#implied beefleaf

[vinzulu]

[are-they-t4t]

Shi Qingxuan (Canon genderfluid*) + He Xuan (agender) [Heaven's Official Blessing]

No propaganda

[fengtianshi]

@danmei-december challenge!

26 - Hua Cheng & He Xuan (Relationship) / "A profound love between two people involves, after all, the power and chance of doing profound hurt." (Set Black)

...Crimson Rain is trying to give some love advice.

[great-master-airplane]

Usually, he couldn’t get Shi Qingxuan to shut up when something was wrong. This was… weird. Different in a way that put He Xuan on edge, an unanticipated ripple in the familiarity of their comfortable current. He didn’t know how to tread in a situation like this, so he didn’t bother trying.

He stayed put. He waited. He let her come to him, confident that she would.

After some time, Shi Qingxuan set down her cup. She pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her chin there, her arms locked around her legs. She fiddled with the golden bracelet that danged from her left wrist, bullying the little leaf charm between her thumb and her forefinger. Her eyes downcast, she pursed her lips and sighed.

“Hey… am I too pushy, He-xiong?”

… what?

[piiinkfreak]

I know what i think: folds are hard to draw!

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[redlikerozez]

The Weight of Eternity

Summary: 

Love intertwines with loss as He Xuan, a ghost king driven by revenge, and Shi Qingxuan, a mortal stripped of godhood, navigate the delicate balance of life and the afterlife. Haunted by dreams of past tragedies and a relentless desire to protect one another, they struggle to find peace in a world where old wounds refuse to heal. As memories of shattered families and painful choices resurface, they must grapple with the possibility that love might not last for eternity. 

Content warnings/tags: Angst with a happy ending, Hurt/Comfort, nightmares, He Xuan’s past trauma, mentions of suicide (he xuan’s sister’s death), He Xuan’s family, Bloody Fire Social

Author’s Note: 

Prompt - learning of hx's suffering and wanting to comfort him/them however possible

My @beefleafaction fic requested by @danmeireader!! Thank you so much for your donation!

Beta-ed by the amazing @/mistynights on AO3! This story would still be stuck in my drafts without you!

