#and how mu qing is also roughed up

[wolfriver777]

Soooooo, I binged tgcf book 4 today so here are a few words along with some crappy photos of the words sgshhssh

gonna put it under a read more since it got long, exoect typos and autocorrect being evil

Okay first off screaming and crying about all the stuff that happened with shi qingxuan and what I suppose is the infamous black water arc I've heard a lot about. Now as a vulnerable young chap on the internet my ass has been almost getting spoiled for tgcf everywhere so I had a inkling someone was gonna die, probably shi qingxuan or shi wudu but omfg like actually reading it? The shock, the horror? I was breathless, I was stunned! Avert your eyes if you haven't read already cause omg!!!

Just omg!!! The way that he xuan has been the earth master for years and shi qingxuan would've formed this connection and just omg the trust, the betrayal, the death?!?! Screaming and throwing up!!!

I feel we also gotta back track a lol, shout out to hua cheng for telling pei ming to kill himself, what an absolute legend, but also pei ming building 4 coffins but for all of that effort to be wasted??? Lmaooooo!!! Omfg speaking of coffins lmaooo shsjsjsjsj the whole fucking squished together in a coffin and xie lian getting a hard on like come oooooon brooooooo please, mxtx why bitches getting dicks hard in coffins I'm crying!!

Okay also since we circled back around a bit, ofc we gotta talk about the fucking hualian smooching for spiritual power like taking it back and shjt omg and qi rong's reaction, speaking of that little bitch I know I didn't really make any posts about book 2, but omg hate that lil bitch but he's also a lil funny now,

But damn you know that hulian smooching is apart of his villain arc.

Okay we also gotta talk about the whole scene that was on the front cover and how they fucking smooched all night long but when hua vheng asks about it when his mind clears, xie lian just says they fought. LIKE BRO PLEASS! yall smooched all night long I'm crying I've here ToT! Ugh and the whole ish set up for a new ghost king (ref to qi rong villain arc being amped by hulian make out sessions, but also kinda doubt he can actually be a ghost king) that's gonna be fucking fun!

OKAY BUT THE STUFF WITH LING WEN OMG, it mightve been cause I was just reading that but omg ughhh hddhshhssb I can't believe, and the fact she was doing busy work in the communication array while xie lian was busy doing hot girl shit, speaking of hot girl shit, this fucking line

Like I know he says it to distract the cultivators but omg I still went feral and insane, so good. Ughhhhh gonna try slow myself down (unlikely) will probably start book 5 tomorrow before work. God knows my coworkers will notice my insanity.

[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)

[weirdocat83]

*kicks your door down* YOU. I need to write a silly oneshot so I can fall back into writing because Losing Hope is dramaful and I can't comprehend the words I am writing. I need something goofy. Something silly. Issue? I can't think of any silly plot ideas. SOOOO, I come to you, the au/headcanon master, as a mere writer hoping to find motivation. Do you have any silly ideas that you'd be willing to let me sculpt into a quick oneshot?

Whenever I think silly ideas I default to cumplane because they’re ridiculous and them quoting memes wwhile nobody knows what they mean will never not be funny to me. I mean, imagine explaining a meme without the internet! Bonus points if some of them start picking up on how to use the memes without knowing the context.

A friend of mine told me about a svsss au they don’t intend to write where Shen Jiu is a strict teacher and Shen yuan is the TA that grades his students papers so LBH and SY end up communicating through notes and doodles :)

*takes a Quick Look at old posts because I had ideas then and I don’t have any rn*

Not really that fluffy but Any Hualian time travel or truth serum. There’s like, one truth serum fic in the TGCF fandom that’s good and Xie Lian has both so many secrets and also the sassiest thoughts. Also Xie Lian and Hua Cheng meeting while still alive (and possibly ascending together??).

I would also like to direct you to this post and this post because some aforementioned things are there but also various other ideas that could work. It was an idea day and today isn’t (unfortunately)

Any scenario in which anyone gets drunk. Literally pick a character and choose how they embarrass themselves and regret their decisions in the morning. Xie Lian could harp on about the dirty things he keeps to himself as well as insulting *so* many people, Hua Cheng could be very soft and emotional but also really kind and ends up giving so many compliments even to Feng Xin and mu qing (much to their shock and amusement) speaking of mu Qing, get him wasted. My man has so many emotions and unnecessary thoughts. Cuddle the man and make him laugh. I think he’d be a little more insecure openly but also happier. We’ve seen LWJ drunk but imagine wwx drunk. Idk if that’d be angsty or not but up to you. I think he’d be soft and VERY cuddly. Half of what he says is completely nonsensical but the other half is very sweet. Binghe would be clingy and Shen Yuan would probably be singing some modern pop song with airplane (who is equally wasted).

Outing myself here but non-explicit abo is probably one of my fav types of fluff. Idk something about people being intensely cuddly while surrounded by soft things and being incredibly vulnerable always gets me. Like, ‘nope, you’re mine to cuddle for the rest of the week. Live with it.’

Chatfics are my preferred crackfics because hell hath no chaos like a bunch of people smushed together in a gc with naming privileges and being unable to leave. Bonus points if it’s in high school so there’s extra drama and humor. Imagine Hua Cheng and Xie Lian haven’t confessed but everyone else knows? Hilarious. Mu Qing and Feng Xin fighting in the halls (again) over something stupid and getting suspended? Hilarious. SQX being girlfriends with HX and going on dates (they had a rough start with their relationship because Shi Wudu pulled some shit that was NOT run past SQX which led to a lot of difficulties but eventually they did become friends again and eventually lovers.)

Anyhow that’s all I can think of. I also had some fluffy-ish ideas for losing hope if you want those ;3

[rose-tinted-vision]

for the fic ask game!

☹ EVIL TWIN for "爱与恨模糊界限 | love and hate blur the lines"

✰ NEW SHAPES for "I can't help but love you, even though I try not to" and "爱随风起 | love rises with the wind"

- also j

:DD Hello @fenglianist !!! thank you for all your asks (⁠ﾉ⁠◕⁠ヮ⁠◕⁠)⁠ﾉ⁠*⁠.⁠✧ (alright buckle up)

✰ NEW SHAPES: send me a fic and I’ll give you an alternate direction the fic could have gone!

☹ EVIL TWIN: send me a fic or scene and I’ll give you the unhappy ending version of it!

fic ask game

—

爱与恨模糊界限 | love and hate blur the lines (Oh you want the QuanYin angst…🤧🤧 this is going to be cliche, but…)

Quan Yizhen, in his quest to become “stronger” in order to protect Yin Yu, probably provokes someone he shouldn't or bites off more than he can chew and dies (probably from grievous injury??)

Yin Yu only finds out when an extremely shaken up Xie Lian informs him a week later

The house is still there– it had been completed a while back, the only thing left unfinished was the plants in the front yard(?)/lawn(?), which Xie Lian mournfully shows him to, silently saying that His Highness Qi Ying had consulted him on a great number of topics regarding Yin Yu, tells him of Quan Yizhen's plans to live with him in this house in the future.

Yin Yu doesn't know how to react, feeling as if he'd died once again, his hollow chest somehow emptier than it'd been before, unable to fully process Xie Lian's words as he woodenly approaches the carefully crafted house– it's rough around the edges, with how his shidi is unable to focus on one thing for too long a period of time, but the care and love poured into it is apparent.

Xie Lian hovers awkwardly, not knowing how to approach him, obviously engulfed in grief and guilt but still putting others before himself, and Yin Yu asks dully, “where's his body?”

(He does end up moving into the house, with his shidi’s ashes carefully kept in an urn that had been placed in the west facing part of his home, by his daybed. Yin Yu stays in the house, since it was the last gift he had received from his shidi, but that was the extent of it– It is a house, but not a home. Not without Quan Yizhen).

—

I can't help but love you, even though I try not to (Alternate direction):

Fun fact: I wrote this fic before and during my flight to China (I wanted to finish it before, but alas) so I was kind of sleep deprived and didn’t really have a concrete plan for it?

So I don’t really have an alternate version for this fic…if I were to change something, though, it would probably be what we discussed before about switching out the high sorcerer at the start for something silly, probably. Like an aggrieved family member or someone who has a crush on LLH who wanted his attention, maybe? Though it wouldn’t affect the rest of the plot much.

—

爱随风起 | love rises with the wind (Alternate direction):

Feng Xin is more guarded against Mu Qing, and extremely suspicious about the show of courtesy he has been given, the freedom he has been allowed around the castle

He probably finds the rose sometime during his first week there, and Mu Qing finds out, and they have an awful argument over it, which all the furniture overhears. That shapes their opinion of Feng Xin, gives them a negative impression of him.

(Feng Xin gets a taste of the dungeon, and comes to appreciate the room he had been given).

It also takes Nan Feng and Fu Yao much longer to warm up to him after that spat with Mu Qing– Shi Qingxuan remains largely unbothered, though they do tease him mercilessly about it– Feng Xin had felt bad about it afterwards, and tried to extend an olive branch to Mu Qing, which backfired.

And uh, slowburn from here on out I suppose? Unless we directly open with the armoury scene (which was the main point of the prompt), but there wouldn’t be much build up to that…

[truly-morgan]

[Kinktober 2021: Dacryphilia (18+)]

FengQing | Heaven Official’s Heaven Modern AU 30-10-2021

Day 29: F̷e̷e̷t̷ / B̷e̷a̷s̷t̷i̷a̷l̷i̷t̷y̷ / [Dacryphilia]

Mu Qing’s eyes are easy to tear up in bed when Feng Xin is rougher or when he feels good. Feng Xin realises he likes to see that sight.

====

Feng Xin slapped Mu Qing ass again as he was pounding into him, a hand firmly grabbing his hips. The other martial god was a beautiful thing to look at right now with his cock buries deep into him and wrecking him.

The way his hole stretched around his length as he trusted in and out. The way his ass was now all red from his spanking. The trail of kiss marks up his back.

The bite marks on his shoulder still look fresh. The way his hair was all now messed up from how fx had grabbed it earlier to pull mq back to him. 

But his teary eyes were what made everything better to fx.

