#xie lian's terrible cooking

[marrow-arts]

Yk he snarfed like half of that bowl of Xie Lian's cooking before it hit, too

Hua Cheng is surviving through the immunity of love

[adragonthatwrites]

From what I've observed Xie Lian's 'cooking style' mostly seems to consist of;

"Throw a bunch of shit into the thing, stick it on the heat, put the lid on, and hope it turns into something delicious after an hour or two."

And I realized that while he is terrible at cooking, he might not be half bad at baking.

[allpiesforourown]

So fucking funny that Xie Lian (the former prince of Xianle, war general Hua, the martial god who took down the heavenly emperor) is spending his days being a housewife cooking terrible food and getting creampied. I love that for him. It's what he deserves

[underwaterstrawberries]

I love these! They’re so adorable!

I have important questions about where the mantou came from before I answer though…..

Xie Lian is offering you some mantou! He might've taken a small tumble (don't worry, he's okay), but he assures me that the mantou is just fine, and totally not off of the floor! (They are...)

I usually don't do anything chibi but I just ??? I totally did and I don't regret it (I want to nom on his cheeks he looks so soft and squishy I'M GONNA CRY)

couldn't decide if I like the veil on or off more so uh, have both teehee

⚠⚠ Please do not use my art for PFPs/banners/AI/reposts, thank you!

[sunderwight]

love how the MXTX protagonists have gotten progressively worse at cooking over time

it's like

Shen Yuan: not terrible. his biggest struggle is that he wasn't really culinary before he transmigrated, and since transmigrating he has very little idea of how an ancient kitchen works, so any disasters can mostly be attributed to that. would be perfectly fine making simple dishes in a modern kitchen.

Wei Wuxian: a capable cook, except for when it comes to seasonings. absolutely loses his mind at that point. if you do not hide the chili oil ALL OF IT will be going into the pot. has no ability to moderate spice levels for the preferences of others.

Xie Lian: almost lethally bad. just terrible. completely allergic to following a recipe. only one other person can eat his cooking without suffering and that guy's already dead.

Prediction for Book 4 Protagonist: actively just serves people poison on purpose.

[mdzs-owns-my-ass-i-guess]

One day, Xie Lian cooks his husband a proper meal. A good, edible one, like he hasn't done in hundreds of years.

With the proper spices and ingredients and no crazy tastes and colors.

A warm, tasty meal to share with his San Lang in their cozy shrine one cold autumn evening.

He cries doing it, but he also smiles and laughs and thinks of his mother, of her terrible food, of how he has been trying to keep the memory of her alive in his dishes, trying to find her in every bite.

He thinks of her and then thinks of Hua Cheng and all the love and devotion and loyalty he's given to his now fallen god for over eight centuries now.

And he makes stew. Just stew.

When Hua Cheng comes home and smells the aroma of a good meal wafting through the air and finds Xie Lian smiling through tears sat at the table where there's two bowls of stew awaiting, he just knows.

And he cries with him as they eat whilst the wind howls at the window.

Is this anything.

[hualian]

Realizing Xie Lian got his (bad) cooking skills from his mother - as they were royalty and did not know how to cook, their cooking skills are more cooking ✨️feelings✨️

Realizing that Xie Lian's dishes are all extravagantly named just as his mother named her dishes, and she did so because all dishes in the palace were given a name and just because they're not in a palace and fine dining, why should food naming conventions stop?

Realizing that while Xie Lian's terrible cooking and dish names may be funny, they're also a reflection of his love for his mother and the way he keeps her memory alive.

Beautiful, dark humor at its finest (and most painful)

[stevesnightmares]

I'm sorry but I really don't get how people can be mad at mu qing for leaving xie lian when he did. I'm willing to accept many and varied opinions on the mountain incident (to a degree, even there I have some strong opinions), but when it comes to him asking to leave and then leaving, I just don't get it.

Mu Qing had a mother he had to take care of, a sick and poor mother, how could he spend every second of his life taking care of Xie Lian, Feng Xin, the king and the queen when his only family also needed his help? Who would put anyone else's safety and well being over their own mother's safety and well being? Even if it was your bestest of friends, would you still be able to pick their life over your own mother?

