#Negative crossing

[nebulanightsky]

More Uncorrupted Nightmare and Lux

However this is just a bonus from my last post of uncorrupted nightmare doodles :'D

[sunnymainecoonx]

I still refuse to say his name

It just feels like I'm gonna get cursed or something.....

[kittaykattz]

today i found out about burning blood and how you can use perona's negative hollow on everyone in the game (except for usopp) so here's cross guild depression

[miracle-negative]

I'm studying for the final exam..🥲💙 but I want to draw a something!!!!, so I'm going to draw a Wip once a day💙💙💙💙!!

*DON'T STEAL IT, AND I LOVE U <3

(HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA I don't need a final exaaaaaaaamm!)

[k-i-l-l-e-r-b-e-e-6-9]

[10piecechickenmcnugget]

dream stans still baffle me it’s just. at what point does it get too much for you? at what point is the line crossed? i know there’s nothing i can say that hasn’t been said before but.

the allegations just keep coming out. the things he did on stream to tommy, to tubbo, to tubbos 14 year old sister. he took advantage of people who were supposed to be his friends, more and more victims keep coming out about what he did. there’s solid fucking evidence, and a lot of it.

all his friends are leaving him. do you think it’s just some big elaborate prank? that everyone collectively is just making this up?

at what point is it too much for you to defend him? cause if you haven’t reached that point by now, i don’t even know what to say.

[fineapplequeen]

Brrrainrot

[jvgsjeff]

[knaccblog]

Aziraphale and "I Forgive You"

So after I watched the first season a few times however many years ago, I noticed something, wrote up a bit of a meta about it and then never posted it. I thought that it was either very obvious or very silly and either way, no one needed to see it. But now it's several years and another season later and again, I'm noticing the exact same thing so here it goes- I think the reason Aziraphale keeps saying that he forgives Crowley has overall very little to do with what Crowley has just done right before Aziraphale says it and much more to do with a secret Aziraphale hides deep within himself and has for thousands of years, a truth that he hates to acknowledge and is terrified to speak aloud: he thinks God is wrong to have not Forgiven Crowley.

Get settled in because this is gonna take a bit.

The first time I started noticing this really clearly is the Bandstand Breakup scene. Crowley starts by cussing God literally out- "For the record, great, pustulant, mangled bollocks to the Great blasted Plan." To which Aziraphale says, "May you be forgiven." And yes, Crowley has just sinned and Aziraphale is a stuffy angel but the way Aziraphale says it is like a hope, atleast to my ears. Like he's really wishing that God will see how good Crowley truly is and bring him back to Heaven even though he keeps doing stupid stuff like this

Anyway, Crowley then responds with, "I won't be forgiven. Not ever. Part of a demon's job description. Unforgivable. That's what I am." And Aziraphale responds again with a hopeful sounding, "You were an angel once." At this point, I was almost sure that he's talking about his personal wishes here. It sounds like he's saying, "Come on, Crowley. There's a chance." To which Crowley responds, "That was a long time ago," basically saying it's impossible and shutting that whole bit of the conversation down. And you can just watch Aziraphale's face fall at that, like it kills him for that to be true. 

The next time the topic of forgiveness and Crowley comes up is when Crowley shows up to beg Aziraphale to run away with him one last time. In this conversation, Aziraphale is very adamant that if he talks to the right people, they won't want the apocalypse and they'll stop it. He, of course, thinks this because his most core belief is that God is good and that even if we don't understand how what God is doing is good right now, it will lead to goodness eventually via the Rube Goldburg machine which is time and the universe etc aka God is ineffable. But even Aziraphale can't imagine how the ineffable Rube Goldburg machine could turn an event where everything on earth dies into a good one so therefore, he's certain that God doesn't want the Apocalypse.

Crowley responds to this hope with, "You're so clever. How can someone as clever as you be so stupid?" to which Aziraphale responds, "I forgive you" in a very gentle but sure tone. And now yes, while it is entirely possible that Aziraphale is forgiving Crowley for calling him stupid, I've always felt like that would be a rather weighty response considering how mild an insult it is. It's also possible (and I feel slightly more likely) that Aziraphale is forgiving Crowley for his lack of faith, his inability to believe in the goodness of God anymore. 