He had noticed it a couple of weeks ago, how these tears were doing things to him. At first, he hated it, feeling somewhat ashamed that seeing mq cry would get him excited like this. Yet he had finally accepted it. Why ruin his pleasure when there was nothing he could do about it?

It was easy to make mq cry when they were having sex, be it because fx was being rough on him or because the pleasure was making him teary. At first, fx would simply go with what reaction mq had naturally, then he started being a bit meaner with him, trying to get him to cry.

And mq seemed to be enjoying him being rougher in bed (or wherever they started really). He seemed to also enjoy the way fx was kissing his face afterwards, hand whipping away the tears, his kisses were to taste the salty tears on his lips, not that fx would ever tell him that.

It was all good to him since it was always in the bad mostly. Sure, he had noticed in the past how people's tears would affect them, but mq was truly something else. Then it started troubling him again when mq would tear up for other reasons.

Something in his eyes, watching a sad movie, hurting himself. One time he got hard while they were watching some sappy romance movie that was playing on tv, needing to excuse himself.

The worst was when mq was genuinely sad and fx simply couldn’t control his body, feeling ashamed to react in such a way while mq was clearly upset. After that time fx tried to stay away from his tears, making sure not to see them.

Of course, mq had picked up on it in the past in a way, and he didn’t really care about it (other maybe than when he was genuinely upset, but it was not often). 

Fx wanted tears, he would give them to him.

“Am I ugly when I cry while you fuck me?” mq asked once, trying to act as if he was offended by him not looking at him, not really needing to force himself to cry (although he could probably do it on commands).

“No! You look beautiful of course!” fx said, looking back to him, blushing a bit at what he just admitted. 

“Then quit looking away and fuck me properly,” mq said with a frown.

And with that mq slowly started taunting fx with his tears in their everyday life. Fx didn’t know he knew, but it was alright, it was more fun like this.

=====

(wanted to post yesterday but it was late and I was really tired. Not my best but yesterday I was not fully in the head space to write, still wanted to do it. If I managed to put them into ao3 I'll surely expend on this one)

Original - AO3

[shijiujun]

Okay I’ve decided to do a single rec after I finish one novel hahaha because if I wait to get around to it all it’ll never happen! Anyway because @sarah-yyy​​ has been reading it and I’ve gotten a lot of asks/replies on this, I’m just going to do one huge list for one of my faves so everyone knows what’s going on and where to find things XD

- Part of Min’s ‘Why You Should Read’ Series -

Summary: 

This is set in a historical setting where men can marry other men, but it’s usually reserved for sons who were not borne by the official main first wife of the patriarch of the family, i.e. a son born by a concubine in a family may be forced to marry a man to keep him from being able to become the next family’s patriarch for example. This is because any family’s next leader needs to be able to have children with a wife who married in as a zheng shi (lawful wife), and not a ce shi (second wife) or any other concubines/mistresses etc. Most of these men who marry other men have to take them as their zheng shi and lawful spouse in a sense, and the same goes for the royal family.

The story starts with third prince Jing Shao, who was forced to marry Mu Han Zhang, a Marquis’ second son, by the Empress and Emperor, thereby officially and effectively cutting him out of the race for the throne. He’s mocked by the public as everyone knows what this means, and for the next 10 years, he neglects Mu Han Zhang, blaming him for his predicament, and deliberately showers his three other concubines with affection in front of him, but 10 years later, when Jing Shao is accused of treason, everyone leaves him except for Mu Han Zhang. They are chased to the edge of the cliff by soldiers, and Mu Han Zhang dies in his arms having taken an arrow meant for him earlier, and Jing Shao jumps off the cliff with his dead body, and promises that if there’s a next life, he will do everything Han Zhang says, and love him.

He wakes up immediately on the night of his marriage with Han Zhang, and realizes that he’s been given a second chance to make everything right. Han Zhang is definitely afraid of him, humiliated and angry when he first wakes up after how rough Jing Shao was with him earlier on their wedding night, and he has no memories of their past life. Jing Shao then sets to SHOWER HAN ZHANG with affection, love and basically everything, because he realized that this is the only person who stayed by his side until the end, and then he falls in love with Han Zhang properly this time, and also deals with every single person who maligned and schemed against him in his previous life, with Han Zhang by his side.

Read: 

Novel (Online) | Novel (Print) - Not Available | Novel Translations | Manhua (You’ll have to download the KuaiKan app, the chapters are currently all free)

Characters:

1. 景韶 Jing Shao - 3rd Prince and is the first out of his three other brothers to be given a title 成王 (cheng wang). He’s referred to as 王爷, and also 小勺 (xiao shao) by Han Zhang. Went out on his first war when he was 14, and was thus given a title before any of his brothers. He’s known for being a merciless, cold and fierce army general/commander, but this was before his second life with Han Zhang, where he puts on like his doting mode and is basically a dumbass XD who listens to Han Zhang with a lot of trust, which is cool and all.

He marries Han Zhang when he’s 19, and in his first life he was very reluctant and resistant, and neglected Han Zhang for 10 years, until he was charged with treason and hunted down. 

In his first life he wanted to snatch the throne, even from his blood-related brother Jing Chen, but more out of spite than anything else because he felt he was dealt an unfair hand by having to marry Han Zhang. Not only that, but Jing Shao is not his father’s favourite son, and he always felt that the emperor was biased against him. Anyway, a huge accumulation of daddy and anger issues, which is fair.

When he realizes that Han Zhang died for him, he decides he will be good to Han Zhang if they are reborn in their next life.

2. 慕含章 Mu Han Zhang - The 2nd son of Marquis Bei Hou’s, born to a concubine. He’s called by his 表字 which is 君清 (jun qing) by Jing Shao. Official First Wife Bei Wei Hou-furen and her son (who is in line to inherit the Marquis title from his father) has bullied him all his life, and wanted to push him into greater desperation by marrying him to Jing Shao, knowing he will suffer at the hands of the supposed merciless/heartless wangye. He has a weak body because of an accident when he was younger, and in his first life he was really sick after being neglected for 10 years, and knowing this in their second life, Jing Shao does everything he can to take care of him.

He is incredibly smart, has a brain for business and sales, and is also very good at handling people, especially scheming ones. He aids Jing Shao in the beginning of their second life, and then Jing Chen later as well, as both brothers begin to fight to put Jing Chen on the throne, against the 1st and 4th Princes. Is an incredibly good tactician in war as well.

3. 景琛 Jing Chen - 2nd Prince, Jing Shao’s blood related older brother who is handsome af too. His title, given later in the novel, is 睿王 (rui wang). He was misunderstood by Jing Shao in the first life as Jing Shao thought it was his brother who led to him marrying Han Zhang, and because he’s not very good at expressing himself and shows his concern to Jing Shao by nagging at him, Jing Shao always thought he hated him. In their second life, Jing Shao already knows that Jing Chen loves him and did a lot for him in his first life, and so trusts his brother and supports him right off the bat, because Jing Chen is indeed the most suited person for the throne.

He has a wife and a concubine, 3 sons and 2 daughters at this point. He ends up helping Jing Shao a lot, and when he realizes that Han Zhang is way more adept at politics and the whole scheming thing than Jing Shao is, he begins trusting Han Zhang a lot more as well! There’s a surprise with Jing Chen hahaha which I loveee and could see, but wasn’t sure until they confirmed it in the last few chapters AHAHAHAHA.

Other Notable Characters:

1. Song Ling Xin (Second Wife) on the left, and two other concubines on the right

They’re pretty much vying for Jing Shao’s attention, but at this point apparently he hasn’t slept with any of them before. Song Ling Xin is the daughter of the Military Department’s Head Song An, and Jing Shao married her initially out of interest. The right most concubine (I forgot her name oops) was a gift given to him by his oldest brother, the 1st Prince. The two of them played a huge role in Jing Shao’s downfall back in his first life, and so in his second life, he especially detests Song Ling Xin. Plus the three of them keep bullying Han Zhang in the beginning, but thankfully Jing Shao is like: “Anything my Jun Qing wants”. They don’t stay around for long either, watch as Jing Shao gets rid of them like he’s swatting flies.

2. Xiao Yuan & Zhou Da-Ge

This is another male couple who’s been married for 7-8 years if I recall. Xiao Yuan is one of Jing Shao’s important allies and friends in the second life, because in Jing Shao’s first life, this was one of the only young officials in court who spoke up for him when the accusations of treason came about. Zhou Da-Ge is his husband, who is a cook running a restaurant in the city. Whenever Zhou Da-Ge bullies Xiao Yuan in bed a little too much, Xiao Yuan punishes him by making him wear colourful clothes out (pink, bright yellow, purple, etc.) and thus he has a reputation for being eccentric and a weirdo, but oh well, all for love.

3. Gu Huai Qing

One of Jing Shao and Jing Chen’s most powerful allies, and he becomes blood-sworn brothers with Jing Shao without realizing who he is. Later he takes a liking to Jing Chen.

(Will update with photos when they come out, but they’re a bit further into the story so we won’t have them for a few months yet ahahaha)

Amazing Scenes:

Jing Shao & Han Zhang first looks in the manhua

Jing Shao being THAT clingy husband and helping Han Zhang to wear his clothes properly so cute!!!!!

Han Zhang and Jing Shao in their first lives (10 years later), about to die, sad and then Jing Shao jumps down the cliff with Han Zhang’s corpse, regretful cuz he a dumb bij

Jing Shao unable to resist kissing Han Zhang’s cheek, realizes what he’s doing, and gets embarrassed LMAOOOO 没出息!!!!!!! (This is different from the novel, because in the novel Jing Shao just kisses and is done with that, the embarrassment part is drawn in only in the manhua hahaha)

Other Things I Like in the Novel:

Jing Shao is like, he does a 180 entirely and he is very cognisant of all his faults and what he did wrong previously, and how badly he treated Han Zhang, so he legit forces his brain to go “I will listen to Jun Qing from now on” and he really sticks to it!

