#guys i love hua cheng so much idk if i want to be like him or be with someone like him :(

[hualianschild]

let's talk abt hua cheng and the way his entire *almost* existence relates back to xie lian cuz it's been my current roman empire, his name having the word 'hua' which means 'flower' can be seen as relating to xie lian's god name (the flower crowned martial god), also he's called crimson rain sought flower cuz he was shielding a lone white flower (also represents xie lian) from the blood rain (he can be the said 'flower' in that rain too actually), that red coral pearl on his hair braid ? it belongs to xie lian, that red string tied around his finger, xie lian tied strands of his hair around that finger which represents marriage and ofc the red-string-of-fate soulmate trope, he has xie lian's name tattooed on him in his terrible writing, made an entire city just so his love can come there and rest and build a temple there so he can worship him and remained his only devotee when xl lost everything (that thing abt gods being in existence as long as there is someone to worship them) he gave up on becoming a god cuz then who will be worshipping his god ?? isn't afraid to show his true form to xl which he never did to anyone, destroyed those thirty three gods cuz they ridiculed his gege, took lqq along with him to qi rong's den so he can clear the false accusations even if xl didn't want him to CUZ YOU WILL NAWT BE HATING HIS DIANXIA OVER THINGS HE NEVER DID i mean his entire existence is because xie lian said 'if you can't find any reason to live, make me your reason to live' and oh isn't that level of devotion and love so devastating ?

[kastukj]

Okay finished season 1 and my gosh my heart nearly combusted the last episode agdkahdkd hua cheng,,,, you,,,

Started watching tgcf bc im in a tv mood lately and oh my gosh,,, i completely understand now

[mikaela-the-slut-expert]

Can you do more angst scenarios where male reader feels like they’re a third wheel and left out? I’m a sucker for angst despite how much it hurts 😭😭

Don't Leave

Hua Cheng x M!reader x Xie Lian

Sorry it took so long, forgive me 🧍

Will make more sense if you've read the book.

Hope you likeee

Ignore grammar mistakes

____________________________________

"Xie Lian, do you like San Lang?"

You had asked out of nowhere. Xie Lian glances at you for a moment and smiles. "I do"

"Very Much?" You press.

"I suppose" He smiles nervously

It was a random question. You and Xie Lian were in Puqi shrine, the morning after San Lang had left. After San Lang left Xie Lian a ring.

It made you feel strange. You love Xie Lian very much and you like San Lang too. However the ring suddenly made you feel lesser.

Recently you guys have had a third helper and San Lang has kind of taken your job. He protected both of you and was very helpful. Yet, you feel a certain itch because of it.

Because Xie Lian likes San Lang.

You feel selfish. You wouldn't have minded so much if Xie Lian had shown interest in both of you but he seems very caught up in San Lang right now. It feels like San Lang is threatening your spot.

It's always been your job to be by Xie Lian's side. You always have been. Always. You grew up together, you stayed with him after the fall of Xian Le, even afterwards when Xie Lian had done morally wrong things you stayed, even when he wanted you to leave with Feng Xin you stayed.

Xie Lian has always been your person. You've always been his person. Lately you've just been feeling left out. San Lang and Xie Lian had been perfectly fine at Banyue Pass by themselves. You had ignored your feelings of jealousy during that time, but after seeing the ring you can't help but feel it ten times worse.

You chalk it up as overthinking and shove the feelings of jealousy down your throat. You have no right to feel these things. Xie Lian shouldn't have to deal with them either. What right do you have to cling on him when he isn't yours? You guys aren't dating and Xie Lian has never expressed love for you.

You ignore it

♡

The feeling you hate so much comes back again. Xie Lian, you, the wind master, and Lan Qinqao all went to ghost city. There was supposed to be a purpose but you never cared. You only went because Xie Lian went. Obviously he would've been fine because guess who's been watching the whole time?

San Lang

San Lang has been here the whole time, he always is it seems. You had to stand there while San Lang and Xie Lian held hands and played dice. You watched as they smiled at each other and touched hands.

It shouldn't idk you so much but it does. The feeling crawls out of your stomach and claws at your throat until you feel yourself physically choking it down. You're being over dramatic. It's just a dice game.

You ignore the glances they send to each other. You don't see the glances they send to you.

♡

The feeling burns on your tongue and churns in your gut when the strange Waning Moon officer -whatever the hell he is- tells Xie Lian that he's invited to Paradise Manor.

Actually you hadn't minded it all. You had walked side by side with Xie Lian ready to see San Lang. You haven't got the chance to talk to him. You were excited, even.

Until the strange officer makes it clear only Xie Lian can come.

So you were just supposed to stay behind? Stand to the side? It upsets you more when Xie Lian only apologizes and says he'll be back to find you. He left you standing there.

You thought you and San Lang were on good terms so why would he not invite you as well?

You chalk it up as a misunderstanding and roam around ghost city. The wind master eventually finds you and the two of you sneak into Paradise Manor dressed as dancers.

Seeing San Lang and Xie Lian on the bed/ couch together helped nothing. It makes you feel worse. They left you out for what? To spend time alone? Being in Paradise Manor felt like hanging around in a place you obviously didn't belong in.

It's a misunderstanding. It's a misunderstanding. It's a misunderstanding. It's a misunderstanding.

You repeat it in your head like a mantra.

♡

Once the incident at Paradise Manor is over you and Xie Lian are finally side by side again. You and San Lang still haven't had the chance to talk. You're hurting but you're positive that you're overreacting. Honestly Xie Lian would never do that to you. You were going to talk about it with him but he was dragged away into court.

Then Xie Lian, basically gets out under house arrest into the Xian Le palace Jun Wu had made him. When you get there Mu Qing and Feng Xin are already there. If you close your eyes you could imagine it being like old times where all four of you are back at the palace running around.

It doesn't last long. A big group of butterflies fly at you all. They don't dare touch Xie Lian. Mu Qing doesn't give you the chance to find out how the butterflies would react to you because he pulls you behind his make shift shield. It seems they doubt your relationship with San Lang too.

When you see San Lang come out of the black pit behind the doors to grab Xie Lian you take your chance though. You aren't just going to stand there. You leave Mu Qing's side and run towards Xie Lian but the doors close on you. The doors close on you. San Lang and Xie Lian left you? Not possible.

You're standing there staring at the doors. You just couldn't believe that they left you to stand there like a fool. It doesn't feel like a misunderstanding, it doesn't feel like overreacting.

Even Mu Qing, who is usually snarky ass, feels bad. He grabs your shoulder gently trying to break you out of your stupor.

"Y/n you should sit this one out. Me and Feng Xin will find them"

"No I-" you blink up at him, lost. "I have to go find A-Lian. He was taken. . ." You point at the door.

Mu Qing's face scrunches. "Xie Lian wasn't taken, he ran off. It was his choice. It was also his choice to leave you y/n. Just let us deal with it."

Mu Qing's words cause him and Feng Xin to bicker but he isn't really lying.

"That isn't what happened, say it as it is! He was obviously taken. Right y/n?" Feng Xin looks at you for support but you can only stare at him like a fish out of water.

"He. . . Ran off"

While you're focused on the door you fail to remember the butterflies hadn't touched you. You fail to notice the die in your robe.

