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#NO SERIOUSLY WHY IS XIE LIAN SO CUTE IN THIS

princessofxianle · 4 months

Note

Do you mind if I ask your top 10 favorite characters (can be male or female) from all of the media that you loved (can be anime/manga, books, movies or tv series)? And why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this question before.....Thanks...

well THANK YOU for asking, you are the first to!

tbh ive been meaning to do this on my main blog bc I take these wayyy too seriously lol but ANYWAY heres my top 10 faves (in no particular order) that I can think of (tbh theres prob more i forgot about, or i wanted to keep only 1 per fandom... except tgcf)

Huge Spoiler Warning: for ALL of tgcf, 2ha, aot, AND JJK MANGA!!!

1. Feng Xin (tgcf)

do i even need to explain this one? loyal to a fault, just a cute lil puppy, one hell of a sculpted archers back, and he's head over heels in love with Xie Lian (but tbh same) i have a lot of thoughts about him on a daily basis on this blog (and also theres the #fx backstory au tag)

2. Noé Archiviste (the Case Study of Vanitas)

MY BABY

the absolute bestest boy of EVER... with a LOAD of unprocessed trauma (yknow the typical stuff like seeing your childhood bff get decapitated in front of you) and a lot more to come once we find out how he kills his boyfriend best friend, Vanitas...

i ALSO think about him a lot but over on @noes-pillow

3. Sejanus Plinth (The Hunger Games: tbosas)

hated reading as a child... HATED it... picked up the og trilogy when i was 12 and i was a goner. The funny thing is i still hated reading for YEARS up until i picked up the prequel novel then in 2020, and now ive read all of tgcf, 2ha, and more fanfic than i could ever imagine... all because this stupid boy (i love him) chose to trust the WORST person as his friend, rip sejanus my baby

the movie is v good btw, if you havent seen it you should

4. Xie Lian (tgcf)

*Taizi Dianxia Fang Xin Guoshi General Hua Xie Lian*

how this man survived 800 years of being physically unable to die and never went insane is a mystery i will never be able to fully comprehend (aaand im in love with him... hmm i wonder why...)

5. Mihael "Mello" Keehl (Death Note)

the chocolate-addicted blonde boi that was my first anime crush... by proxy I must also add Mail "Matt" Jeevas because they are a package deal

these two are also the reason i started writing fanfic so they will ALWAYS hold a special place in my heart

6. Xue Meng - (2ha)

*sigh* he's just everyone's fav peacock (yes technically the image is XM 0.5 but he had a cool ass bird so im using this photo bc its COOL anyway...) mengmeng is another one of my trauma bois who has lost next to everything and yet is STILL kicking ass and taking names #thatsmyfuckingsectleader so proud of you my son

also this might get me into hot water here but imma go ahead and say it...

this is what i wanted Jiang Cheng to be... (i LOVE my angy grape but...) through thick and thin, despite EVERYTHING, and even mo ran fucking abandoning him he will still call mo ran his "ge"...

fgjhdfhfdg THEYRE BROTHERS, OKAY???

7. Howl Pendragon (Howl's Moving Castle)

ok this one i just simply do not need to explain... if you think i do, go watch this whole movie and then there ya go thats your answer...

GENDER

8. River Song (Doctor Who)

aside from being the character that unlocked my unhealthy obsession with :) Main Character Death :) at the ripe ol' age of 8 YEARS (although Will Turner from POTC also helped on that front... Orlando Bloom my beloved) River's story was a stroke of absolute GENIUS from start to finish and i simply love how Alex Kingston played her...

"You don't expect a sunset to admire you back."

I just love the doomed ones, okay...

9. Satoru Gojo (Jujutsu Kaisen)

look... theres *gojo girlies* uwu and then theres GOJO GIRLIES... i couldn't give 2 shits about how he's fan-serviced (tho im not complaining) but have you SEEN the amount of grief pumped into that man? he could explode in a fit of fucking insanity at literally any moment and take the whole goddamn world down with him bc what happened with suguru WASNT FAIR to him and satoru has more than enough power to go apeshit... but he DOESN'T... even after losing so many of his co-sorcerers... he still puts on a brave face to the end in order to protect the childhood of his students even tho his own youth was stolen from him during hidden inventory...

SEE? The DOOMED ones!

10. Levi Ackerman (Attack on Titan)

i read the manga during my last year of uni and when i tell you i SOBBED at the end... yes ofc for obvious reasons, but mostly bc my little Levi loses EVERYTHING. He is the SOLE survivor of the veteran scouts. He's missing multiple fingers, an eye, and the ability to walk. He was the strongest (yowaimo) but wasn't even granted the mercy to die at the end of his narrative! Broke my fucking heart.

BONUS: Morph (Treasure Planet)

he's a morph!!! nuff said <3

fin

#thanks for the ask friend!#gonna rb this to my main too bc i needed a new one of these #alex talks #asks #i swear im gonna wake up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night remembering a character i forgot lol oh well i tried

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ilikeshitposting · 5 months

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omg my first ask 😭

tysm anon!! so my list of favorite characters is.. very inconsistent, depending on whatever I'm obsessed with at the moment, but for now here it is:

xie lian from tgcf: loser. god. insecure. super cute <3

geto: I'm literally the embodiment of the "what murder?" meme 💀 though i completely disagree with everything geto does and thinks, i still like the fact that he was so full of love and life in hs :")

yor: any explanation needed? she is my wife (loid WILL share her w/me)

attorney woo: I LOVE HER SO MUCH!! she is literally my life i will protect her with everything i have

jun-ho: i love him so much, he's soo sweet (i just love kth in general :') ) [i also love waymond from everything everywhere all at once for similar reasons]

yuki from jjk: please step on me immediately

wei wuxian/ mo xuanyu: as a fellow "homosexual lunatic" myself it is my duty to love them with all my heart [he's seriously so fun and unhinged lol (also I'm really sorry if 'homosexual lunatic' is offensive contextually, please lmk!)]

lan zhan: he's so cute szkszkzkzkk

fukuzawa bsd: i love him

yosano-sensei bsd: i love her so much 🦋

honorable mention: wind master from tgcf, i am CRAZY for them <3

and that's it, my super unhinged description of my (current) favorite characters; have a good day anon!!

#please no spoilers for tgcf 😭 i haven't read the noveks yet and just wanna watch the series in peace #ask

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absolutebl · 2 years

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Favorite couples with a D/s dynamic? And I mean specifically D/s, not switchy or anything else. Just one sided permanent power exchange.

10 Favorite BL Couples with a Strong D/s Dynamic

ooo, you with the challenges. Okay, let's do this thing! In no particular order and in defiance of how good the actual BL itself was, in the end.

1. Lian & Kuea (Cutie Pie)

Of course they top the list. As I type this their show isn’t done, but it’s safe to say it at least ends happily so... yeah.

Kink style? Indulgent Daddy/naughty boy

2. Yi & KD (Cutie Pie side dishes)

Their dynamic isn’t my personal favorite but I think MaxNat give great D/s and always have done since they first appeared in Why R U?

Kink style? Stern Daddy/pleaser

3. Yuan Zong & Xia Yao (Advance Bravely)

Once upon a time China was kinky too. Sigh. Anygay, these two had such potential. Bummer it never went anywhere.

Kink style? Overprotective Daddy/spoiled prince (censored)

4. Xie Yan & Shu Nian (Irresistible Love 1 & 2)

Speaking of China, this is a perfectly executed whipping boy trope but you gotta be a least a little kinky to like that one at all, I think, since it’s hella warped to start with. Be warned there are two endings out there and only one of them is at all happy.

Kink style? Spoiled Dom/whipping boy (unhealthy, triggers)

5. Hira & Kiyoi (Utsukushii Kare)

While we are on the subject of whipping boy, let’s get My Beautiful Man out the way, shall we? This one makes absolutely no bones about anything but being messed up and kinky af and we love Japan for it.

Kink style? Worshipful Dom/spoiled prince

6. Gii & Takumi (the Takumi-Kun series)

What to stay about the start of it all? In stark contrast to above, Japan had no idea what it was doing with these characters (but to be fair, neither did the source material). It’s a seriously not good example of D/s (in a genre that specializes in such) but it is certainly D/s.

Kink style? Stern Dom/broken sub (unhealthy, triggers)

7. TaeSung & HaeBom (Cherry Blossoms After Winter)

Perhaps not the kinkiest on this list but I wanted to include something from Korea. Also, it’s unfinished as I write this, so not sure how they’ll end up. They’re very soft for true D/s but it’s such a strong seme/uke that I think we can call this one for kinkdom.

Kink style? Caring Dom/service sub

8. Jin Teng & Yi Chen (HIStory Obsessed)

Such a traditional dynamic with such a nice twist. Jin Teng is nothing but dominant, but he is thrown for a loop when the submissive he instinctively knows is meant to be HIS keeps resisting him. I like it when a Dom has to work against type.

Kink Style? Spoiled Dom/worshipper sub

9. Jack & Zhao (HIStory 3 Trapped side dishes)

Another gentler one, but so cute because of the personalities, and a kind of couple only Taiwan can give us (since it requires the uke to be sexually actualized).

Kink style? Indulgent Daddy/needy boy

10. LeoFiat (Don’t Say No)

Perhaps one of the first to be openly self conscious about its kink dynamic, unfortunately that means I’m less forgiving about them getting stuff wrong. But hey at least it was open about it?

Kink style? Reluctant Dom/brat

You’ll notice there’s not a ton from Thailand, that’s because while they do strong Seme/uke all the time they don’t really seem to focus on the D/s side of the equation. They do have it all the time, but soft, since this is you, queen, I assumed you wanted the harder more explicit stuff.

(source)

This post dated April 2022, not responsible for fabulous hot D/s dynamics that have popped up after this date. (I’m looking at YOU KinnPorsche.)

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hualian-fic-recs · 2 years

Photo

you who swallowed a falling star

by grapesoda

Teen / 26k / mild spoilers: reaveals the identity of He Xuan and Qi Rong and how E’Ming was made

Summary

“And who is this?”

“Your new housekeeper.” Xie Lian cut in before Ban Yue could speak. “If you’ll have me.”

“I wondered why it was so bright in here.” The man grinned. Then his face fell into seriousness, or perhaps the mockery of it. “But you must know who I am?”

Xie Lian nodded.

“Aren’t you worried?” The man stepped closer to the table. “That I’ll eat your heart?”

Ban Yue huffed.

“I didn’t think Crimson Rain Sought Flower would be interested in my withered old heart,” Xie Lian responded.

A curse turns Xie Lian into an old man. He seeks out Crimson Rain Sought Flower, the heart-eating demon who lives in a moving castle, to help him.

( a Howl's Moving Castle AU )

My take

I love Howl’s Moving Castle and I think Hualian fit the plot really well. Ban Yue is super cute in this fic. Hua Cheng’s shifting appearance and Xie Lian aging and de-aging from the curse is done really well. Hua Cheng’s devotion to Xie Lian builds up nicely and just shines through. If you liked Howl you’ll love this.

Tags

Howl’s Moving Castle AU, getting together, love confessions, light angst, once again using the light angst tag, romance, ban yue as markl, hua cheng as howl, xie lian as sophie, and eming as calcifer

#hualian #hualianficrec #hua cheng #xie lian #ban yue #tgcf #heaven official's blessing #fanfiction #howl's moving castle

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crowning-art · 2 years

Text

TGCF SPOILERS FOR BOOK 3

---------------------------------------

OMg hold up, hold up, THAT MAKES SO MUCH SENSE

I knew Shi Wudu was blackmailed!!!!

I got so sad when Shi Qingxuan rejected the spiritual fan, YOu dont want fan???/

Xie Lian was as per usual, just sooo adorable

Xie Lian watched as his entire person rolled around the bed, sometimes curled into a shrimp, sometimes straightened like a steel board, struggling with great trouble trying to break free, and Xie Lian softly cheered him on.

“Keep going, My Lord!"

When they discovered that Shi Qingxuan had no spiritual power and thought he was banished I was like WHAT?!?!?! nfeowfjneoifn

Xie Lian being adorable count: 2 (actually, there was like a million other cute moments but my top cute moments from these few chaps)

Once he heard the explanation, Xie Lian couldn’t help but wonder: if he wanted his Puqi Shrine to be renovated, maybe he should pray to the Earth Master too?

lmao this was hilarious

“Who the hell is dilly-dallying? It’s not even the hour for sleeping! And what heavenly official needs to sleep? Is it the bathroom above our heads or what?

.....

It was pure instinct. When it came to killing aura, he was trained to the point of being able to react without thinking.

UUhhhh why? Did uhh.. smt happen to Xie Lian that forced him to train his senses or was this just another martial god training? I really hope it's the latter....

I know Pei Ming is all like being antagonistic and stuff but I literally just CAN'T take him seriously

Ok this was hilarious lol

Quan Yizhen was still bashing at Pei Ming wildly, his moves viciously aggressive without method. If it wasn’t for Pei Ming’s own skills, if it was anyone else who was taking this beating, their heads would’ve been covered in blood by now.

Like I imgined him just hitting Pei Ming with like a spoon or a book or smt, but also, who is Quan Yizhen again? I feel like he was mentioned before?? Am I missing smt? If it's spoilers for later plz don't say, but if he appeared previously plz tell me cuz I forgot

I-

Xie Lian had already tossed out the dice, opened the door, and charged out. He shut the door behind him, slipping the heck out of heaven. However, what he had never expected was after he closed the door and turned around, what appeared before him was a Hua Cheng with one leg up, stepping on a new donation box. His upper body was bare, and he was wiping at his sweat.

AND EVERYONE'S REACTION TO THAT WAS PRICELESS, ESPECIALLU SHI QINGXUAN AND FLUSTERED XIE LIAN

Watching him look all nonchalant and languid, Shi Qingxuan said awkwardly, “Um, sorry for the intrusion. I didn’t think you guys…hahaha, you two are pretty much, hahaha. Anyway, just, hahaha.”

OK!!! EVERYTHING MAKES SENSE!!!! Shi Wudu did all that switching with Scholar He to protect his lil bro. Poor guy, but also poor Shi Qingxuan. Does that mean Shi Qingxuan took out all his spiritual energy? Since he knew he didn't rightfully ascend? is that even possible? Unless he lost it in some other way.... If the question isn't answered in the next few chaps, I'll go back to it again, also Xie Lian has extremely low (borderline non existent) spiritual energy. If he's currently ascended, why is it so low? CUZ he was banished??? I feel like I'm missing an important part of the spiritual energy lore lol. Can someone explain it to my confused self (unless it's spoilers then plz don't say)

And I guess there is still the Reverand that must be dealt with too, huh

Veeeryyyy interesting

#tgcf spoilers #tgcf #heaven's official blessing spoilers #heaven's official blessing #xie lian #hua cheng #hualian #shi qingxuan #shi wudu #tgcf journey #ch 115-116 #tian guan ci fu

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rainbowsky · 3 years

Text

TGCF - Review

Initial thoughts: "OMFG I'M ACTUALLY DONE READING IT!!!" I feel like I was just released after serving a long prison term.

But seriously, folks, I'm done reading TGCF and as promised, here's my review (actually, I finished reading it a few weeks ago but I wanted to digest it for a while before I wrote this).

Standard disclaimer: This is my opinion, and we're all entitled to that.

Spoiler-free Section

It was an interesting, very creative story. If you decide to read it, be prepared for a SLOG and some very frustrating rambling and meandering, but it is worth the effort it takes to get through it. You're simply not going to find a story quite like this anywhere else. The emotional range, the unique and often flawed characters, the humor and excitement, the incredible modes of transportation...

I would compare reading this book to getting full sleeves from one of the world's top tattooers. Incredibly painful at times, long and draining, with moments when you aren't sure you're going to make it through, but in the end you'll have experienced something that will stick with you forever, and you'll be able to reflect back on the amazing artistry of someone with jaw-dropping talent.

Spoilers under the cut.

Spoiler Section

My favorite things

Overall I have to say, I can totally understand why people are so hyped about this book. It's incredibly creative, adventurous, sweet, funny and energetic, and has some beautiful emotional depth as well. The amazing range of fascinating characters is breathtaking.

I was a bit surprised by how up-beat it was after having read MDZS, and I was also pleased to see great female characters explored with some real dimension. Truly a fun read. So many memorable moments and characters, it would take more time than I have to catalogue them all. However, there are a few characters I want to single out for praise.

Xie Lian

Good god, I love this character. I can see why so many people associate him with GG. It's uncanny how GG-like he is. I wish to all hell that he could have been cast in that role, even if DD wasn't playing Hua Cheng. I don't think there's anyone on this planet who could embody him quite like GG could, because they are practically the same person.

By this I guess I just mean the cuteness, the multidimensional personality, the positivity, the humility and shyness, the strength, the intelligence and bravery, the resilience, the emotional depth, the empathy, the beauty.

Really I don't even know what else to say. I just love this character so much. MXTX has such a great talent for writing characters readers will fall in love with. It's like her superpower.

Hua Cheng

I get misty-eyed just thinking about the devotion of this golden-hearted ghost king. Gah, so emotional. I love him so much. His mischievousness and humor, his rebelliousness, his irreverence - truly a character I can relate to. Again, MXTX has a superpower for writing characters we will fall in love with, and San Lang is no exception. My heart aches whenever I think of him.

One of the things I'm most impressed by with this character, is the great balance MXTX creates with him. Here is a character who is written to be somewhat dominant and protective, yet he is so loyal and devoted and completely gone for Xie Lian. And really, that's something she did well with MDZS, too.

Lord Wind Master

I love MXTX's fearlessness when it comes to building up and breaking down characters and then redeeming them as a means of bringing out their humanity. Aside from the main characters, few experienced this quite as much as Shi Qingxuan. Absolutely love this character. The way the author plays with gender here was also really enjoyable.

