#that he did it—all of it—out of love for shi qingxuan

[amorremanet]

Man, I realize demanding that someone execute their own brother is pretty fucked up, but He Xuan asking that of Shi Qingxuan still gave them more respect than Shi Qingxuan ever got from Shi Wudu [gave them the ability to make their own choice after finally being given the full story and enough context to actually have the capacity for informed consent, something that Shi Wudu spent centuries denying to Shi Qingxuan] and also, He Xuan did nothing wrong and should be allowed to do all the atrocities he wants, thank you for your time

[revel-inbluehues]

Okay, now that I've got the fangirling out of the system, some initial thoughts on dialogue.

XL - he sounded more confrontational in the dub. He also said the best fucking line ever; "you don't know him like I do". Like, sweetie, you sound like you're defending your good-for-nothing boyfriend from your friends and family while they tell you that this is a bad idea. Tbh, that is kinda what is happening. But also, the one tiktok with this exact line and talking about opinion on assault/salt popped up instantly.

PM - he sounds hot, sue me. But, yeah, defo a honeyed hoe vibe from him.

JW - I praise whoever came up with the English dialogue and his va because the lines and delivery were amazing. By tone, he sounds confident, kind but watchful, and miffed, like a parent whose child didn't live up to their words or expectation, which is exactly what you would be expecting. The lines add to this. "Torture", "disrespect", "disappointed" and "selfishly" are the main words, where it's clear that JW blames XL for not reaching out, for pushing him away. It sounds like a concerned parental figure, but it also has manipulation, where JW wants XL to feel guilty for his actions. He then proceeds to talk about how XL's actions have made things more difficult for him and how XL has his implicit trust. This, combined with the guilt-tripping, made XL feel somewhat responsible for associating with HC, which he doesn't feel bad about, and for making things harder for JW, which XL might be feeling bad about. Technically, none of this is a bad thing; JW, as both a highly political figure, leader and mentor figure for XL, could simply be trying to guide a misfortunate subordinate and student to stay out of trouble and safe by gaslight, gatekeep, girl bossing him. But, knowing JW's full past completely recontextualises the whole thing, and everything sounds so much more sinister, an attempt at control and teaching, a perverse form of care, and a shit ton of manipulation. Either way, for both novel readers and donghua only, you can tell that something is off.

SQX - both male and female voices were unique but fitting to their physical form, and every line from them was absolute gold and had me laughing, especially when he was talking about how pretty he is.

HC - woof. No, but seriously, when I first watched season 1 dub, I genuinely thought that HC's voice actor was Tatum because of the Sebastian Michaelis resemblance, so it made sense when I heard that Sebastian was the inspiration. The difference between s1 and s2 is the fact that in s1, HC was softer and brighter when interacting with XL while being baiting and mocking towards everyone else. In s2, in the 2 lines we got, it was so obvious that he was leaning into the suave and self-assurance because he's not dealing with people he dislikes or XL. He's in his territory, in front of his subjects who adore and follow him. His tone speaks volumes of his power in the city; he sounds arrogant, but it's justified, so really, it's true, backed-up confidence. The last 2 lines reminded me so much of Sebastian with calm, poised, but ultimately vicious tone.

[fortune-maiden]

Everything I Ever Thought I Knew is a SQX song

Everything I've yearned for Everything I planned All my sweetest memories were castles made of sand

Now that it's all crumbling Help me understand If none of it was really me then who am I supposed to be?

[melonnade]

probably nobody who voted in this poll is still looking at this lol but I just wanted to say that I kept my word!! let nobody say that I do not listen to polls. I’ve been getting through them in this exact order and I’m currently halfway through tgcf!!

been meaning to get into all 3, buuuuut… one at a time first, haha.

[phoenixkaptain]

Will not ever be getting over Quan Yizhen.

He is the puppy-doggiest boy of all time. He is the sweetest baby in the world. He is the cutest bean ever born.

My favourite scenes are ones where he tries to thank Xie Lian!! Because all Xie Lian did was throw chopsticks to make the curtain fall!! He barely did anything!! Most of the other gods don’t even realize he’s the one who did it!!

But Quan Yizhen not only noticed it was him, he also felt grateful!!! He tried to stuff his donation box with gold bars!!! And, my absolute favourite example, when he woke up to find Xie Lian and Pei Ming in his room (while Pei Ming is trying to catch Shi Qingxuan), Pei Ming asks him to help out and Yizhen just. Throws his bed. At Pei Ming. Because even though he has not a single clue what the fuck is going on, he wants to thank Xie Lian.

I could ramble about my love for Yizhen for all of eternity. I love him so so so so so much.

The scene where Yin Yu “knocks him out” with the shovel, only for Quan Yizhen to wait to be dug out and then reveal that he wasn’t actually knocked unconscious??? (Beautiful, amazing, 10/10, implies that even after everything, Yin Yu still can’t bring himself to hurt Yizhen, and I just abdjdjfbdjdn) Everyone is so completely shocked, because “Qi Ying just tricked us????” Quan Yizhen is so straightfoward and blunt that him pulled a trick like this is something literally nobody saw coming, he’s a strategic genius-

Xie Lian says that Yizhen probably recognized Yin Yu because he remembers his habits, like pacing when he’s uncertain. Which is just- Quan Yizhen hasn’t seen Yin Yu in centuries, but still remembers his ticks…

I love how literally everyone thinks that Yizhen is mad at Yin Yu, but all Quan Yizhen wants is to hug him and get head pats and he doesn’t blame Yin Yu for snapping at him and he still gets angry when people badmouth Yin Yu and and and and-

Yizhen just loves hims Shixiong. He joined the sect because Yin Yu was there. He became a god because Yin Yu suggested he should. He never stops caring for Yin Yu, even when Yin Yu tries to murder him. I love them so much.

But also, I love Quan Yizhen with Xie Lian. Not as a romantic ship, I just like that they’re two peas in a pod. They both see amazing martial ability and automatically praise it. They are the most neurodivergent characters. They both think Yin Yu is pretty cool. They are buddies, and it’s like two puppies play wrestling, I can’t get over it.

[muzsmocsing]

Reviewing tgcf characters because I have thoughts

I finished S2 recently and I need somewhere to put my not exactly hot but like warm (?) takes because it's taking up too much storage space in my brain.

🤍 Xie Lian 🤍

It's a good thing I'm not into guys because if I was I would be on my knees for this man in every sense of that expression and his pet menace to society would mince me up like garlic.

So I'll try to be brief about my overflowing feelings about him. Xie Lian is the best main character I have come across in a WHILE. He's the embodiment of compassion and kindness. And also a cold blooded murderer. A babygirl. A father figure. A terrifying martial god. A silly little guy. A pathological liar. The most genuine man you'll ever meet. He's everything, and Hua Cheng is 100% valid in his obsession. I'm right there with him.

Rating: 10/10

❤️ Hua Cheng ❤️

Idk if we ever figured out who wrote My Immortal but I'm pretty sure we have our culprit.

"Hi my name is Hua Cheng Crimson Rain Sought Flower Red-Robed Ghost King and this is my evil weapon of death E-ming. I've killed soooo many gods with it!! My dark power is I can summon storms of BLOOD and SUFFERING. I have my own scary city of DEMONS and they all love me and think I'm HOT but I only want my BOYFRIEND who's the only REAL GOD so STOP FLAMING HIM YOU POSERS-"

Needless to say I love him. Being the 8 time winner of the Loverboy of the Century Awards with unbeatable records in the yearning olympics is truly a remarkable feat.