Loves kissing and teasing Han Zhang, but doesn’t force him into bed after their wedding night, and instead goes to Xiao Yuan and asks for tips on how to make his partner feel less scared about sex

The both of them end up with a pet tiger?!! That’s called Xiao Huang (little yellow) LMAO

They nap together a lot which I love <3333

Jing Shao knows he’s bullied at home, so when they go back to the Marquis Bei Hou manor, he holds Han Zhang’s hand in front of everyone to let them know Han Zhang has someone to back him up

Brings Han Zhang to war because he “cannot concentrate if Jun Qing isn’t with me at all times” - and asks for special permission to do so

Han Zhang notes that since he married Jing Shao, as the ‘wife’ he is supposed to serve Jing Shao, but it’s always Jing Shao serving him - Getting water for him, bringing him to baths, putting clothes on for him, putting food in his plate if it tastes nice, massaging his back and waist etc. - and best is he doesn’t have to deal with any in-laws?!! HAHAHA

Jing Shao gets revenge on those who hurt Han Zhang when he was younger for him, and the outcome is pretty hilarious but well-deserved

EPILOGUES are cute af!!!!

[nyerus]

Hi, nyerus.....If you don't mind me asking, who are your favorite MXTX characters (top 5 from each novel)? And why? I'm sorry if you've answered this question before.

Thank you so much for asking! I would love to! (Apologies for the delay, and also for how long this is lol....)

TGCF

1.) Xie Lian: I could write forever about why I love him, but XL is just a really great character who subverted my expectations. He's gentle and compassionate, but also funny and snarky on the inside. His character arc is the classic hero's journey but told out of order. So we meet him when he's already wise and world-weary, then get to see what he was like before, and how he finishes his journey later on. He's extremely inspiring, to show that our choices and our actions are what make us, and ultimately no one can take those from us.

2.) Hua Cheng: This is no surprise! I also just adore HC for being a very intense character! He's completely devoted to XL and that zealotry is very unique in a character. He's 100%, not 50, not 75. While he has a lot of relateable aspects, this part of him is utterly fantastical, on the level only myth and fable can achieve--which tracks. After all, he isnt a Ghost King for nothing. In the story, he is the embodiment of the purest devotion, no strings attached.

3.) He Xuan: I actually like him for the same reasons as HC! He too is a walking fable, only instead of devotion, he represents vengence. (They're actually like foils of each other, which is quite neat.) I really adore his arc, and how murky his whole character is. It tells a cautionary tale of how sometimes, our worst enemy--the one who makes us most miserable--is often ourselves. SWD wronged him greviously, but HX's obsession with vengence ultimately prevented him from getting the peace and recompense he wanted in the end. Absolutely stellar storytelling.

4.) Mei Nianqing: While I often question his motives and methods, he is still a really good character. Caught between wanting to be a mentor and protector to XL, but still loving (platonically or romantically, that's up to you) JW. He's the only father figure in XL's life that actually took him seriously, even if he did have to come around to it. But ultimately, he was proud of who XL became even before he ascended. He was just terrified of XL drawing the attention of the one man he shouldn't--and did. However his belief in superstition and fear of Hong Hong-er also makes sense, even if it's sad. MNQ is also just a quirky and fun dude lol.

5.) Mu Qing: I really like how complicated and murky MQ's is in terms of his inner turmoil. I'm somewhat similar to him in the way he thinks, and it's real work not to make things worse for myself by expecting the worse. His background makes him naturally suspicious of... basically everyone, all the time, and it's honestly understandable. Ultimately, he does understand that you can't make assumptions about people's intentions by projecting your own insecurities onto them--which I think is something everyone can relate to. I really like his subtle journey of self-realization and self-forgiveness, and he ends up far better for it.

MDZS

1.) Lan Wangji: I love the fact that LWJ was just so ready to Night Hunt himself to death upon the loss of his beloved. As you can tell, I really like complicated characters who have extreme traits, haha! That being said, I just also really like his stoicism and reliability.

2.) Wei Wuxian: Naturally, it's hard not to love WWX! He decided "yeah maybe the ends do justify the means" and went for it. To us, he is the hero. To the regular people of the world? Whose ancestors were dug up and disturbed to be used by the Yiling Laozu? His blackened reputation is not without cause! (Like... JGY literally has done more positive and helpful things for regular people than Wangxian, but those metas already exist lol.) Once again, his gray morality is what makes him so damn good, and can be debated at length!

3.) Jiang Cheng: JC gets a bad rep, but oh boy he doesn't make things easy for himself at all. However if I was in his position, I probably would be much worse off. He lost EVERYTHING, and still trudged on because there were people who depended on him. His hatred of the Wens also makes sense in the context that... that's often how humans react to and process extreme trauma. We find something to blame and *waves at literally every major conflict since the dawn of time.* (His rumored torture of innocent people due to that is reprehensible, of course, but given that MDZS is a book about how rumors can make or break someone's life... we should take that line with a grain of skepticism, much like all other hearsay.) He's not typically the type of character I like, but I found him really interesting to read.

4.) Jiang Yanli: I really love JYL, who decided to be the emotional backbone of her family from the time she was a child. It was an undue and extremely heavy burden to bear, but she did all of it without complaint. That's strength. I think many elder siblings can relate to her having to step up and be the third parent, when the actual adults fail at it.

5.) Wen Qing: I really like her arc in the novel, where she makes some of the hardest decisions anyone will ever have to make, over and over and over again. I don't typically love very "rough" characters, but she has ever right to be that way (and it makes sense for her character, and isn't just a tacked-on character trait like hair color or eye color in a CC), and honestly I want to marry her very seriously.

SVSSS

1.) Luo Binghe: Probably the most misunderstood main character of all of MXTX's works. LBH is neither truly a crybaby nor is he a ruthless maniac. He's right in the middle, in the valley of misanthropy. And yet, he knows just how to use his charisma to get his way. Cunning and devious, intelligent and ruthless. Meanwhile, he craves love and intimacy--something he could only ever dream of.

2.) Shen Qingqiu (Shen Yuan): Extremely refreshing to see an transmigrator know how to handle transmigration almost flawlessly. (Me reading/watching other works with this trope and wanting to tear my hair out at the protags = me sympathizing on a personal level with SQQ.) This also proves to be SQQ's fatal flaw!! His knowledge of the novel is both a boon and a obstacle to him, and prevents him from understanding the other characters as people until he lets go of his pre-conceived notions. And of course, his snarky as heck inner dialogue is amazing.

3.) Liu Qingge: I don't actually even know why I love LQG as much as I do. He's just neat.

4.) Tianlang-Jun: Honestly same goes for TLJ. He's just great though, and I have a blast reading about him. He wanted to see the good in humanity, and ultimately comes around after writing them off.

5.) Yue Qingyuan: He's a fascinating character. Harmless on the outside, but a quagmire on the inside. His love for Shen Jiu was quite... problematic, in that he saught forgiveness from SJ, without actually ever taking the time to understand him or to make amends. Patronizing and judgemental, yet willing to let SJ get away with literally anything because of his own unresolved turmoil, etc etc. Fascinating.

[spockandawe]

Okay, I just got in the door from exercise, but this meta sprang forth in my head while I was walking, so let’s HOPE i can get it down on the page in a semi-coherent manner.

Mu Qing! Love that asshole. Gotta lotta thoughts about him and his hangups and issues and him... generally trying to be a decent guy, but also pretty committed to being a massive dick about it. I’ve written about him before, I don’t want to get too caught up in rehashing that territory, and I want to focus in pretty tightly on on Mu Qing and Hua Cheng, because I just typed up the quotes I needed, and it’s a Lot (so also, let’s have a readmore)

First, Mu Qing’s backstory! Disadvantaged background, dead father, doing cleaning work at the temple where Xie Lian was studying, until Xie Lian noticed him and his potential and lifted him up.

This Royal Holy Pavilion was a royal cultivation hall in the kingdom of Xianle, with a very strict standard in selecting disciples. Mu Qing came from an impoverished background, and his father was an executed criminal; someone like this didn’t qualify to enter the Royal Holy Pavilion, so he could only run errands. Within the temple grounds, he was someone who cleaned the royal highness’s room and served tea and water.

Xie Lian saw how hard he was working, so he requested for the Guoshi to make an exception to take Mu Qing in as a disciple. It was only by the golden mouth of the royal highness that Mu Qing could enter the temple to cultivate, and he trained alongside the crown prince.

And:

When Mu Qing was still an errand boy at the Royal Holy Pavilion, what he did all day was serve tea, deliver water, sweep, and change the sheets for Xie Lian at the Palace of the Crown Prince. One day, Xie Lian saw him silently reciting training incantations while sweeping. He was thus moved by this spirit for learning and working hard under such harsh and difficult circumstances, and thus persuaded the Guoshi to take him as a disciple.

So Mu Qing had a very unauspicious background, was presumably working to support his mother from a young age, and was suddenly elevated into a position in the Royal Holy Pavilion, which explicitly has high standards and wouldn’t have taken him otherwise, by the crown prince himself.

(I do think that it’s important to note that even though he’s allowed to become a disciple, the Guoshi explicitly dislikes him and we see multiple instances of other disciples being dicks to him. Xie Lian gave him a once in a lifetime opportunity, but it was still a rough time in a number of other ways)

And also, a large part of why Xie Lian elevates him is because he’s a huge nerd for martial arts and all the training surrounding it. Multiple times in the book, he starts geeking out over martial arts adjacent topics, which is precious and adorable, and it comes up several times in relation to Mu Qing specifically. Notably, early on, it comes up right after Mu-Qing-being-disliked-and-shut-out almost gets Xie Lian in trouble with the Guoshi, when Xie Lian gets super excited by how good Mu Qing is with a sabre.

“Mu Qing, you fought well today on stage.”

Mu Qing’s shoulders tensed.

“Only today did I find out that you’re more talented with the sabre than you are with the sword.”

Mu Qing’s expression relaxed and turned around. There was even a little smile playing on his lips. “Really?”

That’s adorable and I love it.

Now! There’s another time in the book when Xie Lian calls out someone for being super super suited to sabre work. Baby Hua Cheng! 

