#tang erda

[hurshibal]

Bai Liu; *Got arrested for being a player as a heretic* *Is accused of being the mastermind of the 'evils' that's resurfing in the world*

Captain Tang; *Took Lu Yizhan as a hostage for Bai Lu to surrender the solution*

Lu Yizhan when he heard it was Bai Liu's doing; Sir! I'm really sorry I worked overtime so I was unable to watch over Bai Liu. I won't do it again!

[chaoticfandomthot]

Listen Tang Erda might be widely hated but I can't hate him fr..

Him having to watch as the love of his life gets killed and tortured in so many different ways across so many diffrent timelines?

Him never gathering the strength to share his feelings, too scared it would put Su Yang in more danger???

Having to be too late across a thousand lifetimes and even having to pull the trigger himself in some of them????

Also Su Yang never letting Tang Edra pull away from him completely, never letting him push him away and always sticking by him....

[t1psi3]

Their so 🤍 spades and Bai Liu need to hurry up and kiss-- justice for my boys Xie ta and Tawil 😞

[ NOT MY ART ]

[canthandlethishit]

i became god in a horror game SPOILERS

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Tang Erda the mf switched sides so fast after trauma bonding with Bailiu my shocked expression hasn’t fully washed off from the turns of events and bro is already acting like Bailiu’s father 😭😭😭💀💀💀

the nagging have already started Bailiu got a loyal worker and a nagging mother father 2in1 a damn SALE tbh (Bailiu dead expression as he realized he’s got himself another Lu Yizhan in his life)

[hunxi-after-hours]

bai liu is SO annoying god bless

[genderqueerwenning]

reading i became a god in a horror game rn will not lie little obsessed w how much is so deeply wrong with every character. lu yizhan and bai liu funniest besties so far i think

[pilmyeol]

just thought abt ghg and i’m fucking ill again .

i need it to update more often im losing my mind

[angry-glasses]

to cleanse myself a little from the SHEER RAGE, i'm going to talk about one of things i found hilarious from the novel

Lu Yizhan was really just fucking with everyone the whole time

he knew everything

i'm not even going to talk about the times he waited exactly seven seconds to "forget" about the game, or him pretending to be all confused and asking if Bai Liu is selling his body, and then if he works in a circus (a goddamn circus, how he kept a straight face i have no idea, the man deserves an oscar), but

the rose factory arc. with tang erda. telling him to his face "gosh, officer, i'm so sorry, i just took my eyes away from him for one second, it's all my fault, BUT i promise he's not evil AND he's my friend so can he get a lesser sentence please <3?"

bitch

bitch, you were there. for all the worldlines Tang Erda went through, and more

you know exactly what is going through this man's mind

you know who he sees when he looks at Bai Liu

was it fun to tell him it was your little meow meow instead???????

[bayofwolves]

Rereading Tales of the Great Beasts

I'm back after another reread! This time, I'm going over what I've discovered to be my favourite of the special editions. Let's get into it!

Kovo: Rise of the Reptile King

Feliandor talks to animals just like Shane does. Aww.

"[The mongoose's] obvious intelligence left no doubt -- this was a spirit animal." So canonically, Bile-bonded spirit animals have the intelligence of natural ones. That's got to be a crazy experience for the animal. Imagine you're just a normal mongoose, living your mongoose life, until suddenly you have the intelligence of a human. There's some serious psychological horror potential there, especially for the Bile-affected animals at the time of the Second Devourer War, who were presumably reduced to their previous state when the Bile lost its power.

The unnamed Niloan woman proves that humans have had access to the Bile for some time before Feliandor started the war. I wonder who the very first person Kovo and Gerathon entrusted with the Bile was. That would be an interesting story to tell.

"If the bird is not released within five days... my benefactor shall move on to others who may be more interested in his offer." You have to wonder what exactly Kovo's backup plan was. Go to the other world leaders and appeal to their unique problems, I'm assuming. What if instead of the king of Stetriol, the Devourer was an Amayan chief or Zhongese emperor? Infinite AU potential!

