#but what would that have been like for sqx?

[boobliker42069]

for art requesting... whoever from tgcf you think would fit the members of mcr (i guess in a modern au way but like. we're free balling SO)

BESTIE BAE U ARE SO REAL FOR THIS. it may come as no surprise to u that i have thought abt this subject extensively so here r my answers (please note these are Not the same with my tgcf modern hardcore au im working on rn but are very similar) (im insane) (details in tags)

[im-not-a-monster]

controversial opinion apparently Shi Wudu definitely could have saved Shi Qingxuan from the Reverend without condemning 5 people to suffering and death. He chose the path he took because stealing godhood for SQX gave him more prestige and power than simply saving them from an untimely death.

[sunfiltersthroughwillowleaves]

who would read a fluffy xianle quartet fic with added fluff and maybe a lil more fluff

includes: shi qingxuan convincing mu qing to crossdress with him, a very awkward sleepover where everyone in the xianle quartet invites their best friends and he xuan and shi qingxuan see each other and start making reparations, feng xin and mu qing teaming up to try and win the heart of the crown prince only to also fall for the ghost king, homophobia in the heavenly capital, and much more! (if it gets written idk if i will)

i might just start planning out the sleepover at paradise manor below the cut...

ok so mu qing, after crossdressing with shi qingxuan, invites him

xie lian's like "ok i guess i cant invite sqx who do i invite?" he ends up inviting ling wen, who is relieved for a break, and yushi huang, bc she did help them overthrow the government last time i guess

feng xin has no friends. he invites pei ming in the end because why not

hua cheng invites he xuan because yin yu said no, and hua cheng has no other besties

so the party is xianle quartet, the remaining Cancers, shi qingxuan, and yushi huang

pei ming has the wonderful idea to play spin the bottle, shi qingxuan agrees bc at this point he knows mu qing has a crush on xie lian and hua cheng

xie lian has no idea what spin the bottle is, but shi qingxuan goes first bc hes kinda besties with everyone here (except the ghost king), lands on yushi huang, gives her a lil peck on the cheek. pei ming goes "hey! thats not how you play! you have to kiss them on the lips actually!"

he is ignored.

next is hua cheng, who spins, and thanks to his incredible luck, lands on gege! kisses him on the lips and hands it to he xuan.

he xuan does not spin the bottle.

next is pei ming, who spins it and lands on ling wen. the immovable glare she affixes him with is enough to make him back off. she leaves the circle and goes to sleep on one of the couches at like 11 (there are many couches in paradise manor bc hua cheng needs something to kiss xie lian on)

pei ming complains that he gets to spin again because he didnt kiss anyone, but no one listens bc no one wants to kiss him lol

next up is yushi huang, who lands on pei ming. she starts by wiping off his cheek with a wet towel, her lips barely making contact with his cheek, then wiping off her lips with a different towel. pei ming is very embarassed and red.

then we got feng xin, who is very scared. he lands on he xuan. uh oh. he walks a lil closer. then a lil closer. he kisses his own hand and pats he xuan on the shoulder. the glare that he xuan is wearing is very very very scary. he is very scared. like hes about to pee himself. but at least. he managed it. pei ming doesnt comment surprisingly.

mu qing is next (of course they sat next to each other guys), who lands on xie lian. oh no oh no oh no. he leans over. kisses xie lian very very quickly on the cheek. he is very very very very red and blushing.

yeah mu qing will get murdered if he falls asleep at the sleepover.

now it's xie lian's turn. everyone wants to kiss him for different reasons except he xuan, so of course that's who he lands on.

xie lian knows this is platonic except hes not really friends with he xuan??? and also the tension between he xuan and shi qingxuan has been physically (whats the touch version of audible?), so hes very nervous.

"you dont have to do it if you dont wanna gege"

"yes he does!" shouts pei ming

xie lian kisses his finger and taps the Supreme on the cheek.

yeah, he xuan's debt is getting increased for that.

ANYWAYS might update this later bye, lmk if youd read this

[kitakikikitkat]

So I’ve been listening to God Games from Epic the musical, I haven’t listened to all of Epic the musical songs.

Anyways every time I listen to it I think of an au where it’s tgcf x svsss crossover. Where Odysseus is Luo Binghe (maybe after Shen Qingqiu’s death he causes too much chaos and like the martial gods are like woah there sunny boy we gotta have a talk or something) and Athena is Shang Qinghua and he’s like trynna help out LBH (bros his son so he gotta help him out plus bros the protagonist). I’m not sure about that I just thought the role fit SQH or made more sense in my mind (he doesn’t necessarily have to be like the god of wisdom in this crossover just LBH’s advocate or something along those lines).

I’m not sure who Zeus would be though, in my mind the timeline this takes place in is after the ending of tgcf where Jun Wu isn’t the heavenly emperor anymore (I haven’t read all of tgcf yet so I might be wrong on a few details, I have gotten a lot of spoilers about tgcf so I know the gist of how the story goes so I mean no offense if I get any details wrong). Plus mind you that the martial gods who will be deciding whether LBH should be released will be those who are in the upper heavenly court, I’m not thinking if the Greek God would fit the character more like they’re going to be judges of some sort mind you. Like they’re considered “high up” enough to be like “oh your opinion as a judge like martial god is important we gotta see what you say” kinda thing (and the tgcf/svsss characters I put to the epic the musical characters only fit for this song).

Anyways I thought Apollo would be Shi Qingxuan (in this au crossover he’s still there let me be delusional and not remember the unfortunate beefleaf ending) or let’s just think that maybe SQX somehow became a god again (because I really want them to still be a god and madly in love with He Xuan and get their happy ending because I can’t accept the beefleaf ending).

Anyways and then I thought Hephaestus would be Pei Ming (I don’t know why I thought that would be him but then again maybe it would be someone else, I thought he might also fit Ares but there’s a reason why I don’t think he’d fit being Ares but I also thought he’d fit Zeus).

Then Aphrodite would be Mu Qing because of the whole mom thing that happened with him, I think he would misunderstand LBH and how dedicated he was to the washer woman and might think that LBH should have stayed by his mother’s side and all that jazz. Anyways I think the person that just has to be Ares in my mind is Feng Xin, mainly because I love Fengqing and I want FX and MQ to be together, and in the song there’s this lyric that goes “and tell your lover” etc etc so whoever I thought would fit Ares and Aphrodite had to be two people who I shipped.

