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emotionaldisaster909 · 4 months

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ALSO NOTICE THAT

Hua Cheng smiled when qr said that Xie Lian has him on a leash

AND THIS IS THE FACE HE MADE

AFTER QR SAID THAT XIE LIAN WAS LICKING HIS BOOTS

THAT’S

A L L YOU HAVE TO KNOW ABOUT HIM

#tgcf #hualian #xie lian #hua cheng #tian guan ci fu #tgcf thoughts #tgcf season 2 #tgcf donghua #heaven officials blessing #天官赐福 #tgcf analysis #tgcf fandom #tgcf meta #tgcf s2

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yourcrumblingsaikiisnotmyproblem · 2 months

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I know TGCF has a whole thing about people around Xie Lian suffering but what I genuinely love about that is how ironic that is.

The people XL picked and trained all turned out to be HEAVEN FRICKING OFFICIALS, Lan Qianqu ascended, Mu Qing ascended and so did fend xin. HUA CHENG, whom XL knew from the very first fight as a teen would be unstoppable with a saber fucking ASCENDED and then became a calamity.

XL is not unlucky, he's amazing at reading people with potential and he hypes them up and guides them to what will suit them. (he also instructed Mu Qing early on, don't forget, who was one of the very few people on par with XL, when he was a prince, when it came to swordfighting)

Now I'm not saying these people weren't destined or it wasn't their own fate and hardwork. what I'm saying is that XL is probably the luckiest link they had in their lives who made the person they could become otherwise how could Lan Qianqu, whos very young and kinda impulsive, be ascended and in control of a whole ass region?

Would Mu Qing find his cultivation as easily and conveniently as he could with XL's help? Would HC be motivated or inclined towards improving his skills? Would Feng Xin? Hell the reason they could cultivate that high in the first place (Fx and Mq) is BECAUSE XL made them his officers!

Also let's not forget XL's presence is the reason the whole blackwater arc did not end in like 5 seconds cause who the hell would figure that shit out. (hc wouldn't give a shit without xl and pei Ming is too horny too use his brain around shi wifi going through his heavenly trial thingy)

I rest my case

#tgcf #XL is the luckiest charm and i will die on this boat #tian guan ci fu #heaven official's blessing #tgcf donghua #tgcf thoughts #xie lian #hua cheng #mu qing #feng xin #lan qianqiu #san lang #wu ming #general hua #hualian

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itsjustelian · 14 days

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BEEFLEAF THOUGHT (Mainly He Xuan thought but fuck it he's intertwined with Shi Qingxuan and therefore all He Xuan thoughts are beefleaf thoughts)

So so so, in my readings of tgcf and the wonderful mess that is all of the internet thoughts on it I've come to the personal conclusion that to become a supreme you have to have *big* feelings. Very big and very deep feelings.

Our big-brained, obvious example of this is Hua Cheng. Man's big feeling is devotion, love. He is absolutely besotted for Xie Lian. Would do anything for his God. We're so proud of him for it too.

But He Xuan? He's the only other real supreme we have aside from Hua Cheng (Jun Wu, I'm sorry, you're wonderful but Godhood fucks with a man) and the idea that his big feeling that turned him into a supreme was rage and hatred never sat quite right with me. It's not that hatred and rage aren't powerful enough emotions to make a supreme, and those being his emotions on the surface make him a wonderful parallel to Hua Cheng. But rage isn't really what fuels him. If it was, he'd have dissipated after the Blackwater arc. Taken his revenge and called it a day.

Yet, he sticks around. He *never* dissipates. He just sits at the bottom of the ocean for all eternity. Which doesn't sound like rage or hatred. I mean, you'd assume a calamity built on hate would continue his revenge path until all of heaven is gone and no one can have godhood because he couldn't. But he doesn't. He just... waits.