♡

You took Mu Qing's advice and decided to sit this one out. You had never actually been separated by Xie Lian's side before so you don't exactly know what to do while he's running around with San Lang.

You go back inside of XianLe palace and sit where Xie Lian had been sitting before. You have nothing to do besides stare at the table. When you move to sit down something falls out of your pocket though. The closer you look you see it's a die.

Huh, you hadn't noticed that in your robes before. Lucky you it landed on a six. You wish you had that much luck with Xie Lian and San Lang. You pick up the die and hold it in your hands. Your plan was to just play around with it some more but you're suddenly pulled back into a pit of darkness and someone is holding you.

When you look back at your attacker, you see the familiar face of San Lang- well Hua Cheng but he's always been San Lang to you and Xie Lian. "S-san Lang?!"

Your surroundings get clearer and you see Xie Lian too. Honestly you're so happy you could cry, but you don't. You don't know what to say at all because you don't know what's going on. You just allow yourself to be pulled along by San Lang.

Xie Lian and San Lang take a moment to explain what's going on. To explain everything actually. For a minute San Lang looks like he's going to break down and e-ming is making sad squealing sounds.

Turns out everything was a big misunderstanding. San Lang and Xie Lian hadn't meant to leave you out of anything. San Lang had just wanted to do everything for the two of you, he wasn't thinking that his actions seemed like he was taking your job. He had most definitely invited the both of you, and he was very irritated with his officer. San Lang hadn't meant to leave you when he took Xie Lian. That's why he gave you the die. Since Xie Lian rolled the die he was able to get him. He could only come back to grab you once you rolled the day.

It was just a lot of miscommunication, really. You don't realize your crying until Xie Lian is wiping your eyes with his sleeves. You were crying out of relief. You had genuinely thought Xie Lian and San Lang were leaving you out but they were never doing such a thing.

San Lang and Xie Lian are very close to you after that and apprehensive to leave your side at all.

[muzsmocsing]

Reviewing tgcf characters because I have thoughts

I finished S2 recently and I need somewhere to put my not exactly hot but like warm (?) takes because it's taking up too much storage space in my brain.

🤍 Xie Lian 🤍

It's a good thing I'm not into guys because if I was I would be on my knees for this man in every sense of that expression and his pet menace to society would mince me up like garlic.

So I'll try to be brief about my overflowing feelings about him. Xie Lian is the best main character I have come across in a WHILE. He's the embodiment of compassion and kindness. And also a cold blooded murderer. A babygirl. A father figure. A terrifying martial god. A silly little guy. A pathological liar. The most genuine man you'll ever meet. He's everything, and Hua Cheng is 100% valid in his obsession. I'm right there with him.

Rating: 10/10

❤️ Hua Cheng ❤️

Idk if we ever figured out who wrote My Immortal but I'm pretty sure we have our culprit.

"Hi my name is Hua Cheng Crimson Rain Sought Flower Red-Robed Ghost King and this is my evil weapon of death E-ming. I've killed soooo many gods with it!! My dark power is I can summon storms of BLOOD and SUFFERING. I have my own scary city of DEMONS and they all love me and think I'm HOT but I only want my BOYFRIEND who's the only REAL GOD so STOP FLAMING HIM YOU POSERS-"

Needless to say I love him. Being the 8 time winner of the Loverboy of the Century Awards with unbeatable records in the yearning olympics is truly a remarkable feat.

Rating: 9/10

(Bonus: E-ming. Cute little guy. Likes his stepdad more than his real dad. Not afraid to show it's feelings even if it makes it look like a muppet, 10/10)

🧡 Feng Xin & Mu Qing 🧡

Tweedle dee and tweedle dum gets a shared rating because they would hate to be grouped together like that and that's funny to me. Their dynamic is great, they're good characters, I wasn't sure which one was which until midway through the second season. But then also I have a pair of 7yo twin cousins who I still can't tell apart despite them not looking even a slight bit similar so that might just be a character flaw on my end. Oops.

Rating: 7/10

🩵Shi Qingxuan🩵

I'm doubling the rating because she is best boy and best girl at the same time. I love that I can use any and all pronouns for him because he's literally a pride parade personified and therefore all of them are correct. You don't get that type of chaotic fun just anywhere.

He is truly living my dream, presenting as whatever gender they want depending on what's more convenient and/or funnier in the moment. Super useful, for things like gathering intel and terrorizing Feng Xin by being a woman.

And I personally think we should crown her the new emperor. She'd look significantly better on that throne, with her Barbie-like radiance and flourishing Kenergy.

Rating: 20/10

🖤 Ming Yi 🖤

Listen, I hate to say it because I like a sunshine x grump moment as much as the next gay but he's just... not giving what he thinks he's giving. Everyone is whispering ominously about him having some dark devastating secret but MY point is no matter how big his boobs are in his female form, Shi Qingxuan could do better. I'm sorry. She really could.

Rating: 4/10

💙 Lang Qianqiu 💙

Just an honest man with good intentions and a sickass fucking sword. He did NOT hesitate to attack the infamous Crimson Rain Sought Flower on SIGHT and I respect a quick decisionmaker, even if it shows some himbo tendencies. He also has the same distinct energy as Fred from Scooby Doo.

Rating: 6/10

💚 Qi Rong 💚

He's got some odd dietary and moral choices going on. Definitely. But he's just such a fun villain!!! Being Xie Lian's nr 1 source of migraines SHOULD make me like him less but I'm sorry, every time he was on screen I was LIVING. He would do numbers on reality TV. Someone put this guy on Kitchen Nightmares, I need to see him 1v1 Gordon Ramsay.

Rating: 7/10

🌚 Jun Wu 🌚

He has his emperor status & DILF card going for him but something about this man just ain't right. If he came to a party I was attending I would cover my drink is all I'm saying.

Rating: 2/10

🔥Pei Ming🔥

I don't know much about him besides he had that one shady empolyee or whatever (could not hear the plot over the deafening sound of Hua Cheng's yearning) but I'm partial to a good manwhore character. The thought of people praying to him like "Hugh Mungus, who art in heaven-" really tickles me.

I know he's probably straight but I headcanon him as at the very least bi-curious because you can't be that hot with that much game and not use it for evil. (That evil being causing large scale gay awakenings among his soldiers.)

Rating: 7/10

❓Pei Xiu❓

Unreliable, unimportant, unattractive, unemployed.

I remember not a singular thing about him besides fucking up Xie Lian's daughter's life and also being on my last nerve from the jump. If you're going to be evil at like least be memorable about it, you know? You can't be a bad person and a bad character at the same time. Pick a struggle.

Rating: 1/10

📚 Ling Wen 📚

I heard she committed some war crimes but honestly if I had to do an entire realm's tax returns by myself AND teach Pei Ming how to read (I refuse to believe that man is literate, just look at him) I would want to rage on occasion too. I hope she has a hot wife waiting for her at home to give her massages after carrying the whole system on her back all day. It's what she deserves.

Rating: 8/10

Thank you for reading!! Opinions might change once I read the books but as of now this is it. Remembering everyone's names has been a journey and a half so this post is sponsored by @kirstenly 's character cheat sheet go look at it! and everything else too!!!

