#i love shi wudu

[blooming-periwxnkle]

It's kinda crazy when you think about how Ming Yi is basically the less ghastly version of He Xuan. And he was there by Shi Qingxuan's side for centuries, and yet Shi Wudu never found out. He never recognized him.

Imagine being in He Xuan's shoes - like this guy pretty much ruined his life and is indirectly responsible for the deaths of everybody who was dear to him. Shi Wudu rarely descends. But on the eve of Hanlu, he went down to check if he really died or not. He Xuan remembered his face. It probably haunted him during his times at Mt Tonglu, but when he finally meets this person, there is nothing on his face, no shock or horror.

He forgot him, forgot the face of the boy whose life he ruined.

He never bothered to remember. As if he never had a life.

It kind of reminds me of this scene from a manga called Yona of the Dawn. The protagonist is a princess who's on the run. She had lived a sheltered life and was trying her best to adjust to her new life. One day, she had to hunt a fawn for food, and one of her friends asked her if she would be okay with watching it, and she replied that she isn't. It's still hard for her. But she said that in the palace, thousands of animals were slaughtered every day to feed the royal family, and she never paid attention to it. But now, if she averts her eyes, it would be like refusing to acknowledge that the poor creature had a life.

Shi Wudu ruined his life for the sake of his brother, but let alone remorse, he even forgot what he looked like. He was there by his brother's side for centuries, and yet it never struck him, not until the moment his survival was on the line. If he was guilty, would it have changed anything? Would it bring He Xuan's family and the life he lost back? No, but at least it would ensure that his life meant something, anything.

And even after he recognizes him, his first reaction still is not guilt, not remorse. But a question, "You're alive?", perhaps an indirect way of saying, 'did I make a mistake that day?' Or 'did I fail to clear such an important evidence of my crime?'

The person whose life and afterlife is a consequence of his crime, the first thing he says to him is that.

"Noble people really are forgetful'', and He Xuan really meant it. He experienced it himself. For centuries.

[yeyayeya]

QUEEN YUSHI HUANG WE FINALLY GOT AN ILLUSTRATION OF HER SHE IS SO BEAUTIFUL!!!!!(back off Pei Ming its my turn)

And He Xuan????? Omg he looks fucking amazing (he even got matching couple tattoos with Qingxuan look at them they’re so cute 🥰)

I need the short film and Season 3 SO BAD

[larothoughts]

shi wudu thoughts (tgcf spoilers)

ok so i don't look into fan stuff until after i finish a series and for some reason i keep having wildly different impressions of events than other people?? maybe i just can't read lol

for example: i always thought the reason shi wudu strangled shi qingxuan was to force he xuan to make the choice instead of sqx.

like, there this asshole is torturing sqx, forcing him to pick between two terrible options as a twisted way of bringing sqx down to he xuan and shi wudu's level. he wanted to make the only innocent party in this fiasco dirty his hands by choosing, because until now swd had always shielded sqx. he never had to face the two-men-one-cup problem as swd always bore the guilt of choice for the both of them. sqx's naive optimism (paid for by he xuan's tragedy) is therefore both infuriating and endearing to he xuan. and after days of trying to get sqx to not interfere, he finally decides that sqx must suffer for his ignorance.

so there he xuan is menacing the two of them: sqx crying and having a meltdown and still trying to find a way out of this with both his brother and best friend intact. swd powerless and at he xuan's mercy, snapping at sqx to pull himself together. i know the common interpretation is very face value: that swd would rather he and sqx die than be cursed to wander around with horrible fates.

i just find it more interesting to consider that swd's last act successfully took the choice out of sqx's hands.

my assumption when reading was that swd did not actually want sqx to die. he simply knew the best way to keep sqx from choosing was to force he xuan to kill swd first. remember, swd has watched over sqx and 'ming yi' for centuries at this point. these last few days have also made him aware of how he xuan consistently protects sqx even now. the best way to get him to abandon his plan and kill swd outright, then, is to threaten one of the few things he xuan still seems to care about: sqx's life.

swd's sudden beheading achieved everything he wanted: sqx spared the guilt and regret of having to make one choice over the other; swd cemented in the role of the ultimate villain even to his brother by his attempted fraticide; and the last leg of he xuan's plan derailed. even better, it was a sign to he xuan that shi wudu knew.

the main takeaway i got from the shi brothers' backstory was that swd would do literally anything to keep his brother safe. maybe that's why i figured the only way he'd try to strangle sqx to death was if he was absolutely sure he xuan would kill him before he succeeded. it was swd's final fuck you to he xuan, forcing him acknowledge the steep price of his revenge: his relationship with sqx, and the affection shi wudu knows he still holds for him.

