#xie lian in red btw (?!)

[barawrah]

800 year old martial god causes problems on purpose by kidnapping the heir of a great sect . or something

[certifiedcoffeeaddict]

re-reading tgcf <3

[rene-darling]

Whenever I read bl manhwas I never fall for or like the top. I always like the bottoms more😭 does anyone else relate??

Like jooha from pearl boy is SO MHM. He's so pretty please give me a man like that I LOVE pretty men.

My red flag is that I read killing stalking and had a crush... On YOONBUM

KIM DAN FROM JINX IS SO KHHDSASGJK- come here bbg let me spoil you and give you the aftercare you deserve

I never read Painter of the Night only the first few chapters a few years ago... BUT NAKYUM KJJGDSSHJ omg, omg, omg I need him. He's so cute I need a man like him HES SO PRETTY

I read a married man and like LEE GEOM!!...UHG I FEEL SO BAD FOR HIM kkjhfdashjkk I wanna have soft sex with him and treat him right. Like, take him on dates and shi...

I'm a straight woman btw.

THE BOTTOM FROM NIGHT BY THE SHORE!!!! Ughhhgg I need him. It's not a want I need him, like let me be your sugar mommy and ill pay all your depts off.

SKYLAR. SKYLAR. SKYLAR. hes not a confirmed bottom BUT I NEED HIM YOU DONT UNDERSTAND.

THE MAJESTIC GUY WITH RELIGIOUS TRAUMA IN HOME FAR AWAY!!

I FORGOT TO MENTION THAT I ALSO LOVEEEEE XIE LIAN FROM HEAVENS OFFICIAL BLESSING!! I haven't read it but looorrrdddd he is so pretty

[mikaela-the-slut-expert]

I got this idea (completely platonic reader btw, sometimes I just need nice friendships rather than romance 😭) :

what if heavenly official gn!reader who is pretty chill & terribly practical it seems like they completely ignore their own emotions.

They become a friend of Xie Lian when he first ascended decided help him out during his banishment & keep him company without the knowledge of other officials.

Over time they become really close friends & XL discovered a habit of the reader- they would randomly make little sketches & crafts like origami & give it to the people they trust the most.

In the beginning XL is one of the very few people who received these, but a few days after Hua Cheng exposed the truth about Yong An massacre in QR's cave, reader gives one of these to HC as a symbol that they trust him to protect XL.

(maybe it's a little E-ming sketch/origami? )

I'm sorry if it's confusing & if there are some gaps in it. Please dont push yourself too much & feel free to ignore this ask if it causes stress

Origami

HuaLian x gn!reader platonically

You and Xie Lian have been best friends for a long time.

You began a friendship with him once you ascended

He didn't have many friends and you offered to help him through his banishment even though you technically weren't allowed to.

It went from there

Through the years, the many, many, many years you've gained Xie Lian's trust and he's also gained your trust

Your love language is giving people things.

And you have a knack for origami.

Xie Lian knows that being friends with you means having lots of paper designs given to him

You're really good at it too

Making swans, butterflies, flowers.

You're amazing and the origami always comes out pretty

His shrine is covered in origami trinkets.

It's how you spread your love and show Xie Lian that you trust him and your guy's friendship

So when Xie Lian and Hua Cheng become a thing he's very surprised when you so quickly warm up to Hua Cheng.

After you all got out of Qi Rong's lair you tell Hua Cheng to hold out his hands.

Then you drop some origami in his palms.

On closer inspection Hua Cheng and Xie Lian look at the e-ming origami even his little red eye! You made some silver butterflies too.

Xie Lian is very excited to tell his lover what that means.

Hua Cheng is very honored to receive your gifts.

You're one of the only gods he likes so now that you trust him so much, he feels very happy.

Hua Cheng will protect them with his life

He proudly sets them on shelves or frames them.

Xie Lian is happy that his lover and best friend get along.

[aerscribbles]

So hard to choose 😱 i wanna know more abt Ghost God AU but Eldritch Horror AU sounds cool too 🤔 tell us more abt either / both of these please! 🥺🙏 love ur stories btw 🥰😘

I'm already doing Eldritch Horror AU for another ask, so!

