#tgcf headcanon

[flowersdiceandlove]

tags from @lelemnali

hey headcanon that hua cheng is generfluid btw. that line in the beginning of the book talking about how they have no clue what his true form is cause he shapeshifts so often ?? and one of them was a seductress ??? yeah xie lian just comes home to see his husband is instead his WIFE and she is PRETTY and he LOVES HER ALL THE SAME and sometimes the city calls him LADY CHENGZHU or MONARCH

[muzsmocsing]

This is probably against canon but in my head gods do age, just very very slowly. So Xie Lian who ascended at 17 would look like he's in his mid 20s 800 years later. Why? Because I need Jun Wu to have grey hairs. It doesn't sit right with my soul to have his ancient bitter ass be youthful. I need him to serve that divorced dad midlife crisis realness.

[flowersdiceandlove]

I am 100% completely convinced that on Mount Yujun when Hua Cheng burst into thousands of butterflies that he did not mean to do that. That man was freaking out so bad at finally finding Xie Lian again and holding his hand and helping him and Xie Lian being right there that when he finally saw just the slightest glimpse of Xie Lian’s face and the thought of Xie Lian seeing him that his nerves took over and he burst into thousands of butterflies. All throughout the walk, Hua Cheng was trying his damnedest to keep it the fuck together (literally) but he just couldn’t anymore. You cannot convince me otherwise. He held Xie Lian’s hand all through the walk, but then he shakes Xie Lian’s hand off the next time they meet? Yeah, he’s scared he’s gonna explode into butterflies again and that would Not Be Cool and Ruin His Image he’s curating for Xie Lian as this cool reliable guy he can come to for help and depend on.

[sweepingboy]

some sketches of fu yao and his grumpy boyfriend

[happypeachsludgeflower]

Feng Xin and Mu Qing have a fighting schedule. It has rules and a schedule and penalties for missing fights and petty retaliation schedules for when they miss a penalty match and even color-coded charts they both keep in their offices to organize the events.

They have never discussed any of this out loud. It was built entirely through trial and error over centuries of being bitchy when the other would miss a match. In fact, the color-coded charts were born because Feng Xin thought Mu Qing surely had one already and he wrote one up to make sure he could try to keep up with the other man's convoluted harem brain, and Mu Qing realized Feng Xin had one while snooping through Feng Xin's office one day, so he had to make one too, because that's the obvious solution, obviously.

From the outside looking in, it just looks like the two are fighting randomly every few days, but actually it's an elaborate courting ritual neither man will ever admit to. And if they did admit to it, well, the bystander would be honestly baffled at how these two are somehow functional adults at all, let alone martial gods.

[daintyzutara]

Xie lian: San lang can you help me with the zipper of this dress

Hua cheng: sure gege

Xie lian:

Hua cheng:

Xie lian: up, San lang

Hua cheng: yes of course gege my apologies

[totallynotsloughjykk]

Xianle Quartet game night headcanons

Xie Lian: - he dragged all of them into it so they can 'bond :D' - mediator - makes the teams - explains the rules - loses but is civil about it - happy that they're all together but he falls asleep early, gets dragged into some other room by hua cheng and then the three start the real fun Mu Qing: - came along because 'he didn't have anything else to do' (he missed them) - extremely competitive against everyone - terrible sore loser - will vomit at least once (this is projection by the way) - says he doesn't care if he loses, cries if he does - laughs in triumph every time feng xin gets dealt a shitty hand - tables will be thrown Feng Xin: - not competitive at all but since mu qing and hua cheng are there he's going to give his best - did not pay attention to the rules and someone has to explain it to him 3 times before they begin - shit at card/board games, amazing at sports or twister - curses everyone out - accuses hua cheng of cheating every round - victim of the tables being thrown Hua Cheng: - the luckiest fucker - he wins without even trying and he rubs it in fengqing's faces - gives xie lian his luck under the table and lets him win - laughs his ass off whenever mu qing loses - eradicating every single snack in the house - purposefully loses a single round to give them hope, wipes the floor with them the next one - watches fengqing fight and records them for blackmail - eventually fengqing team up to destroy his ass, they work together for the first time in a decade but he still wins

[xielianlover2]

Headcanon #16

Mu Qing always liked singing, and he used to hum while he cleaned Xie Lian's room and brushed the floors. Xie Lian sometimes caught him singing and made sure to praise his voice. Mu Qing always thought Xie Lian was just being nice and secretly laughing behind his back. When he ascends and becomes a Heavenly Official, he doesn’t realize that his humming/singing is sometimes heard throughout his palace and that it becomes a rumor that Mu Qing is secretly a siren because of how beautiful his singing sounds. (It is also said that if a person is an expert at either arts, calligraphy, or music, they have Xianle origins).

