#queen of xianle

[silmarillaure]

I love it when boys look like their moms

[whatwhywhowherewhen]

TGCF Hot Take:

If one ignores that they had the first supreme ghost king directly targeting them, one could get the impression that Xianle fell because of the king and queen's mediocre parenting skills.

Which is just. So funny

The king is one of those parents who does not understand their kid's special interests. Like he's accepted Xie Lian wants to cultivate and "save the common people!" But he has no idea why he likes it so much or even what that means

They have an entire kingdom build temples for and worship him, but when an actual problem shows up. They. Tell everyone. To not pray to XL. As if that's not the entire point of worshipping a god. It's the classic acknowledging adult kids as independent and being proud of their success, but failing to give them a seat at the table as a responsible decision-maker. They do the same thing with the King's illness after Xianle fell. The king's pride and queen's gentleness prevents them from burdening their little boy... with problems he needs to know about

The queen doesn't know how to say no to her spoiled baby. Which is fair, some kids are just so rotten from outside or personal issues you can't control them. However said brat is Qi Rong, who beats up and ruins any chance of forgiveness from the guy who ends up leading an entire revolution against them.

And the problem with not understanding your kid's interests is that you also don't understand their abilities and skills' applications. Consider the king's attempts to send relief to Yong'An. It's made basically useless because of corrupt officials taking from it. Like gee. I wonder if his martial god son, who is a martial god, could have done something to help the situation.

I'm not saying he could have fought the rich people. I'm saying he could have sent Mu Qing and Feng Xin in human disguises or something to escort it without having to stop. Because they are heavenly officials. They stopped hits from landing by Xie Lian's command, and Pei Su got away with so much more with a disguise, why would delivery of mortal goods, from mortals to mortals, be where the line is drawn?

It's completely normal parenting mistakes and hiccups in giant and upsetting circumstances. I feel like I'm watching a cheesy movie about a dysfunctional family learning to understand one another but it ends in the worst way possible.

[xielianlover2]

I'm in love with how similar they look. It makes me so emotional. They have the same eyes, too 🥺

[friedwizardwhispers]

Things that makes me sad: we are going to see her grave being desecrated by her nephew who she raised by the end of the season

[panther-os]

the idea of hua cheng and mu qing code-switching between what is essentially equivalent to modern british rp ("queen's english", tgcf's present-day central plains standard), early modern english ("shakespeare english", xianle upper class), and 17th century cornish dialects ("pirate accent", xianle working class) lives in my head rent free

like these two start bickering and get real into it and suddenly xie lian and feng xin can barely keep up, they're just sitting there basically like "what does 'oy, shut yer gob, les ye be fixin' t' walk th' plank' mean?" "I think it means 'break thee off unless thou wish to be dispatch'd', Your Highness." "Ohhhhh, I see."

(dialogue not perfectly historically accurate but ykwim)

[pichirobi]

fire, air, water, earth.

prince xie lian is one of the most promising up-and-coming avatars the world has yet to see. that is, until disaster strikes his home earth kingdom of xianle. when his people die out at the hands of a plague spirit, bai wuxiang, the nations blame the avatar. with his reputation destroyed, xie lian joins the air nomads for 20 years and travels the world as a scrap-collector. although he has lost the respect of the people he is destined to protect, the spirit world is thrown into chaos without his guidance. xie lian works thanklessly to maintain global balance all on his own. but unbeknownst to him, there's one person, upon the throne of the fire nation, who still believes in the avatar.

welcome to my tgcf x atla au!

click here to follow this tag for updates. read more below for my story notes.

