#i like xie lian just a bit too. btw

[mikaelasgraveyard]

something I really love about tgcf is that like, yes its a romance and the romance IS the highlight of the story and everything in it follows along the path to that romantic ending, but I just love how the writing get you to really fucking care about that romance

“that’s a super common thing in romance stories bro” i KNOW but just come walk with me for a second. I love that the story takes us on xie lian’s journey through his third ascension but also through his past that is infinitely fucking important to the present. we have to sit for such long flashbacks within the books where xie lian just gets kicked to the ground and dragged through the dirt like non fucking stop. we see him at his greatest and we see him at his absolute fucking lowest. we are rooting for this poor fail man and feeling all those injustices he faces in our hearts and just fucking. wishing for things to go his way for once and .. by god thats what we get through the romance

we the reader are like sooo fucking aware that hua cheng knew xie lian from ages ago (at least likely aware, it didn’t seem like it was Really a well kept secret) from back in book 2, and then near the end of the book we find that !! not only did he know him as a kid and a teenager in the army but after he died he stayed around JUST for him, and even though he couldnt do much he was there through literally those worst moments of xie lian’s life and fast forward hes still there. devoted as ever after building an empire all in the name of his love and it’s. GOD it was so fucking satisfying to learn.

xie lian deserved that passion and devotion and jsut straight up love after all that bullshit. he went through hell and on the other end of it, after years and years of stumbling through barren wastelands on his own he gets to finally fall into the arms of someone that practically turned the term unconditional love into reality and EMBODIES it. he gets to find out how easy happiness can be. someone to eat his shitty food like how he’d eat his mother’s. someone that was there and saw him so fucked up and through it all loved him all the same and even felt that pain with him … bro deserved the world after everything and got someone that would do fucking anything to give him just that, if not literally then whatever the hell could be closest and i just love it SO much

[boonsmoon]

Foundation of Love (2)

Request: PLS DO 2 PARTS🥺

Ask and ye shall receive Btw; you have the free will of being the goddess of literally anything

Part 1

Request Masterlist Mu Qing x f!reader Genres:🎉🌸💞🧪

Mu Qing and you were like two peas in a pod. It seems your time lacking experience has created an unbreakable bond.

Y'all were so tight in fact that you kept in contact even after you stopped working for Xie Lian. Now you are both Heavenly Officials with an extreme amount of believers and temples!

This; however, lead to a one-sided competition. Friendly, yes, but still odd to compete over who was the better deity. You like to consider yourself a humble goddess though, considering you aren't as prickly with the aesthetic of your temples like Mu Qing.

Ignoring the status you both held, he had this charm that was unlike that of a god, it was greater actually. You both spent enough time together to get to know the little things.

Like how he still remembers when a follower tried to offer a gift that none of your temples would accept 500 years ago. Even you don't remember what the item is on your own without him bringing it up. A fantastic memory but basically useless.

Or how he notices how quick you are to deal with the prayers of your believers. He's a hard-worker yes, but never would he acknowledge a prayer 5 seconds after hearing it. Mu Qing thinks you might be a bit too diligent, or have too much time on your hands.

In the end, you both know each other like the back of your hand. In fact most of the other officials think you two are together, but no! It's actually painful to watch from the sidelines.

Now Feng Xin is a protective older brother, and honestly he can barely tolerate Mu Qing after all these years. But, he can see that Mu Qing makes you happy, and your happiness has priority over his displeasure!

Unfortunately, Feng Xin sucks at this. And whenever he tries to get you to hang out with Mu Qing and ✨confess✨ it ends with you scolding Feng Xin for being an asshole.

It got to the point that one of the goddesses had to sit down and have a talk with you. While the conversation seemed nice, you could tell by the undertone she was basically demanding you admit your feelings to him.

And to be honest? You self reflected and realized he definitely wasn't gonna do it, so you had to. But that's fine, it's the 21st century, these things happen.

What you didn't know; however, was that Feng Xin had a passive aggressive conversation with Mu Qing basically saying the same thing. He NEEDS to confess or else.

With an agreed meeting in a garden, you both told the other you had important information which must be shared with the other. It could be gossip, latest trends among humans, who knows what the other wants to say?

The time of reckoning has come, and you are both visibly nervous. Who wouldn't be? Confessions are kinda tough.

Y'all have come to consensus earlier in your friendship that be straightforward is easiest, no matter what. You started, "s-so basically to make it simple, we need to stop this friendship. Now you go next!"

Mu Qing a look of horror on his face, contemplating on continuing, "I came to tell you we should ascend past a friendship... Be something more, but if that's not what-"

"Fantastic! We're on the same page and can get this over with," you interrupted him. He looked at you like you were insane, "you have a horrible way with words, I'll have you know that."

You lightly laughed, "yeah, but it's just my luck we had the same thing to say." And Mu Qing decided this was the time to be really romantic and kiss you. <3

im back on my cringe

but also i got a sudden burst of energy to WRITE so i MUST

BTW im noticing all my TGCF reqs are Mu Qing, so either the fandom is full of massive simps or theres a shortage of Mu Qing content

not complaining pls keep the reqs coming

[writing-sideblog-behind-books]

Tgcf au where they time travel to the moment that changed their lives

A suspicion blooms in mqs mind and he tries something. "How old are you?" Fx startles clearly not having expected the question. "I was born in the blorb year of the xianle dynasty" His response isn't an answer but its a hint. Fx is a straightforward person and would've said his age if were as simple as mq thinks it isn't. "Why?" Clearly fx isn't willing to risk his secret as easily as that. "I was just wondering if our age was something shared" well neitger is mq. The ball is back in fxs court. "Well how old are you?" Fx seems to be catching on that this might be a secret shared. Something glints in his eyes. Something like hope. "Not sure. What's the year" the glint dies and mq realizes why his answer was wrong. Mq genuinely doesn't know what year it is. He know he was born in year blorb of xianle but hes unsure when exactly his father was killed and he accepted into xie lians service. He only knows it was somewhere after 10 and somewhere between 15, but age has blurred the memories of his time at the palace. A pretty and young person without power doesn't have it easy. Ten would have been too young, too close to fx coming to the palace. Fifteen was when his mothers health took a turn for the worse and he had already been at the palace.

Bit fx doesn't know that fxll think that mq is a disoriented from his time in poverty, aware of how it makes time crawl and extend and diminish one's understanding of it. Mq also refuses to risk it in case fx doesn't share his secret so he tries something else. "You know i used to have a friend." The abrupt change in the conversation seems to confuse fx but for now he keeps listening "his name was nan fang. Sometimes you remind me of him." No one in this time could truly understand what he means by that without knowing the context of the future. Fx gets it. "Well you remind me of fu yao. I uswd to spar with him." A smile emerges on his face. "Im glad you're here. It's been so lonely here." Mq understands not being seen for who you are and having no one by his side. "How long have you been here?" "Since i was accepted as xie lians companion at eight, five years ago. You're 13 btw. You just arrived?" "Yeah. This morning."

* When hc falls once again during the parade and xl catches him fq force the parade to continue and xl backs them. Hc is a tiny dirty child and he looks terrified but when xl presses him into mq's hands during a moment they are close enough for the action to be overlooked he doesn't struggle. Mq hides him as best in his dark, flowing robes - the are supposed to resemble a horrible night where the monster lurks. And as xl deals the "killing blow" he hides him in the folds. Xl makes a big show of his skills and while he draws the attention mq vanishes to the guards. He hands fx the tiny hc. "At least five." He nods to fx a reminder of their earlier promise before quickly changing into another stashed mask and getting a different sword, then returning to the stage. It was never the plan for xl to only face one demon during the ten rounds. It would habe gotten tedious and there were many more stories of jun wu's glory to act out. For thw first round mq is to play different ghosts jw beat. At round six there will be dancers to tell another of jun wu's tales while xl gets a break. in round eight xl will fight against eight, then nine then ten. Standing the victor in the last round. All but their fight scenes are carefully choreographed, the steps having been decided on months ago. Technically they also have a Skript to follow but that went out the window when they began fighting for real in round two. They keep going and by the time the dancers get their turn mq has changed mask and weapon two more times. His body is burning and his spiritual energy straining. He feels so exhausted he doesn't know how xie lian plans to manage the last three rounds. He's exhilarated. Maybe they shouldn't have fought for real but it was so much fun. Xl is sweaty and flushed as he sits down and starts drinking from the prepared glass. There is an exhilarated air to him too. They have about two sticks of incense (30 minutes) before its xl's turn again and mq gets to work immediately. He fixes any one xl's hair that got loose, layers his clothing new so it doesn't look as disseveles. And re does his makeup. Xl asks about the child and mq tells him he gave them to fx and they can look after and xl concedes easily. When the time is up xl looks as refreshed as he did that morning and mq is pleased with his work as re refixes tge mask, sturdier this time. So it won't fall of again. Then the dancers are chased away by "ghosts" and xl gets back on stage to "defend them. Following the pre planned steps perfectly. Mq changes out of his billowing robes into the dark grey, tight ones the others have and grabs a mask and sword identical to theirs then jumps in when round nine begins on his cue.