And that could definitely be it, but if we think about the way Aziraphale had talked about forgiveness at the Bandstand, the hope and desire that he seemed to put into the idea of forgiveness and Crowley and the fact that Crowley had dismissed it as entirely impossible for him to ever be forgiven, than a third read of Aziraphale's "I forgive you" emerges: one in which Aziraphale is saying, "While God might never forgive you, I do". It's "I might never see you again since you intend to run away to the stars but if this is the last time I ever see you, I want you to know that I think you are deserving of forgiveness. That I see the good in you even if God can't." It's a combination "I love you" and small rebellion against God, because while Aziraphale can't bring himself to give up on Her completely and run away with Crowley (even though a part of him clearly wants to), he is willing to say that She's done this one thing wrong and it's never forgiving Crowley, who Aziraphale can see clearly is more kind and good than any of the angels he knows.

So yeah, that was about where the idea rested at the end of the first season but now we have a bunch of new historical scenes and a new "I forgive you" following a very loaded conversation in which Aziraphale got extremely excited by the idea of Crowley being reinstated as an Angel and I felt like this idea has even more legs than before. 

To me, it's very clear that Aziraphale's pitch for Crowley to come back to Heaven isn't him hoping to "reset" Crowley to how he was before the Fall or him being incapable of loving Crowley as a Demon and instead was him being overjoyed to have this secret truth (Crowley is deserving of God's Forgiveness) that he's been observing for 6000ish years be acknowledged and have a chance to come to fruition. After all, as we saw this season (and honestly last season too but less pronounced), Crowley, current Demon Crowley, not the angel he knew over 6000 years ago, has proven over and over again just how truly good he is to Aziraphale.

For example, in the Job sequence, Crowley does a truly good thing that no Angel (beside Aziraphale) would do or even think that they should do and that is save Job's children. And through the entirety of this bit, Aziraphale basically always believes that he will. There are even two moments where Crowley tries his best to scare Aziraphale away, to play up being the bad guy (so as to better hide the con he's running and protect Aziraphale), but Aziraphale's faith in Crowley's goodness does not falter. At the end of the day, it seems clear that Aziraphale has more faith that Crowley will do the good thing, the correct thing than God. Conveniently for Aziraphale's faith in God though, not understanding how something horrible he hates will eventually lead to goodness in the long run is a foundational principle of said faith so his faith in God remains strong even after everything She and Heaven do to Job. 

But his faith in Crowley doesn't require such a complicated work around. He believes Crowley won't kill children and he is correct. Though unfortunately, this very simplicity leads to a new problem, a problem that we can see eventually solidify in Aziraphale's mind, becoming a running theme of their association and leading to the eventual "I forgive you"s.

Aziraphale can clearly see how kind and good Crowley is, how he does the right thing as best he can, even when he could (and sometimes does) get into immense trouble for it. But for some reason, despite repeated evidence that Crowley is everything that Aziraphale believes Angels are and should be, Crowley continues to be a Demon. And once you realize that Aziraphale has noticed this contradiction and that it most likely haunts him and is a constant challenge to his worldview, it colors a lot of what he says in a new light. Many of what seem like simple, self-righteous statements reveal themselves to be Aziraphale trying to protecting himself from a massive logical inconsistency he keeps stumbling across. 

"It must be bad, otherwise you wouldn't have tempted them into it," Aziraphale says, clearly not quite sure why it's bad actually. 

"You, I'm afraid, are evil," Aziraphale asserts, basically stating that Crowley is evil because he's evil. It's tauntological and therefore doesn't have to make sense. (He says this one shortly before Crowley saves Elsbeth from suicide, poverty and damnation.) 

"So this is all your demonic work? I should have known," Aziraphale says, thinking, "Aha, this time Crowley must have done the bad thing and therefore continues to deserve being Fallen." (Crowley has, in fact, not done the bad thing but shhhh, worry about that later.) 