[sunnyfoxsstuff]

Hey guy's! >:D New chapter today cuz i decided its Time that i right lol

Chapter 7:(idk tbh)

Qingxuan had went outside to take some fresh air After lastnight, walking more away into the forest

He xuan on his side was making breakfast being a bit distant thinking he caused this nightmare to him he may be dead and a Ghost now but it wont erase what he went through because he xuan's and shi wudu's action's

After some hour's around in the afternoon he xuan decided to talk to him but not about what happened but about more Ghost stuff

SQX:"what? You're gonna teach me? Teach me what?" Tilting his head confused After all he's a grown man

HX:"yes, i dont know if you noticed but pretty much any ghost's have something..'special' like their animal features or well for me controlling water ghost's usually find out what their 'special' thing is soon after having their body's materialised but since you're kind of, a peacefull Ghost." Crossing his arm's shutting his eye's "we'll have to find it by trying anything out After all a Ghost life isnt all happy one day you'll probably get attacked and i cant Always bé there," he stopped looking at sqx

SQX:"why would you want to always be there for me he xiong? Im sure i can learn it easy it'll be a piece of cake!" Lifting his fist's to his chest enthusiast and sure of himself

He xuan looked away to think, qingxuan creeped closer poking his cheek like old time's

SQX:"what are yooouu thinking?"

He xuan just turned his head looking at him "nothing, stop poking me its not Time for this." He sighed while sqx chuckled with a bright smile

HX:"what's so funny?"

SQX:"your face is funny, and squishy"

This Time he xuan grabbed his hand so he stops poking him continuing with "i think we should go shopping again"

Looking confused "sure if you want"

With that he xuan dragged sqx by the hand back to the market where jewel's and clothe's sort of thing's are

SQX:"y'know you Can let go of my hand i wont trip my leg doesnt hurt and its not like i'll run away either, also why are we back here"

Hx ignoring continuing to walk stopping infront a fan selling shop "choose one think of it as like a gift from me"

SQX:"he xiong you're acting weird today are you ok? Do you have a fiever?" Gettin infront of he xuan putting his free hand on his forehead

HX:"i aint sick i just had an idea beside's you're not gonna refuse a fan right? I know how you loved to use that thing everytime you would dance to summon the air"

SQX:"fine but let go of my hand"

After that sqx looked at all of the fan's he loved some but nothing felt like his past fan's he would buy some pretty fan's use them one Time and go back to the fan him and his brother had it was the only one he needed the only one he wanted but that same fan had got teared up by the same person that's right beside's him

SQX:"i dont really want any of them..i liked the old one"

HX:"you still like it even After your own brother who gave you it tried to kill you?"

SQX:"maybe he had a good reason?" Looking at he xuan which he Saw scoff probably by annoyance

Since sqx refused to buy any they had went back home After a walk around for the next day's he xuan would be busy going back to his territory sqx would wonder why he goes away for so long but he didnt dared to ask and just stay silent he still had xie lian's company he also counted hua cheng but it was clear as day that he was around only for his majesty

That night After walkin home sqx saw from a far he xuan's silhouette in the filled full of flower's with the full Moon and their house behind it seemed like he xuan had been waiting him

SQX:"what are you doing here at this hour alone? I mean beside's me i Always see you alone hehe-"

HX:"i just thought you'd be home more early and i got a gift for you" handing a fan with black silver ish detail's

Sqx took the fan openning it seeing that its his old fan a bright smile grew on his face hugging he xuan out of happiness

SQX:"ah sorry no hug's" he said but he xuan hugged back a bit which surprised sqx

HX:"..sorry for last time at the market when i got mad you're just really annoying sometime's"

SQX:"he xiong! That's not a way to apologies!..but its fine i forgive you dont worry about it your really silly sometimes he xiong" laughing

HX:"im not silly, anyway's i made diner alone since you werent there yet Come on"

Yoooo! I loved writing this chapter he'll probably will never have a title i Hope you all will love it just as much as i did!

[amethystroselily]

I don’t ship feng xin and Mu Qing bc I think it’s just so much funnier if it’s genuinely platonic. Like imagine being that fundamentally intertwined with some guy you hate and weird intense emotion of it all isn’t even bc of sexual tension, one of you is just genuinely that bad at expressing that they want to have friends and the other is kind of dense.

Kind of like how Hua Cheng can devote his entire life to the person he loves romantically but gets real weird about friendship. Like he’s out here hyping up He Xuan and helping him in ways he would never help anyone else but Xie Lian, and actually even kind of siding with He xuan over Xie lian when it came to the revenge plot. But whenever he talks about it he gets so cagey. Like oh he just owes me money. And you keep helping him even though he doesn’t seem to be paying much of it back??? Ok. Sure.

So I think characters being weird about desiring friendships is just like a theme in this novel. (And I think Hua Cheng and Mu Qing are supposed to be parallels)

(Also, Mu Qing actually does kind of have to keep that chastity vow unlike Xie Lian. And breaking it would not represent the same things for him. For Xie Lian it’s freedom, it’s a release from this purity culture he got trapped in from a young age, he chose it and he doesn’t have to care what anyone thinks about it bc he has someone who always support and protect and love him. For Mu Qing it would probably represent the loss of autonomy and power he worked so hard to gain. Mu Qing didn’t just stumble into cultivation through means of birth the way XL did, he had to choose it and work very hard to keep choosing it. Giving any of his power away would not represent freedom for him, it would probably make him feel powerless to have to rely on other people like that. IDK I would have to reread tgcf to see if I’m fully right. I have no idea what I’m talking about I think.)

[fallloverfic]

TGCF donghua Season 2, Episode 6 thoughts

I'm always screaming about TGCF so yes I'm screaming some more. Very good ep. Spoilers for the show and the book below.

The Fang Xin flashback was really lovely (Xie Lian looks so pretty in the costume, like his hair style is really nice and he just looks good). Xie Lian being a teacher and explaining, "this technique is bad because the intervening person gets hurt/dies so you can't learn it cause [you're a human and the prince and your job is to continue your duties, not die]" also neglecting to point out the fact that... Xie Lian can do it cause he can't die and we're not gonna go into how he was injured because of that incident and he just goes through all the physical pain for other people without bothering anyone, nope T-T But baby Lang Qianqiu loves him so much T-T

When Shi Qingxuan says that Xie Lian took a blow from E-Ming on behalf of Lang Qianqiu and it flashes to a cut of Mu Qing and Feng Xin looking shocked, I aldkjaldaj Ahhhh... Worry about Xie Lian? Thinking about how Xie Lian confronted Hua Cheng now for the sake of someone else even while he's under the influence of two cursed shackles while Mu Qing and Feng Xin abandoned him when both Mu Qing and Feng Xin chose not to confront Hua Cheng way back when Hua Cheng challenged all those heavenly officials who confronted Xie Lian on the mountain?

The angst this episode is delicious. There's just so much stuff happening around all of this, it's lovely.

Shi Qingxuan standing up for his friendddd T-T His friendship with Xie Lian just ends me.

Xie Lian asking to be banished again like THIS MAN HE JUST T-T Xie Liannnnnn

Lang Qianqiu being shocked that Xie Lian would beg to be banished again and being like, "No, you don't have to do that! I just want to fight to the death!"