The person who I can just think would fit Hera would be Hua Cheng, SQH would be like “oh and he really loves his first crush like would do anything for him” and HC would be like “oh shoot release him then” because it just so happen that SQH “forgot” some details (how SQQ and LBH met again) and HC just thinks to himself about himself and Xie Lian and is like “this kid fr is like me I gotta have him be released so he can continue serving/looking after his crush”.

Anyways the part of the lyrics where it’s “is she dead?” Instead of it being Ares (FX) who asks that because Athena (SQH) gets struck with lightning maybe during this time it just so happens that LBH had been here during the whole trial just in a cage (a see through invisible cage that seals him up or something), and he wakes up and wants to ask the martial gods if SQQ is actually dead and if there isn’t anything that he can do to bring him back. SQH is like “what should I do” because if the gods say “oh yeah he’s dead” then LBH could go on a rampage and end up messing up all the progress he made in convincing the martial gods.

Maybe before SQH went to advocate for LBH he sent a letter to SQQ (let’s just say SQQ didn’t take years to get back and SQQ and SQH had met up secretly) so he just sent a letter informing SQQ of all the things happening and SQQ is the one who’s praying/saying “let him go, please, let him go” and it shows this. Because maybe SQQ isn’t dumb and actually knows that he might have actual feelings for LBH (or maybe he’s still dumb and just telling himself that he is just worried over the system punishing him if LBH is punished by the heavenly court) and the only reason SQQ didn’t try and go with SQH is he still thinks LBH hates him and that he’ll kill him if he sees him or just doesn’t want to cause LBH any trouble or pain from seeing him. So the martial gods are like “Ight the truth is he’s still alive” and it shows this like the whole SQQ praying (SQQ is obviously Penelope) and etc like some sort of projection and that’s how god games song ends for this au.

I don’t know where I was going with this, I just wanted to get people’s opinions over this huge delusional hyper fixation plus write it down before I forget this thought process.

[eruhamster]

no, im thinking about the whole thing of more than just one or two people reading TGCF and somehow thinking he xuan only just found out about the fate switch again. the fact that this is something people think is so insane to me because even if the specific time he learned was never given, like it's essentially spelled out for you.

hua cheng says when he xuan died, shi wudu showed up and made sure he was dead, so he xuan knew something was up with this guy. he found out he was a god and grew more suspicious. and then he infiltrated the heavens to find out more. like that's really the only actual statement we get, but like... it's so clear it's been a long time coming.

suspicions don't make you eat a bazillion water ghosts to make you into a water ghost to give you the specific powers necessary to overcome and kill a water god. he had to have known for as long as he was considered black water sinking ships. and of course he would know from the moment he infiltrated - he knows what happened to him and when. he would go up there and see that shi wudu has a brother with his name, who ascended the same day he died, who isn't known for doing anything beyond pulling a drunken party trick on an asshole. and sqx is so willing to talk to everyone, "ming yi" even complains that he throws out his array password to everyone. sqx told xie lian his ghost story, complete with a spell to make it cold and spooky with scary music while he told it, within like a month of knowing the guy. there is absolutely no way in hell that he xuan did not connect the dots within a year of infiltration.

and this idea of "well why would he spend centuries not doing anything" is so fascinating because it completely disregards the entire subtext of who he xuan is and what his relationship is with others. he is not friends with hua cheng. hua cheng is actively antagonistic toward him(and this is not just a hua cheng thing; hua cheng is actively nicer to sqx and even pei ming than he is to he xuan): he calls in inept. he says he doesn't know what he's thinking. he freaks out at him coming into his territory(puqi shrine), he is actively on edge while they're on the island, and he goads and mocks him in ways he doesn't to his other underlings. and yet hua cheng bankrolls him. he xuan is insanely in debt because hua cheng pays for his food, the cost of his fish(that hua cheng also actively dislikes), the cost of bribing heavenly officials(probably to keep their mouth shut), etc.

hua cheng doesn't help he xuan and fund his escapades because they're friends. he is clearly hua cheng's actual spy. it's a sort of payment for his services.

there's no real info on this but they clearly have a deal worked out. hua cheng pays for his expenses. he xuan was likely tasked at keeping ears out for news of xie lian. their deal was likely set to end when xie lian was located. maybe it went further, given hua cheng is so familiar with what he xuan knew as a new ghost - esecially since hua cheng is known to help ghosts pass on and help them with petty revenge or give them shelter in Ghost City in turn for their assistance(best example being the boar and chicken ghosts, they serve their chengzhu after he helped them get revenge and that's why many of the cultivators in the mt tonglu arc hate him, as seen in the ghost inn scene), it could easily be the case that he xuan came to hua cheng and they worked out a plan together. hua cheng knows how the heavens work; he ascended once. he could have come up with the infiltration plan and assisted he xuan in turn for him being a spy alongside he xuan's goal of finding out what shi wudu did. so even when he gets up there and immediately connects the dots, he'd do the work he was tasked with.

because if he only just recently found out, it would be insane to think that "ming yi" wouldn't go berserk. that "ming yi" wouldn't at the very least start acting noticeably different toward sqx. but he doesn't, because he's known.

i've seen people mention the hua cheng line of "my underling for 10 years" - this is him working out the hole he xuan found himself in when the real ming yi set off the flame pillar. "ming yi" was working as jun wu's spy for 10 years. the 10 years comment was aligning with that, giving an out so he could be taken back to the heavens with the idea that he was only jun wu's spy that was discovered after 10 years of infiltrating ghost city.

in reality, jun wu was unlucky enough(or maybe 'ming yi' volunteered) that the spy he picked was already hua cheng's spy of centuries; a double-agent. he xuan was spying, and that was why hua cheng knew the moment xie lian ascended. that is why he knew the exact mission xie lian was on and where he could find him. because he had a spy on the lookout.

and by the time their deal had been fulfilled, he xuan had been sqx's best friend for so long that he had grown complicated feelings and didn't start on the path to revenge until he had no choice: when the real ming yi finally killed himself in a cry for assistance(which, personally, i think may have been spurred by he xuan potentially deciding he wanted to keep that ming yi imprisoned indefinitely, or perhaps only due to an accident that originated from xie lian's unluckyness burning sqx).