Ghost God AU:

this one is a canon divergence where Wu Ming's last words are a promise to come back.

Instead of being banished, Xie Lian just leaves. or at least he tries, but Jun Wu tries to stop him and they fight as per canon, with Xie Lian running away to the mortal realm rather than being thrown out.

Xie Lian ends up encountering a lot of ghosts as he looks for his little guy, and Xie Lian being Xie Lian, helps them regardless of their nature. Ends up worshiped as the god of ghosts.

A decade later he gets (metaphorically) smacked in the face by a massive pile of prayers and offerings- no longer blocked by Mount Tonglu's barrier.

Wu Ming left a lot of statues around the place, even if you don't count his fanart cave. The Kiln is now a temple to Xie Lian, and there are a lot of blood sacrifices to go through.

Xie Lian starts visiting Fafa's dreams, still avoiding him in real life because he feels guilty.

Hua Cheng doesn't look for Xie Lian all that much because he knows his god is fine and he feels like he isn't good enough yet.

They dance around each other like that for a while.

Also! there are persistent rumors that the Red Calamity slept his way to the top, any comments about that?

Hua Cheng: I wish.

[yulen-the-ghost]

I just had the idea of a ghost Xie Lian au.

This would develop in the present, however before Xie Lian's 3rd ascension. (Meaning that instead of a god, he's a ghost).

He is known as the "Pristine mist of misfortune" or "the scrap ghost", whose tears become mist that will bring you bad luck. After wandering the world for years, he arrives at the ghost city and meets Hua Cheng. He is filled with a bittersweet feeling because of the joy of meeting Xie Lian, and the pain of knowing he's a ghost.

TGCF spoilers ahead.

--

First of all: Can Xie Lian even turn into a ghost? I guess so. Inside the Kiln, White No-Face wanted him to turn into the ghost king, so I guess he can do that.

We know that there are several moments where Xie Lian 'died'.

When the second wave of the human face disease came, Wu Ming sacrificed himself, something Xie Lian would forever regret and remember, one reason why he might have decided to keep being a good person.

However, he considers himself a person unworthy of living, someone bad and disgusting. After what happened at the gilded banquet, he was 'murdered'.

Maybe his body won't die, but his soul gave up. As a ghost, his reason to keep living is, to his perception 'to pay for his crimes with his suffering'. The more hurt he feels, the more powerful he actually is.

Maybe in his spirit form, RuoYe still accompanies him.

Also, his habilites as a ghost include making himself invisible, levitating in the air, and releasing misfortune on others.

---

After years of wandering, he accidentally ends up in the Ghost City. Obviously he is not well received by the other ghosts at the beginning, but once inside the city, how would Hua Cheng, lord of the city not notice his presence?

After saving him from other ghosts, Xie Lian is ashamed to try to leave without paying in return.

He considers this attractive red king someone worthy of praise, but Hua Cheng is EXTREMELY uncomfortable with that.

Xie Lian admires this person, but even with his lips curled up, Hua Cheng's gaze reveals a hint of sorrow and melancholy he doesn't understand. (Obviously he's upset he's dead).

This is why he asks his good ol' friend Black Water to pretend to attack his city so he could use Xie Lian's help. Once he saves the city, Hua Cheng starts praising him instead.

Xie Lian doesn't want him to be so formal, so Hua Cheng asks the same in return. This is how their "Gege" "San Lang" relationship begins!!

Shi Qingxuan shows up with Lang Qingqiu for the investigation like the original version btw.

--

The bride kidnapping thing still happened; Feng Xing and Mu Qing investigate and discover the relation of the case to the green ghost.

At some point, Qi Rong makes his appearance from Xie Lian's side (also revealing his past). "Oh so you were the Crown Prince!!" Pretends Hua Cheng.

After the mess is mostly cleared up, Hua Cheng and Xie Lian are ready to leave.

But as they are exiting the place, in one of the caves, Feng Xing, Mu Qing and Xie Lian find each other.

He tried to pretend not knowing anything, but it was too late.

Mu Qing "..."

Feng Xing "...your highness?"

"Why are you with Blood Rain Tanhua?"

"Are you..." A ghost? Dead? You don't ask those things so directly!!

