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#but also qi rong face reveal!!!!!!!
hualian · 4 months
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Hua Cheng (rightfully) fighting the Green Immor Qi Rong (in his own lair LMAO) 🦋 | Heaven Official’s Blessing S2 Ep8
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Hi! Can I request a Hua Cheng x bottom male reader x Xie Lian one shot? Maybe that the three of them are already in a relationship together. And maybe when they all go to Qi Rong's (the black water calamity) lair to kill him in that one chapter/episode, Before they start fighting Qi Rong starts flirting with reader and it makes HuaLian jealous as fuck. And so when they defeat him they drag reader back to the Puqi Shrine and reminds him who he belongs too 🤭
Also if possible can you make it smut?
Feel free to delete this ask if you want tho!
Look At Me
Hua Cheng x M!reader x Xie Lian
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Sorry it took so long I'm still in school guys 😞 at first I was confused because I thought you were talking about He Xuan because I was sure he was the black water calamity
I forgot the prince's name guys
I made up connections for Qi Rong and reader
Ignore grammar mistakes
Slight ooc?
Smut ahead!!!
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They knew it wasn't going to be easy, nor was it going to feel good. Hua Cheng has meant to find Qi Rong, reveal the truth to Lan Qin Qao, and continue on with their lives. Well, he just wanted to beat the shit out of Qi Rong for what he did to Xie Lian.
All of you went to Qi Rong's lair, and watched Hua Cheng beat Qi Rong's face into the ground. Then you all got to listen to the truth about the banquet. So far so good. 'good' is an emotional ride for everyone there. But that was the whole point anyways.
Everything was going as planned, in Hua Cheng's book anyways. Until Qi Rong started slandering Hua Cheng and Xie Lian. He started yelling about how Hua Cheng was Xie Lian's dog, and how Xie Lian is so pure he must've been blinded by it.
You have a deep past with Xie Lian, and a relationship with both men so of course you aren't happy to hear these things. Especially from Qi Rong. You used to be close with him, of course you were. He was Xie Lian's cousin so obviously you would've met him. Now look at Qi Rong. It was truly pitiful.
You were upset by the words Qi Rong was saying, he used to be such a good child for you. The things he was saying weren't fair to your lovers, you also didn't want to see Qi Rong get beat up anymore. Xie Lian and Hua Cheng already had a go at him.
"Qi Rong you've grown to have such a vulgar tongue, please be quiet." You weren't going to hit anyone, you're too sweet for that, so you could only ask him nicely. It's the first thing you've said since you've been here. You haven't said anything, rather staying quiet instead. You just didn't want things to escalate further.
You hadn't expected it to work, Qi Rong is. . . Unstable, to put it nicely. Plus he hasn't looked at you this whole time you doubt he remembers you at all. It's been so long.
Qi Rong snaps his head towards you and his giggling dies down. "Y/n? Y/n is it really you? What a wonderful reunion this is!" Even though Qi Rong had just been upset about 'people throwing a party in his lair'.
"Come closer, come closer I want to see your face y/n. It seems you've been by my high and mighty cousin all this time." He grins widely. You don't reply to that, you don't know what to say. You had gone to step forward though, to allow Qi Rong to see your face after all these years.
Xie Lian stopped you though. Where he usually is so hesitant to touch you has been thrown away, he pulls you by the elbow, behind him now. Xie Lian doesn't know why he does it. Anger? Jealousy? Selfishness? Protectiveness? Hostility? Who knows but he knows that him and Hua Cheng will lose it if Qi Rong dares to spit harmful words towards you.
But Qi Rong doesn't. He does the contrary, as if Qi Rong had really missed you. As if he had a right to your person. He laughs, finding it hysterical how Xie Lian pulls you behind him. How his big cousin is selfish even though he acts like the most selfless person to ever breathe. "Hahaha! Look at you big cousin! Look, look! You've always been selfish! Selfish!" He laughs and laughs against the ground.
Qi Rong looks at you, what he can see peaking over Xie Lian's shoulder anyways. "Y/n, Y/n I've missed you over these 800 years. You must've been blinded by big cousin's light too! His pureness and selflessness right?! You should come with me instead. I miss Y/n's pretty face I haven't seen it in so long!" And he dares to try and reach a hand to your robes.
You don't know if he's being honest in his words or if he's saying it to piss off your lovers. You wouldn't put it past him. "Qi Rong please" you hiss through your teeth. You had been so focused on Xie Lian that you had completely forgotten about the seething ghost behind you.
Hua Cheng's devotion to Xie Lian is admirable and his devotion to you is the same. Qi Rong very quickly finds his face being slammed into the ground again. It's a very gruesome sight and you didn't enjoy it all. Hiding behind Xie Lian and covering your ears as Qi Rong continues to roll your name over his tongue.
Things pass, and tensions increase. Eventually leading to Qi Rong being cut in half and thrown into boiling liquids. Even though Xie Lian drags you off, you can't help but stare where Qi Rong was thrown.
Once the three of you are out of the lair, you're all interrupted by Shi Qingxuan and Feng Xin. Feng Xin wants the two of you to come back to the heavens. To come home. He demands it actually, threatening Hua Cheng with his bow and arrow. Shi Qingxuan stops him though. You and Xie Lian get pulled behind Hua Cheng.
Once things smooth over with them and Hua Cheng bullies Feng Xin with blood rain, you were expecting to go back to the heavens with Xie Lian. The two of you do need to get up there and explain everything that has happened. Xie Lian and Hua Cheng decide differently though. Instead you're dragged off and your lovers are eerily silent, seething quietly. You don't know what to say, because you don't know why they're upset. So you don't say anything you let them drag you along.
They've taken you to Puqi shrine. You can only assume that maybe after such a tiring day, that everyone is missing home. Maybe your lovers just want to spend a few hours with you and have some peace. To make what happened earlier a distant memory. Your mind is quickly changed.
Your assumptions prove wrong when Xie Lian drags you through the door and shoves you down on the mat. "H-hey! What is wrong with you?" You look away. Xie Lian grips your jaw and snaps your gaze back towards him. "Look at me, don't look away again" Xie Lian has never treated you so roughly. You've known him a long time and he's always treated you carefully. Not even in bed does he usually dare to treat you so hard.
You try to gain your balance, and to get off of the floor. You're quickly pulled back by your shoulders and your back meets Hua Cheng's chest. Leaving you between your two, seething lovers. And you? You poor, oblivious thing. You don't even understand why.
"A-Lian, San Lang! Why are you acting like this!?" You're left with no answer besides Xie Lian practically tearing at your robes and San Lang pinning your back against his chest. He's not giving you the chance to move away. Not that you would anyhow.
Hua Cheng being angry, and upset is nothing new. It's concerning sometimes but he tends to pout a lot so you expect it. Seeing Xie Lian angry, is frightening. Well, not exactly but you haven't seen him angry in a long time but he's never been angry with you. Ever.
You're stripped quickly, and your hands shoot out to Xie Lian's face. Holding his face in your hands, making him look at you, forcing him to pause in his ministrations. "A-Lian, what's wrong?"
Xie Lian's brow furrows and he lets out a shaky breath. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry y/n" he huffs softly and holds your wrist. He moves his face to the side and kisses your palm. "Qi Rong was right I am selfish. I am, I shouldn't be but I can help it. But I'm selfish for good reasons" he moves closer, nipping at your neck. His usual soft kisses, become possessive bites.
"I have a right to claim you, to touch you. You're mine. You're San Lang's. You're ours" he hisses through his teeth and he bites your shoulder hard. His hands roam while he talks, spreading your legs and his oiled fingers prod at your hole. Where did he get a bottle of oil? When did he even do that?
San Lang makes himself busy by kissing you and shoving his tongue down your throat. Stealing your breath as if it were his. Not that he needs to breathe.
Xie Lian continues, "But what right does he have to claim you? To try and take you away from me, from us?" Xie Lian growls out, and presses fingers up against your prostate. It didn't take long for him to find it, he's explored you many times. It causes you to arch against San Lang's chest and moan into his mouth.
Xie Lian doesn't feel like being nice today though because his fingers continue to rub and curl up against your prostate. You squirm against them both, moans being ripped out of you by Xie Lian nimble fingers. "A-Lian, A-Lian, please~!"
San Lang bullies you too, making you dizzy from his kisses and his forces your legs apart. He's encouraging Xie Lian to bully you. San Lang is good in bed and Xie Lian is usually obedient, but Xie Lian getting out of his shell to bully you? San Lang enjoys it thoroughly.
One of his hands wraps around your dick and he strokes you, he only makes it worse. The two take out their frustrations on you, leaving you to mumble their names. With both of them bullying your front and back, it's not long until your cumming. A long moan spills from your lips and your legs try to clamp shut. San Lang doesn't let them though.
You double over and heave a breath when they don't stop. Xie Lian bullies your prostate and San Lang moves his fingers faster around your dick. It quickly puts you into overstimulation and pretty tears drip from your eyes. "No, no, slow down~" You whine, and your legs shake into San Lang's hold.
"Tell us who's you are then" San Lang purrs in your ear. Another orgasm is forced out of you and you babble some more. "Xie Lian d-does, San Lang too. Please!" You squeal from the pleasure.
