneath glass. as a result they’ve crawled into the cracks in each other’s skin & mapped out the soft underbelly hidden beneath all that confidence and pride. so now they’re calling out the other person’s most shameful flaws, sniping at the most sensitive bits of scar tissue they try so desperately to hide, digging out their most humiliating memories or those filled with grief.

if you’re lovers or close friends, then you’re forced to realize that yes, to be loved is to be known, but to be known is also to flay yourself open. you cannot declare yourself above the risk of having someone take advantage of your wounds & you cannot transcend the vulnerability that comes as love’s collateral damage

if you’re enemies… then all i can say is that the sweet respite of enduring coexistence for so long is that you know precisely how to take each other apart. you know how to play the other like putty beneath your fingertips by tugging at their pain points, and that in itself is a glorious thing—but equally so, the knowledge that they can enact the exact same thing on you is inordinately terrifying

[good-vs-evo]

saw some ppl on tiktok getting SO PRESSED about polycules and relationships other than hualian and that was kind of funny so i needed to make and explain my relationship chart

i’d love to explain to them (as a polyam person myself >:3) that love is not a limited commodity and hua cheng falling for yin yu doesn’t mean he suddenly doesn’t care about xie lian at all but i fear that would be lost on them HAHA

also if you… don’t wanna see that kinda stuff… just don’t look at it… don’t hate on people who do… life would be easier for everyone… but moving on

i debated splitting yin yu x he xuan x hua cheng from the moon quartet then decided against it because it was getting waaaay too chaotic

rip to quan yizhen, either he has no manhua art or i couldn’t find it (i haven’t read the manhua yet ffjhshd)

uhhh i got a lot of inspo abt huayin from @devotedbutterfly’s tiktoks and stuff (sorry for going thru like all of ur stuff and generally being a demon on ur tiktok and tumblr ahsjdj) and xuanyin/blackmoon stuff from @ghooostbaby so. yes their stuff is very cool :]

anyways-

first chart is different explanations for everyone’s relationship with one another

the second is me trying to simplify them into categories

BUT i’ll explain this a lotttt better in text

quanyin

uh. this one feels self explanatory

hualian

if i have to explain this one it’s over

fengqing

same as the first two LMAO

xianle trio

yes, i had to break the trio and quartet into different categories

mulian: mu qing always admired xie lian for his self-assuredness, strength, and also beauty. he was a bit jealous of him for a long time, but they were able to talk about it and they both forgave each other for everything that happened in the past. he's had a crush on him since the beginning, but was bad at showing it. xie lian thought mu qing was pretty and a very interesting person; when he got older, he regretted not spending more time getting to know him, so he makes up for it later on in life! he loves when mu qing is softer and shy and more vulnerable than he is usually, and loves how mu qing is a good listener and is pretty emotionally intelligent.

fengqing: well. you get the idea

fenglian: feng xin was always loyal, the first person to have fallen in love with xie lian, and dianxia’s first kiss. he would’ve never left xie lian if xie lian hadn’t told him to. he respected xie lian a lot. xie lian loved how much feng xin cared, and felt immensely guilty about being unable to give him anything more. when they reunite, he showers feng xin with gifts and words of affirmation (he got better at expressing his emotions) and they spend a lot of time together

xianle quartet

all the other ones stay the same, so i’ll just explain the two new ones

huaqing: they were once stuck together and had to talk just out of boredom. they bickered a little but the more they talked the more they realized that there was more to the other. mu qing feels genuinely bad about what he did to hua cheng. he has a hard time apologizing but he tried his best to express his remorse, and hua cheng was pretty shocked (previously thought mu qing was a bit of an asshole) and, since mu qing was being sincere, decided to accept his apology. they hit some rough patches now and then, but xie lian and feng xin help them through it. they realized they’re pretty similar, and team up to stir up trouble with people they don’t like sometimes!