the real issue from then on is he xuan fighting with himself, stuck between 'ming yi' and the oppressive and violent black water, seemingly actively attempting to both get his revenge while trying to salvage a relationship with sqx and keep the truth of "ming yi" from his best friend.

that's why, despite it all, he xuan still pops into the rebuilt puqi shrine to eat the food in a silent act of congratulations. xie lian actively got in the way of his plans to the point of he xuan barely being able to contain his violence and hua cheng legitimately being worried, and again, hua cheng and he xuan clearly are not friends - but hua cheng still helped him for centuries. hua cheng is the reason he got his revenge. and that warranted stopping by during a celebration.

this fits in so perfectly with their characters and the events of the story. the moment you think that the discovery happened recently, motivations come into question and it makes things muddy. like, one person who believed that he'd only just learned had said that hua cheng must have found out about xie lian's ascension through the rain master - there is not a single instance in the books that imply the rain master and hua cheng have interacted meaningfully. you have to actively make things up to go against this very clear line of what likely occurred.

this is also what makes he xuan so tragic. "ming yi" is not a complete lie, and he does try to cling to it, and only has to let it go after xie lian's continued meddling that eventually reveals the truth to sqx - long after he would have known, if he xuan actually wanted sqx to know. he wanted to stay friends with sqx, and he hated himself for it, which is why he shows a bit of himself when he asks xie lian to 'exorcise the demons in his heart.' the real he xuan is not so evil; hua cheng does not work with evil ghosts. the real he xuan has silly pet skeleton fish that assault him and accidentally poison him the moment he comes home because they're so excited to see him, and makes little jokes like teasingly sliding away from sqx when sqx recalls the 'reverend' saying everyone close to him will perish. that's why he doesn't change sqx's fate after he kills shi wudu. that's why sqx makes it clear that he xuan wasn't the one that broke his leg and arm. that's why he hesitated when sqx called out his pet name. that's why he kept and repaired sqx's fan. that's why he laughs before leaving when sqx is hounded by all his new friends about godhood. that's why he helps hua cheng one more time. that's why he congratulates xie lian on the shrine reopening. that's why he still says 'dream on' and 'do it yourself' to sqx even when there is no more ming yi; he xuan is not a bad person. he is just a man with demons. and if his hand hadn't been forced time and again, maybe he would have made the decision that being "ming yi" indefinitely wasn't such a problem. but the mountain of sins he'd committed over the centuries in the name of getting his revenge once xie lian was found was a hill too big to climb over, and once the path to revenge started, he had to do it. otherwise, what was the point of all the debt, all the lies, the wrongful imprisonments, the killing- everything he used to stand against, the crimes that others had done to him? he had to do it.

[trashfire-nia]

Who is Hua Cheng outside of his love for and devotion to Xie Lian?

Given the genre, I expected HC’s main motivations would concern the MC. But it would’ve been interesting to know what else drives his character. One of the earliest details we do get about him that isn’t related to XL is his explanation of the gambler’s den, and by extension, his establishment and rule of Ghost City.

We learn something about his views on the responsibility of power. After the dice scene, XL raised his concern about the gambler’s den, contextualized by the implications of what would've happened if the merchant lost his second round without Lang Qianqiu’s intervention (Book 2):

As someone from a life of poverty and abuse, HC has a grounded understanding of the darker side of human nature: powerful people will leverage wickedness and misfortune for their benefit (slightly foreshadowing the reveal that Jun Wu pushed Xianle’s citizens to anger and grief to turn on Xie Lian). HC established his domain to prevent or mitigate such abuses of power that might have larger consequences on mortals. In the words of Kictor in her Season 2 commentary: “The kids are gonna do drugs, so I’d rather them do drugs in my house.”

I’m sure there are other small instances in the novels where HC’s character similarly shines this way, but I really would’ve liked it if he had more scenes and conflicts that challenged his views on power or his other ideals.

With regards to bigger plot points, his refusal to intervene in SQX's and SWD's fates does hint on his attitude towards vengeance and his opinion of heavenly officials. I was a little sad HC and XL didn't at least butt heads about this issue more to elaborate on their characters, and that the reveal of HC being aware of the whole thing was a little bit hand waved (tragic as it is and despite my qualms about character details, it's still one of my favorite arcs in TGCF).

[chewiiez]

idol au! idol au! idol au fengqing + hualian!

ive been brainrotting on this for a while now — i do love my kpop jpop cpop guys and i wanted to explore these dynamics with xl4 !! (an excuse to watch more time to twice really) so yay let's gaur!!

so basically, xl4 is a famous group X4, shortened form of XI4NLE. a boy group, formed through a survival show.

what is a survival show? no, it's not about wilderness survival – a survival show is trainees competing against each other in order to become part of a sometimes temporary, but otherwise permanent, group! you have performance missions, activity missions, domestic and international voting, all of which determine who stays and who is eliminated. all the trainees dorm together, or maybe if the show has a special theme, the trainees are segregated based on the theme.

anyways, my theme actually came from my fav group's (twice) survival show, sixteen. in sixteen, the ceo of the company chose trainees from his own company and divided them into two categories: major and minor. major are trainees who could be debuted tomorrow if they felt like it. minors are trainees that are talented, but need to compete against majors for a better chance.

so in the X4 survival show, we have the same segregation. from our beloved quartet:

feng xin and xie lian are in the majors.

hua cheng and mu qing are in the minors.

now, let's go over their skills!

after many mental line distributions, song listening sessions, and others, i decided on the perfect skills for the quartet. (IMO)

feng xin: main rapper / lead dancer / lead vocalist / leader. i think feng xin as a rapper would be soooo good omg. spitting bars left and right! i think of him as this ace card that no one really expects from a guy who looks like a cute golden retriever. he also has good stage presence and good leadership, which makes him a well rounded idol. you'd find him on forums of people discussing "underrated idols in the cpop industry!!!"

mu qing: secondary main vocal / main dancer / visual. secondary because his main strength is dance and flexibility, but he has the second highest vocal range of the group!! he's also the visual, because in the actual tgcf fandom everyone talks about how he's so pretty and all, obviously had to include that. mu qing is a sort of enigma to many on the show because off stage he's a blank slate, but on stage his stage presence is so captivating....