Once you notice this self defensive habit, you can't unnotice it really, it's just so present in Aziraphale's logic and speech. Aziraphale even at one point says, "Still a demon, then?" after the Ark and Job and Jesus because on some level he probably doesn't want to actually evaluate, it makes no sense to him that Crowley is still a Demon, especially when he has also sinned in a few ways (lied to Gabriel, thwarted the will of God, technically gluttony etc) and nothing has happened to him, to say nothing for all the things Gabriel has done (or has just let passively happen without a thought to interfere).

So yes, I think the entire final argument plays out the way it does because Aziraphale thinks Crowley is good and deserves to be reinstated, to be forgiven by God more than anything. 

He comes into their final conversation nervous but excited, to the point where he stomps right over what Crowley is trying to say. "You see I... I have some incredible good news to give you." The good news is for Crowley, you see, because Crowley deserves this and clearly being forgiven like he so deserves should logically make Crowley happy. It will make Aziraphale happy after all. 

Aziraphale then starts to describe the conversation that he had with Metatron, stating that he thinks he might have misjudged him. And why would he think that he misjudged the angel who had told him point blank to his face that "The point is not to avoid the war, it is to win it" about the Apocalypse? Well, it's not because he's offered the job of Supreme Archangel, that's for sure. As we can see in the flashback, Aziraphale seems nervous and uninterested in the job at first. He says clearly that he doesn't want to go back to Heaven and even brings up a very half assed excuse to try and weasel out of it, a soft no of, "Where will I get my coffee?" 

No, instead, the clear, obvious point where Aziraphale changes his mind about the job and about the Metatron is when he offers to reinstate Crowley as an Angel. Metatron has, quite accidentally (I think? I don't think he actually knows Aziraphale's secret soul), just said one of the most faith affirming things he possibly could to Aziraphale, "We can correct that little error that's been bothering you. You are completely correct that Crowley deserves God's forgiveness." 

Given that, it's understandable that Aziraphale is absolutely bubbly about Crowley's reinstatement when he mentions it to him, like the best thing ever has just happened to him even though he's talking about something that will happen to Crowley and not him at all. "You could come back to heaven and- and everything. Like the old times, only even nicer." (Nicer because this time, they are in love. Nicer because they'll both be powerful enough to make a difference.)

Some other bits of Aziraphale's dialogue from this scene that make so much sense through this lens are:

After Crowley tries to reiterate his constant stance that both sides are bad actually, and mentions how he rejected Hell's offer to work with them again, Aziraphale misses his point completely and says, "But well, obviously you said no to Hell, you're the bad guys. But Heaven, it's the side of truth, of light, of good." Aziraphale's faith in the potential goodness of Heaven and the actual goodness of God is unflappable but so is his belief that good is what Crowley wants to be doing. Like of course a good soul like Crowley would reject working for Hell again but why would he reject a chance to do good like he's sneakily been doing all along? (Aziraphale here ignores the fact that he's also had to sneakily do good on the side sometimes even though he was always working for "the side of good" but that is very par for the course for him sadly.) 

The lines, "Come with me- to heaven. I'll run it, you can be my second in command. We can make a difference," are a particularly telling set.  Everything about these from the high position he's offering Crowley to the "We" scream that Aziraphale trusts Crowley, a Demon, to guide Heaven the correct way more than any angel already in Heaven.

Aziraphale's final, desperate argument also lines up well with this (as well as featuring Aziraphale more completely referencing how he wants him and Crowley to be together romantically). "Come back, to heaven. Work with me! We can be together. Angels... Doing good. I- I need you! I don't think you understand what I'm offering you." Like is the "I need you" here romantic? Definitely. But it's also Aziraphale again affirming that he trusts Crowley to lead him the correct way ie goodness, because, as it's been shown to us many times (and focused on particularly in this season), Crowley will do and always has been doing the correct thing as best he could while Aziraphale would dither and be locked into passivity (like in The Resurrectionists).

So yes, after many attempts to explain to Crowley how he should be in Heaven, doing good and Aziraphale needs his help and one last desperate kiss from Crowley, we reach the final dreaded, "l forgive you." And yes, maybe Aziraphale is forgiving Crowley for not having faith that they can fix heaven, for abandoning him, for kissing him so suddenly. But I hope, after everything I've laid out here in this essay, you can also see why I think Aziraphale is saying, "Even as you reject God's forgiveness and leave me behind, I still see that you are good and know you deserve it so I will forgive you anyway." And maybe, even though it's still blasphemous to disagree with God, it's less scary for Aziraphale to say "I forgive you" one more time than tell Crowley that he loves him for the first time. He is very good at forgiveness after all.