Rating: 9/10

(Bonus: E-ming. Cute little guy. Likes his stepdad more than his real dad. Not afraid to show it's feelings even if it makes it look like a muppet, 10/10)

🧡 Feng Xin & Mu Qing 🧡

Tweedle dee and tweedle dum gets a shared rating because they would hate to be grouped together like that and that's funny to me. Their dynamic is great, they're good characters, I wasn't sure which one was which until midway through the second season. But then also I have a pair of 7yo twin cousins who I still can't tell apart despite them not looking even a slight bit similar so that might just be a character flaw on my end. Oops.

Rating: 7/10

🩵Shi Qingxuan🩵

I'm doubling the rating because she is best boy and best girl at the same time. I love that I can use any and all pronouns for him because he's literally a pride parade personified and therefore all of them are correct. You don't get that type of chaotic fun just anywhere.

He is truly living my dream, presenting as whatever gender they want depending on what's more convenient and/or funnier in the moment. Super useful, for things like gathering intel and terrorizing Feng Xin by being a woman.

And I personally think we should crown her the new emperor. She'd look significantly better on that throne, with her Barbie-like radiance and flourishing Kenergy.

Rating: 20/10

🖤 Ming Yi 🖤

Listen, I hate to say it because I like a sunshine x grump moment as much as the next gay but he's just... not giving what he thinks he's giving. Everyone is whispering ominously about him having some dark devastating secret but MY point is no matter how big his boobs are in his female form, Shi Qingxuan could do better. I'm sorry. She really could.

Rating: 4/10

💙 Lang Qianqiu 💙

Just an honest man with good intentions and a sickass fucking sword. He did NOT hesitate to attack the infamous Crimson Rain Sought Flower on SIGHT and I respect a quick decisionmaker, even if it shows some himbo tendencies. He also has the same distinct energy as Fred from Scooby Doo.

Rating: 6/10

💚 Qi Rong 💚

He's got some odd dietary and moral choices going on. Definitely. But he's just such a fun villain!!! Being Xie Lian's nr 1 source of migraines SHOULD make me like him less but I'm sorry, every time he was on screen I was LIVING. He would do numbers on reality TV. Someone put this guy on Kitchen Nightmares, I need to see him 1v1 Gordon Ramsay.

Rating: 7/10

🌚 Jun Wu 🌚

He has his emperor status & DILF card going for him but something about this man just ain't right. If he came to a party I was attending I would cover my drink is all I'm saying.

Rating: 2/10

🔥Pei Ming🔥

I don't know much about him besides he had that one shady empolyee or whatever (could not hear the plot over the deafening sound of Hua Cheng's yearning) but I'm partial to a good manwhore character. The thought of people praying to him like "Hugh Mungus, who art in heaven-" really tickles me.

I know he's probably straight but I headcanon him as at the very least bi-curious because you can't be that hot with that much game and not use it for evil. (That evil being causing large scale gay awakenings among his soldiers.)

Rating: 7/10

❓Pei Xiu❓

Unreliable, unimportant, unattractive, unemployed.

I remember not a singular thing about him besides fucking up Xie Lian's daughter's life and also being on my last nerve from the jump. If you're going to be evil at like least be memorable about it, you know? You can't be a bad person and a bad character at the same time. Pick a struggle.

Rating: 1/10

📚 Ling Wen 📚

I heard she committed some war crimes but honestly if I had to do an entire realm's tax returns by myself AND teach Pei Ming how to read (I refuse to believe that man is literate, just look at him) I would want to rage on occasion too. I hope she has a hot wife waiting for her at home to give her massages after carrying the whole system on her back all day. It's what she deserves.

Rating: 8/10

Thank you for reading!! Opinions might change once I read the books but as of now this is it. Remembering everyone's names has been a journey and a half so this post is sponsored by @kirstenly 's character cheat sheet go look at it! and everything else too!!!

[itsjustelian]

BEEFLEAF THOUGHT (Mainly He Xuan thought but fuck it he's intertwined with Shi Qingxuan and therefore all He Xuan thoughts are beefleaf thoughts)

So so so, in my readings of tgcf and the wonderful mess that is all of the internet thoughts on it I've come to the personal conclusion that to become a supreme you have to have *big* feelings. Very big and very deep feelings.

Our big-brained, obvious example of this is Hua Cheng. Man's big feeling is devotion, love. He is absolutely besotted for Xie Lian. Would do anything for his God. We're so proud of him for it too.

But He Xuan? He's the only other real supreme we have aside from Hua Cheng (Jun Wu, I'm sorry, you're wonderful but Godhood fucks with a man) and the idea that his big feeling that turned him into a supreme was rage and hatred never sat quite right with me. It's not that hatred and rage aren't powerful enough emotions to make a supreme, and those being his emotions on the surface make him a wonderful parallel to Hua Cheng. But rage isn't really what fuels him. If it was, he'd have dissipated after the Blackwater arc. Taken his revenge and called it a day.

Yet, he sticks around. He *never* dissipates. He just sits at the bottom of the ocean for all eternity. Which doesn't sound like rage or hatred. I mean, you'd assume a calamity built on hate would continue his revenge path until all of heaven is gone and no one can have godhood because he couldn't. But he doesn't. He just... waits.

This isn't to say he wasn't angry, btw. He was absolutely angry, and he had every right to be. His desire for revenge had to come from somewhere, let alone the emotional payment to actually planning and pulling it off. I just don't think that was his greatest regret/feeling/desire at death. I mean, He Xuan had his whole life taken from him. All of it. His family, his fiancee, his passions, his work. Everything he worked towards and for got stolen from him by others. And while it's clearly very rage inducing for him (I mean he has a mental breakdown and kills everyone who's ever wronged him), the underlying feeling through it all was probably despair. He probably just wanted things to go back to how they were when his whole family was around and alive.

And this despair and longing doesn't just go away when he learns the truth of what's been done to him. He's still a person. He can't just throw away those emotions because new ones have taken center stage. But rage is a way easier feeling to work with than misery, so He Xuan defers to it. He jumps on the bandwagon of revenge against the people who wronged him once again and goes with it. And it gets him through Mt. Tonglu and up into heaven and right where he says he wants to be. Right up until he can execute his revenge. And then he just stops? And decides that he's going to be best friends with Shi Qingxuan for a few hundred years first? I'm no rage expert, but that doesn't sound very revenge like to me. Which leads very neatly into the point of this post, took me a while I know.

He Xuan's reason for sticking around is he wants to be loved.

I mean, look at it. He says he hates Shi Qingxuan's guts and wants him and his brother dead more than anything, but also spends hundreds of years hanging out with this person he hates so much when revenge is right there? He could have done it whenever. There was no logical reason I could wait to wait as long as he did. Unless he was enjoying Shi Qingxuan's companionship. And Shi Qingxuan clearly loved him (even just platonically. We love our friends in this house). And He Xuan hadn't had someone care about him that much since his death. It was probably insanely overwhelming and equally as wonderful.

And then he fucks it all by actually going through with the revenge but feelings are hard and he's clearly not great with them so oops. But but but, his great famous line during the Blackwater Arc is him telling Shi Qingxuan that they've used the wrong name. He, even if it's just subconsciously, wants Shi Qingxuan to see him as He Xuan, not Ming Yi. He, in some capacity, wants Shi Qingxuan to see and love He Xuan, not the mask he had on.