Lord Rain Master

I loved her even before she appeared in the flesh. There was something so sweet and magical about her homely realm, her humble ways, her black ox, her rain hat.

My expectations of what she would be like when we truly met her were high, but when she finally did join the group she exceeded every expectation. Her backstory was jaw-dropping. Truly one of my favorite female characters of all time.

Cuo Cuo the creepy ghost baby

OK I totally hated that baby, but what a creative, fun character to include in the story. I absolutely loved the way the other characters blithely accepted this creepy baby and treated it like the human child it was, despite the monster it had become. It added a great deal of poignancy and humor and showed the humanity and empathy of the characters who responded to it with compassion and forbearance.

Puqi Shrine

I absolutely loved this shrine, and at times it practically became a character in the story. The author really brought it to life and made it feel like an extension of Xie Lian.

The incredible spiritual devices

I can't possibly overstate how much I loved all these. E-Ming, Ruoye, the shovel, the hat, the fan. God, so many hilarious and powerful items. She brought so much personality to them all.

All the quirky, flawed, unique characters

What can I say? Just so entertaining, and they gave a lot of depth, humor and interest to the story. Like the shrine, she really brought the world to life with so many interesting people, ghosts, gods, floating lights, etc. Brilliant.

The emotion

She really did a great job of showing a trajectory of human experience, growth and change in almost every character. She also explored a refreshingly broad range of human emotion and experience.

The sweetness and innocence of the story really captured my heart. Both Xie Lian and Hua Cheng had such pure, sweet hearts despite everything they had been through and witnessed and the things they were forced to do and overcome. Their devotion and loyalty to each other and to their values was very endearing.

Apart from the emotional trajectories of the characters, there is also the reader's emotional experience of reading the book, and while there were frustrations there was also a lot of enjoyment. Now that I'm on the other side of the slog I can appreciate the good things much more than I did while reading.

I can sum most of that up by simply saying I enjoyed the juxtaposition of emotions. Sadness laced with humor, anger laced with joy, fear laced with romance. The lightheartedness of the story was refreshing, even amidst the darkest times. She has crafted such a unique and uplifting emotional journey, the sort of experience that inspires the devotion readers give to TGCF.

The step carriage

I would be totally remiss if I didn't mention one of my absolute favorite moments - when Xie Lian was picked up by Hua Cheng's ghost Uber. Talk about traveling in style.

Things I Disliked

HOLY FUCK I hate serialized novels.

I have learned the hard way after having read some books and longer fanfiction that were written in a serialized format, that I loathe this approach to writing. It leads to rambling, convoluted stories that often lose their sense of direction, go off on tangents and drag out situations that should have long ago been put to rest.

As somebody who enjoys good editing almost as much as I enjoy good writing, I really notice when a story is suffering from bad editing, and this story was one of the best (or worst) examples I've seen in a long time. There were passages that made me want to tear my hair out. Entire sections that made me feel like I was in a prison.

One of the complaints I made repeatedly while I was reading this book, was, "MXTX is never happy to see me simply be excited about events in the story. She kills it all with bad pacing. She refuses to move on until every last ounce of joy is sucked out of a scene."

For example, the first trip to Mount Tonglu. It started out as a fun, fascinating little road trip, but by the time it was over I wanted to punch my own eyeballs out.

Even the amazing mecha statue section was dragged on so long that by the time it was over I was relieved, rather than breathless and awed (which I would have been had there been some editorial restraint shown there).

To her credit, her ability to keep events, timelines and characters straight is superb, so the only editing complaints I have were just about rambling, directionlessness, etc. I've actually read authors who suffered from such bad editors/editing that continuity was lost and timelines and characters names, ages, etc. were utterly botched. No such problems here.

I appreciated the afterword where she wrote extensively about the problems with the story. She was very self-aware about the shortcomings of the format and the way in which it was written.

I was grateful for that perspective from her, because a lot of fans can be total zealots and will not tolerate even the slightest criticism of something they love. If anyone gives me any grief over this fairly major complaint of mine, I can point them to what the author herself has said.

I found it particularly interesting when she talked about her desire to release a complete, fully edited edition of the story, and the misgivings she had that ultimately made her decide to abandon the project (She was concerned that it would be a lot of work and readers might not prefer the edited version. She was also concerned that people wouldn't believe the edited version was authentic and completed by the actual author vs a fan).

A shame, because I really would have loved to see what she would do with such a version. I know she has the skill to make the story even better than it was, which is saying a lot because it's already amazing.

I should just never read MXTX's extras.

I had the same experience with the extras for this story as I did with the extras from MDZS. I felt that they took away from the story rather than add to it. I found the quality of writing inferior and the subject matter not to my taste.

As with MDZS, I came away from the novel feeling very impressed by this author, and then I read the extras and found myself rolling my eyes and wondering how this could be the same person.

I especially dislike the way she writes about sex and sexuality. I know that I'm not really the intended audience for what she's writing, so I don't hold it against her, but I feel offended by some of the ways she talks about sex between men. It really gets my hackles up.

It reflects a lot of negative stereotypes and tropes about sex between men that really rub me the wrong way. I understand all the reasons that it's written the way that it is, but that doesn't make it to any less unpleasant to read.

I think a lot of people don't realize just how homophobic it is to joke about anal sex being painful, and/or a bottom walking funny after sex. It's awful. Just please, people, never say such things. They are inaccurate and very homophobic. It also has the potential to scare people off sex acts that are actually really enjoyable, regardless of gender. I've talked about this before.

However, The Ghost King's Birthday was excellent and one of my favorite parts of the entire story.

Summary

Overall I enjoyed it, but it is a huge commitment to read, particularly given the editing issues. I still think it's worth the effort, but I will never recommend it without warning people about those issues.

I know that I am going to definitely enjoy the live action and the donghua (which I've already started) because it's likely they will capture the essence of the best moments without sucking them completely dry.

The story is, when all is said and done, excellent and exceptionally well written. The complaints I have are for the most part things the author herself recognizes as shortcomings, and while they do constitute somewhat of a barrier to enjoyment of the story at times, they don't outweigh the amazing creativity and sweetness and fun this story delivers.

The fact that the - at times extremely painful - editing issues don't outweigh the enjoyable aspects of this story is a huge testament to just how exceptional this story is. The fact that I could recommend this story to anyone, given how painful it was for me to read, should say it all. It's that creative, it's that well written, it's that emotionally stirring, it's that unique and exciting.

The sheer scope of what she has achieved with this book is mind-boggling, even with the flaws.

So yeah, I will be recommending it to others. It's worth the Herculean forbearance required to get through it. There are elements and emotional nuances you just won't find elsewhere, not even in the live action or donghua.

#tgcf #review

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its-miichan · 3 years

Text

TGCF criticisms

Spoilers and unpopular/critical opinions ahead! Beware! I tried to like this, I really did, but this novel really makes me frustrated. It clearly has so much potential, but so much of that potential was wasted on pandering romance and shallow caricatures of main characters. Overall 1.5-2 stars because it gets worse the more you think about it. CHARACTERS: 1. The main character, Xie Lian was wildly bland and boring. He is presented as the kindest, purest, most selfless person in the world, but really he was just a bland white lotus. With Xie Lian, his personality can be described in just a sentence or so, while the author's other two MC's (Wei Wuxian and Shen Qingqiu) are both charming, funny, and deep with their own motivations. Xie Lian just walks around in the story with no purpose and he says that he wants to help the common people, but he really hasn't done that! He's barely helped anyone at all, and those times he did help people are quickly followed by flirting with the ML and forgetting all about the people he was supposed to help. Honestly, in the past, Xie Lian was also the biggest jerk ever. He gave up his own friends and family's well being for his own sense of justice and was stubborn to a fault and refused to listen. What's worse is that none of these flaws are actually addressed, and the story just lets him roll with it and never actually calls him out on it. If you want to see all the reasons why he's a poorly written character, check out this reddit post: https://www. reddit. com/r/MXTX/comments/j2l9ye/why_xl_is_a_poorly_written_character_in_my_opinion/

2. The ML, Hua Cheng, is equally as bad. He is extremely shallow and such a static character, with his development in the present times being nonexistent and his development from the past to the present being wholly nonsensical. His personality is very cliche and his motivations and thoughts are left entirely up to the reader's imagination, which significantly reduces character depth. He could've been such a great character, a ghost king who rules over hell and is morally grey, but instead he is dumbed down to a Xie Lian fanboy. Everything about him not related to Xie Lian is thrown at us in a few paragraphs if at all, and what little motivation and thoughts about him we do get always fall flat. [Like apparently this guy saved him once, and he fell in love with him and became devoted to him for 800 years? Like people get saved all the time and we don't see them going 800 years and 3 deaths for a guy they've barely talked to] Also, he is wildly unlikable. Of course, this is purely subjective, but he is irritatingly smug and lords over literally everyone he meets. It doesn't help that he's an insufferable Mary Sue with an endless array of powers, intelligent as hell and knows literally everything, really good at painting, sculpting, woodworking, and on top of that the richest, most powerful, most handsome, and most charismatic man in the book. His biggest flaw is supposed to be his insecurity and inferiority complex, but that barely ever comes up and 90% of the time he is arrogant and smug. More information on why he's badly written here: https://www. reddit. com/r/MXTX/comments/iskkp5/why_hc_is_a_bad_character_in_my_opinion/

3. The side characters in my opinion are written far better, but obviously quite underdeveloped. They are all three dimensional and have their own thoughts, emotions, and feelings as well as a believable backstory, but so many of them are quickly offed to make way for the main couple, some of them not only not becoming better, but actually getting quite a whole lot worse. Qi Rong, who was supposed to be super strong demon that is one of the 4 great evils becomes a comedic relief gremlin who just shows up for some comedy and then leaves. Feng Xin and Mu Qing, the MC's childhood caretakers disappear for like 100 chapters after we're given their backstories and then once they reappear, they don't do anything either. Shi Qingxuan, who in my opinion is by far the best character in the book, has his arc left open with no ending at all, only to be forgotten about for 80+ chapters only to reappear completely the same with no character growth at all. All of this is because the main couple take up so much of the book, and the rest of the side characters and their character growth is sabotaged for the author's ego so that the main couple can look better and get more screen time.

4. I lost interest in the story pretty quickly due to the bland characters and their out of place romance and how unlikable they were. A lot of this novel was very surface level, and it's pretty on paper, but when you think about the characters a bit longer, the more bland and shallow they become.

PLOT: 1. The plot was... There was no plot. It was just a collection of monster of the day arcs that aimlessly meander about and then everything returns to the status quo once they return to Xie Lian's temple/home. Obviously books 4 and 5 were a lot more to my taste because the writing was a lot more concise and the pacing was less slow and pointless, as well as actually incorporating fantasy elements and shaking up the status quo. However, the other 3 books, especially books 1 and 2 had way too much fan service, pointless romance, and plot lines that don't go anywhere and don't contribute to the story.

2. The past plot line, or the flashbacks were pretty interesting, except for how b*tchy the MC was. Book 2 has a lot of important information and some action, but a lot of it was boring fluff that didn't really contribute to the story other than introducing the villain and showing how XL and HC met. The rest, we're literally told already and there's no new information. Book 4 was supposed to be suffering heavy, and I agree that the character development was alright, but it was too brooding and oppressive. In the end, I just stopped feeling bad for Xie Lian because of how bad the story was trying to make you feel for him. I was not invested in him, and although he was significantly more deep in this book than in the other 4, the bad logic is still there. [you wanna kill people but then someone gives you a bamboo hat and you're all sunshine and rainbows again?] The suffering is excessive in my opinion, and although it's supposed to provide contrast to the romance, it just feels done in poor taste. seriously, 20 chapters straight of suffering is not necessary, and the pacing and tone suffers because of this. The flashbacks really don't contribute too much to XL or HC's character development, but is just there to be angsty and cryp*rn.

3. The final battle was the most unbelievable thing I've ever read. All the gods got together and the first part seemed pretty epic as we got to see all the side characters finally showcase their powers.... Until the MC and ML show up. The MC and ML show up, and instantly the background extras—excuse me I mean side characters, go back into hibernation as the main couple show off how cool and powerful they are. And then we get to the final confrontation, which has our MC, ML, and MC's two friends face off against literally the most powerful being in the freaking universe. I thought it would be a tense fight scene with lots of close calls, but I was so disappointed. Instead the ML is so OP that he breaks the spells binding MC's powers, and MC becomes so overpowered and slams the big boss into the wall with the power of love while his two friends just stand there doing nothing.

4. A lot of what happens in the flashback is directly Xie Lian's fault, but the book never seems to register it? I won't go into detail on this point since it's already covered in the first Reddit thread, but basically because of XL's s*upidity and refusal to listen to anyone else, the people around him suffer.

WRITING: 1. The writing wasn't great. It was very choppy and as I said previously, very monotonous and monster-of-the-day. Yes there were great scenes which got to me, but most of it was really boring and descriptions and dialogue dragged on and on with no end, and with the bland MC, it wasn't even interesting such as the dialogue in MDZS was. Side arcs were introduced with no warning and ended with no warning, leaving the reader wondering "Why was that even there in the first place if it was just going to be forgotten about?"

2. The water demon/wind god arc. The opening and most of the middle of this arc was extremely good, the logic and mystery was written well, and Shi Qingxuan's (the wind god) antics were funny. But after the big reveal and the tense climax, the story just... stops. Like it's literally forgotten about. [The MC gets dragged out by his all powerful lover, they romance some more, and forget all about Shi Qingxuan who is literally left in the hands of the second or third most powerful demon ever who is also his mortal enemy]

3. The incessant flirting really got on my nerves. The tension and tone of the entire story got completely ruined because of the MC and ML flirting and the MC blushing and giggling while the ML teases him and everyone else is literally fighting for their lives. This felt very fan-service like, and it felt like the author stopped trying and just fed us dog food after an emotionally taxing arc so that she wouldn't have to close out the arc properly, completely destroying the tone. Speaking of the tone, the tone whiplash was just... wow. You're fed fluff and romance during or after a high tensity and highly emotional scene with no connection at all, and you're just supposed to accept it instead of wondering what's happening to the characters you actually care about.

4. Romance and side arcs quite disconnected from the story. Quite frankly, most of this book is just romance with the plot and characters put in second place because "lOOk hOw CuTe the COuPLe iS!" You could literally take out all the side arcs and the story would literally be no different. The romance overtakes the entire plot and becomes the main point of the story. With her other two books, the romance is like the icing on the cake. With this book, the icing overtakes the cake and becomes the cake.

5. Perhaps one of the biggest reasons I was uninterested through most of the book was due to the lack of tension and suspense. The flashbacks were better in the sense that Xie Lian was helpless and couldn't figure anything out, which was why he was just as likely to get hurt as anyone, making the stakes significantly higher. But in the present, with the existence of Hua Cheng, that tension is completely gone. This is because HC knows basically all there is to know, and what he doesn't know he can figure out in seconds. Additionally, he is super powerful to the point that anything that can harm XL can be one shot K.O'ed by him. At this point the conflict becomes trivial to the point where I'm just asking "why are we solving this mystery anyways when HC can just blast it into oblivion?"

6. The fact that HC does the bare minimum in arcs frustrates me. If you're going to include a character with powers that will basically deem any threat against them null, then actually use them at least! HC's apathy does not feel like a coherent part of his character, but an excuse for MXTX to drag out plot lines and make things unnecessarily long and winded. Additionally, his apathy is contradictory. On one hand, he is super overprotective of XL and wants to make sure he won't get hurt a single bit, but on the other hand, he has this advanced ideology of the 21st century that he believes XL is capable so won't constrain him as much. If anything, they should start out with HC as this overprotective follower and have a dysfunctional relationship, and end up with XL teaching HC that he is able to do things and doesn't mind doing them, and that HC can live a life outside of him as well. That would've introduced some narrative stakes and romantic tension, but no, MXTX just had to make these characters perfect in every way.

ROMANCE: 1. The logic is so flawed here. The reason that HC started loving XL is literally because Xie Lian saved him once as a child and therefore he will devote his entire life to XL, not caring about literally anything else. The reason that XL started loving HC is even more so. The thing is someone like say Shi Qingxuan has done every bit as much for XL as HC has, but we don't see XL fall in love with SQX, do we? HC literally listens to him talk and XL falls in love with him, and although it does make sense due to XL being lonely for 800 years, how low the bar is set really bothers me.

2. The constant blue-balling was annoying. At some point, the ignorant MC became annoying and self indulgent instead of cute, and having it be drawn out over nearly 200 chapters makes it even worse. The MC is supposed to be super intelligent, but he literally misses all of the super obvious hints the ML drops at him, which is so weird.

3. It felt like MXTX (the author) went overboard on the romance here. Like she tried way too hard to the point where it was obvious she wanted to make this "the most romantic CP ever". The aesthetics went so overboard with butterflies and flowers as romantic themes, thousands of lanterns, the red string of fate (which didn't even do anything in the actual story), poetry, etc.

4. The romance could almost be described as kind of creepy. Like the ML obsesses over the MC for 800 years, isolating himself from the world and not taking any side of the story besides MC's is supposed to be romantic, but it really isn't. The ML carves thousands of statues of the MC, which is sweet in a way, but also really, really creepy. To quote someone from NovelUpdates who put it 100x better than I could: " They don't feel like equal lovers, HC obviously worships XL to an unbelievably amazing degree while XL only knew he existed from only a while ago (Is this obsession? Stalker-ish? I know his stalker-ish tendencies are usually played for laughs, but realistically?) HC very very very rarely calls XL by his given name but with GeGe or CrownPrince, dude has a name you know. I know you feel lower than XL, but seriously man, the guy's your life partner. HC would destroy the world if XL said to. He'd probably try to talk to XL first, confirm things, but if at the end XL really does want it, HC would do it. He lives for XL, he has no other reason to do something aside for XL. No reason to say NO for himself. They're not equals in which one wanna do something bad, the other would stop him because they have their own convictions. You can't tell me one only lives for one person's sake, will do anything for that guy, and has no attachments in the world aside from that guy, is a healthy person. It may seem romantic, but when you actually think about it, it becomes uncomfortable."