Xie Lian feels dread and turns invisible with his ghost skill. He runs away and Hua Cheng, afraid to lose him again, chases after him.

--

Not going to elaborate much more, but I wanted to know what do you guys think 👀

[chiyukimei]

i think shen qingqiu should be allowed to wear green eyeshadow as a treat, so should wei wuxian wear red eyeshadow and lan wangji blue eyeshadow and so on. xie lian would have golden glitters btw. hua cheng, oh he would draw himself one of those butterfly eyeliners.

[mqfx]

*red ribbon is my favorite bakery chain btw this is not an advertisement but they should sponsor me

[dreamingthroughwords]

27 and 29 for the AO3 wrapped?

Btw your username is lovely!

thank you so much for the ask :D and thank you!!! sometimes i think that my username is a bit long haha but it embodies the vibes im going for!!<33

#27. What do you listen to while writing? It depends! Sometimes I like to write in the quiet, but others I like to listen to instrumental video game music! Nier Automata soundtrack is one of my go-tos!

#29. Favorite line/passage you wrote this year? Another one of these!!! For variety I'll put in another one I really like. This one from Winner Gets Your Love, because it's just so silly, and 'Gege is my favourite breakfast' makes me laugh, even if it is very cheesy.

“…I don’t think we need breakfast when we can pursue what we were doing before instead?” Xie Lian whispers, still feeling shy about taking command, but he feels so desperate that he couldn’t care less about any embarrassment.  Hua Cheng grins, clearly elated at Xie Lian’s forwardness. “Gege is my favourite breakfast. I’ll be more than happy to indulge in him all morning. All day, even.” Xie Lian blushes and his whole body is red at his husband’s words. “San Lang! You say too much.” “I only speak the truth, Gege.” Oh, Xie Lian knows he always does.

thank you so much for the ask!!! <3 i appreciate it so much!

[powwidge]

You reblogged stuff from both my wc blog AND my danmei/tgcf blog which is how i got here buut im now here to a ask an extremely specific NICHE question

if hualian, beefleaf and fengqing were warrior cats what would their individual wc names be in your personal opinion :3c (Cause ive thought about this in my spare time myself)

I'm dying. Drop the blogs. Don't be shy. Psppspss. I'm very into both tgcf and waca. Omfg.

Since I'm mainly a beefleafer let's start wirh them, but.

Shi Qingxuan: let's not fool ourselves, she'd 100% be a kittypet, then fall in love with hx, decide to join the clans, and cause havoc. I'd imagine her kittypett name could be sth sorta compatible though (...unlike. bellaleaf .), like Puff maybe? Cuz I feel lkke Puffleaf would be very cute and fitting

He Xuan: I think we oughta opt for the obvious "Blackpool" here n call it a day. Anyways I can actually imagine him being a medicine cat cuz he DID use to be a scholar n all and also romance between a medicine cat and kittypet? Let's go

Xie Lian: I'd opt for some kind of flower name + the -heart suffix def. Some kind of white flower, but my brain is a little empty rn so make of that what u will- also he should be deputy under Jun Wu so he can receive his trauma accordingly

Hua Cheng: torn between using crimson and rain here ngl. Crimsonrain mifht actyally work bur that sounds kind of stupid. I feel like maybe Crimsonclaw would work becayse it'd scare everyone like "IS HE VIOLENT???" and Hua cheng is like "in theory no because I'm a softie in practice if u hurt gege, yes :D" or maybe sth like Rainfire? I'm indecisive, so

Feng Xin: is like to opt for sth that's brown because in my head he's just brown???? If that makes sense??? I might go for Woodpelt with him since most "pelt" cats seem to be a bit aggressive, so it'd fit- also he's the kost annoying warrior ever I bet he's like. Overachiever, hunts from morning to night, gets injured 24/7 becayse of it, probably voluntarily does mouse bile tick elder duty. (I love him really)