Meanwhile Xie Lian being like, point blank, "If we did, you'd lose." See, Xie Lian is modest a lot of the time in the sense that he doesn't brag. He just doesn't talk about things, generally: he keeps to himself (unless he's trying to share funny/interesting things he thinks other people might be interested in, which no one is, poor guy). I love stories with this: characters who don't outright lie, but get out of "telling" the truth because they're just quiet and let the silence speak for itself/let others come to their own conclusions, which is usually bad. It's such juicy angst. But he's also honest (about certain things) and at moments like this, he is being honest about his own capabilities. Because he is very capable. And I just love that about him. He is, truly, capable. And he knows it. One reason his banishments were so hard is because despite all his capability, he couldn't overcome that to help the people he wanted to help. His skills weren't what was needed.

Pei Ming's character model is really pretty. I just like watching him walk around. Even if he's a jealous asshole who is protective of his descendant. He's a fun jealous asshole. And a pretty one. I have a weakness for men with long hair who wear gloves okay, it's a problem I have no intention to recover from.

In terms of animation, there were a lot of really pretty shots of character models and character expressions, particularly as Xie Lian is being taken away. There's a nice shot of Mu Qing just standing and facing the camera in the background. This continues to just overall be a pretty looking show (there was some sort of weirdness during the fight sequence between FengQing, but that was it, really).

Xie Lian pining for Hua Cheng T-T Babyyyyy

OMG THEY MADE THE PINING GAYER (at least than the official English translation idk if it's gayer in the original Chinese). In the Seven Seas translation it's this:

“I wonder how much is left of San Lang’s Paradise Manor. If I get banished again, who knows how much junk I’ll have to sell or how long it’ll take to pay him back…decades, centuries; if anything, I’ll pay him the rest of my life.” (Volume 2, Chapter 19)

In the donghua, at least at this moment, the English subs say: "San Lang. I wonder how he's doing. [Sigh] After being banished to the mortal realm, I have to give up everything, even my beloved the Paradise manor(?). For decades, centuries, I'd give it all up for him, even a lifetime."

Even with the bad translation, that last line tho T-T Also Xie Lian's sad pining just ahhhhh

Mu Qing showing up and assuming Xie Lian's surprise is because he expected Feng Xin and TOTALLY not because Xie Lian doesn't expect anyone to visit him, particularly Mu Qing (because he thinks no one other than maybe Shi Qingxuan likes him, and Shi Qingxuan is busy anyway). Mu Qing still Himself about well everything. Mu Qing wanting to visit... maybe gloat... but also idk hoping Xie Lian would be happy to see him cause they're hanging out again <.< (kind of, cause Mu Qing thinks he's good at pretending and Xie Lian totally didn't guess from like the very start or anything that the "junior official" was just him in disguise aldkjaldja).

XIE LIAN'S LITTLE SMILE AT MU QING EXPLAINING WHY HE'S THERE BECAUSE HE'S HAPPY MU QING CAME TO VISIT HIM/WANTED TO SEE HIM MAYBE and Mu Qing being like -hmph- aldkjaldaj And giving Xie Lian MEDICINE TO HEAL HIMSELF T-T Still caring for Xie Lian even after Everything TM and how Mu Qing doesn't think Xie Lian cares for him.

Because I focus in on weird details I will admit I was a tad distracted from the lovely FengQing fight over who's more in love with Xie Lian by Mu Qing's collar. I'm pretty sure everyone else has already long since pointed out The Collar TM but well here I am now, again, pointing it out.

This helps because last episode I was distracted by the cute little thing (his crown?) that's wrapped around Feng Xin's hair bun and I kept glancing at it this ep too alkdjalj His hair bun is a flower :3

The chibi fight was so funny aldkjaldja (and angsty :3 Please yes fight over which of you abandoned Xie Lian first and how you're both totally not mad at yourselves and each other about it :3). Xie Lian being like OMG GUYS STOP PLEASE!! But not trying to be too overbearing T-T

"You'd be happy if something bad happened to him, wouldn't you?" Feng Xinnnnn T-T

Both of them shocked Xie Lian is not being attacked and also alarmed he is just TOUCHING THINGS THAT IS DANGEROUS XIE LIAN DON'T YOU KNOW WHO THAT BELONGS TO????

Xie Lian: It's so cute tho :3 -nuzzles butterfly-

aldkajlkdjaj Hua Cheng GROPING XIE LIAN WAIST like I don't blame him. Get it, Sir. Xie Lian like, "yeh this is fine :3" They're so married already I love them.

Hua Cheng holding Xie Lian's sleeeveee T-T I cryyyy

Mu Qing: Xie Lian escaped!

Feng Xin: STOP BEING A DICK, HE WAS KIDNAPPED!

Hua Cheng: Have you missed me? I haven't missed any of you one bit.

aldkjaldkjaldja HUA CHENG IS SO FULL OF IT I LOVE HIM SO MUCH alkdjaldja Xie Lian shaking his head with a smile alkdjlajda He loves his husband yes, he does alkdjalj HUA CHENG HELD HIS HAND WHILE THEY WERE IN THE ARRAY TO PIGGYBACK THAT WAY I SCREAM (also Xie Lian's little smile over it, he's so chill with Hua Cheng's antics I love them)

Listen. Listen. If a dude who looks like Hua Cheng and sounds like that while smiling when he says, "Come with me," to you appears and does that... WHY WOULD YOU NOT???? Obviously Xie Lian has no choice in the matter!!! OBVIOUSLY!!!

Xie Lian is so sad about how he hurt Hua Cheng T-T

Hua Cheng is so upset he hurt his Xie Lian T-T

"Why can you still smile and apologize to me?" HE LOOKS SO SAD

STOP THE PRESSES E-MING IS DOING SAD SQUEAKING

The subtitles are pretty bad again, and some of the mistakes still lead me to believe it's possible this is an edited version of machine translation (getting pronouns wrong is a common mistake in machine translation), which is not a good sign. I'm really hoping they go back and fix this, especially if they sell this as a physical release like they did season 1. Also I hope they just fucking stop doing it this way and if we ever get any more seasons I hope they do not do this in future.

BUT OVERALL IT WAS A REALLY GOOD EPISODE AHHHHHH

Other episode thoughts for season 2 (didn't start till episode 3):

S02E03

S02E04

S02E05

S02E06 (you are here)

S02E07

S02E08

S02E09

S02E10

S02E11

S02E12

[zoguy1]

So. Every June, I try to challenge myself by posting something for Pride Month. For the past couple years, it's been ships with cute little pride flags. This year, the priority focus will be on the Trolls Summer Gift exchange. But at the very least I'd like to show ya'll the ones I've made in the past.

2022 bundle:

Bi Hiccup x Gay Jack. Fun fact: This was the first gay couple I've ever laid my eyes on as a young child. I saw this ship and thought "I want that kind of relationship."

Bi Tony x Gay Rudolph Watching the 2017 movie, these two reminded me of Luca and Alberto so much.

Aro Merida You get it? Cuz she's an archer. It's funny. Laugh.

Bi Nan Fang x Ace Fu Yao The headcannon was based off of a fanfic I read a while ago.

Demi Ace Xie Lian x Gay Hua Cheng. I sevearly enjoyed the series. I occasionally eat fics of these two as comfort foods.

Pan Xu Xuan x Trans Xiao Bai White snake was basically 2 hours of "What you are doesn't matter, it's who you are that matters", THEE Pansexual anthem, and then the second movie Turned Blanca into a guy? This is cannon.

