#Mei nianqing's pov

[backpackingspace]

Okay but my heart and soul for tgcf from mnq's pov. You're wondering with your sad dead puppet friends, you're playing cards, you're teaching people here and there and then you get hired to teach a young prince. And ....he's amazing. And he has no idea what's out in the real world. But he's so talent and so good and you truly believe he could do anything. And you know you're projecting but he reminds you so much of another prince who could have done anything. But the other prince is the vilest creature you've ever met. He's the most powerful man in the universe and you know he made his own choices but it's your fault. /it's your fault/ and this young prince you're teaching. He's so so good. And this monster you've created he starts showing interest in the prince. And you know what he's like and he's/six years old/ and you pray every single day. Pleading and telling him it's different this child is his own person. Stay out of it please please just leave the boy alone but.....you know what he's like. So you train him the best you can, you make sure he will never be monstrous, and then you run as fast and as far as you can. And even though the guilt is drowning you, you tell him you warned the prince as best as you could. And as you run you know it'll never be enough but you tried. You did.

And then you find your student again after 800 years. You get captured by jun wu and he finishes torturing you just in time for you to find out your beloved student is fucking a different ghost king and honestly you're ready to be tossed into the volcano. You're not saying the tipping point was fucking the ghost king but ....you are choosing to stay in the volcano with the monster so

[potatosaresweet]

i wish mxtx had done with the tgcf extras what she did with svsss and gave us chapters from other character's povs

imagine feng xin's version of the story, how he coped with losing xie lian years ago and ascending to godhood when he never even wanted it(also his non existent backstory)

mu qing's perspective on past events and how hard he tried to show how strong he was now, because he still felt like a poweless servant

jun wu and mei nianqing, their story 2000 years ago and it the present and how they cope with everything

shi qingxuan. post epilogue,mortal,cripled, stripped of their godhood, without a brother and a friend who was never their friend after all

he xuan realising he got his revenge but destroyed the person that cared about him most. or worse, his perspective of shi wudu's plan

qi rong. how did qi rong die originally? did he die when xianle fell? did he manage to run away like xie lian?

so much missed potential. i loved reading about happy hualian moments but there'ss still so much to be explored

[artingstarvist]

The sequel to Never Forget, Never Forgive is here!

Paper Memories (Part One)

(idk why tumblr didn't want to post the link properly but whatever)

Rating: T (Part Two will be bumped to E)

Ships: Hua Cheng/ Xie Lian (+ crumbs of the other main ships)

Characters with PoVs: Xie Lian, Hua Cheng, Shi Qingxuan, Feng Xin, Lang Qianqiu, He Xuan, Mu Qing, Yin Yu, Jun Wu, Mei Nianqing

Fic Tags: AU - Canon Divergence, POV Alternating, Established Hua Cheng/Xie Lian, Hua Cheng and Xie Lian Invented Love, Mystery, Adventure, Fluff, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Panic Attacks, Amnesia, Xie Lian Needs Therapy, Hua Cheng Has Self-Esteem Issues, Shi Qingxuan Needs a Hug, He Xuan is Bad at Feelings, Original Character (villain), Minor Character Death(s)*, Warning: Jun Wu, Feng Xin and Mu Qing are Bad at Communicating, except its mostly with Xie Lian, MQ gets more of the limelight in Part Two.

(*If this tag scares you, DM me and I will just tell you who it is. I don't want it to be the reason you don't read.)

If you're stumbling upon this fic randomly, I would encourage you to read the first parts in this series first, starting with Never Forget, Never Forgive.

This story is already fully written/ illustrated. Expect updates on Wednesdays!

Chapter 1 / 20 "Masters of Disguise"

PoV/s: Mei Nianqing, Hua Cheng

This fic begins where NFNF left off, which is basically at the Mount Yujun mission, but I promise this won’t be a one-for-one retelling of TGCF. I will have a little fun toying with some of the early canon story beats in Part One like this and the Mid-Autumn Festival Banquet. By Part Two it will grow into something very different. Enjoy the lighthearted shenanigans while you can.