xie lian: secondary main dancer / lead rapper / sub vocal / center. i think xie lian is also a very flexible dancer, considering in canon he and mq had similar weapons and cultivation, i wanted to make this connection. now as for rapping, he's really good, but his flow could use a little bit of work! sub vocal because i wanted the canon neck cursed shackle to come into play. AND CENTER! such an important position: he has the most center time in choreo because of his stage presence (note that center time ≠ iconic/hard dance moves. those may be given to mq because he's the main main dancer, and sometimes to xl.)

hua cheng: main vocal / sub rapper / fotg. yess, hua cheng is the main, main vocal of the group! he has the highest range and his voice is perfection!! i also think his flow would be good, so sub rapper. finally, fotg is face of the group, aka a member that you usually think of when you think of the group. i wanted to give this to xl but realized that when people think of tgcf so many think of hc first, so yay, the position is his. that way, everyone has an important position to maintain!

now for some lore:

hua cheng is one of the youngest contestants alongside sqx and hx on the show

feng xin wins the show because he gets the most international and domestic votes from fangirls after a performance of his goes viral

xie lian is in a close second, only 10 votes off 😭

mu qing is eliminated from the show because during one of the performances, the group forcefully gave the high note to him, but he couldn't hit it. however, yushi huang brings him back with her producers choice card.

xie lians family are big investors in the community.

feng xin and mu qing had a longstanding rivalry for the better part of their career, which only ended after the BIG jun wu scandal. (i can talk about this if people are interested.)

feng xin has written the most songs for the group, followed by hua cheng and xie lian tied, and then mu qing.

their reality TV show is called XFOURONLINE!

they debut solo in a weird order: xie lian, feng xin, hua cheng, and mu qing.

they've all gone viral multiple times.

their best charting song to date is probably from an album that took a more mature route.

please do tell me if you're interested in this au because i would love to blabber about the jun wu scandal, dynamics, and subunits, as well as the group image and other things 💖

[lovefrombegonia]

My complicated feels towards beefleaf and he xuan, in particular

You know...beefleaf is that one ship...that ONE SHIP. The one which if you think about them more than 10 seconds, all your feelings become too intense to handle. I can't think of these characters objectively. I can't think of them rationally. I love this ship. I hate this ship. I feel everything about them. My mind is already melting while writing this.

The first time I read TGCF, the Black Water arc terrified me to the bones. The description with which Ming Yi's true identity was revealed, it was no less than a horror story for me. I had goosebumps. I felt the silence around me turn oppressive. When the arc concluded with SWD dead, and no further explanation of what HX did to SQX, it devastated me to no end. The thing is...I fucking love SQX. I love him so so so much, I can't explain it. I cared about this character as much as I cared about xie lian himself, and dare I say, EVEN MORE. When everything about SQX backstory was revealed, my love for this character was already great enough that even if it would have been unfair to not have him lose his godhood and powers, I'd have been ok with it. Or atleast...I'd have wanted him to survive. Instead, everything pointed towards their doom. I couldn't think of an ending that would not end in tragedy for SQX. The narrative and the nature of justice demanded that he be punished. But I still wanted them to be safe. In the end of that arc...there was no certain answers to SQX's whereabouts. And I...I started resenting HX. Just straight up started hating them. I wanted him to suffer so much even though, objectively, he isn't an evil character. In fact, he is the wronged protagonist of that arc. The "hero" of a revenge saga. I really, really should not hate him. Even if he was bad, I have never had issues liking or even loving evil characters. For example, shen jiu from SVSSS is one of my blorbos. I fucking LOVE that character, and he is an objectively bad person who abused children. So, why tf did I hate HX so much?? At that time, even I didn't understand. And tbh I didn't even want to understand. I was happy hating him. He is one of the most interesting tgcf characters, and I didn't want to understand his characterization. I just wanted to hate him. And then...I find out that, SQX is alive. HX spared him. HX left him in the city. SQX was alive. My baby was alive, and as well as one could be in his situation. Yes, he is physically crippled and psychologically scarred for life. But the light within him is still alive. He is no longer the wind master but his brightness is still just as infectious. She spreads smiles when she was a god. He still spreads smiles even when he is the beggar ol'feng. Reading his story somehow...healed me. No matter what state he is in, he is still SQX!! Still the same animated, bright person who spreads their warmth and happiness wherever they go. Unfortunately, I still disliked HX. It seemed like I couldn't "forgive" HX for what he did to SQX, even though, he didn't actually directly hurt him. At least not physically. HX kinda saved him when he was getting strangled by SWD. All the emotional and psychological torture SQX went through was kinda indirect, it happened because he was SWD's brother. And yes, SQX was not directly guilty of what happened with HX but he was still the one for whom SWD did all the heinous things to HX. Even in the text, clearly, despite everything, HX as Ming Yi, did give SQX opportunities to choose the right side but every time, he still chose to side with SWD. And....oh gods...there is so much happening. So much pain and unfairness and tragedy and rage. There was never going to be a happy ending. I could not see a happy ending. Yet, there he is, SQX The Beggar, still making friends, spreading his radiance even when covered in rags and dirt. And I still...hated HX. I still don't like him. If you ask me who I hate in TGCF, my mind would first and foremost conjure up the name HX even though I know that I really shouldn't hate him. But I still do...why?? Because. It's not that I actually hate HX. It's just that I love SQX as a character too much. And even though I know HX still cares for SQX, it's still not enough. Not enough.

TBH I think SQX has already forgiven HX (idk if forgive is the right word coz...SWD did deserve whatever happened to him). SQX has moved on and is living to the fullest in his mortal life. He would probably die a content man too. Surrounded by people (like his beggar friends, and xie lian) who love him and care for him. What about HX? I... don't really know what to think of him in this case. Sometimes I think he will silently mourn for SQX forever, existing passively without cause. Sometimes I feel like history will repeat and he will go mad like he did the first time, except, this time...the one who caused harm to his most beloved is himself. There is no third party to blame here. HX can only self-destruct in that case. I don't know which ending is worse. What I am trying to say is...I really, really shouldn't hate HX because in the end...HX is the one who will end in tragedy. Be it a passive tragedy or an active one.

