#tgcf volume 7

[raylin-creates]

What the hell did Hua Cheng do for He Xuan that he can get away with all this?? I know part of it is for taking care of his fish but that can't be all of it!

[illuminatedferret]

One of the things I was very surprised by when reading Volume 7 is how few martial gods seem to be in the Heavenly Court. By the time that Xie Lian is evacuating the Heavenly Court and running from/chasing Jun Wu, it's continually mentioned how short-handed they are when it comes to martial gods, what with Pei Ming being tied up and later burnt to a crisp, Feng Xin and Mu Qing being missing, Quan Yizhen getting burnt to a crisp also, and Lang Qianqiu... okay, I dont actually remember what was up with him prior to suddenly becoming a dad.

But really, I'm very curious as to just how many martial gods actually exist in the Heavenly Court. Is it that most of them were on Jun Wu's side? Xie Lian's thoughts didn't read to me like there were martial gods, but they were significantly weaker than the higher-ranked martial gods; he continually thinks about the various ways martial gods have been incapacitated, and each way we can tie to a god we know, as opposed to a background character.

It does make sense when you think about it: if a territory has a martial god, why would you pray to another? After all, we've seen how precarious a martial god's position is, with Yin Yu and Quan Yizhen. It still tripped up the mental image I'd built in my head before this point.

[radiantmists]

oh...

"If I wasn't destined to be perfect, I at least wanted to be perfectly kind. But I couldn't even manage that."

I think most people stop trying to be perfect pretty early; it's seen as almost egotistical to think you can be. But I think most people hold on to the desire to be good, and for a lot of us being a 'good person' means at least not doing terrible things, and ideally not having terrible feelings and impulses either.

And that's not achievable, not for real humans, and not even for the gods of this world. As the preceptor said, those who ascend are still human. The world has no true gods.

But in the wake of that truth, what Xie Lian says earlier is important. Everyone has the capacity and the impulse to do bad things, and everyone screws up and hurts someone sometimes. All you can do is shamelessly go on living, and keep trying to do good things and help people and make the world better.

[crimson-rain-flower-countdown]

7 days until tgcf Volume 7’s release!! 🦋✨

[imnotpoppunk]

I'll always be so obsessed with the part where Xie Lian is bracing himself for Hua Cheng finding out about the part of his life that he's most ashamed of. He knows how bad it was, how low he stooped, and truly believes that it would make him unlovable.

And then Hua Cheng kneels before him and reveals that yes, he already knows. He was there. He lived that nightmare with him.

And despite all of that, he still loves Xie Lian. Loved him then and loves him now.

Xie Lian's tears were so real and I could feel how cathartic it was for him to get that reassurance. I could feel his fear dissipate as he realized and WOW.

wow.

[goatpunches]

“do you want to borrow spiritual power, gege?”

[glosschi]

San Lang: It’s been so long. You’ve finally remembered San Lang. |~ Xie Lian: San Lang, it hasn't even been two hours since I left. |~ San Lang: To me, the point is that you left, not that you’ve only been gone two hours. Even for an instant, separation is separation.

Heaven Official's Blessing

[illuminatingsceadugenga]

Alrighty! The TGCF Present-Day timeline has been updated to include Volume 7/the first half(?) of Book 5! Book 5 largely takes place over the course of a few days, which impacts how it gets displayed on a timeline, but there's still a lot going on.

Other updates: Hualian Kiss counter and commentary for Volume 7.

Edit: this timeline is also posted to my ao3(same name as my tumblr), it just won't have Book 5 posted until volume 8 drops

[fancy-rock-dove]

Hua Cheng and He Xuan are both assholes, obvs. But one of the things that will pull me right out of my immersion is any take on either of them that turns them into classist assholes. I just absolutely cannot see it.

Hua Cheng is wealthy because that’s one of the ways he decided to make himself powerful, but it’s pretty central to the way both ghost kings view power and the system that they were both deeply impoverished in life. They respect the common worker and are fully ready to eat the rich.

Admittedly they also both fell in love with spoiled rich kids, but only the ones who are unflappable defenders of justice in spite of the circumstances of their birth and defy social convention and the advice of the people around them to be so.

[we-are-ignited]

Guess I’m staring book 7 oh no

[sillygoofyqueer]

TGCF VOLUME SEVEN RELEASE DATE!!!!! WOOO!!!!!!!!!! Oh shit, and it's my boyfriend's birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABES

[raylin-creates]

Live Mu Qing Reaction

[radiantmists]

This is such an interesting comment because of course this is how Hua Cheng sees the world, and of course it's heavily informed by how he saw people treat xie lian, but the imagery of slicing up oneself immediately reminded me of the Land of the Tender.

And it makes me wonder-- does hua cheng think of himself as an exception to this, at least when it comes to xie lian? Or is the boy who stole that pearl earring from his savior and then kept coming back for more, the man who has just been offered more of his god than he ever thought possible and is now eagerly teasing for every bit of affection he can scrape up, speaking of greed from thorough self-knowledge?

and then, the inverse. Hua Cheng has offered so much to xie lian, gone through so much for him, literally been ripped apart for him-- and xie lian hardly asked for any of it. back when they were discussing ghost ashes, hua cheng said something along the lines that if *he* gave someone his ashes, it wouldn't matter to him if they destroyed them.

to hua cheng, love isn't about the trust that someone will value that first slice of you; its the willingness to cut yourself down to the bones, if they need it.

[crimson-rain-flower-countdown]

1 day until tgcf Volume 7’s release!! 🦋✨

[kousagi7hikari]

Happy volume 8 release day!

[glosschi]

Ho ho.

Heaven Official's Blessing