5. The romance was really cheesy. There were some powerful moments, but it was mostly flirting and "he fell on top of me" or "he needs mouth to mouth". Most of it was just the ML flirting with the MC, which you may like if you like this kind of stuff, but I really didn't enjoy it. Overall, I was desperate to love this novel, but I couldn't because of the shallow characters, unlikable main pair, and the constant abandonment of great plot lines in favor of the shallow romance. It felt like MXTX was constantly trying to one-up MDZS in angst, drama, and romance, but at the same time it felt like she didn't know what to do with the characters and world, and therefore fed us fan service and took the easy way out. This review is purely subjective, and if you want to read this go ahead, but I'll be seeing myself out.

#tgcf criticism #tianguancifu #tgcf #mxtx critical #xie lan #hua cheng #ok but this kinda sucks

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razberryyum · 3 years

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TGCF donghua Episode 6 Thoughts (SPOILERS!)

This episode felt like a constant one-upmanship of cuteness and romance: just when I thought things can't get any cuter or more romantic, the donghua team was pretty much like, hold my beer.

First there was this:

I love that Dianxia answered simply, not bothering to explain the situation further to avoid any misunderstanding, as if it was the most normal and casual thing in the world, when in more tropey scenarios he would've overexplained with fits and stammers. That reassuring smile he directed at San Lang at the end there was especially sweet. Fu Yao seemed a bit jealous though or maybe he's just being overprotective... can't wait to find out what that's all about.

Ok first of all San Lang looked so damn good with the hood, but then even better with Dianxia's hat because it's so adorable!

Although once again his reaction puzzles me: is it sadness, discomfort or horniness that he's trying to control and hence he has to immediately break contact with Xie Lian all the time? But then we have moments like this:

A total indirect kiss that San Lang couldn't wait to reciprocate. 😂 And also, I can't say this enough: I love watching San Lang watch Xie Lian. He's just so enamored; it's mesmerizing.

And finally as if all of these adorable and sweet moments weren't already enough, this happened:

That was seriously such freaking romantic moment I actually teared up. Good God. It was so unbelievably beautiful and perfect!! Won the episode as far as I'm concerned.

Strangely enough, for an episode that features so many winning moments, the episode itself was probably the most imperfect so far since there were a number of technical gaffes. There were a couple of times where the dialogue obviously didn't match the characters' lips or even the character moving their lips wasn't even the one speaking.

Nan Feng's lips were still moving even though Dianxia was the one speaking.

Same thing happened here, Dianxia was the one asking the question even though it was San Lang's mouth that was moving. Actually in that same scene Dianxia's mouth kept on opening and closing like a little fish. It was bizarre. I guess they might have rewritten dialogue while the dubbing was being done so that's why some of the words didn't match the characters' lip movements, but these weren't even spicey or necessarily important lines so why would there even be a need for last minute rewrites?

These errors didn't take away from my enjoyment of the episode at all, all the romance aside, the Crescent mystery is interesting and I can't wait to meet those two new characters in the dust storm (I think I can guess who they are even if I don't actually KNOW them yet). Still, I do hope this will be the only episode featuring so many blatant mistakes. HuaLian deserves perfection.

#Tian Guan Ci Fu #TGCF #Heaven Official's Blessing #HuaLian #SanLian #Xie Lian #San Lang #TGCF donghua

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uzunofu · 3 years

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My dash brought me several posts on the same topic at once, and since I couldn't choose which one to reblog, I decided to make a separate one and tag the OPs, lol. @jaebald @withinsnow @grewlikefancyflowers

I love both vers and switch!wangxian (a friendly reminder that switch and vers are different terms) because reading the same kind of smut over and over is boring and I start skipping, but initially I was in favor of switching them precisely because of power dynamics. And not WWX being the badass YLLZ and thus being the one more suited to topping (what even is that logic, heavens) — no, it was about how during the course of the book we see WWX vulnerable physically and emotionally, injured, distressed, needing help. (Even more so in the show, but CQL has a different relationship dynamic altogether, and since their preferences in CQL aren't expressed, I can vibe with nearly anything.) We see him like that way more than we see LWJ like that. LWJ is the love interest who, in the present timeline, swoops in and saves him, who takes care of him, who is the rock WWX can lean on. In the past timeline, the Xuanwu cave is the only time we see LWJ in distress.

Thematically, it fits that in his second life WWX finally gets that one person in his corner, finally has someone who will help him and stand by his side. Thematically, WWX can fight his own battles, but it's nice when he doesn't have to. I can acknowledge all of that and still wish that we had more moments of LWJ in a position of vulnerability and WWX being his rock.

For me, it's not about their power objectively. They're both shown as badass during the plot. It's about how LWJ, despite his adorable drunk shenanigans and offended princess act, fulfills the narrative role of the LI saving the MC. That's why I adore WWX's tendency to swoon over LWJ being soft and cute, to call him a good boy, to fuss over his dirtied robes, to treat him like a spoiled princess. It evens it out somewhat.

It's also why I like their sexual dynamic as it is presented in the book (chapters 111 and 112, I didn't read the incense burner extras) — despite WWX physically bottoming, he is the one who takes initiative, who tells LWJ what he wants him to do ("Wouldn’t it be convenient if you take off your forehead ribbon and tie my hands up?"), who plays at being a helpless victim with gleeful abandon. He plays at it. He blabbers not because he wants LWJ to shut him up but because he wants to egg him on. He laughs, he has fun, he doesn't take any of it seriously even in the heat of the moment. Their dynamic isn't the typical dom/sub you see in fics, or the typical smut, which is why fics that have them as vers or switches tend to get it right more often since they throw "typical" out of the window. Funnily enough, I have seen more BJYX (the actors' CP, if you're out of the circle) fics nail that exact dynamic than actual wangxian fics.

Sometimes people have physical preferences, and maybe WWX isn't into sticking it in or LWJ isn't into taking it. Sometimes people have psychological preferences, and maybe WWX isn't into doing the work, he wants to be a pillow princess and feel pampered (hello to LWJ bathing and dressing him, that man is the best, WWX really lucked out). Sometimes those two overlap, which is why people tend to conflate top/bottom with dom/sub and probably why the "YLLZ is a top" take exists — when you're into someone being forceful and powerful in life and you want to see them behave that way in bed, it doesn't usually translate to envisioning them topping from the bottom. When I see that take, it usually comes across as someone wanting WWX to be absolutely in control and drive the encounter. But if we look at MXTX's books, the ship that is the most traditional one in this sense is actually hualian. From the glimpses we get of Xie Lian remembering their first time, it was exactly that.

I'm not into telling people what they should or should write, nor am I into judging other people's fanons. Fandom is transformative. It makes sense that people would change stuff to their liking. But when you take a canonical dynamic that is subverting the stereotypes both from a "personality" perspective (the reserved one topping, the bold one bottoming) and from a smut perspective (the top taking cues, the bottom remaining himself instead of getting overwhelmed and lost in his own head) and try to claim it homophobic, that's where I draw the line.

#mdzs #mo dao zu shi #wangxian #top/bottom discourse #mdzs meta #ish #wei wuxian #lan wangji #the cursed discourse ugh i swore i'd never get involved in it #to use a wildly overused phrase #get some reading comprehension please

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fu-yao · 3 years

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tagged by @leonzhng thanks for making me dig through my most embarrassing crushes 😭✋

i’ll tag @highwarlockkareena @yibobibo @lan-xichens @purplexedhuman @aheartfullofjolllly @lanzhansmiles @nyx4 i feel like i tag you guys in everything i am so sorry please ignore this if u don’t wanna do it !!

putting this under a read more for reasons

MEN 2010 – 2016

literally nothing more embarrassing than falling on the same type of white man over and over again (with the exception of minho from shinee bless his heart)

tommy joe ratliff → he was the bass player for adam lambert during his glamnation era (think of songs like for your entertainment and if i had you) idk why exactly i liked him so much but i just did.... however i searched him up again quite recently and found out he’s one of those republicans that says the dumbest shit on twitter so Big Yikes

harry styles → “baby you light up my world like nobody else, the way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed, and when you smile at the ground it ain’t hard to tell...” and BOOM 13-year-old me was sold for well over two years

louis tomlinson → basically i liked harry most until around 2013 when for some reason i started to like him a little less, and i got more focused on louis tomlinson, and although i didn’t like one direction anymore louis tomlinson always had a special place in my heart

ashton irwin → so ashton is 5sos’ drummer, i discovered 5sos through one direction & i stanned them until late 2014

harries twins → the harries twins (jack & finn) are basically the reason i started spending a lot of time on youtube, they were funny and pretty and they just had good videos in general, so for almost two years i’d watch their content regularly

choi minho → my first steps into kpop happened bc i was watching videos on youtube (most probably the harries twins) and suddenly i saw the sherlock mv in my recommended videos so i clicked on it and then 14-year-old me proceeded to fall for minho like an idiot

brooks twins → still youtubers, the brooks twins were 3/5 of the janoskians (jai & luke brooks, beau brooks, daniel sahyounie, & james yammouni), an australian youtube comedy group that was active from 2011-2018 though i was only around from 2012-2014 (when jai brooks was dating ariana grande)

jc caylen → surprise! another youtuber! jc caylen was part of o2l (our2ndlife) a youtube collaboration channel on which each of the 6 members posted videos on a certain day in the week (mondays with connor, tuesdays with ricky, wednesdays with sam, thursdays with jc, fridays with trevi (my 2nd favorite member bc she participated on the x factor), saturdays with ricardo, and then they had surprise sundays every week) and i remember how much joy jc & the others always brought me with their silly videos

misha collins → up next, you might know him as the gay angel that was sent to superhell after confessing his love to the homophobic hunter on supernatural, it’s misha collins! basically misha was a huge source of comfort for me, and i even went around calling myself emmisha for almost two full years (cringe)

henrik holm → he played even bech naesheim in skam and my crush on him reached that level of ridiculousness where i actually tried my hand at learning norwegian (i can only remember how to introduce myself and some curse words i would make a great first impression on him)

MEN 2016 – 2021

min yoongi → okay so my baby steps into kpop happened through shinee’s sherlock, but i only got really invested when yoongi dropped agust d 1 because Holy Fuck y’know??

kim namjoon → oh man i remember thinking namjoon was cute and a very good leader and then BAM he dressed like THAT at the 2016 mma’s and i fell in love. hard

park seojoon → i started liking park seojoon whilst i was watching hwarang (you guessed it, i watched it bc of taehyung), although he wasn’t my favorite character by far, but he was very silly off camera & i liked that (i’m not that into him anymore tho </3)

kim seokjin → OH BOY LET ME TELL U i liked seokjin from the very beginning (i got to know bts in late 2014) and i always liked seeing him perform and be himself and god once i realized i had a crush on him it just hit me like a mf truck, and he’s still one of my favorite people to this day

jung hoseok → god fake love era hoseok really hits different.... also yes i know i have all of bts’ hyung line on my list BUT bts was a really big part of my life for almost 6 years soooo honestly they deserve it i still think they’re great guys

choi san → when ateez made their debut in 2018 i immediately fell in love with san, he was such an amazing dancer and he captivated me right from the very beginning, to this day he’s still my bias in ateez uwu

xiao zhan → AND THEN, OCTOBER OF 2019 HAPPENS AND I WATCH CQL AND... i fall in love with xiao zhan, something i’d never expected would happen bc when i watched cql for the first time i wasn’t as invested in the story, but i really really really liked xiao zhan and one thing led to another and now here i am as a xfx

wang yibo → the thing is, i’ve known yibo since eoeo except i didn’t know cql yibo was uniq yibo (bc i’d forgotten his name) and when i looked it up i can tell you my jaw dropped to the floor bc holy shit????? also he is very silly and i love him loads ok

lee minho → ah, the man who has been my skz bias since 2018, not only is minho my bias i also kin him (there’s a lot of aspects of myself that i see in minho and vice versa) and he’s very comforting to me

bang chan → honestly, it was only a matter of time before i’d fall for bang chan, i knew the moment i got into skz again that i’d start biasing him and, well, here i am, double biasing chan & minho

WOMEN

this list is shorter bc i’ve in general always had less crushes on women than on men??? blame society forcing me into thinking i was straight for a LONG time

ariana grande → remember the 2011 layout of twitter?? where u could not only have an icon and a header, but also a background and ur twitter page was smack in the center of ur screen with the big ugly menu bar at the top??? yeah ariana grande was always my background for my l*rr* st*l*n*s*n layouts

perrie edwards → this was right around the time she was dating zayn & little mix was breaking out into the spotlight, yeah i just really loved her

andrea russett → okay so remember o2l?? andrea russett was kian’s girlfriend for a pretty long time and they always did videos together and i always thought she was super pretty

lily collins → maybe i don’t like clary in tmi all that much but i sure liked the way lily collins looked

alona tal → MY BISEXUAL AWAKENING, it’s only when i saw alona tal in spn that i realized, fuck i might be gay

park jihyo → i discovered twice (my 2nd jype group after day6) through the like ooh-ahh mv and red-haired jihyo really did something to my heart (i just rewatched it and god zombie bang chan is so mf cute)

kim jisoo → when bp made their square two comeback i was immediately smitten for red-haired jisoo in playing with fire, it’s also when i realized she was my bias out of the four members

shin ryujin → the reason that i have blue hair is partially bc of ryujin and her amazing intro in wannabe :D

xuan lu → her portrayal of jiang yanli was SO ON POINT and she’s just such a kindhearted wonderful person wow i want her hand in marriage

lee yoobin → god i’ve known dreamcatcher from back when they were still called minx and ever since i’ve always looked at dami that bit more than the rest, i was also able to see dreamcatcher live in october of 2019 and the whole experience was just so amazing !!

FICTIONAL CHARACTERS

there’s a whole lot more than just these 10 but i wanted to fit the evolution into one (1) slide as best as i could lmao

peter pan → this movie came out in 2003 (?) and he’s honestly the first fictional character i remember ever having a crush on

legolas → i was really doubting between placing haldir or legolas here but i only really got a vague haldir obsession when i was like 14

zuko → LOOK. ZUKO IN ATLA? HOT. ZUKO IN LOK? HOT EVEN IF HE’S AN OLD MAN.

will turner → man was annoying sometimes but i really liked him and his relationship with elizabeth was cute

jo harvelle → gosh i can’t believe she’s the only female character in here???? yeah she was one of my two spn faves and i’ll never forgive the screenwriters for the way they killed her off

castiel → does your fave ever get sent to super hell for being gay? no? well. mine did

kili → fili and kili’s storyline tore my heart out, spit on it, and then laughed straight in my face, KILI WAS LITERALLY MY FAVORITE DWARF

howl → i only watched this movie for the first time in 2020 so i kinda fucked up the tl cause i watched cql in 2019 but shh, anyways howl with his blonde hair was good looking but howl with his black hair just hits differently. i want a howl

lan jingyi → MY BABY BOY, TINIE LITTLE BABIE WHOMST I MUST PROTECT ok no but seriously this kid. i love him a lot

mu qing → BARK BARK. that’s all (that’s not all i love him a whole lot and it hurts me to see so many people misunderstand his character and only see the bad parts of him when they can forgive others for fucking up (eg. xie lian himself & feng xin) but bc mu qing doesn’t deal well with emotions suddenly he’s the bad guy??? i s2g if ppl are gonna do to him what they did to jiang cheng in the tgcf la i will RIOT)

#thanks for the tag hanyi my hands hurt now </3 #tag game

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theneverendingpurplesky · 4 years

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So, now I’m in chapter 54 of Heaven Official’s Blessing, but I’ll put my ramblings under the cut again because of spoilers

Ok! Many things, first, well fuck, every time Jun Wu sends Xie Lian on a mission, something goes horribly wrong for him, eh?. On the other hand, man, if I wasn’t already suspicious of the Emperor, I’d maybe start thinking something like ‘huh, he seems like a good guy...?’ he’s such a good actor :/ (and this ‘favour’ he shows... mmm I remember reading once a fic about a guy purposely favouring his enemy so that everyone would think he was blindly biased and therefore make everyone hate more the ‘favoured’ guy, I wonder if this is something like that...). And now we know that a heavenly official CAN pass off as a ghost/demon, so the Emperor could be the White No Face guy (I still don’t know if a heavenly official could pass off as a calamity-level demon thou). And now we know that Xie Lian had a huge fight with Jun Wu in his second ascension (I really want to know what happened to make that happen...)

One more thing: Jun Wu built Xie Lian a huge and lavish heavenly palace, and yet he sent him on a mission to ‘help’ him gather the merits necessary to cover the repairs of the other heavenly palaces... mmmm... if he was going to use the merits to build Xie Lian a lavish palace, why didn’t he use those merits to help Xie Lian cover the repair costs instead of sending him to that mission?? (this is why I feel he’s purposely showing he hugely favours Xie Lian while making others resent him...)

Me before: well it seems that everything already happened to Xie Lian in these 800 years

Me @ me now: YOU FOOL

And holy shit, Xie Lian’s sword (and fighting) ability is so OP!! He’s the definition of ‘looks like a cinnamon roll but could actually kill you’ (Xie Lian: “but at what cost? ;_;”)

Xie Lian feeling awful about burning Paradise Manor while Hua Cheng feels awful about hurting Xie Lian’s arm: that’s true love (and can Xie Lian just marry Hua Cheng a move in with him already?? HC treats Xie Lian better than the rest of those heavenly officials assholes combined, they care about each other and HC doesn’t let Xie Lian put all the blame on himself. Seriously, Xie Lian should marry Hua Cheng, move to the Ghost city, live happily ever after and tell everyone else to fuck off). And when Xie Lian punched Qi Rong for insulting Hua Cheng:

I can’t stand Mu Qing, I don’t give a shit if he’s a tsundere or whatever, I fucking hate his personality (I adored when Feng Xin punched him).