Ace Liu Qingge x Bi Shen Yuan Imma be honest. I didn't like SVSSS very much. Yandere's are not my cup of tea. And I was really hoping Shizun would have gotten with Liu-shidi instead.

Gay Luca x Gay Alberto I'm so glad Luberto was actually confirmed to be somewhat cannon. Though Nowadays I see Luca as bi, cuz if we're counting the concept art as apart of the lore, then Luca had a crush on both Alberto and Giulia.

Gay Jade x Gay Katie. Kate is the first character I actually felt scene as a queer person.

Genderfluid Shi Qingxuan I freaking love them so much. Easily my favorite character.

Aro Nezha This kid knows chaos and only chaos.

Pan Adam x Gray Ace Freddy I saw this crossover on DA and thought they made so much sense together. Adam the literal personification of nature, and Freddy the unification of humanity and animals.

Non-Binary Merz x Lesbian Alice These two are OCs of mine.

Aro Lesbian Isabela and Aro Lesbian Elsa. I ship this in a sort of queer platonic way. Like a "we don't really want to date people, but everyone thinks we're dating, and we just don't care enough to correct them." kind of way.

Genderfluid Camilo I want the ability to shapeshift so badly.

Pan Ao Bing x Bi Xiao Jiu Ya'll get brownie points if you know which Ao Bing this is and double points if you know who Xiao Jiu is. Lol. It was a random crossover ship I made because the company liked to crossover their medias for advertisements, and we see the adults interacting and having fun, and Nezha joins them. But we don't see the two teenagers interact at all.

Bi Verta x Bi Li Yunxiang Another crossover ship I made up cuz I didn't see a lot of Nezha Reborn and White Snake crossovers. Which surprised me, especially after Green Snake.

Gay Jiang Ziya x Gay Shen Gongbao These two lived in the same house together for 10 years and adopted a daughter together. I am convinced these two are a married couple.

Bi Mirabel There was a little bisexual rainbow on her dress. That's proof enough for me. Lol.

Lesbian Amaya x Lesbian Janai I loved seeing their dynamic in the show.

Non-Binary Kazi I love them. I'm glad they got more attention in the show.

Lesbian Susie x Trans Noelle "Why does Noelle have antlers. Is she trans? The Null the Null the Null the Null..."

Non-Binary Kris I love them. They literally never said a word, and I love them.

AroAce Krel Based on a comic I made.

Aro Blaze Another OC.

Aro Douxie Idk why, but I get that vibe from him.

2023 Pack:

Furry Omni Toby x Furry Demigirl Darci The moment Darci said she didn't want people to like her just because she was a girl, I felt that in my soul.

Bi Steve x Pan Aja I am not convinced Steve is straight.

Pan Simon x Gay Ao Bing This ship was inspired by a youtube video that had a list of crossover ships, this being on of them. And I freaking love it.

AroAce Sun Wukong and AroAce Tang Sanzang In Monkey King Reborn, out of everyone in the friend group, you can just tell that these two cared about each other the most. And I think that's just sweet.

Fuck. I can only have 30 images per post. I'll reblog with the rest of the 2023 pack.

[icejello]

Anyways this is a kinda ling rant but i was plagued with ideas of hualian ice skater/yuri on ice! AU. Just thinking of Xie Lian being this infamous ice skater that everyone knows, he's a prodigy, he's beautiful, he's talented, he's amazing, he's a star, he is everything. His parents are retired well known ice skaters. People were awed by him, this young man who has been in ice skating for almost his whole life, who's been a star ever since he started learning how to ice skate. Thinking of how he started ice skating as a little boy and grew up with it and he loves it.

Thinking of little Hua Cheng who has a pretty hard life due to people always bullying him about his eyes maybe, he's seeking for comfort from anything he can fine and just so happens to end up seeing this beautiful boy performing ice skating on the tv. He's bewitched, he's amazed, he found comfort there for some reason. He watched and looked for all the videos there is about this beautiful boy named Xie Lian and somehow he's lucky because the next tour that xie lian would be on would be near where he lives. So he saves his money to buy the tickets and when the day came, he can't believe that the boy can somehow be even more beautiful in front of his eyes. He was mesmerized watching the show and finally when the show ended, he managed to push through the crowd and call out to Xie Lian. The older boy turns to look at him and smiled and gave him a little wave and said "you have pretty eyes". That smile stuck with him for all those years.

Fast forward years later, Xie Lian somehow disappears from the public eye. He suddenly stopped ice skating, he made no news about his sudden disappearance and the public can't find him anywhere. Rumors spread that he disappeared due to the grief of his parents dying. Hua Cheng is devastated. He's been trying to find the chance to look for Xie Lian again, he got into ice skating and has been trying to be able to join competitions just so he can meet that beautiful boy again but now that boy is gone and he has no way of looking for him. Years passed, Hua Cheng joined multiple competitions in hopes of somehow meeting Xie Lian but to no luck. People started talking about how he might be the new ice skating star but he doesn't want any of that, he just wants to find Xie Lian.

One day Hua Cheng just decides to go on a vacation maybe idk and went somewhere that he had heard has a nice frozen lake and a beautiful quiet scenery. What he didn't expect was to find that someone else was already skating there. He thought about leaving but somehow the other guy noticed him too. They talked and he says he would leave but the guy tells him to stay instead and he'll be the one to leave instead bcs he's done anyways. Hua Cheng thanked him and like was like getting ready to start skating before he caught a glimpse of the stranger's face as he was leaving and it's Xie Lian. It kinda stocked him too much that he didn't manage to call out to Xie Lian and Xie Lian just left.

Hua Cheng goes back and watched back all the past videos of Xie Lian and tried to copy his past routines that he has made. Somehow someone took a video of him doing it and posted it online. Cue to a few weeks later and someone suddenly approached him while was practicing and it's somehow Xie Lian and he's offering to train him for his next competition.

[ultfreakme]

Do you agree if said that Megumi and Tsumiki are "toxic doom siblings" (like wei wuxian, jiang yanli and jiang cheng from MDZS)?

Also, I'm surprised your fav MXTX is SVSSS (I thought it will be MDZS). I always think that most people love to dismiss SVSSS and said that it's not as serious or deep as MDZS & TGCF (but I still love SVSSS the most). So happy when I find other people who also love SVSSS.....

For me

Best MXTX protagonist : Wei Wuxian

Best MXTX male lead : Luo Binghe

Best MXTX couple : Hua Cheng/ Xie Lian

Overall story and best comfort read : SVSSS

How about you, Riki? (Sorry if I'm wrong in calling you, I did not mean to be rude, it's just in the end if every 'ask' you wrote : Riki ask)

Also sorry for this long ask....

Hi Anon! I'm answering this in reverse order a bit hehe. I go by Riki it's not rude at all dw dw! No need to apologize for asks, long or short, I'm grateful someone wants to interact with me and talk about shared interests <3

Megumi and Tsumiki being toxic siblings...hmm....idk if toxic is the word I'd use to describe them but there definitely were a lot of issues. Primarily because I think their ideals on life clashed. Tsumiki is someone who wanted to be nice to everyone, but Megumi can't afford that, he's a lot more practical about what kindness and helping people means because of his reality as a sorcerer. Megumi's convinced that she's faking her kindness or is trying too hard.