"The King and Queen are his Highness parents but I have my own mother to worry about. She also needs my care. I can't neglect my own mother for the sake of someone else or someone else's parents."

Not only that, but while Xie Lian obviously considered Mu Qing his dear friend, Mu Qing was still his servant and even while the five of them were now all in the same situation and were all poor and hungry, Mu Qing was still the only one who had to take care of all of the chores. They could've divided, could've helped him, but no, even when they had all fallen into poverty, lost their riches and titles, Mu Qing was still treated as everyone's servant. So sure, they were friends who cared for each other, but he was also their servant and who would ever chose their master over their own mother?

"Mu Qing had always been responsible for looking after the money purse, and he had constantly kept track of their finances."

"With Mu Qing gone, they had also lost the one who brought food to the king and queen."

"But he didn’t know how to finish that sentence. Could’ve what? Could’ve had the palace attendants do the washing? Could’ve had Mu Qing do the washing? None of that was possible now."

"Mu Qinghad acted as their personal attendant on their never-ending road to escape, and his duties had included taking care of all personal necessities—including caring for the needs of Xie Lian, the king, and the queen. With him gone, there was no one to attend to all the mundane daily tasks. No one to cook, no one to wash, no one to fold the blankets. The simple days of the past suddenly became difficult."

They were all in a terrible and hard situation and yet Mu Qin still had to be their servant, work with Feng Xin and Xie Lian and then also take of his mother.

In addition to that, Xie Lian and Feng Xing had never been poor before and thus they had a lot more pride than Mu Qing did when it came to making money: we see them starting that fight and losing their money, we see them refusing to become street performers. Mu Qing needs money to feed himself but he also needs money to feed his mother and Xie Lian and Feng Xin weren't willing to do what needed to be done, which left him in a difficult position.

“Another reason is that I feel we’ve become mired in this situation and have very different ideas on how to pull ourselves out. Pardon my honesty, but if we keep going like this, nothing will get better—even in a million years. And so, our paths have diverged.”

Feng Xin being angry at Mu Qing in the past makes sense: not only is he loyal to a fault and always seems to put Xie Lian first but he also seems to often see the worst in Mu Qing, so it makes sense that he would chalk it up to Mu Qing being a leech who stood by Xie Lian side only when things were good because he wanted to reap the benefits of being Xie Lian's friends but leaveing once there were no more benefits. But readers know that's not what happened or what was going on in Mu Qing head because he straight up said the reason why he left, and while Feng Xin might not believe him, I don't see why fans wouldn't either when we've seen him care from his mother from the beginning.

“Your Highness, you hear that? Remember what I said back then? I said that he’d be the first to run off if you were ever banished. Didn’t I tell you?”

“Well, don’t you have a load of sour, veiled excuses? I don’t give a damn,” Feng Xin said. “Is it so hard to admit you’re an ungrateful traitor?”

“Goddammit. That bastard was happy to share the wealth but not the suffering. He ran away the moment things got tough. Does he remember nothing of your kindness?!” “I’m the one who told him not to remember it,” Xie Lian said. “So…you don’t need to bring it up constantly.” “But he couldn’t possibly forget it for real?!” Feng Xin refuted.

And even Xie Lian almost seems to think that the only reason Mu Qing left is because things just got too bad and Mu Qing didn't want to stay with him because it was just too hard instrad of thinking about Mu Qing situation.

He never expected someone so close to him to leave just like that. Xie Lian had always believed in “forever”—friends would always be friends forever, with no betrayal, no deception, no breaking up. Perhaps there would come a time when they had to part, but it wouldn’t be for a reason like “things got too horrible.”

Of course I don't blame Xie Lian for being a little "self centered" after everything the poor boy had to go through, after everything he had to endure, everything he had to lose (including faith in himself). My point isn't about Xie Lian, who had to endure more than he could handle and now he also had to lose one of the people that he considered his closest friends while being at his (at the time) lowest, but simply about some posts that I saw about Mu Qing leaving that I didn't agree with. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion of course, this is simply mine.