STORY

xie lian is born to the king and queen of an earth kingdom city-state, xianle, and is quickly discovered to be the avatar. a wildly talented one, at that. he learns firebending second, and waterbending third. still young and pampered, xie lian struggles with the humility associated with airbending principles.

at just the age of 17 he begins to travel the world to master the four elements and [katara narrator voice] to restore peace and balance in the world. he acquires a servant (firebender mu qing) and a bodyguard (earthbender & childhood best friend feng xin). it's during this time that he tours the fire nation, meeting with political figures and impoverished citizens alike, gaining a positive reputation for his determination and skills. to celebrate the summer solstice, xie lian is the face of a festival in which he proves his elegance, combative strength, and firebending prowess. during the ceremony, he controversially interrupts it to save the life of a 10-year-old urchin boy.

the lines between the spirit and mortal worlds bleed together during solstices. it's xie lian's festival which attracts a particularly violent spirit to emerge into the mortal world: bai wuxiang. the white-clothed calamity.

xie lian's life is filled with promise until he turns 22. he catches word of a disaster taking place in his home kingdom. he puts a pause on his tour of the nations to return to xianle. there, he finds that a strange and highly contagious disease has begun plaguing his people. its symptoms are unnatural; the work of an angry spirit. xie lian works himself to the bone trying to save his common people. he fails.

when xianle falls to plague, to chaos, to fear, its people blame the avatar. he is dubbed the avatar of misfortune. a failure. xie lian's reputation crumbles to dust and he is helpless to restore his people's faith in him. when the rest of the world learns of how xianle came to ruin, the avatar becomes not a figure of peace to be revered, but a bad omen.

having lost his two companions, his parents, his kingdom, and the global adoration he's come to rely on for his self-worth, xie lian runs away. he disowns his past identity and seeks to start a new life. he finds himself in the northern air temples, where the air nomads pay him no mind, although xie lian is a bit of an oddball. (xie lian might look rougher and jaded but they certainly recognize the avatar. they pretend to not know him—the nomads keep to themselves and as long as xie lian doesn't cause trouble, he is welcome.) he eventually befriends a monk named shi qingxuan.

xie lian seeks enlightenment. he incorporates himself into the monks' way of life, releasing all ties to material possessions and worldly indulgences. he abstains from sex, alcohol, anger, and, hardest of all, grief. he goes on to live 20 years as a scrap collector, practicing what he was taught by his teacher and guide, monk wu yong. xie lian knows it's time to leave the temples when he finally masters airbending.

humbled, xie lian rekindles his fighting spirit. the common people loathe the avatar, but he forgives them. he will save them.

as xie lian wanders the nations, he learns that during his darkest years, literature, art, and scholarly works of the avatar have been destroyed. most people don't even remember what he looks like and much less have the means to learn anything about him. (hua cheng carving xl's face into the side of a mountain: HOLD MY BEER)

meanwhile, there is a fire nation urchin boy who has grown into someone powerful enough to be feared. through his unmatched wit and charisma, he has worked his way up the capital's political hierarchy. a city governor who calls himself hua cheng, is the first aristocrat to challenge the firelord to an agni kai. he is also the first to win. he delegitimizes the royal bloodline and single-handedly reshapes a generation's idea of a competent ruler. bonus points for the previous firelord being xie lian's indecent cousin, qi rong.

now 35 years old, the new firelord, terrifying yet respected by all, leads his people to prosperity and vanquishes every enemy. peculiarly, he seems somewhat uninterested in his position of power. instead, he enjoys turning his attention towards erecting a shrine, a palace, in honor of avatar xie lian.

HUALIAN'S BACKSTORY

the avatar preceding xie lian, jun wu, oversaw great conflicts between the four nations. it is during one of these wars that a seemingly insignificant teenager dies. his soul drifts aimlessly in the spirit world, vulnerable, alone. he encounters the trickster spirit koh who steals his face. time is hard to account for in this realm, and the once-a-teenager forgets his past life, his own identity, simply choosing to refer to himself as wu ming: nameless. many years later, the avatar cycle begins anew with the birth of xie lian.

at 7 years old, prince xie lian and his best friend feng xin are outdoors playing with swords. feng xin takes a break, as he is called inside by the king of xianle, leaving xie lian outside and unsupervised. (feng xin will shortly be told that xie lian is not only his friend, but now his responsibility.) meanwhile, xie lian is left without a sparring partner. until a ghostly silver butterfly flits in front of him. it playfully weaves around the flourishes of the blade. xie lian chases it, away from the palace grounds, across the fields and into the brush, where he falls head-first through a burrow. when he stands up, his sword has disappeared, but not the butterfly. it pulls his attention upward, where he takes in his surroundings: the spirit world.

