#poor sqx !!

[fael-draws]

Squish your bestie, who is 100% a trustworthy person and only wants what's best for you

[piosplayhouse]

Shi Qingxuan would donate her excess genders to the poor and that's why he's the best tgcf character

[rainyatw]

Hua Cheng, this is serious! Don't make a fashion show out of it!

Xie Lian can't help but checking you out!

[fortune-maiden]

was rewatching season 2 the other day, and as much I love SQX being the first to realize the Hua Cheng isn’t the vicious demon heaven makes him out to be, particularly where XL is concerned, it feels a little weird that this realization comes right off the back (in-universe a day or two) of SQX finding out the HC imprisoned and beat up his best friend

[mxtxfanatic]

Go on Cui Buqu, make your mama proud!

[deiscension]

"There's no way I'd let Pei Ming pin this on the State Preceptor of Banyue and protect Pei Xiu. It doesn't matter if you're a mortal, a god, or a ghost, you have to be responsible for your own actions. Bullying a little girl is low."

Sometimes I wonder how much these exact words come back to haunt Shi Qingxuan after everything is said and done because those have been and always will be her convictions: you can't trample over others and expect there to be no justice, whether it finds you in one year or one hundred years or a thousand years. It's unforgivable to use another's life as currency for your own. And yet, she might as well have been talking to herself. Even if she hadn't known, she benefitted from the lowly actions of 'bullying a little girl.' What Banyue was rescued from, He Xuan's sister and mother and fiancee weren't. All because of her (in her mind, anyway; the way she interprets her brother's actions being her fault is another can of worms). I think on late nights when she's nursing the aches of a mortal body, she'll remember so confidently saying those words to Xie Lian and cry for the girls whose breaths were smothered out and traded so she could know the wind as its master. Even though it's presumptuous, she'll cry for them and feel nothing but the type of shame that wells up from knowing her tears, too, are stained with their blood.

[cecropiacrown]

this feels very... modern au fengqing, unrequited (actually requited) love and I just want y'all to listen with me idk

[deathfavor]

@deiscension said: This should have been an easy mission. An overachieving cultivator had gotten his hands on a stray spiritual device in the shape of a locket. As soon as he had clasped it around his neck, it had nearly choked all his qi and very life from him. Show up, scold him a little under the guise of being an official from a neighboring sect, confiscate. Down and back with enough time to spare for a nice dinner and a few rounds of wine (their treat of course, which was obviously why they'd dragged their best friend into it)! Except-- it hadn't been a spiritual device. It had been a possessed charm. As soon as the hapless cultivator touched it, he ceased to exist. They'd never seen anything quite like this before; a puppeteered corpse gnashing its teeth at anything close enough to bite, practically ripping itself apart just to get to something with a stronger, healthier source of spiritual energy. Too many mortals had tried their luck already. The moment anyone made physical contact with the body, their meridians bled like opened veins.

Shi Qingxuan had been so sure the blast from Ming Yi had knocked the thing senseless. While cooing about how dependable their best friend was, they'd reached down to undo the locket. He'd warned them to wait a moment. Of course they hadn't listened. They should have just broken the chain. They should have kept their eyes on the body. They should have taken caution for once. Instead, they'd cried, "Ming-xiong, you really are too rough!" as soon as his hand had closed around their arm and yanked. But they hadn't. And now he was sprawled against the shack wall, pulsing rends in his neck where that horrible thing's fingernails had raked into his flesh.

Only now do they take proper precaution and summon a whirling gale to keep the possessed corpse suctioned to the floor. Locket in hand, they rush to his side. Their stomach twists. Ashen discoloration spreads from his wounds. They've only ever seen this color on ghosts.

The memory of a voice dripping in perverse hunger leers in their ear. Your closest friends will die because of you.

