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[illuminatedferret]

Tbh, I think if you read an mxtx novel with the expectation that the story’s hero is meant to learn some valuable lesson that fundamentally changes their character and views on life, then you are reading her books wrong. There’s not a single mxtx protag (currently) in existence who changes by the end of the story. It’s the world they live in that is changed because of their actions:

—Shen Yuan’s Shen Qingqiu transforms a toxic masculinity fantasy into a queer romance in which the unhappy stallion protagonist with a harem in the 100s is given his monogamous happy ending with a husband he actually loves and values with reciprocity. They fuck off to their forever honeymoon after exposing the corruptness of the cultivation world that ruined Luo Binghe’s life to begin with, and all of this was only possibly because Shen Yuan was just a genuinely nice fucking person. The world lives to see another day and a fuckton of people who died (or didn’t even get to exist) in the original stallion novel get to live long, more fulfilled lives in Shen Yuan’s revision.

—Wei Wuxian is killed for sticking up for a condemned clan, is resurrected against his will, and still stands by his actions in his first life while protecting those that continued to wrongfully condemn him. As a reward, the corpses of the people he died protecting save him and his loved ones (and the rest of the bystanders who killed them), he bags himself the most perfect and perfectly matched man in the cultivation world, and he continues to help others and do what he wants to the ire of the cultivation world who are now too embarrassed to fight him. The younger generation look to him as a beloved teacher, protector, and role model to aspire towards.

—Xie Lian rebelled against hierarchy as a beloved prince of a prospering kingdom, then as a beloved god against the older gods, then as a reviled scraps god against the then most popular gods of the present day. He was always willing to lend a hand to anyone who needed it and to never hold resentment even if that kindness blew up in his face (and it often did). He gets to marry the man (ghost) who has seen him at his best and absolute worst and chooses him unconditionally, something no one else has ever done before. At the end of the novel, he is the god that all the other gods look to for guidance and strength.

None of these stories humble these characters for being good people. Even when their morally righteous actions net them unimaginably terrible results, even when they falter in the face of their failures, they ultimately remain true to their goodness. And none of the books humble them for that, because being good is not a character flaw. So in short: please stop talking about how mxtx protags “needed” to learn valuable lessons to “be good people” when they were already good people from the very beginning. These stories are not about how the world changes people but how genuinely good people can change the world just by actively being kind even with no benefit to themselves and especially if that kindness leads to detriment.

[illuminatedferret]

JSYK I am very close to hitting 200 followers but I really don't want to do a giveaway barely a month after the last one so. The next one isn't gonna be until the end of May most likely regardless of my follower count by then

[illuminatedferret]

Honghong-er's fall during the Shangyuan parade being emblematic of the lesson Jun Wu wanted Xie Lian to learn- no one else could have saved him, no one else would have tried, but everyone around Xie Lian tells him that he should have simply let the boy fall and only handled the aftermath. But if the parade would have been ruined either way, why not ruin it trying to save a life?

[illuminatedferret]

i forgot to set up a poll again..........

[illuminatedferret]

xie lian’s sleep talk 💤

his favorites in the world.. san lang and steamed buns

this is a prompt for TGCFAction Gotcha 4 Gaza, submitted by @/chickadem !! thank you for donating this is super cute 😭

[illuminatedferret]

Xie Lian was the only one who saved Hong-er, the only one who cared about him, who cared for him, who protected him. Hong-er was constantly beaten, but he became so resilient that he began to feel no pain other than internal, wanting to kill everyone and then kill himself because of so much suffering he experienced, however, it's only in the arms of his prince that he feels that he can relax, that he feels welcomed and loved.

How many people did Hong-er feel comfortable asking for laps? How many people has Hong-er melted to the point of acting like a kitten when picked up and hugged?

Xie Lian was the only one who treated him how he should be treated, like a cute and fragile child who has to be taken care of and protected.

Not only that, but Xie Lian chose to save him time and time again, going against the superstitious rules of earth and heaven, going against what should be forces greater than himself just so that Hong-er could live in peace.

How could Hong-er not wish to have Xie Lian as his future wife? How could Wu Ming not continue in this world after dying while his god was alone and in suffering that no one understood? How could Hua Cheng not search for him for 800 years, grow stronger day by day, take revenge for him, and build a place where he would be accepted, cared for, and cherished?

Xie Lian was the only one who stood up against the heavens for Hong-er and his people, and if the heavens condemn him for this, then Hong-er will become the scourge of the heavens, so that all immortals remember that they were once human.

[illuminatedferret]

silly little alasr doodle before bed

smooching @ardenrabbit forever

[illuminatedferret]

hm. looking like i may cut this chapter in half actually

-lies on the floor- dearly departedddddd

[illuminatedferret]

“Tgcf is like the trolley problem except it’s Xie Lian’s fault that everyone dies because he wants to stop the trolley.” No, Tgcf is “like” the trolley problem if the problem was that every time Xie Lian attempted to stop a trolley, the trolley owner builds another trolley and sends it hurtling down another track to mass murder another set of people to prove to Xie Lian that the only “reasonable” response to witnessing mass death occurring is to stand to the side to watch the trolley kill the people you think least deserving of life, maybe while asking the trolley driver—who wants to kill—to slow down a little (but only maybe). In that regard, the op of that wretched take and the trolley owner seem to be on the same wavelength.

[illuminatedferret]

-lies on the floor- dearly departedddddd

[illuminatedferret]

Smooches for dian xia😘😘

Extra:

[illuminatedferret]

I feel like this part in chapter 198 is a really symbolic moment because the flower and the sword are inextricably linked to Xie Lian’s identity as a martial god, and picking up the flower and the sword represents Xie Lian reconnecting with his past identity of the martial god he once was. It’s a nice little foreshadowing because soon after this moment, Jun Wu “came to the rescue” and restored Xie Lian to the heavenly ranks.

In the Chinese fandom, the flower is usually seen as a symbol of Xie Lian’s gentleness and compassion, and the sword a symbol of Xie Lian’s power and strength – two sides of Xie Lian’s character and godhood.  Picking up the flower and the sword indicates Xie Lian returning to his old self also in the sense that he rejected White No-Face’s corrupted path of revenge, and was again trying to save the common people like his younger self always wanted to. It’s like the line of lyrics in the ending song of tgcf donghua, “执花杖剑救苍生” – “holding a flower in one hand and a sword in the other, he saves the common people.” The flower, the sword, and compassion for humanity are all part and parcel of the imagery and identity of Xie Lian the martial god.

[illuminatedferret]

the-rad-paramecium did some detective work and found it comes from one of Suika's early translations! it seems to be a mistranslation, considering it doesn't appear in her later translations/in any other independent fantranslations.

It's very fitting that with Hua Cheng being a man of such extreme and uncompromising sentiment, either loving something or hating it, E-ming is capable of reopening wounds it inflicts at any time. Like Hua Cheng never forgiving injuries upon his beloved, resentment unyielding, E-ming's wounds never truly heal, but lie in wait for the next time they're torn open to fester.

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Calamity!Xie Lian: I don't trust you. Don't hide your true emotions anymore, that's an order.

Wuming: Yes, Your Highness. (Oh no, I’m afraid to I can’t show Dianxia my unworthy ugly face! But how will I show my true emotions then?)

Wuming after an hour of reflection:

His inventiveness and cruelty amaze the imagination, the blade of his scimitar is stained with the blood of hundreds of enemies. Don't mess with him...