[darlingpwease]

𝐥𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠

𔓘 unhealthy behaviour (obsessiveness, possessiveness, clinginess, kidnapping, dependence), dommale elements, pet names ("gege"), dark au, mention of nesting & heat, mention of sex (heavy petting), mention of killing; reader x xie lian, omega!xie lian

ᥫ᭡ You didn't know how long you had been living in this small, cute house with Gege — and where you lived before you met your Gege, who loved white clothes, cooked poorly, smiled like the midday sun, never cried and was not at all the omega who could have anyone but you. Not only because he said that he didn't even have plans to have anyone other than you in his life, but because you saw that Gege wasn't looking for anyone, didn't hold his eyes on anyone; even if he was gentle to children and if he ever wanted to have a puppy, it was clearly that he wasn't going to get an alpha for this — you understood perfectly well why.

Although you haven't self-presented yet and weren't going to guess what your role in gender society would be, you understood that he would only be with you. That you will definitely grow up, get married and will have a lot of happy and married days.

You can't not. He's your Gege, after all.

ᥫ᭡ Your Gege smelled richly tender and a little like blood, a completely incongruous fragrance, — but you've never smelled anyone expect him for more than five minutes, so you didn't know how normal it was. Something in your head is throbbing with the obsessive thought that he smells wrong, he should smell wrong, he smelled completely different before, but you have nothing to oppose — you don't remember that his smell was different, but you know it.

According to Gege, you smelled like milk and his favorite food "even when he was like you," but you always brushed him off; even with your little socialization, you know that people can't smell like a 'specific food', and he only teases you without malice, as he loves to do, affectionately saying that you look 'like a little steamed bun' or peeking at what you're cooking, purring and squinting when you tell him to leave the kitchen.

You know that he can — is able — to cook well (after all, you somehow survived before you were old enough to cook yourself), but for some reason his food looks terrible all the time, and you can't name the reason, but can feel it in your heart. At least he can do physical work like fixing a house or a fence — and you want to say that you didn't decide to live with him just to be a servant, but you can't say this with certainty. You don't remember why you decided to live with Gege — it seems you've always lived with him.

Maybe you were with Gege from the very beginning?

ᥫ᭡ Your Gege is tall, flexible as a vine and his hair is so long that you could get tangled in it. His skin is soft and pleasant, even if his palms are slightly rough, and his pretty, scarlet lips, like cherry blossoms or drops of blood (maybe that's why he smells like blood?), look like a brushstroke that was left because of how adorable he looked on a beautiful, handsome face. Your Gege looked the way anyone would want to look, no matter if it's omega, beta or alpha. Your Gege has slender long legs, moderately broad shoulders, black peach eyes and a thin waist, and even if he gently teases that you will grow up to be even more rare magnificent, you know that the charm of your Gege makes even flowers be ashamed of their imperfections. If Gege wanted to, he could ascend and become the god of flowers — you are not sure if this is how it works, but if heaven did not give such beauty to someone great, then they are definitely blind. Your Gege laughs gently and says that 'Heaven has already given him the best gift', and if it were necessary, he would give everything, but not this "jewel", — and you understand who he means, but pretend that you don't. In the end, you know that you have no one but him, just as he has no one but you.

But he doesn't need to say it — even if he looks like a bunny, you know he's a cunning predator, like a weasel or a ferret. However, even in spite of his nature, you know that he cares about you, and probably cared even before you came, when you remember how you first saw your house — a memory from which your memory begins.

Everything around is like a perfectly modeled paradise for you — living in a comfortable, small house, with a beloved, gentle Gege, with trips to the city from time to time and the opportunity to do anything, since people don't go that far, while if you want to see more, then your Gege is always ready to get up and to follow you. It's like a flower garden in which you were the most luxurious and beloved, the only flower, while your Gege was a gardener who adored you to such an extent that he would do anything to make you bloom.