Those words are forced out of you many times that night, because they don't intend to let you get away so soon. They bully you for the rest of the night and when you show up in the heavens the next day you have a slight limp. The other officials are worried you were injured by Hua Cheng, but it was both Xie Lian and Hua Cheng who made you cry on their cocks.
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I hope you like it 😁🙏🖤🖤
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Round 3, Match 16: Satoru Gojo vs. Xie Lian
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Submitted kids:
Saruto Gojo: Tsumiki Fushiguro, Megumi Fushiguro, Yuuji Itadori, Nobara Kugisaki, Yuuta Okkotsu, the other second year students to some extent
Xie Lian: Ban Yue, Pei Xiu, Lang Ying, Lian Quianqiu, Gu Zi, Lang Ying
Propaganda under the cut!
Satoru Gojo:
“became a single father of 2 at the age of 19. Helped Yuuji fake his death and hid him in his basement for months”
Xie Lian:
1. “a several centuries old disgraced god who keeps somehow getting mixed up in things that have nothing to do with him and taking in random kids in the process. Got dragged into being a soldier in a war between kingdoms he's not even from? suddenly single dad to these two random kids caught up in between. dealing with a malicious ghost who has been killing brides? boom, now he has a ghost son whose previous guardian was killed by the malicious ghost. psychotic ghost cousin posses the body of a man with a young son and continues being a piece of shit? well i guess your taking care of that kid too now (i know guzi is technically qi rong's kid since he's the one possessing his actual dad but if it weren't for xie lian intervening when he did the kid would be dead so he kinda counts too)”
2. “Xie Lian saves a young LQQ from being kidnapped, returns him home and end up becoming the/his grand tutor(which was NOT his original plan at all). He literally teaches the boy everything for years, raising him to become the best ruler he could ever be. The XL ends up accused for killing his family (because of a lot of different things) what is important is that he was not the perpetrator but he did kill LQQ’s father in an act to save the boy from making a horrible decision/outcome and also dealt with the actual perpetrators but kept it a secret cause he knew it would break LQQ’s heart to learn his dear friend planned to kill him and his entire family. LQQ took this betrayal by XL so hard he buried him after staking him through the heart when he was still alive. 300 years later when XL returns/is revealed LQQ is still not over it to the point he wants a FAIR duel to settle the score. FAIR with the man he still thinks killed his entire family!
Banyue and Pei Su are connected. XL took BY under his wing while he was a soldier in the army. He did his best to protect her and get her fed as she had pretty much no one. He also talked with her about his younger selfs dreams for the future which was so inspiring to her that not only did she remember it over a century later when they meet again in very different circumstances but she also apologized for essentially not being able to live up to the ideals he had accidentally passed on to her. While he didn’t have as much direct contact with Pei Su, the boy was BY’s only friend and so while XL was around he did also interact with the boy. However this all came to an end when in an attempt to save BY (which succeeded) he through himself in between two armies and was trampled when they began to fight. When they meet again (as I previously mentioned) XL takes BY under his safety until he is not safe and then sends her off to a safe place where she reunites with PS, who for all XL doesn’t give the same amount of attention to, XL does actually approve of some of him (not all his actions) and seems to find it cute that PS is courting BY.
XL meets Lang Ying first when he helps the boy burry his proxy sister, LY ends up running off after XL reacted with shock to LY’s uncovered face, but XL keeps a constant search for him. XL next saves him from getting beat up by ghosts and ends up taking him to live with him in the shrine he lives in. He does his best to take care of both LY and Gu Zi at the shrine and keeps his good treatment up even knowing LY’s a ghost it only ends when (spoilers for non book people, feel free to look up if you want to know).
XL takes in GZ mostly as his ghost cousin (whom he arrested) has taken over the body of the boy’s father. While I’m not sure how much this one counts, especially since by the end his cousin ends up caring for GZ, but he still does the best he can to feed and care for the boy as his entire life changes.”
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yulen-the-ghost · 1 month
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I just had the idea of a ghost Xie Lian au.
This would develop in the present, however before Xie Lian's 3rd ascension. (Meaning that instead of a god, he's a ghost).
He is known as the "Pristine mist of misfortune" or "the scrap ghost", whose tears become mist that will bring you bad luck. After wandering the world for years, he arrives at the ghost city and meets Hua Cheng. He is filled with a bittersweet feeling because of the joy of meeting Xie Lian, and the pain of knowing he's a ghost.
TGCF spoilers ahead.
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First of all: Can Xie Lian even turn into a ghost? I guess so. Inside the Kiln, White No-Face wanted him to turn into the ghost king, so I guess he can do that.
We know that there are several moments where Xie Lian 'died'.
When the second wave of the human face disease came, Wu Ming sacrificed himself, something Xie Lian would forever regret and remember, one reason why he might have decided to keep being a good person.
However, he considers himself a person unworthy of living, someone bad and disgusting. After what happened at the gilded banquet, he was 'murdered'.
Maybe his body won't die, but his soul gave up. As a ghost, his reason to keep living is, to his perception 'to pay for his crimes with his suffering'. The more hurt he feels, the more powerful he actually is.
Maybe in his spirit form, RuoYe still accompanies him.
Also, his habilites as a ghost include making himself invisible, levitating in the air, and releasing misfortune on others.
---
After years of wandering, he accidentally ends up in the Ghost City. Obviously he is not well received by the other ghosts at the beginning, but once inside the city, how would Hua Cheng, lord of the city not notice his presence?
After saving him from other ghosts, Xie Lian is ashamed to try to leave without paying in return.
He considers this attractive red king someone worthy of praise, but Hua Cheng is EXTREMELY uncomfortable with that.
Xie Lian admires this person, but even with his lips curled up, Hua Cheng's gaze reveals a hint of sorrow and melancholy he doesn't understand. (Obviously he's upset he's dead).
This is why he asks his good ol' friend Black Water to pretend to attack his city so he could use Xie Lian's help. Once he saves the city, Hua Cheng starts praising him instead.
Xie Lian doesn't want him to be so formal, so Hua Cheng asks the same in return. This is how their "Gege" "San Lang" relationship begins!!
Shi Qingxuan shows up with Lang Qingqiu for the investigation like the original version btw.
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The bride kidnapping thing still happened; Feng Xing and Mu Qing investigate and discover the relation of the case to the green ghost.
At some point, Qi Rong makes his appearance from Xie Lian's side (also revealing his past). "Oh so you were the Crown Prince!!" Pretends Hua Cheng.
After the mess is mostly cleared up, Hua Cheng and Xie Lian are ready to leave.
But as they are exiting the place, in one of the caves, Feng Xing, Mu Qing and Xie Lian find each other.
He tried to pretend not knowing anything, but it was too late.
Mu Qing "..."
Feng Xing "...your highness?"
"Why are you with Blood Rain Tanhua?"
"Are you..." A ghost? Dead? You don't ask those things so directly!!
Xie Lian feels dread and turns invisible with his ghost skill. He runs away and Hua Cheng, afraid to lose him again, chases after him.
--
Not going to elaborate much more, but I wanted to know what do you guys think 👀
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Hello, and thanks again for sharing your thoughts on my previous ask.
More random thoughts to share! : -D
At the end of the fight with Jun Wun, Xie Lian props up his bamboo hat to shield Jun Wu from the rain. That really stood out to me. Jun Wu tormented him for so long. Most people would spit on his body and burn it. Haha, maybe not all that, BUT, they wouldn't give him any sliver of kindness and that would be expected. Xie Lian doing so is just another tell of how much compassion he has for others, and it just blows me away. I couldn't help but see the parallels between what he did for Jun Wu there and the kindness the man with the bamboo hat showed him. I'm still thinking on this a bit, but...Xie Lian had people who loved him (Hua Cheng) and showed kindness to him (the man with the bamboo hat) even at his lowest. I wonder, even if unconsciously, if he wanted to provide some hope to Jun Wu that he can move forward past the worst part of himself. Not saying at all that Xie Lian wants to be part of that process, simply that once Jun Wu is no longer trying to actively harm him or others, he doesn't have any ill will to him. (but even that is over simplifying things - I'm sure Xie Lian could have bad days where he does). But that's my vague thought on this... Xie Lian is able to see the good in people even while not dismissing the bad they've done. To me, it seems he tries to nurture that as much as possible. What are your thoughts on that scene though? :) __________
Interestingly enough, Xie Lian has the hardest time with Qi Rong's personality. Qi Rong is mean-spirited, self-aggrandizing, and cruel as a child, and even more so as a ghost. By the time he's a wrath ghost and we see him facing off with Hua Cheng and Xie Lian, he's really quite pitiful. He can't even see how pathetic he is and it really comes off like a child begging for any attention he can get, even if it's bad attention. Xie Lian's feelings towards him are very complicated. I find it a little ironic and sad because it really does seem that if Qi Rong had had a much firmer and consistent hand in discipline, boundaries and love, that things could've been different for him. Maybe Xie Lian could have when they were young and both alive, but Xie Lian had so much going on himself and honestly, Xie Lian was still a child himself! The adults needed to step in at that time. And when Xie Lian is old enough, I think he's realized he just can't with Qi Rong. For whatever reason - history, personality, family dynamics he can't deal with Qi Rong in a compassionate way and so does what he can and keeps his distance (until present time run-ins start happening). And honestly, that's probably one of the few acts of self-care and boundaries Xie Lian set for himself. He knew his limits with Qi Rong. I do want to be clear that Qi Rong's actions are his own. He's hurt and killed many. He made his own poor choices and is responsible for that. I just think, if from the beginning, if he'd had someone who could be firm and compassionate, things could've been different for him. And potentially, if he'd met someone as a wrath with the patience and compassion to guide him, things could've been different...even if it took another 800 years! On the flip side, maybe Qi Rong did come across such a person but rejected it. We'll never know since it wasn't revealed in the book, but it's interesting to think about. Also, this is the first time I've thought about their relationship dynamics so I could totally be missing some things. What are your thoughts on their relationship dynamic? ------- On a more lighthearted note - one of the things I really love about the novel are all the many ways Xie Lian and Hua Cheng show their love and care for each other. Not just with big moments, but in little ways too with words and actions. There's so much material and every time I'm reminded of it, I just smile inside. I'm so happy for them! But one scene in particular that came to me was right after Xie Lian and "Ming Yi" help Shi Qingxuan escape the Heavenly Capital. They go back to Puqi Shrine and find Hua Cheng tidying up the place with essentially his shirt off. Xie Lian gets flustered and tells him to put his clothes back on and once he does, Xie Lian notices his collar is a little crooked and straightens it for him. Haha, I thought it was very sweet and definitely a "you're already married" moment. : ) Any favorite small moments you remember off the bat?