[karminaugen]

Lord Water Master did some things wrong

[muzsmocsing]

TGCF headcanons to free up storage space in my brain

Some of these might go against canon but so does every same sex ship that isn't hualian so. Bear with me.

♥️ Hua Cheng is significantly lighter than he looks. The man weighs like two and a half twigs + whatever mountain of jewelry he has on that day. The only person who knows this is Xie Lian because no one else has had the audacity to try lifting a calamity.

♥️ Hua Cheng worked on his glowup so hard he forgot how to do casual. He pulls up to 7AM breakfast in complete ghost king regalia and a full beat.

♥️ Yin Yu is actually pretty content working for Hua Cheng most of the time. Sure, he's melodramatic the way only romantic era poets could afford to be but the pay is good and the lack of coworkers is a plus.

♥️ He Xuan on the other hand HATES IT. Being a spy is interesting work but after the 16th time he's had him describe Xie Lian's exact same outfit + hair + pretty smile + voice + general mood + if he seems lonely + if he's been eating well in excruciating detail he started contemplating if it's possible for a water demon to drown himself.

♥️ Xie Lian's straw hat is a spiritual device. It's the same one a man gave him before his second ascension, and it was such an emotionally charged moment the hat accidentally took on power. It doesn't do much but it's indestructible and waterproof.

♥️ Feng Xin has dimples.

♥️ Despite not having talked much, Shi Qingxuan considers Hua Cheng a good friend. She saw his true form for the first time and was like "Thank goodness I'm not the only one serving cunt here 🙏" and has been harassing him for his tailor's address since.

♥️ Pei Ming has had one (1) stable relationship that's stood the test of time, and that is his on and off friends with benefits deal with Shi Wudu. The man is already married to That Grind🔥💯 so there is zero pressure for him to get hitched, therefore he doesn't feel the need to run.

♥️ Shi Wudu is lowkey transphobic to Qingxuan sometimes all while looking like the most androgynous diva to ever exist. He wears blue eyeliner and acrylics. No he does not see the irony.

[monhiio]

They`re getting along just swell!!

[junesfool]

[nanocados]

When idiots come in a package of three, that’s the good stuff right there 👯‍♀️

[mxtxfanatic]

Fandom Gripe #23: I know that fandom is in some deep denial about its treatment of female characters that are canonically involved with fan favorite m/m ships, but do y’all realize that when you disappear female characters from the narrative wholesale to push the idea that your canonically straight fav was “secretly gay all along!” you’re making several bad implications? That 1) bi men don’t exist, 2) bi men do exist, but those who have genuinely loved a woman before cannot genuinely love a man after that (therefore bi men don’t exist in practice), 3) women cannot inspire genuine love and devotion in men, therefore any relationship with a woman is “lesser” than the one they later have a man (see previous parenthesis), or 4) to acknowledge the existence of a lovable woman who isn’t a terrible person, where if a relationship previously existed, it did not end because of “incompatibility,” is enough to destabilize the present relationship between two queer men?

Because why is the tgcf fandom allergic to acknowledging that He Xuan had a whole ass fiancée that he loved? Why does no one ever seem to remember that the kidnappings and murders of He Xuan’s sister and fiancée were the final straws that sent him on his rampage, and he still keeps a shrine to them in the present-day of the story? Why is her entire existence and significance to He Xuan as a man, character, and to his character arc disappeared in favor of pushing Shi Qingxuan—the brother of the man responsible for his fiancée’s death—into that same role, as if to say that her impact on He Xuan is significant... just not when it's from her? Why does He Xuan’s life in fandom essentially begin not just after her death but because of it?

[lazycranberrydoodles]

fanart i did 5 months ago and forgot to post. lyrics from “siren” by kailee morgue🌊

[happypeachsludgeflower]

I know that technically when a god dies they die completely, unable to reenter the cycle of life and death, but the way a god dies is by all their believers abandoning them. Shi Wudu was decapitated by He Xuan, but I don’t think that necessarily destroyed his following. After the main series, it’s plausible for Shi Wudu to reform (whether as a god or a ghost) out of devotion and love for his brother, now with the purpose to save Shi Qingxuan from his inevitable death.

[guangshi-091305]

Is it me or there's way too many parallels between Shi Siblings (TGCF) and Nie Siblings (MDZS). Like the overprotective big brothers, the huffing but adoring younger brothers, older brothers who work way too much and hard and younger brothers who tend to make friends and have more fun than anything. Both pair of siblings was, in their own way, madly obsessed with keeping their siblings safe and when that safety was threatened, everyone around them suffered.