Mu Qing does not know that everyone thinks he's an amazing singer until he overhears Xie Lian telling Feng Xin what an amazing voice Mu Qing has and Feng Xin reluctantly admitting that he sometimes strolls by Mu Qing's residence only to check if Mu Qing was singing again.

Mu Qing starts humming on purpose in front of Feng Xin, and to his surprise, when he turns around, he sees Feng Xin forget whatever he's supposed to be doing to just stare at Mu Qing in absolute awe

Previous Headcanon | Next Headcanon

[mikaela-the-slut-expert]

Hello! I'm so happy I found your blog! I like your story, the way you write it! And it’s so easy for me to imagine my OC with your story, because our OCs are a little similar, only my character is something like a god/demon of death, a little more cold and his pets are snakes))

Sooooo... Sorry for taking a lot of time with my character 😅 the request for headcanons is haulian x reader and how will Xie Lian and Hua Cheng react if the reader feels like the third wheel in their trio and become a little bit distant because want to give them some space? (I have the idea in my head that the reader is basically like your OC, i like him soooooo much)

Sorry if it's not clear, English is not my native language. And if you don't like the idea, just ignore it))

Closing The Distance

Hua Cheng x M!Reader x Xie Liam

I'm so happy you like my writing and I love to hear about your OC so don't worry. I'm happy our OC's are so similar 🥰🖤

I like writing stories with my headcanons soooo bare with me, bear with me???

____________________________________

You've been distant. Well you've never reached out to people before this either, but you're more distant than usual.

Xie Lian and Hua Cheng noticed immediately.

How you start declining things, how you just sit to the side, you don't talk much, You let them sleep alone, eat dinner alone.

You stop being near them. The kisses you give dwindle down to nothing and the words "I love you" have been reserved.

They haven't a clue why. Xie Lian and Hua Cheng have tried to think of every reasonable possibility but don't know why

Why would you want to be alone when it's supposed to be the three of you together?

It gets to the point where they have to visit you instead of the other way around. Paradise Manor, and Puqi shrine is all of your homes but you don't show up to either one anymore.

You're hiding away at your own place and they just don't know what to do

It really breaks Xie Lian's heart because you've been by his side all these years why do you want to leave now?

Hua Cheng is equally devastated. He would do anything for you and Xie Lian but you're pulling away.

The two can only think that maybe you just don't love them anymore, maybe you're tired of them?

You would never do that though

Xie Lian doesn't like it and neither does Hua Cheng. They intend to get to the bottom of it because they love you.

They would try to give you space but when it seems to only make it worse they don't stop bothering you

That's what it seems like you need, to be bothered.

Xie Lian keeps asking, and caring for you

Hua Cheng gets insecure. He knows he's good that Xie Lian loves him but do you? You aren't disgusted by him are you? Contrary to popular belief ghost kings get insecure too

************************************

You are pathetic, at least you feel like you are. Hiding away like a bug under a rock. You don't know when it started and you couldn't control it when it got out of hand. It's nothing against Xie Lian and Hua Cheng, you love them dearly. But the problem you have feels like a problem you can't even bring up. You don't want to hurt them.

Would you hurt them more by bringing it up or staying hidden?

So you've been... Lying here. Bed rotting. If you can even call it that. You're actually just lying under a rock. Very literally. You're hanging out in a small cave. It's nothing you aren't used to you used to do it with Xie Lian all the time.

You could've gone to the heavens and hidden up there but you don't have friends. You have Feng Xin, and Mu Qing but you know they would snitch on you if it came to Xie Lian. So here you are under a rock. Overthinking.

You always overthink, it's why you left in the first place. You also felt selfish. It's hard to see Xie Lian and Hua Cheng together. You love them both, honest! But what do they even need you for? They look perfect without you, like they were made to just have each other. You felt like you were getting in the way, or like a third wheel.