Fic under the cut!

~~~~

“Nightmare?”

“Yeah… ahaha… Sorry. Did I wake you up?”

He Xuan gave a noncommittal grunt in response. He turned over in their shared bed to face his lover who had startled awake in the middle of the night wailing a terrible noise He Xuan wished didn’t sound so familiar.

It wasn’t unusual for this sort of thing to happen. Both of them were regularly plagued by nightmares and it had become custom for them to deal with the aftermath together.

“The same one?”

Shi Qingxuan shook his head and wiped a bead of sweat falling from his perfect brow.

Oh, that’s surprising. 

He Xuan raised an eyebrow and asked, “Different?”

Shi Qingxuan nodded.

“Do… Do you wish to talk about it?” 

He Xuan shimmied up so that he was leaning up on his elbow on the bed opposite his lover. Shi Qingxuan just stared blankly in front of him, not uttering a single word. 

“Qingxuan?”

He Xuan furrowed his brows and held out a hand to touch his shoulder gently. He accidentally startled the man beside him enough to feel the deep shudder in his shoulders.

“Oh, sorry. Ahaha, what did you say?”

“Talk to me, Qingxuan. You are safe here,” he said softly. He flicked a hand out and the candles in the room lit themselves, coating the darkness in a warm glow. “I will never let anything, living or dead, touch a single hair on your pretty head.”

A ghost of a smile appeared on Shi Qingxuan’s face and he looked to He Xuan with a pathetic expression. “You think I’m pretty?”

He Xuan groaned and rolled his eyes. He made the motions to start to turn around to go back to sleep, but Shi Qingxuan caught his shoulder and laughed.

“Ahaha, I’m just messing with you,” he said lightly. “I know I am safe with you. Always.”

“Good.”

“I wasn’t dreaming about that,” he continued. “I was dreaming about you.”

He Xuan’s eyes twitched. A surge of guilt swelled in his gut.

“How is that different?” he parsed out delicately.

“It wasn’t about ge. It was about you,” Shi Qingxuan clarified, but it still didn’t make sense to He Xuan who only stared back at him. “Scholar He. The Bloody Fire Social. How you… you died…”

He Xuan shrunk back in on himself at the mention of the Fire Social. Why was he constantly reminded of the worst period of his afterlife, where he made so many stupid mistakes and hurt the person he cared for the most?

“Why are you dreaming of such things?” he demanded, not exactly angry but sharp enough to make Qingxuan shift uncomfortably at his intonation.

Shi Qingxuan let out a nervous laugh and replied dryly, “I’m not sure myself.”

He Xuan watched as the man he loved slowly broke apart before him. His shoulders shuddered and he doubled over on himself, as if he’d been punched in the gut by an invisible force. He Xuan bolted up in alarm and grabbed his shoulders. Shi Qingxuan slowly lifted his head to reveal a weeping face.

“What? What’s wrong?”

“You… You must’ve been so lonely and so sad, He-xiong…!” he cried, immediately wrapping his arms around his unsuspecting lover. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m-”

His voice cut out with a gross sob and he continued to weep directly into He Xuan’s shoulder, clutching on for dear life.

“I took them away from you, I-”

“Shh, you did no such thing.”

“But I did! If our fates-”

He Xuan pulled away and stopped him with a finger to his lover’s mouth. He took a deep breath. 

“It’s no use blaming ourselves or indulging in what if’s. The past is the past,” he said firmly. “We choose our future together.”

Shi Qingxuan had a complicated look on his face as he stared back into his lover’s stern but comforting gaze. 

How could he still be so lucky even amongst all the misfortune after he gave up his spiritual power, godhood, and became mortal again? Did he deserve this luxury of love? How could they have actually reconciled despite everything and agreed to be together till the end of his time on this plane? 

He Xuan had even presented and gifted Shi Qingxuan his ashes, which were currently tucked away beside him on the nightstand beside their shared bed. They were in the shape of an intricately detailed hair comb that looked to be carved out of a whale bone and he never let it out of his sight. 

When he was the Wind Master, he had many precious jewels and expensive, one-of-a-kind treasures, but this delicate comb was the one thing he cherished most in his life. Well, besides the ghost king that gave it to him, that is.

“Can… can you tell me about them?” he said, wiping away the tears streaks from his cheeks.

“What?”

“I don’t know anything about them other than what happened to them,” he admitted. “And you know what my ge was like… What was your family like?”

He Xuan didn’t reply for a long moment and he couldn’t look Shi Qingxuan in the eyes.

“Are you asking out of pity?”

“What? No, of course not! I genuinely want to know about them. They were important to you. And I want to know everything about you, He-xiong. That includes your family. You never talk about them, but they’re your reason for being here for so long.”

“You are my reason,” he clarified immediately, squeezing Qingxuan’s hand in his.

Shi Qingxuan couldn’t help the smile that appeared on his face at the words. “Yes, but before. When you were in Mt. Tonglu. It was them that kept you company.”

“It wasn’t them.”

Shi Qingxuan stared at him, raising an eyebrow in surprise at this response.

“They were just an excuse… It was the memory of losing them. The rage and hurt and brokenness that fueled me. It wasn’t them. It wasn’t love. It was revenge.”

“But you loved them so much that you wanted to avenge their wrongful deaths.”

“I… I suppose that’s not wrong.”

Shi Qingxuan smiled and said, “You’re such a softie, you know that He-xiong?”

“I am not a ‘softie,’” he growled. “I am a ghost king who has slaughtered countless and schemed for centuries to finally achieve vengeance for my family, fooling even the Heavenly Martial Emperor-”

“But you really are! You loved your family so much that you have lingered on this plane and become one of the most powerful beings currently in existence to exact justice for your loved ones!” he said. “It’s inspiring the lengths you will go for love, He-xiong.”

He Xuan narrowed his eyes, “I hurt you in pursuit of revenge and you find this… inspiring?”

“I do. You would do anything for those you love,” he said without hesitation. “And I’m lucky enough to be counted among those lucky few.”

He Xuan could only stare at him for a long moment, searching Shi Qingxuan’s expression for any hint of insincerity, but he couldn’t find any.

Shi Qingxuan laughed at him for making such a serious face. He Xuan immediately dropped his gaze, but Shi Qingxuan could catch a glimpse of the red hue blossoming on his lover’s cheeks even in the dimly lit bedroom.

“So, will you tell me about your family?”

It wasn’t like he could say no to the man opposite him; there was no use fighting Shi Qingxuan. It was easier just to indulge him.

“I… I don’t know what to say or where to begin,” He Xuan muttered, still not looking at him.

“Well, what do you remember? Anything is fine. You had a family… a wife.”

“Fiancee,” he corrected.

“Fiancee. What was she like?” 

He Xuan’s eyebrows furrowed for a moment. After so many years studying his friend and lover’s many different microexpressions, Shi Qingxuan could deduce this particular furrow was not in any anger, but in contemplation.

“It’s been so long,” he started. “I haven’t recalled any fond memories in… centuries. Just the pain. It was all I needed for so long. My only driving force. The pain of losing everyone I loved. It seems I must have forgotten them along the way.”

“Surely you can remember something about her? What did she look like? Your fiancee, your sister, your parents… Anything you can remember.”

“My sister…” he thought, golden eyes glimmering after a second. “Meimei had the warmest brown eyes, like honey, and hair darker than ink. She… she never wore it up. It was always long and flowing behind her in the wind or rolling down her back like a wave.”

Shi Qingxuan cupped the side of his lover’s pale cheek, smiling brightly.

“She must have looked similar to you, then!”

He nodded, continuing, “I taught her how to read and write. She liked to hear me recite poetry and stories. I, I think she was like you in many ways— always earnest and chipper, always smiling and laughing. Her laugh sounded like the sweetest birdsong.”

A big toothy grin adorned Shi Qingxuan’s face as he listened to his lover open up about his sister. He nodded silently, bidding He Xuan to continue.

“Meimei was good friends with my fiancee. We all grew up together in Fu Gu. Our parents were close. The marriage was arranged by our families long before we grew fond of each other,” he reminisced. He choked some semblance of a laugh and added, “Sometimes I’d forget to eat, I was so enraptured with studying and they would bring me food. She and meimei would pester me while I worked. I always hated being disturbed.”

“You? Forgetting to eat?” Shi Qingxuan marveled, almost unbelieving there was a time when the man would forget such a thing. 

He Xuan shot him a dark glare. “There was a time before my insatiable appetite,” he recalled coldly. “My time in prison was not kind to me or my stomach. I nearly withered away along with my organs, but I held on. I endured.” His fists clenched together at the memory. “For them.”

Shi Qingxuan bit his lip, instantly feeling guilty for his inappropriate comment. He cupped the trembling fist of his lover.

“I spoke without thinking,” he said, calmly rubbing his thumbs along the pale and cold hand. “I apologize.”

“It’s nothing,” he gruffed back, shrugging his hand out of the comforting grip.

A moment of silence filled the room before Shi Qingxuan felt compelled to break it, not realizing that it would've been better to remain quiet.

“The worst part of my dream… I watched you cut your sister down from the rafters,” he started. “The whole time I was trapped, screaming trying to grab you so you didn’t have to see what happened. No one could hear me or see me. I just wanted to help you to save you from everything and I couldn’t do anything except watch and scream.”

A pale hand reached out into the darkness of the dimly lit room, grasping out to the shadows along the wall. A tear slid down He Xuan’s cheek.

“She was only sixteen,” he whispered, voice hollow and thoroughly shattered. 

Her feet were still swinging along with the light breeze in the deepest shadows of his memories. The weight of her body falling into his arms after he cut that strip of silk was still engraved into his muscles.

It was He Xuan’s turn to double over on himself. He didn’t really understand what was happening, why his face felt so damp or his lungs felt like they were on fire. He didn’t even need to breathe, so why did it feel like he was suffocating? 

His mind raced with centuries of repressed memories— they all felt like different daggers driving straight through his heart.

Being unfairly failed. Hearing what happened to his fiancée. Cutting his sister down. Burying them. Demanding justice. Being thrown in prison. Starving. His mother’s death. His father’s death. Emptiness. Trying to start over. Everything burning around him. Enough. Justifiable slaughter; a cakewalk compared to Mt. Tonglu. Shi Wudu standing over him. Devouring. Insatiable hunger and vengeance—

“He Xuan!”

Shi Qingxuan’s voice cut through all the miseries. He was shaking his shoulders violently back and forth, trying desperately to pull his lover out of his mind.

“Don’t leave me,” he whispered, sounding nothing like a scary ghost king and more like a destroyed man. He clung to Shi Qingxuan’s night robes tighter than anything he’d ever held in his life.

“I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere.”

“You can’t leave me. I can’t lose you, too.”

“I’m not going to leave you.”

“You can’t-” 

His voice broke before he could finish.

“He-xiong? Look at me?”

Two sets of teary eyes locked gazes.

“Listen to me. I promise you I’m not going anywhere, alright? I love you, He-xiong. I’m not going anywhere without you.”

“But… You’re a mortal now. You will die.”

Shi Qingxuan’s heart broke even further. “He-xiong, don’t think-”

“I will disperse myself if you die and do not return to me.”

“Ahaha! Let’s not talk like that, He-xiong!” Shi Qingxuan, waved frantically. “There is nothing in all three realms that would keep me from coming back to you, so no need to be so dramatic! And I’m still alive! Why all this talk about my death when it hasn’t even-”

He Xuan wrapped him in a bruising grip and refused to let go. 

“You will come back to me, when the time comes,” he grumbled into his lover’s shoulder.

It didn’t sound like a suggestion, but Shi Qingxuan didn’t mind.

“I wouldn’t delay it for anything,” he whispered back soothingly. A hand reached out to stroke He Xuan’s inky black hair. “This is where I belong. Right here. In your arms. For eternity.”

It was not the right time to bring it up, but Shi Qingxuan wasn’t entirely sure he could become a ghost. He had ascended— whether it had been justified or not didn’t change the fact that he had been a god. And that usually meant that he would be stripped of any afterlife or chance at reincarnation, just like his ge. 

But because his fate had been switched with He Xuan’s and then he stripped himself of his spiritual power, he wasn’t sure where that exactly put him in terms of hoping for an afterlife. He Xuan surely had to have thought about this, right? From his words, he seemed fairly confident that he would have a chance at an afterlife… but maybe it was just wistful thinking.

Shi Qingxuan’s mouth opened wide as a yawn overtook him with a wash of exhaustion and sleepiness.

All this talk about death and his and He Xuan’s breakdowns had left him mentally exhausted, especially after such a vivid nightmare.

“Can we finish talking about this in the morning?” he asked mid-yawn, breaking away from the embrace.

He Xuan uttered a tiny “mn” and nodded his head, still reluctant to take his hands off of him. They laid down together, He Xuan practically entombing him in his arms as they cuddled on the bed.

He Xuan laid awake long after Shi Qingxuan had fallen back asleep, eyes piercing into the back of the fragile mortal in his arms. He had vowed long ago to protect this man until his dying breath and beyond. He would do anything it took to make sure that his love would have an afterlife with him. 

Anything.