But there's one thing thats kinda baffling to me, with everything mentioned, there were parallels between Shi Wudu and Nie Mingjue and Shi Qingxuan and Nie Huaisang... but the part about doing the most unhinged, wrong, unbelievable, downright evil vengeful and almost impossible things for your brother part?? Thats a parallel SWD and NHS share. The only differences I see are that SWD took a proactive approach... meddling with fate before SQX was truly harmed while NHS chose the reactive approach, manipulating everyone like chess pieces after NMJ was murdered.

I am prolly rambling and making nonsense connections but... hear me out guys tell me you see it too!!

[potatosaresweet]

yall know that one political opponment of caesar who called him ''the husband of all women and wife of all men''? this is how i feel about pei ming

[skygemspeaks]

i love shi wudu as a character btw

something something love taken to an extreme becomes ruthlessness

love me a man who's willing to do unspeakable things to protect his baby brother

love me a man who is completely unapologetic of his actions even in the face of those he has wronged

love me a man who's celebrating, even in the face of his own death, because don't you see? he WON. he and his brother lived centuries of luxury and love and devotion and prestige and power. i eat that shit up.

[chaos-of-the-abyss]

[warning: spoilers]

omg!! omg omg omg!! i see you've been blogging about tgcf!!

ughhhh interesting timing, especially since I just recently got into a slump because of that damn drama audio of shi qingxuan crying in the [yk-what-scene.] 😭 i wonder if you've seen it?

anyways!!! back to my suffering agenda,

what are your thoughts on He Xuan's seemingly tragic ending?

If my sources are right,

Shi qingxuan can't reincarnate and will die, and He Xuan, out of guilt, will look after him from afar until Shi qingxuan's eventual death. Then afterwards, He Xuan disappears because he has no reason left to live. (based on an interview).

What do you think of this?

Also, do you think Ji Wudu got what he deserved? Should he have suffered more?

Were you satisfied with Ji Wudu's death scene and He Xuan's revenge? Or do you wish it played out differently?

That's all!!

Ack! Sorry if it's too much questions, I just got excited 😅❤️

thank you! 🙏♥️🙏

don't apologize anon! i'm always down for a yap session lol. also for anyone who hasn't finished tgcf, anyone who or plans to read it... HERE BE SPOILERS. MASSIVE SPOILERS. PLEASE DO NOT PROCEED PLEASE

i believe it's correct that shi qingxuan cannot enter the cycle of reincarnation and once he dies he's dead -- from my understanding, both ghosts and heavenly officials are barred from rebirth. i do not think there's any novel basis that he xuan will be looking out for him, though -- if this is the same mxtx interview i'm thinking of, it's actually misinfo spread on tiktok. tbh, i don't think there's any novel basis that he xuan feels too terrible about what he's done to shi qingxuan in the first place. that's the whole point of his story imo: that he used to be such a hardworking, kind, and hopeful person, who was happy with his parents, sister, and fiancee despite the little they had. but the injustice of his life beat him down so much to the point that in his rage he emerges as a supreme-class ghost king who will hurt others the same way he was hurt without a care so long as it's for his revenge. i mean, what he does to the real ming yi, and later to shi qingxuan, reflects different aspects of what shi wudu did to him (stealing a person's identity and fate, and ripping a person's sibling away from them in a horrible way). he xuan is someone who's become so consumed by his hatred and resentment that, while he still retains a certain sense of fairness, he's still a fundamentally vicious and remorseless person.

as for what will become of he xuan, i personally think he'll either destroy his own ashes or will disperse eventually. he's had his revenge, and has nothing concrete tying him to the mortal plane anymore. i think the reason he's still around by the end is that he's unsatisfied with his vengeance, and that's because he didn't get to wring true remorse out of shi wudu; he was denied that vindication for his family. he never saw the moment that shi wudu truly understood how horribly he'd hurt him and his loved ones -- because shi wudu refused to feel that guilt. he refused to feel remorse over subjecting innocent people to such horrible fates, because he loves shi qingxuan too much to regret doing what he did to protect him. i also think he's deliberately trying to hurt he xuan as much as possible even in his death -- his cruel declaration that he's won, that no matter what he xuan does to him or his brother now, they're the ones who lived for centuries in prosperity and godhood and nothing he xuan does can undo that -- was a colossal and pointed middle finger, an indication of his refusal to give he xuan the satisfaction. and he xuan absolutely hates that shi wudu never felt sorry, even until the end.