When the parade is finished and hailed as a big success xl is celebrated by the court and chewed out a bit for the stunt at the beginning and what happened in round three but praised for everything after. Mq stands in his shadow and he can feel how impatient they both are to get away. Finally everyone has congratulated xl and they are free to leave. Fx and the tiny hc are waiting for them in blorb. Hc still looks distressed and immediately starts clinging to xl and bawling. Mq is pretty sure this didn't happen the last time. But more he feels awkward and pitiful at seeing a child so young in distress. He looks to be around ten and while mq knows the potential the child has to grow he doesn't look like that now. He just looks like a tiny, distressed, terrified child. Fx had the foresight to clean him a bit this time but he's still to dirty to be clinging to xl's robes and bawling into them.

Hc it terrified. Hes small powerless and there are people all around him. Then there's a push and he falls. Its a feelig so familiar. Then there are warm arms enveloping him and his highness smiling down. Warmth fills hc but there is no recognition in his highness eyes and he's still tiny and powerless. Then there are swords clashing, his highness face hidden by a mask and suddenly he's pressed against the chest of a masked actor. It's all to much. Then they move fast enough the world blurs and the actor speaks revealing himself the traitor friend as he presses hc into the others arms. Then they are gone. The other friend tells the guards to ensure the parade continues and they follow. After ensuring the parade continues he takes hq to blorb where he blorb. Then after hours of this finally his highness returns, flushed and beautiful. Something in hc snaps at the sight of him and as soon as he feels his touch again he's crying.

"You can't stay at the palace." Mq tells hc "you wouldn't want to." Hed be seen as a stain on xl as a pity project and with daily meals and weekly baths he'd soon enough be pretty for horrible rich people to take a liking to him. Mq wants to spare him that but he also knows hc has no where to go and wants to stay with his highness. Fx is the one to get the solution and break the stalemate on mq's side but not against hc. "You mother." Mq hates it but it would be a great fit for their problem. Hc would get a home, mq's mother a helping hand, mq could easily visit them both. Hc wouldn't nessecarily get to see his highness but it would be the ideal solution. If it did not involve crimson rain sought flower living with his mother. Still, in the end there doesn't find itself a better answer so mq consedes. Hc is powerless and if he grows fond of mqs mother maybe hell be alright to help her when mq isn't able to get the time during busy weeks.

Hc isn't entirely sure why he agreed but now he's living with the traitor friends mother. She tries to raise him and he is instructed to bring her her medicine and make sure she eats. It's not all that bad, her hands in his hair comforting and her voice soothing. It's been to long since his mother died and even throgh this time distortion she's alteady dead. He missed her by two months. Weekly mq comes and brings money, cherries and a bag of rice he bought. Sometimes fx comes with. Xl never does - too busy and too under guard - but grudgingly they tell him how he fares and what he's doing. It's a huge step down from his time as a ghost but so much better that when he was alive. Hc is content. Much to his surprise. He's not as obsessed with xl, though he still loves his highness above all. He hadn't realized how much being a ghost changed him. He'll thinks maybe he doesn't want to die but gamblers den and ghost city need to be build and ni mortal and no god could hold it.

[dreamingthroughwords]

27 and 29 for the AO3 wrapped?

Btw your username is lovely!

thank you so much for the ask :D and thank you!!! sometimes i think that my username is a bit long haha but it embodies the vibes im going for!!<33

#27. What do you listen to while writing? It depends! Sometimes I like to write in the quiet, but others I like to listen to instrumental video game music! Nier Automata soundtrack is one of my go-tos!

#29. Favorite line/passage you wrote this year? Another one of these!!! For variety I'll put in another one I really like. This one from Winner Gets Your Love, because it's just so silly, and 'Gege is my favourite breakfast' makes me laugh, even if it is very cheesy.

“…I don’t think we need breakfast when we can pursue what we were doing before instead?” Xie Lian whispers, still feeling shy about taking command, but he feels so desperate that he couldn’t care less about any embarrassment.  Hua Cheng grins, clearly elated at Xie Lian’s forwardness. “Gege is my favourite breakfast. I’ll be more than happy to indulge in him all morning. All day, even.” Xie Lian blushes and his whole body is red at his husband’s words. “San Lang! You say too much.” “I only speak the truth, Gege.” Oh, Xie Lian knows he always does.

thank you so much for the ask!!! <3 i appreciate it so much!

[agendratum]

i lost it today while reading tgcf btw and wanted to share why, but first - some backstory

so, despite the homophobic laws getting worse and worse in our country by the day, russian edition of tgcf is getting published unaltered. mostly. with the first three books everything went extremely smoothly. after the last year's law there was even an official statement from the censorship committee that stated that no homosexual or transgender propaganda was found in the text (tho idk if by the time this statement was published they only submitted one book or the whole text, but let's hope). the first hiccup happened with the book 4.

the original cover for book 4 was stated to be unacceptable. the committee didn't approve of it even after the artist made some changes, de-gaying it slightly. it is just too obvious from that cover that the demon and the god are about to start violently making out exchanging energy in the temple and we just cannot have that in our beautiful christian country. so the artist very generously made an entirely new cover for our edition, here's for your reference

a funny note about this first image - the publisher made a statement regarding the cover change, and that they did everything they could and suggested all kind of options, but still were told that under not circumstances this image can be spread. and then they added that image to the post "for our reference". my heroes, to be honest

so even after this matter was settled, they just couldn't leave this poor scene alone. sometime before the book was ready to leave the print, the publisher made another statement, basically saying that no matter how they tried, they ended up having to alter one phrasing (not even a phrase - a phrasing). yeah, you guessed it, it was a bit from this scene with them violently making out exchanging energy in the temple.

it was sad, but at least we were warned and prepared. when i got to the, at this point, infamous scene, i could tell it wasn't changed too much. i don't know the original phrasing, but in the text it's still very obvious what they're doing, that is - exchanging energies. violently. with their lips. they just don't have words like "kiss" or "lips" in the text. but they're still doing it, you know, very. clearly.

they even reference the previous time "it" happened, which was in another book in another scene that was not altered, but they just mean exchanging energies of course. and that was what i thought! they took away like one or two words from the text, keeping the scene basically unchanged, but making it slightly low-key. so one could in theory say that, no, they were not making out, the energy transfers well enough through tight hugs. and bros hug. okay? that was what i thought.

until a couple of chapters later a bunch of cultivators show up on xie lian's porch and detect all that demonic energy. on his lips. and then xie lian thinks, oh no, who could have thought that all those embraces and kisses from the temple could have left marks like that.

like he thinks exactly that. embraces. and kisses.

AND THAT IS WHERE I LOST IT CAUSE WHAT WAS THE POINT

so anyway if anyone needed to add another coin into the jar of "censorship is stupid and homosexual propaganda is an arbitrary term that has no definition", you can have it, and may the gods exchange energies with the demons in your temple, good bye

[transactinides]

6 and 31 for the ask game :0

6. 3 characters that inspire you

i dont think i have a tendency to find role models in characters i like (becasue they r either fucked up little guys or already like me fr fr) but if I had to choose... > Chiaki Morisawa enstars - im not done with reading Meteor Impact yet etc, but from what ive seen so far he had a solid character development + I do admire passionate and responsible people :D; > Mitsumi Iwakura from Skip to Loafer - this one is a new one for me, i just recently read the manga but I love her attitude and, again, she is, a passionate and determined type of character; > Xie Lian from tgcf - this guy is a bit (a lot) of a disaster, but he did have crazy character development in the span of the novel, so compared to his state in pre-canon hes now like. the king of remaining optimistic despite the horrors. Hes chilling now.