huaxin: feng xin was jealous of hua cheng because he was the one who won xie lian’s heart after 800 years and was really happy when he found out that xie lian liked him too. he admires that hua cheng was strong enough to help xie lian so many times. he also likes that hua cheng is a little cocky sometimes (read: very often), and finds hua cheng very good looking. hua cheng was jealous of feng xin for being the first person to be that close to xie lian, but appreciates how loyal he was throughout everything that happened and finds him pretty cool. he likes the way feng xin curses a lot when he’s pissed (finds it endearing)

huayin

ONE OF MY PERSONAL FAVES!!!

yin yu fell first, because hua cheng was so fascinatingly determined and also like the prettiest person he’s ever met. he was intimidating, but could be quite kind, as he was to yin yu when they broke past the employee/employer relationship and became closer

hua cheng began to notice the way yin yu came off as so meek and unnoticeable, but had a kind of poised anger and strength beneath all of that. he trusted yin yu with a lot of more important tasks, paid him well, and considered him as more of a right hand man or partner in crime than a henchman, then eventually as just a partner

e’ming also likes yin yu, and trusts him to take care of it

hua cheng finds it endearing when yin yu gets protective of him (both of them know hua cheng is perfectly capable, but hua cheng finds it sweet regardless)

yin yu cheered hua cheng on a lot with xie lian and patiently listened to everything hua cheng had to say about him

huayinlian/hualianyu

ANOTHER PERSONAL FAVE

ppl keep being like “oh but hua cheng would never cheat on xie lian” HOW IS THAT CHEATING! GOOD LORD! HUA CHENG STILL LOVES XIE LIAN, BUT HAS ALSO DEVELOPED FEELINGS FOR THE PERSON HE SPENT THE MOST AMOUNT OF TIME WITH

i digress

yin yu fell for xie lian because he heard about him all the time. how could you spend so much time hearing about how wonderful, kind, gracious, and amazing someone is without catching feelings a little? additionally, hua cheng allowed yin yu to visit xie lian’s temple and leave offerings, trusting him to be genuine in his actions. yin yu saw some of the paintings and sculptures of xie lian and found him beautiful. he knows a lot about xie lian's life, and truly wants him to find peace and happiness

xie lian loves how devoted yin yu was to hua cheng and how much he helped him. he knows those years were hard for hua cheng, and he’s glad that he had a companion (contrary to what people say about “cheating”, xie lian is incredibly happy that hua cheng managed to find love while he was waiting). i know yin yu is canonically “plain”, but xie lian loves him and thinks he’s very handsome :) he gives him a lot of compliments and words of affirmation

blackmoon (yinxuan)

taking a moment to appreciate that very awesome ship name

yin yu thought he xuan was terrifying and intense, only to discover that. he’s just a guy (/pos). but he does have a lot going on! he has urges and a complex history and emotions he doesn’t show to a lot of people and plans within plans and is generally such an interesting person with so many layers to him. beneath a lot of those layers is a guy who’s kind and smart and would’ve stayed kind and smart if his life wasn’t utterly ruined

he xuan initially thought yin yu was just kind of pathetic, but learned more about him and started to like him more. he finds his passion really attractive, loves how genuinely sweet, kind, and gentle he is as well as how harsh, cruel, and unrelenting he can be. he treats he xuan well and makes him feel human and real and knows when to leave him alone and knows when he wants attention and cooks for him and-

they feel seen around each other, having experienced similar things (such as having their destiny “stolen” in different ways though) and have experienced suffering in such a firsthand way. they’re ready to just chill together now :)

moon quartet (hua cheng, xie lian, he xuan, and yin yu)

xie lian finds he xuan cool, doesn’t have too many thoughts about him. he xuan thinks xie lian is cute and also mildly terrifying (i’m definitely editing this later on, i just don’t have a lot of thoughts about them yet)

hua cheng and he xuan have been close for a long time, helping each other out with ghost king business. hua cheng let he xuan relax and chill at ghost city when he needed to, and he xuan kept a close eye on the heavenly capital, so they met often and bonded. they’re both motivated by something and are incredibly passionate about that thing, so they mutually admire the other’s drive and courage

i have the least for them so far, but i just think they’d be sweet together :] they’d all help each other heal and be able to talk to each other. they’d love each other a lot and take care of one another when they need it and be there when someone needs someone :3 idk they’re so traumatized and deserve to recover from that i’ll form more thoughts i swear