xie lian continues to play and greet spirits, who are all pleased to meet the new avatar, eventually finding a sad, dissipating ghost fire. the ghost introduces itself as wu ming. xie lian works very hard to cheer it up, promising they'll be friends in this lifetime and the next. wu ming brightens and confesses that koh has stolen its face. xie lian fails to tolerate this news: if he's to be the avatar, he must protect the innocent and slay monsters. with wu ming's warnings, he marches to koh's den to demand his friend's face back.

xie lian succeeds. wu ming doesn't remember much these days, but he's sure that no one has ever showed him such incredible kindness. when wu ming expresses his desire to disappear, xie lian gives him a mantra: "live for me."

xie lian has to leave, to return to a very worried feng xin (who is scared he's already failed his new bodyguard job on day one), but wu ming is invigorated with life like never before. his soul persists, stubbornly, for the avatar. he is reborn back into the mortal world as a fire nation boy. although, the encounter with koh would leave a mark on his body: the sclera of his right eye would be an unsettling blood red. the people of his village would know him as hong hong-er.

elsewhere in the spirit world, the ghost of avatar jun wu senses young xie lian's presence. he also senses the persistence of the ghost fire—a soul reborn. could he, too, return to the mortal world? jun wu entertains a simple but horrifying thought: by swapping places with xie lian, could he achieve immortality as the world's last avatar? thus, jun wu hatches a plan. he strikes a deal with bai wuxiang, the white-clothed calamity, a malevolent plague spirit. bai wuxiang would possess the body of jun wu to eliminate the new avatar. to kill xie lian, and to be reborn.

the plan doesn't go—well, according to plan. the people of xianle are wiped out before he can get his hands on xie lian, and the destruction of a people leaves behind a universal distrust of the avatar. jun wu realizes he would be unable to seize power in such an environment. his new strategy must involve controlling young xie lian, manipulating him into a puppet. it takes a while to pin him down, but jun wu eventually finds him settled in the northern air temple, at his most emotionally vulnerable. jun wu will impersonate a monk teacher, changing his name to wu yong. he will bide his time and play his cards until the world is ready for his return.

EXTRAS

hualian are middle-aged men in this au because it makes sense timeline-wise, but also because sexy silver fox xie lian is what i see every time i close my eyes.

narratively, i'm torn between hua cheng loving the avatar, or hua cheng loving xie lian. thinking about this timeless lovestory, "you, not the state of you," i can see it both ways. hua cheng might love the avatar, xie lian and all of his reincarnations regardless of their body. or, he might love xie lian, regardless of the "avatar" title. ("avatar" may also be this world's equivalent to hua cheng respectfully calling xie lian "dianxia".)

firelord hua cheng presents himself at what he believes is his ugliest, most intimidating form: exposing his burned right eye. as san lang, however, he is at first ashamed to reveal such a vulnerable part of him in front of his love; he covers it with an eyepatch. (the people of the fire nation are like: "a platypus?" [san lang takes off his eyepatch] "PERRY THE PLATYPUS?!?!")

hua cheng teaches xie lian how to bend lightning. they easily trade bolts back and forth to each other in a cute and intimate way. feng xin and mu qing are horrified when they first see this in action.

hualian's first kiss happens when they're battling a sea monster underwater and xie lian loses his concentration enough to accidentally pop hua cheng's air bubble. a little mouth-to-mouth resuscitation will do the trick until they can float back up to the surface.

ruoye = xl's spiritual serpent guide (kind of like roku's dragon)

e'ming = hc's super clingy fire ferret

[monhiio]

An arrangement no one is really happy with.