Also ty @illuminatedferret & @mikkeneko for being my beta readers! I know it's a lot I owe you a blood debt.

(Full Image Under the Cut)

BONUS

[kimbapchan]

Hihi!! I just wanna start off by saying I. LOVE. The designs for your roleswap. You have given me many of The Thoughts. One thing I’m a bit curious about: where exactly does Quan Yizhen stand here? You’d expect him to remain a Heavenly Official, but Yin Yu being in Ling Wen’s spot raises questions.

**SPOILERS AHEAD. RUN NOW FOR ALL YE WHOM STILL READ**

With The Brocade Immortal, It’s likely Ling Wen was no longer the one to ‘create’ the Brocade Immortal, so perhaps that ‘honor’ falls to Yin Yu? But then that begs the question of who is the Brocade Immoral in that case? Would it still be the same person as the main novel or would if be someone else? Who could that someone else be? If my initial gut feeling is right then Quan Yizhen being the Brocade Immortal would be neat. Yin Yu feeling guilty for the loss and trying to bring Quan Yizhen back. (If you already mentioned QYZ at some point… whoops..?)

Also pretty curious about the dynamic between the Ghost Kings (well, the Calamities). We can suspect that Xie Lian, Shi Qingxuan and perhaps Mei Nianqing (if MNQ is present) are all on tolerable terms with each other, which isolates Lang Qianqiu, especially since it’s still incredibly likely that Xie Lian was still his teacher assuming Xie Lian wouldn’t continue on his warpath (this is also assuming Xie Lian remains the Crown Prince. But it seems likely because Mei Nianqing would likely have a certain title for Hua Cheng like cannon Jun Wu had given cannon Xie Lian. Plus: The increasing likelihood of Feng Xin and Mu Qing being ghosts supports the theory because if they both *died* rather than abandoning Xie Lian, I don’t think he would’ve held back…

But this is all just a theory! An AU-I-Read-Too-Far-Into Theory!

~ MC Anon (you don’t need to tag it… I just leave a little signature so that I REMEMBER that I was the one who wrote the ask, lol)

I really REALLY love your theories! thankyou for sharing them with me! I already have a comic drafted with Quan Yizhen actually! He is definitely one of my favorite characters in canon story. He reminds me of a very mellow Binghe hehe. I look forward to showing you guys his design in the AU! <3

Oh and yes, of course I would love to show the calamities/ghost kings interact. We haven't seen much of it yet since every comic I've done so far are sort of on Hua Cheng's POV. I'll hopefully make a comic in the future with Xie Lian's POV!

[yea-baiyi]

Hi....if you don't mind me asking, can I ask your top 5 favorite characters from TGCF? And your top 5 (or top 3) favorite moments from the novel? Sorry if you've answered this question before....Thanks....

omggg of course i don't mind u asking, i'll never turn down an excuse to ramble about my faves :') I tried to keep this short-ish though bc I don't want this to be suuuuper long.

(update: i failed but well! it could have been longer!)

top 5 characters from tgcf:

1. hua cheng. obviously i cannot shut up about my boy. he's so funny and bitchy and complex and the novel is just less fun when he's not around. he brings out xie lian's funny side and i'm in love with his dedication. most character ever.

2. xie lian gets to be under hua cheng (ha!) because, as i mentioned, he's less funny when hua cheng isn't around. his POV is still delightful but he's less inclined to act on his ridiculousness? xianle arc tends to drag a little for me bc of it. i still love him tho. this novel wouldn't be the fun ride that it is without his bitchy commentary on everything.

3. shi qingxuan. he's literally me irl - the Gender, the silliness, hysterical laughter, the way he latches onto people, how he somehow still suffers from secondhand embarrassment despite being THE most embarrassing person on purpose, it's all suuuper relatable to me. obligated to stan. his enduring cheerful goodness is what i try to be.