This isn't to say he wasn't angry, btw. He was absolutely angry, and he had every right to be. His desire for revenge had to come from somewhere, let alone the emotional payment to actually planning and pulling it off. I just don't think that was his greatest regret/feeling/desire at death. I mean, He Xuan had his whole life taken from him. All of it. His family, his fiancee, his passions, his work. Everything he worked towards and for got stolen from him by others. And while it's clearly very rage inducing for him (I mean he has a mental breakdown and kills everyone who's ever wronged him), the underlying feeling through it all was probably despair. He probably just wanted things to go back to how they were when his whole family was around and alive.

And this despair and longing doesn't just go away when he learns the truth of what's been done to him. He's still a person. He can't just throw away those emotions because new ones have taken center stage. But rage is a way easier feeling to work with than misery, so He Xuan defers to it. He jumps on the bandwagon of revenge against the people who wronged him once again and goes with it. And it gets him through Mt. Tonglu and up into heaven and right where he says he wants to be. Right up until he can execute his revenge. And then he just stops? And decides that he's going to be best friends with Shi Qingxuan for a few hundred years first? I'm no rage expert, but that doesn't sound very revenge like to me. Which leads very neatly into the point of this post, took me a while I know.

He Xuan's reason for sticking around is he wants to be loved.

I mean, look at it. He says he hates Shi Qingxuan's guts and wants him and his brother dead more than anything, but also spends hundreds of years hanging out with this person he hates so much when revenge is right there? He could have done it whenever. There was no logical reason I could wait to wait as long as he did. Unless he was enjoying Shi Qingxuan's companionship. And Shi Qingxuan clearly loved him (even just platonically. We love our friends in this house). And He Xuan hadn't had someone care about him that much since his death. It was probably insanely overwhelming and equally as wonderful.

And then he fucks it all by actually going through with the revenge but feelings are hard and he's clearly not great with them so oops. But but but, his great famous line during the Blackwater Arc is him telling Shi Qingxuan that they've used the wrong name. He, even if it's just subconsciously, wants Shi Qingxuan to see him as He Xuan, not Ming Yi. He, in some capacity, wants Shi Qingxuan to see and love He Xuan, not the mask he had on.

But then, after the revenge, he doesn't disappear. He straight up goes out of his way to return Shi Qingxuan's fan to them. To make something right. To return something to how it was before.

Except this time, he can't blame the people around him for the change. He can't turn his rage at the rest of the world because he's the one who ruined the only thing he wanted for himself. So he finally, *finally*, has to face this sadness and longing that's been plaguing him from the start. He got his revenge, he got all the anger out, and it still wasn't what he wanted. Because from the beginning, all he wanted was to be appreciated and loved and wanted and not have that torn away from him.

And he fucked it for himself in the end because lets be honest if he had a civil fucking conversation with Shi Qingxuan and didn't literally threaten their brothers life things would have gone SO MUCH BETTER.

Anyway, I'm crying now. If you read through my jumbled 2 AM thoughts all the way, thank you. I will edit this when it's not 3 am. and post it.

---

Editing me: wtf was I on? I don't remember half of these thoughts??? I'm posting it because somewhere in this hot mess is a point I'm trying to make, and I'm not going to deny 2 AM Elian the chance to share it.

#theory #tgcf #tgcf thoughts #tgcf theory #beefleaf #he xuan #shi qingxuan #long post #this is incomprehensible

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citronverveine · 6 months

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one thing i love about hua cheng is that his love isn't merely self-destructive, as in self-destruction isn't the end goal. it's not about him, it never is, even his own love isn't about him. self-destruction is a mean to show and support that love. dying and sacrificing himself is only part of it. his whole demonstration of love isn't only based on that. he also protects xie lian, becomes greater for xie lian, gifts him stupidly grandiose things, spends time with him, listens to him, talks to him, treats him like a person. hua cheng's love isn't rooted in "i'll die for you". it's rooted in "i'll live for you, with you, next to you. if you want me to."