Xie Lian lowered his arms and sat down with poise on the bed. “That child was pretty skilled; I think he’s got really good potential with the sabre. If he’s taught well, he’ll definitely be spectacular when he’s older. Mu Qing, remember to find him for me when you get a chance. Settle him well. He could be appointed.

And right after he says this, the narrative itself calls out Mu Qing’s reaction as being... odd. 

Xie Lian was someone who loved those who were skilled in martial arts, and just had to appoint them to his side just so he could watch them every day and soak in delight. This wasn’t the first time he had made such a comment, but it was the first time it had been directed to a child. Mu Qing heard him make those ‘really good potential with the sabre’, ‘spectacular when he’s older’ remarks, and his expression turned unreadable. He scrunched up the hair band he’d just untied from Xie Lian in his hand, and turned around to throw it to the side.

Feng Xin, on the other hand, remarked, “That brat only looked to be about fourteen or fifteen, isn’t that too young? What’s he gonna do after getting appointed?”

Mu Qing spoke up too in a flat voice, “It’s not proper. It’d be against military rule.”

“A god can descend into the mortal realm, so what can the military rule do to me?” Xie Lian said, then praised, “You guys should have seen the way he killed those binu! It was so good!”

Now, what really fascinates me here is that I’m almost positive there are two very distinct components to Mu Qing’s response, which combine into... pretty bad optics for him, honestly. But what I love about this character is that he consistently has good intentions and uncharitable opinions, but the well-intentioned and spiteful parts of his response frequently work in the same direction, if that makes sense. He’s not wrestling with ‘x would be the nice thing to do, while y would be the mean thing to do’, it’s more like ‘I have decided on this course of action, for x nice reason (and y mean reason).’

Well, it turns out that instead of appointing Hua Cheng, Mu Qing kicked him out of the army. And Hua Cheng’s read of the situation was that Mu Qing was jealous. And I don’t think he was necessarily wrong, but I think he wasn’t entirely right.

But on the note of jealousy, the idea seems to be... that Hua Cheng would have stolen Xie Lian’s time, or stolen Xie Lian’s attention. It’s not textual, but I think there’s a definite case to be made for Mu Qing bitterly wondering that oh, okay, Xie Lian lifted up one street kid, but that’s over now and boring, time to find a new Project. And for the most part, the motivations here aren’t something the text gives us enough material on to say ‘this is the Definite Canon Conclusion.’

However, that being said, I do want to bring up ‘two guys, one cup’ (that was its name, right?)

The Guoshi spoke. “Two walked the desert, about to die from thirst, and there was only one cup of water. The one who drinks lives, the one who doesn’t dies. If you were a god, who would you give that cup of water to?”

[...]

Xie Lian ‘pff’-ed and laughed. Guoshi admonished, “What are you laughing about? Do you remember how you answered?”

Xie Lian schooled his expression and said solemnly, “Give another cup.”

Hearing this, between Feng Xin and Mu Qing, one turned his face away, the other lowered his head, as if they couldn’t bear to listen. Xie Lian turned his head back and said in all seriousness, “Why are you guys laughing? I’m serious. If I was a god, I would definitely give another cup.”

In this specific context, it fascinates me that there’s philosophical question like this right in the text, where Xie Lian doesn’t want to admit that he might have limited resources, be those physical or emotional or whatever. He’s forced to confront this directly, when he realizes he doesn’t have the power to end a drought himself, but it’s really interesting to consider in light of Mu Qing’s decision to block Hua Cheng from getting closer to Xie Lian. 

It’s harder to definitively say that emotional resources are definitely finite, it’s like saying that after you have a certain number of children, you run out of ability to love them, or like making a claim that polyamorous relationships aren’t capable of real love the same way monogamous relationships are. But I don’t think that Mu Qing’s concerns are necessarily baseless. His position isn’t as fragile as it would have been when he was still a teenager, but he’s not especially liked, and it’s widely known what his background is like. If Xie Lian really is treating this poor-kid-collecting thing as a series of projects and he loses that support, in a simply practical way, I think that could have been a real blow.

And it should be said that I think this is the... less-pleasant side of his personality, which, to be clear, I love him for. A character being insecure and unhappy and angry about it is one of the fastest ways to my heart. But I also don’t think it’s a full explanation of where he was coming from, and I honestly don’t think it was the driving reason behind what he did.

Long quote here, bear with me.

Mu Qing said, “I get... why this bastard hates me so much now... It’s probably the same reason for you!”

“Wh...cough, what reason?” Feng Xin demanded

Mu Qing said hatefully, “Because he’s mad! Have you forgotten what was on that mural? He’s that... that young soldier His Highness wanted to promote after returning from Beizi Hill. His Highness had said, his sword work was good, well-suited for the sabre... cough, cough.”

“What’s that got to do with the hatred he has for you??” Feng Xin questioned.

However, Mu Qing stopped talking. BAM! Hua Cheng’s punch landed on his face, and he smiled chillingly, answering for him:

“Because, he booted me from the army.”

Mu Qing had done something like that?!

Feng Xin was astonished. “...WHATTHE FUCK?! WHY DID YOU BOOT HIM FROM THE ARMY? DID HE PISS YOU OFF??”

Mu Qing replied, his face covered in blood, “I only made him go home, it’s not like fighting a war is a good thing! How should I know he’d end up this crazy, holding grudges until now...!”

Before he finished, another forceful punch landed, BAM!, and his face was almost contorted. Hua Cheng smiled.

“Think I can’t guess why you booted me back then? Hm?”

Mu Qing’s eyes flashed. Hua Cheng then snickered.

“Isn’t it more than obvious now who the useless trash really is?”

“...”

It was as if Mu Qing was stabbed where it hurt. He spat out a mouthful of blood, then he said, spitefully slow, “Thank goodness I kicked you out. Otherwise, if we kept you in the army and allowed you to get closer to His Highness, were you just going to watch him all day with your mind full of unspeakable filth? Disgusting!”

So, Mu Qing says that he kicked the kid out of the army because he was a kid. Hua Cheng is like ‘pull the other one, it’s got bells on.’

But I think it’s worth noting that up above, Feng Xin and Mu Qing tried to bring up their concerns about the kid’s age the first time Xie Lian mentioned appointing him, and Xie Lian didn’t like... offer a meaningful rebuttal, he was just like ‘shut up, who’s gonna stop me’

Feng Xin, on the other hand, remarked, “That brat only looked to be about fourteen or fifteen, isn’t that too young? What’s he gonna do after getting appointed?”

Mu Qing spoke up too in a flat voice, “It’s not proper. It’d be against military rule.”

“A god can descend into the mortal realm, so what can the military rule do to me?” Xie Lian said.

It’s also worth mentioning that the book explicitly mentions that the Xianle army has a LOT of really young soldiers who grew up high on the idea of Xie Lian, and also that Mu Qing specifically identified Hua Cheng as probably a street kid after he left dirty handprints on the parade costume. 

BUT. I’ve got one last important quote.

The three of them had just turned into the alley when five or six children in rags surrounded them, calling out, “Gege. Gege is back!”

Xie Lian was confused at first, wondering why they would call strangers ‘gege’, but he discovered that the ‘gege’ they were calling wasn’t him, but Mu Qing. The children called out to him sweetly, but Mu Qing ignored them.

“There’s nothing this time. Don’t call me anything.”

His face was wooden, but his voice wasn’t cold. He turned to Xie Lian.

“Don’t mind them, Your Highness, they’re just kids from the block.”

However, that group of children was obviously very comfortable around him, having grown up playing together, and they weren’t afraid of him at all. They giggled and surrounded them, their dirty little hands extended, begging for munchies from Mu Qing. Finally, Mu Qing reached for the gem-like cherries in his bag and handed them out.

Mu Qing... likes kids. He takes care of kids. He takes care of loud, noisy street kids, and gives them food, and the kids are perfectly at ease with him, even when he’s being cold to them. He tries to preemptively stop Xie Lian from being upset or bothered. Mu Qing is like 'i don’t have anything for you, leave me alone’, but the kids are completely comfortable with him, laughing and asking him for treats, and he lasts about two seconds before he surrenders and starts giving them cherries. Mu Qing likes kids and has made a habit of taking care of the poor kids who grew up near him.

Was Mu Qing jealous of Xie Lian wanting to give baby Hua Cheng attention? Probably yes! But I really do think that he didn’t kick Hua Cheng out of the army for jealous reasons, or to be unkind, I think that his primary motivation was, genuinely, to remove this one kid from a nasty war and hopefully stop him from being killed, and if it just so happened to remove the kid from Xie Lian’s life, well, that was just a lucky side effect. Of course, Hua Cheng noticed that side effect, and based on the information he had, decided that jealousy and spite were Mu Qing’s primary motivation, which, honestly, is the story of Mu Qing’s life :P

[curiosity-killed]

hc meme: xie lian (bc I'm thinking abt him after your devastating wip Wednesday)

Muahahaha all according to keikaku*

Headcanon A:  realistic

This isn’t even a headcanon bc it’s in the text but baby boy is observant af. But specific to headcanon, this includes romance—I maintain my belief that Xie Lian 100% realized Hua Cheng was flirting his ass off and was like “hmm idk how to deal with this so I will just. Not.” as you do

(By you, I mean me.)

Headcanon B: while it may not be realistic it is hilarious

Oh gosh hilarious is hard with Xie Lian?? Hm maybe him taking a while to get used to having all that spiritual power and luck back post-canon? Like in a fight he is a juggernaut but then in day to day things like...he tries to nurture a flower and accidentally uses too much spiritual energy so now there is an entire blooming labyrinth that has cultivated sentience and is so enamored of him it won’t let him go. Or he tries to start a fire on a bonding trip with Feng Xin and Mu Qing and burns off Feng Xin’s eyebrows and half Mu Qing’s ponytail

Idk if this is actually a proper headcanon but it does amuse me a lot so!

