#tgcf ox cart scene

[ennonzi]

The ox cart scene 🍁

[luminacerin]

How many times do we think Hua Cheng stared at a mirror during those 800 years like he was on an episode of Say Yes To The Dress deciding what form and what clothes he would wear when he would inevitably meet his Gege? So carefully circulating his wardrobe only to change it in the last five minutes.

[zarasu]

Hua Cheng had waited for this moment for almost 800 years, but when it finally arrived, it was strangely simple.

It was the early evening of an autumn's day. The air smelled like decaying leaves and the setting sun threw golden, dream-like light over everything.

Hua Cheng was sitting on an ox cart, his view half obstructed by the hay around him. There was someone sitting next to him. He knew who it was.

He didn't look.

The cart slowly drove through the maple forest, bumping over little stones, the wheels loud and heavy on the ground.

Hua Cheng had wispy, almost faded memories of this place. Once, the trees here had been blackened. Once, it had been dead land, as dead as Xian Le itself.

Now, they were burning with red leaves, a last flare of life before the winter.

How strange, then, that Hua Cheng thought he might be smelling the sweet scent of peach blossoms instead.

He should be feeling more, he idly mused. He should be excited, nervous, short of breath, all these little things that the dead carried over from life, as long as they still had enough heart to feel.

Instead, his heart was silent inside his chest. He might as well have been dreaming. Maybe, if he reached out, the scene around him would dissolve and he would wake up at Paradise Manor, cold and alone in his bed.

The rustling of parchment came from beside him and he turned his head away.

How did you meet your peach blossom valley, if you found it again, after such a long time spent searching? Did you laugh in disbelief and run towards it? Did you fall to your knees and pray? Did you give up?

Was it not in some ways a tragedy, to feel a happiness so great?

The truth was, Hua Cheng didn't know what to do. He could only listen to that rustling of the parchment, to these subtle shifts of cloth, the silent breathing that was so familiar that it pierced his chest.

He thought, maybe it was like this: sometimes, when someone grows old, they're gripped by the desire to see their childhood home one more time. They go on one last journey, and when they walk on the streets of their past, when they see the familiar buildings, and hear the language of their people, for one moment, they turn into the child they once were. For one moment, they are the truest version of themselves.

In this moment, Hua Cheng was the truest version of himself. And it hurt, as he remembered who he was.

Then, a voice more familiar than his own, started to speak, and he prepared himself to answer.

[scrapimmortal]

xie lian's so normal about him

[magicpotatothoughts]

TGCF reread new finds #1

Xie Lian actively and consciously knows that he is attracted to HC the MOMENT THEY MEET in the Ox Cart. Like it’s not just blank gay panic, he knows.

His beauty was deadly like a sword, sharp and mesmerising. Xie Lian only met his eyes for a moment, then lowered his eyes in defeat.

MATE, normally wouldn’t you continue to be mesmerised and can’t peel your eyes away? That is, UNLESS YOURE WHIPPED. XL knows that SL's looks affect him to this degree. Defeat is the key word here.

Also

The distance between them had closed too fast. he suddenly didn't know what to do[...]Xie Lian blanked on the spot. He watched as the tall and slender youth walked away with his giant bag of junk as if it were the most natural thing in the world to do, and it made him mutter inwardly, Forgive my sins.

Making a rich young lad carry your things? Making him sleep in your crappy temple? That doesn't warrant the weighty thought? FORGIVE WHAT SINS Xie Lian??!!!

Many village girls saw (HC) and blushed [...] Xie Lian didn't know what they were going to ask, but felt instinctively that it must be stopped at once, and cried, "No!"

Jealous jealous boi! XL WAS POSSESSIVE after ONE night spent together at Puqi Shrine. Didn’t XL just say to SL that he will have no problem in the love department because girls will throw themselves at him? Yo, why are you cock-blocking? Everyone says HC is insane, no XL is equally insane for the other!

Also, when HC revealed that it's his real skin after the Banyue arc, XL instinctively poked him. Then

He looked at his own finger then hid it away, betraying nothing of his thoughts.

What thoughts XL ?!! Explain yourself right now!

Jumping back to OX CART scene, Xie Lian's character development was foreshadowed when they were talking about the gifting of ghost ashes.

Book 1: Xie Lian sighed. "It certainly is painful to think about, to have given everything for love and lose everything in return."

This is what Xie Lian is most afraid of! Like even thinking back to Xie Lian pushing Feng Xin away in Book 4, he definitely operated under that mindset. Love is a risk, it's something to be feared. Even now 800+ years later, he still feels that way and doesn't allow himself to get close to anyone. It just hits so much harder thinking that he operated under that for so many centuries.