~~~~

When the early morning light reached his eyelids, He Xuan woke up to find himself alone in their shared bed. The comb on the bedside table was noticeably missing as well.

Panicking for a moment, he immediately started searching the manor through the eyes of his various spies, looking for any sign of his lover. He sighed in relief after catching a glimpse of him kneeling somewhere. 

He Xuan pulled on a robe and immediately chased after him. As he turned the corner down the hallway he had seen his lover in, it suddenly struck him where exactly Shi Qingxuan had gone. The smell of incense wafted in the stale air of Nether Water Manor.

Approaching silently, so as not to disturb him, He Xuan peeked into the door of the altar room and saw Shi Qingxuan kneeling before four black urns. He had lit several sticks of incense.

“I hope it’s not inappropriate of me to come here and pay my respects to you,” he whispered. “It’s sort of my fault what happened to you all…

“I want to offer my sincerest apologies to you, for everything my brother and I have done. But I want you to know that your son is the most precious person to me. He is stronger than anyone I know and supremely intelligent and talented and he cares so deeply for his loved ones. And I’m sure he loved you even more than you know. You should be proud of him. 

“You don’t need to worry about him being lonely ever again. I will take care of him from now on, I promise. I know that I could never replace any of you and I don’t wish to, but I just hope that I can make your son happy again. I love him with my entire essence; he’s my very best friend. Please accept my affections for your son.”

The corners of He Xuan’s lips curled up into an uncharacteristically soft smile as he gazed at the kneeling figure through the doorway. The image of his family’s faces came to mind, one by one.

