#the crimson prince

[sushikillz]

hello punch out fans i uhhhh i am new also look at my oc thanks!!!!!!!! (Update: here's the toyhouse) another update i speedran making a logo for him <3

[murasaki-cha]

The Xianle quartet in the begining of TGCF is literally so funny to me as a concept.

Because it's literally these 3 guys who have disguised themselves from this 1 guy to go hang out with him. 2 of them know who each other is and also immediately recognised who the third guy is but don't have any proof to back it up. And the third guy also knows exactly who they are but he doesn't care and doesn't even wanna interact with them because he got beef with them.

Meanwhile the 1 guy they are disguising themselves from actually recognised them on sight because they absolutely suck at disguising themselves, but they're trying so hard and he doesn't want them to feel bad and they're also hanging out now so that's fun, he doesn't wanna ruin that.

[lettiegrief]

Updates on TGCF from MXTX!

TGCF unrevised UNCENSORED VERSION released! ↓

1. Hua Cheng always fully intended to marry Xie Lian, he collected engagement gifts for Xie Lian;

2. Hua Cheng likes to grab and squeeze and merge with Xie Lian when he's horny;

3. Xie Lian would dance for Hua Cheng in women's clothing happily;

4. Xie Lian feeds chickens, has cats and likes to plant flowers (he is a grandmother);

5. From the extras we already know that Hua Cheng is a bully in bed, so he rules out introductions 🤭

6. Hua Cheng tried to grab Xie Lian's ass in the kiss scene at the opening of Mount Tonglu;

7. Huahua would see Xie Lian on the swing when he was a child and referred to him as "future wife";

8. Huahua takes good care of his boots lmfao;

9. Xie Lian CRIES in some kissing scenes;

10. Xie Lian LOVES Hua Cheng's rough side.

[desireangel]

Honey & Venom Masterlist

Vampire!Aemond Targaryen x Fem!Reader

summary: In exchange for an escape from his death, the curse upon Aemond had seemed an easy price to pay for an eternal life of strength and power. But when the time comes for his debt to be collected and a mysterious illness sends you to the doorstep of the reclusive and fearsome Lord of Harrenhal's century-old castle, Aemond is faced with the other half of his soul and the agonising realisation that perhaps the cost of his salvation will also become his downfall.

warnings: MDNI - Strictly 18+ ONLY. Dead Dove: Do Not Eat. Blood, sex and horror. Gore. Heavy smut. This is set centuries after the Dance of Dragons: some deviations from canon. Dark!Aemond. Aemond and Alys are psychos together.

Dividers: @cafekitsune @bernardsbendystraws

▻ prologue ▻ chapter one

[galgannet]

Magnus can not only work, but also relax). A picture as a gift to my beloved wife. The color version will be available later!

[crimsonmonsoon]

The God Pleasing Prince, Xie Lian (with acrylic markers)

I hope I wrote that Chinese right, it is not even close to a language I have ever studied and I just have to believe I did it right.

[bimbo-vomit]

I fucking HATE when I'm watching a period piece and all of the other characters have great historically accurate dresses and then the main character shows up and she's like wearing a spaghetti strap skims dress

[happypeachsludgeflower]

For the longest time I kept seeing tags about the Xianle Quartet and—this is very embarrassing to admit, but I was honestly baffled as to why all these people seemed to ship Xie Lian, Feng Xin, and Mu Qing with Qi Rong of all people …yea it was not my brightest moment…

[teapotteakettle]

tgcf x Epic crossover!

I could not get Xie Lian out of my head when listening to No Longer You - it fits so well and so much could be interpreted in different ways ahhhh

In my hc this is like pre-ascension/early first ascension

{click for better quality}

[dailydccomics]

(☉ _☉) Justice League International vol 2 #65

[plotthotrobin]

Do you guys ever think about Crimson Flower!Claude? Because I think about him often.