[ancha-aus]

RealAgeAU Drabble - Work

Hello Hello! I am back because I had an idea :3 @spotaus get in here :3

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This one is when they have been about two or three weeks in Farmtale. So small 4 months since Nightmare deaged.

*----------------*

It had been an impulse decision to do this.

Dust peers into the back of the airconditioning unit as he checks it again.

It wasn't as if he wasn't used to fixing things. Before at the castle it had been his responsibility to make sure everything kept working. As he had the most experience from working with these type of machines and things.

It wasn't hard. Dust found it easy. It were always the same things that needed fixing anyway and there were only so many options.

He learned to be creative with how he fixed things.

So when the cash register had been broken it had been second nature to fix it. just remove the slightly burned through wire and fix the still working on back in place. Easy fix.

When Crop had been by the waterpomp Dust had navigated over there mostly to just have something to do.

Don't get him wrong, he is content to watch Nightmare and be the main go to to take care of him. But ever since they decided on that stupid idiotic backstory...

Dust isn't an idiot. He knows they are only acting overprotective to sell the story. He isn't sure how he feels about it.

Meaning he tried to stay busy. Best way to not let things bother you is to keep too busy to let them bother you. He watched Crop struggle with the pomp and Crop explained it was how they could get fresh water thgouth the pomp which had been connected to the generator.

But it hadn't been doing what it should and Crop had eventually given up. Sighing about how he would need to call someone in. Dust had asked why he hadn't done that right away if he didn't know much about machinery.

Crop had explained there there was only one company that worked all the way out there to their little town. and they were full of racists who had no problem overcharging their work and hourly rate and making them pay for things they didn't want. but they were the only option to pick from.

Dust had tilted his skull and sat down next to him wiht a simple "scoot."

Crop ended up letting Dust do his thing because it was broken anyway. Turns out if was just a pipe not fully connected and some gears in the generator that caused the disconnect. not the pomp.

As he said. Easy fixes. Once you know what to look for.

Which meant that Dust now did most of the actual tech stuff on the farm. It wasn't a lot and hardly took up his time but well... it is nice enough.

Then a day when Cross and Killer were out with Straw to get things someone had knocked on the door.

Aparently word got out that Dust can fix things.

They had spoken with Crop to ask if Dust had time to check somethings there. Killer, who had still been in the house, got all huffy and puffy over it.

Again that same overprotective act.

So that is why he said yes. Now he sits on the ground in some old person's home looking into the airconditioner as Killer should still be at the farm with Nightmare.

Dust is already anxious to get back and check on the babybones.

A huff It is pathetic how clingy you are. Scared he will realise he doesn't need you like you need him?

Dust ignores the voice as he closes the unit up again "That should work." just to prove his point he turns it on. it works like a charm and buzzes away as it gets to work cleaning and cooling the air.

The old man, the gerson of this universe, chcukles "Thank you laddie! I had been afraid i would have to suffer the last summer days in the heat." and he laughs.

Dust shrugs as he puts the tools he borrowed back together. he puts the tools kit back in the closet where Gerson got it from "No problem. easy fix."

Gerson laughs as he wheels himself into his kitchen "Seems so! I did not even have time to offer you tea! That is how fast you were!"

Dust shrugs "Why take an hour for somethign that only needs ten minutes?" seems like a waste of time. He looks around and spots an old tv which is unplugged. mh.

Gerson exits the kitchen with a small teaset "I do hope you will take a moment to enjoy some tea before you return?"

Dust shrugs "may as well." He has to wait until Crop picks him up. he could of course shortcut back but that would just raise even more questions.

another loud laugh Yeah! People will question how you seem so skilled yet are utterly useless! Honestly how they haven't decided yet that you are too weak to be entrusted with a babybones is beyond me!

Dust stares at the slowly filling cup "Why is the tv unplugged? annoyed with the news?" talk. just talk about anything.