I would have loved for you to meet them, he thought.

~~~~

End Notes:

There was definitely a version of this where He Xuan was like having a breakdown over SQX’s mortality and just goes “Ooh what if I kill you so you can come back as a ghost and not be so fragile!” And SQX is like “Ahahahaha I love the sentiment but let’s not do anything so permanent!” I had to cut it unfortunately :((((

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[gayjermamexico]

i really dont think the “side ships” in mxtxs books are done unintentionally

[3kidsinacoat]

for the ask game: shi qingxuan

Do I like them? I love them. My Baby. My blorbo. I would die for them. They deserved so much better 15/10

2.My otp for them: Beefleaf in a kinder world (let's not talk about canon)

3.My brotp for them: pretty much everyone they interact with but especially xie lian and shi wudu

4.A side ship/ rare pair with them I enjoy: shi qingxuan x mu qing. They would be such gossip queens

5.What song they remind me of: All dolled up by the orion experience

6.A hobby I think they'd have: painting their clothes. Actually anything artistic that doesn't take to long. Also shopping sprees with friends

7.What job they'd have in a modern au: i feel like sqx wouldn't really need a job since swd would earn enough money for both of them, but I think they'd enjoy babysitting (not saying they'd be a good or responsible babysitter, but they would enjoy it). Maybe a beauty influencer

[eruhamster]

Friend showed me the new audiobook art for the SQX arc. It emphasizes this canon-not-canon thing I was describing:

The red string of fate is important in TGCF. This is clearly playing on that. But it's not just a string, or an equivalent to Xie Lian tying hair around Hua Cheng's finger that he never took off, even in death. It's blood. Their fates are intertwined not by some string, but by a trail of blood due to Shi Wudu's actions. That's the feeling that the art clearly evokes; the splatter of blood all those string-like trails hang from is at his right hand.

And since I'm already talking about this, I'll add a few other things that I didn't mention that came up with talking about it with a friend. Beyond the finacee/wife element between Shi Wudu and He Xuan that SQX gets caught in, they're clearly meant to mirror Xie Lian and Hua Cheng.

Xie Lian is given a question about what to do when he comes across two people in a desert fighting over water. He replies, give them both his own water. The State Preceptor tells him luck is much like this; if you give away your luck, your own luck is diminished. Hua Cheng is an extremely unlucky child, so unlucky he's dangerous to be around. And with his appearance comes the doom of the whole kingdom of Xianle, and the fall of Xie Lian. Xie Lian locks away his luck during his 2nd ascension, with the intention that his luck wafts to those near him instead. From then on, Hua Cheng becomes untouchably lucky, because he's closest to Xie Lian. All the way until that shackle is broken and Xie Lian is no longer bound. Then his luck runs out.

To put it simply, Xie Lian gives his luck to Hua Cheng.

In contrast, SQX steals He Xuan's luck. He may not be aware of it, but that's what he did. They are a polar opposite to Hualian; a ghost so obsessed with a god that he becomes a supreme, not out of devotion, but out of hatred.

And while Hua Cheng has the heart to be with Xie Lian but not the means to find him, He Xuan has the means but not the heart to follow through with his revenge. He's always been right there next to him. He just can't do it.

heya i'm thinking of reading tgcf and was wondering is beefleaf canon? i wasn't sure going by the fandom stuff i've seen so far but your post says it is? whcih would be great, I'd love two romances in one book!!

Ah, sorry for leading you on. So it's not officially canon, but it's heavily implied that He Xuan harbors feelings for SQX and doesn't want to admit it. It's in the same vein as Pei Ming and the Rain Master; you can get a good feeling of what is likely going on in the characters' heads, but Xie Lian has a tendency to not really pay attention to the romantic lives of the people around him (and -that- is canonical and he even laments being too stuck in his own brain to notice Feng Xin was courting someone).

If you don't mind spoilers:

He Xuan's true self comes through every once in a while in the text and you can usually tell when it's his true feelings or thoughts based on his tone or if he's interacting directly with Hua Cheng. His real self is very heavy; Xie Lian notes sometimes that his tone and words are very oppressive and dark, and every time in those instances it's who He Xuan really seems to be. An example of this is when Xie Lian feeds them both stew that was already awful because he made it, but also poisoned further by Hua Cheng:

Not stomach; heart. The true He Xuan tells him his heart is overtaken by demons. And when you think about this as to who he is as a character - he has hung around SQX for hundreds of years, buddy-buddy with him, even transforming as a girl with him just because SQX asks him to. They're clearly very close, and even once He Xuan has easy chances to kill him in the midst of him taking revenge, he doesn't bother and actively protects SQX from harm. He saves SQX life a few times. He actively tries to keep him from Shi Wudu and gets angry when he picks his brother over him. He even tells SQX he was giving him chances.

And still, he keeps SQX alive. He doesn't even take his fate back. And in fact, he repairs SQX's broken fan and gives it back. If you parse through every interaction they have, every single instance of He Xuan saying anything, it becomes fairly clear that he only bears ill will toward Shi Wudu, and seems to be furious both at himself for not having the heart to hate SQX (and perhaps thinks it's because of all the ghosts he's eaten, and thus why he thinks he needs an exorcism?), and furious at SQX for not siding entirely with him. And with that push-and-pull game comes the parallel of He Xuan losing his sister and fiancee, and seemingly playing into that trauma during his revenge by chaining SQX up and letting him get felt up by a bunch of beggars in front of Shi Wudu - so he is giving Shi Wudu the taste of having his little brother/sister, often depicted as his wife by mortals, get the same sort of treatment that his sister and fiancee had been given. I think it's very purposeful that it was written that way - that He Xuan lost a fiancee, and Shi Wudu is depicted by mortals as having SQX as a wife. And He Xuan is jealous of SQX picking Shi Wudu over him, quite clearly in the text. There's a million instances of it, but here's one:

And if you dissect further, it seems that he may have specifically been trying to enact a plan to get revenge on Shi Wudu in a way where he could still hang around SQX as Ming Yi; he actively keeps them separated till the last moment and seems panicked or angry every time Xie Lian gets closer to revealing him, and all the work he -tried- to do to reveal the truth to SQX was through things like shadow ghosts or while dressed as a ghost in a ghost mask.