Thank you for your ask! I'm sorry it took me so long to reply after all (the funeral was last week, so as you can imagine the days leading up to and after it were quite stressful and draining). That said, let's get right into it :3 Gonna go through it from the top:
Xie Lian - His kindness and compassion really are admirable. It's why I find it so baffling when he's described as naive and/or arrogant by fans because that's not at all how the text portrays him. Throughout the story, he's the one willing to against the status quo - both in the human realm and in heaven - and to help the ones no one else cares about, no matter how much pain it results in for him personally. The trauma Jun Wu causes him almost makes him lose himself and then afterwards there's a long time where he blames himself and it's only through meeting Hua Cheng (again) that he gains back his confidence - and like you said, the final scene with Jun Wu shows in such an understated yet profound way that the core of who Xie Lian is has not changed at all: someone who believes that people deserve saving, that kindness is never in vain.
Qi Rong - I can't think of much else to add at the moment, but yeah just like you said, he might have turned out different had he had better parental guidance, but in the end the text is very firm that our choices are our own. I think it's also interesting that when people call Xie Lian naive and arrogant for wanting to save the common people and blame it on him being "spoiled and privileged", it's actually Qi Rong who demonstrates what happens when people born into privilege never question their status and instead do everything they can to take advantage of it and uphold it. Meanwhile Xie Lian even at seventeen was very critical of the power structures and morals that surrounded him and unlike Qi Rong didn't believe that he should be held to a different standard of justice than those "lower" than him. And it can't be chalked up to different guidance, since Xie Lian's views clashed repeatedly with those of his parents and his teachers.
Hualian - I absolutely adore all those small moments that showcast their relationship. Some of my favorites that immediately come to my mind are when they're in heaven and Mei Nianqing is explaining about Jun Wu's past and then inquiring about Xie Lian kissing Hua Cheng:
"Xie Lian could sense that he'd have a hard time swallowing whatever the state preceptor was about to tell him. He wanted to call for Hua Cheng, but before he could do so, Hua Cheng had already come to sit beside him." [...]
"When Xie Lian realized that Hua Cheng likely hadn't lived past eighteen, his fingers trembled. Hua Cheng reached out with one arm and gently covered Xie Lian's chilly hands, palm to back. Although their skin was equally icy, there was warmth where their hands touched." [...]
"Xie Lian had been desperately trying to stop the state preceptor from talking, but with no success. Covering his face, he silently shuffled behind Hua Cheng, who smiled and circled an arm around him as he raised his brows."
Hua Cheng's mere presence is such a source of comfort and safety for Xie Lian, it makes me so ;_; that he wanted him near for emotional support. And they're so tactile, so gentle with each other, always seeking to be close and to reassure and comfort each other through touch ;_;
I feel like I just rambled but I hope my answers managed to still be interesting and satisfying! Thank you for your ask, the distraction and interaction really helps rn <3
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raylin-creates · 6 months
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This reveals so much of Xie Lian's character and his thinking.
So it looks like he had three reasons in taking the full blame:
1) To keep the remaining people of Xianle from being retaliated against
2) To spare Friend-shaped from turning bitter against the ideals taught to him
3) To punish himself for his part in it
The first reason, I can understand. It was a small radical group around the remaining royal family behind the plot, why should all of Xianle's innocent survivors face punishment?
But the second... It's understandable, for Xie Lian to want to find a way to preserve some of Friend-shaped's... innocence? World view? in the face of such a tragedy. He's also experienced massive personal loss, and wanted to spare Friend-shaped from some of it however he could. From the betrayal of one he thought a friend. From knowing his parents were killed by people they tried to treat well and make peace with. But Xie Lian is ignoring that Friend-shaped isn't a child, especially now hundreds of years later. Friend-shaped deserved to know the full truth and make his own thoughts on it. He was robbed of that for centuries, so long of believing the lie Xie Lian wanted him to is bound to just increase the hurt and confusion when it finally comes out. And it did.
The third. Oh boy. We've seen hints of Xie Lian's lack of regard towards himself before, but this really takes the cake (so far?). "What's there to be afraid of... I can't die!" really sums it up. He's convinced himself that because he's immortal, any hardships he faces are temporary and therefore inconsequential. Which, thinking of it as temporary is not inherently a bad way to look at things and cope when faced with unavoidable hardships, except he's using this logic to actively harm himself. He's taken on the full guilt and punishment of the massacre thinking "it's temporary for me, not them, so better for me to take it". But this prevented those who were actually responsible from facing consequences for hundreds of years, not to mention that the hardships Xie Lian experienced very much still affect him! The events themselves may have been temporary but their effects on him are not!
And the two people he killed being who they were undoubtedly came into this; had they been two nameless participators in the massacre he may not blame himself so much. But it was the king who had treated him well and his people with kindness, and the last of his own bloodline. Had An Le been the only one he killed and his part in the massacre come out, I doubt Xie Lian would be punished for it, in fact even rewarded for killing one of those behind the massacre. But Xie Lian clearly places a lot of value in family ties, especially since most of his family is gone (seen as he still protects Qi Rong in some way despite Qi Rong being a total shit head who deserves what he gets) and cutting off his family tree is no small matter. No matter what An Le did that seems like a big deal. His guilt for it is personal.
And with the king, Xie Lian is someone who never forgets a kindness, so of course he'd feel enormously guilty over repaying that kindness with death! He's clearly not forgiven himself for it, but he's forgotten that he's not the one who decides if he's forgiven or not; that lies with Friend-shaped. Oh boy perhaps that's another thing; could Xie Lian have presented Things in such a way in part so that Friend-shaped could never forgive him? I wouldn't put it past him at some point.
Actually going back to Xie Lian's immortality: wasn't it said back when Hua Cheng challenging the 33 gods was explained that when a god loses all believers they become mortal? Am I remembering that right? Then, while we know Xie Lian always had a follower in Hua Cheng, how did he discover he was still immortal? Wouldn't he have thought it impossible to have any followers left?
I've spent literally an hour trying to type this all out but these few paragraphs have given me SO MANY thoughts
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randomshenaniganery · 4 months
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TGCF Donghua
okay so I've been watching this shit since it was released and I'm fully enjoying waiting for the weekly episodes and I wanna rant about it because I love it so much but I do have some minor gripes
Bad chuchu out of the way first
I am not happy with how generic and unoriginal the designs for most of the supporting characters. Like yeah they still look somewhat different but when the pool of named characters will expand it will get harder and harder to tell people apart if they keep on going with this route. Almost everyone suffers from same face syndrome which I know is rampant in current anime I just wished they allowed for at least more dynamic silhouettes, hairstyles, and color palettes. It feels like a more toned down version of the character design in the manhua. Lang Qianqiu in the manhua is so easy to recognize because of his outfit and pei ming looks more like the bastard he is etc. Don't get me started on the design for Kemo, the manhua felt eh I feel like Kemo was too pretty and too slim but in the donghua its just he's a straight up orc idk, i feel like they could've done better. Pei Su looks very generic, I think out of everyone he's the most generic looking of them all. SQX, Ling Wen and Jun Wu are the best designs for the supporting cast and I think Banyue is also okay looking cause you can tell her apart from the rest so far.
I am super disappointed in Qi Rong's reveal because it doesn't feel as impactful in the book. In the book the reveal of him looking like Xie Lian was so dramatic to me I was like oh my god is that his brother? A twin? a doppelganger? And then Qi Rong just kinda looks like that, tbh his voice actor and his clothes are fine I think they fit. It's just weird how he suffers from same face syndrome. If they made everyone look less like each other making Qi Rong look like Xie Lian would have been so impactful and a really cool cliffhanger but they couldn't do that because even fucking Lang Qianqiu kinda looks like Xie Lian with lighter hair. Also the Fang xin design is alright on the clothes but the mask gives off a bit cheap however I get that it can't be super detailed and it still does its job so I can handwave that small pet peeve.