Headcanon C: heart-crushing and awful, but fun to inflict on friends

He has a complicated relationship with touch. Like he’s gone so long without a kind touch that Hua Cheng’s hugs and loving hands are a kind of magic bringing him back to himself and drawing him forward into a bright and loving future—but also he has had his whole body so violently violated that there are times even Hua Cheng’s touch makes him want to lash out and throw up, and he feels so guilty about it because he knows Hua Cheng would never hurt him and he knows it hurts Hua Cheng to be pushed away and he doesn’t want to push him away but he’s clawing off his own skin at even the thought of someone else’s hands on him, touching him, hurting him, embracing him

(Also sometimes on particularly rough days when he can’t quite tell where the boundaries of his body lie, he’ll confuse his own hands for bai wuxiang’s and. Well. There is an armory in paradise manor always open to him)

Headcanon D: unrealistic, but I will disregard canon about it because I reject canon reality and substitute my own.

Oh we can do a weird one! For some reason that makes absolutely no sense to me at all, I don’t actually headcanon hualian getting married? (Pls don’t ask why I have NOT figured out why) like they are 100% unshakeably devoted to each other but for some reason I just?? Prefer them not marrying

*forgive me I could not resist the opportunity

Headcanon asks 🤯

[lanchang]

mu qing is so obsessed with feng xin and xie lian he remembers everything about them meanwhile xie lian cant even remember his face at first and like thats so fckin tragicomic of them

mu qing literally remembers every piece of clothing and every accessory that xie lian wore 800 years ago and yes there are layers to that since he was a servant and also the admiration and the resentment and possible repressed gay yearning who can say but xie lian chases mu qing out his house with a broom and then doesnt recognize him the next time they meet its so funny and so sad i really have never read or watched anything that had so many moments like that and i hate to say it but xie lian was right i DONT know whether i should laugh or cry. everything is so tragic and comical ill read parts of it and my shoulders will be shaking and i wont know what emotion im feeling and if im on the verge of laughter or tears its kind of impressive. also back to mu qing i love that about him how he actually cares a lot but doesnt say thats my weakness in fake little guys i eat it up every time even though in real life i cant stand people like that. also mu qing having those complicated feelings about xie lian who doesnt like to talk about the past at all and tries to forget his unpleasant experiences... rough but compelling. feng xin is the flipside because he is more than willing to bring up old fights so they can remember the bad times together <3 okay actually i dont know which is better... actually wait its okay the 3 of them are a set do not separate

[mousehole5000]

tgcf again chapters 174-191. im now midway through book 4. pain and suffering. and yet also.... this is really good.... but also.... pain...

okay cave of ten thousand gods everythings coming out into the light.... xie lian pretending not to hear fengqing drop their act im emotional..... fengqing silently working together to separate xie lian and hua cheng im emotional..... every word that comes out of mu qing’s mouth im emotional....

honestly reading the xianle trio discussing hua cheng.. its very hard for me NOT to project all the times ive been in a friendship trio and someone got a boyfriend the other two didnt like (which was every time. theres never been a bf everyone liked. sometimes i was the one who had the bf. there were no winners then and tbh i predict there will be no real winners here as far as this friendship goes but such is life)

mu qing is so smart he’s clever he’s tricksy i love it i love him ugh

“A pair of arms had circled around him from behind, and hugged him with force all of a sudden. Xie Lian had buried his face in his back, and also didn’t speak. Though nothing was said, it was enough.” okay i cant get into every different way im feeling about whats going down bc it would get Too Personal but this..... im emo. also xie lian saying “something like this has to be said clearly“ and then proceeding to not say a word just going in for a hug is a mood

“He heard Hua Cheng’s staggering voice coming from above. “...Your Highness. You really…will be the death of me.” - ok well DONT SAY THAT!! now im worried!!!

“Hua Cheng, however, only snorted, appearing as if his eyes could see through the thick rocky walls. He said darkly, “Don’t worry. If he kills one, I’ll make ten more. Fast and furious like the storms, I will never back down. Let’s see who’s the one left standing in the end.” Xie Lian’s heart skipped a beat for some reason, and he mumbled inwardly, “... Oh no, this is bad.” Even though Hua Cheng’s expression was subconsciously displayed, Xie Lian really was quite weak to this aggressive and rebellious confidence of his.” - fjadskfajsl its okay xie lian honey you never know whats going to do it for you

okay so are the murals and statues are only from the xianle era? im hoping hua cheng didnt secretly follow xie lian during his time as a mortal during the entire 800 years and then pretend to a total stranger that would be too much imo lets see. i still really do get why feng xin and mu qing are like “...dude wtf lets get out of here stay away from that guy” (also tbh probably if theyd all managed to stay close... this probably wouldnt be happening which isnt a judgement im just saying bc thats definitely how ive felt about friendships) although this whole thing IS indeed tinged with homophobia which i still dont think makes sense in this setting but whatever i guess.

BOOK 4!!!! im scared

“A few days ago he nearly fainted, and it was only after that did he realize it was because he hadn’t had anything to eat for several days.” - unfortunately relatable but :(

“Ever since Xie Lian was young, he had never had to consider these kinds of affairs, and this was truly the first time in decades that this problem gripped him. However, if gods didn’t even know what starvation felt like, how could they possibly understand the feelings of a starving worshipper? How could they possibly empathize? At this point, he could only take this experience as a form of training.” - TRUE THO!!!!!!!! i like seeing this even tho the circumstances are sad

wait does xie lian get his bad cooking skills from him mom? im gonna cry...

“After returning to the city, Mu Qing’s stomach was still turning. He said as he stumbled, “I thought…that porridge, it smelled like bran water, but I hadn’t thought it’d taste like it too!” Feng Xin gritted his teeth. “Shut up! Don’t force people to remember that pot of stuff! The queen is…body of ten thousand gold after all…never cooked…this is already…UGH!…” Mu Qing humphed. “Did I say something wrong? If you didn’t think it was like bran water, why don’t you…go ask the queen to grant you another bowl! UGH!…” The two were heaving back and forth, and Xie Lian grabbed hold of the both of them, patting their backs.” - xianle trio.... including simply because it made me do the pleading emoji in real life..... also the way the queen wanted to feed all of them... weeping

i didnt realize that mu qing would still be around during this time.... god the fact that i know theyre all going to split......

“It’s precisely because it’s a time like this that money has to be brought up!” Mu Qing countered. “A time like this? What time is it? Time when we’re starving! It doesn’t matter if you don’t want to admit it, but nothing can be done without money! Can you both not just suck it up a little bit?” - mu qing i love you. god.... for real the fact that he comes from a completely different background than the other two is so important to his character and i think it shows so much in the way he continues to be in the present. he gives me the vibe of someone who is smart and hardworking but is bitter about it and tbh!!!! i get why he is!!! he’s very aware of these kinds of concerns bc he’s had to be, while the other two kind of think theyre above it and its a big difference between them. he’s still separated by the circumstances of his birth despite how much harder he’s worked to get to where he is.... ugh painful and delicious

i really am enjoying the xianle story tbh. xie lian going from his highness, favored by heaven, well-intentioned but lacking in experience and understanding to living in poverty and fighting with mortals who disrespect him. fucking delicious i mean this sincerely and respectfully im sad but i really like his character arc. and then to how he is in the present....

“Mu Qing looked at him, speaking not a word. Then he bowed deeply and really turned around to walk away.” - OH NO ITS HAPPENING AHHHHH ;_; honestly all of this hurts but it feels real like i think mu qing has every right to want to leave honestly and he DOES have other family and other ambitions outside of the trio... and i get why feng xin is mad about him wanting to leave when theyre suffering!! and i get why xie lian lets him go.... friendships are hard man and the pain of them splitting is rough!!!!

“Mu Qing’s departure had really shocked him to the core. First, he had never thought that someone so close would just up and leave. Second, Xie Lian had always believed in “forever”. For example, friends would always be friends forever; no betrayal, no deception, no breaking up. Perhaps there’d be times when they’d part, but it for sure wouldn’t be over reasons like “life is too horrible” - pain. just pain. same as above i get it but it hurts

“Xie Lian didn’t know too well just how much money would be considered normal when buying over ten lanterns, and he never looked at the price tag when he purchased things in the past.” - i feel bad kicking him while he’s down and he’s still trying to be kind even when it costs him but this is the first thing that came into my mind

but also oh?? spirits of soldiers from the battlefield you say?? hmmm i wonder... who.... could possibly be among them....

“If you remain forcibly, you won’t be able to rest in peace,” Xie Lian said. The nameless ghost didn’t seem to care. “I pray to never rest in peace.” -  i cant lie this legit gave me goosebumps lol

“Xie Lian himself was alright in suffering through it, since there were far too many other things to worry about. But his mother, who had lived a comfortable, luxurious life, when had she ever done such crude labour? But if the queen didn’t do this work herself, who else could take over?” - hmmmm!!! housekeeping!!!! it matters!!!! rich people dont appreciate how much until they have to do it themselves!!! but this still makes me sad

oh god THATS when they pawned hongjing?? with the king sick and mu qing leaving?? :(((( even more emotional about its appearances in the present day

“That passerby chuckled. “You don’t know? This is too exciting! The servant is beating the master!” - oh god the dramatic and ironic timing of it all

god..... this is just... a sad time....

“MU QING ISN’T LIKE YOU ALL. HE’S MY FRIEND, HE WOULD NEVER HELP YOU!!!” [cut to] “Those were the only words echoing in Xie Lian’s mind, but he couldn’t utter a single sound, and could only crazily grab at anything at his disposal to throw. He didn’t care who he was hurling at, either. Finally, Mu Qing couldn’t take this anymore, and he steeled his face as he swept his sleeves and left. Xie Lian panted harshly for a bit and fell back down, spacing out again.”- IM SAD!!!!!! tbh i wonder if on some level xie lian kind of felt like mu qing owed him? i know he said to forget about that stuff to both of them but its one thinig to say it and think you mean it and another to have to deal with it

white no-face what is your DEAL!! also all the little fire ghost bits im...