I don't think Tsumiki is totally faking it, I think she is a genuinely nice person but like every teenager, likes messing around and isn't perfect. Potentially, she's trying to live up to what she preaches and is having a hard time.

I think a lot of the conflict is teenage angst and him being a little brother. She's the only constant in his life, he may have took that a little for granted and when she got cursed it brought into sharp relief the differences in their reality of being a sorcerer and non-sorcerer. No he's the one who has to protect her and he's been left alone. It's easier to probably harbor resentment for her doing something as 'stupid' as getting cursed than confront that their relationship wasn't on the best terms when she fell into a coma and there's no way for him to fix it anymore.

It had a lot of potential to have gotten better if Tsumiki remained, or if she came back any time that wasn't the Culling Games and they got to grow up together. But alas....It's less toxic and more "bad timing".

Also SVSSS fav???? They're so rare to find right? Omg yes!!!

I've only read SVSSS and MDZS, I haven't gotten around to TGCF but my irl friend and everyone online says it's the best one. I'm just intimidated by how long it is. I might get around to to it someday but who knows.

SVSSS is definitely less deeper than the other two but it's got its own charms. I know in terms of everything it's lesser but idk, the potential and the meta story is really intriguing. The extra chapters changed my entire perspective on so many characters (Shen Jiu my guy you had so much potential I am sorry).

Also hmmmm I haven't really thought about them in terms of like, best protagonist, best couple, best male lead.....If I really had to rank then:

Best Protagonist: Wei Wuxian, novel version especially. He's a lot more flawed and genuinely devious in a lot of place in there. I love his arrogance and his confidence.

Best Male Lead: Luo Binghe. Pathetic man, horribly evil. I love you king.

Best Couple: Mobei-jun/Shang Qinghua tied with Yue Qingyuan/Shen Jiu

I like side couples and rarepairs that have no content I hate my life why do I do this to myself? MoShang;s dynamic when it focuses on SQH being MBJ's creator and in many ways, equally powerful or more powerful than him is fun. YQY and SJ are so tragic like, love toxic doomed yaoi.

[konu-d]

If I ever had a standard in which I wanted to make sure I always wrote the romance in my stuff to it’d be Hualian (Hua Cheng x Xie Lian from Tian Guan Ci Fu)

Cause I mean get you a guy who thinks he doesn’t deserve to be with you but would die and kill for you all the same and also wait for you for 800 years while you’re just being a little guy with so much baggage that you’re shocked someone like that even exists for you, yanno, the romance, the mild codependency, the attachment, clinging onto you like a ghost because isn’t love the greatest curse of all

Main issue though is most of my stuff involves pathetic traumatized girlfailures usually disguised in bad bitch clothes so it’s a wee bit hard getting past the character development phase enough for them to actually Get Into a romance

Hell one of my scrunkles (Ayumu) wasn’t even supposed to get a romance until my friend bopped me over the head and was like “No” (there was more depth to it than that but that’s the basic summary) and they proceeded to give him two (TWO?!) boyfriends like wth man he even had a therapy arc. a THERAPY arc, what timeline am I even in right now

Sartre (HSR oc) is just. Ngl he’s a character study plot device more than anything, the ‘romance’(sort of) is a new addition, the closest he got to a romance was his emo boy phase which he now regrets immensely (He liked Blade. It did not last long.)

Like

Idk man I set myself up with these standards and then I do everything in my power to veer AWAY from them lmfao

[evilovesyou]

Tell me about Xie Lian bestie.

in reference to this.

Yes. Okay. I WILL TELL YOU ABOUT XIE LIAN. Because I love him SO. MUCH.

My favourite thing about him is how he's just so kind? And how he so unapologetically expects the best of people, always. He gives everything and never expects anything in return, you know??

Even in his "calamity days", when he's beaten down over and over again and he experiences every unkindness, every way of slander and hatred, he still only needs a single person to be kind to him to get back up. That's so fucking profound.

And don't even get me started on the way he always goes out of his way to make everyone comfortable. He looks away from things he knows are only superficial, little white lies (i.e. Feng Xin and Mu Qing pretending to be Nan Feng and Fu Yao), but the second he senses an Actual InjusticeTM, he won't fucking rest until he's solved it and he doesn't care who he pisses off on the way there (the whole Banyue arc for example).

He's so ????? He's incredibly strong, but SO FUCKING GENTLE. Like, this man could easily beat 99% of the heavenly officials in a fight, even with his two cursed shackles, yet he's humble, even refuses to engage. Xie Lian invented nobility.

I also love how much of a nerd he is. He gets so excited about swords and weapons?? I can only imagine the sparkle in his eyes when Hua Cheng first shows him the armory in Paradise Manor! God, I love when people have their thing, you know? And he treats any weapon with such respect too... Ugh E-Ming is like a literal puppy in front of him and he's (rightfully) so endeared by it! He canonically takes this scimitar to the bath with him??? And pets it all the time?? Goals. I want a pet sword, please.

And then lets talk about how he takes the time to actually get to know people. Obviously this is about Hua Cheng mostly, who everyone warns him about, yet Xie Lian refuses to listen to rumors and gets to know the guy himself. Because he knows how rumors are. And because Hua Cheng is nothing but kind to him, he actively speaks up against those rumors. And he does this all the time. He always stands up for those who are treated unfairly. (Though Hua Cheng is a bit of an arrogant asshole to everyone else, he is right, and that counts far more than rank or etiquette or reputation.)

One of my favourite things is, how horny he is for Hua Cheng without realising that's what he's experiencing. His first thought upon seeing Hua Cheng's hands is "I sure wouldn't wanna be choked by those" and yet he still goes through another 200+ chapters trying to justify that he wants to kiss him all the time. He's so smart, but so dumb and oblivious, and that's just lovely.

He's so awkward, too! Despite being gracious, beautiful, socially aware, and kind... He's still awkward! He just... he has the range, darling! Doesn't he?

Idk it's like 1am and I could go on forever, but what I really wanna say is that I love Xie Lian for being so facetted, for containing multitudes and juxtapositions and for trying so hard to do the right thing. If Hua Cheng ever kicks the bucket, I'm happy to take over as dianxia's truest believer. Thank you for coming to my ted talk.

[momoliee]

Hi....if you don't mind me asking, can I ask, who are your top 5 favorite TGCF characters? And why do you like them? Sorry if you've answered this question before....

Hi it’s totally fine!