HX deserves more sympathy than most other characters in the novel. I think about this character deeply. I think about his relationship with SQX. He still melts my mind. He has suffered so much. He will suffer forever until he ceases to exist. And I still resent him for what he did to SQX. It's what I find fascinating and devastating about beefleaf. My love for SQX, my understanding for HX's actions, and my unshakeable dislike towards HX, I feel like thinking about beefleaf has made me understand myself better in a way. Sounds corny af but that's how I feel.

Here I am...swirling in so many feels for these two fictional characters. I want SQX to be happy. I want SQX and HX to end up together. No, SQX deserves so much better. HX is suffering, and he will suffer until the end imo. Good. No, he deserves happiness too. But he hurt SQX so badly. But not intentionally and SQX is still alive and happy and HX spared SQX despite being the cause of his suffering. No, there is too much between them to work it all out. But...they love each other. Despite of all that...

The wind master no more, still lives freely among lowly ones. The black water calamity demon can only watch the one person he cares about from a distance. So much left unsaid and unheard and yet what can one really say more and what is left to be heard?

[revel-inbluehues]

Oh my goodness gracious, I am several different types of broken rn. I just watched episode 7, and I NEED TO RANT AND I'M PROBABLY GOING TO LEAK A SPOILER OR TWO.

Okay, firstly, the first half was hilarious, just FX and MQ being absolute comedic gold. I completely forgot that FX was afraid of women since I read the novels a long time ago, but it was hilarious. He looked so disgusted. Them getting in funny situation is good as it is, but the animators did a fantastic job at the facial expressions of FX, MQ and the background heavenly officials who were hearing all of this play out. I laughed at it all, and poor SQX being embarrassed, tired, and exasperated at the dice shenanigans that he had to deal with earlier.

But, funny as it was, the second part was my favourite bit.

I literally froze when I saw Fang Xin. It was beautiful and terrifying at the same time. Knowing what that blade had done, the history it has made it so much more impactful since this is the first time since this is the first time XL is seeing it in 600 years or so while this is the first time HC is seeing it in around 800 years if I remember it correctly. It is such a metaphorically heavy blade, and seeing its design and animation is so very beautiful.

Meanwhile, LQQ commented on how different XL seemed, and XL responded on how this is how he always was, just that LQQ never knew it. Even still, XL felt like a teacher to LQQ, so I feel like no matter how separate XL tried to be, he did very much care for LQQ as I'm sure the next episode will show.

But I think the major part that got me was LQQ's speech about not becoming full of resentment or like XL, which is one hell of a gut punch. Once again, bravo to the animators for that little cut to XL's eyes widening. I always knew LQQ was a parallel to XL, and it is most clearest here. In that moment, XL knew that he was LQQ's White No Face, and that, in LQQ's perspective, where he started the worst moments of his life in a twisted attempt to make LQQ just as resentful as him. It was a fantastic comparison and a terrible irony to XL, something he clearly acknowledged as he laughed and tried so hard not to cry. XL's comparison to the White No Face is something that will probably hurt every time, since to XL, only he and JW know about it, and he's unable to share the burden of what happened, which probably just hurts even more. The parallel between LQQ's words to XL and XL's words to White No-Face is so painful, especially to XL, who thinks that it's his burden to bare, and it probably hurts more when you consider that he literally just got Fang Xin back.

And throughout all of this, the one other person who knew all of this, and wanted to share the burden was standing right next to him, looking hurt and about to cry as he watch his most loved hurt. HC knew the significance of it all, and it was a stark reminder of all the times he failed to protect the one he loved the most, and since this right after he accidently hurt XL as well, this must be painful for him too. There is so much foreshadowing for all the donghua-watchers only and so much tragedy underlining this scene.

The part where XL hesitated to hold Fangxin, when you know everything, hurts so much. It caused him so much trauma, wielding it would have just been such a painful reminder.

Let me move onto fangirling before I cry.

Firstly, I was waiting for the daruma doll bit for a while. He looks so cute and angry at the same time. It's adorable, and I laughed when LQQ side-eyed HC in the daruma form.

Secondly, why do HC and XL still look so HOT EVEN AS THE WEIRD CANDLE DEMONS, OMG???? HC with horns, blue skins, and black sclera is going to haunt me for DAYS, and XL looks so good with it as well. The candles on their heads look so funny though.

The next episode is for the Qi Rong simps, and I would like to remind everyone that Qi Rong, heathen that he is, is still physically hot, even if I have the visceral desire to punch him.

[kanonavi]

hello tumblr user kanonavi who is 1/3rd of the reason i started rereading tgcf. i have come to collect my personal apology for the emotional damages inflicted upon me for the past 5 days. and i have also come with THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS (mostly feelings)

- icb i put off this reread so long hualian are so romance. theyre jsut Romance......... absolutely floored by every throwaway bit of dialogue they had....... in shambles forever....,

- sqx arc was not as painful as the first few times i read it bc i now stand with my cancelled wife (he xuan) I STILL LOVE SQX AND THEY DESERVE EVERYTHING GOOD. BUT HX WAS REAL FOR ALL OF THAT. i love revenge

- i wanna know your thoughts on ling wen bc u mentioned having mixed feelings on her but i loved her so bad all the way to the end so im curious ljdkdjf

- i am not immune to backstory arc pt2. read it last last (?) night at like 3am and cried myself to sleep its just so gutting every timeeeeeee.... the hc plot that builds in that arc is ofc one of my favorites in the entire novel though :')

- the chapter w the cave of statues took me like 2+ hours to get through because i was feeling so insane abt it

i feel bad dropping this block of text in ur askbox sorry. will leave it there for now LOL

Omg hiiiii tumblr user stardust-make-a-wish welcome back from the yaoi cocaine pit :3 I know you're here to collect emotional damages, but I must make it known that I'm not even remotely sorry <3

Also you should feel bad for yourself instead of for me because I can only respond to huge blocks of text with even bigger blocks of text, so (TGCF Spoilers Ahead) and also I am so sorry lmaooooo

UGH you're so right that hualian is the most romance forever they are just so *clenches fists and sobs*....... They're always there for each other and they're so in love and they've been through so much and I just want them to be able to rest because it's what they deserve.

I will never once say that Hu Xuan wasn't justified in everything he did cuz like. Shi Wudu had it coming what a piece of shit. But at the same time Qingxuan is my wife and I will not tolerate my wife being harmed. So like revenge slay yes but also I am still cancelling He Xuan and spraying him with the water bottle (even though he is already very very damp).