Fel's parents were killed? By whom??! My best guess is that they were assassinated, considering Fel blames the captain of the king's guard for not protecting them, but who would want to eliminate the much beloved king and queen? I wish we got more information on this.

Thylacines canonically exist on Erdas, at least in Feliandor's time! Yay!

Kovo was the one who gave Feliandor the title of Reptile King. Paralleling this, Briggan gave the Greencloaks their name.

I wish we learned what Fel named his crocodile. Unlike Shane, he thinks of his spirit animal as something beautiful, so he probably gave it a name.

Since Feliandor probably couldn't be the direct ancestor of the present-day royal family (there's no mention of him taking a queen or having children before his death), I made it so that they are descended from his cousins in A Revised History of Erdas. I believe this is already canon, but I may be wrong. When Fel died with no heir, the throne passed to his paternal cousin, Lysander -- the forefather of all kings to come. I plan to write a novella about his life eventually.

Jhi: Yin and Yu

Yin and Luan's chaotic bond is a good example of how things must have been before the Greencloaks. Before there was an organization dedicated to building upon the spirit animal bond, the Marked and their animals had to figure things out on their own.

I think Yin's father was formerly part of the Zhongese military, or held some other position in government. Yin mentions that her family had once had access to "important secrets" like the layout of the Bamboo Maze, but not anymore. I wonder what he did to lose his position.

Surprisingly, Yin and her family don't seem to know anything about Jhi before being told by the healer. And it's not that they can't remember her off the top of their heads, like Conor in the first book, either. When Yin tells Yu about her, he reacts like this is his first time hearing of her.

In ARHoE, Meilin can trace her lineage back to Teng Yin and Teng Yu. She is descended from Yu through her father. Meilin grew up hearing stories of her many-times-great-aunt Yin's adventures, and idolized her from a young age. The Sword of Teng (renamed from Tang to match their family name) is in their family's possession at the time of the first arc. It passes to Meilin in Blood Ties, after the death of General Teng, and she wields it like her famed ancestor thereafter.

Uraza: The First Greencloak

One of Uraza's titles is the Great Cat of the Grasslands.

I love how Uraza calls Tembo a kitten (although baby leopards are called cubs). I bet she thinks of Abeke as a cub, too.

Very ironic how the first green cloak was stolen from a Conqueror.

"I met in secret with young men and women I knew from other villages and nearby tribes... One night last spring, we all left behind our tribe colours and allegiances and replaced them with green cloaks..." Not all of the first Greencloaks were Marked!

Uraza marvels at how Tembo and Omika have learned to control precisely where she appears when she comes out of passive state, and in The Dragon's Eye, she masters this same skill with Abeke. I love all the little threads that are being woven between these ancient humans and our four protagonists.

We learn a lot about Nilo in this section, which I am over the moon about. Tribe names and customs! Landmarks! It's not much in the grand scheme of things, but it's something.

Getting inside Great Beast Uraza's head has only strengthened my belief that she should have taken a whole lot longer to accept being bonded to Abeke. Sure, she may have learned from her time with Tembo that humans are not all bad, but being one's spirit animal is another thing entirely. Uraza values her freedom and independence above all. Being tethered to a human, no matter how pleasant they may be, should be a hard thing for her to come to terms with. It would have been true to her character if she took a while to warm up to Abeke, wary and aloof until the girl earned her trust, and struggled with being her partner until the rewarding moment when she agrees to work together with her. They gave that arc to Essix, though -- who doesn't think badly of humans or the spirit animal bond in her short story.

In ARHoE, Tembo has three living descendants in present-day Erdas: Abeke, Soama and Irtike. Tembo married Jinta a few years after the war's end, and they had three children together. Chinwe and Ikenne would be born into this line many years later. Abeke is unaware of her connection to the first leader of the Greencloaks for much of the series. When Tembo chose to leave his family to hide the bond tokens and never returned, they grew bitter towards him. Some people on Erdas said he was killed on his journey, attacked by his enemies. Some said he spent the rest of his days away from the public eye on a secluded island, troubled by the war and the genocide he had overseen in Stetriol. Whatever the case, his wife and children never forgave him for abandoning them when they needed him the most. Refusing to speak of him to their descendants, he soon faded from living memory, and future generations would never know the Tembo of legend was their ancestor. (Author's note: This made me really want to write something about Tembo's family, especially since I imagine his kids retraced his footsteps years after he had left to try and find him, so maybe I will do that.)