#tgcf #tgcf thoughts #hualian #hua cheng #tgcf hua cheng #mxtx tgcf #mxtx #tian guan ci fu #heaven official's blessing #mine #q

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confusedgoldenflower · 2 months

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The more I try to figure out what exactly it was that got Feng Xin ascended, the more I think he was probably stopping marauders or something.

Imagine going about your thieving day somewhere slightly across the invisible line that divides east from west in the south when some homeless dude with a perpetual frown and an exceptional aim with a bow—a lost dog who really really wants his master back—decides to fuck you and all your buddies up, THEN gets pulled up into the clouds in a literal column of light, probably cussing “oh, what the fuck!?” Poor MQ was probably minding his business trynna survive the politics of heaven when he got slapped in the face by yours truly.

Idk. What I read as FQ’s ascensions is FX’s was a vague act of martial whatever, and MQ’s was settling the spirits of the Xianle battlefield<—which is another pointer to him not just being a dick, by the way.

You can’t tell me FX didn’t mopingly wander around, taking every chance to fuck up criminals as he kept looking behind him for any sign that XL chased after him for him to come back, come home. Because his Prince was his home. Man probably had to rely on other urchins just to have edible food since I don’t put it past him not being able to boil water….

MQ probably *discretely* left convenient food around for him if he crossed paths/went out looking.

#tgcf #tgcf thoughts #heaven official's blessing #mu qing #tian guan ci fu #feng xin

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kikarouflames · 4 months

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Just some hualian thoughts:

Hualian really set a very high standard for love, relationship and romance for me. Like the commitment, devotion Hua cheng had for Xie Lian is so admirable. Hua cheng sure was obsessed but not in an unhealthy way, I mean, he always respected Xie Lian's boundaries. Many people may call him creepy cuz' of the thousands of statues he carved. But I don't really think it was creepy.

For me, it was a act of a devotee to his God, he sculptued those statues from memories alone. He never asked for anything in return. But when MQ and FX were trying to escape with Xie Lian and Hua Cheng couldn't just let Xie Lian go. That was the moment we really saw him desperate. He didn't want Xie lian to hate him, he wanted Xie lian to be safe and just be by his side and protect him, so yeah he definitely was not letting go without an explanation.

But, damn. The love Hua cheng had for Xie lian was the purest one and the most devoted one too. The thing is his type of love would be really unrealistic in real life. But it makes sense for Hua cheng.

He fell in love with a God, but totally saw and accepted the mortal flaws that Xie lian had. He never put Xie lian on a pedestal that would be too cruel. He accepted him for who he is.

We almost never talk about how Xie Lian loved hua cheng too. Many people say it isn't devoted like Hua cheng's. But he is a God that fell for his most devoted believer. He accepts Hua cheng's devotion, in return, Xie Lian chooses to stay with a ghost king, marry a ghost king. Something that would be absurd for a God to do. But Xie lian never cared what others said, he loved Hua cheng and liked him for who he was.

Some say, that "unlike hua cheng, Xie Lian wouldn't be a stepping stone and stuff"...um hua cheng wouldn't allow that, but Xie Lian already said he would stay with hua cheng even if it hurts like hell in one of the extras, knowing Xie Lian pain tolerance, and how the intense heart aches the gift gave him, he still wanted to be with Hua cheng.

They both saved each other in different times and thier love is the most beautiful and memorable I have ever seen.

#hualian #tgcf #heavenly official's blessing #hua cheng #xie lian #kikarou rambles #tgcf thoughts #tgcf meta

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jayktoralldaylong · 1 year

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Hua Cheng is not the reward for Xie Lian's suffering. Hua Cheng suffered because Xie Lian suffered after all. Xie Lian was just lucky that someone....loved him that much.

There is no grand amazing world altering moral lesson at the end of TGCF, though some may say staying on the path of good and righteousness no matter what evil comes your way. However, in truth, Xie Lian stayed good because he couldn't bear to be evil. Hurting people has only ever hurt him. The way he so deeply regrets what he did in the past, it shames him because seeing his enemies suffer would have never brought him satisfaction. The same way Bai Wuxiang had to keep finding new enemies to fight because revenge doesn't make the pain go away and won't bring back what was lost. It's not a revelation that revenge is bad or a waste of time, but that it won't change how broken you are inside.