31. 3 types of flowers you love the most

forget-me-nots my beloved (also shoutout to all blue small flowers yall r the goats)

bird cherry tree flowers (i love the smell a lot too + theres a lot of them where i live which cheers me up a lot Smile. sorry to all the people with allergies)

dandelions (ooooh dandelions my dandelions oooh. the most special little guys ever. perfect for flower crowns!)

This list is on no particular order btw just some of the flowers i like :D

[ticklygiggles]

Ommmgg hiii I haven't interacted much but I have followed you for quite some time bestie and you keep slaying xoxoxoxoxo

As you've opened requests I would like to send one in, the fandom would be tian guang ci fu (hope I spelled that right-)

It's been a while since I've requested something for this fandom even though I absolutely love these idiots and Hua Cheng means quite a lot to me lol, being my first ever comfort character in hard times and NOW even being the inspiration for my non binary name, it's San btw, from San lang you know :>

ANYWAY- I kinda got off topic there hope you don't mind lolol, the request would be maybe something comforting with tkls focused on like the underarms? I've just been not doing that hot and it's my fav spot lololol

Thank you for reading my, perhaps too long but I don't care, ask :3 I appreciate you xoxoxoxo

Aaa thank you so much! I love HuaLian so so much 😭♥️ and I hope you enjoy this!

"Gege, are you asleep?"

His voice was barely a whisper, after all, he knew that Xie Lian was actually asleep, his breathing was still even and his eyes moved from side to side under his closed lids, probably dreaming.

Hua Cheng smiled tenderly. Xie Lian couldn't look more adorable right now. He was laying on his back, body naked under the soft sheet. His hair was messily sprawled all over the pillow and his cheeks were pink with the warmth of sleep.

If there was a beating heart inside Hua Cheng's chest, it might have exploded out of him at that moment. His fingers itched to touch his beloved, but he didn't want to interrupt his sleep, not when he looked so comfortable with one arm under the pillow and the other across his stomach.

He could let him sleep a little longer: five minutes, two hours, six days- as long as Xie Lian wanted, but Hua Cheng missed seeing Xie Lian's beautiful eyes and hearing his wonderful voice as soon as he opened his own eye, and even though he fought the urge, in the end he just couldn't help it and so, he gently dragged his fingertips up Xie Lian's side.

As expected, Xie Lian twitched slightly, his mouth curling into the tiniest of smiles, which could not be compared to the big grin on Hua Cheng's face. Oh, how much he loved how ticklish his lover was. It was definitely one of Xie Lian's many charms. Hua Cheng just couldn't get enough of that sweet laughter filling his ears.

Of course, he wouldn't tickle Xie Lian out of the blue when he was sleeping so comfortably, (at least not today), but he could still stir him up a awake a little, right?

"Gege," he mumbled, fingertips tracing the perfect curve of Xie Lian's waist, his warm skin covering in goosebumps. "Gege, it's time to wake up. Do you hear me?"

Xie Lian made a small noise, something between a hum and a small giggle as Hua Cheng's fingers found his ribs. He traced the bones softly, from the front and all the way to the back, each and everyone of them, causing Xie Lian to squirm slightly and flinch at every extra sensitive spot.

"S-Sahan Lang?" Hua Cheng retracted his hand immediately and he looked innocently at his gege. "What are you doing?" Xie Lian asked, bringing the hand over his stomach to rub at one of his eyes, trying to remove the cobweb of sleep.

"Nothing, Gege," Hua Cheng lied, his smile as mischievous as it could be. "I was just calling you."

Xie Lian hummed, his hand left his eyes to scratch as his tingly ribs. "Hmm, yes, I'll be up... Just a bit more... Yes...?" Before he could get an answer, he fell asleep again.

Hua Cheng looked at him relaxing into their bed again, his chest raising and falling slowly and his hand went into action again. He continued tracing Xie Lian's ribs, chuckling himself as he watched his lover twitch and squirm and even let out tiny giggles the more he moved upwards.

His arm threatened to pull back, but Hua Cheng gently, and quite discreetly, placed his other hand close to Xie Lian's arm as a kind of stopper so that he couldn't lower it. Xie Lian barely noticed.

"Gege," Hua Cheng mumbled, his fingers finally reaching Xie Lian's highest ribs, the one that was making him giggle a bit harder. "What's so funny, Gege?"

Xie Lian let out a giggly hum, arching his back and letting out a delighted squeal when Hua Cheng's fingers traced up his armpit. The touch was light, but Xie Lian was the most ticklish in that spot, so sweet giggles bloomed from his smiling lips, his eyes still closed, clinging to sleep just a little longer, but Hua Cheng thought that maybe that would be unlikely.

He chuckled, "Why are you giggling so much, Your Highness? Are you having good dreams?" He teased, his fingers gently drawing circles against Xie Lian's exposed armpit.

The smooth skin covered in goosebumps as Hua Cheng lightly tickled him there.

"Ahahaha! N-Nohohot thahat plahahace!" Xie Lian giggled brightly, his nose scrunching at the sensations, when Hua Cheng looked up at him, he found Xie Lian's bright eyes trying to focus on what was tickling him. Hua Cheng chuckled.

"Good morning, Gege."

"S-Sahahan Lahang! That- Thahahat-

"What's the matter? Does it tickle, gege?"

The word itself seemed to surprise Xie Lian and he quickly tried to protect his underarm, but Hua Cheng was faster and he gently held Xie Lian's arm in place as he started to scratch at the sensitive skin.

Xie Lian, now wide awake, threw his head back with loud giggles; his legs kicked softly and he weakly tried to pull at his trapped arms, but Hua Cheng knew that he was still lacking some strength after waking up and... Well, he knew that Xie Lian didn't actually minded the tickly attention.

"Your Highness, are you feeling ticklish so early in the morning?"

Xie Lian shook his head. "Nohohot tihihicklish!"

Hua Cheng giggled, as stubborn as always his precious gege, always wanting to rile him up, even if he denied it every time, but that was okay, Hua Cheng could tell what Xie Lian wanted just by looking at him and he'd be happy to provide... Not without being the mischievous Ghost King that he was.

"Eheheek! N-Nohoho! Not thahahat!" Sweet, bubbly and happy giggles filled the room when Hua Cheng cold fingers where replaced by his cold lips. He pressed tender butterfly kisses against the delicate skin and Xie Lian giggled, trying to cover his armpit with his free hand.

Thankfully, Hua Cheng had the upper hand right now, so he carefully caught Xie Lian's wrist and made it join the one under the pillow, gathering both in one of his hands.

Xie Lian squeaked in protest, but to Hua Cheng, he sounded more excited to have his arms pinned than desperate to free them.

"S-Sahahan Lahahang! Ihihit's too ehehearly!"

Hua Cheng chuckled, playfully nibbling at Xie Lian's armpit, making his giggles turn more frantic. "But Gege, I'm just trying to worship you! I don't understand why you're giggling so much!"

"Thihihis is nohohot- wahahait!" Xie Lian protested when Hua Cheng gently ran his fingertips against Xie Lian's other underarm.

The god arched his back slightly, but his arms stayed obediently over his head as Hua Cheng relished on more of that wonderful laugh: his lips pressing kiss after kiss and even some baby raspberries in one of his underarms as his fingers gently fluttered against the other.

Xie Lian's giggles, even though frantic, it was also soft, tender and light. His body, flinching and squirming just slightly, kept pressing against Hua Cheng's attention and Hua Cheng felt hundreds of his dangerous butterflies fluttering in his stomach.

"So giggly today, gege," he teased tenderly, his lips leaving their playful game go whisper against Xie Lian's ear. "Are you having a good time?"