*Reading Lang Qian Qiu idolizing his beloved teacher in the past*: as long as he doesn’t call Xie Lian ‘Shizun’ :P... And about that, I know he’s a grandpa™ but Xie Lian also has such dad energy?? he adopts kids whenever he goes! (so cute).

Me: picturing Qi Rong as the ugliest mofo ever.

Novel: “he looked like Xie Lian”.

Me: well know I have to change my mental picture of him.

I don’t like Qi Rong but I have to say I don’t hate him either (for now). First, I totally enjoyed him insulting certain heavenly officials (Qi Rong: Pei Ming is a manwhore and probably has sores all over his crotch, and Jun Wu is a faker. Me: LMAO 👍👍). Then I imagined a young and little Qi Rong following Xie Lian around like a puppy and adoring him and I thought it was kinda cute; and the fact that he made a 180 turn when everything went to shit... it doesn’t make me feel like he coldly betrayed Xie Lian, but that he basically lost his sanity when his object of worship/his anchor fell apart and it was the way he found to cope with the situation; of course, what he did is awful, and I feel worse for Xie Lian, but the fact that Qi Rong basically went insane and became obsessed with Xie Lian (in an awful way) for so many years makes me pity him a little.

And damn, the situation with YongAn king and Prince An Le was so interesting and frustrating at the same time, MXTX is the best when it comes to creating complex and not-black-and-white situations and characters. And Xie Lian’s outburst was so heartbreaking!! Xie Lian: “I just... I don’t want to see anyone go through what I’ve gone through”

Me:

(BABY! I just want him to be happy!! is that too much to ask??)

And finally, another crazy idea that I’ll put here in case I’m right later on: I was imagining future romantic moments between Xie Lian and Hua Cheng, and of course, I had to picture a moment in which Hua Cheng would give him his ashes, and I thought ‘but Xie Lian wouldn’t want to accept them... so Hua Cheng could give him the ashes without telling him they’re his ashes...WAIT’ and then I thought ‘what if the ring he gave Xie Lian ARE his ashes???’ (or contain his ashes) I mean, super risky considering Xie Lian wouldn’t know the ring is HC’s life, but I feel this is something Mr.-Pining-for-800-years would do (and Xie Lian said he didn’t know what material the ring was made of...). So, we’ll see I’m right.

#TGCF #Heaven Official's Blessing #HOB #personal

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ruoyeming · 4 years

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My Fav Books, another chaotic list

Another quarantine review fest! I know I ranked my top anime but this is seriously too hard so I’m just going to list them to avoid hours of debate. Enjoy!

1) The Skulduggery Pleasant series

This whopper of a series (now at 15 books jesus christ I didn’t know there were that many I’ve only read about twelve) has a special place in my heart. I was FULLY obsessed with it throughout my tween - and teen - years, and for a reason. This shit just butters my bread like nothing else. The story follows a young girl Valkyrie Cain (who eventually becomes a young woman through the series) and her partner in crime, a fashionable living skeleton called Skulduggery Pleasant. They’re MAGICAL DETECTIVES!!!! Bitch!!! They use elemental magic - water, earth, fire, air - to fight off magic-wielding bad guys and look good doing it. The duo is hilarious and seriously shaped my sense of humour, the dry wit and comedic writing style stuck with me and influenced my own writing style to this day! As the series progresses we get a massive cast of characters but to me they’re all memorable, likable (mostly) and well-developed so that’s not an issue. I have no fukcing clue how Derek Landy comes up with his stories because every book in the series has an absolutely wild (yet unique) plot with its own twists and turns. It gets REALLY dark and depressing at times, gory, brutal etc etc especially in the later books I have no idea why this is labeled as a kids series.

10/10 for badassery, humour, and MAD codependency issues

2) The Feverwake series

This bitch is one hell of a YA series. It’s actually only a 2 book-series which is rare, but that’s not the only thing that sets it apart from other creations of its genre. It’s hard to explain the setup without waffling so I’ll just quote the blurb of the first book: “In the former United States, sixteen-year-old Noam Álvaro wakes up in a hospital bed, the sole survivor of the viral magic that killed his family and made him a technopath. His ability to control technology attracts the attention of the minister of defense and thrusts him into the magical elite of the nation of Carolinia.

The son of undocumented immigrants, Noam has spent his life fighting for the rights of refugees fleeing magical outbreaks—refugees Carolinia routinely deports with vicious efficiency. Sensing a way to make change, Noam accepts the minister’s offer to teach him the science behind his magic, secretly planning to use it against the government. But then he meets the minister’s son—cruel, dangerous, and achingly beautiful—and the way forward becomes less clear.”

As you can tell from this, the series is heavy on its politics but in a grounded, realistic and relevant way which is different to many other YA series. Marxist theory is brought up, and you can make some pretty strong links between the books and real events. The magic also has a semi-scientific explanation which is cool and adds to the realness. Anyways this series is action packed and full of twists, plus there’s a bisexual main character and queer romance at the core!! Wig!!! Very good for moral debate - how far is it acceptable to go to protect the oppressed before you become one of the oppressors? Dark and exciting series.

10/10 queer representation and political themes.

3) Spin the Dawn

It’s probably obvious that I’m biased towards YA books but they’re just so exciting and cool! Anyways this is about a girl living in a kind of alternate universe ancient China where magic exists. Maia Tamarin is a skilled seamstress who dreams of being the Imperial Tailor, a position that can only be held by a man. She poses as her brother to go to the royal palace and enter a competition full of skilled tailors, all vying for the role of imperial tailor. She also meets Edan; a mysterious, annoying, but SEXY mage who seems to know her secret identity? Oho? IMO this would be an elevated book if Edan had been a girl but that’s just me being gay. As the final challenge Maia is tasked with making 3 dresses from the sun, moon, and stars - a mission that takes her to the ends of the world in search of these magical materials (obvs Edan goes with her and they kiss kiss fall in love). It’s a fairly classic YA plot and characters but the combination of Project Runway, Mulan, and kind of Lord of the Rings(??) vibes makes for a very entertaining read. It’s also really fun to imagine what the clothes look like, plus the romance between Maia and Edan is very cute. Second book is yet to be published but sounds lit.

10/10 magic fashion and romance (despite its heterosexuality)

4) Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

Usually I steer clear of angsty gay stories because I’ve consumed too much of the depressing narrative which is all about suffering because of being gay, but fuuuuuuck this book is like the definition of bittersweet. Mostly bitter to be fair but it has a happy ending which was lovely after the emotional torment of the book. It’s about two teen boys - Aristotle is angry and repressed, Dante is eccentric but kind, and the two eventually form a strong friendship after meeting at the local pool. It’s kind of obvious that Ari is in denial about a few things, which leads to some real sad boi hours. There’s also a devastating moment around halfway (not sure) through with a car accident which makes the whole thing 10x heavier. Despite all this, the book has its sweet moments - parents play a big role, but not in the way they usually do in queer stories - and like I said the ending is the bandage for your broken heart. I’m not sure what it is about the writing style, maybe the way it just cuts between scenes randomly or perhaps the way the dialogue and actions are so realistic, but it’s so different to any other book I’ve read that it’s stayed in my mind for a while after reading it.

10/10 really good philosophy plus supportive parents

5) The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue

Okay if this was a ranked list, this bad boy would be on its way to the top spot. It’s got everything: historical setting, gays, pirates, alchemy, humour, adventure, angst, character development, and some healthy second-hand embarrassment. It’s not complicated or philosophical but reading this book all in one go is like taking five shots and diving into a pool. It’s exciting and witty, but deals with darker themes like child abuse too. One of the MCs also has a disability and doesn’t treat it as something to be cured, which is a lesson our protagonist has to learn. Speaking of protagonists, Henry ‘Monty’ Montague is a great main character. He’s obnoxious, oblivious, and hedonistic yet quick-witted and passionate, and he has a good heart. Sometimes you just want to grab him by the shoulders and shake him for being such an ignorant idiot, but throughout the book he grows and learns to open his mind more (as well as becoming more humble). He’s a great example of a flawed yet likable main character. He is also a bisexual icon.

Oof forgot to even talk about the story. Monty embarks on a tour of Europe, usually taken by lads his age to get all cultured before they settle down and inherit the family company or whatever. With him are his younger sister Felicity, a girl with a brilliant mind for science who isn’t taken seriously by anyone because of her gender, and the lovely Percy, Monty’s lifelong best friend (and crush). Monty ends up stealing a very valuable object that turns the Tour into a manhunt across Europe, and drags the trio into a big ol’ conspiracy involving something that may or may not be the philosopher’s stone????

Issues of race, gender, and disability in historical context are really well done, and it’s an absolute banger of a book.

10/10 very exciting adventure, plus GREAT GAY ROMANCE

6) Heaven Official’s Blessing

HOOOOOO BOY. This is probably my absolute fave on this list. It’s a webnovel (originally Chinese but the full translation is online). Set in ancient china in the cultivation world (difficult as shit to explain if ur not into all of that but I’ll try), basically there’s three realms - the heavenly realm, the human/mortal realm, and the ghostly realm. If a mortal reaches a certain point (good deeds, power etc), they ascend to become a god - or if they fall far enough, they become a ghost.

I’ll just quote the author’s description again cause I don’t have the brain cells required:

“Eight hundred years ago, Xie Lian was the Crown Prince of the Xian Le kingdom. He was loved by his citizens and was considered the darling of the world. He ascended to the Heavens at a young age; however, due to unfortunate circumstances, was quickly banished back to the mortal realm. Years later, he ascends again–only to be banished again a few minutes after his ascension. Now, eight hundred years later, Xie Lian ascends to the Heavens for the third time as the laughing stock among all three realms. On his first task as a god thrice ascended, he meets a mysterious demon who rules the ghosts and terrifies the Heavens, yet, unbeknownst to Xie Lian, this demon king has been paying attention to him for a very, very long time.”

It’s hard to describe the enormity of this story and all the emotions it encapsulates, you really have to read it for yourself. But bitch the undying, pure, Hozier-devotion-level LOVE is by far my favourite part of this story. If you’re looking for an epic, god-tier gay romance, then this is it baby!! This story has comedy, action, and downright harrowingly depressing moments, but throughout is this achingly beautiful love between fallen god and last believer.

I don’t wanna give too much away cause there are some big ol’ plot reveals, but oooh this shit made me cry. The protagonist is MY FAVOURITE EVER I didn’t think it was possible to like a protag so much!! He’s legit my fave character! At first he seems oblivious and carefree but he’s just doing his goddamn best after all he’s been through and he’s so fukcing kind and just wants to help everyone for fuckcs sake excuse me I need to go have a breakdown.

Okay I’m back, anyway there’s a great cast of characters, even the background characters are all incredibly memorable and all given their time to shine and develop. My faves include Quan Yizhen, a rowdy himbo who just wants to fight, and Shi Qing Xuan, a friendly genderfluid god who controls the wind. Read this shit I’m not joking it’ll change your life.

10/10 for everything

#book review #book recommendations

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chisie12 · 5 years

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Friends and Butterflies, An After Ending - Part 1

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20490521/chapters/48623783

TAKE THIS 14K WORTH OF FLUFF - Domestic Bliss with a lil surprise at the end.

“Ge ge really looks beautiful. A flower fitting of a prince.”

~~*~~*~~

Spring spurred on the thought of blooming flowers, a cloud of pink, white and red.

A blossom in full bloom breaks off its branch with the alluring kiss of the wind, twirling enchantingly like following the path of a fairy before falling into a smooth, fair palm.

“Ge.”

“Hmm?” The young man turned around, long soft hair dancing around his body, eyes glazing over lovingly at the tall slender man behind him who donned the robes of a fiery crimson maple colour. He himself was cladded in white robes, hands crossed and hidden in the sleeves. Paired with his gentle smile that showed off his pearly whites and the sunset as a backdrop, he truly looked God sent. His eyes involuntarily closed at the touch near his cheek as the fallen blossom was tucked behind his ear, the stem tickling the edges of his scalp. The hand shifted to cup his cheek, a thumb caressing the soft skin under his fingertips and he was greeted with a warm smile. His breath hitched in his throat, eyes soaking in the handsome sight; skin as white as snow, a proud face framed by silky raven locks with a feral aura that stood unwavering, where a red pearl at the end of a small braid teased him, when his eyes trailed up, meeting with a lone eye that still sparkled as bright as the stars despite the other one covered by a black eyepatch. He felt the weight of the sheer love in the other man’s gaze, swelling and flooding his heart with all it could before it overflowed upon his pink lips.

The taller man bent down at his waist and he rested his forehead upon the young man in white, fingers slowly tracing his cheek as his grin widened with the smaller man’s own widening smile. “Ge ge really looks beautiful. A flower fitting of a prince.”

The younger man tilted his head up, fully resting his forehead against his man’s before rubbing his nose with his. “I think San Lang’s more beautiful.”

Life was fairly simple right now, easy-going and relaxing for the couple. The Heavenly Court was already rebuilt, filled with the golden palaces and a tall clock tower still standing strong, but it wasn’t like Xie Lian frequently stayed at his own palace. It felt lonely, too large for someone like him, and he’d admit to no one but himself, that it just didn’t feel right there. Not a home. Not a place where he could stay.

“Come on, ge ge. Let’s go look for something to eat.” Hua Cheng slowly straightened his back and the smaller male inwardly pouted at the loss of contact before his smile returned when he felt the larger hand slid into his own.

“You’re not going to throw another feast are you?” Xie Lian asked as they made their way back to Ghost City.

“If ge ge doesn’t want one, then I won’t host one,” Hua Cheng grinned.

Xie Lian caught up to his steps and looked seriously at him. “We don’t need to. It’ll be a waste, San Lang. Even if I just drink water, it’ll be enough because I have you.”

“Because without affection, we could be hungry even if we’re eating food?” Hua Cheng finished his phrase for him, chuckling as he did so.

“Mm!” Xie Lian nodded happily.

In the distance, the couple strolled down the path, leaving behind a trail of dancing petals shimmering in soft hues in the air. Warm sunlight shone upon their handsome countenances, the season of joy prospering with delight at their presence.

“Your highness!” A voice suddenly called out in Xie Lian’s mind from his private communication channel.

Putting two fingers to his temple, he answered, “Qi Ying? What’s wrong?”

“Can you come up? Something is wrong! – Ah!”

He wanted to inquire more of the matter he spoke but the line was cut before he could. Holding back his sigh, he tried to not look disappointed, really. He tried.

“Ge ge? What’s wrong?” Hua Cheng caught the gleam of disappointment in his gaze and frowned. “Did they call for you?”

“Yeah…” Xie Lian sighed. He looked up at Hua Cheng, catching his gaze with his own. “There are some matters they need me to see. It sounded quite urgent.”

A hand snaked up his neck to cup his cheek once more. Warm, soft lips pressed themselves against Xie Lian’s forehead, lingering there for a moment longer. “It’s alright. I’ll wait for you at home,” Hua Cheng breathily whispered against his skin.

A smile tugged at his downwards curved lips, pulling them up involuntarily. Home. Warmth bloomed in his heart as he smiled up at Hua Cheng. Home. ‘That’s where you are.’

“Alright.” And in a bout of confidence, he pulled the taller man down with a gentle tug at the collar and planted his lips on the most definitely cooperative man. “I’ll see you at home.”

…

But he wished he hadn’t come.

What Heavenly Court? This was more like a playground.

“What happened?”

“I don’t know!” Quan Yi Zhen cried, holding a small bundle in his arms. It was wrapped in earthly coloured clothes, chubby face scrunched up in displeasure which it made sure to let everyone know – just like every other baby there.

On the grounds of the Heavenly Court littered colourful bundles, either crawling around or bawling – screaming – their eyes out. Xie Lian rubbed his temples as he sighed dejected. Just what in the world happened? As his gaze swept over the royal babies of Heaven, he noticed one particular baby, silent and staring up at him after having crawled his way over, locks of silvery grey hair falling past his shoulders, cladded in robes of white and turquoise... and that face –

“Mu Qing?”

Mu Qing scrunched his face into a big frown, the space between his eyebrows wrinkling in annoyance. “Are you blind?”

Xie Lian blinked. Twice. He swore that baby just rolled his eyes. He watched as the baby glared and gave him the stink eye, before his eyes rolled again. Yeah, definitely Mu Qing.

“What happened?” He hurriedly asked in favour of finding out just why he could actually talk. He also pointedly ignored Quan Yi Zhen’s wide eyes and gaping mouth.

“Some idiot spilled some trash bottle you had in your room.” Mu Qing huffed his cheeks and crossed his pudgy little arms, and Xie Lian felt his hands twitch.

“Oh?” He replied instead. “I didn’t know I had something like that.” It’s been awhile since he actually entered his palace and with all the junk he’s collected, he kept most of them in the newly built Heavenly Court (only so he wouldn’t hoard them at Hua Cheng’s manor). There would be a rare artifact or two mixed within, but he wouldn’t really know. He bit his bottom lip, having a stare-down with Mu Qing whose displeased face twisted into one of horror. Eyes widened in fear, mouth falling agape, arms pulled back, and soon, he voiced out his utterly horrified displeasure.

 “Waaaaaahhh!!” Large beads streamed down the corners of his eyes while his arms flailed about. He kicked his legs but they were to no avail as Xie Lian effortlessly kept his secure in his hold, a wide, face-splitting grin upon his face.

“So… cute!” He dragged out the first out, placing the baby in the crook of his arm as he pinched his cheeks. He dared now, only now; Because he was a baby. “Such chubby cheeks! So small-ah!”