His occasional walks with his betrothed are as unavoidable as they are uneventful. She talks, he listens. He doesn't make the same mistake again of disagreeing with her on something, instead hes tasked with showing her around. A walk through the palace, a walk through town, through the market, around the city walls. He wonders if he can postpone the wedding for as long as he keeps finding places for him to take her. But then again Xianle is only so big, and he thinks suggesting that "Your majesty perhaps I can show her Yong'an first" would get his head cut off instead.

The Emperor and the Queen dont bother sending Xie Lian away anymore when theyre on these walks. And his occasional presence makes it all so much worse. Because he cant zone out when his Highness is there. Instead Feng Xins gaze follows him, miserable and pleading. that is until theres a tug at his arm and the sound of his fiancé clearing her throat, and hes forced to look away. Its absolute torture.

Part 1

Part 2

[essekknits]

… we know where Xie Lian came from. We know where Mu Qing came from. We even know a bit about where Hong’er came from. The only person from the Xianle quarter whose backstory we have NO IDEA about is Feng Xin.

Unlike Mu Qing, we never hear about him having a family. We never hear about him wanting to visit family, or worrying about family when it comes to the war and the plague. Which makes me believe that either his family is inextricably tied to the palace and the royal family (generations of guards, perhaps) and he lost them all in the fall of Xianle… or by the time we meet him he doesn’t have any family at all.

But it makes it very clear that Xie Lian and Mu Qing are all he has, once Xianle falls, and even before it. He has Xie Lian and the king and queen and Mu Qing and this is all he has left. All he has to hold on to.

And then Xie Lian orders him to leave.

[weixlsstuff]

Is The King of Xianle a bad father?

pt 2

the relationship between father and son before the events that foreshadowed the fall of Xianle. (namely, before the onset of the Yong'an drought), as already discussed in the first part, was strained and their complete breakup was held only by the Queen of Xianle. the situation of rebellion in the state has only further widened the gap between them.

the arguments between them continue to gain momentum: the King of Xianle has become much more rude to his son. This can be seen, for example, in the moment when Xie Lian appeared before his parents for the first time after ascension because of the rebellion*. the King, unwilling to listen to his son, harshly drove him away and did not even allow the Queen to talk to her son any longer. of course, the harshness in his father's statements may be due to the tense situation in the kingdom and his concern for Xie Lian, but the King hurt his son and never apologized to him (either for this quarrel or for further arguments), even after enough time for him to cool off from anger.

in one of the chapters**, Xie Lian, seeing a trampled flower, begins to treat his father more gently, and in response, he also began to treat his son with more warmth. It would seem that the conflict has been resolved and everything is okey, but the question arises: why is Xie Lian taking the initiative again? Why does his father, an adult man and a king, expect this from his child instead of being the first to make a move on a meeting? in my opinion, this is an infantile and selfish position, since the King of Xianle shifts all responsibility for the conflict onto his son, taking the position of a "victim". he begins to treat his son warmly only when the child's opinion coincides with his own, when Xie Lian is the first to take the initiative and abandon some of his thoughts in favor of his father.

in the future (when Xie Lian was holding the Celestial Pagoda ***), his father came every day, but he just kept silent. and at this moment, when the King did not say anything (and did not reproach his son, did not scold him), Xie Lian felt that there was "much more agreement" between them. isn't it strange that Xie Lian felt calm with his father only when they were silent? the "agreement" between them appeared only because Xie Lian was silent, did not oppose his father, did not express his opinions and thoughts, and thus did not give rise to conflicts. the King did not start a conversation on his own, that is, to some extent, the King of Xianle avoided the problem, preferring to ignore their existence. it can be concluded that the psychological mechanism of protecting the emperor's psyche is avoidance. this is also one of the most prominent mechanisms for Xie Lian, as I mentioned in the first part, which again accentuates the role of the father in the emergence of unhealthy behaviors.

perhaps I'm being categorical, but the King 's behavior in these chapters is similar to that of a narcissistic parent. for example, narcissistic parents are characterized by an unwillingness to listen to their child's opinion, maintaining their own role as a "victim", focusing solely on their vision of the situation, and high expectations from the child (including the expectation that the child will follow in their footsteps and achieve at least the same as the parent himself), inability to empathize, etc. similar actions and traits are noticeable in Xie Lian's father (important: I'm not talking about Xie Lian's father having a narcissistic personality disorder, just narcissistic traits). I will not address this point in detail, but it seemed important to mention this point in the context of the relationship between Xie Lian and his father. since the possible "narcissistic" features of the King of Xianle were, in my opinion, most strongly shown in the novel precisely during the beginning of the war and the fall of the kingdom.