Xie Lian squealed, his cheeks and ears pink. "Sahahan Lahahang is sohoho nahahaughty!"

Hua Chang chuckled, "Am I? But gege, you could've just lowered your arms! I'm not holding you, am I?"

Xie Lian giggled, trying to hide his face away from Hua Cheng. At some point, Hua Cheng had relaxed the hold on Xie Lian's wrists to let his lover cover himself, but Xie Lian didn't even move his arms and held his own hands together, keeping his arms in place.

"Does gege like it when this lowly one tickles him?"

Xie Lian whined, "Stohohop teheheasing mehehe!" He giggled, still suffering from those super light tickles under his arm. "It dohohoes tihihickle!"

Hua Cheng laughed at that and he stopped his playfulness at once, letting Xie Lian relax against the bed again.

"Good morning, gege," Hua Cheng whispered, pressing a tender kiss to Xie Lian's warm cheek.

"Good morning, San Lang," Xie Lian answered, kissing the tip of Hua Cheng's nose before pouring softly. "Why did San Lang tickle me awake again?"

Hua Cheng grinned, "I wonder, gege. I think I just missed His Highness' giggles."

Xie Lian huffed, "didn't you tickle me plenty last night?"

Hua Cheng laughed, "it's never enough, Your Highness," he said, nibbling at Xie Lian's cheek before looking at him with a raised eyebrow. "But why are you arms still up, Gege? Should San Lang tickle you again?" Xie Lian giggled, hiding his face under his pillow, arms still up. "Is that a yes, gege? Is it? Don't scold me later~," he said and his thumbs pressed in, rubbing slow circles hard enough to bring those sweet giggles out again.

"Oh, Sahahahan Lahahang! Thahat's unfahahair!"

"Should I kiss you here again, then?"

"N-Nohoho! Thahahat's embahaharrassihihi- Sahahan Lahahang!"

Hua Cheng of courses peppered kisses there again and Xie Lian giggled brightly and kept his most ticklish spot exposed until they were both satisfied.

[captainkirkk]

Finished tgcf book 1! Btw reminder that you can blacklist ‘liveblogging’ if you don’t want to see these posts.

Thoughts so far:

Not sure whether it’s because this is my second translated book so I’ve adapted to the writing style, or if MXTX’s writing has improved since this is her latest novel, but I’m finding tgcf really easy to read! SVSSS bogged me down in places and I found the writing a bit clunky at times, but tgcf has been a breeze

I adore Hua Cheng. I love how he just wants to support and spoil and spend time with Xie Lian. He tells him, “Just keep doing what you want.” And also he says, “For some, that special person just existing in the world is hope.” It kills me.

We keep learning more and more about Xie Lian’s life and how fucked up it’s been. No wonder he has such a shitty concept of self worth. I mean, he’ll still defend and protect himself and I do think he still has a sense of pride (even if it’s changed over the centuries), but he’s carrying around so much guilt and believes he’s really the God of Misfortune

I wonder what Hua Cheng has been through. People keep saying that a Supreme is born from extreme suffering, but we know very little about Hua Cheng’s past. All I know is that he was the poor boy that 17yo Xie Lian caught in his first life. I wonder what happened between then and now to turn him into such a powerful Ghost King

Love the side characters! I really hope Qianqiu doesn’t turn cruel and realises why Xie Lian did the things he did. Their characters are so similar.

And Mu Qing and Feng Xin! LOVE those fools. Want to learn more about their pasts. I have a feeling they’re harboring a lottt of guilt about abandoning Xie Lian after his first banishment

The Wind Master is a bit of a tricky one, but I have to say, the way they were so quickly ride or die for Xie Lian is very good. Also genderfluid gods?? Genderfluid gods!!

As for the Emperor.... I don’t trust him as far as I can throw him (re: at all). I have a feeling he knows exactly how powerful Xie Lian is, even though Xie Lian himself doesn’t exert that power very often, and is using Xie Lian which is incredibly worrying because Xie Lian is the kind of person who would recognise he was being used and let it happen anyway, so long as no one else was being hurt too badly along the way. I mean, it sounds like they fought after Xie Lian’s second ascension, and Xie Lian even managed to stab him a few times, so he knows firsthand how powerful he is. I just can’t trust his intentions. He’s manipulating Xie Lian but I don’t know yet what his end goal is. Probably something to do with Hua Cheng. Not sure, but I’m very worried.

[razberryyum]

TGCF donghua Episode 9 Thoughts (SPOILERS! for episode and novel)

I've heard of the words Sinner's Pit a while back, probably when I first heard of TGCF, but it wasn't until a couple weeks ago when I started reading the book that I finally understood what they meant, and why it was an event in the saga of HuaLian. Even though I've only been acquainted with it for such a short period of time, I still teared up when watching the scene, so I can only imagine how much more emotional this moment was for fellow fans who have been waiting years to see it. I really hope it lived up to everyone's expectations cuz it kinda blew my mind.

When the episode was delayed in its broadcast I actually felt dread, since I immediately assumed that the HuaLian Sinner's Pit scenes didn't pass the restrictions and it was going to be edited to death or worse yet, completely cut out. Thank God that was not the case. I was looking forward to much groppage of Hua Cheng from Dianxia, and that's exactly what I got...with an extra large dose of romance too thanks to the amazing score. If anything was left out in the scene I sure couldn't tell nor did I feel anything was missing.

I've watched countless fall and rescue scenes in cdramas, to the degree that sometimes it feels like it's a required element in romance cdramas, and of course it's usually the woman in the couple falling from somewhere and the man coming to her rescue and catching her. And they're usually so poorly done that I either eyeroll so hard my eyes feel like they're gonna pop out of their sockets or I feel almost nauseated from the cheesiness.

But the donghua did it PERFECTLY. Those stupidass cdramas should learn from them. HuaLian's fall and catch scene was paced just right, scored just right, shot just right...simple PERFECTION. Not at all cheesy or cringey, utterly sublime...and everything that followed between them was utterly sublime as well.

Talk about another perfectly captured scene. I loved this line. So sweet and wonderful. No wonder Hua Cheng's in love with this man.

Btw, I know it says friendship, but just in case anyone's worried the donghua is trying to friendzone HuaLian, those Chinese characters can just be a general way of saying getting along, usually in a friendly way, but it's not as friend zone-y as it sounds. Although, I doubt anyone actually watching the show and paying attention to it would even think Hua Cheng only wants to be bro-friends with Xie Lian.

I mean, I guessss bros can be touchy feely and eyefuck eyelove each other all the time, but I would personally like to meet them bros like that.

Also, not fair of the donghua team to cuteify these boys even more. My poor heart almost couldn't take it. Too adorable!!

Honestly, after that HuaLian-ful sequence, my brain was barely able to register anything else. Doesn't help that I already know how things will resolve in terms of this mystery. I am mostly looking forward to how the "new" characters whom are being introduced to looks and how they will bring to life certain non-HuaLian related events that sounded dramatic or even epic in writing.

For example the Banyue Guoshi...was totally not expecting her to look this adorable. She looks so innocent and pretty, who in their right mind would bully such a beautiful little girl??

Although, when she is on the attack, she definitely does feel like a wraith bringing instant death upon her victims. This was so beautifully animated: it looked both terrifying and truly impressive.

Lastly:

Hiiii puppyyyyy!!!! Nice to finally meet you!! Who's a good boy?? 😂 E-Ming's a total cutie pie and his first appearance was cool AF too. I freaked out a little.

OMG I almost forgot!! I LOVE the new ED theme!!! I hope they release an official MV for it soon!

~

NOVEL SPOILERS

Current Reading Progress: finished book 1, currently in book 2, knee-deep in Yong'an famine crisis. Every HuaLian interaction is a treasure, I know I didn't mention them at all last week but pretty much every time they meet up again I scream a bit. The temple scene, when Dianxia told chibi HC to live for him, got me so emotional (I also really want to hug little HC and protect him forever). Seriously felt like I finally reached some kind of important milestone since I read that line somewhere even before I even knew who or what HuaLian was. I don't know how many seasons of the donghua we'll be blessed with, but if we don't get as far as Dianxia's past, then I do hope we at least get to see Ghost City, Gambler's Den, Paradise Manor,and Qi Rong's cave. I can imagine getting into some of that next season but unless it's a long one, I doubt we'd be able to see all of it in one season.