Gerson shoots the offending furniture a look "oh none of that. I think the screen burned through or something. and a new one is too expensive."

Dust hums as he stares at the tea. Then he stands up and walks to the tv. he pops it open and takes a look. yeah some stuff is burned through but he can probably... if he uses something to replace that and most places have some glass... "Mind if i try some stuff?"

Gerson laughs loudly "go for it! It is junk anyway!"

Dust nods and starts to search the house. Moving silently and effortlessly through the space. He will once in a while hold up somethign to Gerson and Gerson will either give him the go ahead or ask him to put it back. He only told dust to put something back once.

With his replacements ready he gets to work on the tv. the tv is a bit of a harder challenge. mostly because a lot needs to be replaced or fixed before it could work. But at the end Dust messes a bit with the buttons and it turns on again.

Dust hums "That explains why i didn't find any leds or anything that i could replace with the led lights." it is still a black white television. mh.

Gerson laughs again "Well I will be! I didn't expect you to be able to fix that old junk!" he laughs some more before shooting him a glance "I take you were planning on schooling for technalogical stuff?"

Dust blinks before he looks to the side. quickly reminding himself of his story "I guess. never made a decision on that."

Gerson nods as if that makes perfect sense "It is very mature that you decide to focus on your child. but now that you have so many people to assist you could look into college?"

Dust snorts as he rolls his eyes "nah. I don't need that." they are already too focused on that stupid story and how that portrays him.

Papyrus flies around the edge of his vision oh suuuure how it portrays you. But that is the problem you have wiht it? isn't it? Because it does show that you are pathatic and an idiot and can't be trusted. It shows how much weaker you are compared to them. you know it is a matter of time before they start connecting the dots with this fake you and the real you.

Dust stares at the dark liquid of his tea.

Gerson hums as he looks at him considerate "We all are young once... stupid choices are part of that..." Gerson keeps staring at him "It is a shame you had no help to help you with yours."

Dust glares at him "safe your pity. I don't need it." keep it in. keep it in. don't make a scene. don't make a scene.

Gerson chuckles but still looks sad "Yeah. I can imagine."

Dust glares. He hates this. He hates this stupid story. He isn't some dumb weak monster that got goo-goo eyed and lost a child because of that. He doesn't want to be known for that. he... he doesnt want that to be how they see him. He doesn't care how most people see him. They don't matter... but... but... what if...

papyrus laughs again So much for not going goo-goo eyed. That laugh rings through his skull.

Silence follows and Dust prefers it. Still he leaves the small couch and table and searches the house. He saw a few things that could still be fixed.

Stay busy.

Don't think.

By the time that Crop finally comes by to pick him up with the car everything he could find is fixed.

Crop looks between them nervously and smiles "So... how did it go?"

Dust huffs "fine..." and he walks towards the car.

Gerson rolls a bit after them "Wait a moment laddie!"

Dust lets out a loud sigh and Crop shoots Gerson a nervous look "Is something wrong?"

Gerson takes out his wallet and looks through the bills before holding out some cash.

Dust stares at the held out money before looking back at Gerson hoenstly feeling insulted "I thought i said i dont need some stupid-"

Gerson speaks louder "payment for fixing my things! YOu were a lot quicker and cheaper than the service i normally use! Here you go! what i normally pay the other service for an hour!" and he just keeps smiling brightly as he hold sout the cash.

Dust stares at gerson but takes the money, don't cause a scene. he stuff it in his pocket before huffing "whatever."

Crop and him go towards the car and Dust takes out the money to count it.

Wait a minute...

Dust frowns "Crop?"

Crop hums "yeah?" he seems in a very good mood.

Dust frowns at him "How expensive is stuff in the universe? like. how expensive are a week groceries for someone?"

Crop blinks as he shoots him a look "Oh you are asking something there... mmh... I think about 35 to 40 for each person, if you have to buy it all... I am not completely sure as we grow a lot ourselves and we trade with our fellow farmers."

Dust frowns at the cash "Then why was i paid like 200 for just an hour of fixing stuff?"

Crop snorts "I told you. the other service that normally comes out here asks a lot for some basic stuff. I can only assume that Gerson was happy with how you fixed his air conditioning in an hour wihtout trying to make him buy more things than he needed."