Also censorship we couldn't get Xie Lian falling on Hua Cheng's lap and so them trying to make up for that was super awkward LMAO, they could have solved this by making SQX fall right on Hua Cheng's chair so that they could justify why Xie Lian grabbed Hua Cheng and throws him but they didn't... and it's so awkward...
I think it was like Episode 2 of s2 that the animation feels weird, Mu Qing's face felt off to me idk what was going on it just felt like something went down but the next episode it was perfectly fine anyway.
Positives!!!
Something the manhua didn't have was Fu Yao and Nan Feng looking a bit like each other, that was so fucking funny and it's a great display of how much they hate each other and live rent free in each other's heads ong. I love that detail the donghua did I think that's smart.
The voice actors are so great in both dubs they're doing amazing (I haven't listened to the jp dub) I have no complaints I love their work
ONE of my favorite things about the donghua is being able to see Hua Cheng's expressions even when Xie Lian is doing something in the book so he wouldn't notice. I love seeing how pleased he is every time someone points out the intimacy with him and Xie Lian. Like in season 1 when Fu Yao is shocked/horrified that Xie Lian shared a bed with Hua Cheng, San Lang puts a hand on his chin and looks so fucking smug and happy. This happens a couple times in s2 as well someone will be like oh that's weird you're so like this with Hua Cheng and he becomes a smug cat it's great.
Another one I enjoy is during the beginning of the banyue arc when Xie Lian reveals to Fu Yao and Nan Feng that he's used to sleeping in squalor the camera goes to Nan Feng not revealing his face but clearly showing his guilt over what Xie Lian reveals. That's good shit.
Lan Chang picking a fight off screen, also cool, love seeing her. I like that she looks inconspicuous so for someone who doesn't know shit about tgcf they will not see *that* shit coming.
ALSO the men look kinda generic if they're not the mls but the girls are all gorgeous???? like the woman who was Hua Cheng's speaker, the girl who led Xie Lian further into the gambling den, XUAN JI, Banyue all the girls are unique without being so ostentatious and I love them. If you put them beside each other they all look like they're own thing but still on theme. From clothes, to hairstyle and colors it's easy to tell and that's good design. I also include SQX's female form cause she's gorgeous too.
The donghua I think adds to stuff I haven't read I'm not sure if this is because I have a bad memory but I don't recall reading a flashback of Lang Qianqiu and the failed robbery. But the message of that entire section was so fucking good. The way that what Lang Qianqiu said about 'maybe he shouldn't have intervened' and the sound effects UGh. It's so good, i love how the book tackles the morality of everything, breaking down Lang Qianqiu's firm positivity and believing in humanity but still promoting being kind and considerate through Xie Lian. This theme still carries on in the show and I think they're doing a great job.
GOD THE MUSIC in the donghua is so fucking good, I love it. The songs, the meanings, the beat it's all perfect I can't say anything more.
even though i'm disappointed in the character design choices the donghua is very solid, I love it a lot. It does come off as very expositiony sometimes but I think that's very prevalent in Chinese Wuxia and Xianxia. Probably weird for people who aren't used to the genre but to anyone who's seen something like it, it's not unbearable and it's kinda necessary because of how the book is written. Waiting for wednesday patiently whilst i draw huahua
There are so many fun details the Donghua adds that shows that they know the story and where it's going as well hinting at character stuff, it's so fun to spot those. Like Xie Lian's reaction to Hua Cheng biting the bun made me wanna claw my face that shit was good af.
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hamliet · 4 months
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(TGCF book 7 spoilers!)
After being so busy in the last few days, I was finally able to finish it! Let's just say that I have so many thoughts!
First things first, Shi Qingxuan my beloved 🥹 I missed him a lot! Though I am sad at how much trauma he went through, it's nice to know he isn't completely unhappy and even became a beloved figure in his new community.
Second things second, Yin Yu! Even though he was full of ressentment over always being in the shadow of his shidi, he still protected Quan Yizhen, and I think this means a lot more than he realized! Deep down, I think he still cared deeply for him, and I felt quite sad over his death. (Also, is it just me, or do YY and QYZ remind a lot of SQQ and LBG?)
Speaking of characters I feel sad about, Qi Rong is probably the one I'm going to miss the most. I have so many thoughts on him, I almost don't even know where to start! He was always the character that brought a smile to my face with his shenanigans when things were more serious, so seeing him die was sad, but he had a very satisfatory ending imo! I think that, even after he started hating XL, deep down, he wanted his approval/attention/love, but because of his personality (shaped by multiple circumstances neither he or XL could control), he never truly got it. I think what QR truly wanted was someone who loved him inconditionally and genuinely regardless of his sociopathic and immature behaviour, something he didn't get since his mother died. And, in the end, he got it in the form of a child. Even after threatning Guzi so many times, he always stuck by his side, and, without realizing, QR also became attached, because deep down he just wanted to be loved. As he died, he realized this. Realized that he never got XL's love, but that didn't matter, because in the end he still had what he needed, which was his child's love. 🥹 (Also the irony of him accidentally being right about most gods is not lost on me!)
And of course who can forget about the main highlight of this book? I always knew Jun Wu was related to White No-Face (in part because I was already spoiled he was the big bad of the series, thus they had to be related), and I always suspected White No-Face was the prince of Wuyong, so the reveal didn't surprise me at all. That being said, the way the reveal was executed gave me chills nonetheless! I think JW is perhaps the biggest projector I've seen in a piece of media, he really saw (sees?) XL as a version of himself and thus wants him to "join the dark side", because XL choosing the bright side might mean that JW could've become like that as well, and that perhaps hurts him. He succumbed to his own despair, so someone so identical to him must follow the same path... Right? But I wasn't expecting him to be so... In control of the narrative up until now. I wasn't expecting most monsters to be related to him as well, and I always thought that the HX/SQGX/SW ordeal was something mostly related to the three, so the reveal that JW was planning on getting rid of SW in one way or another... JW truly had eyes everywhere uh.
Another character that was everywhere in the narrative right under our noses as well was Mei Nianqing, he reminded me of XL as he recounted being involved in so many things since the days of Wuyong, to him being the person who tried to warn about SQGX's fate at the hands of the Reverend, to being the state perceptor of Xianle. I knew he was going to play a big role in the story after he was mentioned in book 6, but I wasn't expecting him to have such a big role in the story, to the point where it was him who basically explained the truth about literally everything.
I also liked seeing LQQ again, and Pei Ming was the funniest character besides QR. The shenanigans he gets himself into are always entertaining, but I can't help but pity him. One of his friends is dead, the other works directly for JW, and in the end he had to deal with a crazy ex-lover and a crazy ex-friend as well. Also wasn't expecting Ling Wen to be so... Cold, as she was one of the first characters we saw in the series to be somewhat amiable of XL. Then again, the hints of her coldheartedness were there since the Brocade Immortal arc anyways. It makes her quite the intriguing character!
And last but not least: Mu Qing and Fen Xing. I became much more found of them once I realized they where their own supposed subordinates who helped XL in the beginning. I was quite lukewarm of FX's doomed romance, but after these last two books I understand now why it makes sense within the story. Also, Mu Qing acted quite sus in this book, it didn't cross my mind at first, but I wonder if he's working for JW...?
So yeah, these are my thoughts on book 7! I admit I thought this was the last book of the main story and book 8 would have the extras, but I'm glad the story didn't finish just yet! I hope to get the special edition with merch this christmas haha! Also, I'm glad you liked to hear my thoughts on the story up until now! :)
Yay! Love reading this!
And oh yeah, YY and QYZ are definitely SQQ and LBH. That's kinda why I'm always side-eyeing the statements that all characters are straight besides the main pairing. Like. Girl, they clearly aren't lol.
And yes, Qi Rong! I think I did an analysis in the past about how if you look at exactly what he says early on in the story, he's right about every single god except for two: Quan Yizhen and Shi Qingxuan, the two gods who are actually the most pure hearted and kind and good, but otherwise, on paper, seem not fit to be gods--Quan Yizhen because he doesn't care about pleasing others and the clear autism subtext, and Shi Qingxuan because his brother literally took his god-exams for him to get him ascended. Yet, these are the two best gods in a lot of ways, and the only ones Qi Rong can't read for filth because he's seen so few examples of actually good people in power.
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voidfragments · 8 months
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"the world will outlive your malice; the threads of a silkworm have more longevity than your ire. yet you act like you've torn an unhealing wound into the earth." he could speak with his own anger, an emotion he used to wear on his head like the fallen crown he had once borne the weight of. he could speak with despair, because he has felt the depths of it even for the reviled night-touring green lantern. instead, he speaks impassively. there is no peace, but there is no unrest. his gaze avoids his cousin's face. the only hint as to his true feelings rests in the slight downward slope of his eyebrows. a cool wind rattles against the patchwork rooftop of puqi shrine. after another passing second, xie lian's lips twitch into a rueful smile.
"the shrine will also survive another tantrum. better yet, i can stop you from throwing one altogether. so," fake mirth plasters itself across the crown prince's expression, "what brings you to this one's humble dwelling?"
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tch. as always, what arrogance, what self-righteousness! it makes his brow furrow, lip pulled back in a disgusted snarl. to be openly hated would be one thing--certainly, not preferred, but something qi rong is at least used to--but this dismissive dispassion? it is infuriating. it makes him crave violence, makes him want to tear at the fucking mask of indifference his cousin wears to reveal the hideous resentment he's sure is hidden beneath.
it is, of course, only one's closest people who can rouse such wrath in them within moments of greeting.