Mu Qing: can I say Crowfeather? Can I? Becayse they both jusg rlly wanna be loved bur fail at expressing that unless driven into a corner? No? No??? Goddamnit. I'd actually like to go for something incredibly soft wirh Mu qing just so that some cats at gatherings would go "oh my god xxx is such a pretty name whY DID YOU JUST CLAW MY EARS OFF DUDE ITS A GATHERING" as for the name. Uh. I'm elly mad rhat any berries just have such stupidly long names rlly. Maybe Current since they don't have the berry suffix? (Is it Currant? God I don't remmeber. Those rply small sour berries that r either red or black. Currant I think. English isn't my first language Im sorry HAJSKSKS) sth like Currantflower maybe; stuff that makes people expect a she-cat who's a forever queen whos super kind n then they meet mu qing (and rlly their assumption is right, he's just tsundere)

Ok im sordy I sont think u wanted THAT extensive of an answer !!!!!!!!! All I can say in my defense is I've got autism 🙏🏻 all insults to the charactwrs r said with tons of love btw I love all of these idiots very dearly. Jun wu included. Sadly. I think that one mifht be a bir invalid. Hmm.

[zhuhongs]

Mdzs rlly got the short end of the art stick in EVERY REGARD...the manhua is ugly.. the donghua is ugly... like damn... what did mo dao do to deserve this. I mean its not as ugly as the scum villian donghua (idc abt scum villian but this f*jo in my club forcibly told me abt it after she saw i liked cql 😑😑) that looks like it was made in imvu... tgcf really lucked out on the art side of things like the donghua looks so nice and simple and pleasant and the manhua is rlly pretty even tho they have ugly yaoi hands at times but its LEAGUES better than the mdzs manhua art

[nyerus]

The Absolute Clownery....

Ya’ll so someone actually tried to plagiarize TGCF?!!?

Gonna try to keep this insanity short but OH my god. Some people (possibly young teenagers; no ages were given on any profiles, so just please keep that in mind) on Instagram started promoting a work of theirs called “The Third Ascension”... featuring main character Xue Yuan, a crown prince who ascended to godhood and then fell from grace over 800 years ago, and meets a ghost king by the name of Ze Cheng....

If you’re thinking “well golly that sounds a lot like something we know” YEAH SDLFKJSDLKFJSDLKFJSD

The “author” wholesale ripped of TGCF and changed Xie Lian + Hua Cheng’s names (AND ONLY THEIRS, BTW). I really hope no one bought the fake books off Rakuten’s Kobo (e-book) site. You can self-publish on there, and the “author” also spared no effort to make fake reviews. Well. Some effort was apparently spared because they were all made on the same day and clearly fake as hell.

And yeah, they did tag @/scholasticinc on instagram -- you know, the children’s books publisher, with titles like “Captain Underpants” and “Clifford the Big Red Dog.” Please just. Take a moment to imagine a world where Scholastic would publish a Chinese xianxia novel featuring horror, gore, violence, suicide, sexual content, and psychologically distressing material -- just to name a few things! BUT APPARENTLY, no need to worry about the gay stuff, because the “author” so generously made Hualian’s romance into a bromance. Like. Legitimately took TGCF and said “everyone’s het tho!” No genderbending, just het-ification. Idk.

I really cannot. I’m moving on for my sanity’s sake. I’ve already lost so much time to how many hysterical breakdowns I’ve had because of this in the last hour and a half.

Meanwhile, the “artist” ripped off not only STARember, but various other fanartists. They have a slew of stolen artworks on their instagram even from artists like GEAROUS. Absolutely baffling.

However, Things Are Happening already, so we can rest assured. Because both of them have set their profiles to private, the carrd and wixsite they had to promote it are down, the discord server was purged (unclear if deleted, people tried to raid it and got kicked lol), and the books were taken off listings from Kobo’s sites. There are multiple sites in different languages though, so it will probably take a little bit of time to get them all down. Fans on Weibo have also been made aware of it.

What’s infuriating is the idea that these people profited off of stolen works, and had thousands of followers. The “author” has over 18k followers on insta!!! Like wth!? Surely amongst those 18k, there was at least one gullible person that fell for this and gave them money. Yeesh. If these people are indeed kids, then I hope they’re really young and stupid -- and that they learn from these. Parents please pick up your kids omg. If they’re adults, then I really do not know what to say.