Xie Lian stayed true to himself but the reason he's so happy at the end of TGCF is not because of that. Hua Cheng would love him no matter what he did after all, and Hua Cheng knew Xie Lian so well, right down to the worst he was capable of, he knew Xie Lian would never hurt people, but it ended up boiling down to Hua Cheng choosing Xie Lian over and over again. Through the pain and suffering and sorrow. After everything, Xie Lian was just lucky.

It's painful, knowing that that's exactly how life works. Xie Lian was lucky that there was someone willing to fight for him and by his side for 800 years. Xie Lian was loved and adored the way everyone deserves to be loved and adored. A home was created for him and his pain did not feel meaningless at the end.

But what about Qi Rong? The neglected child who didn't get his happily ever after, except in headcanons? He didn't ask to have bad adults that never corrected him. He didn't ask to.crave attention so much that he'd rather be tortured than ignored.

What about He Xuan who lost everything for something that was never his fault? Getting revenge didn't get that back, it just made him lose more. Where is the home and happiness that He Xuan deserves once and for all?

What about Bai Wuxiang..... The version of Xie Lian that never got a Hua Cheng. That just kept suffering till he went mad.

What about Shi Qingxuan who had luck for majority of his life but will now live and die in insignificance, once again through no fault of his own. Or is he at fault for never asking his brother how he took care of the problem?

What about Ling Wen who loved and killed but never stopped loving. Who went to great lengths to revive her lover just to lose it all. What about Ling Wen who achieved so much but has lost one of her best friends and won't get the one she loves?

Unlucky. That's just it. Things didn't work out for them.

In the grand scheme of things, whether you're evil or good, sometimes things work out and sometimes they don't. Not all bad guys 'reap the consequences of their actions'. Not all good guys get a happy ending. Xie Lian was lucky, and I'm so happy for him. But every time I remember the others....it brings me to tears.

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evergreenerieh · 1 year

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I just thought of Feng Xin accidentally walking on Mu Qing while the later was repairing Ruoye and I don’t think I’m okay.

Imagine all the thoughts racing through Feng Xin’s head. Most of all, the nostalgic feeling prompted by a sight once so familiar. Calming and comforting even. That, before things drastically changed and he was thrown into a world so lonely, so messy and unknown.

Feng Xin would falter in his movements, initially meaning to throw some accusations in Mu Qing’s face. But now he’s unable to. He just stares at Mu Qing’s hands - his meticulous and enthralling fingers - and relishes in the memory of the times he sneaked glances at them for hours.

Mu Qing stopped sewing as soon as he sensed Feng Xin’s presence in the room. Nonetheless, he doesn’t yell at him to get out. Whether it comes from the fact that they’ve agreed on an unspoken armistice weeks ago, or because he was hit by a wave of nostalgia as well, Mu Qing lets him stay. Feng Xin even dares as much as to seat himself on one of the pillows scattered around Mu Qing’s feet.

As if it were the most natural thing in the world, Mu Qing spares him one final glance before resuming his mending work.

All those years, and they’ve stayed the only constant in each other’s life.

#bringing this from tumblr because i am having FEELINGS #fengqing #tgcf #mu qing #feng xin #ruoye #post canon #tgcf thoughts

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hualianisms · 4 months

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saw someone saying that the difference between HC & FX's loyalty is that HC dares to say no to XL and that "stop following" never worked on HC, and i have a lot of thoughts about this.

i think there's 2 major things that make XL's relationship with HC vs with FX completely different, especially if comparing XL & HC 800 years later, vs XL & FX in book 4.

the inherent difference in social status btwn XL & FX

the circumstances surrounding how FX & XL's friendship deteriorated in book 4, vs hualian meeting 800 years later when XL is in a way better mental state

bc of these 2 factors, i personally feel like hualian's relationship vs FX & XL in book 4 are in many ways not fairly comparable.