"who's throwing tantrums?" a click of his tongue. "hundreds of years and you still think me a child." he chooses to not engage with the former comment for now, but it's tucked away as a topic for a future argument. there are so many things wrong with it, he doesn't even know where to start. have the schemes resulting from his rage not left deep marks on the world? is that even the point? is he not in it for the self-satisfaction of revenge, for spite, for himself?
as for what he's doing here, however. before answering that, something far more important-- "drop the fake-ass smile, lose the pleasantries, you're gonna make me sick." he can't even bear to look at xie lian. "surely you wouldn't believe it if i said i was in the area and thought to pay a visit to my dear cousin." obviously not; he's not even trying to pass it off as the truth. if this were 800 years ago, maybe it could've been true.
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its-miichan · 3 years
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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.
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geges · 3 years
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I hope this isn't too rude or assuming, but I also wanted to know, if u had any favorite moments in any media u've liked that you're okay with sharing? (just asking since this also appears to be a fandom(??) / anime(??) blog and if u're ok with answering something really offtopic)
ANON I’M IN LOVE WITH YOU…. I WOULD LOVE TO INFODUMP ABT MY INTERESTS. PLS. sadly yes i’m mostly a fandom/interests blog, mostly cnovels and manhua, so this ask is pretty on-topic for my blog. obligatory disclaimer a lot of these things have Problems and Issues so this isn’t me saying i am an uncritical fan of the media this is just a list of scenes that make me incredibly hhghgnnneennn. some of them made me cry in the chicken feed aisle in a Tractor’s Supply once and im still upset abt that one. a lot of these have spoilers for various cnovels so i put it under a cut :)
additional warning that um. there's a lot of mentioned death/suicide. most of these are characters dying honestly
so, Media Of All Time favourite scenes:
(tgcf) legitimately every scene with qi rong im not joking i go crazy over him. notable mention of that scene in the Final Battle with gu zi……….. i’m insane
(liu yao) um. i don’t remember the main character’s name. but yeah him dying <3 jiayou! that one drives me insane i read it like once a week
(nan chan) mr human magikarp fucking dying and jin ling just….. losing it
(nan chan) jin ling’s subsequent imprisonment and isolation :)
(nan chan) JIN LING MURDER SPREE!!!!!!!
(huang jin tai) yan xiaohan getting drugged and immediately going to stab himself so that he doesn’t “betray” fu shen
(qian qiu) yan wushi hiding shen qiao in that buddha statue and running off to die
(teio) THE FUCKING EARTHWORM CRYING. GOD
(teio) everything with bai ruoyao. i love him im so homophobic
(mo du) fei du suffering for five entire books straight
(mo du) that scene near the end where he has to grasp the trigger handhold and his Immense Certified Trauma kicks in
(mo du) luo wenzhou NOT pokemon evolving into a big red flag the second he got one glimpse past fei du’s walls. Like that man saw Fei Du: Genuinely Unwell Extraordinaire, and not only did he not jab fd with a horse tranq, he just went and made the man dinner. what the fuck
(twwtadsl) the betrayal scene <3
(tsomd) sui zhou almost dying for tang fan like 2302984 times but notable mention of the First Time when he tried to die for tang fan in the fight against the tomb guardian
(missing sect leader) wei jiangyue going “I JUST CANT STAND IT WHEN HE’S NOT ALRIGHT……………..”
(missing sect leader) wei jiangyue making a bet with ye you that hinges the fate of the world or whatever and his terms for if he wins. instead of using the chance to ask for something large. he asks yy to just tell him something. anything at all. just tell him something
(missing sect leader) wei jiangyue telling ye you he will die for him to repent for his father’s mistake but hiding the fact that his willingness to die for yy comes from his love for him, not his guilt
(missing sect leader) that scene where yy reveals his identity and wjy realises that no matter what he has to leave yy alone and cannot even approach him again. and just sinking in shame and regret to spend his entire lifetime in pain from the fact that his presence causes yy pain
(missing sect leader) in front of the entire jianghu. wei jiangyue giving himself up to the threat of being brutally killed be ye you if it meant yy was given some sort of closure. jesus christ i don’t even like this book this much and yy/wjy isn’t even canon why do they have so much on this list
(tong qian kan shi) the insect cave scene <3
(tqks) xuanmin closing his eyes as he is put through incredible pain and torture, being literally killed, in order for xue xian to enact his revenge against the great priest
(tqks) the great priest forcing xx to recognize that his revenge will also kill xuanmin as collateral, xx not recognising xuanmin, and xuanmin just. closing his eyes and accepting his death
(tqks) xuanmin using his last dying action to dig out his own bones and bury them under the mountains to free xue xian.
(tqks) xuanmin making his way over to the unconscious xue xian, kneeling in front of him (really falling lmao), and dying while never looking away from his face :)
(tqks) xx regaining his memories, remembering xuanmin, and looking up to see xuanmin laying dead in his arms. then feeling fear for the first time in his life. man. man. ok
(qqgk) “MY DEAR, IF I LEFT MYSELF BY YOUR EAR, WOULD YOU BE ABLE TO HEAR ME? MAY WE MEET AGAIN IN A WORLD WHERE THE SMOKE IS GONE” THIS QUOTE MAKES ME INSANE. IM INSANE. JESUS CHRIST
(qqgk) the recurring imagery of snow. the snow. its about. it’s about. The devotion. oh god
(hsav) xiao yuan trying to die like. 6 times for yan heqing. also xya being tortured to save yhq. and then him trying to kill himself earlier . and then him killing himself for real later to make life easier for yhq
(tgcf) just. everything honestly. the “i am god” scene. the getting demolished by a ridiculous amount of swords scene.
(wushuang) cui buqu in the maze trying to die for feng xiao
(wushuang) feng xiao in the maze trying to die for cui buqu
(zhongji lanyin) su qing almost dying under the cave-in
(zhongji lanyin) hu bugui protecting su qing from the thorns
(谁动了我的骨灰坛) jiang xichu seeing chen man kill herself and not being able to do anything about it. literally the only scene i care abt from that book i ate that shit up
okay typing this out made me realise there is a very noticeable theme here. well. i really like tragedy so honestly i don't know know what i expected from this. if i re-read all my favourite books i would probably be able to give you a list of scenes i loved that have legitimate literary importance, value, and beauty, but sadly i have the memory of a goldfish and cannot remember most plots unless im Actively Looking At Them. so instead here is a list of scenes that are all candidates for making me cry during my next visit to a Tractor's Supply. thank you sm for the ask im in love with you
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serialadoptersbracket · 2 months
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Round 2, Match 25: Xie Lian vs. Takashi “Shiro” Shirogane
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Submitted kids:
Xie Lian: Ban Yue, Pei Xiu, Lang Ying, Lian Quianqiu, Gu Zi, Lang Ying
Shiro: Pidge, Hunk, Keith, Lance
Propaganda under the cut!
Xie Lian:
1. “a several centuries old disgraced god who keeps somehow getting mixed up in things that have nothing to do with him and taking in random kids in the process. Got dragged into being a soldier in a war between kingdoms he's not even from? suddenly single dad to these two random kids caught up in between. dealing with a malicious ghost who has been killing brides? boom, now he has a ghost son whose previous guardian was killed by the malicious ghost. psychotic ghost cousin posses the body of a man with a young son and continues being a piece of shit? well i guess your taking care of that kid too now (i know guzi is technically qi rong's kid since he's the one possessing his actual dad but if it weren't for xie lian intervening when he did the kid would be dead so he kinda counts too)”
2. "Xie Lian saves a young LQQ from being kidnapped, returns him home and end up becoming the/his grand tutor(which was NOT his original plan at all). He literally teaches the boy everything for years, raising him to become the best ruler he could ever be. The XL ends up accused for killing his family (because of a lot of different things) what is important is that he was not the perpetrator but he did kill LQQ’s father in an act to save the boy from making a horrible decision/outcome and also dealt with the actual perpetrators but kept it a secret cause he knew it would break LQQ’s heart to learn his dear friend planned to kill him and his entire family. LQQ took this betrayal by XL so hard he buried him after staking him through the heart when he was still alive. 300 years later when XL returns/is revealed LQQ is still not over it to the point he wants a FAIR duel to settle the score. FAIR with the man he still thinks killed his entire family!
Banyue and Pei Su are connected. XL took BY under his wing while he was a soldier in the army. He did his best to protect her and get her fed as she had pretty much no one. He also talked with her about his younger selfs dreams for the future which was so inspiring to her that not only did she remember it over a century later when they meet again in very different circumstances but she also apologized for essentially not being able to live up to the ideals he had accidentally passed on to her. While he didn’t have as much direct contact with Pei Su, the boy was BY’s only friend and so while XL was around he did also interact with the boy. However this all came to an end when in an attempt to save BY (which succeeded) he through himself in between two armies and was trampled when they began to fight. When they meet again (as I previously mentioned) XL takes BY under his safety until he is not safe and then sends her off to a safe place where she reunites with PS, who for all XL doesn’t give the same amount of attention to, XL does actually approve of some of him (not all his actions) and seems to find it cute that PS is courting BY.