* - Volume 2, chapter 77

** - 2 volumes, 78 chapters

*** - Volume 2, chapter 88

[unforth]

Was thinking last night about the decisions of the Xianle royal family, and the impact those decisions would have had on the common people, and the extent to which those decisions implied and accentuated the excesses we mostly don't see because of Xie Lian's rose colored glasses.

Like. This king and queen have only one son, and they let him go off to learn a cultivation method that requires celibacy.

Who is going to be the next ruler of this country?

If Xie Lian doesn't ascend, it could be him, but once he's emperor, who will come after him? Will he stop cultivating? Will he adopt? Will he pick a family member? Like they can't have expected/assumed he'd ascend but still had they thought about it all? Did they have a plan? And of course Xie Lian DOES ascend and a god can't be an emperor, but even though that happened several years ago, they still don't actually seem to have a succession plan.

And the only relative introduced to the reader who could presumably take the throne is fricken Qi Rong, a youth who constantly parades his indifferent, violent behavior all through the streets of the capital.

There's massive instability on the horizon for Xianle entirely aside from the events in Yong'an. How anxious the people must feel wondering who their next emperor will be, what will preserve the kingdom's storied stability?

And yet from Xie Lian's idealistic viewpoint none of this is ever even really mentioned (at least not that I recall??).

Is his father doing anything at all?

What does it say about a kingdom that willingly let's their crown prince go "naw I'm never making an heir" and then when he goes to godhood doesn't even bother naming a new crown prince?

Idk. I just love all the subtle evidence that despite Xie Lian thinking everything is great (of course he does, his needs and desires are being catered to), as a matter of fact... Xianle is a fucking mess.

[xielianlover2]

I keep thinking about how I still don't really know anything about the Xianle trio's past and their feelings about everything. When did Feng Xin find out about the King and Queen and how and when they died? Did he find out immediately? They committed suicide like a day after he left (which is so heartbreaking for Xie Lian). Did he come back to check and find out? Did he find out years later? Did he blame himself at all?

Did Mu Qing know anything? Did he figure out exactly why Feng Xin left? Did he know about how much Xie Lian changed in that period of time?

Xie Lian was alone. He was so numb and angry at the world. He could have become Jun Wu's successor that day or something much worse if he was pushed even further.

But Feng Xin and Mu Qing don't know about that at all. They don't know anything. They don't know how much Xie Lian suffered in that period of time. I just really need all three of them to just sit down. And talk. That time period was so awful and depressing, and both of them didn't even know the full story.

I just want Feng Xin to know why Xie Lian was acting so cynical and different. I want Mu Qing to truly express what he felt. I want them all to just talk it out 😭

Of course, that might never even happen as most people don't just sit down and decide to hash out their trauma...

[whumpbby]

What if an AU...

Where the Xianle quartet are dropped into another universe - one where MQ and FX never left XL.

Maybe it was some curse or some miracle that allowed people to see what would happen if their lives followed a different path? And all three - XL, MQ and FX - always wondered what would happen if they stayed.

So, they get to see it.

FX and MQ stayed by their prince's side and the misery continued - MQ tried his best to keep everyone afloat, but being constantly undermined and distrusted started to push him towards the edge. His pulling away caused FX and XL to distrust him even more, and it was so easy for Jun Wu to point them against each other.

And fire.

All it took was something small - the last valuable thing the Queen owned going missing in the night. MQ finding a suspiciously well-paid job for some travelling priest and bringing home actual money, happy to feed them all properly for the first time in months... but he didn't even get to the shack when FX and XL came to meet him and the accusations started. Thief. Disrespectful. Betrayal. Scum.