Dust frowns before putting the cash away.

They get back and Killer rushes to meet them. Looking anxious as Dust gets out of the truck "Dusty! Everything fine? no shady shit? I told you we shouldn't be out on our own with people here!" Killer hangs all over his shoulders. Dust looks around and sees Horror and Cross both on the porch with Nightmare by them.

Papyrus giggles wiht sick glee See? You are just a source of worry. They don't trust you. They probably never truly trusted you or your abilities. Wouldn't it be more fun to show them just how dangerous you are?

Dust shrugs to try and get Killer off but the guy has a hold of a leech. So he sighs "It went fine. Nothing to worry about."

They get back to the others and Cross smiles as he asks if everythign was fine. Dust sighs and repeats his answer of before. Horror just smiles in greeting before giving Nightmare back to him.

That actually calms him. Nightmare hums happily as he pushes his skull by Dust's neck and chin and Dust holds the tiny being close. Feeling the fast flutter of Nightmare's magic slowly calm down to go at his own soul's and magic rate is still amazing.

The voice of Papyrus finally goes quiet again.

It is fine. Dust doens't care with others think abut him. Not when what he gets back is this. It will just take some getting used to but he will be fine. It is annoying and sad that the others won't see him as trustwrothy anymore but even that is fine as long as he can hold his baby close.

He is fine.

*-----------------------*

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[mxtxfanatic]

So @fireandgrimstone and I once had a discussion about how mxtx handles Xie Lian’s crossdressing in tgcf, the gist of which was whether or not it was falling into a gender essentialist trope ("you can always tell when a man is pretending to be a woman!") despite how much of the story tackles a kind of gender fluidity amongst other characters. I said I’d return to it once I reread it again to see how I felt reading those bits in context, so here I am!

The first instance of Xie Lian cross-dressing in the story is during the very first mission: the ghost bride. In order to find out who is kidnapping brides in the area, Xie Lian dresses like a bride to act as bait. When he first gets dressed, this is how he is described:

If you asked anyone to come and see, they would be able to tell with a glance that this was a young boy with a gentle and handsome looking face.

—Chapt. 6: The Ghost Holds a Wedding, The Crown Prince Climbs Onto the Marriage Sedan (Part 1)

You can "tell" that he is still a man, even as he wears the wedding outfit, we are told. However, later on, Little Ying comes and helps fix up Xie Lian so that he looks more like a bride. When next the others see his face, this is how he is described:

How could Xie Lian have known that a girl’s skill in make-up created legendary and mystifying results? Little Ying had only taught him how to fix his eyebrows by drawing them elegantly, how to powder his face with some white powder and how to dot his lips with deep, red rouge. However, if he didn’t speak, Xie Lian looked exactly like a gentle, soft and beautiful young lady.

—Chapt. 9: The Mountain’s Locked Ancient Temple, The Forest of Hanging Corpses (Part One)

A little bit of makeup and reshaping his outfit has transformed Xie Lian from someone you could tell was a man "from a glance" to someone who "looked exactly like a gentle, soft, and beautiful young lady." Even the crowd of men acting as "guards" could not tell Xie Lian was a man, and at no stage in this entire arc is Xie Lian uncomfortable with the act of cross-dressing, at being honestly mistake for being a woman, or Mu Qing and Feng Xin's negative reactions. He is indifferent to it all.

The next major moment we see him cross-dressing is when he is running away from the group of cultivators hunting Hua Cheng:

Behind the curtains sat a woman, her long raven hair hung a loose bun, her neck slender and white with a black choker and a thin silver chain circled around. Her robe was half stripped, revealing her snow white shoulder and a small bit of her back, looking to drape and fall, making one’s face burn and heart race.

When the curtains were pulled, the figure of that woman trembled, covering her face with her sleeves, and whimpered softly, as if she was shocked and terrified by such a sudden and brutish act. Heaven’s Eye instantly dropped the curtains, “I-I-I-I-I-I’M SORRY!!!”