Technically, it’s still a developing situation, and I don’t have more screenshots because things moved SO fast. By the time I was done screaming and processing the whole situation, telling people I knew, and reporting what I could, that shit was gone LMFAO!!! Fandom moved hella fast, thank goodness. I don’t know what’ll come of it, and I’m really just making this post to archive the fact that this happened at all because I’m not entirely convinced that it’s not just a stress dream I’m having right now.

This twitter user is doing a really amazing job of cataloguing what the hell is going on, so please check out their thread if you wanna see more: https://twitter [.] com/wwxwashere/status/1376948807729045512?s=20

Also rest assured that Suika and the other translators know about it already: twitter [.] com/yummysuika/status/1376952468899295234

Thank you very much to Otonozhin on the Suibian discord sever for bringing it to my attention, as well as others on there + the HOBL server + on twitter who helped spread the word and report all this.

[hua-lian]

Jy!!! (its rin btw!) congrats on your milestone!! You're amazing and you deserve all the bestest things this year has to offer

@lianhuawu rin!!! thank you!!!

this was ridiculously fun to write HAHAHA

“Your Highness, I must teach you something,” Wind Master Shi Qingxuan suddenly said, and his serious demeanor made Xie Lian straighten up.

“What is it?”

Shi Qingxuan held his fan in his hand, and pointed it dramatically at Xie Lian’s face. “I must teach you flirting!” He said, voice loud and resonating around the temple. Ming Yi put his face in his hands, stood up, and left.

“Uh,” Xie Lian said, and then fell silent while Shi Qingxuan continued to talk over his confusion.

“Your Highness, I know that your type of cultivation means you can’t have any eye contact with anyone ever,” Shi Qingxuan said, fanning himself.

“That’s not-“ Xie Lian started, only to be interrupted by the other, “But that means you don’t know the act of flirting! Sometimes you need to get information from someone, and you can only do that from flirting,” Shi Qingxuan was really serious about this, Xie Lian marveled.

“So, in conclusion,” Shi Qingxuan said, “I will teach you flirting now!”

Xie Lian was about to politely refuse, but then he realized Hua Cheng had left to do some business, and he didn’t really have anything else to do anyways. And, a small part of him thought, how would Hua Cheng react, even though it seems a little embarrassing?

“Call me Flirting Master!” Shi Qingxuan said.

“Flirting Master,” Xie Lian said obediently.

Shi Qingxuan’s grin was practically blinding.

“First, you must make eye contact, and be confident,” Qingxuan said, and then proceeded to look into Xie Lian’s eyes, a light smile on his lips. It made him look handsome, yes, but...

It was uncomfortable, and felt nothing like whenever Hua Cheng smiled at him. Xie Lian has always felt a pleasant warmth when Hua Cheng would smile, yet Shi Qingxuan’s smile now felt more awkward to look at than anything.

“Have you fallen for me yet?” Shi Qingxuan asked, placing his hands on Xie Lian’s. It was warm, too warm, so unlike Hua Cheng’s cold ones.

He pulled away. “I’m sorry, Wi- Flirting Master, but I don’t think I can learn like this,” he said gently.

Shi Qingxuan hummed thoughtfully. “Maybe you need to learn hands-on, and a more aggressive kind.”

Xie Lian worried over what that could mean, watching as Shi Qingxuan stood, and gestured at him to stand up.

“Where are you bringing me?” Xie Lian asked, as Shi Qingxuan pulled him towards the wall of the temple.

Then, his world spun as he was suddenly slammed gently against the wall, with Shi Qingxuan placing both hands at each side of his head, pinning him in place.

“Wind Master?” Xie Lian froze, his face uncomfortably close to Shi Qingxuan. Too close, too close!

Shi Qingxuan had a smug smile on his face, as he cocked a brow and said, “Hey,” in a tone that was way too low and way too seductive!

The door slammed open, and both of them turned to see Hua Cheng and Ming Yi at the doorway.

Shi Qingxuan immediately paled. “Ming-xiong! This isn’t what it looks like!” He jumped back, red crawling up his cheeks.

Ming Yi looked completely dead. “I didn’t say anything,” he said.

Hua Cheng’s eye was twitching. “Ge-ge, did he...” It seems even he could not finish his question.

An awkward pause resumed, before, “Ah, let’s just eat, I finished cooking,” Xie Lian deflected, his hand trembling slightly. Why did he feel so weird when Hua Cheng saw him with Shi Qingxuan like that?