MQ, worn down to the bone, finally snapping and his anger pouring out. You're useless. Weak. Pampered little shits that wouldn't know how to light fire without him. Stand there accusing him of selfishness while all they do is take and take! The useless king who led the country to ruin, useless queen that can't prepare a cup of rice! Useless prince that wanted to save the common people, but cannot lower himself to walk amongst them! Useless bodyguard who cannot do anything worthwhile, but run his mouth!

And Feng Xin loses it - pain and hunger and despair and hate overflow, and in a moment of blind rage he stabs Mu Qing.

Mu Qing dies cursing them all - useless hypocrites. He dies laughing - who next they will turn on? He dies in the dirt, the food he brought spilled around him.

And, like in a play, the queen rushes to the scene - she found the hairpin! It wasn't lost! She must have misplaced it! It wasn't....

...it wasn't stolen.

But by then it's useless. Useless. Useless. Useless.

Feng Xin, hands covered in blood, breaks. The blade sill stained with Mu Qing's blood easily parts flesh on his neck, and before Xie Lian can react, Feng Xin falls into the same dirt he murdered Mu Qing in.

They haven't left - and Xie Lian still ended up alone.

They haven't left - but this was worse. Worse. Worse.

They haven't left - and all it accomplished was more arrows in Jun Wu's quiver, more ways to hurt Xie Lian, more ways to try and break him. They haven't ascended, they just died, hungry and worn out, curled in the dirt at the feet of their prince who, once again, has proven himself to be useless...

Them leaving when they did, as painful as it was to admit, was the only thing that saved their lives.

[weirdocat83]

Sometimes I think about Xie Lian’s past in Xianle and to be perfectly honest, I don’t think he had all that much of a childhood. He was a crown prince so yes, everything he asked for was given to him on a silver platter but he mentions that he frequently quarreled with his father and is shown to only really tolerate his cousin. The only person in his family that he really shows deep bonds to is his mother who no doubt must have been busy as a queen for the most part. Also because of his station he always needed to be seen as “proper” as well as the relationships he had being affected because the rank difference played a big role whether he acknowledged it or not (*cough* Mu Qing *cough*). He went off to cultivate at a young age and ascended at 17!!! He was held up to the standards of an actual god at 17! And I’m pretty sure that that expectation didn’t start there. It was there even before because he was the crown prince. So when at about 20 years old with little to no experience with common people and a mountain of expectations to live up to of course he’d inevitably fail! And it makes me so sad because putting that on someone’s shoulders when they are brutally unprepared and blaming them when they can’t carry the weight to the point they’re pretty much breaking down and blaming themselves is so tragic and I feel like it isn’t acknowledged enough.

[impatiencegyu]

Note: Feng Xin is older than Xie Lian here (15 and 9 years old respectively).

"Mama, where are you taking us?" Xie Lian wrapped his arms around his mother's waist, looking up at her with a big smile. "Did you bring me a new gift? Or is it for Xin-gege?"

"Patience, A-Lian," The Queen laughed, ruffling his hair as she turned to look at Feng Xin. "You're quiet today. Is there something wrong?"

"N-no, your highness," Feng Xin stuttered. There really wasn't anything wrong, but for some reason, he had been feeling weird since morning. And he couldn't tell if it was good or bad.

"Where are we going, your highness?" He asked. They were entering a part of the palace he and Xie Lian had been forbidden from entering before, and he was a bit nervous. What did she even do in here?

"I have a surprise for the both of you," She smiled, opening a door and standing to the side. "Go on in, children."

Xie Lian jumped inside, and Feng Xin followed, looking around. The room was...nothing special. Most of the walls were bare, and there was a small table a few feet from the door with stuff that artists use? Paints, brushes, knives, and all that. And in the very centre stood what looked like a statue, veiled in a rich red fabric.

"Mama!" Xie Lian exclaimed, "Did you make this?"