Then Hua Cheng says

"What there to be afraid of? If it were me, I'd have no regrets giving away my ashes"

Which I think really changed the way that Xie Lian thought about love. Book 5 Xie Lian completely operates with Love is empowering and isn't something to be afraid of.

TGCF isn't about XL realising his feelings, literally from Book 1 it's about him wondering if it's worthwhile to act on them.

Three things, is this person worth losing cultivation over for?

He needs the reassurance that this person must reciprocate his feelings.

Then HC changed his perspective on love from FEAR -> EMPOWERMENT.

XL is soooo self-aware (unlike SQQ from SVSSS and WWX from MDZS), he's an unreliable narrator in the way that he doesn't reveal everything to the reader, especially his own feelings until he was absolutely sure that there really was both a physical and romantic attraction. I wanted to make this post to dispel the assumption for XL it was easy to forego 800+ years of cultivation. It was not? He ABSOLUTELY thought about it carefully.

[khattikeri]

prefacing this post by saying this is not a ship bashing post; i like all these ships; i am musing on my own personal preferences

i think the reason why i like wangxian and bingqiu just a little bit more than hualian boils down to the misunderstandings, with the sex scenes of their respective stories being insights into those misunderstandings.

in mdzs, lan wangji and wei wuxian's misunderstandings come about because 1) they were acquainted but not seriously close friends 2) they had to deal with a massive war and its aftermath. lan wangji was worried for wei wuxian's personal safety and had romantic feelings for him. wei wuxian was slowly led to believe over time that lan wangji didn't really like him much and wanted to harm him just like everyone else in spite of wei wuxian's righteous actions.

combined with their respective upbringings as a respectable second son and the dubiously accepted son of a servant who always has to watch his own back, there's a lot for them to untangle after the death and resurrection and feelings realization! but the moment they do realize that they're mutually in love, they jump on the chance to stay together, no more miscommunication, no waiting, no more turning away from each other again.

and the respective sex scene: you explicitly see the peerless illustrious hanguang-jun lan wangji straining, apologetic and still openly nervous during his and wei wuxian's first time. because they didn't talk things out! they were too excited! they were too happy and intent to have each other after all those years of pain so they rushed into it without really discussing anything beforehand. so lan wangji doesn't actually know if wei wuxian is going nooooo~ in a sexy way or if wei wuxian actually seriously wants lan wangji to stop. it's flawed and they work out each other's preferences later on, but they both enjoyed themselves and continue to do so even in future sex scenes.

in svsss, shen qingqiu and luo binghe's misunderstandings come about because 1) former is a modern day transmigrator compelled to not reveal anything about the story or what he actually feels for any of the characters 2) the latter is desperate to understand the former's contradictory actions and to not be abandoned.

combined with several miscommunications and hasty assumptions (e.x. luo binghe thinking that shen qingqiu must've harmed him because he despised luo binghe's half-demon ancestry; shen qingqiu thinking that luo binghe intends to torture him the way he tortured the original story's counterpart shen qingqiu) and you get a fascinating and heartrending dynamic where they clearly adore each other and are dismayed at the idea that it's inevitable for the other one to despise them and want to hurt them. things clear up because they show each other their devotion and intent to stay.

and the respective sex scene: their first time isn't even written to be titillating! they're still in the middle of battle. luo binghe's mind is being overpowered by the demonic sword xin mo, so even though shen qingqiu is okay with dual cultivation/sex to pacify the sword's lust for conquering, it's extremely rough and unpleasant. it is violent and painful and leaves shen shingqiu so battered he looks like he's been assaulted, which horrifies luo binghe when he finally regains his senses.

they're distraught as hell! it traumatizes them both! and yet in spite of that and in spite of their fears of being hurt they want to stay with each other and they actively choose to keep being with each other. they improve their communication and clearly seem to understand each other's quirks and sexual preferences better in the extras and after marriage.

versus in tgcf: xie lian and hua cheng got along with each other from day 1. there was a spark the moment xie lian met san lang on the back of that ox cart. they talked for ages and were endeared to each other basically immediately! even during the ghost bride mission where they didn't really speak to one another, xie lian clearly felt a connection to the mysterious groom who gently and safely led him through the blood rain.