i do think that he'll eventually make his peace with his revenge and how unfulfilling it was, though. i mean, there's nothing else he can do. and if that happens he'll have truly let go of the last thing keeping him in the world and will disperse. if he can't make that peace, as i said, i think he would destroy his ashes. it's once again a matter of there being no other path forward for him, because he's had his revenge, however unsatisfying it was, and he has no way of meeting his family or miao-er again. if he continues to stay around there'll be nothing but misery and grief and dissatisfied emptiness for him, and i just don't think he xuan would care for an existence like that. it would take him a while -- a very long time actually, i think -- but imo he'd commit ghost suicide eventually

as for whether shi wudu deserved it... i am a he xuan stan. he is by far my favorite character in tgcf aside from hualian. he deserved to do worse to shi wudu... is what i'd say, but that's my love for him talking and the fact that i just sympathize with him more than i do with shi wudu despite both of them having their reasons, and i'll explain why: his and his family and fiancee's sheer powerlessness in the face of their circumstances was so intrinsically tied to their lower class that it always gets me. especially his sister and miao-er -- they were forced to become sex slaves to a rich family, and no one was able to do anything about it because this family had wealth and power. his sister killed herself, unable to bear the suffering, and miao-er was beaten to death. given that these sort of class dynamics are unfortunately very real issues that lead to very similar occurrences irl, it's just something i have to feel veryyy strongly about.

from the standpoint of impartial analysis of the text though, i think the more accurate answer is that... well, there really isn't one. shi wudu was wrong for what he did to he xuan and his family, nobody can argue against that -- but would you not also go to any horrible lengths you could to protect your little sibling? in fact, didn't he xuan go to very similar lengths to avenge his little sister, and his parents and fiancee? at their core, he xuan and shi wudu become the same type of ruthless, uncompromising, singleminded person who will do whatever they feel is necessary for their loved ones, and not feel guilt for it. whether i wish shi wudu's death had gone differently, it's the same deal. shi wudu's defiance until the end and his mocking of he xuan does grind my gears, but that's again the biased he xuan stan in me talking. once more from an impartial standpoint, it makes perfect sense narratively that shi wudu would act the way he did. he and he xuan are parallels. they're supposed to be very similar to each other. he xuan feels no remorse -- not for what he did to the real ming yi nor for what he did to shi qingxuan -- and shi wudu feels no remorse, either. so yeah, the "he xuan did nothing wrong!!!!!" blinking neon sign in my brain aside, i think shi wudu's death scene is perfect from a thematic perspective. i wouldn't change it, because that would tamper with the message of the blackwater arc and the message of, and the dynamic between, he xuan, shi wudu, and shi qingxuan as characters.

[nootcatt]

There was recently a discussion in the discord server about who is stronger between He Xuan and Shi Wudu, and I believe it's Shi Wudu. You could even say they're equals, but He Xuan is not stronger and he knows it.

Shi Wudu is thee water tyrant with two heavenly tribulations under his wing. He is the only god who was actually able to change fate. His last speech was not a bluff. He created everything he has for himself. He Xuan, in order to achive what he was, copied him. He Xuan's name is 'ship sinking black water' for a reason. He Xuan can be called the white shark if you want but Shi Wudu was the orca of the waters.

But Noot, He Xuan ripped his head off.

I know. That doesn't decide who's stronger tho. This arc has no winners, let me remind you of that. You can't tell who is stronger based on who lived and who died.

He Xuan knows that the only thing in life Shi Wudu actually cares for is Shi Qingxuan. Shi Wudu does everything for qingxuan and he will not consider anything a loss if it is good for Qingxuan. Shi Wudu has one rule: end justifies the means. He will trample everything for Qingxuan, as long as his sibling is safe. and He Xuan knows it. The only way to defeat shi wudu is to take qingxuan away from him, and so he does what he did. he decided to lure qingxuan away from shi wudu. That's was why he did with the two options in the end. he gave the brothers options. he told shi wudu to subject qingxuan to harm (which he would never) And he gave qingxuan the option to kill shi wudu (which he refused to do) That was why and how He Xuan failed because he could not separate the brothers.

shi wudu told him that to his face. he cannot bring his family back and he cannot take the live of luxury that qingxuan has already lived. he has failed. that drove he xuan to madness and then when Shi Wudu moved on to take shi qingxuan with him, the only way he xuan could seprate the brothers was to kill one and keep the other alive!

he could have killed shi qingxuan, but that would leave shi wudu alive and if ge is alive, he xuan will be in danger so he leave qingxuan alive and kills Shi Wudu.

there was in fact no victor in the arc. which is why you do not decide who is stronger based on who lived and who died. You decide based on their actions and their characters.