"Yes, A-Lian," The Queen walked towards the statue with an amused laugh, and waved them over. "Come on, don't you want to see it?"

The weird feeling built inside Feng Xin. He felt like he couldn't breathe. It was as if the fabric concealed something that could influence him for the rest of his life.

What is wrong with me?

The statue was almost the same size as him, and as he watched the Queen of Xianle lean down to reveal the veil, his heart started beating really fast. Involuntarily, his hand went to his chest, and he took a deep breath just as the statue was revealed.

What. The. Hell.

Feng Xin's breath stuttered, and he had to double over, coughing. Not because it was ugly, or disgusting. No, no, never.

The statue was of a boy of his age, all long hair and sharp eyes, with a beautiful smile as he held his saber out in a graceful position, as if it was challenging him to come fight. It was unlike anything Feng Xin had ever seen — no wonder the Queen looked so proud of her work.

It was the most beautiful thing Feng Xin had ever seen in his entire life.

"It's so pretty, Mama! Who is he?" Xie Lian asked, eyes wide.

"We don't have a name yet, dear," The Queen responded, smiling softly. "Do you have anything in mind?"

"I'll think, Mama," Xie Lian put his hand to chin, clearly brainstorming names.

Suddenly, a name rose up out of nowhere in Feng Xin's mind. Nothing else had place there except for that name, and he was so surprised at this realization (that was now flowing through his entire being like pure, fluid gold), that he accidentally said it out loud.

"Mu Qing."

The Queen and Xie Lian turned to look at him, surprised, before the former asked, "What did you say, A-Xin?"

"Mu Qing," He repeated, not taking his eyes off the statue even for a moment. "Mu Qing."

"That's a beautiful name!" The Queen clasped her hands together, and turned to Xie Lian, "What do you say, darling?"

"Yes, yes, it's pretty!" Xie Lian giggled, "Mama, Mama, A-Lian wants to draw Mu Qing!"

"You do? Ah, there's no paper left here. Come on, let's go get some?"

"Yes, Mama!" Xie Lian laughed as his mother ushered him out of the room. Just as they reached the door, she turned.

Feng Xin was still standing there.

"We'll be right back, alright A-Xin?"

He nodded, and they left to the Queen's room to get paper.

The weird feeling was dissipating now. All he felt was a powerful awe, a magnetic pull towards the statue. Towards Mu Qing. He reached out a hand to touch, then snapped it away.

What's wrong with me? It's just a statue! He thought, an irrational frustration building up in him.

Then why hesitate, something in his heart murmured. It's just a statue.

Feng Xin reached out, and pressed his palm to the statue's cheek. Mu Qing's smile was in his palm now, his sharp eyes looking into his, and it felt so real. It was almost as if he were a real person.

Feng Xin took a deep breath, and whispered, "If only you were real." He pulled his hand away, and turned around to leave.

Then, he froze.

A warm hand had wrapped around his wrist.

[symphonyofsilence]

Do you ever think about Immortal ghosts and gods, being traumatized sons of long-gone fathers still?

Do you ever think about Qi Rong, the son of an abusive man seeing a child mistreated by his father and deciding to adopt the child? Qi Rong who was born and for some time raised in a Doghouse-like Shack and his life was turned around when his mother ran away from his father and took him to the palace promising his son that he was going to take him to live in big, beautiful mansions? Qi Rong who was looked down upon by everyone, even by the person he considered a god in the heavens before he even ascended, who was the only one who was kind to him and stood up for him when everyone else was bullying him and his mother in his first exposure to the outside world, Qi Rong who got little respect even as a ghost king, Qi Rong who was insecure as someone who was looked down upon by upper-class children because of his commoner Yan'An-born father, who called Feng Xin & Mu Qing shitty low-lives, who had no regards for commoners and abused the poor lower-class child that was Honhong-er, THAT Qi Rong adopting a commoner child and doing his best to look the best and the mightiest and the most respected in the eyes of his son, not caring if everyone else didn't respect him? And succeeding (in something that the King of Xianle didn't succeed in) as one of the last things we hear of Gu Zi is that he says that his dad can't die because he's told him that he has cultivated to be the king of the three realms or something. Because even if Gu Zi didn't know what the king of the three realms was, it was something that his father was. So it must have been quite a powerful, mighty thing to be? Do you ever think about Qi Rong whose last words, when being asked "What do you have to be held in high regard?" was "SO WHAT IF YOU ALL LOOK DOWN ON ME? THIS ANCESTOR...THIS ANCESTOR...THIS ANCESTOR HAS A SON!"