But then, after the revenge, he doesn't disappear. He straight up goes out of his way to return Shi Qingxuan's fan to them. To make something right. To return something to how it was before.

Except this time, he can't blame the people around him for the change. He can't turn his rage at the rest of the world because he's the one who ruined the only thing he wanted for himself. So he finally, *finally*, has to face this sadness and longing that's been plaguing him from the start. He got his revenge, he got all the anger out, and it still wasn't what he wanted. Because from the beginning, all he wanted was to be appreciated and loved and wanted and not have that torn away from him.

And he fucked it for himself in the end because lets be honest if he had a civil fucking conversation with Shi Qingxuan and didn't literally threaten their brothers life things would have gone SO MUCH BETTER.

Anyway, I'm crying now. If you read through my jumbled 2 AM thoughts all the way, thank you. I will edit this when it's not 3 am. and post it.

---

Editing me: wtf was I on? I don't remember half of these thoughts??? I'm posting it because somewhere in this hot mess is a point I'm trying to make, and I'm not going to deny 2 AM Elian the chance to share it.

[justaghostingon]

Shi Qingxuan and the Quest to Win the Heart of the Hot Ghost

A beefleaf au to soothe my soul since i’ve reached “that” arc in the series

It all begins when He Xuan makes a mistake. A mistake that almost cost him centuries worth of work

He accidentally saves Shi Qingxuan in the wrong form!

He meant to save him as Ming-xiong, the trusted best friend, but due to an unexpected flux from Taicang mountain, he couldn’t control his form, and slipped into his true form.

Fortunately shi Qingxuan did not see him transform, and he was able to quickly get out of sight to change back

Unfortunately, Shi Qingxuan interpreted He Xuan suddenly appearing, saving his life and then leaving as a sign that He Xuan a hero!

His hero!

His Ghost king who wants to be friends just like Hua Cheng and Xie Lian!

But he’s shy! That’s why he ran away! So its Shi Qingxuan’s job to seek him out and thank him.

And treat him to dinner, and go out on the town, and hold his hand… you know, sworn brother stuff!

Shi Qungxuan might have a bit of a crush.

And Ming Yi, good old best friend ming yi, has to listen to all of it. Every excruciating detail, every inch of his face painted with such flowery language he wants to throw up.

Is he jealous of himself? No way! Not a chance! He’s just worried shi Qingxuan will put sowmthing together before its time!

At first ming yi hopes it will go away, a passing fancy, if shi qingxuan never sees he xuan again

But shi Qingxuan is way more determined than ming yi was expecting. He hunted down his layer, and threw his favorite foods down into the sea as an offering

How did he know he xuan’s favorite foods? They were ming yi’s favorites too! Did he know???

He xuan had to throw him off his trail, so he shifted in to his true form, just to reject them and throw him off the scent.

Shi Qingxuan then asks what his favorites are

He xuan panics and says super rare dishes like “cinnamon” and “corn” thinking the fetch quest will deter him.

It does not. Instead shi Qingxuan drags ming yi on a quest to find a whole nother two continents just so he could bring back food for his new “friend”

And of course, he brings his trusty friend ming yi with him. So ming yi has to go on his own impossible quest

He xuan has just about had it with this, ans vows never to appear before shi Qingxuan again, except…

Shi wudu comes to visit him.

Shi wudu wants to recruit him, ming yi, to keep he xuan away from his brother. To stop this disastrous crush before it destroys everything

He even offers to support ming yi’s own endeavors to court shi qungxuan, because clearly that’s ming yi’s goal here.

“This is that is that important to you?” Ming yi asks

“He xuan and shi qingxuan together would be the worst thing to ever happen to me” shi wudu says (not exactly in those words, but its what he xuan hears)

And suddenly he xuan sees a perfect opportunity to hurt shi wudu in a way that is intense and long lasting

Forget physical torture! Let him watch his brother fall for his greatest enemy!!!

So he begins to court shi qingxuan in his true form. Offering gifts of precious treasures from the sea bottom, eatinf his food, giving him the smoldering look that shi qingxuan will not shut up about to ming yi

Only one problem: he xuan is a little too good. He knows all of shi qingxuan’s favorite things from being his best friend, and bringing them up in courtship…that’s kinda creepy

He doesn’t want to come off as creepy. He needs this to go well.

So he tries to dial it down, but he’s not nearly as good as he thinks

Because one day shi qingxuan looks ming yi right in the eyes and goes “you know there’s nothing that would make me love you any less right? He xuan?”

And ming yi/ he xuan, realizes he’s been caught

But he’s also got a boyfriend, and shi wudu’s worst nightmare has come true, ao its all good

[gege]

Hiii, how are you? I hope you are doing ok! <3 sending love and hugs. I wanted to ask you... i think i remember something about tgcf having live action adaptation. Was that real or was just a dream i had or something? If it's real do you know if we will have it or what happened to the project? Idk if my mind made that up! sorry and thanks :)

Hiii Anon!

No, it's not some mad collective fever dream we all had, they really did film it (6 months of shooting between July 2021 and January 2022). Native title is 吉星高照 (Ji Xing Gao Zhao) English title is Eternal Faith.

If we ever get to see it is another matter, i probably don't need to say the main reason is because it's a danmei adaptation - it'll have a harder time passing the censors than the average cdrama. Since the popularity of other dangais it seems the censors have become stricter in any case. Job one is always going to be passing the censors.

While checking chinese websites and articles I did find several sources of a rumour that the site security punched a girl who was visiting the set. I can't vouch for the reliability of this but anything that can potentially attract criticism can delay a cdrama release further. Other criticisms include the casting of the male leads, how cheap the set design and costuming look, and a cancelled actress who may have to remain uncredited.

So it will need to satisfy the censors in order to be relased, as well as satisfy the general public and tgcf fans to be worth releasing and I'm not sure if it can do it all. If all goes well and it does ever pass censorship, we won't get a release date in advance. I don't know if you've ever experienced waiting for a cdrama release but you will not get much warning when it airs. It will likey drop with a couple days warning in form of internet rumours, or just completely out of the blue.

HAVING SAID THAT - another rumour is that a full costume bl drama like the untamed will be released internationally in Sept 2024, bypassing a Chinese release. It's just a rumour but it does make this webpage very interesting! But please remember everything above and not get too excited just yet 😂.

I'm gonna share some set photos just because 😍

Zhai Xiaowen as Xie Lian

Zhang Linghe as Hua Cheng/San Lang/Crimson Rain Sought Flower

Chang Huasen as Shi Qingxuan/Wind Master & Tian Xuning as He Xuan/Ming Yi/Earth Master

Vin Zheng as Nan Feng & Li Fancheng as Fu Yao (+ bonus Wind Master)

Liu Lingzi as Xuan Ji

Liu Jinyan as Ling Wen & Wang Yueyi as Female Wind Master

Xiao Kaizhong as Feng Xin/Nan Yang & Cai Yao as Mu Qing/Xuan Zhen

Bian Tianyang as Qi Rong/Prince Xiao Jing/Green Ghost

Lu Yuxiao as Yushi Hung/Rain Master. She played Shangguan Qian in My Journey to You, but as she was fairly unknown at the time of filming jxgz so there are no photos to be found of her as Rain Master 😩.

Anyway, let's all quietly try to will this into existence with physic powers etc.

Thanks for sending me an ask, have a lovely day anon!