XL meets Lang Ying first when he helps the boy burry his proxy sister, LY ends up running off after XL reacted with shock to LY’s uncovered face, but XL keeps a constant search for him. XL next saves him from getting beat up by ghosts and ends up taking him to live with him in the shrine he lives in. He does his best to take care of both LY and Gu Zi at the shrine and keeps his good treatment up even knowing LY’s a ghost it only ends when (spoilers for non book people, feel free to look up if you want to know).
XL takes in GZ mostly as his ghost cousin (whom he arrested) has taken over the body of the boy’s father. While I’m not sure how much this one counts, especially since by the end his cousin ends up caring for GZ, but he still does the best he can to feed and care for the boy as his entire life changes."
No propaganda has been submitted for Shiro
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sunmaylight · 3 years
Text
TGCF Book 3 Reaction pt. 6 - We are going to Mt. Tonglu!
hahaha. So, funny thing. I got impatient and just breezed though the last two books and consumed all of the post-canon content I could find. But, even though I have finished TGCF, that doesn’t mean I didn’t leave notes that I want in big chunks like this. So I will continue working on this
Even though I read the novel, I will stay true to my notes to the best of my abilities.
Ch 138: Xie Lian remembering that he threw his meatballs like bullets without any spiritual strength, like how he went about the past 800 years
- Me: Why do people not realize that Xie Lian is buff. Buff Xie Lian art, where?
Qi Rong turns out to be a better chef than Xie Lian. Like possible House Husband material
- Me: Yo. WTF. I call hack! How did- *remembering Qi Rong’s backstory*... Okay, but how did he learn and hone his skills?
Heaven’s Eye cultivator group about to chow down on some hair when Xie Lian steps in with the pebble toss
- Me: Xie Lian saving cultivators from committing c*nn*bal*sm
Ch 139: Hua Cheng builds a little golden palace outside and then kicks it. The shady inn illusion crashes as well.
- Me: Can this get animated? 
Feng Xin mentioning of an ascension acceleration method with dead babies
- Me: Wait! What if Feng Xin’s ascension is the suspicious one instead of Mu Qing
Ch 140: Xie Lian finds Guzi to be sick and dehydrated. 
Mama Bear Xie Lian - Awaken
- Me: Oh shit. Xie Lian is pissed at his cousin.
Ch 141: Learning about who the father to the fetus spirit is. Learning that the fetus spirit is named Cuo Cuo. Secrets around Cuo Cuo’s birth abundant
- Me: WAIT! HE HAD S*X WITH LAN CHANG. HE F*KED?!
Xie Lian reassuring Hua Cheng, but Hua Cheng turning it around to saying that his actions are up to him. Xie Lian feels something.
Xie Lian and Hua Cheng had a moment when suddenly they see someone sitting at the table making tea
- Me: No! Is it Jun Wu?
Jun Wu is pouring three cups of tea
- Me: He saw the intimate scene between the two
Red flower that slips on the edge of the flower pot is about to fall when Xie Lian caught it like it’s the most precious thing in the world
- Me: Foreshadowing???
Xie Lian basically saying that Heaven will fall if the Heavenly Emperor is dead. Xie Lian basically saying that Heaven is floating in the sky because of the Heavenly Emperor
- Me: Man, I really hope that the Heavenly Emperor doesn’t die and make Heaven crash onto the ground, only to be upheld by the power of Xie Lian and then create a parallel of that scene in book 2, or Atlus holding up the world.
Ch 143: Heaven and the Ghost Kings have a mutual beneficial relationship
Hua Cheng using this fact to exploit Heaven singing him praises for a year.
- Me: Cunning bastard. I would have asked for praises sung to me and Xie Lian if I was in his shoes
Mt. Tonglu has the Klin and both places is that one poisonous jar where the last poisonous creature that is alive after x amount of time is emerged as the victor. 
- Me: Battle Royale to the death.
Xie Lian sneaks with Ghost as a Puppet Master
- Me: Oh, nice disguise
Swift Life-Extinguishing Blade says he can find if a ghost is suspicious
- Me: Okay, but what if you are the suspicious one?
Xie Lian crouches down to hid behind the 8-12 year old looking Hua Cheng
Hua Cheng as the “Puppet Master” disguise: “No one shall touch what I love except for me”
- Me: Impressive acting there
There is a cloaked figure that Hua Cheng says they are wearing a fake face
- Me: Is it Pei Ming?
Swift Life-Extinguishing Blade dies from one slash. Xie Lian making an observation that sounds like a joke 
- Me: lol
Ch 14-Mt. Tonglu gate
Some ghost ladies get hurt and the cloaked stranger immediately asks: “Are my ladies alright?”
- Me: I was right. It was Pei Ming
Pei Ming about to tease Hua Cheng when Ruoye whips out to hit Pei Ming
- Me: I don’t know if that was all Ruoye or influence from Mt. Tonglue, but go Ruoye. 
Pei Ming’s mysterious candy he got to disguise his spiritual powers is revealed to be shady candy made form Ghost City. Consuming the candy is the equivalent to rubbing skunk spray all over yourself.
- lol
E-Ming has been affected like Hua Cheng. It is now a small sword
- me: Cute
Pei Ming can sense the atmosphere around Hua Cheng and Xie Lian
The Swift Life-Extinguishing Blade turns out to be alive still. Both halves are moving freely
- Me: It’s still alive. how?!
Pei Ming is revealed to be the “General Who Snapped His Sword”
- Me: *Four Tales of Heaven Background Understanding Update*
Wine: 100% Understanding & Truth of Creation
Flower Crown: 100 50% Understanding of Creation & History -Second Ascension & Third Ascension are Unknown-
Princess: 15% Understanding of Identity & History
Sword: 25% & Growing...Processing backstory now
A giant savage, dark skinned burly man in broken armour appears
- Me: Wait. Do I know this character?
It is revealed to be Ke-Mo
Xie Lian pulls a trick on Swift Life-Extinguishing Blade/Ming’Guang and Pei Ming saw it work. The trick was actually the most vile swear word of the Banyue kingdom that is the most disrespectful insult ever.
- Me: What did the army teach you Xie Lian?
Xie Lian calls out for Banyue & Pei Su knowing that they are not at Mt. Tonglu as a tactic to distract Ke Mo
- Me: lol. What if they actually come after Xie Lian called them.
When things start to look good, Xie Lian calls out on it. It is immediately changes into a bad thing
Tiny E-Ming grows with praises from Xie Lian.
Pei Ming does a big brain and smashes E-Ming’s hit to Xie Lian’s lips. E-Ming grows to a very long scimar 
- Me: Pei Ming caught on what Xie Lian didn’t. Also E-Ming reflect’s Hua Cheng, so, affection makes E-Ming grow. Hua Cheng
As Ke Mo and Ming’Guang are abotu to beat Xie Lian and Pei Ming, Banyu and Pei Su do that badass entry of jumping down a cliff and kicking the opponents.
- Me: lol, Banyue and Pei Su actually appeared. 
Banyue throws a scorpion-snake at Ke Mo fully knowing what she is doing and the 200 years of mutual dislike is behind it.
- Me: Ultimate betrayal.
Banyue: We came here with Rain Master
- Me: Wait. Rain Master is here?
Ch 148: Xie Lian thinks that if he does the same things he did to E-Ming to help him grow, it will help Hua Cheng grow
- Me: Awe. So cute.
Ke Mo vs. Banyue & Pei Su - Round 2: Banyue is too embarrassed to throw her snakes again at Ke Mo. Pei Su swoops in and yeets a basket full at Ke Mo who screams at them
- Me: For some reason I find this scene really funny.\
Xie Lian: Moves into kiss Hua Cheng. He kisses the forehead and is sad about it. 
Pei Ming learns that Banyue is that Banyue while she backs away from Banyue as Pei Ming comes close to her
- Me: Oh wait. Does Pei Ming still smell of those Ghost Candies?
It is revealed that Banyue is weary of Pei Ming because of the candy scent
- Me: Lol, it was the candy
Rain Master is brought up
- Me: *random thought* Does Rain Master & Pei Ming have some history together?
Rain Master is at Mt. Tonglu because Qi Rong stole some of her farmers.
Pei Ming is revealed to be the opposing General of the Rain Master
- Me: Oh, they do have some history together.
Xie Lian & Readers learn about the ‘Tale of the General Who Snapped His Sword’
- Me: LORE! 
Sword: 75% Understanding
Ch 149: Pei Ming insults Banyue for not knowing how to cook like other females
- Me: General Pei, I understand that in your time that might have been a norm. But modern times that is different.
Xie Lian says he will teach Banyue how to cook
- Me: Oh no. Someone please stop them.
Banyue is holding a pot of food
- Me: Oh shoit. Did Banyue?
Ch 150: Banyue’s chicken meal is a black mass of questionable origins
- Me: *sob* it’s over. Banyue is now added to the list. But at least she took up her cooking skills after her adopted dad.
Pei Su takes the dubious food and eats it after watching Hua Cheng try some.
- Me: RIP Pei Su
Hua Cheng telling Xie Lian about the history of Mt. Tonglu while Pei Su is dying in the background. Banyue’s cooking somehow turned into a spirit or eldrich horror
- Me: *sob* please. You two are so adorable together, but someone (Pei Su) is literally dying from food poisoning. You are like that one pool meme
Pei Ming has given up on Pei Su to hang with the oblivious couple
Xie Lian has heard of Wuyoung before from his past while training to Ascension.