Do you ever think about Mu Qing, whose earliest experience of law and Justice was his father being beheaded, and then his teacher who wouldn't even accept him as his disciple due to Mu Qing being poor and the son of an executed man, never lifting a finger to stop the relentless bullying he got by rich kids but being more than willing to kick him out if he stood up for himself, and in one memorable occasion accused Mu Qing of "intentionally withholding communication" without even hearing him out first while "his [Mei Nianqing's] words and expression showed he already firmly believed Mu Qing to be sabotaging the affair purposely", (And then didn't apologize to him when his accusations turned out to be false. And while MNQ was so quick to accuse him, apparently hours of nimbly & skillfully carrying a 9 ft Zhanmaodo that a group of people together couldn't pull out of a wall wasn't impressive enough for him to give Mu Qing so much as a nod of approval. He couldn't even just not disagree when the queen praised Mu Qing and compared him to Feng Xin who at 14 was already good enough at martial art to be selected as the bodyguard of the crown prince while MQ only started cultivating at 14 but caught up to FX in 3 years.) still, even as the Martial God of the Southwest with seven thousand temples dedicated to him fully believing that unless he takes matters into his own hands he won't receive any justice? (And note how he thinks if he stays and waits for trial he will face "death" even though as far as we know there's no mention of any god being sentenced to death, at worst even with a kill count as impressive as Pei Su they get sentenced to banishment)? And of how his story constantly revolves around him being accused of crimes he didn't commit from start to finish? As he's introduced to the audience as someone who left Xie Lian behind as soon as Xie Lian got banished and treats Xie Lian with contempt even though he owed everything to him, as he's accused of intentionally withholding communication to sabotage the Shangyuan festival as a 17-year-old, as he's thought to have left Xie Lian & Feng Xin behind and teamed up with the other junior officials against Xie Lian, as Xie Lian second-guesses his intentions when Mu Qing brings him medicine, as he's first suspected of being the father of Cuo Cuo and then the culprit behind Jian Lan's forced abortion, as he's accused of trying to murder Feng Xin when everyone was evacuating the Heavenly Capital, as he's accused of conspiring with Jun Wu against Xie Lian. Despite how he was the only Heavenly official with a totally clean record with nothing to be used against him by Jun Wu and every time anyone suspects him of anything he has actually been doing good because he's a good, kind-hearted person. Do you ever think about how in the end he did end up with cursed shackles but got them voluntarily? Of how Mu Qing who was so sensitive to being accused that he would break a broom and run away when hearing Feng Xin's comment on how they couldn't invite too many people to search for the coral earring, and valued his hard-earned cultivation and statues so much, and his good deeds would always backfire in his face so bad that he believed "truly, there is no point in being a good person" but would still continue to try to do good without expecting anything in return, knowing that Jun Wu would try to frame him and paint him as a traitor every step of the way, and believing what Jun Wu had said about his friends being unwilling to believe him because they hated him, still decided to go to Mt. Tonglu to search for Feng Xin and stayed true to himself and his friends and did the right thing? and in the end, a hand reached out to him just before his fall. Because Xie Lian believed in him all along and sometimes just one person believing in you is enough. because as Xie Lian once said "I don't believe that good will brings bad returns." in the end the cursed shackles broke once and for all.

DO YOU EVER THINK ABOUT IMMORTAL GHOSTS AND GODS BEING THE TRAUMATISED SONS OF LONG-GONE FATHERS STILL?!