[1. Mu Qing 2. Xie Lian 3. Pei Ming 4. Shi Qingxuan 5. He Xuan] [Honorary mentions : Hua Cheng and Quan Yizhen]

1. Mu Qing : born on the lower class side of an elitist, classist country, mu Qing had to work from a very young age to prove for his poor, sick mother. He’s had to endure the constant flaunting and bullying of the rich, endure being looked down upon and treated as dirt even tho those people weren’t much better than him in terms of cultivation or sword ability. Then he meets the crown prince and his body guard, and despite this guy being a filthy rich royalty, he still extends a kind hand, still treats him as an equal. It’s why for the first time, Mu Qing actually feels less, he feels inferior in terms of personality and wealth and capability and just, in terms of everything. Mu Qing then has to battle to incompatible emotions within him : jealousy and admiration. But mu Qing knows what’s right and what’s not, so he shoves the jealousy deep deep down cause Xie lian is his FRIEND, Xie lian is the guy who helped him. Yes they fall out, and it’s all mu qing’s fault for acting so cowardly, but not a day passes that he doesn’t spend it feeling guilty and horrible and hating his own existence for what he’s done. And when they meet again, he can’t confront him, can’t face him with what he’s done. So he acts like a little dick and picks on him. Helping him without telling anyone. You know, just being a tsundere. Their reconciliation is my favorite part, mu Qing admitting to all his thoughts and faults, and with all the vulnerability that he never allowed himself to ever expose, he reaches out a hand and asks to be his friend. Deep down hes a good guy, it’s just that he happens to be a prideful coward and an ass on the surface tho. (I can write a whole meta analysis on him but there are still 4 more characters so imma stop here)

2. Xie lian : I initially thought he was gonna be like, the stereotypical extremely nice and kind character who always smiles in the face or hardship and never complains. Basically the vanilla character that ive stopped liking a long long time ago. But he surprised me. Xie lian is an extremely three dimensional character who isn’t always kind or nice. Xie lian cries, complains, screams and yells, lashes out and WILL go full apeshit mode when hes driven to his limit. He will blame others for not seeing how hard he’s trying, but he will still continue to try anyway. He thought that kindness was the easiest choice to make, only to realize that kindness is the kind of choice that only matters when you still make it despite being UNABLE to afford making it. What does it mean to be rich and donate a small portion of your money compared to being poor and donating the only meal you managed to find to someone who is more in need. It’s why I love him. He’s a traumatized character through and through and him finally being allowed to heal is like a balm on my heart.

3. Pei ming : beloved manwhore, most precious slut of ours. The comic relief, hualian’s number one shipper and supporter and fan. Cleanest member of the heaven (besides fenqing). This man will have his fling then shower the woman with riches and make sure she’s well taken care of even if the sparks of desire have long since been extinguished. The most charming. Covering up for his friends no matter what. I just, I love him ok.

4. SQX : I’ve always found her/him extremely endearing and was always so so fond of him/her. She’s bubbly and kind and would always listen to you and never turn a deaf ear to a cry of help. But she wouldn’t complain, no matter what befell her she would take it without so much as a protest. The kind of friend everyone needs, especially Xie lian. The kind of sunshine energy that we all need some of tbh

5. He xuan : (this post is too long so im just shortening the metas bit by bit) extremely complex character, had everything taken from him, suffered some of the absolute worst trauma that he couldn’t recover from, and after being thoroughly emptied out, he filled himself up with revenge in order to keep going. Cause how else was he gonna keep going? Met someone who may or may not have made the years easier on him, only for said person to abandon him too. And after his revenge was complete, he went back to the initial emptiness, this pointlessness that dwells deep within him that he can’t get rid of. Idk I just find him very very tragic

Honorary mentions : Hua Cheng for obvious reasons and qyz because he’s the Goodest autistic boy who only ever wants to repay the people who were kind to him with 10x the kindness

[kaz3313]

My Mom’s Sexuality, (low key) sex life, and relationship status of TGCF characters she knows (we are on Chap 70, so the second book btw)

(Also y’all can disagree, but like these are my Moms hcs so don’t like argue here 👁, okay. Free to reblog/react tho, I’m typing this out for a reason lmao)

Implied NSFW but nothing in detail

*Xie Lian: Gay, in denial, kinda. No knowledge of sex, thinks San Lang is suave and the best(tm)

*Hua Cheng: Likes Xie Lian (gay? Bi? Unknown). No actual knowledge on sex. Tries and Gege likes it. Good

*Feng Xin: Gay, but doesn’t know it+ in denial. (also she low key ships Xie Lian/Feng Xin and also Mu Qing/Xie Lian and sees them as fighting over him in Xian Le times)

*Mu Qing: Bi, doesn’t know/in denial. (She also had an epiphany and said “OH THEY LOVE/HATE EACH OTHER!! THEY THINK THE FEELING IS HATE AND THEY ACTUALLY LIKE EACH OTHER. HAHA” for Feng Xin/Mu Qing)

*Shi Qing Xuan: Bi, fem preference. Knows a lot, and tells “Ming Yi” about it. Likes tits, whether she has them or others have them it’s all good 👍

*”Ming Yi”: ? Didn’t discuss much. Pan(?). Is chill. Tired of hearing Shi Qing Xuan but @ the same time (My Mom) totally ships them (we love that)

*Pei Ming: Nothing changed from canon 😅

*Pei Su: Was conflicted, at first said he’d be similar to Pei Ming but backtracked. Straight, has a committed relationship w/ Ban Yue. She said “He better treat her right!! Or 😠😠”

*Ban Yue: W/ Pei Su. Had no other ideas for her. (But she does love her~)

*Ling Wen: Straight. Lots of guys love her, but she doesn’t give them a chance. Not in a relationship because she has other priorities. Worship kink~

*Qi Rong: Bi and proud (he eats WOMEN and MEN as my mom put it). Has a kinda Harem, but if he doesn’t like what they do he eats them (OKAy MOM). “Needs an intervention/to actually take the time for a relationship” 😌. Said yes rights to Lang Qian Qiu/Qi Rong, But I’ll explain the dynamic more below

*Lang Qian Qiu: Never got taught properly the birds and the bees (thanks Xie Lian), Is clueless. She said she can see Qi Rong making a nasty joke (while their fighting) and Lang Qian Qiu “You want to suck what? Is that like eating me?? No, you can’t eat me??” And Qi Rong being baffled enough to try and explain it.

*Jun Wu: Straight and has a wife who bosses him around. Says he’s too old to care anymore/has settled down from when he was young (LMAO)

*Guoshi: Old Gay man who has a flamboyant husband, but he himself can pass as straight.

Characters I forgot/didn’t ask : XUAN JI IM SORRY I SWEAR ILL ASK HER TOMORROW <33. Lang Ying and Little Ying (idk if she’d answer about these two tbh), We briefly talked about no need going over Xie Lian’s parents lol

Everyone else she’s only heard their name once or twice, so i didn’t bring them up

[lanchang]

one of the things that pisses me off with the novels is how class inequality is handled w/ MQ,like yeah everyone treats him with suspicion,pity or as a weird exotic trinket and after a certain point he snaps and leaves,he literally has to pull himself by his bootstraps to get somewhere,now let's disregard all of that backstory and have people(HC and FX)mistreat him for the lols,like idk esp with HC it makes me uncomfortable how the narrative treats this whole thing(nonsensical rambling,sorry)

oh yeah it sucks like the broom thing is actually cruel everyone disregards his feelings and mocks him for something that was completely out of his control and i really do feel so bad for him like he really did work so hard and he does have a good heart and he just doesnt get the respect he deserves and has earned. unfortunately i think it makes a lot of sense that he is mistreated in that way. i have problems with the way tgcf handles certain aspects of its story, but for the most part not this one tbh. it is common for people from a poor background to be looked on like that, even when theyve been able to climb out of it (and not to discredit mu qing's hard work, but this pretty much only happens with the help of someone from a higher status. and thats unfair and it shouldnt be like that but it is often the case!!)