(∩^o^)⊃━☆

[talk-danmei-to-me]

Ranking TGCF books:

(In my opinion)

1. Book 6

Why it's my absolute favourite: The angstiest book of the whole series, it has the gift of the cave of ten thousand gods, Wuming literally being willing to burn down the whole world for Xie Lian, oh and it's the book where finally Xie Lian confesses his feelings.

2. Book 4

The book that turned me into a He Xuan girlie. I love him and I'm sad that he got like 4 sentences after this book.

Shi Wudu be living some game of thrones bullshit and I ate it up. Also home of the angsty Hualian make out and launch of baby Hua Cheng.

3. Book 5

This just had so many of my favourite tropes, my boy Qi Rong was running an inn, Heaven's Eye got introduced and Pei Ming joined the party. I just loved the road tripping vibes.

4/5. Book 3/Book 2

I flip flop on which one I prefer because I like them for the same reasons - shenanigans in ghost city and Xianle Trio flashbacks. The books that convinced me Feng Xin was the second love interest in a bl until Mu Qing showed me the error of my ways. Book 3 loses points for introducing my least favourite plot - the fetus spirit. Book 2 gains points for introducing 2 of my all time faves Qi Rong and Shi Qingxuan.

6. Book 7

I probably have a middling opinion on book 7. It doesn't go as hard as book 6 for me, but it did bring back Shi Qingxuan so I read it super fast. That the only He Xuan/Shi Qingxuan interaction we got was He Xuan punching Shi Qingxuan whilst disguised as Hua Cheng was a travesty tho. Mei Nianqing was serving comedy gold.

7. Book 8

As endings go, it was decent. Loses points on having He Xuan eat all the food but not have any interactions with Shi Qingxuan and also not letting Shi Qingxuan become king of the beggars and ascend again. All it's points come from Hua Cheng breaking Xie Lian's cursed shackles and turning into butterflies and then from the party. Also everyone forgiving Ling Wen so she can do the maths. Relatable as fuck.

8. Book 1

First books are never ever my favourite ones. There's some cute stuff that happens, but I feel like all the other books have way more exciting things going on. Also I don't care for the ghost groom arc at all.

[redrandomposts]

??? idk man im here for hua cheng angst. has gone off the rails. fake date au, modern college au, angst...hm (bottom hua cheng mentioned??)

hey its future me here i found this in my drafts and dragged it out by its hair

-in a modern college au, xie lian is telling shi qingxuan about his love troubles — how he's in love with his friend, but his friend has a beloved

-shsi qingxuan, connoisseur of fanfiction and #2 hualian shipper, suggests he fake-dates someone to "get over hua cheng." (in reality, to get hua cheng jealous and take matters into his own hands)

-except... it doesn't go as planned. xie lian fake dates shi qingxuan and tells feng xin and mu qing about the entire plan, who helps sell the lie. in a week, everyone knows shi qingxuan and xie lian are dating.

-hua cheng doesnt show much change at that. it perplexes literally everyone, except the oblivious xie lian. and, well, except his two lackeys (friends).

-he xuan eventually finds hua cheng in his bathroom, shakily holding a dagger to his hair. the path divets and nearly cuts the tip of his ear, had he xuan not interrupted him.

-yin yu... as his roommate, yin yu sees more. hua cheng paints his fantasies, as usual, with him and xie lian. he holds up a lighter right to the painting, burning off himself. it was as if it were some sort of therapy, or brainwashing, reminding him to stay only friends with xie lian.

-shi qingxuan, frustrated, recruits pei ming. in the face of romance, he is unusually the best at it considering how he never holds long-term relationships.

-pei ming immediately sees the faults, yet when he points it out, shi qingxuan says, "it's all in the fanfiction! watch any c-drama and it'll be the same!"

-after a month, he xuan literally can not put up with whatever shi qingxuan is pulling. he knew it was a farce, but was willing to put up with it for them. his mind quickly changed after encountering hua cheng using a weapon to cut some unpleasant part of his body off nine too many times.

-"why do you even have so many weapons?" "gege likes them." "you idiot, just give it to him then!" "gege said i should keep it because im the one who bought them."

-yin yu, likewise, cant put up with the cult-like behavior either. it was as if hua cheng had gone insane, and forcibly drained it every day doing some freaky thing. hua cheng, although adept at fire before, became scarily masterful at handling it.

-it culminates to he xuan confronting shi qingxuan, who insists to continue, and yin yu confronting xie lian, who hears the bullshit shi qingxuan told xie lian.

-"who else is in this plan of yours?" "feng xin, mu qing, and pei ming." "pei ming? what did he say about it?" "that it was a...stupid plan. but shi qingxuan said it would work perfectly!" "you didn't listen to the many-proclaimed god of romance? shi qingxuan doesnt even have a love life to go off of..."

-as if to prove a point, he xuan begins to hang out with hua cheng more. like, making a monthly meet-up into a daily meet-up. rumors spread throughout the campus, "are they dating?" and no one says anything, so it becomes widely assumed that they are.

-xie lian does not feel good. he has to follow shi qingxuan's plan, but feels jealousy ripping at him every moment he's apart from hua cheng. it's he xuan and hua cheng hanging out together, rather then xie lian and hua cheng.

-when he finally hears the rumors, he can't help it. plan be damned, shi qingxuan be damned, getting over hua cheng be damned. he finds hua cheng in the hallway, pins him to the wall and kisses him.

[anshares]

He Xuan a niche mukbang youtuber suddenly gets an invite to do a collab video by a super popular influencer who also happens to be his online crush!

How will he survive this?!

Click more for full plot!

Modern AU Youtubers - (M/F Flavor Beefleaf)

He Xuan and Shi Qingxuan are Youtubers, the former runs a mukbang and cooking channel and goes by the handle name BlackWater but fans call him Mingyi, his color preferences (and home decor) are mostly in black.

He has pet piranhas, he talks about them most of the time while streaming the cooking segment. His favorite is King Crab Legs; it is often featured in his mukbang videos.

He Xuan is super picky with food, some isn't up to his taste so he learned how to prepare it, hence the cooking channel segment. He also accepts requests from his fans on which food he’ll make next because hey more food to discover and eat for him.

He has a decent following but not that popular, he’s been a niche youtuber for 2 years now.

While the latter is a super popular youtuber who goes by the handle name Windy, the make up master she runs a makeup tutorial channel where she also shares her skin and hair care regimen.

Also does some daily life vlogs occasionally. Shi Qingxuan has a million subscribers and followers on all her socials, she is sponsored by various companies (sometimes her brother’s business partners) and does product giveaways.

She shows a peppy persona which her fans love, always wears fashionable outfits and takes a lot of selfies. She has an older brother who is a business tycoon but he doesn’t support her vlogging work but there’s nothing he can do about it.

Hua Cheng is He Xuan's agent (and debt collector), they knew each other for quite a long time now and can communicate by facial expressions,

Also the piranhas are the reason why He Xuan is in debt with Hua Cheng (that and his equipment are all sponsored by Hua Cheng) and Xie lian is SQX manager and agent, they were best friends back in college.

Fun Fact:

SQX text with lots of emojis a text from her ain't complete without those, if there's no emoji that means it's serious or she is going through something. He xuan text dry one word responses.

Xie lian would probably types so formally with complete sentences with no grammatical error, that's why his text ends up so essay-like

Hua Cheng is full of shortcuts sometimes with numbers.