And also, I don't think I love Qi Rong anymore. He really is a bad, bad boy...and not in the sexy way, but more in the holy shit you really are fucked up way.

Finally, the Yong'an thing... I'm already bracing myself. I could be wrong but I already see how that could lead to Xianle's downfall. The knives are probably coming, huh?

TGCF novel translation can be found at: https://tgcfmxtx.carrd.co/

[zhuhongs]

Upon rereading tgcf, one of the biggest complaints I have is how lackluster all the extra chapters were. literally none of them were good and all contained rlly gross and harmful sentiments (like the amnesia one which.. yea.. or all the things implying xl should get pregnant for hc thus equating gay relationships with hetero ones and playing into the wife thing and just GOD I HATE MXTX) 

There were a lot of little plot points i wish that had been further elaborated on more in the extras as opposed to hualian being ... like that. I had enough. Like mdzs had actaully good extras (minus the incense burners) that were nice side stories that elaborated more on the characters. Like the hook one with the juniors was so cute and i loved seeing them grow more. Or the lotus pod extras omg.. im such a lotus pod extra stan. those were so cute and gave us a lot of good insight into just how lovestruck lwj was during the times when he didn’t see wwx. mxtx should've stuck to those sorta extras in tgcf but NOOO. SO I have a list of so many other more interesting things those chapters couldve been spent on like:

A resolution on He Xuan’s revenge and his character arc. Bc its implied He Xuan is still hanging out and watching over sqx and that taking revenge didn’t fully satisfy him bc ok.. yea shi wudu is dead but he xuans family will never come back. Now what does he have to live for?? i wish we couldve seen a look into his life during the entire ordeal. like a chapter from his perspective while he was posing as Ming Yi  and maybe a look at a conversation btw he xuan and the real ming yi or a chapter after SQX was banished to see what he’s doing now. Also what did he xuan owe hua cheng money for anyways?? Like ik not every little thing has to be explained but I Want to Know. PLEASE more goth boyfriend content now I just wanna see him :,((

a better resolution of yin yu and quan yizhens storyline. im still mad abt how that plot point was split btw books 3 and 5  when it was rlly out of place and  there were other more pressing plot matters and it just rlly deserved more time. Also i thought yin yu died!?!?!? but apparently one of the extras says he’s alive and man... i;m not reading any more of the extras to see that, give me a full yin yu and quan yizhen chapter.. fuck.

a day in the life of the guoshi fangxin or general hua PLEASE especially like one where hua cheng was SO CLOSE to meeting xie lian but had no clue that xie lian was there at the time but the two did smth that inadvertantly helped the other and they still were connected even though they hadnt met omg pls that’d be so nice. like imagine Hua cheng catching a glimpse of the guoshi in public in yong’an while he’s trying to follow some lead that points to xie lian or maybe following a lead to capture qi rong bc he said he knew qi rong was a part of the yong’an stuff and originally thought the guoshi was one of qi rongs pawns. like can you IMAGINE him getting so close. but at the last second he did smth small that impacted xie lian. like they bumped into eachother on the street or smth. god i’d go crazy

OR vice versa.. like a day in the life of the young ghost king hua cheng. Like again, one of my biggest issues was that hua cheng just knew everything and its never really explained how he got all of that info. like yes he’s been alive very long and has eyes and ppl working for him everywhere but like... how did he build that network?? I’d love to see a chapter of young ghost king hua cheng travelling around trying to learn as much as he can abt the world and how it can help bring him to xie lian. and the two maybe are in the same kingdom for a bit and they don’t meet exactly but hua cheng stops some fight or something and helps xie lian indirectly or maybe xie lian is performing on the street in some costume and hua cheng doesn’t recognize him and smiles and gives him a coin or smth. idk i’m just dying for any sorta extra chapter or fic like that. i’m honestly so tempted to write my own but i cant write

also!! we’ve seen how xie lian picks up people down on their luck near him and show them kindness (like banyue, lang ying, xiao ying, he tried to with san lang but we know how that ended lmao) so i’d love to see another little vignette of him doing that on his travels and how every person he meets teaches him smth about life and being a good person and idk, i just think it’d be rlly sweet. i love this facet of his character and feel like we didn’t see enough of it towards the end.

ALSO hua cheng only seems to respect one heavenly official besides xie lian and thats yushi huang.. i assume thats mostly bc she was the only one to help xie lian and let him use the rain master hat to bring water to yong’an. I was thinking maybe when he was a new supreme he had run into trouble and maybe was picked up by the rain master and helped him heal and in return he promised to help protect her village from harm in the future. Like i know a heavenly official wouldn’t cooperate with a ghost like that but yushi huang is different and doesn’t really care about the heavens so i think she would protect him if he could do something to benefit her village. ik this is kinda far fetched but when he first became a supreme I’m sure a bunch of ppl probably tried to mess with him and didn’t rlly believe him to be undefeatable bc he hadn’t proved himself yet also i doubt all his power came overnight. he had to learn how to use it once he escaped the kiln. and some group probably thought they could weaken him somehow. I’m thinking maybe a rlly well formed group of ghosts actually caught him off guard once and he had to retreat and was picked up by the rain master and stayed with her and learned from her a bit. i think it’d be a cool concept also i just rlly want more yushi huang content and i’m on their friendship agenda bc he rlly did seem to actually respect her when she first appeared and i think it’d be cool if the two had some history together.

Also idrc if this was addressed I couldve missed it But!! Did xie lian ever tell Hua cheng that the reason he got the curse shackles and was banished again in the first place wasnt bc jun wu wanted to punish him, but because he requested it. And specifically requested it bc he felt guilty abt letting wu ming take the human face disease and disperse for his sake. So he took the shackles and descended to atone for that?? Bc I dont recall hua cheng learning that bc his soul was already dispersed at that point so it didnt follow him and xie lian didnt say anything so uhhh... someone should tell hua cheng that. Like I dont think xie lian rlly said how much hua cheng meant to him and didnt show him he was loved in grand ways. Like xie lian did always care for bc in other ways but I think if hua cheng learned abt this on screen it wouldve been such a great moment and I'm rlly surprised mxtx didnt address this iirc!?!? Like imagine jun wu telling Hua cheng this in the kiln bc xie lian wouldnt say it himself. Imagine how cool that would be.

Also a small thing adding into the whole young ghost king Hua cheng stuff. Its implied and p much stated that hua cheng isnt his real name. That he likely doesnt have a real name bc his parents died? (It's not clear. I'm still mad at mxtx for not making his childhood clearer). So I'd like to see when and why hua cheng chose that name for himself. The new tgcf ending song kinda hints at its meaning with the lyrics "for you I'd fill a city of flowers" as xie lian is the flower wielding martial god so it's probably inspired by that. Also xie lian saved hua cheng from leaping off the city walls but I'd love to hear him say it bc the implication of his name didnt dawn on me for quite a bit and I dont know if everyone made the connection. Again I sure as hell didnt. So itd be cool to see a chapter that takes place in his past after just ascending as a supreme

Overall I rlly think tgcf had a lot more potential to be even better and a lot of that comes down to fleshing out the side characters and letting hualian have more of a storyline independent of one another. like i know the appeal and message of tgcf is that through love, people can overcome anything, but fuck man. i just wanna see what these two (mostly hua cheng) where like in the absence of each others presence. Part of what I really liked abt mdzs is that we got to see that longing develop btw wangxian when the two weren’t together and how they thought about each other and did things in thei others spirit bc they knew the other wouldve done the same thing. but whatever, mxtx was too consumed by her own unhealthy idea of what devotion and true love looks like but still. i rlly think the extras couldve helped the story be better rather than be fujoshi fuel that i try to bleach from my mind -_-

[accio-victuuri]

Hello V. Hope you are doing fine. Also off topic, what do you think about the TGCF live action so far? There are so many pics already.I don't read TGCF yet (hopefully soon omg) but I've seen lots of snippets of the donghua, manhua, and fanarts. I was like "Lu/han could definitely pull off Xie Lian" but that's just me. But apparently Lu/han was a popular fan casting by domestic TGCF fanbase (saw this earlier on big cdrama acc on Twt). People see it too, I feel validated 😅. Love your blog btw ❤

Hey Anon! Oh yes! So many photos going around already. I just can’t believe they are shooting it. That we have our HuaLian out there. I don’t have an opinion yet. I’m saving it when the trailer comes out or when we see a legit photo from their team. The two leads’ chemistry is so important. and i hope the production is better. I have no idea how much iqiyi is spending on them but I hope it’s alot.