through all their present-day adventures and the final battle, even when they separate by choice or by force of circumstance, hua cheng and xie lian don't ever have a serious falling out. hua cheng is loyal to the bone and xie lian is also deeply drawn to hua cheng; both their respective insecurities are treated seriously and with sincerity by the other. there may be some confusion about each other's feelings, but even that isn't twisted to the point that they completely misconstrue each other's intentions and characters.

there isn't a central misunderstanding or miscommunication between hualian the way wangxian or bingqiu had; just a mutual past to be unraveled, and the looming question of if xie lian will actually act upon his feelings/the fact that he's attracted to and in love with hua cheng.

and the respective sex scene: we don't have any explicit sex scenes due to censorship. everything is in xie lian's rather selective point of view (and he's the type who hides certain details from readers for entire volumes on end!) so the most we get is the skimmed summary: xie lian really enjoyed it and hua cheng is kind of rough. just the implication that hua cheng was naturally amazing and satisfied xie lian fully, without any particularly humanizing aspects or awkward/upsetting first time moments.

of course tgcf is a beautiful story and a lovely romance in its own right, but personally, i found mdzs and svsss's main pairings more compelling because of the misunderstandings and how the sex scenes tied into the characters' personalities and overall relationship arcs.

[lazyrunawayphilosopher]

I love the OX cart scene in TGCF. Both Xie Lian and Hua Cheng met after so many years and actually got to have a normal conversation with someone without worrying about giving them bad luck or scaring them or getting judged. Something about having a conversation with a stranger and they match your vibe is so amazing. Talking about mundane things without worrying because both of them are equally weird and one in a million. In other words they are made for each other.

[kiwi207]

Doodled the ox cart scene from TGCF cuz I love working with orange color schemes

[caldeiras-random-fandom-thoughts]

Did anyone else notice this ?!

*Slight spoilers for season 2 of TGCF/Heaven Offiical's Blessing and the novel*

In episode 12 of season 2 of TGCF, there is a flashback of the war and we see solider/teenage Hua Cheng. We also see baby Hua Cheng/Hong Hong'er at a small shrine that worshipped Xie Lian. In this scene we hear Hua Cheng saying " I won't. I won't forget. I will never forget you." But there is something interesting about this scene in the sub that isn't included in the English dub. In the sub, there are TWO voices.

It's a little hard to hear and you"ll probably need headphones to hear it better but there are two voices in the war scene and the shrine scene. One belongs to solider/teenage Hua Cheng and the other belongs to baby Hua Cheng/Hong Hong'er. But in the English dub, it's only one voice (solider Hua Cheng). When I notice this, I thought I was going crazy until I rewatch the scene again in both sub and english dub to confirm what I heard.

It makes sense to have two voices because it shows the audience that the solider and Hong Hong'er are the same person, and how they grow up to be Hua Cheng as the next scene afterwords is Hua Cheng as San Lang when he meets Xie Lian on the ox cart. (Which if you read the novel before seeing the donghua it something already known).

It help shows the flow of time at the shrine, to the war and to the scene where Hua Cheng reunites with Xie Lian again on the ox cart as San Lang as the scenes transition to each other/overlapped each other as we essentially see Hua Cheng grow up back then and who he becomes. But it also shows the promise Hua Cheng made as a child/teenager to Xie Lian and the new one he made when they reunited again.

Although, I am slightly disappointed that they didn't include a second voice in the dub. It would have been interesting how that detail in English but maybe they have a different idea of how they wanted to portray it in the dub or maybe they didn't hear the second voice. That would explain why I didn't see anyone talking about it anywhere else or maybe someone but it got overshadowed by how emotional the final episode was.

That's all for now

- Ria.

Edit: Originally on secondary blog but move it to my main and change main blog to to match the secondary blog before deleting the second one. All in the same day (February 18 ).

Rewrote some of it to be more clear, fix errors and add a little more details that I forgot to put in the original one and deleted some details.

Sorry if you came across the old one and had to reread the same idea again when finding this one.

[hualianisms]

tgcf audio drama ep 4 (the scene in book 1 when they're on the ox cart and ghosts attack on zhongyuan festival night)

san lang: "I'm scared 🥺" (is not scared)

xie lian: "Don't be scared. Come here, sit behind me. There won't be anything that can harm you."

san lang: (laughs softly) "That's really great. At your side, I feel so much more at ease."