Baby Mu Qing wailed louder, screamed at the top of his little lungs in an attempt to shatter Xie Lian’s eardrums as retaliation for the utter humiliation. Unfortunately, Xie Lian was already immune to such pain. After all, when he had the worst of luck, ten out of ten times, when he was out scrap picking, some children would try and take the goods he picked up, and when he tried to take them back, they would of course start screaming and crying in his ears until their mothers came to admonish him for bullying their children (Xie Lian: I’m innocent!). Thus, kids and their wailing have zero effectiveness against the Flower Crown Martial God.

“Do you know who spilled it?” Xie Lian asked after satisfying himself with pinching baby Mu Qing’s cheeks.

Mu Qing paused in his crying, sniffling up at Xie Lian. “F-Fe… Eh… Waaaaahhhh!”

“Oh, oh. It’s okay. There, there. Stop crying,” Xie Lian cooed, bouncing the crying child in his arms. Baby Mu Qing’s round cheeks were flushed red, liquid dribbling down his nose as his body temperature rose ever so slightly. He hummed to himself. It would seem like the Heavenly Officials could speak, though limited, and he wondered if it was related to spiritual power.

“Y-Your highness?” Quan Yi Zhen called, looking awkward carrying a now calm baby in his arms. “Do you know what’s wrong? I just came back when I encountered this!” His curly hair was curlier than usual, dishevelled and sticking out as though he walked through a storm of lightning.

Xie Lian looked up towards him, shifting baby Mu Qing so that the little one could rest against his shoulder as he patted his back comfortingly (or what he hoped was comforting). “It would seem everyone got turned into babies by accident.”

“I heard it was by some bottle you had collected?”

Xie Lian shrugged. “Someone must have been rummaging in my palace and accidentally spilled it.”

“How…” Quan Yi Zhen’s entire face fell in horror when the baby started squirming in his hold. “Stay still!” It sounded a lot more like a plea than an order.

“Fuck you!” Suddenly came out of the baby’s mouth, shocking both Xie Lian and Quan Yi Zhen into becoming statues. “I don’t want to stay still!”

Xie Lian blinked once more. Twice. “Feng… Xin?”

“Yes, your highness?”

It had been a random shot in the dark, though it was also equally a much needed verbal communication, and he had been right. Looking at the soft features of the baby, of dark ebony hair and sharp eyebrows, he could see the resemblance to his old bodyguard. “Uh…” Xie Lian gulped, trying to swallow the shock down, “Do you know who entered my palace?”

Feng Xin refused to look at him directly, big round eyes suddenly finding the Heavenly Court’s architecture most fascinating.

“Feng Xin?”

The baby in question immediately covered his face with his hands, also so pudgy and small, not even a quarter the size of Xie Lian’s own palm. His hands twitched again, really so tempted to play and knead those small hands. If he knew the two generals would have been this cute, he would have found a way to have them this way more often! Wait no. That would have been horrifying. They’d kill him. Hmm… or mothers. No mother could possibly fathom a swearing baby. They’d probably faint on the spot.

Xie Lian called his name again as he hefted a now sniffling baby Mu Qing higher on his shoulder, firmly holding the baby with his left arm while lowering his body slightly and reached out towards Feng Xin with the other hand. “Feng Xin?” His voice was soft and gentle with slender fingers lightly tugging at the small hands to calm the baby general down. “It’s alright. I won’t be mad. Tell me, please?” He added the last word on for good measure.

Sure enough, Feng Xin peeked at his old master through his fingers, large teary eyes sparkling at him with innocent blinks. “…I did.”

Xie Lian continued smiling while lightly rubbing Feng Xin’s head who leaned into the touch with a delighted smile. He waited patiently for Feng Xin to continue, silently enjoying the sound of happy baby giggles bursting from his chest.

“…I wanted to try clean up your palace, your highness.” Feng Xin’s voice was soft, barely audible and if it wasn’t for his sharp hearing, he would have missed it.

“Oh,” fell from Xie Lian’s lips. He hummed while he thought back to his palace. It might be a mess, he’ll admit… Quite a mess indeed. There were piles and piles of junk he thought were rare or useful that he hoarded, that he refused to let sit around idly in Paradise Manor, and over time, he just… forgot. Inwardly sighing to himself, he’ll admit another thing today: He preferred time with Hua Cheng in Paradise Manor. Probably because of exactly that hoarded piles he never got around to properly sort them around. Oops. But then again, it was just as Hua Cheng said before: “A home has family. A place where someone lives alone is not a home.”

He felt heat crept onto his face at the thought of a family with Hua Cheng, just like a warm embrace cradling his heart, when he shook his head. There were still matters at hand to tend to!

Hmm, should he ask why he wanted to clean the palace?

Xie Lian returned his focus onto Feng Xin, hoping that the blush went away. Seeing the phantom image of the strong, determined archer graced with a handsome face being reduced to an extremely round, chubby little baby with pink tinted cheeks, small pouty and thick brows arching over large pleading eyes, there was a clear ringing of mirth mixed with the many other wailing babies. Giving Feng Xin a pinch on his cheeks, he looked back at the many other baby officials on the ground with a grin.

“What should we do?” Quan Yi Zhen asked.

Xie Lian ignored the slight high pitched tone of his voice and turned to him, calm and collected. “I'm not sure how long the effects will last but the Heavenly Court is definitely not a safe place for the babies.” At Quan Yi Zhen’s confused expression, he continued explaining, “The place is too large. They could go anywhere and will possibly hurt themselves while we’re not looking. I'm certain that only we’re not affected somehow since we weren’t in the Heavenly Court.”

What he left unsaid were: Can you really take care of hundreds of babies? I definitely can’t.

Quan Yi Zhen glanced at all the wailing babies. His face visibly blanched, almost as white as Hua Cheng, Xie Lian noted.

“All... all these?” Turning back to his calmly smiling friend, the corner of his lips twitched into a bitter smile, hands absentmindedly patting a settled Feng Xin in his arms. “Can I not join? I only know how to fight. Not take care of babies!”

“It's alright,” Xie Lian patted his shoulder reassuringly, ignoring the panicked shivers trembling in his friend’s body. “I know who can help.”

Back in Paradise Manor, dishes with steamed buns were lined up on the dark hardwood table set in the main hall, a pot of steaming tea by the side. Long pale fingers stretched out of crimson robes lightly tapped against the ceramic cup, a thumb tracing its curve as his lips curved into a devilish smile. Time ticked by. He lifted the cup and took a sip. His eyes darted to the main door, forcing the hopes and anticipation down a notch. He waited and waited. Another sip. And then he stood up, suddenly materialising a cloth in his hands. Icy cold water kissed his skin as he dampened the cloth, red sleeves rolled up as he proceeded to wipe down the table. Once, twice. The steamed buns were placed back into the bamboo steamer in the kitchen, below it a low flame flickering in greeting.

It was only him. Alone. In Paradise Manor.

The sun had long set, crept behind the horizon, dragging away with it the rainbow hues that painted the sky, leaving behind only a solemn navy tone, sparsely dotted with stars and a full moon hanging low in the cloudless sky. He walked back towards the table, plopping back into the chair as he watched, stared at the door. The smile dropped from his face.

What could be taking so long? Was it urgent?

Dancing in his palm, led around by his fingers were a pair of dices that tinkled as they touched.

Should he go visit? Find him in the Heavenly Court?

He should be fine. Nothing can scare him.

But what if he got hurt?

...

Clenching his palm with the dices, Hua Cheng shot up from his seat, the chair scraping against the floor. His arm was pulled back, ready to throw, lips pursed and expression straight, when the door slammed open.

“San Lang!”

That voice, his name. His muscles visibly relaxed as he lowered his arm, his fierce dark expression softening and pulling a smile when the white silhouette pounced into his arms. Leaning down, strands of his hair falling to tickle his cheeks, he asked, “Did ge ge miss me that much?”

Pink blossoms crept up Xie Lian’s cheeks and his ears at the soft caresses of his breaths, accentuating the snowy beauty of the flower still tucked behind his ear, and he buried his head deeper in Hua Cheng’s embrace.

“Are you hungry? I made dinner.”

Xie Lian’s head perked up at the mention of food, homemade food.

“Have you had dinner yet?” Xie Lian asked, only to receive a shake of Hua Cheng’s head in reply.

“I was waiting for you to eat together.”

There was a twinkle in Xie Lian’s gaze, shimmering brightly in the pools of affection those eyes. His lips parted, to perhaps say a word of thanks, of love, when a sharp shrill wail tore through the roof.

Having been totally immersed in his lover’s return, Hua Cheng was caught off guard for a rare moment. Stepping back to hold him at an arm’s length, he finally observed Xie Lian properly. A white sling was slung over his shoulder and a small bundle was peeking out from his shoulder. Head full of light coloured hair, snowy white cheeks stained with tears, but his eyes, threatening with unshed tears, were narrowed into horizontal slits. Hua Cheng couldn’t help but return the glare with a smile, uncaring and unbothered that it lacked any trace of warmth. Other than the addition of this un-cute baby, Xie Lian still wore the same clothes he did today, even down to the flower he tucked in his hair.

But this baby wasn’t crying, so who was?

“Your highness! I can’t do this!”

A brow arched high over unsmiling eyes when a whole other cries penetrated the walls of his Paradise manor as he watched an extremely dishevelled Quan Yi Zhen run inside with the crying bundle in his arms, a baby sling also slung across his chest. His robes were askew, collar drooping low across a shoulder, teasing tanned skin peeking through and his face was the exact painting of horrified panic.

If Hua Cheng wasn’t disturbed earlier, he was now. His glare turned colder and colder the closer Quan Yi Zhen approached, dishevelled and also carrying a baby. It can’t be theirs, could it!?

“Please! Take him! Take them all away!”

“What’s wrong, Qi Ying?” Xie Lian smiled, his head peeking out from behind Hua Cheng who suddenly shifted to stand before him. The taller man raised an arm, his long sleeves blocking his sight while he pointedly stared at the exposed skin. Quan Yi Zhen followed his heated glare and in a flurry of further panic, he pulled his robes up to quickly at least right himself. Once satisfied, Hua Cheng lowered his sleeve without another word but the frosty aura emanating off his body was undeniable. Xie Lian obediently stepped out and stood next to him, one hand shyly holding onto his, and the masked killing intent diminished just ever so slightly. Just slightly.

“Qi Ying? What’s wrong?” Xie Lian asked again, returning his attention back onto the Martial God of the West. “You’re doing pretty well with children!”

“No! I don’t think so! He keeps crying! They all are!”

Xie Lian felt Hua Cheng stiffen, the fingers in his tightening their hold, and he turned to look. His smile faltered at the sight, one end of his lips falling and the other twitching. ‘If looks could kill, Qi Ying would already be dead ten times, no a hundred times over.’

Hua Cheng smile widened until his one eye narrowed into a crescent moon. Two babies? No. There was more. Outside. Was it theirs? No. It couldn’t be. ‘Ge wouldn’t do that to me.’ His mouth was pressed firmer into a straight line. ‘But ge ge loves children. He must want them…’ A throbbing sensation began to pound at his head, the pent up frustration and stress releasing itself as a sigh from his lips while he used his free hand to rub at his head. His shoulders were stiff, muscles so tense. Maybe he should have married ge ge and immediately tried having a kid. There should be child-bearing pills still in Ghost City!

“Maybe he’s hungry?” Xie Lian suggested thoughtfully. “It should be dinner time! Bring the others in first.”

Quan Yi Zhen turned around, eyes watery and threatening to fall. Oh, he hated this. He’s not good with babies! “I only know how to fight!” He wailed as he ran back out.

Xie Lian tugged at their interlaced fingers and averted his gaze bashfully when Hua Cheng turned his head towards him. “I hope you don’t mind, San Lang. I brought them over without your permission.”

He sighed yet again, but the knot in his heart wasn’t undone, still painfully clenching and clawing at his insides. “It’s alright, ge ge. What’s mine is yours. You can do whatever you want here. No need to ask me.” The words had to crawl out of his mouth, through stiff jaws.

Sneaking a glance at the ajar doors, Xie Lian hurriedly tipped onto his toes, pulling slightly at his hand and briefly kissed him on the lips. “Thank you.”

Hua Cheng squeezed his hand in return, silent and accepting of his fate.

Quan Yi Zhen came back soon after with Ruoye. The white silk was extended and expanded, tying itself to every baby there was just so they could be transported, and there were hundreds. With Xie Lian never in the Heavenly Court and Quan Yi Zhen (now regrettably) without any helpers in his palace – though they might be turned to babies too –, they could only resort to such a crude way of transportation. At seeing the sight of a cloud of babies swarming into the main hall of his manor, Hua Cheng was stunned into dumbfounded silence, shaken to the core.

‘Ge ge wouldn’t have had this many hidden babies, would he? Adopted? His own!?’ He quickly shook that thought away. ‘No, I would have known!’

Ge!

He cried pitifully in his heart, though his outward expression never changed.

“Fuck! Why’d you bring us here!” a voice cried out, breaking Hua Cheng out of his trance. His eye twitched at the familiar sound, that familiar character.

Feng Xin?

“Feng Xin! You can speak again!” Xie Lian rushed over to Quan Yi Zhen, seeing the baby on his back.

Ah, it was Feng Xin.

Hua Cheng swept his eyes over the screaming babies, taking note of their different robes, their hairstyles… He then looked at the glaring baby on Xie Lian’s back and a mirthless chuckle escaped when it connected.

Mu Qing?

The baby rolled his eyes.

Mu Qing.

Hua Cheng relaxed at the thought that these babies weren’t Xie Lian’s at all. Just some annoying insects turned more annoying.

He flashed baby Mu Qinh a grin, full of teeth and sharp canines as a murderous gleam flashed in his eyes for a split second. Baby Mu Qing was shocked for a moment before his face fell, cheeks trembling with eyes wide in horror.

Oh, shit.

“Waaaaaaaahhh!” Xie Lian jumped at the sudden wail from baby Mu Qing when he was conversing with Feng Xin. It was tremendously loud and shrill, sobs wracking his little body. Xie Lian expertly shifted the sling so that he could cradle baby Mu Qing properly, bouncing on his toes in calming the baby down, but as though on cue, the remaining Heavenly Babies started crying louder, red chubby faces stained with snot and tears.

Frowning, Xie Lian finally turned to his stock still lover.

Catching his gaze, Hua Cheng smiled, finally feeling better at the thought that these weren’t Xie Lian’s babies after all. Just some annoying pests that multiplied. “What’s wrong, ge ge?”

“Could you lend a hand, please?”

“Sure but I don’t think the Heavenly Babies will appreciate that.”

“It’s alright. I’ll deal with them later.”

Hua Cheng hummed lowly, crossing his arms across his chest. “Hmm, we’ll have to baby-proof Paradise Manor, you know.”

“I know. I'm sorry. It’s just too difficult to manage them all in the Heavenly Court and thought here was better. Is that okay?”

Despite saying that, the man in red interpreted his words differently as a teasing smile graced his features. “San Lang is honoured that ge ge misses me so much.” A low chuckle rumbled in his chest. “But do I get something in return if I help?”

Xie Lian blinked at their unexpected proximity. Their bodies were flushed together, the arm cladded in red tight – possessive – around his waist and the other hand was caressing his pink cheeks. Baby Mu Qing was still held firmly in his grip, crying even louder at the sudden shameless public affection, as though he was showing his utter displeasure at his previous master being so smitten with the demon. His eyes glazed over at the thought of their current position; Him in his lover’s arms in a tight embrace with an adorable baby in his arms between them while in Paradise Manor. Was this what it meant to have a ‘home’?

Baby Mu Qing turned around in Xie Lian’s hold, though albeit difficult, he managed enough to push at Hua Cheng’s chest with his chubby little fingers. His desperate cries filled the air and Xie Lian wasn’t sure if it was because baby Mu Qing didn’t like being sandwiched between affection or he just didn’t like Hua Cheng.

“Y-You… Uh…T-Tonight…” Xie Lian shyly looked up at Hua Cheng. What could he give him? There was nothing the demon didn’t have; every antique of every rarity, odd artefacts and beautiful art, and the one thing he could give… His eyes darted towards the cloud of babies where Quan Yi Zhen was trying to pacify every single one of his baby colleagues. Hua Cheng’s gaze followed his before they were averted back to his lover’s flushed cheeks. A knowing smile stretched his lips, a heated desire suddenly pooling in his body.

“You gotta use your mouth, ge ge. Or I wouldn’t understand what it is.”

Xie Lian’s blush deepened at the double entendre, burying his head into Hua Cheng’s shoulder. “But the babies…”

“Are babies. It’s fine.”

Xie Lian took a moment to respond but when he finally decided on the words…

“Ahhh! Your highness! Won’t you help!”

Xie Lian was jolted awake by Quan Yi Zhen’s plea and an idea spun in his mind. “San Lang, do you think they can drink cow’s milk?” Only because they couldn’t possibly kidnap new mothers or wet nurses and force them to feed the Heavenly Babies. Feng Xin especially might truly die on the spot.  

Hua Cheng hummed thoughtfully while crossing his arms. “It’s possible. They aren’t true babies after all. Just grown adults turned babies.”

“Oh, good! Do you have some here?”

The devilishly handsome man merely arched an eyebrow. “We’re in a city of ghosts. I don’t think we have milk here.”

“I’ll go get it!! I’ll go! Let me go!!” Quan Yi Zhen cried in the background, having eavesdropped on their conversation. At his tears, the babies were spurred on to cry louder. “Why do they keep crying!”

Xie Lian hurriedly left his lover’s embrace, gently taking a pouting Feng Xin from Quan Yi Zhen. “Alright. Make sure to buy lots!”

“I want fried chicken!” Feng Xin called out of nowhere.

Both adults: “…”

Feng Xin, “What the fuck? Who said babies can’t eat fried chicken?”