firstly, the inherent differences in social status btwn XL & FX:

while it's true that XL & FX were close friends and XL never treated FX as just a bodyguard or servant, it's undeniable that 800 years ago, XL & FX's relationship had inherent big differences in social status. the thing is that in a historical chinese context, differences in social status make a huge difference, bc confucian societal hierarchies and roles are rigid. in fact to me as a native chinese speaker, mxtx was already pretty lax in her portrayal of the status differences btwn XL vs FX or MQ. a crown prince vs his personal retainer have huge inherent differences in status that create lines that cannot be crossed by the retainer. bc of this, in other c-novels or c-dramas, it's rare to see a crown prince and his personal retainer being best friends on an equal footing, much less a romance between them (the romance would be forbidden and face societal backlash).

bc of the inherent differences in social status, it's much harder for FX to outright defy XL when XL gives a direct order, for example if XL dismisses FX as a servant - and it's very obvious in the revised version of the novel that in the scene where XL tells FX to leave, he's also dismissing FX as a servant as he also says "i don't need you anymore". that's something that's hard for FX to just ignore. it's like if your boss fires you, you can't just say "no."

while i would argue that FX himself dares to talk back to XL (in book 2 he often scolds XL and in book 4 after xianle's fall, FX even dared to do something like give XL a punch in the scene when XL came back from getting stabbed) - it's hard for FX to insist on staying if XL just dismissed him and told him to leave. some might see it as FX being afraid to speak out, but to me it's not about fear, but about respect. FX has deep respect for XL. he scolds MQ every time MQ shows disrespect to XL and even went on a long angry outburst to MQ in book 2 about how MQ should respect XL as XL is His Highness. it's evident even 800 years later how much FX respects XL.

in contrast, HC with XL 800 years later does not have this inherent status divide of master & servant. 800 years later, hualian meet as complete equals. if they had gotten closer when HC was still a commoner child and XL was still a crown prince, the difference in social status would have been an issue too.

2. the circumstances surrounding hualian's relationship 800 years later, and XL & FX's relationship in book 4 are extremely different

when hualian meet 800 years later, they get to know each other as not just equals, but as individuals who are 800+ years old. they have had literal centuries to mature and grow as people. and, XL is in a way better mental state 800 years later. in contrast, XL & FX in their book 4 falling out were dealing with extremely tough times, barely struggling to get by each day, traumatized by the fall of xianle and losing almost everything of their old lives (with XL especially in the worst psychological state he's ever been, extremely traumatized by the events with BWX and clearly depressed). people really don't make the best decisions when they are in bad psychological states - that's when they tend to make bad choices.

HC may have seen XL at XL's lowest, but they were not friends at that point. they didn't have to live with each other, they only were around each other for an extremely short time in book 4. they didn't have a mutual, reciprocal bond. ofc i'm sure if HC was in FX's position, he would have never left. but for FX's specific position, he was living with XL, was XL's good friend and personal attendant, was actually day-to-day witnessing and being on the receiving end of XL's heavily deteriorating psychological state. XL was screaming at FX and having intense mental breakdowns due to trauma. it's important to remember that XL in book 4, especially after being stabbed 100 times, was completely different from his normal self. he was not himself at all. any friend would be alarmed to see their friend completely different all of a sudden, and questioned it.

however, FX did not know or understand what XL was going through, and when he tried to ask, XL didn't tell FX about any of it, and instead shut him out and pushed him away. FX probably wanted to help, but didn't even have a way to understand what was happening. he was helpless. and even XL's own mother didn't know how to help either. she, too, was pushed away when she tried to talk to XL.

we also have to remember that we, as the reader, know that XL only pushed FX away due to an intense fear of abandonment, but FX did not have the knowledge that the reader has. FX did not know that at all. from FX's pov, XL didn't want him around anymore. from FX's pov, even as a friend, how could he force XL to change his mind if XL didn't want FX around anymore?