He Xuan was doing one of his live mukbang when suddenly he chokes on food (it became a viral meme btw), it's because he got a certain notif that a certain popular user followed him so he got shocked and choked on his food. He was happy that one of his fave bloggers followed him back.

They sometimes interact in the comments section. SQX enjoys his vids and often comments on it

Sqx: omg!!!! 🤩🤩🤩 thats so awesome how did you do that?!?!?!!? (゜ロ゜)!!ヽ(ﾟдﾟヽ)(ﾉﾟдﾟ)ﾉ!! You truly are amazing ming-xiong (*/□＼*)

Hx: Thanks

Their agents suggested that they do a collab video so SQX being the way she is super friendly and open to new things reached out first and sent him a DM to invite him into doing a collab with her

where He Xuan will voice over SQX makeup routine and SQX will do the spicy wing challenge (cooked by He Xuan). He Xuan accepted of course it's not everyday that your favorite youtuber (and crush) invites you to do a collaboration with them.

The funny thing is He xuan was SQX fan first and he saw her as a rival vlogger, kinda hate her at first because he found her peppy persona annoying but after a while he got endeared to it

so when she offered to do a collab he jumped for joy all over the room before sitting down and sending a very dry OK to her in response to the collab offer. Hua Cheng just gave him a side eye for being a weirdo.

It was their first time meeting in real life and SQX thought that HX is handsome in person and had a “Oh no he is hot!!” moment. She actually found one of HX videos while she was trying to find food recipes on the internet.

Her brother is on a business trip and XL was sleeping over but being a terrible cook and calamity of the kitchen she took matters into her own hands to avoid food poisoning (never again she swears)

Hua Cheng trolls HX all the time by introducing him or calling HX to SQX as “your biggest fan” or “your secret admirer” and HX denies all allegations with a straight face "I like her a normal amount, I'm not a crazed fan"

but got worried if sqx hated him afterwards because of how he seemed cold in their first meeting.

They are about to shoot their first video collab which is the Spicy wing Challenge, he wants to impress her with his cooking skills.

SQX watches Ming-xiong (she calls him that) prepare and cook the food and the progression of her reaction from heart eyes (because c'mon have you seen him he is hot, such an eye candy and preparing food just for her) to

Oh shit I'm gonna die because of the amount of spice being put into the chicken. Basically she went from (🤩😍🙂😰😨😱) because of the pure hellish torture that awaits her.

He Xuan wants to prepare his favorite dish for the girl of his dreams but didn’t know her shit spice tolerance level and his only taste tester is hua cheng who has dead taste buds who likes the lunch that XL prepared an ominous violet looking food(?)

Off cam

Xl: here san lang do you want to have a taste *ominous looking violet goop*

San lang: i would be honored gege

Sqx: NO! WAIT DON--

HC: *looking fine and even liked it* it's very delicious gege

Sqx: what the?? He must have a stomach made of steel

Hx: *nods in agreement*

She was gonna go easy with HX but then the spicy wings incident happened so she went with a Goth makeup routine as revenge for making her eat Mt. Tonglu level spicy food but

she made HX too pretty and it went viral. Viewers got a moment of internal confusion over live chat because of the viral vid HX got a lot of subscribers.

Afterwards they do a lot of collabs and she posts their selfies on insta (dates under the guise of collab vid shooting). Also while shopping SQX buys them silly earrings, Fish bone for HX and leaf for her.

People started to wonder if they were because of their insane chemistry, their fans started calling them beefleaf (they may also use that as titles for their collab videos, SQX idea because she likes the name and emoji for it.)

It's actually their agents who are dating now not them, NOPE NEVER

also before Hualian dated during one of the “double date” aka collab vid shootin. They also do Q & A livestream

Question: Are you two dating?

SQX: Nope, this is my GOOD FRIEND Ming-xiong

HX: we are not friends

SQX: Ming xiong you are so mean!!!

HX: I don't want to be friends with you

SQX: WWWHYYYYYYY??!?!?! AFTER ALL WE'VE BEEN THROUGH??!?!?!?

Viewers: *Eye emoji* our ship is sailing

viewers can see what HX means but Ms. Windy cant, you have a long way to go Ming-xiong……Fighting!

He Xuan also asked XL what he liked about HC but the way XL describe Hua Cheng is soo….makes him like a dream boat so HX is confused if they are still talking about the same person…

Also he xuan being in denial of his feelings he tries to take an online quiz to find out that he is indeed in love with SQX

Windy went on a short hiatus because one anonymous user (Reverend of Empty Words) kept harassing her and leaves negative comments on all her videos, she tried to ignore it but it became too much.

HX will make a video called “Reading Windy’s Hate Comments and Proving Haters Wrong) he will roast so hard, he did this when SQX was down in the dumps because of that anonymous user.

XL sents the YT link to SQX who is avoiding social media at the moment to cheer her friend up. The anti was mass reported and taken down.

After the reverend's empty words fiasco, she starts seeing him as a man because he supported and defended her and was there for her at her lowest.

She now changed his contact name for HX it is now Ming-xiong ❤️❤️❤️

Cue in SQX vid series of “how to seduce your good friend” plus throw in how to mix and match outfit and make up tutorial in there too but it becomes a running gag that Shi wudu cockblocks them and it's not staged.

They shoot over SQX house cuz she has a bigger kitchen for another cooking segment but ofc SQX has a different goal here, she asks HX to teach her how to cook so there are plenty of being in close contact as he guides her how to use a knife.

She thinks she is the one being seduced instead, beefleaf fans are eating it up and request they do more domestic stuff. The beefleaf fandom watches old videos to see who liked who first so like when they got to that origin vid of that meme of his.

They'll probably see the live chat on the side of the video and see the "coincidence" and right timing of when he choked. Blackwater fans thought it's because he ate to fast back then BUT OH BOI IT WAS ACTUALLY WHEN BEEFLEAF STARTED. It'll probably be named beefleaf day.

SQX likes reading their meta and analysis of the beefleaf videos and how He Xuan subtle hints, SQX may not notice but the fans do and they are great source of info for SQX but ofc she needs affirmation from HX own mouth because all of these are fan speculations by the end of the day.

Only their agents know this but Beefleaf have each other as their phone wallpaper (candid cooking photo of HX for SQX and SQX Selfie for HX) its because they always caught them staring and do a pining sigh at their phones multiple times a day.

Ever since they started the cooking show with the both of them, HX always wears the “kiss the cook" apron he got from HC as a prank gift.

SQX thinks about it a lot should she be straight forward and just go for it but then again she doesn’t want their current relationship ruined just cuz she read his signals wrong…

Hualian are the mods of the beefleaf fan page. Crimson rain makes merch and scrap collector provides scarily accurate meta about beefleaf, All in the name of supporting their friend /investment. Xl gives SQX beefleaf merch pretending that he found it at cons.

Also people are starting to wonder if HC and HX are just business partners or friends, they bicker like siblings but when asked if "Are you sure you two aren't friends?" They just deny it and just say that their relationship is based on money/business.

HC claims that He Xuan has debts to pay to him, which is true. He has to lay the cost of the apartment studio, camera equipment, Food ingredients, restaurant bills and pet care that He Xuan owes him.

XL and SQX think that HC and HX are besties.

During the pining era sqx tries to be proactive and make her feelings obvious hoping that he xuan will take a hint. She also sought the advice of xie lian and hua cheng about this and created a 10 step confession plan, psyched herself up and tried to encourage herself. Prepared for it and all.