Their form switches back in an instant, fan clattering to the ground at the Earth Master's as Shi Qingxuan drops to their knees in front of him. They're the Wind Master now! There's not a single person or force in the world that would dare touch them or theirs. That wretched thing went silent centuries ago. Besides, Reverends couldn't bring harm to gods. Unless every event in their life leading to this moment had been carefully woven into their fate as soon as they'd taken heed of that damned curse. What a silly idea. So silly they can't help but laugh- a strangled noise that's more of a whine than anything else.

Heartbeat pounding against their skull, Shi Qingxuan gingerly presses the back of their hand to his forehead. Residual qi deviation rips through their veins like a knife through delicate silk. They swallow down the urge to vomit and focus on buffeting his deviated energy against theirs. The wounds are already closing. But he's still so pale. So still. So... dead.

"Ming Yi?" Their voice hasn't been this small in a long, long time. They try not to think about how similar this abode is to that forgotten little house at the foot of a mountain somewhere far away. "Look at me. Please. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, it's my fault- scold me all you want, a-alright?"

my muse take a hit to protect your muse from a fatal strike ; send your muse's reaction

Black Water Submerging Ships could crush this pest with no problem. He could devour it, obliterate it, there were a million and one things he could do. But Ming Yi is not a fighter and Ming Yi is ALIVE rather than DEAD. So He Xuan needs to play the part, he shields Shi Qingxuan the moment he sees that they are not listening to his advice. Too playful and careless. It is a good thing that He Xuan did so too, because pain flares in his throat as fingernails dig into flesh and rip.

He slumps against the shack, and he can feel the disguise he dons start to fracture in the way of the unexpected pain. Anger gnashes in his chest, like the ocean trying to be captured by a dam. It slams against his ribcage and adds to the spasms in his throat alongside the pulsing wounds. He's forgotten to breath. But in the grand scheme, such a small thing is likely to go unnoticed. He a least recalls to keep some of the body heat going, so he does not appear as cold as he really is.

He feels their touch against him as he sits, black veil of hair heavy around them. Checking he's alive. Which is hilarious, He Xuan can't help but to bitterly think while is eyes stay closed. ( For the best, or he fears the ocean's rage would reflect in his gaze. ) He hasn't been alive for a very long time now, and he hasn't been without pain for even longer. All his power as a Ghost King and he suffers still, and he had suffered long before he choked out his final breath on a rainy, muddy street, bleeding out from his wounds.

But then they try to help and it burns. Even as flesh knits back together and starts to turn back to a normal flesh color rather than the corpse-like color, the aid only makes him sick to his stomach. It's not the same as simply transferring spiritual energy. It's so much more than that and it takes everything to keep himself under control when everything makes feel like he's straining against chains.

Shi Qingxuan calls his name and his eyelashes finally flutter, opening so a slit of golden eyes could be observed. He doesn't want to look at them. He wants to destroy that insolent, mindless spirit, and then slink away into the ocean. He wants to go back to his mansion or into the welcoming depths of his ocean. Maybe he'd play with his dragons but he'd prefer to sleep a few days in the heavy waters that offer silence and peace. He won't get that though. Shi Qingxuan is going to fret, which means Ming Yi can't go off like he usually does.

He Xuan forces his eyes to lift to look towards Shi Qingxuan.

" I told you to be careful. " He scolds, but it's weak and quiet, lacking his stern strength. A hand lifts, gently pushing away their hand from his head. ( Gently? Or weakly? Only he knew. ) " Go deal with the corpse and locket first. I'll be fine. Those two things should be your priority. " It's a quick reminder, his gaze shifting to the trapped corpse and then towards the locket with a pointed expression. His hand nudges them again, urging them back to get to work. " Once you're done with that, then you can come help. I won't accept any more till you do. " He adds. Maybe the idea that the sooner they did that meant the sooner they could help Ming Yi would be motive enough. "

The rage still snarls like a provoked animal and it clouds his thoughts. He is tired. He waits until Shi Qingxuan is focused on the other tasks before he lets himself sink into it. He's maintained the disguise long enough that it can be maintained in his sleep. At least a quick nap should held settle the rage beating in his chest like a war drum.