4. yushi huang. one of those understated girlboss types, it makes sense that she and hua cheng get along?? i like to stare into space and think about her a lot tbh. woman….

5. feng xin. don't get me wrong i also adore mu qing, but something about feng xin's earnestness really gets to me. the way he was described back when he first fell in love, as eager and innocent and genuine.....i think about that sometimes. plus i love his straightforwardness. plus shooting arrows with his teeth? i would make him my bestie.

honorable mentions: he xuan, mu qing, mei nianqing, quan yizhen, yin you (but only when i read him in a specific light)

moving on...

top 5 moments in the novel (i didn't go back through the novel for this so it's just off the top of my head) (very spoilers):

1. the little exchange between xie lian and hua cheng, when hua cheng is stuck in child form and he basically starts throwing a tantrum because he's so upset at being weak. and xie lian turns it on him and says, 'you've protected me so far, now let me protect you.' like???? fuck?????? one of the last big moments for hua cheng's character. where he's forced to be vulnerable and rely on xie lian and really make this relationship mutual.

2. the temple scene in xianle arc, when xie lian tells the young hua cheng to give up on worshipping him, and hua cheng turns around and declares that he will forever be xie lian's believer and work to become xie lian's source of strength. it's the turning point in hua cheng's early character arc, the moment that set hims on the path to becoming Crimon Rain Sought Flower. I love it it's so important to me i love hua cheng

3. the moment when yin you goes apeshit on quan yizhen. I said before that I only really like yin you in a specific way, and it's this way. his character honestly pisses me off under the moment he snaps and lets all his frustrations pour out. then it's THE most cathartic scene for him. i eat that shit up

4. THE LAVA MOUNTAIN SCENE. F-F-FRIEND. MU QING. YOU DID IT YOU TALKED ABOUT YOUR FEELINGS. the way feng xin completely loses his shit like THAT'S WHAT YOU'VE BEEN CONSTIPATED ABOUT???? IT'S SO EASY WE COULD HAVE BEEN FRIENDS ALL ALONG YOU IDIOT. and i love how that convo clears the air immediately. mu qing stops taking offence when he's being teased. feng xin stops being sensitive to mu qing's sarcasm all they needed all along was the assurance that the other wanted to be friends. the fact that this absurd conversation is happening while they're in a lava river trying not to die....GOD xianle trio....

5. and of course, the scene at the end when hua cheng is disappearing. everything about it, the pure joy xie lian feels when discovering that hua cheng was wu ming all along; the brief outpouring of love, the fear from xie lian, the trust from hua cheng. the fact that at the very last moment, hua cheng's unwavering faith is now turned on xie lian: now it's his turn to wait. and have faith. the visual of hua cheng dissolving into butterflies. i'm a sucker for a gorgeous mental image and this book is FULL of it.

this is so long!!1 wew

honorable mentions: coffin scene, cave of a thousand statues, the confrontation between he xuan and shi wudu, hua cheng disguised with yushi huang, shi qingxuan getting his fan back, feng xin getting rammed by sqx's boobs, pei ming running away from yushi huang, i could GO ON

[bisexualmikisayaka]

and like. their first meeting in xianle must have been so insane because like. pov you’re the guy who scammed your way into becoming the teacher of the very sweet and precocious and talented crown prince of the kingdom and so much of him reminds you of the man you served and cared for and betrayed and hid from. and one day, because this boy is so exceptional, he catches the attention of the heavens. you meet the ruler of heaven, a fine young man, but something about him is too familiar to ignore, and he seems to sense the same thing about you. and you’re both wearing different faces and bodies, going by a different name, and speaking a different language, but the two of you know each other so well that even with the two of you pretending to be people you’re not, you can recognize each other. pov you are mei nianqing and no matter how hard you try you cannot outrun who you used to be and you cannot keep either of these brilliant men who you’ve cared for so much from being crushed by the world and its cruelty no more than you can stop the sun from setting

thinking about how even through everything jun wu didn’t kill mei nianqing