She is going all in!! She is getting her man and confess her feelings!!! And then they will date and be happy if not well she will call xie lian and ask to buy 2 tubs of ice cream while she marathons romcom films but NO NEGATIVITY HERE only good things SHE WILL SUCCEED she swears it.

So here they are grocery shopping for their next vid, they are picking out ingredients (so domestic she thinks it'll be even better once she nabs him and becomes her boyfriend)

she hopes that he xuan notices her outfit and makeup and new perfume something gentle cuz he likes those but all she got is a deadpan stare

(on the inside he xuan is internal screaming like is there something up today why is she all dressed up and extra pretty does this woman know what she is doing to his heart pls have mercy on this poor man's soul)

the confession is so normal and sudden, she was planning to like after grocery shopping they go out and eat and she will confess at this beautiful park after they left the groceries in the car.

Okay grocery shopping done. Check

Retouched makeup check and eyeliner is on point

Finding the right moment. Working on it. So while in the parking lot loading up their groceries in the car,

she asked he xuan if they could go to the park and like walk around for a lil while she said she found it while browsing on the internet and she wants to check it out for their other collab vids if its a nice place and he xuan just suddenly goes, "sure thing babe"

*record scratch* hold on rewind did she hear right??? he xuan doesnt use pet names and he called her babe?! WHAT IS HAPPENING!?!?!

Sqx: wait...what did you just call me?? say it again

He xuan: say what again?

Sqx: dont play dumb! You called me babe!!

He xuan: yeah and?

*sqx turns into a goldfish due to her being shocked speechless

Sqx: i.. huh-- what?? Omg?? Wait hold on give me a minute you want me to be your babe???? Did i hear right???

Hx: you heard right....

Sqx: 0////////0

Hx:I'm sorry if you don't like it we could pretend i -

Sqx: WAIT JUST A MINUTE I DIDN'T SAY I DID NOT LIKE IT I WAS JUST SHOCKED! And btw yes ill be your babe

Then theyll hug or kiss him on the cheek shyly

Also While they are hugging

Sqx: you meeaaaniieeeee, i made a ten step confession plan and tried to find a park to set up the romantic atmosphere but you beat me to it in the middle of a parking lot too!!!!!

Hx: *chuckles*

Now that they are dating they are contemplating whether or not they should announce it right away to their fans but at the same time they just want to keep it to themselves, so they decided to just tell the fans later but…they are really bad at hiding it…

So they are doing one of their cooking videos again (it's one of the most requested videos of the beefleaf fans they love gow domestic it is and all) so he xuan cooking segments always feature sqx now and the kiss the cook apron (but this time she will kiss the cook)

So he xuan be like pass me the salt so sqx does and he be like thanks hun and sqx kisses him on the cheek you're welcome with a bright smile.

Off cam he xuan cooks for sqx so this became a normal thing for them that they forgot they are doing it live so they froze for a moment and saw the chat went wild

"Omfg did you see that they kissed"

"Noooo waaaayyyy"

"Incoherent screaming"

"Askgheulgjodafaidj6akdsy"

"My ship is canon!!!!!!!!!"

Then beefleaf be like hahah well there's no use hiding it now, he xuan hugs her from behind as she says

"Yes beefleaf is now canon"

-THE END-

[naehja]

Beefleaf idea AU: He Xuan is a merman. Legends say that Merman's blood, mixed by a scale crusher in powder, can heal any sickness in few weeks.

Shi Wudu is a merchant who travels a lot one the sea. He learns about this legend and knows it could be the only chance for him to save his baby brother who suffer of very bad health since he's a little boy.

Shi Qingxuan is a delicate and frail young man. He lives in a manor on the mountain, near of a lake. Because montain's fresh air is good for the health. And it's peaceful. But he's often bedridden because his health is bad and he's often sick. He read of lot, does calligraphy and, music and paints a lot. When he's good, he loves to spent time in the garden, of walking on the lake's bank. He loves legends and believe in magical creatures's existence.

At first, Shi Wudu didn't believe in magical creatures's existence. Because why believe in creatures that nobody has never seen? Except in mermaids and mermen, because people HAVE seen them. And he has seen some, from far away. And it's here that he learns the existence of a potion: a mix of sirens blood with the powder of their scales and three plants (easy to find). This potion can heal anything, whatever it's a sickness, a bad health or even a curse. In few weeks. But the text mention that the siren 1) must be the same gender that the sick person 2) must be alive until the end of the treatment and after. If the siren is killed, the potion will turn from "healing potion" to curse even worse that what the patient had at first.

So he sets a trap. But kidnaps only a little mermaid. A child. It's not good. She's clearly too young to survive the capture and it's a girl. But them a young merman attacks the net to freed the little mermaid. Wudu takes her as hostage and force the merman to let himself being captured in exchange of the little one's freedom. It's violent, cruel and he doesn't care about the merman's feelings or fear. But he let the little mermaid go as soon the merman is tied up and unable to escape on his boat.

The merman is throw in the hold of the boat, in a narrow basin where he cannot even move. He's terrified but at least his little sister is fine and free. He's treated like a animal by all the crew.

He's bring back on the Shi Manor in the mountain, far away of the sea. He's half-death when they arrive to the manor because 1) not enough water 2) barely enough food

Shi Wudu had amenaged a pond in a greenhouse (he had planned that since a while). So the mermen would have water and light. And some plants to color his existence.

the pound is big, but for a mermen, it's not that much. (exemple: it's big like a piscine for us)

He Xuan is scared, is angry, but helpless. Every day, he's pulled out of the water by force, a little blood is taken from him (also by force) and a scale is torn off (not gently). His anger grows every day, but they're stronger than him. When he tries to fight back, he's punished or deprived of food. He knows what they want and why. And he's so angry to be treated like a animal, that nobody cares about what he feels.

Meanwhile, Shi Qingxuan is given a new medicine and starts to get better. He starts to feel stronger, healthier. One day, after two weeks of treatement, he decides to look at this new greenhouse where his brother forbid him to go.

He picks the door lock to enter. And sees the big water basin. He comes close, but not too much (he never learned to swim). and something get out of water.

A merman.

Shi Qingxuan understands what his brother did but it's too late, he's almost totally healed. The only thing that he knows is that his brother will not kill the poor merman because then he would be cursed. But who know what he kill do then. Keeping him like a pet? turning him into a attraction to win money?

He decides to bring more food to the merman. And decides that he'll ask his brother to freed him when the treatment will be over.

Shi Wudu refuses because the risk, even little, of the merman could die exist. And if he dies, his brother will suffer of consequence.

He forbid Qingxuan to come close of the merman but Qingxuan doesn't listen to him and go to see the merman everyday. brings him food and presents. He tries to speak with him.

At first He Xuan refuses to accept the gifts or to answer. Because it may be a trap. And he's not a pet. He feels that this young man was the person who needed the potion. But he looks so innocent, he apologizes again and again.

Qingxuan knows they're too fay away of the sea. But they're near of the lake. Mermaids and Mermen can live in any sort of water.

So, as soon, his treatement is finished and that his brother doesn't guard the mermen as seriously than before, Qingxuan takes the mermen in his ams (and almost drowing) and let him go in the lake.

The lake is like another prison but it's lot better, he can't be tortured again or sold or treated like a exotic pet.

Qingxuan continue to go to lake's bank. and little to little the mermen come to see him.