When Shi Qingxuan looks over, they'll find he's slid to his side, slumped on the ground with closed eyes. But he's breathing, and the wounds are little other than fading marks. He is, however, unusually cool to the touch and his complexion remains pale overall. Healthier than before, but certainly not great.

[eruhamster]

love imagining how those first few years probably were for "ming yi". he gets up there and thinks he's gonna immediately start wrecking the lives of shi wudu and sqx even if he has to be a spy. he immediately wants to know where this fucking wind master is and someone points him over and sqx is a hot woman and he's just like FUCK SHE'S HOT?

and he gets over it and starts begrudgingly hanging around him because what else is he gonna do and sqx just thinks he's making friends with the shy new guy. and he thinks to himself maybe he can get this hot woman to hate him and ruin her day if he just starts insulting her. but every fucking time he does it sqx just thinks it's fucking funny and like he's just joking

and so he's like. ok. maybe i can insult her brother. so he tries bitching about how evil and selfrighteous shi wudu and his friends are and sqx just goes "OH MY GODDDD FINALLY SOMEONE SAYS IT omg listen ive been calling them the three tumors in my head please lets make that catch on pleaaaase" and now he's even more pissed off because not only has he not fucked up sqx's day or made him hate him yet, he actually likes sqx a little now bc he thinks his brother is an asshole too

and then just day by day he starts realizing he's liking this hot chick more and more. she throws money around to anyone in need, she hangs out in the mortal realm more than in heaven, she does work everyone else ignores and even visits the rain master sometimes to be friendly and she's always so loud about justice and her feelings and no matter how many times he tries to allude to the he xuan thing sqx seems totally clueless and sometimes he laments that he doesnt even want to be a god and doesnt understand why he ascended and doesnt feel like he fits in and honestly she kinda looks like his fiancee

and then just 1 day someone is an ass or something to sqx and in the back of his head he was already festering on a thought he wished he didnt have about how sqx is so generous but no one sticks around and so he just goes off on this person and NOW sqx is calling him his best friend and the poor man just goes home to his palace and just

[rainydayrina]

I can't take it anymore!!

I just know in my heart HX would be like THE BEST father/husband. Y'all think he's all cool and brooding and distant, like yea, after EVERYTHING was taken from him, sure.

But I absolutely know for a fact he would have been so sweet and caring if he actually got to marry his fiancee (which too many people forget he had/loved dearly)

Especially because rich people sometimes marry only for status, while poor people typically marry for love.

It drives me batshit insane when people ship him with SQX WITHOUT at least acknowledging that HX's revenge plot was for his family and LOVER. Like, he obviously is NOT over it.

/probably have way more to say but I'm brain dead right now./

[revel-inbluehues]

Oh my goodness gracious, I am several different types of broken rn. I just watched episode 7, and I NEED TO RANT AND I'M PROBABLY GOING TO LEAK A SPOILER OR TWO.

Okay, firstly, the first half was hilarious, just FX and MQ being absolute comedic gold. I completely forgot that FX was afraid of women since I read the novels a long time ago, but it was hilarious. He looked so disgusted. Them getting in funny situation is good as it is, but the animators did a fantastic job at the facial expressions of FX, MQ and the background heavenly officials who were hearing all of this play out. I laughed at it all, and poor SQX being embarrassed, tired, and exasperated at the dice shenanigans that he had to deal with earlier.

But, funny as it was, the second part was my favourite bit.

I literally froze when I saw Fang Xin. It was beautiful and terrifying at the same time. Knowing what that blade had done, the history it has made it so much more impactful since this is the first time since this is the first time XL is seeing it in 600 years or so while this is the first time HC is seeing it in around 800 years if I remember it correctly. It is such a metaphorically heavy blade, and seeing its design and animation is so very beautiful.