And even once it's over and he shows up again, he acts the same as he always did toward SQX; grumpy, but sarcastically so, and with no real menacing aura. Even when he hits him, in the text it's clear he doesn't actually hurt SQX at all, and later, he even laughs:

So while Beefleaf is a popular ship that isn't canon, I think at least He Xuan's infatuation with him is like... Borderline canon. It seems heavily implied. Particularly since it mirrors Hua Cheng so well. And I do not think, honestly, that Hua Cheng would work so closely with a ghost so outwardly venomous. It's made pretty clear in the story that the ghosts Hua Cheng surrounds himself with are decent people, and sometimes just want a bit of revenge that Hua Cheng would deem fair.

And I think specifically there's a lot of room for it that makes it clear it really could be a matter of Xie Lian being oblivious to others' love lives like he has in the past. I mean, he keeps thinking Pei Ming's obsession with Rain Master is purely not wanting to be upstaged by a woman when that's -clearly- not the case. There's tons of instances where SQX is clearly not giving Xie Lian the whole truth of what happened between him and He Xuan, and I think there's a lot to grapple with about why that would be so. But I would definitely say it's like... Like to say "He Xuan falls in love with SQX" is not just headcanon, it is a very easy interpretation of what's going on, and specifically due to the parallels in the story (two ghosts obsessed with two gods so thoroughly they become supremes, one's obsession from love and one's obsession from hatred), and the relevance of wife/fiancee and SQX's genderfluidity, I think that it's likely intentionally set up this way.

TL;DR it's sort of in the same vein as like... Yeah technically Bert and Ernie aren't married but you'd be an idiot to not see what's right in front of you. It's that kind of 'not actually canon.'

[overthinkingmoth]

i just realized that almost every canon/implied romance in tgcf is between a god and a ghost

xie lian and hua cheng, feng xin and lan cheng, pei ming and xuan ji, ling wen and the brocade immortal, pei xiu and banyue (honorable mention to beefleaf) and in at least 3 of these the ghost is obsessed with the god in some way

i feel like this is extremely important somehow but can't quite put my finger on it

[tiggyloo]

Y'all are driving up a fucking wall with your explicitly non-canon "canon compliant" fics and art. I appreciate them don't get me wrong but can you guys PLEASE for the love of GOD reread the books. Y'all get literally everything wrong 99% of the time please stop calling it canon compliant when that is FACTUALLY INCORRECT

Additional:

> As stated above, He Xuan had NO IDEA about the fate swap until it was leaked to him, and it's heavily implied that this happened VERY RECENTLY prior to the present book timeline. And to go with that, he literally only infiltrated Heaven to investigate Shi Wudu, after becoming a supreme and learning that the random ass guy that showed up when he died was the Water Master. That part is stated by Hua Cheng right at the end of the Black Water Arc.

> He Xuan didn't start denying his and Shi Qingxuan's friendship until BOOK THREE and we know this because of how offended Shi Qingxuan gets when He Xuan immediately says he's not his best friend after Shi Qingxuan suggests that maybe they shouldn't be best friends until he's gotten rid of the Reverend. And based on Shi Qingxuan's reactions to the other denials, it can even be assumed that He Xuan also actively and publicly stated that they were best friends. "Why didn't you say 'my best friend'?" is what Shi Qingxuan says during the game in the run down wind and water temple, for just one example. He's SURPRISED that He Xuan didn't say that, indicating that he would have usually.

> From their very introduction He Xuan is shown throwing himself in harm's way without hesitation to protect Shi Qingxuan. This is how they are introduced to us and it's shown repeatedly all the way through the BWA. And even when he's at his most furious about what happened he's still protecting Shi Qingxuan. He doesn't want SQX to die and he absolutely does not want to kill him himself. Did you guys just forget the part where he doesn't harm people who don't legitimately deserve it???

> He Xuan doesn't just eat any random ghost he comes across. It's explicitly stated that he's only eaten about 500, and about 400 of those have been high ranking water ghosts. Other than that he just eats normal human food.

> There is a barrier around his territory that prevents the majority of vessels from entering. Boats can't just get in there, and he certainly doesn't seek them out.

> Stop making him act and think so fucking violently good LORD. That is legitimately the most incorrect characterization you could possibly have for him where are you GETTING THAT FROM. Him being angry as a result of learning what Shi Wudu did is not his normal personality.

> He does not get powers or memories from ghosts he eats. That is not in the books ANYWHERE. And for the Reverend, that is the ONLY thing he can create and control, and again, he did not get its memories, and even if he did, the Reverend wouldn't know jack shit. Literally the book says he "ate it later" and that's IT. NOTHING else is said about it aside from him being able to control it. There is not even a vague implication that he got anything else from eating that thing.

> YOU PEOPLE ARE DRIVING ME ABSOLUTELY CRAZY again I really do appreciate all the stuff y'all make I REALLY DO but PLEASE. REREAD THE BOOKS AND STOP CALLING ALL THIS SHIT CANON WHEN IT'S NOT, FOR MY SANITY. AUGH

EVERYTHING I've listed and MORE is stated up front in the story. Why is THIS the stuff that almost every beefleaf shipper forgets. It is so very frustrating

Transcript of the images under the cut (images are from book 7 of the seven seas translation btw)

"Mmm, yes... Is something the matter?" Xie Lian asked.

Xie Lian gave a brief account of his service, and the state preceptor replied, "He would definitely be furious with you if he knew about this."

"Gege, regarding the Reverend of Empty Words," Hua Cheng continued, "at first you didn't want to get involved in that case, but you were still pulled in-though thankfully not too deeply. Neither Black Water nor Shi Wudu dragged those hundreds of fishermen into the Heavenly Tribulation in the South Sea. If not those two, who is most capable of something like that?"

Only after each incident had been laid out before him did Xie Lian realize the truth-every step he'd taken since his return had been made under Jun Wu's close watch and guided by his hand.

Hua Cheng crossed his arms. "I'm assuming that he's doing this for two reasons. First, his sick mentality drives him to throw test after test at you to see what path you'll choose-endlessly hoping that you'll go down the one he paved for you. Second, he was probably using you as a sword to cut down other heavenly officials' power.

"The heavenly officials of the previous dynasty must've traumatized him deeply. Now he's hypervigilant and requires absolute control over everything-he tolerates no threats to his power or status and allows no heavenly officials to catch up to him. And I think..."