You want to tell Gege that he is the most charming for you, but he already knows it. After all, you haven't seen anyone for so long and often to tell if there is someone better. But something tells you that this is absolutely impossible — as if he was an absolute that others dare only look up to. If he called himself beauty number two, no one would be able to call themselves beauty number one. Gege says — with complete confidence, almost doom, with a sparkle in his matte black eyes, — that if he calls himself "handsome", then his face will burn with shame of brazen falsehood at the sight of you.

That is why, — he whispers, kissing the top of your head, as if cradling when you hide face in his chest, — the most beautiful things should be hidden.

You don't quite understand "why", but react to gentle purring, letting yourself be hidden in his clothes, smelling of him. even if the sleeping place is hard, Hege is soft and a little warm, and when you are in his hands, you feel as if the whole world is holding you, although he only gently purrs that you are his "whole world".

Just in case, you whisper that he is also your jewel and prettiest flower.

ᥫ᭡ Gege smells sticky, sweet, tender; his hair is wet and tangled, and even his scarlet lips look even brighter and more beautiful, as if soaked in blood, with a slight mist of blush on his cheeks, while his peach black eyes are like an abyss into which no one can help falling, seeing him so tender, so sensual, so... tempting. You can't — at least not now — be able to respond to courtship, not when the smell of milk is still subtly enveloping your body, but Gege doesn't mind at all, hoarsely whispering in the semi-darkness of the small, sweet house that everything is fine as long as you are around, don't go anywhere without him.

You will never you dare, of course, but when you bring him jugs of water, feeling the heat of his flexible soft body, you feel at home. His nest is elegant, not very full of soft things, but it "always has the most necessary" — you.

Even when his skin is so hot, like an oven, you feel so calm and good in his arms, burying your nose, as if hiding from the whole world. Gege's hands are gentle, with palms slightly roughened from frequent work, and you only purr that you have the best Gege in the world, your omega is the best, while he buries his nose in your hair, cooing inaudibly, pressing you to his flexible, wet body, but not at all to the "thirsty" or "in need of an alpha", as you have sometimes heard about omega leaks somewhere on the street — Gege is ruddy, bright-smelling, beautiful, but so homely and... ordinary, only becoming even more clingy and unwilling to leave the nest, and this is the only time when you do not go and leave offerings in front of a small temple for the "dear deity who guards this place."

You hope that the deity will not be too offended, looking at how your usually gentle and calm Gege whines that "you are too cruel" when you have to come out of his nest and bring water and light snacks, because you are an ordinary person and because everything inside the nest smells so much of him that you are afraid not to will he die of dehydration. You don't know how to handle omegas, but you are sure that "as long as Gege is good, everything is right". Gege only purrs that he only needs you to make him feel good when his long, elegant, eternally cold fingers cling to your clothes, looking at you with the gaze of a sad bunny, but your decision is unchanged.

You still bring some gifts to the deity, fearing that your Gege has messed up something again and you should at least remind from time to time that you are grateful to this deity and appreciate their protection.

And when you leave, you definitely feel better.

ᥫ᭡ The smell of Gege is thicker, richer, brighter, bloodily bright when blood flows from his elegant, white, long fingers — fortunately, not his, but even if it were his, you would take care of the wound and would stay on his chest before he wakes up.

You would a little like it to be his blood, because sometimes your Gege is so perfect that you want a little more human qualities from him,

especially when he gives you a gentle, adoring smile again, and his lips are even brighter than even the blood of the body lying on the rain-smelling, dark grass someone. This happens sometimes — even though you live in the forest, it only means that there are even more predators here. Gege gently purrs that you both should not go to the city for perhaps another month — who knows where else these creatures are hiding? it's not safe — and it's not that you're disappointed, having already bought everything you need... but you know that your Gege is doing it for you.

Every year there are more and more of them, like weeds in the garden, but Gege only gently tells you not to think about it, although you more than clearly see that the older you get and more often appears in cities and villages, the more of them. Gege sometimes allows you to go for things yourself to the nearest village, where not only passing merchants often stop, since the village is conveniently located with a road leading to the center, but also other rabble, and you can more than connect the point "they see me" and the point "they began to appear more often in our part of the forest." However, Gege, although omega, is not like ordinary omega at all — he always hides the bodies himself, although never comes back full or with meat, so you prefer to think that he feeds other beasts or does something else. You don't really want to know.