Meanwhile, LQQ commented on how different XL seemed, and XL responded on how this is how he always was, just that LQQ never knew it. Even still, XL felt like a teacher to LQQ, so I feel like no matter how separate XL tried to be, he did very much care for LQQ as I'm sure the next episode will show.

But I think the major part that got me was LQQ's speech about not becoming full of resentment or like XL, which is one hell of a gut punch. Once again, bravo to the animators for that little cut to XL's eyes widening. I always knew LQQ was a parallel to XL, and it is most clearest here. In that moment, XL knew that he was LQQ's White No Face, and that, in LQQ's perspective, where he started the worst moments of his life in a twisted attempt to make LQQ just as resentful as him. It was a fantastic comparison and a terrible irony to XL, something he clearly acknowledged as he laughed and tried so hard not to cry. XL's comparison to the White No Face is something that will probably hurt every time, since to XL, only he and JW know about it, and he's unable to share the burden of what happened, which probably just hurts even more. The parallel between LQQ's words to XL and XL's words to White No-Face is so painful, especially to XL, who thinks that it's his burden to bare, and it probably hurts more when you consider that he literally just got Fang Xin back.

And throughout all of this, the one other person who knew all of this, and wanted to share the burden was standing right next to him, looking hurt and about to cry as he watch his most loved hurt. HC knew the significance of it all, and it was a stark reminder of all the times he failed to protect the one he loved the most, and since this right after he accidently hurt XL as well, this must be painful for him too. There is so much foreshadowing for all the donghua-watchers only and so much tragedy underlining this scene.

The part where XL hesitated to hold Fangxin, when you know everything, hurts so much. It caused him so much trauma, wielding it would have just been such a painful reminder.

Let me move onto fangirling before I cry.

Firstly, I was waiting for the daruma doll bit for a while. He looks so cute and angry at the same time. It's adorable, and I laughed when LQQ side-eyed HC in the daruma form.

Secondly, why do HC and XL still look so HOT EVEN AS THE WEIRD CANDLE DEMONS, OMG???? HC with horns, blue skins, and black sclera is going to haunt me for DAYS, and XL looks so good with it as well. The candles on their heads look so funny though.

The next episode is for the Qi Rong simps, and I would like to remind everyone that Qi Rong, heathen that he is, is still physically hot, even if I have the visceral desire to punch him.

[strathbox]

Just my beefleaf girls💞🥩🍃

About the dresses:

Omggg this was favorite thing to drawwww, I’m not that good with glossy textures like HeXuan’s dress but I tried, I wanted both of them to have a very bold, very night club, very euphoria type of dress I also tried for them to be very much opposites in styles, now, SQX I loved drawing her dress, pretty angelic if you ask me, with feathers and a soft mint color

About the rest! Just some sketches of them, I would looove to read a fanfiction of them going to a party together, and like picture, they go as friends right? Maybe a reunion with xie lian and hua cheng andddd maybe Shi QingXuan s a bit drunk and just friendly dancing with everyone, and u have poor He Xuan eating while watching all of that untiiil, Qing Xuan notices this and tries to dance with her and she just continues to say how great that dress (she chose) makes He Xuan look, and maybe they kiss omggg now I’ll have to do more drawings for this

(IM BACKKKKK)

[grungiiuvu]

My mq and sqx designs! I really wanted to share them. plus the alt version, with their strings.

Someone didnt show up. Again.

WOAH I LOVE THIS SM!!

Them and their fans <3

The poor system, it didn't manage to get everyone in for the photoshoot :(( maybe next time!!