Xie Lian was also mulling over the same points. "Think what?"

"When Shi Wudu changed Shi Qingxuan's fate, and when Black Water infiltrated the heavens in the name of investigation," Hua Cheng said, "do you really think he didn't suspect a thing?"

Xie Lian had been wondering about that as well. Could Jun Wu really have seen nothing from his seat on the highest throne? That's hardly plausible. He could directly examine every report and scroll that passed through Ling Wen's hands, so was it truly possible that he never noticed the forgeries? The Water Master committed such a heinous crime and deceived nearly the entire world, but he lived peacefully for many years. He was conveniently only exposed when he started dominating the Upper Court.

"Perhaps he knew everything from the very start, but the Water Master didn't threaten his status back then. So he made no move to expose him," Hua Cheng continued. "Exposing the matter early on wouldn't have necessarily worked to his advantage. A new Water Master would ascend if Shi Wudu was banished, and they might not have such an enormous transgression that could be used against them. I'd have been very displeased with Shi Wudu if I were Jun Wu, but I wouldn't have needed to use my own hands if I wanted to get rid of him-all I'd need to do was wait. I would simply watch quietly as the Water Master grew more and more outrageous, arrogant, and fearless, and when he finally exhausted my tolerance, I'd just leak the fate-switching affair to Black Water."

And Black Water would of course avenge himself and his deceased family.

Hua Cheng continued to explain, "As for him gathering millions of ghosts in the Kiln to birth a new supreme, it was likely in order to..."

Xie Lian came to his senses and finished for him. "...Create balance."

"Yeah," Hua Cheng said. "He was probably delighted to welcome the birth of a malicious supreme, one that would cause havoc in the Mortal Realm. As long as there are creatures making trouble, there will be people praying."

And a god's spiritual power was only made stronger by the prayers of their devotees!

[xiaokuer-schmetterling]

FTH 2025

so as a brand new podficcer, i am super excited to participate in this year's FTH charity fanworks auction! i'll link it when the auction goes live

UPDATE: creator offerings are up for preview and bidding opens on 25-FEB

but in the meantime, here's what i just submitted in the sign-ups as my author profile:

->Are there specific characters or pairings that you are particularly interested in focusing on?

my very favorite and oldest ship is wangxian from mdzs/the untamed! i am active in svsss fandom for bingqiu, bingyuan, binggeyuan, qijiu and moshang and sometimes bingliushen. i am active in the tgcf/heaven official’s blessing fandom for the hualian, beefleaf and fengqing ships. i have an ongoing love affair with guardian and the weilan and chuguo ships. i am active in the word of honor/shl fandom for wenzhou and yexie ships.

fandoms that i enjoy but don’t live in: gideon the ninth (the locked tomb) for the main griddlehark ship. star trek (tos & aos) for spirk! due south for benton x rayk; marvel for stucky; h50 for mcdanno; top gun & top gun maverick for icemav (ICEMAN LIVES) and hangster; yoi for viktuuri; dc for superbat

all that being said: i am willing to podfic for any fandom & any ship that is not pedophilia or parent/child incest. however, if you pick a fic from a fandom i'm unfamiliar with it will take me a lot longer to get started reading it since i'd have to check out the source media to do the project justice. oh! consider picking a few shorter pieces that add up to your total bid-related word limit ($10 per 1k) to mix and match our favorite fandoms???

->Are there particular subjects, themes or tropes that you are particularly interested in focusing on?

i will read polyships, crackships, rarepairs. i celebrate bi-visibility, acespec rep and queerplatonic found families! i prefer to create for a ship that is queer, whether that is gender identity or sexuality. i like neurodiverse characters (explicit or implied).

i like to support wips. my favorite fic of all seems destined to languish an unfinished wip. i hope that one day it will get enough love to reinspire the author and reconnect them to their desire to write it. got a fic like that? I’M SO THERE

i like all sorts of tropes and rating levels. from gen fic and kid fic thru teen shenanigans and ranging all the way thru to Let’s Get Weird and Have a Kinky Fun Time! lets do a crawl thru the tags on my bookmarks:

there was only one bed! omg they were roommates! fix-it; canon-compliant but fills in the gaps; canon divergent; character study; canon? don't know her; gratuitous hair care; forehead kisses; good good hugs; hurt/comfort; humor; pining; angst with a happy ending; post canon; first time; second first-time; reincarnation; pov outsider; competence kink; caretaking kink; crack fic; crack treated seriously; omegaverse; mpreg; pregnancy and/or lactation; breeding kink; monsterfucking; tentacles; eggpreg; royalty au; sports au; high school/college au; modern with magic; modern no magic; spaceships; robots; body-modification; actors au, idols au, GBBO au; dom/sub; BDSM; bondage; shibari; pet play; werewolves; vampires; ghosts; dragons; fox-spirits; medieval au; demons; con non-con (scene negotiated on-screen or before scene starts but mentioned bc CONSENT IS SEXY); any animal shapeshifters bc i eat that shit like candy; transmigration with system; transmigration with no system; transmigration but the character doesn’t know they transmigrated; hockey player RPF; crossovers/fusions; time-travel; identity shenanigans; mafia au; hospital au; genderswap/exploring gender identity…

all that being said, a gentle reminder that if you choose a fic in a fandom i am familiar with, it will be much easier for me to get started because i will already know and love and be connected to the characters!!! if you request a fic reading from a fandom i don't know it will also take me longer to do because i would want to research the fandom a bit and get excited about it too, so as to make it fun for me to read! if you include your ao3 handle in the request, i will gift it to you. if you aren't a registered ao3 user, no worries! i cross post all my podfics on my blog

tl;dr--in this house we don't kinkshame & we support sex workers!!!!! and i'll probably give your pick a try!!!

->Are there particular subjects, themes, pairings, etc that you are NOT willing to address?

i have 3 hard-no things: fics containing actual noncon between the main ship; pedophilia in the main (point of view character(s)) ship; parent/child incest in any ship. those are a firm pass for me.

these are things that i do not enjoy and would make it difficult for me to continue reading a fic if they are a majority of the content: torture porn (hurt/no comfort and hurt with no purpose other than to cause pain & suffering); spiders & other bugs; angst with no guaranteed happy ending; miscommunication with no resolution; manipulation and/or gaslighting between main ship; intentional & unresolved infidelity between main ship characters