In the village, you heard about a case where omega endured violence from his spouse for a long time and eventually scratched out their eyes and chewed their throats, and whatever Gege did with the body, you just hope that it won't affect you. Of course, you do not commit violence against him, but your future spouse is not an "ordinary" omega, who can only endure until he explodes. Of course, you have never seen him explode, but you are sure that this will not be normal, and he will certainly commit one or two particularly serious crimes, which are whispered about from time to time in cities — you do not quite understand what it is, but you are sure that it will not be very good. Just in case, you regularly bring him flowers and cook food much better — Gege seems to think it's a little silly, but very cute, and hides head in your neck, purring that whoever you turn out to be, he will become your omega husband.

You are not self-presented in any way, although you no longer smell of milk and have definitely grown up, even matured rather, and Gege now puts his head on your chest, unlike how he hid you on his chest, like a parent hides his cub from danger. However, he continues to bring crowns of flowers and gently pulls your name, depending on how you take care of the household, still much better than him. Of course, he also contributes to your small household with a vegetable garden and a plan to build at least a chicken coop, but still prefers to spread out on the wooden hem, looking on how you work, and you can't blame him, seeing his happy face, like he's a pet that's been petted and is now resting.

(purrs plaintively when your hands slide over his chest, but you only coo him to relax when another flower appears on delicate neck, too contrasting with the color of his skin, just like the one that appears a little lower, then to the right, a small inflorescence on stomach, small bouquets on sides, scarlet spots on wet slippery trembling thighs, an ecstatic squeak when your lips descend lower, and his legs try to hide, but you only squeeze his knee tightly — and let him squirm while his legs wrap around your head, draining him even before the start to ease his desperate need and hunger.)

Perhaps you spoil omega too much, who has not even become your husband yet, but for some reason you always want to pamper him, as long as you remember yourself.

Perhaps you are just a good spouse from birth, huh?

cw blood, amnesia, poly relationship

ᥫ᭡ Red flowers always grow around little house. You often bring them to the deity, thanking for protection; the deity never responds, but you are still calmer and happier, as if the very knowledge that someone is guarding you inspires you — just like the sight of red flowers, almost as scarlet as the lips of Xie Lian, your mate, who picks up garbage, likes to dig in the garden and builds a chicken coop where you can then put the chicks, and also repairs the fence and the house, purring that he should prepare if you turn out to be a non-beta. You don't think that you will turn out to be a non-beta, but don't say anything, gently rubbing Xie Lian's back and not resisting when he offers to massage your, enveloping you with a gentle, slightly mettalic scent that has already become your favorite and so native that you can't imagine that there was a more attractive fragrance in the world.

The stranger in red smells of sweet datura — a fragrance that is so rich and bright that it could be used for demonic dual cultivation, but it envelops you so naturally, as if it is focused only on you. He has shiny black eyes, as if absorbing any sunlight that gets into them, and a carelessly woven black braid with a thin scarlet ribbon, the look of which is too familiar, but you don't understand why — and you haven't been so stupid and naive for a long time to say things like "I probably saw it somewhere on the market", because the way it is cut and decorated is too reminiscent of your way. His skin is white, too white for a person in any state of health except death, but his lips are peach-colored, curved in a mischievous smile with a hint of tenderness.

You don't see the point in asking if you know each other when the cheekily sweet fragrance becomes brighter at his playful approach, although you see how his body trembles slightly.

San Lang. My name, — if Xie Lian's smile is like the sun, then he rather resembles the devil, with this gentle youthful aura and the sparkles of the imp in his eyes, — but I'm much more interested in yours.

And before you have time to answer, he continues, trembling slightly, with pent-up delight, looking at you as a deity, although a devilish smile does not leave his thin, gently peach lips:

Let me guess, though.

Xie Lian, your sweet, gentle omega, has always told you that no one but him knows about you, — jewelry should be kept from others, — but in San Lang's eyes, a veil of pure adoration shimmers like black pearls in the light, especially when he tilts his head, and the familiar-looking earring gently follows this movement, caressing unnaturally white skin, like a drop of blood — the same as Xie Lian's bright scarlet lips.