“…”

The thing was though, we haven’t said anything.

Feng Xin was about to swear up another storm when his first words died in his throat, unhappy gurgling escaping his mouth instead. Upon noticing his predicament, tears started to pool in his eyes and baby Feng Xin proceeded to summon a wailing storm.

“They must be really hungry. Hurry up and get some milk.” Xie Lian then sighed mentally.

Quan Yi Zhen gratefully took up the task and bolted out of the manor, leaving behind his crying colleagues with no remorse. When he left, Xie Lian turned to sigh again at the crying babies still tied securely by Ruoye. Some were beginning to quiet down, too spent to cry anymore before turning back to Hua Cheng with the two babies in hand. “Were you contacting someone?”

“En, just calling for extra help,” he smiled while dropping his arms to his side.

Soon, a new figure appeared in the room, silent steps bringing in a familiar handsome face into the room. Surprise flashed over Xie Lian’s face as he waved for him to come over with a grin. “Yin Yu! You’re alright!”

Yin Yu bowed his head in greeting, though Xie Lian caught the faintest trace of a smile lingering on his lips. Ever since that incident with Jun Wu, Yin Yu had only been an empty shell without a soul, and he knew Quan Yi Zhen had been trying to help him recover, but –

“You succeeded!”

“Mm, we did. We finally found his soul,” Hua Cheng stood behind him as they smiled at the quiet former Martial God of the West. “Just in time as well.” Unwilling to dwell on the topic any longer, he immediately ordered, “Can you start baby-proofing the manor? As you can see,” he swept an arm out at the tear-stained babies, “Your old colleagues are a little… occupied.”

Confusion danced in his peach blossom shaped eyes, sharp and dark that were curtained by falling ebony locks. Truly a silent handsome man. He bowed his head in acknowledgement at the order.

“I’ll help!” Xie Lian exclaimed, thrusting the pair of old acquaintances into Hua Cheng’s arms.

The demon stared down at the babies who silently stared back up at him. He, the feared Crimson Rain Sought Flower, one of the Four Great Calamities, an infamous Devastation-class Demon in the Ghost World, a Supreme Demon King, also lord of Ghost City! ...Was now reduced to a mere babysitter. Of Heavenly Officials no less.

“Cry and I will drop you.”

“Do it. I dare you,” Mu Qing huffed with a roll of his eyes.

“Oh, so you can speak?” Hua Cheng raised the baby higher when a gurgling baby Feng Xin was patting his face while slung on his back. “Stop that!” But baby Feng Xin only exploded into a fit of mumbling giggles.

“Yes, I can,” Mu Qing rolled his eyes again.

The air between them was thick, heavily laced with an unshakable dominance. Hua Cheng’s fingers gripped tightly onto him, contemplating to actually drop him or not. Mu Qing’s face let out a smile as victorious as a baby could do when an evil grin slowly spread across the Demon King’s shadowed countenance, a bright orb gleaming.

“What are you doing? Don’t you – Ahhhh!”

A rush of wind blew in his ears as gravity mercilessly pulled him down, uncaring if he was a baby or not.

“Ahh, oop!” A low chuckle sounded at the back of Hua Cheng’s throat as he quickly caught onto the dropped baby, taking dark satisfaction at seeing the pale face, panic stricken Mu Qing. Baby Feng Xin was saying incoherent words, his slaps getting harder as though he disapproved of his actions. “Stop that!” Didn’t these two hate each other?

At his anger, Mu Qing’s jutted lips started to tremble, eliciting a wave of panic through Hua Cheng.

“Oh no. No. No no no -!”

“Waaaaaaahhhhhh!”

“Arghh…”

“…Waaaahhhhh!”

“Not you too!”

‘Why are they tag teaming on me!’

Hua Cheng grumbled under his breath under the tag team assault by his old acquaintances, crumbling under the pressure. “Okay, okay. I’m sorry. Stop crying.” Just as he said that, as though the pair of generals had colluded beforehand, they simultaneously paused their crying, the reprieve extremely short and fleeting, because they then proceeded to rub their snot-laced faces against his exquisite crimson robes.

Hua Cheng: “…”

Unbeknownst to Xie Lian of the battle of dominance, he was working hard with Yin Yu in baby-proofing the manor by first wrapping up the corners of the furniture. Next to him, Yin Yu was tearing strips and strips of old cloth, passing them to him to bundle up and press against the corners while Yin Yu then tried tying it to the furniture. When that was done, they pushed the table in the hall to the side and then proceeded to remove every sharp object in the main hall, every ceramic and glass items displayed while also taking off the decorative cloths that were laid across the tables where small grabby hands could potentially grip and pull, and cause mayhem. Got to save his lover from suffering a loss after all!

Xie Lian walked past a slightly panicking Hua Cheng with a tower of goods in his arms, perfectly balanced and on steady feet, towards the side room with Yin Yu close behind with a smaller tower of items. The Supreme Demon watched in horror as Xie Lian went walked away silently, sparing not even a glance at his poor husband (to-be!). Baby Mu Qing and baby Feng Xin snickered, each patting either side of his cheeks unhelpfully.

When Xie Lian walked back into the main hall, he noticed the softer cries and the faint resemblance of peace in Paradise Manor. Yin Yu stood quietly behind him, watching the now sobbing babies warily.

“Maybe we could get something to fence them in?” Xie Lian suggested.

“I think we have some wood leftover from when we were building the garden for QianDeng Temple. We could use that,” Yin Yu offered.

“Let’s use that then.”

At the sound of their voices, Hua Cheng immediately yelled, running up to them with behaving baby generals. “Wait! I’ll go!”

“Oh, it’s too much work, San Lang. I can do it,” Xie Lian said.

“No, no. It’s not a trouble at all. Let me help too, ge ge.”

Xie Lian hesitated, thinking that it was probably better Hua Cheng did do it. The man was better at carpentry and housework than him. “All... right. Then I'll look after the babies.”

Hua Cheng passed the babies over to Yin Yu, eliciting a confused response from Xie Lian. He smiled a smile void of mirth. It was more strained, laced with absolute relief. “Then I'll go make a fence. But before that, I think you need to eat something first.”

Xie Lian cried out in surprise when he was suddenly picked up and disappeared in a trail of silver butterflies. Back in the kitchen, he was already seated on a smooth lacquered chair. In front of him was a plate of steamed buns, still warm to the touch.

“Eat first, ge ge.”

Despite not having a mortal body anymore, he would still eat food from time to time, a habit he couldn’t really forego, especially if it was Hua Cheng’s buns.

“Will you eat as well?”

Hua Cheng took a bite of a steamed bun. “Yeah. Does it taste good?”

“It does! Of course, it does. Anything San Lang cooks always tastes so good.” Xie Lian was beaming, grinning wider with every bite of the bun, almost moaning at the taste. Flavours tickled his tastebuds and he quickly ate another.

A deep black eye watched him wordlessly, the dark depths sparkling bright in the dim kitchen, slender fingers lifting the bun to his lips slowly while he savoured the moment. It wasn’t long after that Xie Lian stood up in a hurry.

Hua Cheng stood up too and popped the remaining bun into his mouth. A hand then raised, fingers cloaked by a napkin and gently wiped the sauce soiling the corners of Xie Lian’s lips away. Folding the napkin, he patted down on his lips, alluringly red and captivating. He watched silently, time seemingly congealed at that moment as the hand holding the napkin froze near the cheeks. The lips pressed tightly together in a relaxed manner and parted just as slow and antagonising, glistening lightly with the sleek moisture of his saliva that he could just feel its caress upon his own.

A burning desire erupted from within, the heat burning at his skin. A pink tongue crept out, slowly tracing the bottom lip before sneaking back in and a fair finger tilted his head up by the chin.

“Like what you see?”

A deep whispered murmur, warm soft breaths kissing his parted lips. Their noses touched, strands of stray locks sliding down their cheeks in a tease. The finger fell to trace the muscular neck with just the gentle dip of a dragonfly’s wings, the same tongue stretching out to lick at his bottom lip and the distance between them shortened. Pearly white teeth replaced the tongue, nibbling and sucking, when the mouth tugged itself into a satisfying lopsided smile at the sharp fingers digging into his waist. Waves of lust trailed a blaze in his body, pooling deep in his stomach with a hard presence of arousal. All traces of sanity and logic melted into a puddle. An almost animalistic growl ripped from his throat, the vibrations clear under those fair fingers resting upon his neck.

And then he dove in, overwhelmed by the heavy wave of possessive want. He moulded their lips together into a familiar rhythm of tongues thrusting slick and wet, biting and sucking fervently in desire, when hands suddenly pushed lightly at his chest, forcing them to part.

Hua Cheng gazed down at Xie Lian, eye glazing over in a primal need at the sight of swollen lips, redder than before and slick with his taste.

“The babies –”

“Can wait.” Hua Cheng’s voice was no longer the smooth, gentle tone, warm and charismatic. It was deeper, low, demonic. A reminder that his lover was anything but a human; a demon that could wreck him.

Hua Cheng growled, “Don’t go.”

And then he pulled the smaller male up, bruising their lips into a deeper kiss, rougher with teeth grinding and saliva dripping down the corners. Pale large hands grasped onto the silky dark locks, pulling at the hips until there was not even a gap between them, until he made sure his lover was aware of the hard desire he had on him, the pure unadulterated lust sinking into his soul.

Xie Lian whimpered when Hua Cheng tore himself away from his mouth, mercilessly tugging and sucking at his lower lip; a returned treatment for before. His hand impatiently yanked at the collar, exposing fair skin under the shadows. His fingers curled, digging deep into the body as he sunk his teeth into the flesh, biting and sucked hard, leaving a trail of bruises down to his chest, next to fading love marks of days before.

“Ah, ah... San Lang!”

A hand snaked up his neck while the other tugged at his hair, and Hua Cheng reluctantly released his mouth from the skin with a wet pop. His gaze shifted from his art when he felt the cold brush of wind against his collarbone. A gasp escaped his parted lips, breathy and heavy, when Xie Lian latched himself onto the crook of his neck, kissing, biting and sucking, before licking at them.

“Ge –”

“Mmm,” Xie Lian hummed, face painted with a furious blush despite the utter familiarity of the actions. His hands kneaded at the muscular shoulders, thumbing the sides of the neck in a slow, sensual motion as he kissed up his throat, licking away at the heated sweat that beaded upon that snowy white skin.

“Ge – !”

It was at this moment a sharp wail suddenly pierced their minds, shocking them from the passionate bubble that had enveloped them. They stared at each other, the cries loud and clear in the kitchen. Hua Cheng drank in the sight of a dishevelled god, of messy hair and swollen lips, sprawled across the dining table with exposed skin, the robes draping off his shoulder in a teasing seduction. Pride welled up in him at the love bites that trailed on his body, a display of that Xie Lian was his and his alone. To dirty and to love, to possess and devour.

And he remembered a time when he would have apologised for this.

But not anymore.

Leaning forward and blatantly ignoring the cries, he cupped Xie Lian’s cheeks and tugged him into another kiss, this time softer and gentler, filled with all the love he could possibly give, and the former crown prince drank it all in greedily.

“There’s going to be murder if they don’t shut up,” Hua Cheng growled when they parted, just far enough that his lips murmured the words against the other’s. The unsatisfied desire curled in his stomach, an agony he didn’t want to bear.

Xie Lian tugged at the braid with the red pearl. “You can’t, San Lang. The world will riot.”

“They can go to hell,” he grumbled, dropping to his knees and buried his face into Xie Lian’s lap, arms winding around that thin waist like a little depressed child.

“I promised you tonight, didn’t I?” Xie Lian kissed the crown of his head and stroked the hair.

“Really, ge ge? Weren’t you worried before?” San Lang tilted his head to pout up at Xie Lian.

Xie Lian lovingly caressed his cheeks, gently trailing his fingers down the forehead, to the black eyepatch and the jaw. “Yes, I promise. But you got to build the fence first,” he added quickly as an afterthought.

Hua Cheng immediately jumped to his feet, gaze twinkling in excitement. His hands worked to right his lover’s clothes, covering his bruised skin properly, though one peeked out from the collar. Xie Lian returned the gesture with his clothes. “I'll build the fence now. It won’t take long.”

With one last deep kiss with the symphonies of tears in the background, Hua Cheng disappeared from the kitchen. A smile lingered on Xie Lian’s face while he fixed his hair. Grabbing another steamed bun, he left the place as well.

Upon re-entering the main hall, he closed all the connecting doors and then looked back at Ruoye, patting the trembling, equally sobbing cloth with a hand. “Thank you, Ruoye. You've worked hard.”

The silk rubbed itself against his open palm, the cloth slightly damp and still vibrating as though it was aggrieved by its current situation. Majority of its body was covered in drool, snot and tears.

“It’ll be over soon. San Lang’s gonna be ready with the fence soon.”

 He really wanted to release them, but thinking how they'll run around the main hall where there were steps leading to the black jade futon with more dark wood furnishings decorated the area, he already felt tired at the thought. He walked around his colleagues, some uttering words amidst themselves with the short recovery of their spiritual energy, a mist of confusion and panic wafting like a predator. Until he spotted one particular baby. It was odd; one arm looked limp, seemingly broken while a leg was bent in a painful manner. What made it odder was the form changing: with every small puff of white cloud, it would transform into a girl, feminine features of large doe eyes, innocent and pure, with soft lips painted on a rounder face and a smaller frame, but when the clouds dispersed once more, there would be a baby boy, wielding sharper features with charming eyes and elegant eyebrows where a playful smile graced his lips.

Xie Lian paused. Did that baby have that much spiritual energy? Seeing the transforming baby brought about old memories of the former Wind Master and a forlorn smile appeared.

‘It would be great if Shi Qing Xuan was here. I think he’ll enjoy this.’

Bang!

The main doors to Paradise Manor unexpectedly slammed open and in came Quan Yi Zhen with a heavy sack on his back, the ends tied around his neck. Sweat glistened on his skin, streaking down his forehead to finally kiss the floor with a drip.

“Your highness, I bought all that I could buy.” He wasn’t even panting when he returned. “I tried finding more but the shops started chasing me out!”

At seeing his return, the babies had quietened down, staring at him with hopeful, teary eyes.

“We’ll feed them now.”

Quan Yi Zhen carefully set the sack on the floor, the cloth unfurling to reveal ceramic bottles upon ceramic bottles stacked atop each other.

“If it’s not enough, I can catch some cows!”

Laughter rang when an image of the martial god running in the fields trying to catch milk cows appeared in Xie Lian’s mind. “It’s alright. This should be enough!”

They grabbed a bottle each, uncorking it as they stared at the expectant babies. They stared back.

“Qi Ying?”

“Yes?”

“Do you know how to feed babies?”

“How am I supposed to know!? I thought you knew how!”

“I've never had to care for a baby before! A child, yes. But not... this.”

“I only know how to fight! Oh, no.”

Xie Lian looked over at Quan Yi Zhen trembling. Were those... tears? ‘Oh, gods and Buddha’s. Please bless us in our current...’ And his thoughts ended there.

Weren’t the gods sitting right there before him?

Xie Lian, “...”

“Ge ge, why are you standing there?”

Xie Lian spun on his heel, as though he just met his saviour. “San Lang! Do you know how to feed babies?”

“Ah,” Hua Cheng replied as he hefted planks of finished wood into the room with Yin Yu in tow, still fastened with the slings. Baby Mu Qing and baby Feng Xin were oddly behaving. Probably because of E-Ming’s presence whose lone eye was curved in a crescent moon in bliss. He settled the wood on the ground. “You'll need a feeding bottle to feed them. I should have one lying around. Somewhere...”

He started rummaging around the main hall, not finding it anywhere.

“Maybe in the side room?” Xie Lian piped up. “I did move a lot of your things there.”

Hua Cheng nodded and left for the next room, returning soon after with a terracotta bottle in his hand. It was fitted with a pouring spout, small enough for the babies and a handle on the side to hold. “Here, ge ge.”

“Thank you, San Lang. You’re a lifesaver.”

The compliment tugged at his lips. “It’s nothing. Just some trash that I picked up for fun many decades ago.”

Xie Lian took the bottle and quickly washed it thoroughly in the kitchen. When he came back, there was already a meter-tall fence surrounding the babies built in the main hall, boxing them in. He called out to Ruoye who happily flew towards him and wrapped itself around his arm whilst still shaking like a leaf. Whispering it a word of thanks and affectionately rubbing it, Xie Lian hurried back to Quan Yi Zhen who was cradling the milk bottles.

Yin Yu came over, sitting before Xie Lian and holding baby Mu Qing and baby Feng Xin in each arm, blatantly ignoring Quan Yi Zhen’s “Shi-xiong!”

It’s perfectly fine to play favouritism, right? His old friends get to go first.

Quan Yi Zhen carefully poured the milk into the feeding bottle with a pout at being ignored, which Xie Lian then held while his gaze darted between the two generals.

But who first?

Baby Mu Qing, seeing the hesitation, stretched out his little arms, gurgling in dissatisfaction.

Baby Mu Qing first it was.

Lifting the feeding bottle, Xie Lian carefully fed baby Mu Qing, his mouth latched onto the spout as the milk slowly poured out bit by bit while baby Feng Xin grumbled in dissatisfaction, swatting at baby Mu Qing while he fed. Periodically, Xie Lian would remove the stout so baby Mu Qing could fully swallow the milk before continuing until it refused anymore. Immediately after, Xie Lian repeated the same actions with baby Feng Xin. Of course, baby Mu Qing returned the favour of swatting him too.

When he was done, he noticed that both the generals were getting sleepy.

“Your highness, let me.” Yin Yu offered, taking the feeding bottle away from Xie Lian, who in turn took hold of both babies into his arms.

When Yin Yu stood up, Xie Lian said, “Oh, I forgot to wipe the stout just now. Remember to wipe it after feeding each baby.”