Briggan: The Packleader

Considering her mission and how she had joined Briggan's Great Pack by the time of the Last Battle, I think it would have been more fitting if Katalin's spirit animal was a canine. I'm thinking a silver or cross fox could have served the same purpose as a black mink. This could have explained why the Marked resistance sent such a young, unassuming girl to convince Briggan to join them -- they thought her being bonded to one of his fellows might make him more willing to hear her plight.

Spirit animals can leave the passive state at will and don't have to wait to be called out by their human partner. Every day, they teach us something new about the spirit bond.

"Received your mark" is a cool way to say you've summoned a spirit animal.

Great Beast Briggan's presence giving people visions of the future, and that affect lasting even long after they've left him, is quite possibly the coolest thing ever.

We don't get much information on the human protagonists in this book, but as you can see, that hasn't stopped me from fleshing them out more. In my mind, Katalin is mixed Euran and western Zhongese (Arab-coded), a result of intermarrying being far more common in the days before Feliandor's war. (I'll go into this another time.) Conor is her direct descendant, through Fenray.

Essix: Fall of the Four

I wonder if the forest Tellun created on Stetriol remained after the Great Beasts had gone.

This section makes it seem like Rumfuss has always spoken haltingly, even though it was said in Hunted that this was likely a result of him going many years without saying a word.

Considering this book was released right before Rise and Fall, the hints pointing to where Halawir's true loyalties lie are nicely placed. It'll be fun for me to explore the full extent of his involvement in the First Devourer War.

"While the Evertree stands, our destinies are tied to Erdas. If one form is lost, another will rise." The Great Beasts always knew they would return to Erdas in some way, shape or form!

I always remembered Uraza, not Jhi, being the one to lend Tembo the speed and agility needed to kill Feliandor.

This section is so painful to read. I will never be fond of the other Great Beasts (besides Ninani, Tellun and Mulop). They were complicit in the deaths of the Four Fallen and the near-destruction of the world. They failed in their duty as protectors of Erdas. (The three I just mentioned can be excused... somewhat.)

I really do wish that Essix got a longer chapter where she encountered a human who convinced her to join the Greencloaks' cause, like all the rest. They might have skipped that with her because Amaya was uninvolved in the First Devourer War, it appears. Still, I want to know how she lost her talisman, and what made her decide to join the fight.

Ninani: Ninani's Nectar

Note: This short story is unfortunately only available online. You can read it here.

Tepin reads like a kid who has an innocent crush on his slightly older babysitter and it's honestly adorable. We only see them interact in flashbacks, but their friendship was beautiful to read.

The bonding sickness affected pre-existing bonds as well as new ones. That's horrible. I was previously under the impression that only the bonds that formed after Kovo damaged the Evertree were at risk.

I believe Tepin would have contracted the bonding sickness as well if not for the Nectar of Ninani. In one of his dreams, he asks Ninani if the Nectar will save him, to which she nods. She doesn't answer when he asks if it will save Ifa, who, as we know, dies from her illness.

Ninani can make plants grow! It would have been nice to show Tasha harnessing this power through their bond.

This chapter was so bittersweet. I'm not ashamed to admit I teared up a little at the end.

And with that, I've finally finished the first arc of Spirit Animals!