“After having exchanged so many words, Feng Xin finally got the gist of what had transpired. He widened his eyes and pointed at Mu Qing, unable to speak. A moment later, he bent down and grabbed a sack and flung it over, roaring. “SCRAM! SCRAM SCRAM SCRAM!” Mu Qing was hit in the face by the sacks of rice he brought and backed two steps away. All three of them in the house were panting harshly.” - this is it this is the part where i closed my laptop and said “noOOooOOOoooo” out loud to my room im so upset... and mu qing still tried to leave the rice even after the broom thing im ;_;

“Feng Xin was completely convinced that he would never do such a thing, but that was precisely why this had become the worst-case scenario!” - pain, suffering, dismay, etc

“Feng Xin continued, “If Your Highness thinks your life might be in danger, I can finish this for you, I won’t tell Her Majesty, haha.” - bless your heart for trying feng xin

“But it shouldn’t be like this. The Feng Xin of the past would have absolute faith in him no matter what! Even if there was only twenty percent doubt, it was still unbearable!” - AHHHHHHH okay idk if i really have much to say about their relationship other than im sad but IM SAD!!!!

the differences between feng xin and mu qing’s relationship with xie lian are so interesting. feng xin has clearly always idolized xie lian a lot while mu qing hasnt at least not in the same way and he seems like he has some resentment towards xie lian (thats how i read it anyway thats what i said about it at the beginning of book 2 and i think its understandable and can be a very real part of friendships) that feng xin doesnt and i just think thats neat!!

“He was firmly tied down upon the altar, that broken base of the statue under his body. There were many people squeezed below the altar, and pair after pair of round, unblinking eyes were watching him.” - hmmm dont think i like where this is going

“Yet, before he could finish, he realized that the white silk that he used to cover his face had been undone. In this moment, the thing that had him completely tied down was that exact white silk.” oh my god wait is this ruoye?? is ruoye that same ribbon???? ill cry

“The hand stained with blood, the one that ended a life, was immune to the Face Disease.” - ohhh shit okay. okay okay. okay. shit okay. i See now.... so if youre an innocent civilian the only way to escape this fate (and the faces are actually the souls of other innocent civilians) is to get rid of your innocence... and doesnt this disease not actually hurt its just horrific? god.............

“White No-Face pitied, “You think they don’t want to do it? Wrong, it’s not that they don’t want to, it’s solely because no one wants to be the first, that’s all.” - shut up!!! youre the one who created this situation dont fucking preach about the way you think the world is

“He forced down the mouthful of blood and hissed, “What are you laughing at? You think that you got what you wanted? This was all forced by you!” The ghost fire within the ghost’s hand flickered even more fiercely.” - yes exactly!!! you put people in extreme circumstances sometimes they do extreme things!! youve proved nothing!! god i do love when characters say exactly what im thinking. plus the first ones who caved were trying to save their child

“He felt that, if he was to let them do what they wanted, there was something in his heart that would never return to its original state.” - :( also i kind of feel that in my life sometimes and i just hope xie lian’s heart ends up in a state he’s happy with

“He didn’t dare to look at what had become of the person lying on the altar, because what laid there didn’t look human anymore.” AHHHHHH!!! :(((( i mean i get why this event is what made hc... level up??? thats not a good way to describe it fjasldkfjaslk but you know what i mean... that line about being powerless to help your beloved OOOOOOF

okay well finished that chapter im. pain. hmmm. pain. i dont know if i actually have any words rn lol but im gonna stop here for now

[docmanda]

Prompt: Sometimes, being with you feels like a dream that I don’t ever want to wake up from - HeHuaLian (or on hard mode, with Mu Hanzhang)

There we go...this took forever and it is only a small thing but hey, I wrote something right? Also there seems to be exactly none (0) works for this on AO3? I could not find a single thing, no matter what I searched for...

~I Walked With You Once Upon A Dream~

Usually it was Third Prince Jing Shao who would wake up from nightmares, silently shaking and clinging to his Jun Qing as if he would disappear the moment he let go of him after he had shouted himself awake. But tonight it was Mu Hanzhang himself who had woken up with a half choked sob stuck in his throat and phantom pain setting his chest aflame, the ghostly feeling of snowflakes caressing his cheeks like the ice cold fingers of the reaper himself making him shiver even after he had opened his eyes. Jing Shao´s hands are already tightening around his waist on instinct alone, pulling him closer to comfort him before he has even properly woken up himself  and Mu Hanzhang lets himself be drawn close, willing and pliable and for once completely without his usual shyness.

They had been sharing a bed long enough by now that he should have gotten used to the clinginess that was his -at first so unwilling seeming- husband but sometimes, especially with the last remnants of his nightmare still stuck to him like a torn spiderweb, it felt even less real than the stinging pain of a blade and the sticky, warm feeling of his life blood drenching the clothes of the man now usually gently snoring next to him. It was always the same, disjointed nightmare of pain and blood and a hopeless flight with the vague impression of being held in someone's arms and a now so familiar voice calling out to him in desperation and regret. It always left him feeling weirdly hollowed out in the aftermath, as if something small but crucial was missing and Mu Hanzhang simply could not remember what it was.

And he knew that there must be more to this ever recurring dream of his too, more than just the always looming fear of losing someone he had come to cherish: He had seen it in the way Jing Shao´s soft gaze had turnt painful and full of regrets when he had told him of this nightmare the first time, smothering him with kisses and caresses until his face had been as bright red as the lanterns on their wedding night, the still lingering memories of pain completely forgotten when Jing Shao had finally pressed him deeper into their bedding. He had been weirdly unable to meet Mu Hanzhang´s gaze, as if he was the one responsible for his nightmare and plagued by guilt, until Mu Hanzhang had finally found his courage and pulled him in close for a kiss of his own initiative instead of simply letting the other man do as he wished, blushing fiercely while doing so. Jing Shao had been surprised at first and even more enthusiastic than before second, effectively preventing Mu Hanzhang from falling back into his nightmare by virtue of keeping him up until the early hours of morning and exhausting him too much to do anything but sleep like the dead afterwards. 

When the sun had already been high in the sky and Mu Hanzhang´s bad conscience had finally managed to shoo his lazy husband out of their bed, Jing Shao had simply carried on as he did everyday, as gentle and attentive as ever. Only his occasionally shifting gaze and the weirdly melancholic moods where he would pull Mu Hanzhang close without any warning and refuse to let go of him, face buried into the crook of his neck while his usually so gentle fingers left faint bruises on his Jun Qing´s skin from being grabbed too tight, would remind him that there must be something more between them that he regretted than just the unpleasant memories of their first night together,  something deep and old and painful that sometimes seemed to loom over every touch and caress between them. 

He had tried asking, first in an offhand way, then when that hadn't worked more directly but other than a vague ´I haven´t treated you well before even if you deserved so much better´ there were no answers forthcoming, his husband´s usually so easy smile seeming forced and his eyes lost in some faraway memories. At some point Mu Hanzhang had simply decided to let it be. If Jing Shao wanted to share what so very obviously weighed on his soul than he would, there was no advantage gained from forcing him and until he had decided to talk by himself Mu Hanzhang would simply allow himself to be held whenever the other man had the need to do so. He had already gotten so much luckier with this unasked for union then he had ever expected, especially after their rough start. He had no wish to go back to that day when Jing Shao had barely been skirting the very outer edges of politeness with him while they were in public and he surely did not want to go back to what had come afterwards, in the privacy of their bridal chamber

At first he had thought that his husband´s obvious regret and overabundance of care had stemmed from how rough he had been during that night, venting his frustration of having been forced to marry a male wife and thus ending his political career pretty thoroughly on poor Mu Hanzhang. And honestly, as unpleasant as the whole ordeal had been, Mu Hanzhang didn´t even blame him much for it. After all, the third prince was not the only one who had to give up the life they had envisioned for them and it hadn't been his fault that the Emperor had found his offspring to be too ambitious and had chosen poor Mu Hanzhang to hobble him. His only fault had been that he was quiet, studious and without any scandals and of appropriate birth, ranked high enough to not be offensive but born by a concubine and not a main wife and thus not in line to inherit any titles. 

He had actually been surprised that the other man had even wanted to consummate their marriage to begin with, while traditional it wasn't actually required when marrying a male wife after all and he had thought he would slip away to get consoled by his concubines the moment the banquet had ended and they had been sent off to their bridal chamber. Mu Hanzhang himself had never held much interest in romance at all, too focused on his studies to care for much else aside from a detached notion that something like that existed and that at some point he was probably required to find a wife. But contrary to the prince he had neither concubines nor had he dallied in brothels as so many others of his age did, preferring to spend his time with books instead of company of any kind. He simply had held no interest whatsoever but when their marriage had been declared there had been a small, sarcastic voice in the back of Mu Hanzhang´s head chastising him for his abstinent lifestyle. If he had just gone and sullied himself a little bit with a spot of gambling and whoring like so many others the Emperor might have found him unfit to marry the prince and might have gone for somebody else instead. After all, while he could force a male wife unto the ambitious prince to keep him in check he did have to keep his status in mind too and someone of to ill an repute would have been out of the question. 

But Mu Hanzhang had never had the habit of crying over spilt milk, too realistic to spend much time agonizing about what if´s and what might have been´s. The decision had been made for him and there was nothing he could do to change it, as much as he might have hated it at first. He had been resigned to going through the motions of their marriage and spending the rest of his life rotting away in some forgotten part of the Third Prince´s household, an unwanted and scorned wife that served no purpose other than to end the Prince´s bloodline and ambitions. He had hoped that, if he could just blend into the background enough, he would at least be able to continue his studies in private even if any kind of public recognition would forever be out of his reach. But while consummation of marriage might not be required, being at his husband´s beck and call was one of his duties...and that meant attending to his bedchamber too if he so wished. And Mu Hanzhang still had his own family to consider, from his father's reputation to his birth mother´s safety so everything that could lead to the Prince being able to officially divorce him on grounds of dereliction of his wifely duties was right out of the question. 

And so he had just closed his eyes and gritted his teeth when the Prince had roughly shoved him down onto the mattress, ripping apart his bridal outfit with no regard to the costly fabric and let the other man do as he wished. It had been rough and painful and humiliating but the Prince had also been drunk and so the whole ordeal had at least been over mercifully quick. The other man had fallen asleep with a persistent scowl on his face, his hand tightly gripping poor Mu Hanzhang´s disheveled hair and preventing him from even getting up to clean himself or properly attend to his husband. Mu Hanzhang had fallen asleep himself at some point, exhausted and drained both physically and emotionally...only to wake up next to someone that looked like Third Prince Jing Shao but could just as well have been a completely different person the next morning. 