Imagine you’re the young Prince Khalid of Almyra. You’ve spent your whole life with one foot on each continent. Your parents encourage you to fight your own battles so that you can handle carrying the weight of the crown someday, essentially leaving you to flounder wildly in the deep end of a world that has essentially built itself to other you. Your half-brother has never been good at hiding what’s on his mind, but he doesn’t even bother masking his distain for you. Most people you meet are well-intentioned and usually treat you with the respect your title calls for, but it is hard to distinguish their polite smiles from the ones of those who secretly hate you for your very existence or have hired hits on you. Enough of them have decided that you are too Fódlani for them. You learn from a young age to not trust easily, to keep your cards close to your chest, and to always be prepared for betrayal.

Despite this, you truly love Almyra and its people. That is your home, your people. You want the best possible future for them, and you can tell that it isn’t just you who is suffering from this ongoing prejudice and fighting between Fòdlan and Almyra.

You decide to try your luck in Fódlan instead when you find out that you have powerful blood ties in the Leicester Alliance, and a crest to boot. You start going by the moniker of Claude. Your grandfather is nice enough, but keeps his distance emotionally. People are suspicious of you constantly - your vague background, your laid-back demeanor. It’s not long before you find out that Fódlan is just as bad when it comes to the way they talk about Almyrans - worse, even. It’s deflating, and infuriating, and exhausting… but you’re determined to change things for the betterment of both peoples.

So you make it to Garreg Mach at 17 years old, and this is when your luck starts to change a little. Dimitri and Edelgard, while uptight, are people with good intentions that can be reasoned with - a good sign for the future. Archbishop Rhea and the Church of Serios aren’t quite as open-minded, are clearly keeping a lot of secrets, and have an unsettling amount of influence over the people. You plan accordingly.

Most of your housemates are nice enough. They’re an entertaining bunch, to be sure. Lorenz is a pain in the neck, constantly voicing his suspicions of you and promising to figure you out. It’s annoying, but at least he proves to be somewhat reasonable. His heart is in the right place, too, even if his hair isn’t. Hilda makes the occasional offhand comment about Almyrans, but it seems to be out of ignorance rather than malice. You get in touch with Holst.

Then, Byleth shows up. They become the professor of the Black Eagles. A shame, really. They’re incredibly skilled, and you can practically feel all of the secrets buzzing around them. Despite you not being their student, they take the time to get to know you anyway. You subtly try to sway them into changing houses over cups of tea, shared meals, and games of chess. They look at you with blank, unsettling eyes - but those are the same eyes that that they look at everyone else with. They speak with a monotone calmness you find soothing. Despite yourself, you become fond of them.

Your attempts to get them on your side gradually become less subtle the more you spend time with them and the more that comes out about them. They can wield the Sword of the Creator? They have a crest thought to be gone completely? They allegedly absorbed the power of Fódlan’s goddess??? Not to mention they are kind, yet sharp as a blade. They always seem to have an answer, and they keep up well with your battle of wits.

One day, you get bold enough to ask them about religion. Their answer is pretty vague, but they nod in interest and listen as you talk about gods and goddesses beyond the scope of Fódlan. You half-expect them to scoff and shut down the conversation, especially considering they’re Rhea’s little favorite… but they don’t. They engage with these ideas wholeheartedly, acknowledging and expanding on them. Their eyes seem to see right through you and right into the core of your deepest secrets. For once, you don’t mind.

You need Byleth as an ally. Bringing Fódlan and Almyra together is a seemingly impossible task, but you just know it wouldn’t feel that way if Byleth was at your side… if you had one person you could truly rely on. You’re not in any major rush, though. After the school year is over, you might be able to convince them.

Except that doesn’t happen. Edelgard secretly ascends the Adrestian throne only to abruptly declare war against the Church of Serios. You don’t like the church either - in fact, part of your planning had involved potentially killing Archbishop Rhea - but you’re frustrated beyond belief. This disrupts everything you’ve been building over your time in Fódlan… and Byleth, despite your prior efforts, has joined her. Archbishop Rhea is progressively getting more and more unhinged. You’re left trying to comfort and prepare your terrified housemates, the closest people you have to friends.

The monastery falls. Of course it does, Edelgard has clearly been planning this for years. Byleth goes missing. You and the Golden Deer flee to the Leicester Alliance, scattering across the country as everyone tries to help their families brace themselves.