I'm sorry; did I scare you? I just live in the city, — the son of a merchant family, — so I often saw you. Don't you remember me? You often come to our store.

Do you?

We could take a walk before my family starts looking for me, right? After all, I don't bite, so you have nothing to be afraid of, right?

Despite all the playfulness, you hear nervousness, and you can't find the strength to refuse, knowing that Xie Lian knows about your possible long absence and is probably busy outside the house right now. Maybe you just inhaled too much of its smell, leaving a taste in your mouth, and maybe it just seems to you when you feel the familiar bloody notes of fragrance through the sweet dope. Maybe it just seems to you that omega is too passionate about you and trusting even for someone who left the city for the first time and ended up in the forest, and is too playful, even if unmarried and not marked by anyone. You're not sure how normal it is when an omega tries so desperately to snuggle up and purrs something, more just keeping up a conversation than trying to develop it, enjoying your company the way a fish inhales oxygen in water after a long stay on land.

You're not stupid, though. Perhaps you are not very experienced, but you are not stupid, especially when he looks at you as a deity, and his gaze is too reminiscent of Xie Lian's gaze when he thinks that you do not see, not taking his unblinking eyes off you, as if afraid that if he does not see you and you do not give voice then you will disappear, go away like the morning mist.

And the fact that Xie Lian does not grow up; and the fact that you do not remember anything before coming to your "home"; and how you and he bring offerings to an unknown deity; and how white San Lang's skin is, but his gaze burns harder than a burnt hand that you have never burned in your memories.

The small child who fell from the wall; royal colors, like a kaleidoscope, with a sunny smile and a sword made of peach wood; clothes so bright that it's almost uncomfortable, but as long as he's around, everything is fine. Two faces, like a blurred image in a puddle. You don't remember anything before you were brought in and told that he's your family now, and you're not sure you want to know. Maybe there are things you don't need to know.

A small child. Red eye. Blood. A lot of blood.

The little lump on your chest, not understanding what's wrong with you, but trying to do everything.

When blood flows from your body, it doesn't hurt that much.

San Lang's lips taste like ripe cherries.

I don't think Xie Lian will mind.

You think that the omega story may have been more true and probable than you thought.

Perhaps you should find more flowers.

Oh, are you picking flowers for him again? Can I help?

For some reason, now you understand where the bodies went, who defended territory and why scarlet flowers bloomed around everything.

I don't know what you're talking about, my darling.

[duohensheng]

holding on to the silly billies by my fingernails (finished book 4. it’s fine). in their honour, a brief compilation of silliest moments so far, in no particular order.

- the rolling around on the floor making out is about spiritual power (I)

- the rolling around on the floor making out is about spiritual power (II: all night edition)

- xie lian stays accidentally accumulating favours from his terrifying totally not smitten definitely-not-boyfriend. exhibit a: skeleton carriage ft music, At Your Service

- who in the world could hua cheng possibly be in love with? 🤔🤯🫣😮‍💨🧐

- incorruptible chastity meatballs

- love for all seasons stew

- (he names his terrible dishes elaborate things. this is what he does in his spare time.)

- both of the above somehow becoming crucial plot points. acknowledged in-world as ridiculous by all except totally nonchalant hc

- hua cheng knocked off balance by (checks notes) seeing sleepy xie lian waking up. things that made me look up from the book and say “bro.” out loud

- the spiritual weapons only want xl to love them and pet them. yes all of them. yes literally

- Gege, Let’s Get Married

- there was —I can’t stress this enough— Only One Coffin, and it was Too Narrow. (yes they built it themselves. what’s your point)

- hua cheng can’t write. except when he can, it’s the poem about enduring love. and really he just wants xl to Hold His Hand about it

- hc as lang ying. everything about it. wdym he can eat xl’s cooking without missing a beat. he’s dragging asleep gods around so no one can look at xl bathing, himself included. he’s glaring at people sitting in his spot. he’s curling up to xl on that carriage again. he’s telling xl he’s the handsomest of all the creatures with a straight face. he’s trying to sell himself as attractive and interesting and trying to finangle an invite back to the shrine. he’s doing chores against xl’s will.