bc even completely ignoring social status differences, even in terms of friendship, when friends have a messy falling out like that, where one basically tries to cut ties with the other (with an implied leave and stop staying/living with me - it's practically being kicked out), and if the other friend truly believes that they are no longer wanted around (which is what i think FX interpreted), it could in some ways be ignoring your friend's own wishes or even your friend's personal boundaries, to say "no" and insist on still following even after being told to leave. i find their fight and falling out in book 4 pretty realistic for how friend breakups happen in real life.

so to me, the circumstances were very different. when HC says no to XL, it's 800 years later, when XL is in a much healthier mental state, they don't have an inherent status difference, and XL isn't trying to drive HC away completely. XL is only doing something harmful to himself, which HC can push back against on the grounds of prioritizing XL's own well-being. it's not when XL is trying to cut ties with HC due to abandonment fears. (not saying that HC would leave in any circumstance, but that the situation FX was in would be complicated to experience in reality and not as simple as just saying no. and that FX's choice was more complicated than just blind obedience.)

in fact, FX & XL's friend breakup, although incredibly painful for both of them as well as the reader, paved the way for them to reconcile 800 years later when XL is no longer the crown prince & FX is no longer his personal retainer/bodyguard. they no longer have such a big difference in social status between them. they are both also 800 years older - i.e. had lots of time to mature and grow as people, and in a much better psychological state. they are in a much better place this time around to form a much healthier friendship with each other on a more equal ground.

#fenglian thoughts #long bc i have too much to say about this #idk man the circumstances to me were totally different #mp: tgcf #tgcf thoughts #im not saying that hc would have ever left bc ofc he would've not left; but that fx's position was very complicated in a way that #if it happened irl it's not as easy as just saying no

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coffeeandritalin · 1 year

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I love Hua Cheng's flirting with Xie Lian in the Gambler's Den.

I also love how purely Xie Lian trusts Hua Cheng.

Xie Lian surprisingly couldn't think of anything he could bet with at the moment, so he could only ask advice from the owner of the Gambler's Den.

Xie Lian is aware that Hua Cheng is just teasing him by this point. Thus, Xie Lian knows Hua Cheng won't give an answer that takes advantage or make things difficult for him. There's just this sense of - Xie Lian knows he can count on Hua Cheng to help him resolve or deal with the dilemma he is in.

It's a silly scenario Hua Cheng has constructed to flirt with Xie Lian, but they are in fact standing on opposing sides - betting against each other. Even then, even as they stand opposite of each other, Xie Lian is comfortable asking Hua Cheng for help (advice). Even then, Xie Lian trusts Hua Cheng to actually give him helpful suggestions. It's just such a small and soft moment.

Hua Cheng gives Xie Lian such a strong sense of safety and security that Xie Lian feels at ease enough to unhesitatingly trust him and use him as a support.

#tgcf #tgcf thoughts #hualian #xie lian #hua cheng

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emotionaldisaster909 · 4 months

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Ppl said that donghua team’s budget went into Hua Cheng or the 3d dice

BUT NO

THIS IS WHERE IT ALL WENT

HOW DARE HE BE SO BEAUTIFUL

SO EXPRESSIVE

HOW DARE HE SLAY SO MUCH

B I T C H -

..well he did slay an entire royal family

so-

#/im sorry lqq #tgcf #hualian #qi rong #tian guan ci fu #tgcf thoughts #tgcf season 2 #tgcf donghua #tgcf s2

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ruinatlantis · 1 year

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You know, as much as I understand why Jun Wu is so often made the easy villain of a fic (he is just there to be an antagonis usually), it doesnt sit well with me when he is the wrong type of villain. Oftentimes I will see him put into the role of abusive ex, or one-note stalker, or (in the latest case) a drunken asshole who molested (?) Xie Lian....and I just.