Probably shouldn't ever mention of their indirect kiss ever too, Xie Lian noted mentally.

Yin Yu nodded, walking away with Quan Yi Zhen in tow. Xie Lian began absentmindedly patting both babies on their backs as they leaned against his chest with chins on his shoulders.

“Ge ge, be careful. They might vomit on you,” Hua Cheng appeared and placed a cloth between the chins and shoulders while Xie Lian continued patting them. Almost as if on cue, baby Mu Qing and baby Feng Xin burped, bits of white liquid filled with bubbles escaping and falling onto the cloth. Hua Cheng carefully wiped their mouths clean as they descended into a sweet slumber.

He turned to catch Xie Lian’s gaze, full of tender love, and he leaned forward to peck his cheek before kissing him on the lips, lingering a little longer for that bit more of warmth.

And so the night went on.

Each baby was fed until they were all full, patted till they burped and cleaned, and they fell asleep all over the makeshift pen. Pillows, lots and lots of pillows and thick blankets were brought out to lay out on the ground, shifting the little ones until they were settled nicely and comfortably. Well, Yin Yu and Quan Yi Zhen did the work; Xie Lian was still stubbornly carrying the baby generals in his arms (since he doesn’t get this chance very often!), secured in the slings while Hua Cheng rubbed his back.

Most of the milk was used up, with only a few bottles remaining. The pair of Shi-xiong and Shi-di leaned against a wall, facing the sleeping babies with heavy eyelids. Taking care of babies tired them out even more than cultivating!

“Put them down, ge ge. You're tiring yourself out,” Hua Cheng whispered, hands expertly kneading at the shoulder blades and back.

“Just a little longer,” Xie Lian whispered back, tenderly staring at the sleeping faces. Their lips were slightly parted, their breaths soft with cheeks flushing a light pink. “They’re quite adorable like this.”

Hua Cheng, “I agree.”

Xie Lian turned his head to catch Hua Cheng’s gaze on him and whispered, “I meant the babies.”

“Hmm? Oh, yeah. They are too I guess.” Hua Cheng nuzzled Xie Lian’s cheek with his own. “When am I going to get rewarded ah, ge ge?”

Xie Lian blushed at the tone of his whisper and the breath tickling his ear. Lifting a hand, he brushed a lock of hair behind his ear before resting it on Hua Cheng’s head. He kissed his forehead and gently said into the pale skin, “Alright then, San Lang. You'll have me whole night long. I am yours hereafter.”

Hua Cheng’s grip tightened and Xie Lian had to softly placate him to let go, but the man didn’t want to let go until, “Would you rather I bring Mu Qing and Feng Xin together with us?”

Hua Cheng froze at the thought.

As Xie Lian stood up, stretching his numb muscles as the blood suddenly found bigger pathways to flow, prickling his nerves, Hua Cheng mumbled under his breath, “I wouldn’t mind if it was our kid...”

“Hmm? Did you say something, San Lang?”

“No, no. I didn’t. Are you ready?”

Xie Lian fluffed one of the pillows and gingerly set the babies down to lie together. They squirmed a little at the lack of warmth, faces twisting to cry when they turned over into a comfortable position and snuggled deeper into the corner of the blanket he tucked over them. “Goodnight,” he whispered and stood up.

“Okay, San –” His words were swallowed with the flash of silver and he felt gravity pull at him as he was dropped onto the large bed in the bedroom chamber. The room was dark, illuminated only by the pale light of the crescent moon by the window. A silver butterfly fluttered, landing towards a candle and it abruptly burst into flames, casting a warm glow on their silhouettes.

With a chuckle, Xie Lian smiled and snaked his arms around Hua Cheng’s neck who slowly crawled closer like a predator, eyes sparkling with desire at its cornered prey; an unshakable pride. “Miss me that much?”

Hua Cheng growled at the teasing tone in his voice. With a knee between Xie Lian’s legs, he moved his head closer to his, trapping the man with his arms. Xie Lian tilted his head to receive the kiss, only to whimper in confusion when Hua Cheng continued on his trail to stop by the flower behind his ear. He breathed in, taking in the still sweet scent of the full bloom.

“You like teasing me, don't you?”

Xie Lian squirmed at the tone. Deep. Dark.  Demonic. A tone that promised a lot of things he could only fulfil in the bedroom, in their sanctuary; of unspeakable pleasure that burned every inch of his skin, begging, begging for that release, a release he’d receive on command.

A shiver tore through his body when expert hands began to undress him in a slow crawl, tracing the exposed skin with light caresses. There was a nibble on his ear before the lips dragged its tongue down the curve, stopping by the earlobe, licking and sucking. Equally slow. Equally torturous. Xie Lian moaned at the mix of hot saliva and cold caresses, his body flushing red at the treatment.

“San Lang...”

Hua Cheng shushed him, a hand moving to cover Xie Lian’s eyes, plunging him into further darkness as lips drew a blazing trail on his skin. His other hand sunk into the clothes, pushing them away and the fingers rubbed against the exposed shoulder, letting the robe fall off.

Xie Lian carefully raised his hands, feeling for Hua Cheng in the dark. At the soft touch of his robes, he then confidently let them roam, caressing the neck, his chest, the abdomen... until he felt the belt around the waist. Fingers tugged at the clothes, scrambling to pull it off when Hua Cheng removed his hand and instantly replaced it with a silk cloth, tying it behind his head.

“Why’d you stop? Did I allow you to stop?”

His voice was alluring, like a deadly flower that shines in the dark but poisons you at the touch. Addictive, seductive. Xie Lian shuddered, a gasp and a moan falling when teeth sunk into his neck, sharp canines scratching against the tender skin.

He moaned louder when a hand cupped his lower region, legs instinctively bending at the knees and spreading wider. He quickly unfastened Hua Cheng’s belt, letting the robes cascade freely. He couldn’t see, but he remembered every contour of that body, every small crevice and dips that his hands caressed, that his lips kissed before and when that body leaned into his, he could feel the growing arousal rubbing against his and his hips canted sweetly forward on reflex.

“We’ll take it slow tonight,” Hua Cheng mumbled near his ear, pulling his hips back and Xie Lian whines in slight objection, wrapping his arms around his neck. “No rush, ge ge. You’re mine tonight.”

Xie Lian raised his head and nipped at his neck, hands trailing down the spine and pushed the robes away, causing them to pool around the middle of his back, halting on their journey down by the sleeves on his arms. Hua Cheng pressed down on him once more, hips grinding against each other, causing Xie Lian’s moans to grow in number, crying for more before devouring the sounds with a kiss, forcing him into submission as their minds were lost in the wet slide of tongues and raw hunger.

“More? You want more?” Hua Cheng asked, lifting both of Xie Lian’s arms above his head and held it there with a hand. “Tell me.”

“I – I...” Teeth grazed against his neck, the canines especially sharp, kisses especially hot with the heightened senses. “San Lang... I-I want – nnngh...”

“You gotta use you mouth, your highness.”

Xie Lian could feel his smirk against his skin as his head thrashed left and right, panting at feeling the tongue trailing so close to his clothed erection where his other hand teased. His mind was in a haze, all he wanted was more, more and more warmth, for his heat to press inside him, to make him tremble and twitch. “I want you. I want you in me,” he breathed out, grinding harder, the increased friction causing small waves of pleasure to roll. Low chuckles sounded next to his ear and he whimpered at the absence of his body. A demand.

“Show me.”

In a surge of confidence dancing with lustful pants, Xie Lian’s tugged his hands out of Hua Cheng’s loosening grip and pushed at his shoulder, effortlessly flipping their positions. He closed his eyes behind the blindfold and calloused hands began to worship the man like the Supreme Demon demanded. He kissed those soft lips, drawing a line down to the defined jaw before scouring every inch of the body with practiced ease with wet licks while his hips rolled forward and fingers greedily kneaded onto the hard muscles.

Hua Cheng watched with a heated desire in his gaze, the feral lust burning hotter the more he kissed, the more he marked; The lower he went.

“Your highness...” he moaned and arched his body into the touch massaging his still clothed erection.

They faintly registered the sudden crack of tears wailing in the night, a distant cry lost in their hazy passion. And they continued without a pause.

Xie Lian’s lips paused at the hem of the pants, the musky scent assaulting his senses while his hand continued massaging the hard muscle, an uncomfortable desire pulsing in his arousal. His hands spread to the side, sliding down the smooth skin to his bottom while he bit onto the hem, tugging it down.

“Waaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!”

A sharper, louder cry shook the walls, shocking even Xie Lian. The man jumped in fright, releasing his hold and touch on Hua Cheng, head swivelling around to stare at the direction of the main hall.

“I'm going to murder them.”

“No! San Lang, don’t!” Xie Lian hurriedly yanked the blindfold down, ignoring it as it rested on his collarbone and turned back to Hua Cheng. His consequent words died in his throat, suddenly dry and parched. The devilish man himself stared back, silky raven strands cascading before his face, the murderous aura sharp and overbearing. He was still lying on the bed, only upright with his elbows where the layers of crimson and white robes pooled halfway down, revealing skin of snowy white that trailed down to the lowered pants, the erection partly clear and glistening for him to see. From where it hadn’t dried were sleek shimmers of his saliva having tasted the sweat on the skin and traced the contours. The scene brought shivers down his spine, the desire for the man growing, hard and uncomfortably strained in his pants. It was a dark seductive picture, where the man in focus commanded an unyielding power, holding the pride he carried for countless deaths on his hands while holding the wanton desire for only one man.

Hua Cheng glowered him, inattentive to the worship shining in Xie Lian’s eyes, his frosty aura causing the temperature in the room to drop by tens of degrees. His own gaze was instead locked on his lover’s body, counting every mark of his he placed, the messy appearance of drooping robes filling his murderous one. His. It was all his.

And he wanted to consume, take it all in with the feral desire snapping back and forth, but –

Xie Lian climbed back onto the bed, slow and careful, catching the one eye with his as he did. He straddled the man, nestling his ass onto the erection and leaned to kiss the tightly pursed lips, coaxing them open with gentle nips and sucks of his lips. Hua Cheng responded immediately. A hand flew to grip Xie Lian's hair, harshly pulling him down to deepen the kiss. Hua Cheng shifted to fully lie back down on the bed, arm snaking to grope at the raised round ass and Xie Lian followed in acquiescence, shifting higher and closer. The room was filled with breathless moans and unsatisfied growls as lips mashed in perfect harmony, with the battle of tongues and relentless dominance.

Nails dug deep into fair skin, marks riddled the pale skin. Their hands roamed wildly, the fire burning in them steadily growing.

“Waaaaahhhhhhhh...!!”

The one dark eye snapped open, the dimmed killing intent flashing with renewed thirst when his partner froze in the kidd. The feral growl rumbled deep in his chest, the vibrations running along Xie Lian’s skin and into his nerves when the furious man pulled away and wrapped his arms around him in a tight possessive squeeze. “I'm going to fucking murder them.”

His erection pressed uncomfortably in his pants, aching for that pleasurable comfort, but the crying grew in volume, shattering the passionate haze they created.

Xie Lian dropped his head onto the bare chest with a dejected sigh. Even he suddenly lost the mood for a sex filled night. While absentmindedly drawing circles with a finger on the skin, he snuggled into the embrace and muttered, “I'll go see what’s wrong.”

“No,” Hua Cheng growled, squeezing him tighter.

Xie Lian didn’t reply, tacitly understanding his lover’s raging bloodlust. Instead, his finger continued to draw circles with a pout, sensing the rise and fall of his strong chest. Ghosts didn’t need to breathe but he had realised later that the man still held the habits of when he was alive, of calming his bloodlust with controlled breaths for when he couldn’t kill. Pretty cute, if he was being honest.

“Ge ge,” the voice was strained and Xie Lian hummed in a questioning reply. “Let’s not have babies.” He quickly corrected, “Let’s get married but we’re not having babies.”

Xie Lian couldn’t help but laugh at the request, the mirth a sparkling magical powder that eased his desire for blood, for murder. Scooting up to nuzzle Hua Cheng’s neck, he breathed out, “Yes.”

Hua Cheng quirked a brow and glanced down. “Yes to marrying me or yes to not having babies?”

“Yes,” Xie Lian laughed a bellyful of joy, burying himself deeper into the embrace.

Hua Cheng let out a sound of confusion before finding himself infected with the laughter. He dropped the subject and kissed the crown of his head, murmuring, “I love you.”

Xie Lian preened under the affection. “Mm, I know. I love you too.”

They both pointedly ignored the crying, thinking that either Martial Gods of the West, former or not, could handle it. They lied there on the bed, robes still untouched and pooled on ruffled sheets, while basking in the silent comfort of their love.

That was... until a hesitant knock rapped against the door.

And the bloodlust instantly returned, sharp and piercing like the scimitar he wield. “You have to the count of three to explain!”

From the other side of the door came Quan Yi Zhen’s trembling voice. “I... I...”

“One.” He growled, low and threatening.

“Y-Your highness!”

“Two!”

“The babies aren’t hungry and I don’t know what else to do!” Quan Yi Zhen rushed the words out of his mouth in a string of panic.

Xie Lian could hear the tears in that voice and he looked up at Hua Cheng shaking with fury. “Let’s go see what’s wrong?”

Hua Cheng held his stare, unwilling to back down, but when those pair of red swollen lips, courtesy of him, jutted out into a wronged pout and large tender eyes blinking slowly at him, he found the feral instinct waning. He sighed with a grumble, tearing his eyes away and said, “Alright...”

And so, they stood up to make themselves proper when Hua Cheng stripped him bare, peeling the robes off his body with such care that made Xie Lian flush. He was left in only the pants that hung low on his hips. “San Lang?”

“You’re not going out like that,” he growled lightly before simply grabbing a pair of his own robes and Xie Lian quickly looked at his robes, scanning over the material when he caught the holes riddling his robes. They were torn by the sharp nails, strong fingers, forgotten in their lust.

Hua Cheng then gingerly dressed Xie Lian in it.

With every layer, he would tease the god, his actions so flirtatious and sensual that Xie Lian’s cock twitched in anticipation. From licking his neck to trailing kisses across his jaw, cold hands would press into his muscles as the silk nestled on his body, running a delightful shudder in his body. When Hua Cheng was done, he stepped back to admire his work, the crying babies faint in the background. The Flower Crown Martial God that always looked heavenly in white was especially ravishing in that fiery red, burning brighter with the orange candle glow, reminding him of the night back at the mountain where his highness was dressed in the auspicious red wedding robes, a veil over his head...

Xie Lian chuckled, adoring the new look. The robes were slightly long, trailing on the ground but they were soft, and he sighed happily when he breathed in, his senses filled completely with Hua Cheng’s scent.

After he helped right Hua Cheng’s robes, they walked out of the chamber and bumped into a whimpering Quan Yi Zhen by the door, hair messier than before and robes rather wrinkled. If he thought the red robes on Xie Lian were strange, he didn’t dare comment.

“They’re all monsters! They won’t stop crying!”

The esteemed martial god, a man of strength and confidence, reduced to... this.

“Hey now, I think real monsters might be offended by that,” Hua Cheng smiled.

“Crimson Rain Sought Flower, I'm not joking! I rather take ten of you on than babysit babies ever again!”

“Oh? Are you calling me weak?”

Quan Yi Zhen hurriedly backpedalled. “N-No! I'm not! It just means I rather get thrashed by you!”

Hua Cheng snorted, placing an arm around Xie Lian’s shoulders as he led them out. “Then a one of me is enough. No need for ten.”

Quan Yi Zhen nodded his head in eager agreement and followed them like a puppy while Xie Lian shook his head helplessly with a smile.

Out in the main hall, Yin Yu was frantically trying to placate the babies but they were having none of it, throwing whatever pillows they got a hold on at him. Despite being babies, they were still heavenly officials of their own right, and those martial god’s pillow attacks hurt.

“What's wrong? Weren’t they sleeping peacefully just now?”

“I'm not sure! One of them suddenly woke up crying and he wasn't hungry! He made the other babies start crying!” Quan Yi Zhen explained, having no shame in hiding behind the couple, head sticking out a little to glare at the small monstrosities of his colleagues.

“Show me.”

They carefully wadded through the throng of babies until they reached that one particular baby, surprising Xie Lian. It was that one baby that reminded him of Shi Qing Xuan, where an arm and leg seemed broken, and that theory held true. They were broken. The baby wailed and thrashed about, but those two limbs remained unmoving.

“Did any of them speak?” Maybe there were a few that had spiritual energy to use!

“No. I tried that too. All they did was cry and smother snot all over me.”

On that note, Hua Cheng pulled Xie Lian away and stood outside the fence, far from the snot-laced individuals.

“If he’s not hungry, maybe they want some toys?” Xie Lian pondered out loud, finding no fault in that action.

“I don’t have toys in my manor.” Hua Cheng frowned, staring intently at the baby.

“I'll... go up to see if there are toys for them then. They should have some things they like in their own palaces,” Xie Lian sighed. “Qi Ying, come with me.”

Going up naturally meant returning to the Heavenly Court. And so they did.

They scoured every inch of the hundreds of palaces, looking for things that won’t break or stab. It was easier for the literature gods, with smaller trinkets and pouches, but for the martial gods, it seemed like they all fancied their stabby blades. When they were finally done, the sun had already started waving from across the horizon, a small peek from the clouds and staining it pink before the colours darkened into warmer hues.

Yet, when the pair descended into Ghost City with sacks of toys, there was a distinctive lack of crying. The doors slid open silently and they were met with an unthinkable sight. The babies were all sleeping soundly and peacefully in the pen. Frozen by the door, dawn stretching their shadows long into the manor, Xie Lian and Quan Yi Zhen saw the gentle flaps of silver wings drifting across the babies, a cloud of shimmering light, tender and mellow in the darkness. Yin Yu sat by the wall, looking exceptionally tired and grateful for the reprieve. Xie Lian looked over to the man lying across the black jade futon, crimson robes spread across the furniture, a teasing smile on that handsome face and head held up by his knuckles. “Ge ge, you’re back. Welcome home.”