Mu Hanzhang had been very wary of this sudden shift in behaviour, not being able to reconcile the scowling man of the night before with this gentle one that smiled at him and treated him as if he was a fragile treasure instead of just a convenient door mat. The Prince had blamed his behaviour on having too much to drink but Mu Hanzhang did not believe him. He had never really met Jing Shao beforehand but he was known for having a temper and not shying away from cruelty if it served his needs. Being this overbearingly gentle and considerate seemed out of character for him, as if something during the night had happened that had switched half of his personality around. And his servants seemed to be just as baffled by how he treated ´his Jun Qing´, throwing each other confused glances whenever they thought nobody could see them. 

They had clearly been surprised by the amount of respect their prince demanded they show his new wife, bumbling about awkwardly the first days afterwards until they had adjusted to the new way things apparently got handled now in the princely household. And Mu Hanzhang´s initial hopes of their wedding night just being a one off, a way for the prince to get rid of some of his frustration and to very clearly show him his place at the same time had been shattered too when Jing Shao had not only insisted on sleeping together every night but had even refused to visit his concubines on top of that. Nobody had been more surprised by that than Mu Hanzhang. After all, while the Prince might have a bit of a reputation of not being adverse to some pretty female company, he had never heard anything of him having a taste for men too. But a taste he seemed to have, at least when it came to his Jun Qing, sticky and barely even meeting the minimum requirements for propriety whenever they were in public. 

The man in question is still hugging him tight around the middle, his face stuffed snuggly into the crook of Mu Hanzhang´s neck while snuffling questioningly at him, drowsy and half asleep. Jing Shao had insisted that they share their bed every night and not only for sleeping. And much to his surprise Mu Hanzhang had found that he didn't really mind either. There had never been a repeat of that first, horrible night, with his prince never being anything but gentle and careful whenever he took him apart, always on the lookout for even only the smallest amount of discomfort on Mu Hanzhang´s side. And while it was rare for him still to be the one to initiate any kind of affections between them he had grown to like the ways that this husband of his would pay attention to him, always considering him first before anything else, even his own pleasure. It still made him blush and freeze like a startled deer, all that love and attention being showered unto him with absolute disregard to anything else...but he had to admit he would be hard pressed to give up what had developed between them too, as much as it still baffled him.

Jing Shao makes a soft, happy sigh when Mu Hanzhang gently cards his fingers through thick black hair to fully lull him back to sleep, savoring the feel of the silky tresses between his fingers. Yes, he would be heartbroken indeed if he had to give this up now, their nearness and the obvious love the other man held for him. It makes something deep inside him yearn in a way he cannot explain, as if at some point things had been different, depriving him of this closeness. He can still feel the cold bite of the wind on his face, the phantom pain on his back a persistent itch and sometimes he doesn't know what is true: the man lying heavily against his side, his breath warm and gentle against his neck and his hands an anchoring weight around his middle or the abyss like feeling of hopelessness permeating him, ripe with the tangy bite of surrender and pain and loss.

Mu Hanzhang pulls Jing Shao close, pressing his face into the dark mop of hair, his eyes stinging with sudden tears he can not explain and his voice muffled as he whispers.

“Sometimes, being with you feels like a dream that I don’t ever want to wake up from.”

Jing Shao stills in his arms for a moment, then there is the soft touch of cool lips against Mu Hanzhang´s throat, chasing away the last remnants of the nightmare clinging to him with all it's unbearable tenderness. His prince´s answer is just as soft, barely audible about their combined heartbeats, one chasing the other but never far apart.

“Then let's hope that this night is everlasting so that we both can keep on dreaming forever.”

[spiritoffox]

Ascending and Descending 5

For LiuShen Week 2020, going to be a 7-chapter ghost story featuring some surprise appearances by Liu Mingyan while the ‘unholy’ duo wanders around. 

Day 4

DAY 5 Coffee/Travels

A year passed quickly like a snap of fingers. 

Sometimes he found himself missing Cang Qiong.

However, they didn’t go back to Cang Qiong, even as Shen Yuan was getting stronger with each passing day. They still feared how the wards could react and didn’t want to gamble his fragile existence. 

They traveled around a lot, always incognito, always on the move.

They went on night hunts, or well Liu Qingge did most of the heavy lifting while Shen Yuan offered his observations and whatever information pops up from his extensive knowledge regarding flora and fauna.

And it was extensive, he knew that his ghostly companion was the Qing Jing Peak Lord, the scholarly Peak's master, but he would have never guessed that his real interests laid more in that vein rather than strategizing for Qiong Ding.

It was charming, the way he would get excited over small blooms and unfriendly beasts. Even if most of the time Liu Qingge had to run with the continuous commentary because he wouldn’t let the ex-Bai Zhan Peak Lord kill whatever was chasing them.

Think of the biodiversity, his ass.

When a 7 foot tall mixed-breed lizard was breathing acidic mist down his neck him and trying to tear him open with its claws he doesn’t quite have the time to think about biodiversity.

But the last time he killed something when they were 'trampling all over its territory like they had any right to do so', Shen Yuan didn't speak to him for days. 

It was the most excruciating thing he ever had to experience and he crumbled like wet paper when faced with the ghost's disapproval. His disappointment and sadness. 

Liu Qingge couldn't bear either of those on his conscience. 

He didn't say anything to Shen Yuan about his feelings yet, he wanted to confess properly once the ghost wasn't bound to him in this way. He didn't want to pressure him into anything he might not want to. 

But he knew with utter certainty that he would confess one day and it would be a very blunt confession, one that not even Shen Yuan could misunderstand. 

Speaking of confessions…

His little sister who had her little romantic book writing empire in progress tracked them down and Liu Qingge was proud of her for putting her training to a good use. Not that they weren't easily tracked if one started listening to the rumors going around. 

Liu Qingge was aware that people found his appearance memorable, especially with his newfound habit of seemingly speaking to himself. 

One just had to follow the gossip about the wandering crazy cultivator in white. 

Liu Mingyan believed him to be broken too. 

He wasn't sure whether his sister believed his story about Shen Yuan and the ritual they did but she at least stopped looking at him with so much pity. And she also stopped trying to get him to return to Cang Qiong; though that took several meetings. 

He had no idea how his sister was allowed to go on so many trips like this to hunt him down, but if he had to guess she used an excuse like gaining experience on hunts. 

And she asked questions, a lot of them. Mainly about whatever nighthunt she was supposed to do instead of visiting.

"What does Shen-shibo think about this new plant that they discovered recently in The Forest of Thousand Tears?" 

"What does Shen-shibo know about the mating habits of a crocodile snake?”

And so on and so on, always addressed to Shen Yuan. 

Some of them Liu Qingge could answer too, but as the visits continued the questions grew more and more obscure that he could only parrot what Shen Yuan was telling him. The ghost was a fountain of information.

So yes, maybe he caught a look or two from Liu Mingyan that made him think that she was starting to question his supposed breakdown and subsequent descent into madness, but he also knew her. And he knew that she knew that he knew a lot more than he usually let on, happily letting people believe that he was nothing but a brute who could do nothing but fight.

This time too when she got the answers she wanted and dropped off some medicine from Peak Lord Mu she rushed away once again, leaving them both behind. 

He stared at her disappearing figure in amusement and felt the coldness of Shen Yuan’s presence curl around his neck, like he was offering a light hug.

The bone-deep chill of a wraith like Shen Yuan felt bad even to a cultivator like him, but it still felt like the best possible comfort he could ever ask for. 

And maybe it was just wishful thinking but it felt like he could feel a distinct hand shape against his skin… not just pressure.

Maybe it won’t be so long until Shen Yuan can properly materialize in this realm, but until then baby steps. They had all the time in the world.

Day 6

------------

Rough draft, very rough, I’m sorry and thank you for reading! ❤️❤️❤️

This is going to take a while for me to work into a cohesive story properly. :DDD

[theircrazyfandoms]

I read a LOT of fanfic and so I figured why not share the stories I enjoyed reading on a weekly bases. My goal is to (hopefully) post each Monday sharing the fics I enjoyed from multiple fandoms. These lists will not include every fic I read over the week but the ones I especially liked. (I might include fic I’m rereading but idk yet.)

So, I really got into The Untamed on Netflix a couple of months ago which lead me to watching the donghua before reading the book. After that, I discovered Heaven Official’s Blessing. In other words, I’ve gotten a little obsessed with these new worlds and fandoms and have been mainly reading fics from these two fandoms.

GRANDMASTER OF DEMONIC CULTIVATION (MO DAO ZU SHI)

🔹️ 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝘾𝙍𝙐𝙀𝙇𝙏𝙔 𝙊𝙁 𝙁𝘼𝙏𝙀 [AO3] by 𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙘𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣_𝙎𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 [AO3]

𝘗𝘈𝘐𝘙𝘐𝘕𝘎: Lan Zhan/Lan Wangji x Wei Ying/Wei Wuxian 𝘛𝘈𝘎𝘚: Complete | Teen | 1 Chapter | 15.7K Words | Soulmate AU

𝘚𝘜𝘔𝘔𝘈𝘙𝘠: “Wei Ying,” he manages, a breathy croak, and peers past his eyelashes to watch those Grey eyes widen. They swirl with more emotions than he can name at the moment- emotions that he has not seen in those eyes for years, and his heart aches further as he watches the other swallow visibly, trembling hands reaching up to tentatively hold his own outstretched one, though they pass through each other like the other is made of mist.

“Lan Zhan,” Wei Ying breathes, and the shadows under his eyes darken as his face scrunches up, looking like he’s about to cry.

𝘊𝘖𝘔𝘔𝘌𝘕𝘛𝘚: I adore all different types of soulmate au’s and have never read one like this before. The idea is honestly really tragic because you can love someone your whole life and then you only find out when they die that they were not your soulmate. I would definitely love to read more fics with this type of soulmate au.