Well sorry to the domestic fans and everyone else, we can’t always get what we want. It’s so funny cause Luhan sang for the OST of the donghua 😂 atleast you guys got a bit of what you wished for.

[chibimuiwritesstuff]

MMA Fighters HuaLian - Meeting

Right. I’m just going to post this. The backstory to the Hualian MMA AU idea I thought up of how they initially met. This is not edited btw, so apologies for any errors.

----

They meet in a match.

Xie Lian has met many people in matches before, he is one of the best MMA fighters out there after all, so usually he doesn’t remember most of his opponents���but he remembers this one. He remembers him because he is tall (not an issue), lanky (he’s experienced enough to know skinniness doesn’t mean lack of strength), has an eyepatch covering his right eye (a handicap?) and is absolutely, ridiculously, unfairly, gorgeous.

The referee counts to three, the whistle blows, and Xie Lian tenses and is surprised when the other man barely moves a muscle. Just looks at him, expression unreadable. There’s an intensity to his gaze, but it’s not the usual look of a fellow fighter preparing to attack, it’s… it’s something else. It unsettles Xie Lian for a moment, makes his heart beat just a bit faster, but, well, if his opponent will not make the first move then that’s their mistake.

A rookie perhaps?

He launches forward and feels his heart sing when the man not only catches his blow, but dodges to the side in a way that looks effortless, but Xie Lian knows speaks of unbridled skill. Not a rookie then.

Not a rookie at all in fact.

The match is one of the toughest Xie Lian has had in ages. The other man is incredibly defensive and catches Xie Lian’s punches, kicks and feints blow for blow, although rarely making an effort to strike out himself. It’s mildly frustrating, somewhat confusing, and incredibly invigorating. It’s fun. It’s a joy Xie Lian hasn’t truly felt in a fight in ages. He dances around and is somewhat glad for the mask he wears so no one can see the ridiculously large smile he can feel stretching across his face. This is why he loves martial arts. This is why he loves fighting. So that he can dance with people like the man in front of him.

He’s almost sad when he finally manages to pin the other man on the ground for a count of three, and the referee blows the whistle again.

‘Winner, give it up for The Crown Prince!’

The referee holds his hand up, but Xie Lian can’t take his eyes off his opponent, who by this point is already sitting up and also looking back at Xie Lian as well. He looks unphased, unruffled. He does not look like a man who has just lost a fight. In fact, the small smile on his face somehow makes it seem like he was the winner of this match somehow.

His is registered under the fighter name ‘Crimson Rain Sought Flowers’. The people in the mixed martial arts underground call him Hua Cheng.  

Xie Lian remembers him and looks forward to the day he might be able to fight him again.

-

It takes another year before Xie Lian is able to meet Hua Cheng again—and it’s not for lack of trying. After their one match he had tried to seek him out, find out more information about this mysterious opponent who had stepped into the ring and fought with Xie Lian like he had just decided to do it on a whim, but there was nothing. There had been no previous fight records, and no fights he had signed up for afterwards. It was truly as if he had just appeared to fight Xie Lian and then left.

Mu Qing had commented dryly that maybe he had scared the other man off, as he did to so many other earnest newcomers, but Xie Lian didn’t see how that was possible. Hua Cheng had not been a rookie fighter, and Feng Xin had agreed on this as well. But, whatever the reason—Hua Cheng had never reappeared until now.

Once again Hua Cheng stands before him looking deceptively relaxed. If Xie Lian were anyone else he might have felt insulted. After all, he had won their last fight—Hua Cheng should look at least somewhat wary. But he doesn’t. Instead something about his expression makes Xie Lian feel like he’s just as excited for this match as Xie Lian is himself. Xie Lian smiles under his mark, forgetting for a moment that Hua Cheng can’t see his face. It’s nice, to face an opponent who not only isn’t intimidated by him, but appears just as excited and actually has the skill to back up their own air of confidence.

Xie Lian’s heart skips a beat as he catches Hua Cheng’s single eye and can’t help but shiver in anticipation of the match to come.  

The whistle blows, and this time Xie Lian waits. He wants to see what Hua Cheng will do, but Hua Cheng does nothing. In fact, the both of them stand still for so long, the audience begins boo-ing and Xie Lian’s mounting excitement begins to curl into confusion, and then into frustration.

Hua Cheng merely raises an eyebrow, “What is gege waiting for?” he drawls, smirking.

“I could ask you the same question.” Xie Lian replies.

Hua Cheng nods his head, as if he’s considering Xie Lian’s words very seriously, “Hm… that’s true.” And then he launches himself forward.

Xie Lian had been prepared, this is what he had wanted after all, but it shows just how skilled Hua Cheng is that for a second Xie Lian can’t track his movements at all and he is hit with a spike of surprise. It is only through muscle memory, born from hours and hours of training, that allows Xie Lian to effectively dodge Hua Cheng’s fist, following immediately with a counterattack of his own, which Hua Cheng also effortlessly dodges in return.

They continue like this for a few bouts, and it’s similar enough to their last match that it causes Xie Lian to pause. Despite Hua Cheng opening with the first strike, they’ve somehow fallen into a pattern where Xie Lian is on the offensive and Hua Cheng only defends and it’s… it’s frustrating. Xie Lian has never really cared about the actual competition itself, he simply joined matches for the sake of being able to fight others who were just as crazy about fighting as him, and so now he just feels incredibly put-out that it seems like Hua Cheng isn’t taking things seriously.

He stills, pulls out of his last punch and as expected, Hua Cheng jerks his arm back at the last second as well instead of taking the obvious opening to his advantage. Once again, they’re just two opponents, standing in the cage, staring at each other but neither of them moving. Neither of them have even taken a stance—standing almost casually, albeit somewhat alert. The crowd has also noticed the pattern of the fight, and some bystanders have begun jeering at Hua Cheng specifically.

“Come on! Put up a proper fight or just get out!”

“Don’t waste His Highness’ time!”

Both of them stand and listen to the calls of the crowd and while Xie Lian usually doesn’t like to encourage this sort of heckling, he can’t help but cock his head to the side and ask, “Well, are you going to take this seriously?” because what other conclusion is there to draw from this bout? It’s obvious that Hua Cheng doesn’t want to beat Xie Lian at all, doesn’t even really want to fight him at all. It doesn’t make sense and it makes Xie Lian wonder why he’s even here.

Hua Cheng simply smirks at him, but his posture doesn’t change. “What makes you think I’m not taking this seriously, dianxia?”

“You’re not even trying to go on the offensive. Any other person would have felt insulted by now.” Xie Lian replies.

“Well, it’s good that you’re not any other person then isn’t it?”

His voice is low and velvety smooth and it makes Xie Lian feel warm for reasons besides physical exertion. “Perhaps, but I also refuse to continue a match with someone who clearly doesn’t want to engage.”

He turns to the referee who also looks like he’s one second away from giving both of them warnings and it’s this that finally seems to pull a genuine reaction out of Hua Cheng.

“Wait--!”

Xie Lian turns and cock his head to the side again in question, since Hua Cheng can’t see his face.

“You’ve got me gege, this newcomer didn’t mean to offend. I was simply excited at being able to spar with you again and wanted to do anything to extend the time as much as possible.”

Xie Lian lets out a huff of air, feeling somewhat affronted.

“And what makes you think going on the offensive would have made the time shorter? Either you think too highly of yourself, or you are severely underestimating me.”

Hua Cheng shakes his head vehemently, “No, I can assure you I would never!”