ANYWAYS. that’s it for now i’m def gonna write stuff for all of these ships :0 they’re all very special to me 💖 i might add them to my 30 day fluff challenge :3 cuz they all deserve some nice fluff! (ill also keep updating + editing! feel free to ask me to explain relationships more, id love to <3)

[myheartismadeofstars]

Random Fengqing headcanons:

Fengqing both have pets in their palaces (pets they've granted immortality) that remind them of each other. Mu Qing has a dog, a Shanxi Xigou named Jinfeng (gold wind). He is loyal and affectionate and protective of Mu Qing. He is the period equivalent of a titled purebred. He is a yellow colour and was an offering as a thank you. From a very devoted believer who happened to breed them. Mu Qing didn't know what he was supposed to do with a puppy, but he kept and doted on him. He sleeps in Mu Qing's bed even though he has his own.

Feng Xin has a cat, a pretty blue grey one with light green eyes. Her name is Zhenzhen. She was only a kitten living on the street when Feng Xin found her while looking for Xie Lian. She brought him luck on a side mission he was on so he decided to keep her. She's terribly spoiled and fickle because of it (to the point his subordinates nickname her "Nan Yang Furen" and say she truly rules the palace) she is, however very attached to Feng Xin and is very loving towards him.

FX fell first. MQ didn't know how to feel. I think FX could have attempted to confess once, back when they were mortal, but MQ thought he was being mocked.

MQ is worshipped as a god of children (a la this post)

Silver haired MQ rights!

FX is actually a total sweetheart when in a relationship! He's very much the pet name type (Qing-er and Baobei are most common) and his love languages are Acts of Service and Words of Affirmation. (Yes he swears while saying sweet things lmao. "You're so fucking beautiful" "You've been working your ass off, let me handle it" that sort of thing)

Mu Qing's are Quality Time and Physical Touch (I feel this in my bones. Mu Qing's gently touching people he loves and cares for. Fussing over hair and clothes is a very MQ show of affection. Unfortunately I feel like one time, after the fall of Xianle he fussed over Xie Lian and FX made fun of him for it because he was a servant before so he restrained himself, but when he's truly comfortable he will do it)

(can't think of anything else rn maybe I'll edit with more)

[irrealisms]

if you're still doing the character meme, Feng Xin?

How I feel about this character

ive said this before for this meme but im really running out of ways to say "i like him". i like him!!!! really good character!!!!! im still thinking about yen liveblogging book 2 yesterday and quoting him saying "Kick me out, for all I care. I don’t give a shit about being a heavenly official! If it wasn’t for Your Highness’ appointment, I really don’t care for it. But even if you boot me back to the mortal realm and I become human again, I will still be loyal to you, Your Highness." kick me out for all i care. i will still be loyal to you. and xl does and fx is. feng xin is loyal forever and he's a bodyguard who knows instinctively that his job is to get hurt so xie lian won't be (the way that, in the donghua, "nan feng" is always trying to put himself between xie lian and danger--a bit in front and a bit to the side--) and he fails and he just wants to protect and care for xie lian and the royal family and jian lan and cuocuo and he can't successfully do this for a single one of them and they all leave him for his own good. but he's still trying, he's still loyal, he doesn't want to leave them even though he'll obey them if they ask him to go. actually im just going to link this ask game response i did abt him for a different ask game