Yesyesyes Ling Wen. So my thought about Ling Wen is that she kinda girlbossed a little too close to the sun, but at the same time you look at her circumstances both past and present and have to understand why she did all of that. It already would have been hard enough for her to gain any kind of recognition as a woman, much less in the Heavenly Court, so her ruthlessness is completely understandable. But at the same time, I don't really think the Brocade Immortal deserved what she did to him nor was taking Bai Wuxiang's side in the final conflict a real cool thing of her to do. I can't fully be a hater though because her own thoughts about everything are clearly so nuanced (See: The final convo she had with Xie Lian about the Brocade Immortal, which I am still thinking so incredibly hard about to this day).

I think that Ling Wen is interesting in the same way that I find other characters like Mu Qing, He Xuan, and Yin Yu interesting. It's in the sense that even if I don't really agree with all of the actions that they took, it's very easy to look at them and come to an understanding of why they did what they did. And I have varying degrees of like for all of the characters I just listed, but that doesn't change the fact that they're all Compelling. So it's almost like a begrudging respect that I feel for Ling Wen, if I were to boil it down into simple terms.

aaaaaaaaaa The Horrors(tm) :sob: Even though I could talk about Xie Lian's arc through that part of his backstory for a million years, you're so right that Hua Cheng's arc through it is also so interesting to watch. It really goes to prove that Hua Cheng is different from everyone else in Xie Lian's life up until this point, because yes there's the very obvious throughline of Hua Cheng wanting to protect Xie Lian (rather than expecting his protection), but even more importantly that feeling never changes even when Xie Lian has his mini corruption arc.

Like, Hua Cheng fell in love with the pure and virtuous Crown Prince of Xianle but not for that quality. Instead of being ashamed and looking at Xie Lian with scorn when he was like "What if I kill everyone actually" Hua Cheng is like "Then let me be your sword". There's the element of not wanting Xie Lian to dirty himself that Hua Cheng carries for the entire story but the point is in that he is not a voice who would tell Xie Lian to stop having those thoughts if it's truly what he wants (Unlike what his parents or Feng Xin and Mu Qing would probably say).

I'm going to write an essay about their character dynamic one day istg I am chewing through the drywall

The cave statues chapter......... *passes away*. Like on one hand that chapter is so funny because yes Hua Cheng is just an absolute certified freak (POV my roommate telling me earlier on in my reading that HC is a porn addict and me being like "pssht noooo" but then getting to this chapter several months later and being like "O h.") but on the other hand THE CONFESSION??????? Like. All I can do is gesture wildly at the storyboard animatic that someone made of that scene on YouTube while absolutely fucking sobbing. There is a reason why the cover of volume 6 felt somehow more intimate than the cover of volume 4 where they're literally making out.

Anyway I'm patting Hua Cheng on the head like It's okay buddy Xie Lian loves you because you're a certified freak, he's seen too much of this world to be weirded out even a little bit. Which is why those two are perfect for each other <3

I'm glad you had so much fun on your reread, have fun with the brainworms :3

[hamliet]

Anon who talked about book 7 of TGCF here! I unfortunately will only have book 8 available this February :') once I get my hands on it I will review it here like I did for the last books if you don't mind! Meanwhile, I still have a lot of thoughts on TGCF, and I hope I don't bother you with how long this ask is 😅

I've seen an interpretation online of the bamboo-hat scene in book 6 in which it says that XL would've never ended up as White No-Face's successor even if the bamboo hat guy didn't appear, because it isn't in XL's nature to do something so destructive and evil. Is it bad that I think think this interpretation diminishes the impact the bamboo-hat scene has for me? Because to me what made that scene so great was the fact that kindness was indeed able to change someone at their worst and by consequence bring out their best self. Hell, what makes the conflict between JW and XL so interesting to me is because XL could've indeed become like him had he not received kindness in his darkest moments, and by consequence JW could've been like XL under the right circumstances. "XL is just naturally gooder™ than JW" is not exactly an interpretation I like, and I think it may even contradict the message of other character arcs in the story as well. HC was saved by the kindness he received from XL, and thus became devoted to him. When HX chose his revenge over his friendship with SQX, it didn't satisfy him, and it even made him more miserable, as he lost his only friend in the process. Guzi, by loving QR unconditionally and genuinely as his son, ended up bringing up to the surface a side of QR that perhaps not even QR knew he had, and it moved his heart enough that he ended up sacrificing himself to save Guzi in turn. QYZ became attached to YY because he showed him compassion when everyone else dismissed him and thought of him as nothing more than a brute. I could go on and on. In other MXTX's books there's also a big emphasis on the impact kindness and genuine connection can have on people. WWX could've easily become a XY or a JGY had he been raised in different circumstances. Hell, the constrast between Bingmei and Bingge hinges on the fact that Bingmei was shown kindness while Bingge wasn't, and the difference between them is of day and night.

Usually they mention the quote "What matters is 'you' and not the state of you.", and that part where HC knew XL wasn't the one who did the guilded banquet Massacre, but I didn't exactly interpret these quotes to mean that XL is naturally good™ in a way that he's able to do no big evil, but rather that he's naturally good in a sense that evil isn't something natural to him, even if he participates in it, which is a theme that can also be seen in characters like JW, HX and QR, who became who they are due to the circumstances in their life shaping them into who they became. It's even highlighted that QR used to be a shy and sweet kid until his environment raised him into a monster. Evil isn't natural but rather something slowly molded by circumstances is how I interpreted it. And as for the Guilded Massacre, it's more that HC saw XL rejecting cursing Yong'an after the bamboo-hat scene and thus rejecting White No-Face's philosophy precisely because it was proven wrong in his eyes, and therefore it would make no sense for XL to be responsible for the guilded banquet massacre later on.

Of course I could be completely wrong in my interpretation, but this is what I picked up while reading the novel. Maybe it's my bias against the immobility of the self? Once again I'm sorry for the wall of text, it's just that I have a lot of thoughts about the way MXTX's books handle the impact that kindness and connection have on the self. I also really like your theories and interpretations not only on MXTX's novels, but for other works as well (I'll only be able to read the ones on JW next month in order to avoid spoilers unfortunately)!