Xie Lian signals to the ref to stand down and that he will handle things before turning back to face Hua Cheng properly once more, “Then, are you going to fight me properly?”

Hua Cheng nods.

They both return to the center of the cage and take up positions, eyeing each other warily. Since no time outs were taken, there will be no whistle to signal a new start—it is simply up to one of them to make a move.

The fight that follows leaves everyone breathless.

It is Hua Cheng that makes the first move, and when he does it is clear that he had been holding back. His attacks are quick, aggressive, and absolutely wild, but what is perhaps even more wild is how composed Xie Lian managed to remain in comparison. The only sign that he may have been struggling lay in the fact that despite the sharpness of his own moves, equally quick and unforgiving, he still had not won.

Attack are blocked, grabs and holds are escaped from and used to lead into secondary attacks, throws that would have had most fighters winded on the ground ended with miraculous recoveries with both parties somehow still on their feet. Even when the fight had devolved into wrestling, as Xie Lian struggled to pin Hua Cheng down for three counts, it was hard to see who was at an advantage—but eventually, a winner was decided.

The crowd roared with enthusiasm, a whistle was blown and as for the fighters themselves…

Xie Lian flinches when the referee grabs his wrist, having nearly forgotten where he is and what he has been doing. He had been too immersed in the fight. Too immersed in Hua Cheng. He hears nothing but the blood that is still roaring in his ears, continues to feel nothing but the soft panting of Hua Cheng’s breath on his skin as they had rolled on the ground, and sees nothing but Hua Cheng’s eyes as the other man continued to stare at him from his position on the ground—gaze dark and dangerous.

Then he blinks and he is back in the cage, his arm being held up, the crowd cheering. Hua Cheng stands and dusts himself off, calm and cool as ever, although even with the noise Xie Lian could still hear the ragged panting of his breath—matching his own laboured breathing.

“Good fight.” Xie Lian hears himself say, truly meaning it as he shakes the other man’s hand. It is warm, strong, and Xie Lian can still feel the traces of where those hands had left marks on his body. He represses the urge to shiver.

“It was truly an honor to be able to fight you again, dianxia.” Hua Cheng replies, smirking once again. Were it anyone else, Xie Lian would have been sure they were mocking him, but there was something in Hua Cheng’s voice that sounded more like reverence. Xie Lian drops the other man’s hand and laughs awkwardly, scratching the back of his head.

“I think the honor should be mine, you really didn’t make things easy for me.”

Hua Cheng doesn’t reply, and afterwards they are ushered out of the cage to make room for the next match. When Xie Lian turns his head after toweling off his sweat, Hua Cheng is already gone.

-

Feng Xin and Mu Qing both tell him to forget about Hua Cheng. They are, and have always been, Xie Lian’s best friends, so usually Xie Lian does try his best to listen to their advice—they care for him after all. But he cannot forget about Hua Cheng. During training he imagines the other man in front of him, he walks down the street and pictures fights with him in his mind, he goes from competition to competition seeking him, tries and fails to search him up on social media, but just like last time, it is like he has disappeared.

“You’re thinking about him again aren’t you,” Feng Xin grumbles as he sits down, practically throwing his tray of food onto the table of the university cafeteria.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Xie Lian replies promptly as he takes a bite of his own lunch.  

Mu Qing takes the seat beside Feng Xin, placing his tray down more gently and completely ignores Xie Lian to turn to the other man at his side, “He was thinking about him again, wasn’t he?”

“I wasn’t!”

Feng Xin has the audacity to grunt and nod as he slurps up his noodles at an alarming pace.

“Hey! I said I wasn’t!”

Mu Qing lets out a sigh that Xie Lian thinks is supremely unfair, given the fact that his friends are the ones being rude to him. Then, Mu Qing grabs something from his bag—a piece of paper it looks like, and places it on the table. “We’re only doing this because we know you won’t stop mooning about him otherwise.”

“I’m not—mooning? I’m not mooning!” Xie Lian splutters, but he grabs the paper anyway, with perhaps a bit too much enthusiasm and then stops short.

It is an address and apparently it is for a place called Ghost City. He’s heard of Ghost City. Xie Lian frowns. Before he can ask the question though, Mu Qing already gives him the answer.

“He’s there. We told you to give up on him, but we knew you wouldn’t so we thought it’d be better to just see for yourself what type of person Hua Cheng really is.”

Ghost City was an underground cage match arena—everyone who was anyone in the MMA world knew about it. It was for the fighters who desperately wanted to prove themselves beyond the world of sanctioned, formal, competitions. For the fighters who truly wanted to test their skill in a match where they had to put everything on the line. The only rule in Ghost City was the one: there were no rules. Although Xie Lian loved fighting, this was a place he had no interest in. He had never been interested in hurting and dominating others, he simply just wanted to test his skill and to experience the skills of others.

If Hua Cheng was there though…

“Please, just remember to be careful alright Xie Lian?”

Xie Lian nodded, gripping the paper more tightly than was probably necessary. He looked up at his friends, at Feng Xin who continued to studiously eat his noodles as if they had somehow offended him just by existing, and at Mu Qing who was looking somewhere off to Xie Lian’s left looking disgruntled, and smiled. “You two really are the best.”

Neither of them bothered to give him a reply, but the address was enough.

[tazzmanien]

Something thoughts about Tian Guan Ci Fu (Heaven Officials Blessing) - possible spoilers

I did something... I went through all the posts that I've made while reading Tian Guan Ci Fu and thought I would collect some important points here that either don’t fit my review or I just need to repeat:

Can we all agree that Xie Lian is the only god out there?

I'm in love with Hua Cheng.

Somewhere at the beginning I said Hua Cheng will be the end of me. You know like the famous thing, he later said to Xie Lian after the confession. Awwww well sh**, apparently I really love a fictional character, who is btw a gay man and in love with the most perfect god ever. So my chances are about -100000000 or so.

I thought I was prepared for the pain, when in fact I wasn't. At one point, I even said that I was looking forward to read book 4. What am I, an idiot? And here I have the audacity to call others morons, idiots and dipshits... Book 4 should be obliterated from every existence.

I hated the gods from chapter 1. Really! That early on and from then it only got worse. All the worthy gods got kicked out of heaven or left on their own (3 total, Xie Lian and the two others would be huge spoilers so read the book).

BTW the humans were not better. Blaming gods for problems created by their own.

Everyone and everything in this book is a savage and a joker!

At the beginning I thought Fu Yao/Mu Qing and Nan Feng/Feng Xin, or as I like to call them Nimrod and Nimtodd, where some sort of devil and angel on one’s shoulder. Bwahahahaha when in fact they are just moronic siblings with Xie Lian as their Mom! Also I would like to apologize to Mu Qing for doubting him several times.

I can see myself in so many of the negative traits of the characters. For example, I am Prince Yong An (Lang Qian Qiu) sleeping while standing during a conference or He Xuan eating everything that is not able to run away or Xie Lian cooking or Mu Qing being a “genius” in communication.

Wind Master Shi Qing Xuan is a cute little sunflower queen.

Shi Qing Xuans and Ming Yi are Spongebob and Squidward Tentacles.

I love Quan Yi Zhen with all of my heart. There was even a second, when I thought that I wanted to adopt him. Well the thought flew by fast, as no way in hell would I ever adopt a disaster in the making, but I would do the blood oath to be BFFs with him :) Reminds me I never build that shrine for him that I promised.

The only MXTX character that I actually really dislike is Pei Ming. Come on, I even liked Qi Rong a tiny little itzy bitzy bit and he was a huuuuuuge pain in the rear. I quote myself: "Qi Rong you lil dipshit, one day I will personally jump into the novel to kick your ass I swear!" (I hope to god and the devil, that  I will never transmigrate into this novel.)

The scene I can't wait to be played out in a live action adaptation is actually not what you think... well it's the crazy fight in the inn, while Hua Cheng, looking like a child, is playing building a golden foil palace.

RuoYe - I will quote @naamah-beherit here as I think this is beautiful: “TFW you never knew you’d get emotional over a piece of silk”

Hua Cheng in a child form is the cutest thing ever to be. I want to squeeze a demon kings cheeks too.