This looks so cool, dude, I'm obsessed

[thatswhatsushesaid]

I’m so glad you like Shi Wudu because I do too and it’s rare to find people who don’t hate him in the fandom. Like how can you hate him! He did it all for his brother! It was all for SQX! Was it ethical? Hell no but he’s so compelling as a character! I have /so/ many extremely complicated feelings about Shi Wudu that I could talk for hours about but all I will say is that “I decide my fate and not the heavens” is so metal and I think that there’s so much to say about just that line it makes me go feral. His relationship with Pei Ming also makes me go feral because the amount of trust (love?) that SW must have had in PM to trust him, at his lowest, with the most important thing to him (SQX’s life). Especially considering the fact that SQX has been antagonizing PM and been openly hostile towards him, for what we can only assume is centuries, and yet SW was certain that PM would put all that aside for his sake (and he did!)

Also I am now curious about the JGY stan to SW stan pipeline because it seems like we both experienced it and we can’t possibly be the only ones so now I’m wondering if there are people who like one but not the other and why.

(Also I saw your tags about beefleaf and you managed to capture my feelings about them perfectly. Like no I don’t want to read fluffy modern AUs I want to read fics where they both love each other but it’s not enough, they never choose each other and they’re both miserable and fucked up about it)

(Sorry this is so long!)

yo never apologize for sending long messages with your thoughts/feelings on these characters, i am SO HERE for reading them!! i hadn’t considered the presence of a jgy-to-swd stan pipeline, mostly because when i’ve checked the character tag, i’ve mostly seen comparisons to nmj and nhs. which dgmw, i absolutely believe that nmj loved nhs and wanted to protect him! but we know exactly what nmj would have done to save nhs from an unspeakably awful fate in canon, because that’s already something that is completely within his power to change. and he doesn’t do it.

also absolutely i believe swd loved pei ming—like i don’t think there’s enough in the source material to support a romantic or reciprocated romantic ship there, but that absolutely won’t stop me from doing it anyway, and in canon, it says so much that pei ming is who shi wudu tells shi qingxuan to go to after he dies.

😭😭😭 waaaahhhhh i love shi wudu, he’s insane, he’s a war criminal, he ruined poor he xuan’s whole life and afterlife, and he did it all for love of his little bother!!

[fortune-maiden]

TGCF Revised Ver: Mid Autumn Banquet

Short arc is short and honestly aside from some stuff in the beginning I think most of the changes here are fine. It does feel like it flows better in some parts

The biggest change here is the beginning of the arc:

Originally QR possessed one of the guys he'd kidnapped, then showed up at the Xianle Royal tomb to desecrate it and then XL dragged him home. In this version, he just found a random dude while escaping after the events of the Fangxin arc and possessed him (this was the only kind of person he could possess). Notable changes though: it's said upfront that this dude is a gambler and a drunkard (and that this is the type of person QR hates most because it reminds him of his own dad). And he came crawling to Puqi Shrine to hide from LQQ. XL is still quite savage to him though. Also QR's long rant about how everyone sucks is moved to the end of this scene with him also cursing out the Three Tumors as a group after cursing them out individually. (Also my mtl has him call SWD a 'nouveau riche' instead of blackhearted and I'm very curious if this is an actual change or a translation thing xD)

And now the big rage change. THE PICKLE JAR SCENE IS CUT! Bye bye Pei Ming's final stint as an antagonist, Pei Xiu standing up to his boss/ancestor, and the Wind Master making a fool of him and then cheerfully inviting XL to the mid-autumn banquet. In the revised ver Ling Wen just informs him there's a banquet and he attends (though all the reasons he lists for being unable to refuse are the same)

No Lang Ying in this version so SQX does not mention taking XL to pick him up later.

XL recognizes LW's male form right away in the revision, while in the original he only caught on after seeing PM & SWD next to her. Also snip goes the bit about the Three Tumors praising each other and SQX calling them fakers.