No, I completely agree with you. Actually, I'd go so far as to say that's misreading the story, and the ending--without spoilers--makes this textually explicit. Like, it literally says, not symbolically but directly, that the point is that Xie Lian could have become just like Jun Wu.

So, they're not just misinterpreting, they're misreading. I'm guessing theses are the same kinds of people who think MDZS's message is WWX=good JGY=bad, honestly, when again that means that you're missing the point of the story. (Good point about Luo Binghe, as well!)

To return to TGCF, Hua Cheng's "what matters is you and not the state of you" has nothing at all to do with Xie Lian being a "good" person. In fact, Hua Cheng is pretty explicitly amoral. He's loyal to Xie Lian because Xie Lian was kind to him and he fell in love with him. It does not matter to him whether Xie Lian does good or does bad; that's the point of Wu Ming. It only matters to him that he is Xie Lian, and Xie Lian told him he mattered and did not deserve to be treated as he was being treated.

Of course, one could counter that love itself is a moral virtue, so thereby it saves Hua Cheng and the whole world, but that's for another time haha.

And, of course, please do continue to share your thoughts!!

[winkk-koo]

For me the ship appeal for shuangshui comes from the following:

Both of them are big brothers who'd do anything to protect their little siblings

If the roles were reversed HX would have done the same to save his sister

"Have you no remorse" if HX truly only hated him why would he care if swd felt bad about what he did? He's invested in the outcome and was desperate for an apology and acknowledgement of his feelings (which SWD only denied him because SQX was at risk)

HX saw SWD's face at death and that's what kept him bound to this world instead of passing on

After killing SWD, if HX was satisfied in his revenge his soul should have dissipated, but he's still here

You can argue this is bc of SQX, but ghosts can't change their obsession, or the resentment tying them to this world, and a ghost king has the strongest obsession of all

Shuangshui as a foil for hualian, basically what happens when you dedicate your existence to hate instead of love (which is, after all, the function of bw arc in the novel)

They don't have a chance in canon since it's very one sided, HX's obsession for a guy who doesn't even know who he is, but that's the tragic appeal of it, destroying the person you should have loved with your own hands, because you refused to understand your own heart, and dooming your soul to wander, unsatisfied, forever

And maybe if things had been different, Shi Wudu could have loved the soft, sensitive Scholar He, who would sacrifice it all for his sibling too

There's a lot of lost potential to explore, in another universe I would have loved to do laundry and taxes with you

Who is being so poetic in my asks!!!!!

Bro wrote amazing character analysis and expects to just get away with it

______________________________________

I really did not think of the actual meaning of both being water themed and why He Xuan Specifically chose this . And now that you say it i find it really interesting

Arrrh and the fact his calamity name is Black Water Sinking Ships when Shi Wudu does the same thing with ships that don't send him offerings before sailing 😭😭

He really copied that man he was supposed to hate everything about

(I also took a break from tgcf right after black water arc to start reading svsss so i didn't take into account that he might still be around. But thats really tragic he dedicated like 800? Years to his revenge and he wasn'teven satisfied with it and since the source of his suffering is basically gone he can't do anything about it now right)

I also- forgor to press "post" on this yesterday

[thatswhatsushesaid]

I’m so glad you like Shi Wudu because I do too and it’s rare to find people who don’t hate him in the fandom. Like how can you hate him! He did it all for his brother! It was all for SQX! Was it ethical? Hell no but he’s so compelling as a character! I have /so/ many extremely complicated feelings about Shi Wudu that I could talk for hours about but all I will say is that “I decide my fate and not the heavens” is so metal and I think that there’s so much to say about just that line it makes me go feral. His relationship with Pei Ming also makes me go feral because the amount of trust (love?) that SW must have had in PM to trust him, at his lowest, with the most important thing to him (SQX’s life). Especially considering the fact that SQX has been antagonizing PM and been openly hostile towards him, for what we can only assume is centuries, and yet SW was certain that PM would put all that aside for his sake (and he did!)

Also I am now curious about the JGY stan to SW stan pipeline because it seems like we both experienced it and we can’t possibly be the only ones so now I’m wondering if there are people who like one but not the other and why.

(Also I saw your tags about beefleaf and you managed to capture my feelings about them perfectly. Like no I don’t want to read fluffy modern AUs I want to read fics where they both love each other but it’s not enough, they never choose each other and they’re both miserable and fucked up about it)

(Sorry this is so long!)

yo never apologize for sending long messages with your thoughts/feelings on these characters, i am SO HERE for reading them!! i hadn’t considered the presence of a jgy-to-swd stan pipeline, mostly because when i’ve checked the character tag, i’ve mostly seen comparisons to nmj and nhs. which dgmw, i absolutely believe that nmj loved nhs and wanted to protect him! but we know exactly what nmj would have done to save nhs from an unspeakably awful fate in canon, because that’s already something that is completely within his power to change. and he doesn’t do it.

also absolutely i believe swd loved pei ming—like i don’t think there’s enough in the source material to support a romantic or reciprocated romantic ship there, but that absolutely won’t stop me from doing it anyway, and in canon, it says so much that pei ming is who shi wudu tells shi qingxuan to go to after he dies.

😭😭😭 waaaahhhhh i love shi wudu, he’s insane, he’s a war criminal, he ruined poor he xuan’s whole life and afterlife, and he did it all for love of his little bother!!

[symphonyofsilence]

Fanfics ideas, cause you love MXTX works. MDZS characters will be besties with who (in your opinions) if they were in other universe, with characters from TGCF & SVSSS ? Please pick at least 3 characters from each series. Hope my questions are not confusing.....

Nie Huaisang would have been a big fan of Liu Mingiyan and Liu Mingyian would have appreciated NHS's collection of... educational books so she could write more exciting and diverse Smuts. Shang Qinghua would have found his way in and NHS & he would definitely get along very well. Shi Qingxuan & NHS would get along like a house on fire. (Though SQX would not get a word of what was said among NHS, LMY, & SQH he would enjoy the vibes & be happy to be there) And WWX naturally would belong to this group and bring JC with him. I don't know, maybe SQX, much like how happy he was to find a Ming-Xiong, and mess with General Nanyang would have been happy to meet Jiang Cheng, whether Jiang-Xiong felt the same or not? Or maybe not? Like... he apparently hadn't tried to make friends with Fengqing so maybe he wouldn't try to make friends with JC either (even if he did I think it wouldn't have been an especially deep relationship between them. It would be more like NHS's and JC's) WWX, SQX, and SQH would drag in LWJ, HX, & Mobei-Jun with them. Those three would absolutely say nothing and make no friends. Mobei-Jun (despite WWX and SQX's many attempts) and LWJ (despite SQX's many attempts) would stare in a dead inside way and He Xuan would eat. (Shen Qingqiu would have loved to join them but Liu Mingiyan would turn strangely quiet against NHS's questions when SQQ was around, so...)