i will typically refuse to read sex acts involving the following, but invite you to make your case if you feel very strongly about it (or it 'occurs off-screen’): scat, vomit, piss, bestiality, vore, explicit non-con, your name fics (y/n), reader x character-in-one-of-my-main-ships, genderswap to force a hetero pairing from an originally explicitly queer ship

->Any other notes about your offer? Be sure to give enough detail for bidders to know what they'll be getting!

firstly! pick a fic from an author with blanket permission or reach out to them for permission to podfic before bidding closes. i can help you do this if you’re not comfortable reaching out directly to the author. (aside from ao3 and tumblr, i am available via my fandom email xkspods9 @ gmail [.] com). if you like my reading style but don’t have a fic picked out, i would be thrilled to have you choose from my ao3 bookmarks! also, i don’t mind recording for a fic that already has a podfic. TWO CAKES BABEY!!!

my “brand” is what i like to call “bedtime stories” podfic. due to some circumstances beyond the scope of this post, my podfics are recorded on my secondhand e-reader in a very basic app. i usually read curled up in bed or in my favorite chair. i like to imagine my close fandom friends as the intended recipient to give it a cozy hangout charm. so the concept goes like this: “bedtime stories is a very chill, completely unedited, live-read style podfic. so you get comfy and i'm gonna read you a story.”

one of the reasons i started making podfics is bc i am post-T-puberty genderqueer transmasc and learning to lean into and love my new voice. i am experimenting with and learning how to do consistent character voices, but it is not a strength of mine at this time. and, again, my ability to do that will depend on my familiarity with the characters and the source media. i also sometimes play songs in the background to help me focus (autism & adhd here), especially for longer projects (but i’ve figured out how to play the music directly in my headphones while still recording, if you don’t want to have what i am listening to also recorded while i am reading)

i like to pair music videos/fanvids/gifs with my podfics in the ao3 post to make it a fun multimedia experience (and like a game for me!) even with my nonexistent editing and post-production style. i welcome the bidder to share their “fandom propaganda”--i want to know why you love the fic(s) and why you chose it to be podficced! and maybe i'll feature a fanvid you shared with me in the ao3 post!

so. if what you want for your podfic are lots of post-production editing with added sound effects & soundscaping/music effects, with a “perfect” read and no environmental noise or outside interruptions: i am not the person to make that project for you. if you don’t mind/actively enjoy a "friendly hangout & fandom chatty" sort of cold-read & zero-editing style, then bid on me!

=================

end post

[expertnuerodiver]

Random Songs that remind me of MXTX characters

Smooth by Santana (feat. Rob Thomas) reminds me of Hua Cheng and Xie Lian because of the lines that say

"And if you said, "This life ain't good enough" (Implying Xie Lian says that) I would give my world to lift you up I could change my life to better suit your mood (yeah) Because you're so smooth" (The rest of the line being Hua Cheng)

Something about that line just fits them perfectly to me (Note that I only have read up to the end of book 2 lol)

2. Government Hooker by Lady Gaga reminds me of Hua Cheng because you cannot tell me otherwise that is is not a Lady Gaga or Britney Spears fan

3. Smooth Operator by Sade reminds me of Xie Lian but it is directed to Hua Cheng some way (I do not know why, I do not make the rules though)

4. I Won't Say (I'm In Love) in Hercules the Disney movie reminds me of Shi Qingxuan. She would sing her heart out to this and nail it. (The message is probably directed to either FengQing or Xie Lian.)

(She would also sing Scars to Your Beautiful by Alessia Cara to Lang Ying. He is probably scared by the singing.)

5. Noel's Lament in Ride the Cyclone is also Shi Qingxuan. Moving on!

6. Sex With a Ghost by Teddy Hyde is, you guessed it, Hualian. Cause like- never mind...

7. Tongues and Teeth by The Crane Wives reminds me of Beefleaf or FengQing

8. 1812 Overture Op. 49 TH 49 by Tchaikovsky reminds me of Mobei-Jun I just know that that man listens to classical music and SQH is sick of it. (SQH actually likes hearing it.)

9. Mess is Mine by Vance Joy reminds me of Hualian. Imagine it as Hua Cheng comforting Xie Lian, or even vice versa.

10. Walk You Home by Sir Chloe reminds me of Shen Qingqiu and Luo Binghe or even Shen Jiu and Yue Qingyuan. (Shen Qingqiu and Yu Qingyuan are the ones asking to walk the others home aka comforting Luo Binghe and Shen Jiu.

11. Let It Go in Frozen reminds me of Shang Qinghua because of him possibly poking fun at Mobei-Jun (Mobei-Jun doesn't understand what Frozen is.)

12. Literally any vocaloid song reminds me of Shang Qinghua.

If you want more of these, I will make a part 2 eventually.

[bloomingapricots]

The Indulgent Friend

Posted here first at AO3

Summary:

As a good friend of Hua Cheng, you know how to get him to help you without falling into debt with him. And Xie Lian learns that you had made 800 plush dolls of him.

The reader is called Dúzhě (读者) which means “reader”

Kinda crack-ish, it is like 2 am when i wrote this

Duzhe is good friends with HuaLian and Beefleaf

Duzhe is implied to know Hua Cheng since the beginning of his ghost ruling but I left is vague

Duzhe calls Hua Cheng, Gege, and Xie Lian, A-Lian

though that doesn't mean Duzhe is younger than Hua cheng

Probably OOC He Xuan

Happier timeline

Duzhe has shadow powers just cuz

Duzhe statues of being ghost or god is left unsaid so interpret what you want

“You want me to ask Hua Cheng a favor for you?” You asked He Xuan.

“Yes,” He Xuan replied.

“Why?” You questioned.

“My debt is high enough as it is and he won’t be too harsh on you,” He Xuan replied.

“What is the favor you want me to ask?” You ask after some thought. Out of curiosity, you will probably help out He Xuan plus he has forgotten he will end up owing you a favor.

“I need a present for Shi Qingxuan’s birthday, one that will outshine his older brother’s,” He Xuan stated. You looked at He Xuan incredulously but then shrugged.

“Alright, I have an idea,” You slightly laugh menacingly.

—

“Hua-gege,” You called Hua Cheng at the bottom of the stairs that led to Hua Cheng's seat.

“Xiao Duzhe, what brings you here?” Hua Cheng asked.

“I need you to get me a birthday present that Shi Qingxuan would enjoy incredibly,” You stated.

“Am I expected to do that for free for you, Xiao Duzhe?” Hua Cheng asked.

“Of course not, I have something to trade for that favor,” You smirked.

“Would it be really worth it for all that effort I may have to go through?” Hua Cheng questioned.