The audio drama adds some cute dialogue here about LW not wanting to go to the hot springs with PM and SWD telling her to go with him and pretend PM doesn't exist. I love it a lot. (also this is SWD’s first line of dialogue in the AD haha)

LW/PM going 'Instant karma' to SWD after he made fun of them is cut. Awww

Idk if it's a translation thing but the price for stopping the mid-autumn play was possibly reduced from 100k to 10k merits - most likely a translation thing because it’s still 100k in the AD

Oh? Looks like the XL's play in the Mid Autumn Festival is called "The Strange Tale of Flower and Night" and SQX notes that it must have been written by one of his new believers...and XL then notes that his only believers are the poor villagers in Puqi Village. There is no mention of the Banyue merchants here like in the original.The play is still about Banyue though

Which leads to the consequence of cutting the pickle jar scene. SWD asks after Little Pei and PM says he washed his hands of him (I guess they had their talk offscreen?) SQX proceeds to mock him for not disciplining PX properly and brings up the past incident with his subordinate and the Rain Master, which makes PM uncomfortable (he has no reaction to SQX defending Banyue in the original) SWD scolds him as before (honestly SQX does feel a little ruder in this ver since she's bringing up the one topic PM doesn't like) (possibly also a translation thing, but SWD explicitly calls PM SQX's elder in the mtl which is cute) (mtl is also much nicer to SWD when it comes to *that* line)

The Rain Master convo that originally took place during the pickle jar scene happens here. Its also noted here that YSH silently allowed XL to borrow water for Yong'an 800 years ago (since he didn't exactly ask in this version) Also notably SQX reveals right away that the Rain Master was the last ruler of Yushi, and Pei Ming was a general of Xuli and XL realizes their history. In the original we don't learn this until Mt Tonglu.

And now for an annoying characterization cut because it's been a while. Originally when XL & SQX discuss PX's exile they have a moment of nodding about the Human Realm wearing one down over time. In the original there's an added bit about how XL is nodding unconsciously while SQX's nod is exaggerated. There's no flourish in the revision and I am annoyed because this is a key difference between the two of them. SQX says these things but doesn't fully understand them yet...

(While I'm sad about the pickle jar scene, I will admit moving this dialogue makes the scene flow better here. Originally we went right from SWD scolding SQX to the lantern battle. It was actually pretty abrupt...)

After SQX receives her ranking, other officials note that LQQ would have normally been ranked there. But he became depressed after the events of the Fangxin Guoshi arc and wasn't focusing on his duties :( Originally, he's only mentioned as being less popular than QYZ despite ascending earlier

Since SQX doesn't need to take XL to Lang Ying in this version, she goes to drag her brother away from his friends.

Also snipped is Feng Xin giving XL a congratulations. Poor Feng Xin :(

And then XL goes home and the scene with QR is more or less the same.

Very small changes overall and most of the characterization is in tact. Save for Pei Xiu's.

RIP Pei Xiu. I still love you.

[lansplaining]

character negativity under cut

I just realised the same thing bothers me about (song)xuexiao and beefleaf, which is that for either ship to work, only one character’s pain can matter

if xiao xingchen’s feelings of loss and betrayal are taken seriously, there’s no way he can be seen to love xue yang. I mean, he literally kills himself over what xue yang did to him and made him do! but if you’re only thinking about how xue yang is a sad, abused child who deserved better and xxc is nothing more than a symbol of the life he should have had, then sure, cottagecore dreams forever (and poor song lan is just fully an accessory here, there is literally nothing to suggest he would ever like xy even to the extent xxc did when he was being lied to)

and similarly I think beefleaf of course were friends and the donghua’s got me feeling the vibes, but again you have to treat sqx as like, not a full person with a full emotional response to being manipulated and lied to for years! or having feelings about the fact that this person murdered his brother and then maybe tortured him! or the fact that in the moment he chose his brother over he xuan! if you’re only thinking about hx’s side of the story, and how he couldn’t kill sqx in the end, sure. something like love is happening, why not.

but in both cases, they just don’t actually work if you read them both ways

(this is shaped by the fact that like almost all of the content I see for both of these ships doesn’t seem to be interested in probing the fact that they’re super messed up, they’re just being cute and couple-y. obviously if you are leaning into the messed up-ness, this dynamic matters less)