What people doesn't know is that, under some very RARE circonstances, the potion can also give the power to transform into mermen. It's so rare that nobody had heard of it before and it was even a legend for the sirens.

Except it's not.

Congratulation Qingxuan, you can turn into a mermen like you want now.

Feel free to use this beefleaf idea if you are inspired.

[aroacedm]

here’s 12 pictures of my art! context after each and my references at the end

tgcf spoilers!

12th

redrawing of the official art from tgcf volume 4! shi qingxuan is my favourite character and he xuan is a close second

this took me a while until i liked it but i wanted to recreate how the original created the ominous feeling and had so much detail and contrast while being in greyscale

11th

from the tgcf manhua, fengqing! i think their my favourite ship, and i hadn’t drawn them before so i tried to give it a go. not a big fan of the proportions but i think it turned out ok.

10th

@oceantherat (this is their favourite character from rain code) showed me the reference picture and i decided to try drawing it as perspective practice. it ended up a little bigger than i though so i couldn’t fit the whole reference, and the mask doesn’t feel rounded, but overall i like it

9th

same guy again! i wanted to try drawing him again but i think the shadows got a bit messed up. my cheap pens smudged a bit but overall i like it

8th

also from the tgcf manhua, this was from a meme that’s become an bit with me and ocean, just felt like drawing something and saw this in my photos

7th

after a dnd session with ocean and some other friends, i drew a scene from ocean’s character’s (also called ocean because that’s not their irl name) flashback! this guy killed her family! he’s one of her relatives! but i really wanted to focus on how dark the scene was, with almost everything being pitch black. i wanted to recreate the scene that left my players going D:

6th

here’s a younger ocean and her cousin that’s more like a brother! i hope nothing bad happens to him… i wanted to draw a picture that helped me as a reference for the backstory, to help build the character relationships and motivations

5th

it’s another character from that dnd campaign when they were younger with their brother figure! except this one is an NPC helping them out! i wanted to try and make the effect of torn paper but didn’t want to risk anything, so i left a bit of uncoloured paper to imitate a layer of partially torn paper. this was also to help when i was writing backstories

4th

this is the npc from the last picture in present time, i wanted to make canon designs for all the characters to help me visualise everything. i hid a few lore elements in this but because ocean is going to see this i can’t explain

3rd

i tried to redraw a picture of me and a friend on a ride together but in a more simple style (no eyes and mouth, ect) i haven’t shown the friend yet but i will soon. i’m the person looking at the camera. i really loved the photo and wanted to try drawing it

2nd

i drew this a while ago, but i still really like it. i used my own hand as reference (for some reason i used the hand i was drawing with) i’ve always been fairly good at drawing hands and when i sent this on an art group chat i’m in, i was quickly accused of being a witch. i can only draw to a level i like when i have a reference, and i always have my hands so it’s the thing i’ve drawn the most. i didn’t have the colour for my hands, but i think it turned out good

and finally,

i’m really proud of this one, i was sick and really bored when i drew it. this is from tgcf vol 6, but i’ve always been really impressed by the tgcf official art and how they look hand drawn but also digital. (you can see brush strokes but they look too perfect). i didn’t have all the different shades of grey, but i think i did well.

thanks for looking at all my art, here are the references i used and where they’re from

i don’t have the reference for number 9 but i’ll reblog with it when i find it

also i plan on showing more of my art but i need to find the original authors of the references

[sunfiltersthroughwillowleaves]

had a tgcf and svsss crossover idea

ok so xie lian and hua cheng find this book (or whatever a book is in that universe) by an author named "airplane". wtf is an airplane anyways? so they start reading and its about a world a gajillion years in the future where there's paper that's made out of metal and it can change its image on will? and metal birds that carry people like swords except they're called airplanes and they're designed for the usage of many people at once??? why would the author name himself after that? chunks of metal with wheels that don't need horses???

"why dont they use cultivation" you ask, because there is none! so weird, right? anyways, they keep reading and there's so much stuff they call technology that's basically just magic. it's about an overpressured author who eats food that only needs water to be edible and sends his writing over an invisible spiderweb that covers the entire world. tbh, the author did a really bad job explaining all the "tech". overall a really stupid idea for a novel. xie lian honestly sorta likes it, but it's just wierd. the most odd part? these things keep coming out regularly. they're ridiculously long, and unlike other works from the same author, there's no sex scenes.

xie lian kinda likes it, and reads it every now and then cuddled up with hua cheng. hua cheng loves being next to xie lian, who giggles occasionally while reading, but hates the novel. somehow, shi qingxuan finds it, and shows it to ming yi, (shush leave me with my beefleaf) ming yi claims he doesn't like it but reads shi qingxuan's copy of that day's update every night. knows literally every detail, understands teh worldbuilding the best of anyone. feng xin and mu qing don't bother to read it, but they know a little about it.

one day, the next update is about someone who does something called a comment on his work. apparently, they do it a lot. and the character’s name is cucumber. who would name a character cucumber!? this author is weird. anyways the cucumber does a comment about a bunch of mean stuff critiquing the work and stuff. there are more than 3 pages of just mean commentings. the next page is about his metal paper. apparentlu, the metal paper can’t touch water, or else it poisons the water??? this makes no sense. not even ming yi can explain how it works. and then the main character touches the poison water? what a dumb character, remarks hua cheng.

main character wakes up in a cultivation world. apparentlhy main character was writing a story about this world? how dumb. hualien and beefleaf are crossing a road while reading this when a reckless cart driver is about to crash into them. hua cheng, obviously, obliterated the cart and its driver. problem solved! 

later that evening, when the four fall asleep, they don’t awaken (in those bodies, anyways). fengqing finds them, starts yelling their heads off, eventually brings their comatose bodies to ling wen, who shrugs and puts them in a drawer. 

meanwhile, hualien and beefleaf are reeling. they didn't get transferred into different bodies, but they are at a hospital. someone who looks vaguely like ling wen tells them that they were found half-dead under the seats of a funeral of some guy named shen jiu. weird. the nurse tries to charge them but, upon finding the only currency they have is merits, groans and lets them leave.  hua cheng rolls dice. nothing happens. 

xie lian asks where hua cheng’s butterflies are. hua cheng shrugs, but seems visibly on-edge. none of them are able to do cultivation when they try. people are looking at them weird. who the hell does cosplay in the middle of the street? some guy compliments xie lian and hua cheng on their tgcf cosplay. none of the four understand any of those words. someone asks to take a picture of them. take a picture? she pulls out a chunk of metal, holds it in front of their faces, presses next to them. oh, is it a mirror? but she clicks a white circle at the right of the rectangilar mirror, and it flashes bright white. hua cheng begins threatening her for daring to harm xie lian’s eyes, but xie lian apologetically gets him to back off.

the woman apologises and asks if they’re new to the area. shi qingxuan says yes, and she offers the four a place to stay. ming yi holds up his shovel, arguing that he could just dig a hole in the ground and sleep there. he has to be reminded that cultivation doesn’t work here.