After your grandfather’s passing, you find yourself alone at the head of the Alliance. You’re young, inexperienced, and overwhelmed. Everyone is ill-prepared and the Roundtable is constantly fighting amongst themselves. You know that perhaps Byleth didn’t care for you as much as they did their Black Eagles, but you don’t know who else to write letters to - so you address unsent letters to someone who is probably dead.

After five years of managing to barely hold the Leicester Alliance together in the face of bloodshed and war, you receive a report involving the return of one of your favorite people. Byleth has somehow popped out of nowhere and, unsurprisingly, rejoined the Black Eagles. Despite all logic and reason, that decision hurts… but you also find it comforting, in a way. Even if you fail, there will be someone on this side of things that you can negotiate with.

You aren’t going down without a fight, but you make it clear to the other Golden Deer as well as Judith that they are to prioritize their own lives. You make them promise. You don’t know if you can bear the guilt of them dying for your pipe dream.

Battle after battle breaks out as the Imperial army invades the Leicester Alliance. One by one, your friends break their promise and fall. You feel the weight of their blood on your hands. The nightmares you once had of assassins standing over your bed when you were asleep and vulnerable gradually shift into visions of Byleth standing above the bodies of the people who die fighting for you. You personally write a letter of condolences to each of the families of your fallen friends. You have no time to mourn. You’re numb.

You have been a fool. You were so focused on Byleth, on a made-up reality in your head of leading a bright future with them at your side… that you didn’t stop to see just how much the people around you cared. They laid down their lives for you. It’s your fault. You did this.

Hilda and Lysithea are the only ones remaining by the time Edelgard reaches Derdriu. It’s your last chance to turn this war around - you gather all of your resources and pull all of your strings. You pull your friends aside before the battle and emphasize that if things get sticky, they are to retreat. You cannot lose them too. You make them promise.

Lysithea is the only one who keeps her promise. She takes Byleth’s offer and retreats to the enemy side when she’s out of options. You’re sad to see her go, but relieved that she is alive. You’re proud of her.

Hilda, much to your dismay, breaks her promise. You watch from afar as she dies on Edelgard’s axe. Red isn’t her color, but you’re proud of her, too.

And then at last, you’re face to face with Edelgard and Byleth. You hate Edelgard for doing this… but you also understand. You and her are cut from similar cloth, really. She’s just… far more okay with spilling blood to achieve her goal than you are, apparently.

You hate Byleth more, you think. You hate them for looking at you with such remorse. You hate them for treating your friends with such kindness five years ago, yet being okay with their deaths. But you care for them, too. You can see the weight of the war on their shoulders. The bags under their eyes mirrors your own.

You make your final plea to Byleth specifically, pulling every last ace out of your sleeve. You heavily drop hints about your true identity, promising to return the favor should they spare your life. Each word feels like bile on your silver tongue.

It hurts when Byleth makes the decision to kill you. Perhaps you should have seen it coming. You are the head of an enemy nation. Of course they wouldn’t offer you the same mercy as they did Lysithea. As you bleed out on their sword, you think you see hints of tears glistening in their eyes as they whisper apologies. You don’t know if it’s worse or better to be dying at the hands of someone that cares for you, at least a little bit. Is this how your friends died? With tearful apologies in their ears and memories of better times flashing in their mind? You smile, but it doesn’t reach your eyes.

It hurts even more when, alternatively, Byleth convinces Edelgard to spare you. Perhaps you hate them more for giving you an opportunity that most of your friends and allies didn’t get. They expect you to just… move on and live with all of this? You don’t say that, though. You express your partially sincere gratitude, promising to pay them back in the future. Byleth weakly smiles, but it doesn’t reach their cold eyes.

You go home to Almyra alongside Nader, trying to shake off the failure of the one who was Claude von Riegan. You are Prince Khalid once more: alone, jaded, and no closer to your goal than you were when you left. At least you’re alive, right? Perhaps you can negotiate with Edelgard and Byleth in the future and attempt to salvage the fragments of your pipe dream, right? That is enough to make up for the deaths of your friends, allies, and all of those Leicester soldiers who fought in your name… right?

Imagine you’re King Khalid of Almyra. You learned from a young age to not trust anyone, to keep your cards close to your chest, and to always be prepared for betrayal.

[sushikillz]

Vlad in civvies uhh slay!