classism is real like that and the way its depicted with mu qing shows it pretty well imo even way back in the flashbacks like the other disciples at the palace who bully him for the cherry picking thing and pretty much just say "wow look at this guy taking food to feed his poor family" when there is LITERALLY nothing wrong with that in any way at all its not even like the cherries are off limits its just cherries. its not morally wrong it at all and its not against the rules but they just dont like him and they use the fact that he's a servant and poor against him. its not right!! but it does happen. and even 800 years later despite mu qing ascending he was still once a kid from a poor neighborhood and while maybe not everyone knows that anymore, it never stops being true.

its interesting to me that both he and hua cheng came from pretty similar backgrounds (although hc also had the whole being cursed thing etc. also i desperately wish his background in xianle and in the 800 years was expanded on more it BOGGLES my mind that mxtx just took those details about him out im like PUT IT BACK IN!!! i know this thing is xie lian's pov but come on pleasepleaseplease) but they have such an antagonistic relationship with each others. obviously a huge difference is the way they interact with xie lian its such an interesting contrast that hc just adores him completely while mq was actually his friend but also his servant so he had a much more complicated relationship with him (this is also why im more invested in the trio than i am in hua/lian, i love complexity and i dont find the simply devoted thing that compelling in the long run. there are still things about them that i think are impactful and i do relate to aspects of it, but to me personally it feels like an incomplete story) i dont much to say on that right now, its something i want to pay attention to in my reread because i do think its interesting. on the one hand sometimes people from similar backgrounds like that can stick together and understand each other. on the other hand sometimes they can judge each other harsher than anyone else because of how theyve internalized things also in general i think sometimes we can judge people who are similar to us quite a bit because we think we know better than them

this ended up being so long and i just dumped all my thoughts on you sorry!! 😅😅😅 this is part of the story i do find really interesting its part of why mu qing is such a fave of mine theres a lot going on and for all that he often says the wrong thing in the wrong way, he's much more aware of how the world works than the other two because he's lived it and hes right!! when he does leave he's right!! everything he says that they need to do to survive xl and fx end up doing after he leaves he was right!! and after 800 years he still gets everything thrown back in his face it isnt right!!! but i do unfortunately think that its very real </3

[vroomian]

hi! i absolutely LOVE your tgcf au thank you for writing it! i was wondering how he would interact with some of the more prominent canon characters, like the main couple, the three tumors as well as he xuan and sqx as well as their opinions on him since he’s like a giant outlier. i was also curious about how he got some of those ridiculous titles lmao. any particularly ridiculous adventures?

i haven’t actually gotten that far into tgcf so i don’t know who most of these characters are (whoops) but for xie lian? yrz took one look at the weirdo covered in bandages and went ‘oh my god a normal person’. after 2k years of dealing with some of the most arrogant d-bags around, yrz can clock the size of a person’s ego at fifty paces and xl? he’s a regular person with a regular ego. but then yrz learned who xl was and went... ‘.. oh no....a Protagonist...but...a normal conversation...’ and proceeded to slowly fail to keep away from xl because he was just so normal and nice! they friends =) . (possibly more??? is yrz gonna end up the filling in a cannon sandwich again??? idk i haven’t decided)

hua Cheng, after realizing what a sarcastic asshole yrz is due to Shenanigans Yet to Be Decided, likes him a lot pretty much against his will. like, almost as much as xl (he’s never gonna like anyone better than xl, let us be real). plus he’s never forgotten how many nights he didn’t go to sleep hungry due to yrz’s temples giving out food. 

For titles, I only have the two mentioned in the fic so far, but i know he’s got a couple more. for Humble Scholar Bows to Lotus, he was dragged to a mortal party by some young idiot gods (this was around year one hundred of being a god and no one realized quite how powerful yrz would end up being so no one tried to make him stay in heaven) and got ditched there. he drinks in a corner because of course he does, and turns out it was some preeety strong wine -- like. strong enough to intoxicate a god. Why did these random humans have such strong wine? *shrug emoji*

so, yrz, drunk out of his mind, walks to the middle of a random lotus pond because he’s a god and fuck it he can cosplay Jesus if he wants. there’s only one lotus in the lake because it’s the wrong climate/season or whatever. all of the mortals around see him doing this and go what the fuck, because obviously. yrz sits in the middle of the pond and starts bitching about being ditched at a party again, isn’t he supposed to be beyond this as a god, blah blah, whatever. to the mortals, who can’t hear him, yrz looks like an ethereal young man dressed as a scholar who walked on water and started conversing with a single lotus flower sitting in the middle of the lake. after some time, the mortals witness yrz bow deeply to the lotus flower (’thanks for listening to my bitching’), get up, and turn into a pillar of light (ascending to heaven to sleep off the hangover). before he goes, he hiccups and loses control of his godly powers the tiniest bit. The lotus flower is now glowing slightly. after a second, it begins to grow and grow and grow until the whole pond is almost smothered with lotus flowers, every single one of them perfectly formed. one of the mortals recognizes yrz as a god from his homeland and says ‘he must have gained some advice about perseverance from the flower and helped it cultivate in gratitude!’ and everyone else goes sure that makes sense. they start praising yrz for his humble nature, a rare god willing to listen to the advice of a single lotus flower, hence Humble Scholar Bows to Lotus. yrz wakes up to a new title, a new shrine around the lotus pond, and a case of terminal embarrassment. he swears off drinking and parties altogether. (the shrine becomes the site of his biggest, most important temple, and the lotus flower still blooms there all year round.)

Blue Glass Blade Cuts Heaven is slightly less embarrassing, but yrz still refuses to think about it. one day yrz gets an offering from a famous glass sculptor -- an incredibly beautiful sword made of blue glass. Even the hilt and pommel are glass. yrz loves this sword, but he’s not big on purely ornamental things and his followers know that, so he goes to test it out like you do. he descended to the mortal world because gods are getting annoyingly curious about what he’s doing around this time (about 500 years after ascending, about half his generation is gone already but yrz just keeps getting stronger). he asks a lady where a place nobody lives is becasue he doesn’t want to hurt anyone while testing his cool new sword, and gains a guide in the form a scared young man. in fact, everyone is scared, but yrz isn’t paying attention because new sword. the guide takes yrz a day away to a place that feels dead, and yrz is please because yeah nothing lives here, sweet. Thanks guide, ignores guides stuttered warnings and draws his sword. guide isn’t leaving for some reason, so yrz points away from him -- and swings.

fun fact: the sword is not ornamental.   

it not only doesn’t break, in fact, it’s so well made that it concentrates yrz’s qi into the cut. there's nothing but destruction for at least a mile. the clouds above are scattered. yrz is like hm. HM. hhhhhmm. that’s awkward. the guide starts thanking him in tears, babbling about some sort of evil tree or something sucking the life out of the area and apparently yrz cut it down on accident? yrz tells the guide his name because the guy won’t let go of his robes until he does, and nopes right out of there by meeting himself back up into heaven. miss me with that emotional shit, yo. only it turns out that the sword was strong enough to pierce all the way to heaven, and left a nasty gash in the main square. yrz goes to hide in his cave for a few years to avoid the backlash before anyone finds out it’s him. they do find out eventually, but no one is willing to push it by then for some reason. yrz is pleased he dodged a bullet. 

until prayers start coming in for Blue Glass Blade Cuts Heaven. the rest is history.