No. That is not who he is in the story at all. He is such a complex character that I find compelling and ominous in the story, he psychologically tortures Xie Lian while pretending to be his friend, he meticulously planned the whole plot of tgcf in order for Xie Lian to be his heir, and (what I feel that most people forget) he was originally a good person. He too was a golden prince of a kingdom that had everyone turn their backs on him. There is a reason he latches on to Xie Lian. And he is smart. Very smart. When I see him as a one note villain that wants Xie Lian just to...want Xie Lian and goes about this in the most obvious way possible, I am so sad. He is so much more than that...

#tgcf #tgcf thoughts #jun wu #xie lian #jw is a villain but he is a damn well written one #tgcf spoilers #for all the new people reading #hob #heaven official's blessing

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citronverveine · 1 year

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xie lian and identity issues

this is something i'll probably want to expand on more as i give it more thoughts later but right now i'm just. thinking.

i'm thinking of xie lian in book 2 who has to realize that he is not as invicible as he thought. he is powerful yet he cannot do enough. he is not enough. he cannot save his country, he cannot help the common people, if anything he makes it worse.

i'm thinking of xie lian in book 4 who has to get used to a life with no title, no riches, no priviledge. he has to live as no one, and if people find him out he will not be celebrated like he used to be, he will be captured, beaten, or worse, who knows.

i'm thinking of xie lian after being stabbed 100 times, so disconnected from his destroyed body that he can't recognize himself. i'm thinking of xie lian becoming white no face, hiding his face and seeking revenge, turning his back on everything he was before.

i'm thinking of xie lian after wuming's death, after changing his mind and not cursing the Yong'an people but causing the death of his last believer in the process. the distance between what he would have wanted to be and what he ended up being, doing.

i'm thinking of xie lian in mount tong'lu learning about the past of white no face and starting to think they're the same person. thinking maybe he was the one doing all this. thinking this was all meant to be.

it's just, like. young xie lian was so ambitious, and rightly so; everyone told him he could achieve anything, be anything, he ascended so early, was so powerful and so loved so early on. he started high, only to jump from heaven and land terribly low, in a 6-feet deep hole, unable to crawl out of it. the distance between what he was and what he ended up as. i know the war took a couple years to end but the change was still probably very brutal for him.

especially during his first banishment. at first it could have been alright. he had his parents. he had feng xin. he had mu qing. everything was new and unfamiliar and wrong but he had them, he knew them, they were familiar at least. even if xie lian had failed they were still with him, they still loved him.

and then mu qing left. and xie lian's view of relationships started to shatter. and then he was against mu qing on the land of cultivation and he was the one being humiliated and rejected. and then he was losing himself with the stress of white no face, becoming crazy with anguish and despair. and he couldn't provide enough for his parents, and he was afraid feng xin would leave, and he couldn't recognize himself. how had he fallen so low? how had he failed so much?

and then the temple. he wanted to fight white no face, to get rid of him once and for all. but white no face broke him without even lifting a finger. he shattered his faith in the goodness of the world by showing him how cruel it could be. and afterwards...

just think. being tortured for a whole night, used by hundreds of people for their own benefit, left torn open and raw without care. but you heal and you recover and your body hides any trace of that event. did you really go through it? did it really happen? did it happen like you think it did? was it really that bad? was the pain that severe? your body hid it all. you'll never know. the only thing you have are you memories. but can you trust them?

anyway. after that, xie lian comes back to his parents and feng xin. he steals. he doesn't care. he's angry, he's raw, he's weak. feng xin leaves. his parents leave. he's alone.

he's completely alone. he doesn't even have himself anymore. his old self is dead, his old self was nothing, his old self was naive and stupid. xie lian trying to kill himself even though it's useless is symbolic of him completely leaving his old self with his parents and what was familiar, to become someone else entirely. to abandon this part of himself.

it's explicit as white no face that xie lian completely rejects his previous identity of crown prince and god. he does not want to be called that. he does not want to be reminded of it. he hates this past self so much that being associated to it makes him feel humiliated and ridiculed.