~

btw the “hey” is totally the one from into the spiderverse HAHAH

[missveryvery]

I've talked about this before but I literally think this was going to be a thing. I think an early draft of this had all the martial gods paired with an elemental master, possibly as their protector, and sometimes also paired thematically/plot wise with a calamity.

Mq = Southwest and fx = southeast and who would be in the middle as South? Xie Lian. Who aligns with red and Hua Cheng (there's no fire master, btw). Xie Lian being aligned with fame and reputation makes complete sense, remember how much his fame (now infamy) is hammered on about at the beginning?

Pei Ming, North - Water Master - He Xuan

Lan Qianqiu, East - Green, Qi Rong, we never see the Thunder master but they exist and were mentioned as being off screen. "Past" and "family"? Qi Rong is secretly Xie Lian's family, "family" is a reoccurring theme in his arc, as well as LQQ's.

Mu Qing, Southwest - Earth Master relationship, love, mother. Mu Qing's mother. His name means "yearning for affection". And Mu Qing and Ming Yi definitely have the most fucked up "relationships". Doesn't Mu Qing comment on how shitty Feng Xin's distance array drawing is? This is moment is also the first mention of the Earth Master where Feng Xin says something to the effect that if he was good at it then the Earth Master wouldn't have a job.

Feng Xin, South East - Shi Qingxuan - abundance, wealth, prosperity. (Fertility? :3) What's Feng Xin afraid of? What does Shi Qingxuan turn into? Feng Xin's fucking name is Wind. His bow's name is "bow of the wind god", which makes 0 sense unless he was supposed to be paired up with sqx. In my first read I thought he and Shi Qingxuan we're going to be a couple, actually, because they had a couple cute scenes together. He also informs Xie Lian about the Wind Master's situation after she departs.

There's a part at the end of the Ban Yue arc where Fu Yao disappears when Beefleaf show up. This is never explained. I think this happens because originally he and the Earth Master, as well as sqx and fx, are connected and he's worried about being recognized. Feng Xin got his ass beat but it happened off screen. I'm guessing those two recognized him and that's what stopped the fight. They agreed not to rat him out, but Fu Yao doesn't know that, this is his first awareness that those two are present so he flees.

I think eventually MXTX scrapped this idea because it stopped being useful and became more tedious than anything. But traces of it are still there.

TGCF: My theory on the inspiration behind the 4 calamities

In some of the oldest Chinese myths and legends, there are 4 guardian gods of the four cardinal directions - the green dragon, white tiger, crimson bird, and black tortoise, and each have a colour, season and element associated with them. I'm not sure if anyone has made this connection before, but I'm writing it down if anyone is interested. There are spoilers about the calamities' identity.

First, the 青龙 （qing long, green dragon) --> Qi Rong, Night-touring Green lantern.

The qinglong's territory is the East, and its colour is qing, which means green, or turqoise. Its element is wood, and its season is spring. Closely associated with royalty and the imperial family.

Now, for the similarities with our favourite green goblin. "qing" is literally the colour in Qi Rong's title, and his colour scheme. Qi Rong has a habit of hanging corpses from trees, which may be his relation to the element "wood". He does not have any obvious coleration with the season "spring"- perhaps he was born in spring. He is royalty, part of the imperial family as cousin to the crown prince.

Second, the 白虎 （bai hu, white tiger)--> Bai Wuxiang, White Clothed Disaster upon the Earth.

The baihu's territory is the West, its colour is white, element is gold/metal, and its season is summer. It is the king of all beasts, associated with disease and war, often used as a guardian symbol by soldiers.

On the other hand, Jun Wu's title, alias and colour scheme are all white, and has plenty of weapons that may be his link to the element of "gold/metal". I don't think he has anything to do with summer, but feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. He is king of the gods, a god of war, and the one to spread the human face disease.

As east and west are considered a pair, the guardian spirits are meant to reflect each other. In Chinese poems and such, symmetry is important, and both Qi Rong and Jun Wu were princes, one becoming revered by the highest of gods, covered with masks and false identities, one becoming the object of disgust by the lowest of ghosts, using his real name and face. There is a certain poetic symmetry to it, don't you think?