Xie Lian was filled with warmth at the words. Smilingly, he said, “Mm, I’m home.” The shared a warm smile, unspoken words shining in their gazes before he turned to the pen. “This…”

Hua Cheng smiled and gestured at the sleeping babies before him. With his higher position above the steps, he looked exactly like a father watching over his little minions. “Oh, this? It’s a little something I just learned just now.”

Just as he said that, a baby kicked his legs, squirming in his sleep and a sock slipped from her tiny feet. As though she was electrocuted by the sudden cold on her foot, the baby woke up, water immediately pooling in her eyes. She sniffled and sobbed, mouth falling open to cry when there was a rush of wind and a shadow crouching before her. Xie Lian and Quan Yi Zhen watched in amazement, mouth parting open, when Hua Cheng appeared by the baby and quickly put the sock back on. The baby, comforted by the returning warmth of its own sock, calmed and drifted back into sleep.

Hua Cheng stood up and walked over to his stunned lover, effortlessly taking the sack from his hands and slung it over his shoulder. He grabbed Xie Lian’s hand with the other and tugged him onto the black jade futon to rest. On the way, Xie Lian saw a large figure donned fully in black sitting in a corner, a small baby in his arms.

“Why is he…”

“I called him over to take care of his own mess,” Hua Cheng replied lightly.

“But…”

“That baby is your friend,” Hua Cheng laid back down in the same position on the futon, sack of toys on the floor and played with Xie Lian’s hair.

Xie Lian observed the baby closely. Really, only one person came into mind. “Shi Qing Xuan?”

Hearing his name being called, the baby with the broken limbs started to wiggle in He Xuan’s embrace and the Supreme Demon raised his head to glare at Xie Lian while he awkwardly tried to shift Shi Qing Xuan into a more comfortable position.

If he wakes up, I’m going to eat you. Was what Xie Lian felt from that glare, but he must have just been dreaming.

“Ge…”

It wasn’t Hua Cheng who spoke, no. Everyone had stiffened at the voice, so soft, so sad, so frightened that it tugged at Xie Lian’s heartstrings. He Xuan’s gaze was hard, body tense. He slowly retracted his glare and looked at the baby – no, the man he destroyed. Cradling him tighter, he brought the small one higher and placed his forehead against his, mutterings words under his breath with trembling shoulders, hoping that that could at least chase the nightmare away.

Turning his head back to Hua Cheng, Xie Lian frowned and buried himself deeper into his arms, softly mumbling, “How did Shi Qing Xuan turn into a baby? He wasn’t at the Heavenly Court?”

Hua Cheng hummed nonchalantly, listening to the declining voice while he twirled the hair between his fingers. “I don’t know. He wouldn’t tell. But he must have lent some spiritual energy to him in the first place.” Pulling Xie Lian closer, he led him to lie in his embrace and rubbed soothing circles on his back. “Sleep first, ge ge. It’s already morning.”

“Huh? Oh… but…”

Long fingers swept over his eyes and Hua Cheng hushed his lover while scooting closer and kissed his hair. “Goodnight, ge ge.”

There was no room for protest. An acquiescent caress of his voice, humming through to his heart. The main hall descended into silence. Silver butterflies still inaudibly fluttered above the babies with watchful eyes, the light almost a sweet twinkling in the dark before they gradually dispersed at the certain calm.

Quan Yi Zhen’s steps paused by Yin Yu, who peeked an eye open. “Shi-xiong,” he whispered, barely audible as though afraid.

Closing his eyes, Yin Yu relaxed against the wall and muttered, “Sleep.”

Seeing as he wasn’t avoided or thrown aside, Quan Yi Zhen happily took the seat next to him and laid his head against the wall, closing his eyes for finally a well-deserved sleep.

Outside, the blossoms danced, the field of flowers rustling, their petals twirling around the manor like a warm protection. The time passed by peacefully, the winds sang a tune of ease, of tender love and affection, of a moment of peace that they sought after a tiring day. Enveloped by a honey embrace, a ginger touch, or a heavy comfort past the years of suffering and pain misunderstandings, there was something beautiful drifting within the Paradise Manor, something that tugged at their lips in silent laughter.

Not a human, God, Buddha or ghost dared to disturb the peace that encased the hall, and it was when the sun rose past its zenith that a small whimper sounded. The blazing sun’s rays had begun to burn hotter, the air in enclosed in the hall boiling. With one cry, came another, and soon all there came groaning and complaints clicking across the room.

“The hell… why is your foot on my face?”

“Get off me! You’re heavy.”

“Ah… it’s so hot!”

Bleary eyes opened, some in confusion but mostly in annoyance.

“He-xiong!” A voice called out.

Xie Lian looked over at He Xuan’s direction, seeing an adult Shi Qing Xuan cradled in the ghost’s embrace. The voice might have sounded cheerful, but there was a tinge of sadness, a pain hidden in its depths. Shi Qing Xuan looked better than he did before, clothes a more refined cut, of cleaner fabric and his hair was combed neatly, unlike the nest when they reacquainted themselves. The other Supreme Demon shied away from Shi Qing Xuan’s touch, flashes of memories they shared playing in his mind.

Memories that weren’t his.

“He-xiong…”

Yet when he heard that voice call out a name, a name that was his, his tense shoulders relaxed ever so slightly, accepting of the touch Shi Qing Xuan laid on his arm.

Xie Lian’s attention was then torn away from the pair by the thundering clamour in the pen that was now destroyed and lying in splinters. Within the fencing laid all the Heavenly Officials, not as babies no. Long, fully grown limbs, large robes and sharper voices screaming at realising limbs of their colleagues strewn across their bodies.

“What the fuck! Why are you sleeping next to me!”

“Like I know! Who’d want to sleep with you!”

Xie Lian sighed as Feng Xin and Mu Qing broke out into a fight from having slept a little too-close-for-comfort next to each other. Horror drew on their faces at seeing the other’s face mere inches away before the first punch flew.

“Is it bad if I want to turn them into babies again?” he asked the man still leisurely holding him by the waist.

“Yes,” came the immediate reply as the grip tightened. His tone was flat, with no room for discussions, “No more babies.”

Xie Lian, “But they were quieter and obedient that way. We can’t watch them kill each other like this!”

Hua Cheng, “But I’d love to watch them kill each other.”

Xie Lian glanced at him from his lower position with a flat stare and in a vapid tone, he said, “Try again.”

The grin blossomed on Hua Cheng’s face, widening until it reached his eyes, ignoring the shrieking and fighting in his manor and he obediently said, “I won’t watch them kill each other.” And he then added, “But ge ge, you can’t possibly want babies, do you?”

“Why not? They’re cute.”

“They’re little demons.”

Xie Lian rolled his eyes. “And I’m in love with a Demon King.” Seeing Hua Cheng glow with pride, the man snuggled deeper into his embrace. “We’ll talk about it after our wedding.”

A loud crash thundered and there was a twitch in Hua Cheng’s smiling expression. He waved a hand and a silver butterfly flew out from his vambraces, zipping through the air and weaving through the noisy crowd in one straight line. Instantaneously at the sight of the silver stream, the hundreds of Heavenly Officials froze on the spot at vividly remembering just exactly where they were. Nervously, they all turned to the Supreme Demon King slowly. E-Ming that had been obediently staying calm by his side narrowed his eye, an aura of bloodlust consuming the Heavenly Officials.

“C-Crimson Rain Sought Flower, is - is there anything you want?” a braver Heavenly Official piped up, though his voice sounded more like a frightened squeak of a mouse.

None dared to lift their eyes to lay upon the king, or his queen in red beside him. At that moment, their strongest Heavenly Official was not their colleague, their friend, but the partner of the most feared Supreme Demon.

“If you’d like to help me plan a wedding, then stay,” Hua Cheng lifted his head to smile mirthlessly at the crowd, a hand moving to grip E-Ming’s hilt. He waved it in the air, inspecting its sharpness before looking at the officials. “Otherwise, scram.”

“Y-Y-Yes, sir!”

In a puff of cloud, the main hall was swiftly emptied, leaving only some behind. Hua Cheng turned to He Xuan who was no longer cradling Shi Qing Xuan. “Why are you still here?”

“I’m hungry.”

Hua Cheng’s smile grew while his eyes narrowed further, “You still owe me.”

“No money. Ask me next time,” the Black Water Demon waved his hand dismissively.

Hua Cheng deadpanned before turning to the happy man in his arms. “Are you hungry?”

Xie Lian smiled at the whispered breath. “Mm, I am.”

“Alright. I’ll call for a feast,” he said while ignoring the indignant splutters from his fellow ghost.

Shi Qing Xuan grew excited. “Can I join!?”

Xie Lian laughed and replied, “Of course! Qi Ying, you stay too.”

The younger man nodded his head a few times, his curly locks bouncing with the motions. “I’ll stay if Shi-xiong stays.”

“Idiot, I live here.”

“Then, I’m staying too!”

After calling for a feast, Hua Cheng glanced down at his lover in contentment. “Now,” he thumbed a petal of the flower that somehow stayed tucked behind Xie Lian’s ear, “Where were we? Oh, yes. Our wedding.”

Xie Lian’s skin tingled blissfully when soft lips kissed his forehead.

“Ge.”

He burst into giggles when Hua Cheng nuzzled his cheek. “You haven’t even proposed!”

“Ge ge.”

Hua Cheng smiled and moved to his nose, pecking it lightly before rubbing it with his.

“I love you, your highness.”

The words teased his lips in a warm breath, stunning Xie Lian stupid as his ears grew redder. Hua Cheng kissed his eyelashes tenderly.

“Every part of you, every inch. I love them all.”

Cupping a cheek with his hand, the icy touch a blissful tingle upon Xie Lian’s warm skin, he rested his forehead against his.

“For better or for worse, I will be here for you. Let me love you in this lifetime. And the ones after that.” A shuddering caress grazed upon Xie Lian’s skin and he thought he might have seen a faint silvery trace of a tear cascade down his cheek, but ghosts couldn't cry, right? He cupped Hua Cheng’s face into his palms, hoping the slight reciprocation was indicator enough that he still wanted him – wanted Hua Cheng – as he continued to listen to the deep voice with an open heart.

“In my heart, there is only you. There can only be you. I want to protect you. I want to see your smile and wipe those tears everyday. Please –”

“Will you –”

He then kissed each cheek, one word for each, and Xie Lian felt the same slight tremble against his skin. Of fear? Of rejection? But his thoughts ended there when those same trembling lips covered his own, breathing out a proposal barely audible over the beating of his heart. “Marry me?”

Xie Lian took those hands into his, equally shaking like the lips he just tasted, and kissed the knuckles, before he bubbled with laughter, joy overflowing in his heart. His arms wound around Hua Cheng’s neck and he pulled the man down for another proper, deeper kiss. 

“For all of my lifetimes, I will always choose you! Yes!”

The kiss sealed their fates, the red robes they wore a beautiful ornament against the black jade; A painting of their wedding to come. The red string tied on their fingers was a silent reminder of all the bitter partings they survived, yet also a gentle welcome towards a new life, equally filled with courage and bravery and silent protection, never to be broken.

Ink, jet black ink that curved and danced with the grace of brushes penned their names, a stamp they couldn’t erase – wouldn’t erase. They were of two different worlds, a stark contrast of white and black, yet they blurred the lines together, finding a soothing comfort in knowing they had found someone in this life.

He might have been born as pure as the colour white, heavenly and holy, but shadows had gripped and latched onto him like relentless demons, yet he maintained his kindness – even if it was because of a single one.

He might have been born as a calamity as the colour black, misfortune and sacrifices his only friend, yet his heart remained pure of gold – even if it was only for a single one.

Because were they not born humans like a blank white canvas who learned to paint in black with every decision in life?

#hualianweek2k19 #fluff #domestic bliss #babies #HEAVENLY BABIES #hualian #slight beefleaf #fengqing #i got diabetes writing this #tian guan ci fu #��官赐福

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three--rings · 4 years

Text

TGCF Liveblog Chs 128-135

Previously.

Well it’s good I read this because I was busy formulating CRAZY theories about Lang Ying’s connection to Hua Cheng. I mean, I’m still freaking confused about Lang Ying in general, but yeah. Though this note really removes any of the impact of the reveal a few chapters later or at least the slow build of realization for the reader. Give the readers a CHANCE, MXTX-laoshi!

But seriously, Xie Lian’s soft feelings for Hua Cheng, how he misses him, is SO ADORABLE. There were like three places I nearly screenshot because he was being so cute, but...yeah. Don’t worry, I’m feeling it. And when he has realized Lang Ying is Hua Cheng and starts messing with him? That’s the best!

OMG, I MELT. Xie Lian seems so happy all the time, but here he’s confessing he actually wasn’t really happy until Hua Cheng came along. And now being happy is simple, OMG you guys!!!!

Anyway, plot wise, I have to admit I don’t really remember what was said about Quan Yi Zhen before. He’s a child? Or just young and childish? I am too lazy to go look, but I don’t get him.

And I swear I was just thinking to myself that I should mention in my next write-up that I don’t entirely trust Ling Wen RIGHT before it was revealed she’s behind this whole thing with the Brocade Immortal. I’m still waiting to find out WHY, though. Like what was the deal with that dude she murdered?

Anyway, I have to confess I’m tired of the joke about Xie Lian’s cooking. Like it was funny at first but it’s been repeated so many times and now the big fight scenes with Ling Wen betraying everyone involves throwing meatballs into everyone’s mouths and...I don’t know, I don’t enjoy that level of slapstick humor I guess. It just feels cartoony in a way that weakens my suspension of disbelief.

But I’m All In on the romance, though.

#tgcf #tcgf liveblog #tian guan ci fu #tgcf spoilers

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crowning-art · 3 years

Text

TGCF SPOILERS

---------

*DEEP INHALE* BOI

Let's get the fangirling out of the way first CUZ lots of plot stuff were thrown at me:

E'MING IS SO PRECIOUS, I JUST WANNA HUG IT AND GIVE IT A BLANKET AND PET IT FJDJDJDNNDD, I almost teared up at this part after E'ming accidently hurt Xie Lian:

That silver scimitar, hung upon the red robes, was shaking nonstop. The eye contoured by a silver line was also trembling. If it was the eye of a child, then this child, at that moment in time, must be bawling with tears.

Lol I still don't like how Feng Xin and Mu Qing treat Xie Lian, but it's nice to see them show their care once in a while (GET BEHIND THE SHIELD!!-when the butterflies came lol). It was also cute how they were so freaked out about Xie Lian's "kidnapping" and were at the forefront of trying to get him back

Lol Xie Lian, MY BOI, MY MAN, you gotta calm down with feeling up San Lang and falling into his lap at every chance u get smh (it's cute tho)

I love the wind master. Period.

Lol Hua Cheung's displeasure at Xie Lian's abstinence from promiscuity was hilarious

I wish the wind master hadn't picked the fight in the armoury CUZ I feel like Hua Cheung wouldn't have fought them

LQQ is seriously annoying

I felt so bad for Xie Lian who was feeling bad for burning up paradise manor lol. Tho I wonder what Hua Cheung was thinking as he watched him leave with his house burning behind him.

Even though Xie Lian was getting banished, he was still worried for Banyue and Lang Ying 😭😭

Lol, Xie Lian holding the silver butterfly while Mu Qing and Feng Xen are FREAKING out is the equivalent of that vine, "GET YOUR DOG!! it don't bite. YES IT DO!!!!"

I am ALLL for being swept away by Hua Cheung, but I'm not able to appreciate that scene cuz of the many questions I ahve and cuz I'm not over his confidence thooo, like he just walked into heaven, stole the love of his life away right in FRONT of everyone, and calmly left.

OKAY FUN STUFF IS OVER

OMG my mind is just trying to wrap around all that info thrown at me

Earth master doesn't give me good vibes. I DONT TRUST THE EARTH MASTER.

Why was Hua Cheung interrogating Lang Ying?? He was also giving him a weird look when Xie Lian was being friendly with him. From what I'm seeing, bandaged boi is veeeryyyy suspicious. No good vibes from him anymore.

WHY IS EVERYONE HATING ON JUN WU?? He keeps protecting Xie Lian?? Lol I burst out laughing at the part where they were talking about his ascension, and they said it so casually: the second time he even stabbed Jun Wu a few times. Like ummm....what??? U just gonna drop that and pretend it was never said???

Wow, when Hua Cheung took Xie Lian away from the palace, I wasn't sure what was going on, but he was so upset from hurting Xie Lian's arm! Why won't he touch Xie Lian tho??? Is it more psychological or an actual physical reason??

Oh boi

I was so thrown off by LQQ's allegation, like Xie Lian was a Goushi??? HE SLAUGHTERED EVERYONE AT THE BANQUET??? HE AGREED WITH LQQ THAT HE DID IT??? HIS dream about the whole event was through his eyes or someone else's?? I don't know, but the sword fighting was the biggest evidence right??? I just can't wrap my head around him being so cold. I have two theories: either he's protecting someone or he's made to look like the bad guy when he did it for a justifiable reason. I'm gonna go for the first one. OR he taught someone else those sword moves and they did the killing that he took the blame for (which aligns with my first theory). What if it was Hua Cheung who did the slaughter???? 👀👀👀

Also random thought, I wonder if Hua Cheung chose the name San Lang (third son) as a connection with Xie Lian's third ascension? Or am I just reaching in the dark here?

PLZ DONT ANSWER HALF THE QUESTIONS I ASKED LOL, IM JUST GUESSING AND THEORIZING

#tgcf #tian guan ci fu #heaven's official blessing #tgcf spoilers #hualian #Hua Cheung #San Lang #Xie Lian #tgcf journey

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