only that old part of him is not entirely dead. xie lian still hesitates, deep down, to release the spirits. a part of him still wants to believe. he wants to be proven wrong. he wants the world to give naive xie lian another chance. it's the bamboo hat man that does that for him.

i just think the distance between xie lian, his body, and his mind, is very interesting. i didn't mention how he is completely disconnected from his body even 800 years later because i feel like it's more dissociation from the self than an identity issue (struggling to connect your thoughts to your actions and/or associate them with your perception of self, or even simply not having any definite perception of self especially when you are traumatized) but. i'll definitely make a post about that some day.

that was a bit long but i just. wanted to put some thoughts down. thx for reading up til here ??

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zazzander · 2 years

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I think Qi Rong's ashes are in the Xianle Mausoleum

Possibly mixed up with the Queen's ashes.

Qi Rong definitely knew about the tomb - and the fact Xie Lian buried his parents there - for a long time.

Think about it, Qi Rong had just been heavily injured. His clone has been destroyed, he's been forced to possess a random human. Where would he go? Back to his ashes to recover!

(Guzi was probably a meal, let's be honest, a way to speed up the process)

Then, suddenly, he hears a sound. Someone is entering the tomb. And there's only one person in the world who would know this place. So Qi Rong hastily lays a trap.

Then we have Xie Lian discovering his mother has been turned to ashes. We know that Qi Rong is not above using others to protect himself. This would go doubly for the queen.

After all, the fact these two are buried in the tomb, and so carefully as well, shows that Xie Lian was with them after the kingdom fell. He abandoned Qi Rong but he protected his parents. The resentment he felt towards his cousin would have been even greater. And he'd have realised that Xie Lian might one day try to destroy his ashes. But Xie Lian would never harm his mother's body. What better protection?

And then, cherry on top, he blames Xie Lian for the state of his mother's body. Yes, it's referring to the fall of Xianle in general, but I think it would be interesting if Qi Rong was also blaming Xie Lian for his status as ghost - and the precautions he had to make.

Even if Qi Rong's ashes with the queen, but elsewhere in the tomb, I think it would also represent his desire to be part of their family. A family he was never truly accepted by.

#qi rong #tgcf #tgcf thoughts #tgcf analysis

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kikarouflames · 4 months

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OK I was just wondering that one of the reason Hua Cheng had to prove Xie Lian is innocent to Lang Qianqiu was because both him and Qianqiu looked up to Xie Lian for different reasons but Qianqiu once respected guoshi Xie Lian more than anyone and wanted to be like him, Hua Cheng wanted to show him that the person he once looked up to is still worthy of the same respect and is innocent. Another thing is Qi Rong used to respect Xie Lian more than anyone too, and the only one who didn't give up on Xie Lian after everything bad that had happened to him is Hua Cheng.

Proving Xie Lian innocent is important to him cuz back then he was not able to defend Xie Lian when he was accused but now he can and he will. Hua cheng won't let Xie Lian be subjected to pay price of something he had no hand in or was not at fault for, even if Xie Lian thinks he deserves it cuz he wasn't able to save people of Xianle before.

Hua Cheng showed Xie Lian how to forgive himself and that it is okay to defend yourself, and Xie Lian allowed Hua Cheng to do that.

God, thier love is beautiful.

#Xie Lian #hua cheng #xie lian #tgcf #tgcf season 2 #heaven official's blessing #hualian #qi rong #lang qianqiu #tgcf thoughts #tgcf xie lian #hua cheng x xie lian #tgcf hua cheng #tgcf hualian

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confusedgoldenflower · 1 month

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Omxz did HC vs the civil gods of the 33 devolve to flyting? I need to see that. Please. Please. I can’t have HC verbal abuse my boy more, but I wanna hear these fucks pulled apart with the martial gods PLUS both Wuyongs. Especially HC and MQ v JW. I feel that’d be glorious. Yes. Get ‘em, boys!

#tgcf #heaven official's blessing #tgcf thoughts #flyting #HC #MQ #the 33 gods

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