The band of monks and cultivators who followed after Heaven’s Eye all screamed too, “WHAT A SIN, WHAT A SIN!” And they all covered their own eyes. Using this chance, that ‘woman’ whipped around -- who else could it be but Xie Lian? Hua Cheng was sitting in his arms and was only blocked from view by Xie Lian’s body. Although Xie Lian was a man and his shoulders were wider than the average woman, but he only pulled down half of his robe to expose the best angle, creating the perfect effect.

—Chapt. 137: Upon Barren Hills; Rioting the Black Hearted Inn (Part One)

Just as with the makeup and reshaping of the bride outfit, wearing a woman's robe, stripping to show off some skin at an angle, and whimpering a little was enough to trick this group of men into thinking he was a woman. The cultivators are so embarrassed, they run away, but even the passerbies who catch a glimpse of Xie Lian fleeing later in that same outfit have the vague idea that it is a "woman" they're seeing running with a child. Then, in the same outfit, Xie Lian enters an inn and we get this hilarious interaction:

A moment later, the door opened, and several attendants came forward to greet, their faces full of smiles, “Good si...”

They had wanted to say ;good sir’, but seeing the person before them was wearing women’s robes, they changed, “Mis...”

Before the word left their lips, Xie Lian emerged fully from the darkness with Hua Cheng in hand. If there’s a child, then it wasn’t an unmarried lady, so they changed again, “Mada...”

‘Madam’ was still half on their lips and Xie Lian’s face was fully illuminated by the light within the inn. Although this person was dressed in women’s robes and had a gentle countenance, if they must be honest, no matter how they looked it was the face of a man. The attendants all became mute, and it was a good moment before they went back to their original greeting, “Good sir, please come inside.”

—Chapt. 137: Upon Barren Hills; Rioting the Black Hearted Inn (Part One)

None of the attendants are able to tell Xie Lian's gender just from a glance. They rely on context clues (his clothes, the fact that he's with a child, then finally, his bare face) to finally decide that he is a man. Xie Lian is not discomforted by this either, not even to correct them. In fact, the narrative says that he feels no mental or physical discomfort as he is. Mind you, in this world, it is established that gods can and do change their physical forms to match a certain gender, but despite having the power to do so, not only does Xie Lian not take this route but he is still able to successfully appear as a cis woman to both strangers and his closest friends with only the minimalist of effort. Neither he nor the narrative place any expectations on how he "should" feel being man mistaken for a woman, nor do they waste time trying to explain to other characters why he is dressed as one like what one would usually see with this trope. Xie Lian simply exists in the form most comfortable to him and changes minor appearances to produce the aesthetic that he needs when he needs it. No more explanation is needed.

The thing about Xie Lian, too, is that while he is assured in his own gender, this does not translate into him being adverse to either weaponizing gender to reach a certain goal (such as being bait in a mission or hiding from enemies or just finding a dangerous object) or others doing as they please. Shi Qingxuan repeatedly attempts to wheedle Xie Lian into transforming into a female form with him, but though Xie Lian refuses for himself, he never shows disgust that Shi Qingxuan prefers his female form, unlike other gods.

Due to all of this, I don't see the repeated mentions of Xie Lian's maleness within these cross-dressing scenes as meant to reinscribe the gender binary but, instead, to impress upon readers how simple it is to throw gender into question. Gender is just that malleable and its perception so easily manipulated that even one of the most manliest men in the story can be viewed without a shadow of a doubt as a woman. Xie Lian is proof.

[uncanny-tranny]

If you mess with somebody's mobility/life-preserving aid and all you got was yelled at by the disabled person in question, just know you got off easy. Fucking with somebody's aid can easily become a matter of life-or-death, so you have to understand why somebody would "lash out" about that.

[strawberrylemongrass]

my sister doesn't appreciate the little wonders of life?? and she says she's just better?? girl,,,

[miracle-negative]

Gay.

[k-i-l-l-e-r-b-e-e-6-9]

Peter Steele on Jerry Springer

[owawaaa]

GOOD NEWS EVERYONE: I moved into my own apartment!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am literally there!!!!!!!!!! RIGHT NOW!!!!!

bad news: I am experiencing maddening terror and anxiety the likes of which I havent felt in a long long while!! ! ! turns out living alone can be scary in itself (and it's not even about fearing people breaking in, no, just the solitude/isolation) yahooooo