- Me: Oh. Interesting. 
Little Xie Lian learned how to recite the Ethic Sutras like nothing because he was a curious child about a forgotten kingdom and the Guoshi made him shut up through sutras.
- Guoshi, how are you real?
Xie Lian: Pei Su is talking weird. Is it because of the Scorpion-Snake?
Banyue: Pei Su has immunity from them
-Me: God you two are so oblivious.
Ch 151: What if Jun Wu is from Wuyoung? Nah. He has a 500 year difference from then.
- Me: *Remembers Qi Rong calling Jun Wu a faker and thinks there is some truth in those words* What if he became an immortal 500 years before his ascension and just loitered around for 500 years until he achieved ascension status.?
The group is Scooby-Doo investigation with Ace Attorney observation skills on the temples. of the Kingdom of Wuyoung to learn why it fell
- Me: intersting. I hope they find something interesting.
-----
Alright. Going to stop there cause the actual journey to the Klin starts and it is a long journey where there is actually more than what I commented on. Man, I just really picked and choose what to highlight while reading
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ouyangzizhensdad · 3 years
Note
Just wanted to know who your favorite “villains” (or antagonists) are in all of MXTX novels. Whether it’s a big bad/final boss like Jun Wu or more of a side character like Xue Yang. Whether you wanna do a ranking or just throw some names out in no particular order.
Hi anon,
Definitely the antagonists in TGCF. No contest. I still have to give the novel another read to cement my opinions of the characters, but I just loved them for different reasons. Hell, even infuriating, insufferable Qi Rong (if you can believe it). I enjoyed especially Lang Ying as an ‘antagonist’ in the story, especially how he was such a clear parallel of XL while also being an antagonist. Oh and I’m still not over the reveal of his dead son being carried in his satchel and the symmetry of him taking on the face of his wife and son later on 🔪🔪🔪. I am also, unsurprisingly, not immune to He Xuan 😔. Also I kind of love the idea of a Ghost Calamity having like.... literal debt and HC lording it over him lmao.
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tolrais · 3 years
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TGCF Ep 11 - Season Finale
😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
The wrapping up of the Ban Yue arc, and the end of season 1 - it looks like season 2 has been confirmed though, but no sign of a date yet :’) at least there’s the special in February to come. 
I LOVED it. Like the main criticism I have is that is was THE END OF THE SEASON and I’m still not over episode freaking ONE...though now I guess I know why they haven’t released any official Hua Cheng art, if they’re wanting to save that full reveal for season 2 :’). (It’s fine. This is fine.) I was an idiot though, and panicked like 7 minutes in cause I thought the OP was the ED and it was over (I have time blindness ok? don’t @ me 😅😅)
Messy hair dianxia!!! I love him <3
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I really enjoyed Xie Lian’s little deductive speech about Xiao Pei/A-Zhao, showing that our boy has brains and beauty, although the fact that Hua Cheng was beating the shit out of Xiao Pei of screen at the same time was a little funny. There was actually a suprising amount of humorous content (for me, anyway), this episode, considering there was also a lot of feels, with such gems as:
Fu Yao: How dare you stay by his side?
 Xie Lian: Cuz there’s no snakes here ^-^?
San Lang, internally: Get wrecked Fu Yao 😂😂😂 (Like I know that his official animal mascot is a fox, which also makes sense, but as I’ve said before, San Lang form HC at least, exudes such asshole cat energy, I love it.) 
The shade from Pei Su/Xiu to Ke Mo also made me chuckle. (The ‘I’m gonna fight you!!!...Well I killed you last time you tried, but go off I guess’ bit) Like yeah ok it was a really emotionally satisfying season finale, but they still had those little moments of humour, like Nan Feng pretending to get a call on the spiritual array to avoid eating Xie Lian’s food. Fucking dork. 
LADY WINDMASTERRRRRRRRR - I literally yelled Shi Qingxuan out loud when I heard her voice (good thing I live alone 😅)  I really like the voice they’ve cast for her, it suits really well. And the little nod from Ming Yi to Hua Cheng and back was a really nice touch. FORESHADOWING. 
WE GOT THE NAME CONFIRMATION REVEAL!!!!!! Like, obviously I knew it was coming, and for a sec I was really confused as to why they cut it there, but then I remembered that from what I’ve seen, the special is gonna cover the last few bits of wrapping up of the BanYue arc...and the FACE TOUCHING. Wait...does this mean we’re gonna get The Ring in the special??? AHHHHHHH
Overall I was really happy with the ep and I can’t believe I have to wait 6 weeks for the special (: (It’s fine, maybe this way I’ll actually be able to work on my original fiction...orrrr I could just watch legend of fei and catch up on svss and mdzs donghuas, lol)
Future Episodes musings and translation woes under the cut:
I’m gonna have to reread the novel now, cause a lot of the finer details I’ve forgotten, but I finally worked out how to get the e-pub to talk to my phone, yay, so that should make it a lot easier ^-^. Iirc, the next arc is sneaking into Paradise Manor and the GAMBLING scene (how the heck they’ll get THAT past censorship I have no clue) and then the stuff with Qi Rong? If it’s another 11 ep series, I’m hoping we’ll at least get all of book one adapted, since they’ve adapted 30 chapters or so so far, and there’s 57 of book one...which means if we do get a season 3, prepare for PAIN. (That said, a lot of the season 3 stuff is pretty bloody nightmare fuelly, so I’m not sure how they’d get that past censorship, though a lot of it already has been set up as early as like, epsiode 2? ep 3?)
Couple of little translation niggles mainly - is it Pei Su or Pei Xiu? Cause I’m sure an earlier episode (and the translation of the novel I read) had it as Pei Su, but it was definitely Pei Xiu this ep. Also, I know that guanxi doesn’t translate exactly, but leaving it untranslated was really jarring, especially when something like, “She’s very well-connected”, or “she’s got connections” would have got the point across. 
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mousehole5000 · 3 years
Text
wow i made this draft on november 1st i really took a break from this huh anyway tgcf chapters 121 - 142
i realize now this coffin scene was inevitable. feel kinda weird about hua cheng  back and forth from Teen to Big Man but it is very funny that theyre having their “dude dont look at my boner” moment while in the jaws of a water dragon
pei ming: why didnt you guys make a bigger coffin so you didnt have to squish together like that? xie lian: haha yep!! anyways what brings you here?
“In the grand, spacious centre of the entrance hall sat a person. And this person, dressed in all black, its face snow-white—was a corpse! Instantly Xie Lian shut the doors soundly.” - king of minding his own business.
okay this is where i stopped putting notes here for a while but i did save some in my e-reader so here’s some of the highlights
“Guzi used to have a good sleeping form, but perhaps with his cheap dad’s bad influence, now he was also spread out on top of Qi Rong’s stomach like a dead fish. Lang Ying himself was curled neatly in the corner, and was covered by a few shirts. Xie Lian lifted the blanket covering Qi Rong, suppressed the urge to smother his face, and covered the two small children.” - xie lian funny moments. also it would be really funny if qi rong redeems himself by learning love through these misfit chiildren and it might actually endear me to him but i hope that doesnt happen
Every heavenly official was yelling, and even Ling Wen was throwing a fit. “DON’T THROW EVERY BIT OF USELESS INFORMATION MY WAY, HOW MUCH DO YOU THINK I HAVE TO GO THROUGH EVERY DAY? DON’T YOU ALL KNOW TO USE YOUR BRAINS A LITTLE BEFORE ASKING ME?!” - ling wen marry me right now
“An expression like “seen a ghost” that only mortals experienced was now showing on his face for the first time. Shi Wudu’s pupils shrank to the smallest they could, and he blurted, “You’re still alive?!” “I’m dead!” He Xuan said coldly.” - okay everythings going tits up rn but i did laugh
i did see spoilers re: ming yi/he xuan reveal + shi wudu’s fate beforehand so i dont have a genuine reaction other than oh shit
“He slowly enunciated each word. “I won’t touch your fate. But, here in this place, chop off your brother’s head for me.”  CLANG! He threw a rusty blade onto the ground. Shi Qingxuan stared at that blade, his eyes wide. He Xuan continued, “Then, never show yourself before me again, and I will pretend you’ve never existed in this world.” - okay idk what else is going to happen but rn im concerned that this is like the 2nd biggest ship. i guess we’ll see?? i mean i am really curious whats going to happen to them. shi qingxuan keeps calling he xuan “ming-xiong” and i... sad
shi wudu im not really invested in you as a character but these next two bits... interesting
“If I don’t die but have nothing, then that’s truly a fate worse than death. If I’m not the Water God, I can’t take care of you. I won’t even be able to protect myself. I’m scared that we won’t even last two days…TAKE IT!” - damn. something about the wealthy losing everything and not knowing how to live without it bc thats their entire life and identity
“EVERYTHING I HAVE TODAY, I FOUGHT FOR MYSELF. I WILL FIGHT FOR WHAT I DON’T HAVE. I WILL CHANGE FATE I DON’T POSSESS. MY FATE IS UP TO ME AND NOT THE HEAVENS!” - okay so the whole committing spiritual fraud by tormenting a man and his family to get your brother a cushy title thing aside this was kind of badass. heretical? possibly. but still. also is he intentionally riling up he xuan so sqx doesnt have to kill him? if so damn...
also okay as long as im here im just gonna say it. the choice that he xuan gives shi qingxuan is fucking brutal but i actually think its probably as fair as it could be. sqx didnt know about or participate in what happened to hx but they did benefit from it greatly while hx lost EVERYTHING and i can understand he xuan’s thinking of “if you really feel bad for what happened to me then you have to make a sacrifice and understand the suffering and this is as clean as its going to get” and theres a bit where sqx is trying to beg for mercy but cant get the words out which im guessing is bc theres no good argument!! what happened was fucked up!!