back in the danmei world, airplane is no longer making money from his latest series, “an author without cultivation”! there were a few people buying it, but not anymore. they also tended to overpay wildly. airplane somehow pieces it together; (idk) ohhh they transferred to the human world. he convinces the system to let him and cucumber return to their world, but lbh protests. “where are you going shizun shizun dont leave me let me come with you shizun shizun come onnnnn shizunnnnnn” eventually they let him come too. mobei jun is ok with it as long as shang qinghua returns eventually. they transfer back to the human world, where cucumber finds himself in a coffin, at his own funeral. everyone is shocked when shen yuan sits up in his original body. people scream and shout and everyone is very happy, but cucumber barely remembers any of them. it’s been, like, twenty years. he can hardly remember his parents’ names. he smiles, laughs a little, rpetrends to know everyone, and then lbh arrives. through the window. pulls out an enormous sword. people then start screaming, because omg shen yuan’s enormous murder boyfriend is here. his parents scold him a little “why didn't you tell us you got a murder boyfriend” before getting yeeted into a wall. mmkay that’s happening now. luo bignhe and shen qingqiu spend their first day in the modern world in jail.

shang qinghua pays for their bail. apparently, they all arrived back to the modern world a day after sqq’s death, and a day before sqh’s. time travel? they don’t even know at this point. they manage to track down the other four by following a police report on a man in a red tunic and butterfly jewelry threatening a poor tgcf fan, witnesses report. (the woman wasnt even the one who ratted them out, it was the ugy who complimented them on their cosplays haha.) sqq and sqh share a look. that sounds like hua cheng, from tian guan ci fu! isn’t that a really popular danmei? lbh is just sitting next to them like a lost puppy, following them around, reminding shizun that he can tear anyone who dares question his authority to pieces. anyways they find the four. their conversation kinda goes like this.

sqq: hey are you xie lian?

hua cheng: who are you (the four are very concerned as they have never seen metal birds that make loud noises before)

lbh: how dare you threaten my husband

sqq and xie lian: binghe/san lang, calm down

sqq and xie lian make uncomfortable eye contact. woah. that guy also has an overprotective but lovable husband. neat. homosexuality.

xie lian:  yeah im xie lian, this is san lang, ming yi, and shi qingxuan

sqh: *looks at the other, nods* mmkay and are you familiar with the undiscovered gem of a series called “an author without cultivation”?

hua cheng and ming yi roll their eyes, the other two nod

sqx: yeah, what about it?

sqh: yeah, i’m the author! *waits for applause that never comes*

ming yi: so you know why we’re here?

sqq: well did you read it and hate it or somehting?

*lbh is still glaring at hua cheng. hua cheng is still glaring at lbh*

hua cheng: it was very easy to hate

sqh: *sqq laughs* shut up cucumber

ming yi: *snaps to attention* that was the name of one of your characters! peerless cucumber.

sqq: *laughing, elbows sqh* guess someone doesn’t hate it so much after all

*ming yi smacks him on the head with a shovel. lbh smacks ming yi on the head with his fist. they both pass out.*

sqx, catching ming yi: sorry about him, he can be a bit… (doesn’t finish)

sqh: yeah, no problem. my husband’s the same.

hua cheng: what?

sqh: *completely ignores him and moves on* okay so here’s what’s happening; i come from this world. i teleported to your world to do things accidentally after i died. then i stayed in your world and got a husband and started writing again and stuff.

xie lian: what things? and also you havent told us what you mena by we’re all gay. also why are giant metal birds your namesake?

sqh, swallowing: this is gonna take a while

they explain to the tgcf crew and stuff, and they end up grabbing an apartment. turns out, none of them know how to transfer htemselves back. also, they all appear to be human now. they appear the same, they’re all just human. sqh gets them a flat, and they all sleep on the floor.

ok i might update this later but who knows haha

[knuckle]

it's so odd to me that it's like a meme that shi qingxuan is an innocent flower who's never done anything wrong when he xuan calls out very explicitly that desiring to cover up for shi wudu and help him amass power despite knowing that he's a ruthless serial killer who committed an extremely grave crime that gave you unearned privileges is wrong and everyone is just like well if your family member is orchestrating murdering people and getting them raped and stealing their livelihood it's fine not to seek justice

He Xuan took pains to bring Shi Qingxuan to his hometown where Scholar He has been turned into a gruesome folk hero. Shi Qingxuan figures out what had happened to Scholar He before losing her powers. They openly see how horrific Scholar He's life was, how his loyal childhood sweetheart, his sweet little sister, and his parents all died and the former two were sold off and raped beforehand. When Xie Lian deduces that Scholar He may be the Reverend of Empty words or have replaced it because he was the only victim that rather than die in despair, died fighting, full of resentment and spirit, Qingxuan said that they couldn't compare to him.

They had fully processed how horrific how thoroughly disgusting what Shi Wudu did especially after losing powers and wanted to live as a mortal. However, even after days (which Qingxuan had time to reflect!) in captivity with Shi Wudu, after being rescued by "Ming Xiong" and Xie Lian, Qingxuan still went back to Shi Wudu the moment he was in trouble, even after "Ming Yi" also tried to stop her and asked her if it was really right, despite knowing it was not, she went ahead and selfishly picked her brother, knowing that assisting him and helping him pass the trial would level him up and give him even more impunity in the heavens.

When He Xuan points out that they had given many chances, Qingxuan is unable to argue because of knowing it's true. Even Xie Lian realizes that as an outsider he should not have interfered after a certain point despite his bias toward Qingxuan. Even Hua Cheng had a strong conviction that He Xuan was justified and had been actively lying to and at times even working against Xie Lian's investigating to support Black Water's quest. The amount of moral wrong that had to be involved for Hua Cheng to pick He Xuan's feelings, even remotely, over Xie Lian's had to be immense.

Every single justification and feeling Shi Qingxuan had, while very human or understandable, was just an excuse to pick Shi Wudu - to protect him even though it was sinful, a lesser version of what Shi Wudu had decided to do for Shi Qingxuan. It's not the same level of wrongdoing, but it is still very wrong. Especially because we all heard from Shi Qingxuan's own mouth how wronged Scholar He was, how disgusting what Shi Wudu did was.

We also have Xie Lian's deduction that Shi Qingxuan was aware Shi Wudu wanted to find another innocent if possible to switch Shi Qingxuan's fate again, which is why she initially wanted to escape. In the end, Shi Qingxuan picked familial ties and love over justice, an inversion of He Xuan's hopes for her, probably especially after seeing the deep indignation the wind master had at Pei Ming trying to help and excuse Pei Xiu, especially after being friends for perhaps hundreds of years. He Xuan too was hoping or perhaps felt a sense of justice themself that they had to give the opportunity - for whatever reason tried to give Shi Qingxuan the chance to pick the weak, dispossessed victims, whose ashes and blood fertilized the fruits of her unearned glory, over the water tyrant. And she didn't. That's why Qingxuan too had to kneel before the urns of the He family.

Also, what is there to pity about how it turned out? Shi Qingxuan has friends, has a crew who love and refer to them as Lao Feng, has been proven in their eyes a bona fide god, has a carefree, if hard life, and even did not end up having their fate switched. With the way they stand above the crowd and have the chance to actually experience hardship and the moral qualities that would aid ascension, I feel it is actually possible to ascend on real merits this time too, as a god of beggars, or a god of mercy. In the end, He Xuan was merciful, did not injure Shi Qingxuan themself, and only took her off the unearned pedestal. They even got the absolution of He Xuan not hating them after the wind master fan scene and will likely continue to have a better and better mortal life. Being physically disabled is actually not the worst thing that can happen to you and Shi Qingxuan seems to be leading a happier life than for example the Xianle trio had for the last 800 years, probably because it is Qingxuan's fate to have a happy life.