hua cheng's voice sounds soo sweet and soft when he says that last sentence 😭😭

[danmeichael]

important notes:

my dad is fairly chill about queer stuff so he's not going to flip shit or anything

he is however a middle aged straight man whose foreign animation repetoire is akira, ghost in the shell, etc. and i do not think he knows what yaoi is

help me

[animebltches]

okay so i’ve been listening to the heaven official’s blessing audiobook recently (which from henceforth i will refer to as ‘reading tgcf/hob’) and i cannot begin to tell you how insane it is. the anime does an absolutely incredible job of sticking to the accuracy and events of the story and truly is one of the most beautiful art styles i’ve ever seen. but the problem with tv is that it is very difficult to show a characters inner thoughts. a lot of the time that gets translated into action and expression of some kind. but in the book, holy hell, the amount of coding™️ that goes into xie lian alone is insane.

the first time he saw san lang (not hua cheng on mount yujun but san lang in the ox cart) he did not just look at him. did not just engage in conversation about the latest god gossip. no he described him as beautiful. spent ages explaining the red of his tunic and the black of his hair and the pale of his skin. and that is one minuscule example.

in the banyue arc when they’re caught up in the sandstorm and xie lian gets lifted into the air, we see in the show that he asks rouye (his silk bandages) to extend and grab onto something dependable and solid and the first thing they grab onto is san lang. we know that scene. it was masterfully and delightfully done in the show. but when you read it in the book, it is not just that xie lian asks rouye to find something solid and dependable to latch onto and rouye happened to find san lang. it’s that rouye went to san lang. those bandages went to san lang first. as in the same way hua cheng’s scimitar loves xie lian, rouye loves hua cheng. and when he finds san lang he binds to san lang’s wrist (just his wrist) and suddenly xie lian is safe. kited in the air sure, but safe.

rouye is treated as very much a “character” with feelings, who gets scared, or worried. who is affectionate towards hua cheng from the very beginning. i don’t think it’s that noticeable in the show (if it is at all). but it is so painfully sweet in the book.

also side note xie lian is not only intrigued by the silver butterflies but finds them beautiful and plays with them. hahahahha i nearly collapsed by the way.

in the scene when xie lian and san lang are to sleep on the same straw mat for the first time, san lang doesn’t take off any clothes but xie lian does remove his outer layer, exposing first the black collar at his neck (his cursed shackle) and then later the cursed shackle at his ankle. in both instances, san lang’s rage is palpable, described as ‘his gaze focused on those spots and his eyes dark’. i can’t actually describe how unbearable these two are from the very beginning. as soon as they meet… as soon as they meet, there is no other version of the story. it is xie lian the crown prince. and then it is them. and it is always them after that.

anyway if you haven’t you should definitely read tgcf, it’s so so so good! also xie lian describes himself as an old man because he doesn’t know anything happening in the heavenly realm and keeps getting himself into awkward conversations in the communication array with his horrible conversation skills and outdated news. it’s hilarious. i’m listening to the audiobook on spotify, so if you want the link let me know :)

[apho-sappho]

What is your fave TGCF scene

The classic ox cart scene or the beefleaf water master beheading scene tbhhhh

[masterash]

I feel like he'd be a fan of the creative monsters, and definitely appreciate them for following decent danmei tropes.

I'd say the cultivation setting he'd have so many issues with, what do you mean MDZS is closer to Wuxia!? But they have cultivation and sects!? And what about Xie Lian riding an ox cart!? He's a god, surely he can just teleport where he likes.

I think he'd chastise how tame the sex is in tgcf is for a danmei (You have a hot love interest Hua Cheng and you're telling me they don't fuck as often as Wangxian!?) Though he'd appreciate that for the few female characters there are in both, they're decently fleshed out.

I feel like he'd LOVE the scene of Wei Wuxian getting his revenge on Wen Chao for tossing him in the burial mounds. Meanwhile despising Wen Chao and Wen Rohan for being so one dimensional compared to Nie Huiasang and Meng Yao. Same with hating Qi Rong (What he doesn't serve a single purpose but to be an annoyance to Xie Lian!?).

As for characters he'd fixate and absolutely not be gay for, Hua Cheng. He would murder the entire world for that ghost king and be so proud of him for getting revenge on 33 heavenly officials. I feel like he'd also love Wei Wuxian for similar reasons (man's has a type, don't deny it). He'd have a lot of, let's call it "respect" for Lan Wangji and his toned body.

Spent a fair amount of time driving myself more insane picturing what reaction Shen Qingqiu would have to reading mdzs or tgcf. Like would he be a fan. What would he think of the plot and the villains and the cultivation lore and monsters.

Who would he be weirdly fixated on and not at all gay for

[fmd-art]

“But… How long has he been there?“ is probably what I thought while reading this part the first time

[jzixuans]

gonna shake and cry and throw up if i don’t reread tgcf immediately