You know they love you too but... It feels so difficult to be included. When Hua Cheng first showed up he immediately was able to take Xie Lian's side and help him with missions. Which was fine you guys needed the extra help anyways but then you learned their pasts. They're just so intertwined with each other

Hua Cheng built temples for Xie Lian, released 3,000 lanterns, built statues, fought in war, challenged 33 gods, cut out his eye, and died 3 times for him, and broke his shackles! What could you possibly add to the relationship. No one could care for Xie Lian better than Hua Cheng.

Xie Lian saved Hua Cheng when he was a child, and stayed with Wu Ming. Gave him a coral pearl, and red string. What have you done?

All the heavens talk about is Xie Lian and Hua Cheng. The ghost realm is the same. You were never a prominent figure so people forget you're even there. They don't even know you're their lover too.

So yes it's hard, and maybe it's selfish that you want to feel more included when they already spoil you when anything you could ask for. Which is why you're hiding in a small, dumb cave. You eventually fall asleep to the pitter, patter of rain.

When you wake up you aren't under a rock anymore. You're in bed. In red sheets, in a red room, red, red, red. You're at paradise manor. You wouldn't mind that if you weren't actively avoiding your lovers. You sit straight up in bed and before you can tumble out Xie Lian is at your bedside. He's frowning and has this worried look in his eyes that makes you feel guilty.

"Where have you been, y/n?" You look away and shrug. "In the cave you found me in" your lips wobble a little. You don't know what to say. What excuse could you use this time? You pick at a loose piece of thread on the blanket and notice that Hua Cheng isn't in the room with you two. ". . . Where's San Lang?"

"A-Lang" Xie Lian interrupts you and his hand finds yours "You've always called him A-Lang"

You want to crinkle under his piercing gaze. "Where's A-Lang?" You whisper glancing back at the blanket.

"Standing outside the room. Baobei why have you been avoiding us?" Xie Lian turns your gaze back to him.

"I-I just was dealing with my own issues" Your hands fist in the blankets and your eyes get watery just thinking about how selfish you've been.

Xie Lian's hand caresses your cheek, "Our issues. We can help you if you tell us."

You bite your lips and bring your hand up trying to wipe your tears before they get the chance to stream down your face. "It's selfish" you spit, venom covers your tongue. "It was a pathetic reason, really. I just was overthinking and I felt like. . . A third wheel. It's not a big deal though" You glare at the blanket. Your anger of course isn't directed at them but at yourself. Xie Lian knows this too.

"A third wheel, how come?" He runs his fingers through your hair. Him and Hua Cheng have tried everything to include you so how could one feel left out?

"It's my own fault, I just don't feel like I have anything to add. I've nothing to offer. I've done nothing compared to you two" You're completely useless like always.

Xie Lian's questioning is interrupted when the door slams open. You both jump when Hua Cheng storms in and grabs a hold of your face. He would never hurt you, you all know this. "Nothing to offer? Just who are you talking about right now?" He frowns at you with furrowed brows. "I don't think we're seeing the same person." He doesn't let you divert your gaze keeping you there.

Hua Cheng knows what you're feeling, your insecurities stemming all from feeling useless. He knows how it is. "You have everything to offer and even if you didn't we would love you anyways. You don't have to add anything y/n, you can just be" he frowns and sits on the bed.

"I think you're going blind in your other eye. I really don't have anything" you blink away tears. "This one offers so much and he doesn't even know, he's done so much for the two of us and doesn't remember. Right gege?" Hua Cheng looks at his other husband for approval and Xie Lian nods.

"This one is a heavenly official. You have to work hard to become a god in the upper court" Xie Lian adds. You scoff though. "That's not what I'm talking about, I-I haven't done anything for the two of you"

Hua Cheng wants to shake you in a jar. "You have though!" Now he's yelling and Hua Cheng doesn't yell only when it comes to the two of you. "Who's rayed by Xie Lian all these years protecting him when I was lost? You did! Who took care of Hong er when Gege's other servants wouldn't dare touch him? You did. Who gave a mongrel child their family heirloom because he had sympathy and was kind? You did!" Hua Cheng holds your face in his hands still.