“When Pei Ming saw that reinforcements had arrived, he didn’t appear particularly delighted; instead he threw the sword into the ground, then rubbed his nose and said, sounding grim, “You all just had to come just as I finished making these, what the heck.” - pei ming making coffins chopping down trees with his sword i love it #wastehistime2k17
“Xie Lian brought that basket of eggs along, and gave them away as souvenirs from the mortal realm. Many who received the eggs were overjoyed; some deciding to eat it along with their own blood, and some proclaiming they would hatch an eight-foot monster.” - GHOST CITY GHOST CITY
“Placing the brush down, he blew lightly at the ink and smiled. “If I like something, then my heart will not have room for any other, and I’ll always treasure it. A thousand times, a million times, no matter how many years, this will not change. This poem is the same." - thats nice and all but king... get therapy. i actually have further thoughts but tbh i dont want to put them into words bc they are simply too personal! moving on
didnt take any notes but somewhere in here was the bit with mount tong’lu opening and hua cheng losing it and kind of um. hm. that scene. thats another trope i really hate tbh i dont care for it as a way of including physical intimacy between characters and idk if it really ever adds anything but whatever moving on
The Half-Maquillage Woman - kind of interesting monster idea bc women and aging…. yeah. however i think this would be a lot stronger if there were a) more girls and this was b) discussed or illustrated at all prior to this moment. still interesting that its included knowing the author is a woman tho and there’s been comments on how ling wen is perceived vs pei ming. this book does keep giving me hope for interesting female character arcs i really want it to deliver something
quan yizhen..... i get u
lmao i have a note on a bit with lang ying that says “please dont be hc in disguise” and..... my clown nose was on but at least i knew that. for real this is bothering me how much he’s just. always. there. i know he’s a lead but we didn’t really need him around for a lot of this. oh well.  okay now to my current notes
“Yet it was precisely because it wasn’t cooked that it had to be eaten quickly. Once Xie Lian cooked it, it wouldn’t be edible anymore” - fucking fantastic
“Xie Lian hugged his belly. “Of course! Only after having met you did I rediscover that it’s such a simple thing to be happy, hahaha…” Hearing this, Hua Cheng blinked. Xie Lian’s laughter quieted a bit, realizing what he just said was a little too revealing.” - okay i know i said what i said about being tired of hua cheng being everywhere but... the line…. the fact that theyre laughing together…. :pleading:
“It’s not,” Ling Wen said. “At least, I believe, there will definitely not be another in history who can create a dish called ‘Incorruptible Chastity Meatballs’” - and truer words were never spoken
“I, DO NOT WORSHIP GODS. “I, AM GOD!” - this was every bit as badass as i hoped but no one told me it was immediately followed up by a little bit of the ol dinner theater fjalkdsfjsd. also puqi shrine noooooooooo
“Xie Lian sighed as he thought, “Qi Rong has taken Guzi away, who knows if the poor child was eaten or abandoned. Wind Master...... ..... who knows if Black Water took him away. Pray they’re both safe.” yeah hey are we going to fucknig. find out what happened to the child???
and yeah i dooooont really care for the age regression? thing thats going on. i just dont like that trope tbh. but tiny hua cheng whipping out his fat ghost king wallet in the store was funny tho. it is really funny that hualian are just like wandering around some random towns while the heavens are in an uproar. i guess theres not much else to do but its funny
“Me too, me too. You all know of my shixiong, right? Talented, with an infinite future! He only had one small vice: he loved playing women. Decades ago, a little prostitute ghost seduced my shixiong and sucked him dry into human jerky, and that Hua, Hua, Hua, that ghost king dared shelter her.” - yes omg give me the forbidden hua cheng lore i love this for him for real it goes along nicely with xie lian’s principles about giving another cup. god i love shared values
“Hua Cheng poked again, and a small hole appeared on the wall, as if the wall was made of tofu.” - how’d he do that. why is this a ghost king power. its useful tho
*me shaking qi rong when he pops up* WHERE IS THE CHILD
mu qing fu yao is here okay im happy now. once again no one has a good grasp on their secret identity and i love that. this inn has descended into chaos and im delighted and im glad lan chang is back
“The good ol’ kitchen was suddenly squished and crowded, loud and noisy. Fu Yao was chasing that fetus spirit leaping up and down, Lan Chang was chasing after Fu Yao like she had gone mad. Half of Qi Rong’s face changed shape by the way Xie Lian was pressing him down on the chopping board, his back turning into a target for those yellow talismans Fu Yao hurled while being observed by a crowd, and Lan Chang would step on him from time to time.” - this is pure chaos. i love that mu qing was in that room when the mob checked and he didnt say a word didnt open the door just sent out a talisman as a warning. king your disguise is transparent
“Xie Lian remembered the way Feng Xin laughed until he was hoarse when he first heard that verbal password all those years back, and couldn’t help but feel nostalgic, even though it wasn’t the right time.” - awwwww omg im emotional about this... faithful friend feng xin laughing at xie lian’s stupid joke password and remembering it!!! ;_;
“They have, but they’re not effective,” Feng Xin said. “Usually they’re the most diligent in scorning the Palace of Ling Wen, like they could do the job way better if they had the position. Now that we need them to take up the task, not a single one can do even half of what she does.” - typical... typical typical typical
also emotional about the fact that feng xin contacted xie lian at all.....
also!! emotional about lan chang as a mom and wanting to help out sick lil guzi.....
xie lian forcing “fu yao” to let him help “his general” is making me.... what is friendship if not playing along with your buddies little shenanigans while also making them accept your help
“Someone like Mu Qing, even though he’s narrow-minded, petty, sensitive and skeptical, has a bad personality, constantly guessing, doesn’t say nice things, likes to nag, always offending people and has a lot of people who dislike him, has no friends, can remember small, unimportant details for a long period of time…” ”Xie Lian went on in one breath with a straight face, but in the end he concluded with, “...But I’ve known him since we were kids, after all, he’s still got principles.” - XIE LIAN PLEASE AFJDLKSFJDL omg ive seen this quote before but i figured he was talking to someone else not actually to mu qing himself fgjasdkfjsl. god thats amazing. hey im gonna help you out because i care but i will roast you first <3
waaaaaait so is lan chang aka jian lan that girl from book 2 we took a page to talk about and then disappeared? that has to be it why else would we have stopped to discuss her
“Jian Lan spat on his face, then choking his neck, she slapped him twice again. “WHAT SHITTY SUPREME! YOU SURE KNOW HOW TO BLOW YOURSELF UP! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, THINK YOU’RE EVEN WORTH TO BE THOUGHT OF AS EQUALS WITH THE OTHER THREE SUPREMES? WHAT ARE YOU EVEN GOOD AT? YOUR THICK SKIN? OF COURSE I DARE HIT YOU!” - oh this feels so good i cant lie. YES GET HIM!! CHOMPING AND VIOLENCE YES!!!!
okay this description of cuocuo.... im... that sure the hell is a creature
this book is so entertaining bc i already saw spoilers for the feng xin/jian lan/cuo cuo reveal and yet i could never have predicted the circumstances that brought it about. imagine being feng xin. the heavens are in an uproar and your only friend/enemy has been jailed for possible fetus spirit-related crimes but he escapes along with this female ghost who keeps causing problems. you figure “fuck it lets see if dianxia kept his old phone number” and he has but then he hangs up on you. you’ve got fuckall else to do so you go find him. mu qing is there but he’s in his disguise the two of you were using so you could watch over his highness while staying aloof. you think you see hua cheng only he’s a chiild for some goddamn reason but who knows at this point. the female ghost is also there and theres a fetus spirit climbing trees and biting your arrows in half. you realize the female ghost is your ex and the little demon is your son. it bites you. what do you do
amazing that despite everything going on everyone is still playing along with the “fu yao” persona when it would probably be easier to drop pretenses at this point. then again tbh if i could explain my actions to my friends while pretending to be a third party.... i probably would so.. carry on
“With all his devotees gone, only Feng Xin still treated him like the Flower-Crowned Martial God and His Highness the Crown Prince. ” “...his protection charms were all seen as trash. However, Feng Xin was still determined and tireless in handing them out; telling Xie Lian, look, you still have devotees.” “After all, he was the darling of the heavens since birth, high and mighty. Feng Xin so naturally spun around him like he was the world, so how could he possibly have his own life, his own heart” “Whether or not that fetus spirit was Feng Xin’s son, if it was that period of poverty that made Feng Xin lose the girl he loved, Xie Lian wouldn’t be able to forgive himself no matter what." ohhhh my god this relationship i. im...
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oh my god i still have 30 more chapters until book 4............ its naptime now i think
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