“Absolutely,” You grinned as a pedestal rose with a box covering the item from your shadow. You walk to the side and place your right hand on top of the box. “I know you are incredibly rich, Hua-gege, with vast wealth and treasures but I also know what will entice you and I have made you something that will get you to help me with what I ask for,”

“Oh?” Hua Cheng was intrigued. It is not every day that you show your devilish side.

“Behold,” You pulled the box off the pedestal and chucked it into your shadow which sunken away. On the pedestal was a fabric doll (Image the plush doll by Mini Doll) of Xie Lian in his Daoist attire. “Xie Lian,” You presented and your tone changed lightheartedly. You were originally going to give the fabric doll to Hua Cheng on his birthday but decided to do it now as you wanted to see his reaction. And you decided to make a porcelain doll of Xie Lian instead for Hua Cheng’s birthday. After all, your artistry surpassed Hua Cheng’s.

Hua Cheng’s left eye widened as he gazed upon the cute fabric doll of his husband. Handmade by someone he probably could call his closest friend, not that he will ever say that to your face. You smirked again,

“Well, Gege? We have a deal?” You prodded. With an intense stare at you,

“Deal,” Hua Cheng stated.

—

“Duzhe-er?” Xie Lian called.

“Yes A-Lian,” You replied.

“Was it you that made 800 fabric dolls of me?” Xie Lian asked.

“Yes,” You nodded. “Isn’t the doll cute? Like you?”

“Duzhe-er, the dolls are cute and I thank you for that compliment,” Xie Lian smiled. “But… It’s taking up our bed,”

“Ehhhh Hua-gege has all 800 that I made on your bed?” You questioned.

“Yes, it was fine in the beginning,  San Lang even built a bigger bed but he gets sad when he finds even one that has fallen off the bed,” Xie Lian sighed. Over the centuries you have handmade and given Hua Cheng many fabric dolls of Xie Lian as it was your way of being a good friend. You had thought Hua Cheng would have some plush doll Xie Lians on the bed and the others spread around his mansions. You assumed wrong.

“If you distract Gege long enough, I’ll move the majority of the dolls to the room near his office. It’s spacious and with the help of Yin Yu, we can add shelves and have all of the dolls displayed,” You suggested.

“Alright, thank you,” Xie Lian said.

—

Now sitting in the room you dubbed “Plush Xie Lian padded room” you looked at your hands.

“How the hell do I make so many?” You mumbled. Having most of the plush dolls neatly organized made you realize that you made enough plush doll Xie Lians over the centuries to fill a room. And this room could have been used as another parlor.

“Didn’t you in a moment of sadness, you locked yourself away and sewed like 10 years away?” Yin Yu mentioned.

“Ah, that might have done a good majority of this plush,” You grimace. “When will the couple get back?”

“Later probably,” Yin Yu replied.

“Shall we grab dinner now?” You asked.

“Yes,” Yin Yu replied.

—

“Xiao Duzhe, how could you?” Hua Cheng does not whine perse but you know he is slightly upset with you.

“With that many fabric dolls of Xie Lian and even with the size of your marital bed, you and Xie Lian will have to lay on top of most of the fabric dolls,” You explained. “I thought you have some on your bed and the rest displayed or spread around the mansion but all 800 hundred on your bed, that’s too much, Gege,”

“There can never be too much of Dianxia,” Hua Cheng said.

“But you have the real one next to you every night though. Do you really need 800 dolls of him in your bed too?” You asked.

“...Dianxia is glorious on his own too,” Hua Cheng replied. You smiled indulgently,

“Yes, he is,” you laughed.

—

“Thank you, again, A-Duzhe,” Xie Lian thanked.

“As your most devoted follower’s supportive friend, anything for you Dianxia,” You joked.

“Also…” Xie Lian started but trailed off.

“Yes, A-Lian?” You question.

“Can you… Can you also make a fabric doll of San Lang?” Xie Lian asked. You smirked as a large pedestal raised from your shadow.

“Already ahead of you,” You took the cover off the pedestal and two plush dolls of Hua Cheng were displayed, one in his San Lang form and the other in his ghost form (Again, imagine the plush dolls from Mini Doll). “I have other forms of Hua Cheng in the making,”

“Ah, so cute,” Xie Lian smiled as he grabbed the dolls and rotated them around to look at your craftsmanship.

–

Later you saw a plush doll of Xie Lian and San Lang tucked in on Hua Cheng’s and Xie Lian’s marital bed. You were in their room to replace the tub in the bathroom.

“Dorks,” You mumbled and shook your head in fondness.

When it comes to favor Duzhe asks of Hua Cheng, the form of currency Duzhe gives him is Xie Lian merchandise Duzhe made

Hence the 800 plush dolls of Xie Lian in various outfits

The implication that Duzhe probably did the presentations again and again for many of the Xie Lian dolls

Oh and Shi Qingxuan’s birthday present from He Xuan was better then what Shi Wudu gave him

[missveryvery]

Final ep of season 2 ;0;

Feng Xin being like "its fine if he's better than me" is so funny. Having his bitch ass face but being "it's fine" about it.

All this time we thought maybe the part about Mu Qing not keeping his eyes off Feng Xin when he comes in bloody was worry or horny but it was smug bitch 💀 I mean it could be another case of his resting horrible smile but lmao

Still no fucking explanation for why it went from Feng Xin and Mu Qing chasing to Feng Xin and Shi Qingxuan showing up.

Jun Wu's faces were incredible.

Guzi ;0;!!

I was praying for seeing tiny FengQing but I guess next season ;0;!

Is the ending supposed to imply he knows who Hua Cheng is? Considering how many seasons would have to be left, maybe they're trying desperately to shorten? I'm fine with that.

Hey here's a suggestion, maybe skip over black water arc :))))! No one needs that! Nothing crucial happens there! Replace it with making beefleaf snuggle up! Or have fengfeng kiss!

No black water, just right, Outback heaven official's blessing!

[justabuggie]

Hideous in Love

Status: Completed (Chapter(s): 1)

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death

Relationships: He Xuan/Shi Qingxuan, He Xuan & Shi Qingxuan, He Xuan & Shi Qingxuan & Shi Wudu, Shi Qingxuan & Shi Wudu

Characters: He Xuan, Shi Qingxuan, Shi Wudu

Additional Tags: Extremely Dubious Consent, Stockholm Syndrome, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Implied/Referenced Sex, Gorgons (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, petrification, Beheading, Blood and Gore, Dubious Morality, gorgon!he xuan, He Xuan/Shi Qingxuan Angst, Unhappy Ending, Bittersweet Ending, beefleaf, i love them so much but they greatly hurt me, Possessive Behavior, don't be fooled this is neither wholesome nor happy nor soft, Monsttober, Monsttober 2024, Completed

Those who have forsaken their own humanity shall pay the price. All who are punished are deserving of so. But what of those who enact the punishing? Are they all that righteous themselves? What if one’s desire to protect ends the life of another? What if the one who benefits from it all knows not the treachery he’s caused? Just how can a centuries long grudge be resolved in a peaceful manner? It can’t.