To the second pair. The 朱雀 (zhu que, crimson bird)----> Hua Cheng, Crimson Rain Sought Flower

The zhuque rules over the south, its colour is red, element is fire, and its season is summer. It is the king of all birds, more powerful than even the phoenix, immortal and undying. As such, in many places it is also considered a symbol of life.

Now, to the most popular ghost king: Hua Cheng. The english translation of his title is "crimson", and his colour scheme is indubitably red and autumn-y shades. He also re-re-met Xie Lian in autumn ( I think - I mean, the leaves were all red in the donghua??), and has died again and again to return like the zhuque. He is the king of all ghosts, with a great determination to live(sorta? are ghosts alive??) for his love.

Lastly, my personal favourite, the 玄武 (xuan wu, black tortoise)---->He Xuan, Black Water Sinking Ships

The xuanwu, also called a tortoise, is actually the only spirit to be a combination of 2 animals, a snake and a tortoise. It rules over the north. Its colour is black( sometimes depicted as dark blue), element is water, and its season is winter. In earlier legends, he is considered a guide and guardian to the netherworld, of death and of long life.

Thus, to our poor indebted water ghost. He Xuan's name is "xuan", the same! goddamn! character! as the spirit! His title and colour scheme are all to do with the colour black, and he is a water ghost because he died because of the Water Master. He has been marked by death, yet survived and vowed revenge. This, and the fact that his house is called the Nether Water Manor, is probably his relation to the netherworld of the xuanwu.

To the pair of south and north. Both Hua Cheng and He Xuan have suffered and suffered again, yet Hua Cheng chooses to linger on due to hope and love, and He Xuan due to revenge and hatred. But hatred and love are two sides of the same coin. If Hua Cheng hadn't experienced the hatred from his childhood, he wouldn't have thrown himself from the city wall and met Xie Lian. If He Xuan hadn't loved his family, so much, he wouldn't have broken that hard after their deaths to lose himself to hatred and empty vengence.

Aaaaaand that concludes this essay. Keep in mind that this is a theory, and probably even isn't true, but if anybody wants a more detailed description of the guardian spirits, or to know more about the similarities between the mythical creatures of ancient china and tgcf, I will be more than happy to make a part 2.

Thanks for reading!!

[squish--squash]

RAMBLE UNDER CUT (also uh light tgcf novel spoilers just to be safe!)

OKAY so obviously the two characters are from tgcf (tian guan ci fu/heaven official's blessing)!

Idk if you can see my pfp well so here's a larger version of it (it's official art too)

here's a link to the og post btw

Anyways! I guess I should go ahead and say who they are! The one in white is tgcf's main protagonist, Xie Lian; the one in red is tgcf's other protagonist (and love interest), Hua Cheng.

Both of them have different aliases/name tho alsdgh Xie Lian is often called Your Highness, Crown Prince (of Xian Le), Xianle, and gege (Hua Cheng often uses this one) Hua Cheng is often called Crimson Rain Sought Flower (or just Crimson Rain), San Lang (by Xie Lian only), and a couple other names but that would dwell right into major plot spoilers so I won't say ;)

Now you're probably wondering by now just who are these two now, because those names are quite smth, so I will now somewhat explain what they are

Xie Lian, if you haven't gathered by now, is the crown prince of the kingdom Xian Le- or I guess I should say former crown prince because the kingdom fell roughly 800+ years ago by the time the novels begin; he's also a martial arts god (who's been banished twice from the heavens... and is kind of the scrap-collecting god and god of misfortune... uhm)

Hua Cheng, on the other hand, is a ghost. Not just any ghost tho! In tgcf ghosts are ranked into one of four categories: malice, menace, savage, and supreme

Here's a little chart from the fandom wiki:

Anyways Hua Cheng? He's one of the four supreme ghosts in tgcf, and arguably the most powerful one at that!

And now you might be wondering: "why is a literal god and a literal ghost king fraternizing?"

And honestly, great question! I would answer that but then I would have to derail this and start talking about tgcf's plot, so I'll come back to this question later :)

Instead, I'll answer this question: Why am I head over heels for these two? Another great question if I do say so myself haha; I'll answer this in two parts: individually and together as a pair.