Although the arc ended at The Evertree, it has books that directly accompany it, such as this one. And now I'm done! I enjoyed this one quite a lot. I'm very grateful we got a special edition that explored some of Erdas during ancient times, and that gave us a brief glimpse into the lives of the Four's ancestors (to me!). This book had some awesome scenes -- Tembo riding on Uraza's back, the snakes being released in the throne room, the Great Pack tearing the Conquerors apart and, of course, the Battle to End All Battles. Tepin's story was probably my favourite, but I loved Yin and Katalin's, too, despite the relative lack of action in them. I just loved how atmospheric and emotional they were, and the experience of seeing the Four Fallen as Great Beasts through someone else's eyes. The dream-like quality of Tepin's chapter well and truly captivated me. I do think this book should have been told entirely from the Four Fallen's perspectives (with the exceptions of Feliandor and Tepin), but the humans' perspectives were done so well that I can't really complain.

Exciting stuff is coming next week. Stay tuned!

This is part of an ongoing series.

Wild Born | Hunted | Blood Ties | Fire and Ice | Against the Tide | Rise and Fall | The Evertree

Immortal Guardians | Broken Ground | The Return | The Burning Tide

Heart of the Land | The Wildcat's Claw | Stormspeaker | The Dragon's Eye

Tales of the Great Beasts | The Book of Shane | Tales of the Fallen Beasts

[little-meowyao]

I think NHS's skill upon entering the game would be like a tranquilizer with no downtime, because at his heart he only wants everyone else to chill out so he can paint and feed birds

But then he sees NMJ die in a game while not having a death free gold medal (maybe result of a plan from JGY going wrong after 3zun maybe work things out) and it changes to something like Tang Erda's russian roullet because he wants revenge for NMJ

(This skill is highly dependent on luck value. There are a total of six bullets in the revolver, three of which will kill Tang Erda, and three of which will kill the opponent. It doesn't matter whether he doesn't directly aim it at his opponent, as long as the bullet is the one that kills his opponent is the one that has been fired, it will kill them.) Russian roullet from the GHG wiki

Except NHS never gets his brains blown out because he's lucky asf (Du Sanying level lucky)

GHG au

[innorin]

the family 🍊

--The first time Bai Liu took him to his friend's house for that hot pot meal during a power outage.

🧡

He scrolled down and found a friend circle that Fang Dian had just posted, a hand-drawn drawing of them having hot pot today.

Fang Dian is holding Bai Liu's head in her crevice, her chopsticks are reaching into his bowl to grab the food, Lu Yizhan is scrambling to stop her, Muke is pulling back, Mu Sicheng is laughing in amusement, Tang Erda is drinking, Liu Jiayi is hiding in the corner, actually taking pictures, and she is holding her glass in the air, giggling and blushing. She looks drunk.

Everyone was there and everyone was laughing.

Fang Dian's circle of friends for this painting reads - 'Quan family fortune'.

[ Ch. 376 ]

[mostlikelytofangirl]

I think eventually, nieyao work it out and 3zun get back together. But NMJ ends up dead dead in a game where one of JGY's plans went awry.

I think NHS's skill, at first, would be some sort of tranquilizer, because he just wants everyone to chill so he can paint and watch birds. But he is with NMJ irl when he dies there, so his core desire changes to revenge. He wants JGY dead.

I think his skill would change to something like the novel's Tang Erda's russian roulette.

Basically, he has a revolver with three bullets that will kill the person he locks into and three bullets that will kill him. What bullet is fired depends on luck value (if his or the person's is higher), but NHS never gets his brains blown out because he has the highest luck value out of everyone in the game.

It would also be neat if NMJ's death caused a rift between xiyao (both are mourning, JGY is afraid of LXC dying to one of his plans, LXC is tender a d squishy, etc) so JGY starts playing not only with SMS (never really stopped), but also MXY and XY

My heart is aching at 3zun sorta reconciling only for NMJ to die bc of JGY, but on the other hand, it's just so nicely ironic that they survived their fallout only for a plan gone wrong to happen :')

NHS will have all the reasons to hate JGY (again lol) and also all the odds on his side by the sound of it. There's also the guilt and doubt JGY would be feeling after that, onbvious NOT wanting to put LXC in risk bc his best thought out plans can fail.

Jiggy not having a good time is such a constant everywhere, bless him ;u;. But at least he has his little gang lol

[lunamere]

I am already so tired of tang erda. Like I’m sure I’ll probably like him later on but right now? He could die and I wouldn’t even blink. I kinda just want him to fuck off.