[murasaki-cha]

Tgcf official art you lied to me there was no falling on lap scene😭😭😭😭😭

[lettiegrief]

It's ironic to me that part of the fandom insists so much that Hua Cheng's personality revolves around Xie Lian when in fact MXTX created Hua Cheng first and then had to make Xie Lian his ideal type. Like, the truth is that Xie Lian was molded for Hua Cheng. I find this contradiction very funny, I'm sorry.

But they were indeed created for each other.

Hua Cheng has a strong personality, he is firm in his ideals and beliefs, assertive in his opinions, cold in his justice and someone who does not bend the rules just to fit in, he creates a third way instead of adapting to a world that hates him and was cruel to him.

His ideal type would have to be someone as confident as him, who not only does not bend the rules, but also does not get corrupted by difficulties, someone benevolent enough to see people like him with kindness, because only someone faithful in his beliefs would be able to be so different from everything that the world says is right — because the right thing is for you to annihilate people like Hua Cheng, whether they are innocent or not, just because of a supposed curse that they did not ask for.

This meta is based on this excerpt from the afterword that MXTX put in TGCF ↓

When it comes to character designs, the Shou’s were decided on first for the first two novels, but I was torn over the Gong’s for a long time, and needed a run-in period. Hua Cheng, however, was an exception. Inspiration struck and there he was; inspiration struck again, and I blinded one of his eyes.

[...]

It was actually the Shou, Xie Lian, who tortured me for up to half a year’s time. When the novel started serializing, I was still torn over him for a long time.

[...]

But the most important thing is, by my instincts, someone like Hua Cheng will most definitely love someone like this. So, after a good half a year’s worth of qualms, in the end I still typesetted him: It’s you!

Speaking more about this postscript, I found it interesting how for MXTX, Xie Lian was the most difficult character she has ever played. People tend to think that Xie Lian only has two personality traits: (false, for many) kindness and idiocy. The idiocy may even be right lol, but when you stop to think about it, Xie Lian is a really difficult character to create and, mainly, to develop.

For all the layers he has, he could easily be a snobbish prince, a vengeful and bitter ex-prince, a fallen prince who rises again to reconquer his kingdom and reclaim his throne or a spotless saint who is always intelligent and wise and is above things like sadness, anger, lust, etc.

We know that Xie Lian is none of these things, he was not made for these plots. But if he is none of these things, then what could he be? Honestly, I find it very difficult for anyone to come to the conclusion that your protagonist is a "loser" who failed and has no ambition to rebuild his kingdom and become the new king. It's bold to make your protagonist a poor and extremely unlucky nomad, especially with the princely background that you gave him, we can see from the amount of stories out there about protagonists who lost their kingdoms and then have a path of reconquest that it's difficult not to be tempted to follow that path.

Of course, Xie Lian is a god, something greater than a prince or king, but he is a poor god, known as "the joke of the three kingdoms", he has no wealth and for 800 years he only had 1 believer that he didn't even know existed and he is also known as the "god of plague" and "immortal scrap collector", unconventional titles in the literary world lol

He must experience youthful ignorance, overestimation of his own abilities, have been laughable, been foolish, made mistakes, despaired, felt hatred, gone crazy. But he can’t run, and he can’t hide; everything is what it is. All this was killing me. Not just within the text, but outside the text too. My mediation was useless, and I’ve no energy anymore either, so in order not to be affected, I stopped looking at comments altogether. Since I always habitually vaccinate myself before a serialization begins, speculating on all the worst possible scenarios and preparing myself mentally, by the time serialization started I had already expected how all the negative comments would go down. But after much hesitation, I still thought, why not try all different kinds of characters? I haven’t tried writing a main character like this before.

— MXTX

[izzy-prizzy]

hua "i would recognize you in total darkness, where you are mute and i am deaf. i would recognize you in another lifetime entirely, in different bodies, different times. and i would love you in all of this, until the very last star in the sky burnt out into oblivion" lian

[galgannet]

"Opus Magnus" Magnus can not only work, but also relax). A picture as a gift to my beloved wife. As I promised, here is the color version. (I am a Fenris fan, but I love my wife very much) Artstation | Deviantart | VK | Commission List Blood for the Blood God? ⇩⇩⇩⇩⇩⇩