"You work so hard, and have gone through so much just like the rest of us and yet you still worry about others still!"

"every night this one takes care of us and helps Gege make dinner. Every day this one protects us, every day this one thinks of us and gives his best for us!"

Hua Cheng gives endless reasons small to large. You're crying in his hands and Hua Cheng wipes them away for you.

"No one is allowed to insult my lovers, even if they're doing it themselves" Hua Cheng finishes and kisses your forehead. Xie Lian is smiling and he kisses your forehead too.

"Don't run from us anymore, you can tell us what you're thinking anytime. Me and San Lang have no problem giving you the reassurance you need" he hums and joins you two in bed. All three of you cuddle for the rest of the night and the two practically suffocate you, not allowing you to leave bed. But you love them and would gladly lie here tangled in their limbs.

____________________________________

I hope y'all like it! Also ignore my grammar mistakes guys I always have some. 🖤

[biboomerangboi]

I do actually believe Yin Yu is probably paid pretty well by Hua Cheng but I also believe that whatever he gets paid to deal with Simplord Hua Cheng will never be enough.

[ivoryrisuet]

I feel like Xie Lian eventually would start adding more colours to his clothes. In the beginning it's gonna be just to make Hua Cheng happy but after a while Xie Lian will realise that he doesn't feel wrong wearing bright things. His key colour is still white, he's still mourning. But it doesn't cancel out his right to be happy and feel beautiful.

Just imagine being able to wear something that reminds you of the most hurtful episodes of your life and smile, because you don't have to bear this pain alone. Guilt will never go away, just as sorrow. But now Xie Lian has a special someone who can not only ease this pain, but also remind him that there were many beautiful things too. And that Xie Lian deserves beautiful things like no one else.

[whatmattersisyou]

Very random thought/headcanon about ghost fires burning the colour of what they're feeling, how they died, all the resentment they hold

Most of them are blueish/greenish/cyanish/cold colours at first cause they are very lost and misplaced and confused and don't know who they are or what to do

(ghost fire Qi Rong was green, envy?)

(ghost fire He Xuan was the deep blue he drowned in, the kind of blue that feels like a black hole, a depth with no end, a well dug so deep into the soil it unearths powers and creatures that should've been kept way underground)

Then there's smol ghost fire HC who is Not Lost who knows why he's there for, who he's there for, who burns crimson and yellow and orange cause those are the colours of a hearth fire and it reminds him of Xie Lian's robes when he caught him during the parade and Honger might have never had a warm home in his whole life, but he felt warm and safe in Xie Lian's arms and he wants to give some of that back to him even if as a smol useless cold ghost fire

[marshmallowwitharubberband]

TGCF headcanon: due to magic, the power of love, or whatever you wanna call it, Xie Lian sees Hua Cheng as his canon hot guy persona, which is his soul's true form. Everybody else sees him as some eldritch abomination made of pure darkness, which is his ghost king form. That's why everybody is some mix of puzzled and horrified about Xie Lian's fixation on him. They're watching Xie Lian smooch a Lovecraftian mass of darkness.

[flowersdiceandlove]

On Xie Lian and crossdressing:

Something that I really like and find endlessly funny about tgcf and Xie Lian is that our guy disguised himself as a woman not once, not twice, but three different times.

Like, the first time on Mount Yujun, you think, oh…yeah, I guess he doesn’t have any choice. This ghost is only after brides after all and their reasoning makes sense. It is a little questionable about why the “junior officials” immediately looked at Xie Lian when wondering where to find a guy who would dress up as a girl for them, but it moved on quickly so don’t think a whole lot on it. Plus he's the protagonist, so of course he's gonna be the one in the middle of the action.

Then, the second time, it’s again to catch a ghost. This ghost is only after pregnant women, so Xie Lian makes his little charm to trick the ghost into thinking he’s pregnant and dons women’s robes once more.

The third time, though, that's the time that does it. There was a Lot going on, so it took me a while to realize it, but... Xie Lian knew the exact angle to position himself in to hide the broadness of his shoulders and make himself look like a young woman in that dressing room. He knew how to drape the robe over himself--very quickly I must add--and how to even account for Hua Cheng's presence with him as well. He knew how to hold his hair up. He even knew how to scream like a startled and scandalized woman being barged in on. This guy has had practice. He has to have. Heaven's Eye's surprise could account for it if not for the fact that the novel then states how good Xie Lian's disguise is with him knowing how to angle his body and such. He had to have used this trick to get out of trouble over the centuries many times to be able to pull it off so quickly and without effort.