🔹️ 𝙁𝙊𝙍𝙏𝙐𝙉𝘼𝙏𝙀 [AO3] by 𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙘𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣_𝙎𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 [AO3]

𝘗𝘈𝘐𝘙𝘐𝘕𝘎: Lan Zhan/Lan Wangji x Wei Ying/Wei Wuxian 𝘛𝘈𝘎𝘚: Complete | Teen | 1 Chapter | 9.8K Words | Soulmate AU | Suicide

𝘚𝘜𝘔𝘔𝘈𝘙𝘠: Lan Zhan learns several things that day. He learns that his soulmate has been injured on the shoulder- that, judging by his description, they have probably been bitten by a canine of some sort. He learns that his soulmate may not be living as sheltered life as preferred, considering that fact. And he learns the name for the emotion that had sent his heart into overdrive.

Lan Zhan learns that day that he does not like Fear at all.

𝘊𝘖𝘔𝘔𝘌𝘕𝘛𝘚: I actually read this fic after The Cruelty of Fate and didn’t realize for a while it was by the same author. One of the things I like the most is we get to see more of an inside to Lan Zhan’s emotions and feelings. This fic did make me fairly emotion though, especially when we get to the siege of the Burial Mounds. 

HEAVEN OFFICIAL’S BLESSING (TIAN GUAN CI FU)

🔹️ 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝘽𝙐𝙏𝙏𝙀𝙍𝙁𝙇𝙔 𝙇𝙊𝙑𝙀𝙍𝙎 [AO3] by 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙮 [AO3] museawayfic  [Twitter]

𝘗𝘈𝘐𝘙𝘐𝘕𝘎: Hua Cheng/San Lang x Xie Lian 𝘛𝘈𝘎𝘚: Complete | Mature | 7 Chapters | 37K Words | Soulmate AU | Depression | Suicide

𝘚𝘜𝘔𝘔𝘈𝘙𝘠: By seventeen, Xie Lian has accepted not having a fated partner, only to feel the connection form the day of the God-Pleasing Festival. While he can’t understand a word of what the person writes at first, following Xie Lian’s ascension, San Lang becomes his most trusted confidant. No matter how many times Xie Lian asks to meet, however, San Lang refuses.

Years later, when war finally brings them face to face, the circumstances are tragic.

Banished to the mortal realm and cut off from San Lang, Xie Lian struggles to support his parents, gradually slipping into despair. San Lang’s spirit returns to him, refusing to leave the mortal realm while Xie Lian is in it. But after only a brief happiness together, the faceless ghost who destroyed his kingdom returns, taking San Lang from him again, and Xie Lian has to trust that their connection is strong enough to bring him back.

𝘊𝘖𝘔𝘔𝘌𝘕𝘛𝘚: I really enjoyed how the difference of Xie Lian and San Lang being soul mates makes to the overall story we already know. I especially love how we get to see San Lang comforting and supporting Xie Lian when he is going through a rough time.

🔹️ 𝙊𝙇𝘿 𝙁𝙍𝙄𝙀𝙉𝘿 [AO3] by 𝙝𝙮𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙢𝙤𝙮𝙖𝙨𝙝𝙞 [Tumblr] [AO3] [Twitter]

𝘗𝘈𝘐𝘙𝘐𝘕𝘎: Feng Xin x Mu Qing | Hua Cheng/San Lang x Xie Lian 𝘛𝘈𝘎𝘚: Complete | Mature | 3 Chapters | 34K Words | Suicide | Modern AU

𝘚𝘜𝘔𝘔𝘈𝘙𝘠: It had been a decade since Xie Lian passed on.

Feng Xin should’ve let the past stay in the past, but when he found out his old best friend’s house was going to be demolished after being on the market for so long with no buyers, he made a stupid decision. He actually bought the house. He knew it would come with baggage, but he didn’t realize the baggage would come in the form of ghosts.

𝘊𝘖𝘔𝘔𝘌𝘕𝘛𝘚: I had not ready any Feng Xin x Mu Qing fics until this one (even though I was mostly focused on hualian) and I actually kinda liked it. Anyways, this is an amazing modern au that did great job at keeping true to the characters. I also really enjoyed how we get to read about how Xie Lian is able to come to terms with everything that has happened to him and get his happy ending.

[nyerus]

Musings about Mu Qing’s Feelings Towards Xie Lian

Since Mu Qing won the “polls” on twitter last night, I thought I’d bully him a bit and publish this pseudo-meta. I had trouble understanding him at first, until it hit me at some point that it’s not entirely impossible that he may have harbored unrequited romantic feelings for Xie Lian--which helped explain a lot of things.

This is super rough since it’s what I tossed out on one of my discord servers, so it may have some typos/etc. And it’s just my personal interpretation, so take that as you will!

MQ probably felt Some Way™ for XL ever since their childhood days, and you see it during book 2 especially when you get to see XianLe trio's happy background. It's easy to fall in love with someone who essentially pulled you out of the dirt, and then continuously protected you from scrutiny by taking it on to themselves. Easier still when that person is someone like XL. For all that MQ b!tches, he didn't actually hate being XL's servant back then. He didn't mind the work, and he definitely was grateful for the opportunity to be so close to XL, all the time. But what he resented was undoubtedly the fact that his status was so much lower than XL's to the point that XL was completely and utterly unattainable (not just romantically, platonically as well). And his frustration and anger over this often presented itself whenever XL did nice things for him. Because it wasn't that MQ didn't appreciate that, but that it further cemented the idea that XL was beyond reach. XL could do as he pleased, as the crown prince, and it was clear he would never see MQ the way MQ wanted to be seen. An equal, on the same playing field.

CONTINUED UNDER THE CUT DUE TO LENGTH:

And thus when XL fell from grace, MQ had mixed feelings. Finally, XL was off that pedestal, but somehow he was even harder to reach than ever. And it hurt MQ to see him that way--frustrated, reckless, and so so so human. Because it forced MQ to confront the nature of his feelings towards XL and it just wasn't something he could do because he himself at the time didn't understand how he felt, or why. So he LEFT.

But he didn't leave out of malicious intent--he needed space to process, and furthermore, he couldn't see XL suffering. "Maybe I can find a way to fix this." Which is why he probably cultivated like crazy to ascend, so he could drag FX and XL up to middle court, and keep them safe and provided for. MQ is not at all in tune with his emotions at this point, though, so it came off all sorts of wrong. And he's also the type of person to be like "the ends do justify the means" which is why his 'betrayal' on the mountain, with the other heavenly officials, happened at all. He could stand up for XL then, but then alienate himself from the others and hurt his chances at being able to help XL in the long run. Or he could just keep his mouth shut for now and find a way to make it up to XL later. (Which is what he tries, with the food he brings after that.) But he doesn't understand that this betrayal is so fundamentally damaging to XL, because XL has only one thing left at all: the notion that friends will stand by you. MQ already damaged this by leaving, but when he betrayed XL on the mountain, that was the final straw. XL's trust and the last shred of hope he had was shattered. That's why XL lashed out so badly (and would do so later at FX), but MQ didn't understand how important it was once again--because he himself isn't that introspective or good with his emotions. But this event cemented itself in MQ's mind forever. It's the one thing he holds against himself the most, even if he doesn't admit it. Because that's when he broke the person he was trying to fix.

MQ definitely tries to get on with his life after this, and he does, but he never lets it go--because he never lets anything go. And when XL ascends, it's finally his chance to do right by him, but he is still repressed as hell and doesn't know how to do that straightforwardly. He camps in the communication array from the MOMENT XL ascends to look out for news about XL. LW even remarks on this like "wow you seem to have a lot of time on your hands--you've been in the array 24/7 lately." It's because, well, he has. He's keeping watch. And the second he gets the info he needs on XL's first assignment, he (and FX) absolutely yeets down there to help because what else is he supposed to do? He's not gonna let a spiritual energy-less XL fend for himself. He still has a sense of duty towards XL, and that massive guilt he's been carrying around all this time. But he's too proud to admit that he wants to help, so he and FX just disguise themselves and do it anyway. MQ is continuously perceptive during this to XL's situation and is equal parts shocked/taken-aback and oddly satisfied. Once again, XL seems so so so far away. Still unreachable, but now differently so.

Which is why he has SUCH a distaste for HC, moreso than FX does, because HC has managed to weasel his way into XL's life and make himself a somewhat permanent fixture. That's what MQ wanted to be, and was never able to achieve, so “how the hell did HC do that in a matter of days?!” But it becomes clear to MQ, especially around book 3, that HC has already "won" so to speak. (And as an aside--MQ was genuinely upset at the Battle of the Lanterns not because XL won, but because it was such an overt romantic gesture from HC and he knew it. FX was really chill about it because he didn't realize that and also didn't really care. But XL notices that MQ's expression was very dark and unreadable at the time, and it's easy to see why.) When MQ taunts HC at the end of book 3, it's INCREDIBLY revealing. Because he accuses HC of a lot, and a lot of it is straight-up projection too. Which HC immediately recognizes and throws back at him. HC has also probably known from a very very long time, too, because he would know desire for XL when he sees it, better than anyone. (Not to mention the bad blood between HC and MQ ontop of all this! Big RIP there.)

But MQ is, if anything, at least a gracious loser. In a way. In book 5 he admits that he finds XL spectacular, and that he would like to try to be friends from thereon. FX and XL are almost baffled by this because it feels unspoken that they already were, but to me, it always felt like MQ was purposefully re-defining their relationship for himself. Which is a healthy step forward! And by the end of the Ghost King's Birthday extra, he understands that Hualian are a paired set and while it still annoys him, he's coming to terms with it. He's one of the few people that really get even a fraction of Hualian's love for each other, because he knows what it feels like to love XL.

*Keep in mind that these are just my personal musings based on how I chose to interpret things. None of this is confirmed, just fun to consider! This is less a straight-up MQ meta and focused particularly on his feelings towards XL, so I’ve left a lot of things about his characterization out as well. He’s a complicated and interesting character and that would take a whole ‘nother post, whew!

Thank you for reading if you’ve made it this far!~ (*¯ ³¯*)♡