All the people I ship romantically with this character

honestly in canon i don't have strong romantic ships for him--jian lan is canon but not compelling, the more compelling ships are notably less canon and i'm less passionate abt queer readings there--but in the realm of fandom i do very much enjoy feng xin/xie lian bc of the aforementioned Eternal Devotion To His Master, and in general bc of the thing where xie lian is fx's entire Purpose in life (which is nonzero hua cheng parallells!). and there's also, hm, the thing where fx+mq are both Orbiting xie lian and xie lian is not really orbiting them back? which, as someone who's very into ships that are imbalanced/unrequited like that: very crunchy! also feng xin/mu qing but with the same caveats as i gave on my mu qing ask response, which is to say, i like approximately none of the feng xin/mu qing that actually exists, but if it were done completely differently it does in fact have potential. the thing is, it has to be about xie lian. very few fics know this

My non-romantic OTP for this character

also feng xin & xie lian and feng xin & mu qing! and the three of them together! xianle trio: wildly compelling to me whether it's platonic or not. i think i probably lean platonic on these even in the realm of fanfic but i will enjoy & read it and be like Yes This Is My Feng Xin OTP whether it is gen or slash.

My unpopular opinion about this character

man i have no idea what's popular or not. or like i know one (1) unpopular opinion i have (fanon fengqing is BORING) but i already used that opinion on the mu qing ask game response.... it'd be a based unpopular opinion of me to have to care about jian lan & his relationship w her but in fact i mostly don't. kind of an L tbh

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

once again with the "tgcf is really well-written in a way that satisfies both my aesthetic and my selfish desires for many characters. i am happy with canon here tbh". there are definitely tgcf characters i wish things had happened differently for dgmw but there are also a decent fraction where im like "yeah canon was perfect. no notes"

(ask game, give me a character)

[birbfeedersart]

i think fengqing is a good ship, but it probably has to do with my interpretation of their characters lol.

mu qing is prickly! he doesn't want to get hurt anymore, he has clawed his way from poverty to godhood! everything he has, he had to get by his own skill, cunning, and merit. he was willing to cut ties with the ppl who were nearly his friends, bc he was so determined to look after his mother himself. he's not afraid of hard work, but he still values an elegant appearance and good reputation. he is terrified, he is fearless! he is sharp and he is soft! he clings to his respectability, and yet believes himself to be fundamentally lesser than the other gods. but he will not give up his place in the heavens. he belongs there and he will MAKE the others see it! he can do everything on his own!! the only thing he can't provide for himself is company. what he wants most, i conjecture, is for someone to stay.

feng xin on the other hand learnt from a young age that he was meant to be a tool--a shield for the crown prince, and a weapon too, when necessary. just as he was truly experiencing life as his own person after the fall of xianle, his crown prince sent him away! what does a guard do with no one to look after?? what good is a shield if no one holds it? he helps his followers as much as he can, but there's a distance there in between--at the end of the day, the mortals have each other, and he is alone. surely he must want, more than anything else, a reason. an anchor of his very own. dianxia has hua cheng, and doesn't need him anymore. who is there for feng xin, who can understand what he's been through? who can be his rock in this world?

and!! i know they fight a lot but!! imo it's bc feng xin thinks (at the beginning of the novel) that mu qing hates dianxia and betrayed him. i think that once he realises this is not the case, he'll not be ~suspicious~ of mu qing any longer, and he'll probably sort of......forget??? like don't get me wrong i'm not saying he's stupid but......he keeps one thought in his head at all times. and those thoughts. don't exist before he thinks them. he's an in-the-moment kind of guy. whereas mu qing is always projecting his mind forward, trying to discern and plan for all possibilities. mu qing was angry bc he thought feng xin looked down on him. once he knows that feng xin does NOT look down on him, he'll have free rein for his tsundere routine. feng xin thought mu qing was not being nice to dianxia, which to his loyal heart, was just as good as hating him (feng xin). once he knows that mu qing IS still loyal (ie willing to take a cursed shackle before betraying xie lian) he'll realise 'oh that's mu qing, that's just how he is :D' and he won't mind if mu qing shouts or insults him or punches him anymore. bc that's just mu qing!!

tl;dr: mu qing is cat, feng xin is dog. i think they would make a good couple anyway. they can shore up each other's weaknesses and frankly they deserve each other (affectionate AND derogatory). thank u for coming to my ted talk