Individually- Xie Lian: I about cry every time I think about Xie Lian. He's just.. AAAA!! He's so nice to people who deserve kindness, and isn't afraid to kick the asses of people who deserve that as well. He worked so hard as a mortal to achieve godhood and has a tender, golden heart. He really wanted to help his people even though it was forbidden, and said consequences be damned. He's not perfect either; he has his moments of imperfection, and the novels don't spare us the details about his thoughts and actions during his darkest moments to make sure we know this. However, after going through literal hell and back he still remains to have a good heart and kind nature, and although he was very close to giving up in the past he's always managed to get back up in the end after being knocked down. He's just trying his best and it shows. I love him so much <3 Hua Cheng: This man is the fucking definition of devotion. He was saved as a child and became the most devoted follower anyone has ever seen. You know that meme where it goes "if the world is against ____, then I am against the world"? Literally him. I don't want to spoil too much but god fucking damn it, he was told "If you don’t know how to live anymore, then live for me" and by god he did! That doesn't mean he's one-dimensional, though. He's got some layers to him too. First off, he's badass as fuck (example: fought 33 gods and won). Think Chuck Norris but Actually immortal. He's also a self-taught artist who can sculpt and paint extremely well. While he might not outwardly show it, he does have a kind heart, and has moments of weakness and vulnerability. I love him <3 Together- These two have such a strong chemistry together it's insane. For one they have a long history together, and when I say long I mean long. But that's not even the tip of the iceberg. While the other gods quake in fear of Hua Cheng, Xie Lian looks past the ghostly status and sees someone quite amazing. While the world sees Xie Lian as a joke, Hua Cheng sees the only god worthy of having such a title. They balance each other out (like literally, Xie Lian has the worst luck in existence while Hua Cheng has the best luck ever they literally balance out) and are able to grow as characters because of it, and have seen the best and the worst of each other and still choose each other without question. While neither of them might stand up for themselves if they're being mocked all it takes is a word against the other and they're shutting that person down (see: Hua Cheng putting another ghost's skull through literal feet of stone because he called Xie Lian a fool, and Xie Lian calmly threatening the same ghost later on in the series for insulting Hua Cheng). They have so much respect for each other it's almost sickening. They have so much love, loyalty, and devotion towards each other it's not even funny and it's made me almost cry on many occasions. I LOVE THEM SO FUCKING MUCH!!

Like let me quote some lines from the scene where they meet in the first novel:

"However, the person outside was already a step ahead of him and had already raised the red curtain. The person who came held Xie Lian’s hand, though he didn’t grasp it too tightly, as if he were afraid he would accidentally hurt him."

"Xie Lian’s thoughts took a slight turn before he stumbled slightly. With a startled gasp, he began to fall forward. The person who came immediately placed his hand onto Xie Lian’s back to support him. Thus, he managed to catch him before he fell."

"Even now...waiting for the moment to pounce. However, the person who came only held his hand once more before leading him forward...Xie Lian deliberately walked very slowly. However, unexpectedly, the other person actually cooperated with his pace and walked extremely slowly as well. Every now and then, this person’s other hand would support him and pull him along, as if he was afraid Xie Lian would fall again. Although Xie Lian was extremely vigilant and on guard, when he saw how the other person treated him, he couldn’t help but think, 'If this person really was a bridegroom, he was truly being gentle and considerate to the extreme.'”

DO YOU FUCKING SEE THIS?! HOW FUCKING GENTLE HUA CHENG IS TO HIM!? Of course you'd have to read the actual novels to fully understand how much that scene makes me YELL but just... It's been 800 years and Hua Cheng finally finds Xie Lian again, and treats him so gently despite the fact Xie Lian doesn't recognize him and he knows that. And the tenderness is mutual don't worry. They are just so good to and for each other holy FUCK.

They are the definition of love and it makes my heart so full.

(I have now realized I never talked about the plot but honestly... let's save that for a different post ;) )

waiting for the day someone innocently asks me who are the two characters I keep reblogging fanart of (the same two that are my pfp rn) because I will actually lose my shit and answer that ask with a whole ass college thesis about who they are and the series they're in alskgh /hj