I need more extras about Hua Cheng or a whole novel! I need more of his demon side!

[tazzmanien]

The Tian Guan Ci Fu (Heaven Official’s Blessing) Review

Okay I’m doing it finally. Sorry if it ended up way too long, but in my defense the novel itself was huge so���

First of all I will not be comparing this novel with any of the other MXTX novels, but I just want to tell you this is definitely my new favorite for several reasons, but mostly its love story. If you want to know more write me I will gladly talk more about this.

I read in many posts everywhere that Hualian invented love. Well you know what, there is really no lie there. Theirs is one of the most beautiful love stories out there.

So, before I go into the details, please just go and read the novel!!! NOW! 

The good:

Usually I would like to say a few words about the writing style and quality, but as I’ve only read a translation of the novel I don’t think I can tell you much about it. The translation was very easy to read, so I’m guessing the novel can’t be too extravagant or bad either. BTW thank you everyone who is doing translations for FREE. You all are angels!

The novel was quite long, but the moment you step into the world you would wish it was longer. Every character has their own story and they needs time to evolve, so I really liked its length, but also not so much. Check out the bad for more information.

I liked how the story took place in three realms and different times. I know some get confused by such switches, but I tend to enjoy them very much. I think the heaven and the ghost city were so diverse, that I can’t wait to see them play out in whatever visual adaptation. I feel like this time around MXTX finally explained the actual world with more detail, which made it easier for me to imagine myself strolling through the ghost city market buying sum forbidden rubbish, or watching the moon up close while seated in a garden in heaven. I could see, smell, feel, hear and sometimes unfortunately even taste many things and that is what I think good writing should be about. The things that weren’t described in detail made it even more fun, as one could work with their own imagination (this might be a bad thing for visual adaptations, just saying). And some of you might remember I complained before that if one has no prior knowledge about the whole cultivation, eastern religion and xianxia stuff, then you might have issues reading MXTX books, well this did not change, but I guess I’m starting to appreciate it, as my own imagination created a whole new version of what this whole thing was meant to be. Still, I should have probably listed this in the bad part as well.

The main plot was very interesting and at times even slightly surprising. Mostly it was quite predictable, but I think writing does not have to invent itself every time again, but it has to give some sort of satisfaction at the end. If a story is predictable deep down to every little detail, this is not a huge issues if the story has other strengths. And this one had a nice mix of both.

It did have some parts which appalled me, but you know what, this was actually a good thing. Like I felt a lot of things, even though I really didn’t want to. The things that were disgusting, really actually disgusted me. The things that were supposed to make you angry, made me go nuts. The things that should have made you happy, made my grin like a maniac. But worst of all, were the things that existed to hurt you, they ripped out my heart and shredded it in front of me while I was still conscious. So all in all, yeah even the bad parts about the plot served a purpose. If you are good at keeping track on the main plot while diving into hundreds of subplots, then I would say it was easy to follow. I think this was okay, but the other way around (remembering the subplots) I would argue differently (more in the bad). Nevertheless, some of the subplots were so beautiful that I think they might have deserved their own novel, but isn’t that the case with all good stories?

On a side note, I don’t know if that was intended or if I just saw things that weren’t there, but was the hidden plot actually about how wrong idolizing people is and how it feels to go through post traumatic stress? I might write some more on this in a separate post, I just wanted to get it off my chest here.

Now my favorite part of any MXTX novel: the characters. Honestly, I can’t remember many stories where I loved every character. But MXTX did it again, I loved all of them, even the ones I hated. Once again the way the side characters were introduced, involved in the main story and the main guys, had their own very individual nature and lifes and fought with their own challenges was beautiful. Every character had their own aura (for the lack of a better word). Yeah I like to make fun of this but it’s true nevertheless: most of them had sad histories or were living their nightmares while the plot evolved, however, this was good as it made me appreciate the few sunreys that were able to shine through the clouds even more. As I said, I hated quite a few of them, but either they had their moment one had to love them for or they served another purpose, like propelling other characters to become what they were meant to be or drive the overall plot. And none of this felt forced. So to make it short wow!

And last but no least, the main characters and their love story. 

Xie Lian, our protagonist, my angel my only god the life of my love (yeah I used this one already, sue me), is an adorkable martial arts badass/nerd with the worst luck and cooking skills and spiderman reflexes. He is a true neutral, treats everyone with the same respect, just the way a god should be. He is so genuine in every aspect of his being. He is fully aware of all his shortcomings and all the wrongs he has done, but he still hasn’t lost the good in him and the will to act righteously. He is just so so human, that each of us could learn a little from him. I mean he even warns the freaking demon king to not think too highly of him, because he might disappoint him. And what does Hua Cheng do? He calls him his hope! So XL gives the cruelest of all the demons hope. This shows how perfectly imperfect and inspirational XL is. The world does not deserve him, yet still treats him the worst it can. He lost everything, EVERYTHING! Still he somehow came out to be this beautiful being. The only consolation we get is that at least he gets to have Hua Cheng in his life.

And Hua Cheng, he is the only man out there! Towards Xie Lian he is gentle, loving, understanding, supportive, patient, strong, funny and all sorts of beautiful things. With everyone else he is everything you would expect of a demon king to be and none of it a the same time. He is unpredictable in all things that are not Xie Lian. He does so many good deeds that one would forget that he is a demon king, but he hates, is cruel, intimidating, has killed and is mischievous through and through. Even though we don’t get to see everything about him (see the bad), we know him to be the perfect grey character. Also he proves to be the realest of them all, he stands by everything he says and does and I respect that a lot. He shows his anger and love equally and acts upon both equally. And is so freaking intelligent, handsome, sensual, seductive and cute, that I am actually fearing of being in love with a fictional character. The butterflies are a nice touch btw.

Yes, you are right, we all tend to praise almost every main couple, when the love story is good, but please hear me out. Both of them individually are just perfect in their own imperfect way and together they are the definition of true love. Their first encounter was magical to say the least. Without having any prior knowledge about the overall story or how their love would come to be, I was bewitched from the first moment they both shared the “screen”. I could feel the air stilling, just so I could give my full attention to them falling in love (yeah I know one was already head over heels before that meeting, but that is beside the point). And boy, the way they were falling. It was so realistic and yet hopelessly romantic, that I will use them as the perfect example to show people what it feels like to fall and be in love. 

The bad:

The length and some subplots… Yes well it was quite strenuous to follow the happenings, as every character had their own huge side story. While I loved to know every single bit of their stories, sometimes it took me a while to get back on track in the main story and many many times I totally forgot about some subplots later in the novel and was like “where is the other character now? why don’t we see them anymore?”. Despite its length, some characters stories were either only told from the view of the protagonist and lost a lot of what was going on deep down, or some characters stories had huge gaps even. Sure, it was not their story and we can be happy we even got something, but at some point I was kinda disappointed to be teased about a character and never get to find out what happened or how they felt. So I would have enjoyed an even longer book even if the one now was too long. Do you get what I mean? At the end of the day I can actually forget and forgive all except the fact that we never got to see some sides of Hua Cheng and had to read between the lines to understand his motives and feelings a little better. I need a whole book about him only to be honest. 

So my next bad thing, might actually be inaccurate if I’d knew more about Hua Cheng. This part is probably highly subjective, but I feel like Hua Cheng was not demonic enough. You know, in my head I pictured him to be a real demon, including the looks and what he is doing. How else would he become a demon king? I mean the looks were pretty much on point, I just feel like all the other characters either ignored it or didn’t care and the fandom just makes him look more like a human being. And yes he treats many badly, but in my opinion not bad enough. It feels like all his good deeds got more screen time and his bad deeds were either justified by something good or not really shown.

Not sure if it was only my short attention span or if that was the case, but I felt like the living world was not described as good as the heaven and ghost city. 

Conclusion:

I would recommend this novel to everyone who wants to feel love, but is not afraid to hurt a LOT. If you are searching for a story with some human or heavenly goodness, good friendships, good families, just decent people, then this is not a book for you. Xie Lian is the only exception of course and he is worth every tear you are 100% going to shed.

Just go and read the book! Please. And come back to me and talk about it with me :)