I then thought back on it and realized that Xie Lian only seems to have a problem with crossdressing when other people propose it and others are involved.

On Mount Yujun every time someone new saw him like that, he made sure to let them know it was only for the mission. And then, when he realized he was still in the bridal outfit when he spoke with Pei Xiu, he worried. And, how did "Nan Feng" comfort him about that fact? By telling him that Pei Xiu wouldn't tell anyone. That he could dress ten times weirder and he still wouldn't say anything. Why do I mention Nan Feng's words? Because he's actually Feng Xin and has been Xie Lian's bodyguard since they were young. And, in Xianle didn't they like androgyny? Xie Lian's outfit in the parade was meant to have representation of both male and female in it (like the earrings). This makes me think that this isn't the first time Xie Lian's crossdressed (for a mission or otherwise) and both Feng Xin and Mu Qing were aware of this. This is why when wondering where they could find a man to pretend to be a bride, they immediately looked at Xie Lian. Their reactions to actually seeing him crossdressing make me believe they've never actually seen it before and when he did it back in the Xianle era, he'd always wonder off on his own in the middle of the mission and investigation without telling them, do it, and only catch the two up after the fact.

Reason even more as to why Xie Lian being the first choice out of the three to be the bride doesn't add up when you look back is that gods can change their gender with spiritual energy. Shapeshifting is a known and established thing in the Heavenly Capital. The two most famous examples being Shi Qingxuan and Ling Wen. By the fact that both Feng Xin and Mu Qing are there in disguises proves that they both know how to shape shift to at least some degree. They may not be as good as Shi Qingxuan as looking like a woman, but they'd at least get the overall shape right. (It is funny that Fu Yao's the one to say Xie Lian should go see if any Heavenly Official would be willing to teach him transformation magic. like the guy isn't using that magic right now to play the part of a junior official. and like Xie Lian actually has the spiritual energy to pull off a transformation right now with his cursed shackles.)

Then, when Shi Qingxuan proposes they genderbend together in their investigation, Xie Lian declines. He then second guesses the actual gender of the person accompanying Shi Qingxuan the last time they met and is relieved he managed to deflect Shi Qingxuan's attempts to get him to genderbend. Like, the guy just doesn't want people finding out about it. He'll pull on the robes and don the disguise, but just doesn't want it getting back to people. For someone who's grown to not care about rumors and talk about himself, this has always stood out to me. Like, why draw the line here?

For the time that he pretends to be a pregnant woman, that time is pretty breezed past in the novel. Even when Hua Cheng shows up, Xie Lian is freaking out more over the fact that they just kissed than his robes. The citizens of Ghost City even think that he's a woman when they see him. It seems like Hua Cheng is the exception(as he is with many things) to who Xie Lian's fine with seeing him crossdress. They don't really talk about the bride thing, and Xie Lian only gets embarrassed about calling Hua Cheng the groom and not about his own appearance at the time.

Then, the third time, he's once more fine with Hua Cheng seeing him like that, and even continues to run around in women's robes for some time after that.

...pretty sure post canon that Hua Cheng is getting dresses for Xie Lian to wear around Paradise Manor when he wants to. Probably started getting them after the initial bride thing and only got more when he saw Xie Lian do it more.

You also can't tell me that over the 800 years that Xie Lian walked the Mortal Realm that he wore only men's robes the entire time. With his luck, it would be just in line for all his robes to get destroyed or lost one way or another and the only option available when he tries to replace them is women's robes. He'd sigh, think Just my luck and take them, wear them until they're threadbare and can't be worn anymore because despite them being women's robes, he paid for these and he won't stop using something until he really can't anymore(and then upcycle it because that's just What He Does. literally. he ascended for that.)

[sweepingboy]

guys look they are talking!

[happypeachsludgeflower]

The reason Feng Xin and Mu Qing always stand so close is because they’re rivals with lots of intense hate and they have to be close so they can hit on each other.