- everything about the fucking communication array group chats. ooooohhhh they have each others’ secret passwoooooord shut up.

[scaredpigeons]

So I’m making a late dinner, and I shredded up some potatoes to cook in a pan so I can slap some fried eggs overtop and call it a meal. But because I didn’t skin them, and didn’t wring the moisture from them, they turned a little (a lot) grey and sad looking.

And I was like “wow, these look terrible.”

And then immediately after I went

“Xie Lian would think they’re lovely, and in turn, so would Hua Cheng.”

And now I feel better

[user-needs-new-hyperfixation]

something that's been tickling my brain for the last couple of days and kind of bugging me is that seemingly from the extras (Xie Lian being powerless against the amnesia monster etc), breaking his cultivation really DID sap Xie Lian's power.

Like. Okay. So Xie Lian spends the bulk of the story with his power shackled, reliant on borrowing it from other people when he needs it. And then there's this huge pivotal moment when he is freed from those shackles by Hua Cheng's sacrifice, freed by love to be empowered and fight his own battle, etc etc it's very beautiful. And then Hua Cheng comes back and they get married and the consummation of that same love that freed him strips him of his power and puts him right back to having to borrow it?!?! (albeit sexily😆) As much as I love this story, I'm having a hard time being satisfied by that.

My instinct is to want something like this: We know that in this universe the beliefs of the worshipers have at least some impact on the gods they worship. Xie Lian hasn't had worshipers besides Hua Cheng in centuries. And the new followers he's slowly gaining worship him as he is, not as he once was. They're barely aware of him as a prince, or of Xianle at all. They don't know or care what his cultivation path was. They just know that he was with them in Banyue Pass and Mount Yujun and so on; that he faced the serpents fearlessly and that he fought off the ghost brides and that he is kind and compassionate and brave and also clumsy and a terrible cook. They know him helping in the fields outside Puqi Shrine with a handsome lad in tow. And so when he breaks his vows to seal new ones, Xie Lian expects to lose his power. But when he reaches tentatively for it afterwards, he finds it all still there. Because no one needs him to be a virgin anymore. No one needs him to be free from anger or competitiveness or sorrow or love. No one needs him to push aside every human impulse and desire and emotion. The worship of those who love him -- and most especially of the One who loves him most -- frees him to be the god he is, and to have power as he is.

Anyway. This isn't necessarily a critique so much as a question...am I missing something? Because I very much like MXTX's writing and it's generally very intentional so that's entirely possible. Is the way I would like just too obvious? Too happy an ending with no downsides? Is there some narrative theme I'm not quite grasping? I would love to hear (kindly voiced 😅) opinions!

[cn-alastair-lite]

there's one thing that has always confused me in the tgcf fandom... in many post-canon fics and art, xie lian is still described as absolutely terrible at cooking, even though the luck-dispersing punishment collar is gone?? and i remember that in the books, during the exile, he actually cooked something decent once! i think it would be much funnier if everyone braced themselves for something inedible, just to have the man make something pretty good for the first time in 800 years. i don't remember the last half of book 8 and didn't read the extras so if this matter is touched upon there, i apologize LOL

[letteredlettered]

Everyone can do anything they want! But I guess it makes me a little sad that a contingent of fandom really wants spoiled!prince!Xie Lian. Like if it's an amnesia fic or time travel, I get it. But people really want Xie Lian, scrap collector for 800 years, to be judgy about fashion, to find pillows that aren't silk too rough for his royal head; they really want him to have a singular eye for jewels and art; they want him to have singular palate even though a large point is made that his cooking terrible and he doesn't quite know it; they want him to be snooty and a little particular and just a little arrogant.

And that's so completely the opposite of who Xie Lian is by the end of the book that I find it weird to read in fic.

[friedwizardwhispers]

Look, it's Xie Lian's inner troll coming out, I love him. This is the guy who will prank you with his terrible cooking.

Also they are just mean, so go off Xie Lian.