[canthandlethishit]

Jungle arc summary: *The most ethical queerbaiting*

[arktaisch]

Yep, they sure are a circus...

(Chapter 526-527, the context is they're trying to ally with a group of freedom fighter witches (all women) who are suspicious of them.)

How Bai Liu describes Liu Jiayi: The first to cry for me, to heal me, was a witch child. She is one of the friends I treasure the most in this world, for her I'm willing to give her my life, victory, and trust. If she is, according to God's design, evil, wrong, and born in sin to atone for her guilt --- then for her, I will kill God.

Me: Aww! How far they've come since they first met! Not that many more chapters before he kills God, presumably.

Then, the next chapter:

How Bai Liu describes himself: All I care about is my boyfriend and money.

Me: Look at that character development! He added "boyfriend" and even put it before "money"!!!

How Bai Liu describes Tang Erda: He exhausted all his efforts chasing a one-sided romance.

Me: hmm...

How Bai Liu describes Mu Ke: He has heart disease and can't think about doing that...

Me: ...

How Bai Liu describes Mu Sicheng: Transportation or monkey, take your pick!

Me: !?! *falls over laughing*

NPC summary:

一个男同，一个当男同都失败了的半男同，一个无性恋心脏病患者，一个交通工具和猴——你们怎么看都和正常扯不上关系吧？！

[One gay, one half gay who failed at being gay, one asexual heart patient, one transportation tool and monkey --- however you look at it, you guys are nothing like normal ? !]

See, now that scene at the end of chapter 527 was actually hilarious. Unlike the cross-dressing jokes they have in these novels, which I personally have to (mostly) grit my teeth through and the "ha ha, they think he's a she, wants to date 'her', ha ha ha ha" plots. (I'm so glad the narrative doesn't treat Hearts as a joke!)

[hunxi-after-hours]

su yang dead wife of all time. was planning to follow his blockhead of a captain around while nursing a massive crush on the man until one or both of them died. said massive crush was so obvious that a passing bai six noticed and outed him on the spot. also came up with a foolproof and captain-proof plan to sacrifice himself permanently and forever in every possible way that could matter approximately thirty-five seconds after confessing his feelings. never fell in love with tang erda in any other worldline but continues to be sweet and moral and good and responsible, including dragging tang erda's deeply traumatized and alcoholic ass from increasingly ludicrous and depressing locations. dies horribly in every worldline because bai six has too much fun waging emotional and psychological warfare on tang erda to pass up another chance to deadwife him. yeah, again. can go toe-to-toe with lu yizhan — lu yizhan, who as far as we know so far, is bai liu's sole redeeming friend and single remaining tether to morality — when it comes to fundamental goodness and stubbornness. also capable of outlasting the impossible powered by sheer spite alone, if the ten years as a fragrance blotter meant anything besides bespoke trauma for tang erda. his original death is crucial to the plot and his survival is looking to be mostly incidental to it. manages to haunt the narrative as both the specter of tang erda's time loop trauma and the bloodstains of bai six's many, many crimes. simultaneously he's also puttering around being alive and happily married with a kid.

uh huh. yeah. what a guy. what a guy

tang erda character of all time. shows up 130+ chapters into the book and single-handedly brings the multiverse into play. more audaciously, he completely wrecks the pacing while we're already three arcs in. he can go toe-to-toe with yoo joonghyuk for time loop trauma; he'll outclass mei changsu when it comes to sheer targeted, bloody-minded revenge. his special ability is russian roulette, which he uses within 12 hours of his first onscreen appearance because he's just that suicidal and bai liu is just that annoying. he's desperately in love with his second-in-command, who's married, has a kid, and is more dead wife-coded than the angelic childhood sweetheart of a mysterious gunman in a literary western. he exploited his subordinate's fear of spicy food to create endless hotpot base in an evil mirror. he has an intelligence score in the 70s. he's a semi-legendary figure who has player guilds begging him to join them. he hates the wandering circus with every fiber of his being but is doomed by the narrative to become their alcoholic coach