I'd love to see Xue Yang, Qi Rong, and Sha Hualing interact! I believe They would get along very well. I'd love to see them take care of Guzi together, too! (Guzi would end up taking care of them.)

(Then Sha Hualing and Xuan Ji would inevitably cross paths and have a nice girl in-bathroom talk wherein Sha Hualing would try to knock some sense into Xuan Ji and tell her to know your worth, girl and it would result in Xuan Ji going you know what?! Maybe you're right maybe I SHOULD let go. To which Sha Hualing would answer WHAT?! NO WAY! KICK HIS A$$!!)

One lotus root pork soup from Jiang Yanli would work wonders for Shen Jiu (who needs an older sister). And I think JYL, since she apparently likes to surround herself with tsunderes would be fond of him, too. Shen Jiu might have crossed paths with fellow street rat A-Qing. The hissing cats would bond and form the deepest, and strongest frenemy relationship and stick together. Then Shen Jiu would inevitably end up meeting Xiao Xingchen. This group would fix him. Before breaking him even worse because of the whole...you know,... Yi City Arc. Then he'd be adopted by Yushi Huang or Baoshan Senren. Maybe Yushi Huang could promote A-Qing to godhood. their combination with Pei Su, Ban Yue, and Pei Ming could have been interesting.

Teenage Mu Qing-gege would also probably know A-Qing, Shen Jiu, and Yue Qinguuan. and occasionally give them food and keep an eye on them. This combo-minus YQY- might have also occasionally bitched about others with each other. (So the god adopting Shen Jiu and promoting A-Qing to godhood could be MQ, too)

Jiang Yanli would flourish if she could join Yushi Huang and have a peaceful positive maternal figure who cherished her talents and calm demeanor. JYL, Ban Yue, and Pei Xu would have helped each other. she would also enjoy interacting with SQX, and Xie Lian. and SQX would like her very much. She might have also had a soft spot for Mu Qing and looked out for him and what he didn't say.

Wei Wuxian and Hua Cheng would get into passive-aggressive rivalry in talent, sass, fashion, batshit theories and ideals, and sass. they would greatly enjoy their rivalry though. Maybe through Hua Cheng, WWX would meet He Xuan, too, and enjoy annoying him. He might form a very forced, very one-sided friendship with He Xuan, Which after a while of WWX imposing himself on him, HX might or might not come to miss in WWX's absence.

Ling Wen and Jin Guangyao would have a pleasant talk over tea about how incompetent everyone else is and how they have to do everything around here. Then slowly, they'd be joined by Yin Yu, Zhuzhi-lang, and Shang Qinghua. And then This talk would then turn into a union.

Wen Qing and Mu Qing would meet each other while healing others and they'd start to be mean judgemental bitches together. They have kind hearts. They save everyone's lives, but they also shoot death glares at everyone & bitch about everyone while doing it.

Wen Qing might have also befriended Ling Wen. She might have been recruited by Qi Qinqi.

Lan Xichen, Yue Qingyuan, Yushi Huang, and Xie Lian could drink tea together and have a pleasant conversation without an actual word that would lead to any personal knowledge about them being exchanged. Though any two combinations of this group could have a vague and not very revealing but definitely insightful conversation with each other.

I know Liu Qingge, Jiang Cheng, and Mu Qing are a popular combo of hissing cats. But these 3 could stay together in one room for centuries and do not utter a word to each other or make any other attempt at human connection. Xie Lian though, a certified bitch- specialist might want to befriend Jiang Cheng, Shen Jiu, and Liu Qingge.

Literally anyone could befriend Shen Qingqiu (Shen Yuan, obviously) . Especially the cloud recesses trio, especially Jiang Cheng. Jin Zixuan would have benefitted greatly from befriending SQQ. (Or maybe not. Who knows.)

Xie Lian and Xiao Xingchen would have a very pleasant short chat. A-qing and Xue Yang would also love the other Daozhang. This would result in A-Qing wanting to protect the Daozhang from mean strangers and Xue Yang wanting to torment Daozhang as a sign of his gratitude for his exemplary manners towards Xue Yang. Luckily XL wouldn't stick around this long.

The Juniors would look up to Liu Qingge and would love to be his disciples. (Especially JL who feels life LQG kinda has a similar attitude to his Jiujiu and reminds him of his jiujiu) they would get into- hopefully- friendly rivalries with Shen Qingqiu's disciples, especially Ning Yingying and Ming Fan. In time those two would join the Junior group as well.

Jin Ling would follow Feng Xin around because AN ARCHERY GOD! And since the juniors stick together, so would the three others. And since Fengqing are always together, the two southern gods would acquire a band of ducklings.

Qi Qingqi would immediately recruit Mianmian. Pei Ming would try to hit on Qi Qingqi and immediately realize his mistake. They'd eventually befriend each other and Qi Qingqi would gain a place among The Three Tumors. That would lead to Qi Qingqi meeting Ban Yue and recruiting her, too.

After Ling Wen recruited Jin Guangyao as a god to help her do paperwork, JGY would find a solid place for himself in The Three Tumors, too.

(Mostly SVSSS/TGCF interactions:

Tianlang-Jun, with his interest in polyamorous dramas, would follow 3Zun dramas intensely. Pei Ming would get curious about what he's observing like a soap opera and join him in watching that trashfire. they'd have a great time eating popcorn and doing commentaries together, and then Tianlang-Jun would pull an uno-reverse on Pei Ming by giving him advice on how to court Yushi Huang.

Jian Lan has big maternal instincts, and Luo Binghe is above all, a baby. So Jian Lan would become LBH's new ghost mama and Shen Qingqiu would get along splendidly with his new ghost mother-in-law.)

[eruhamster]

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.'

[baeshijima]

OMG HI sorry for randomly appearing in your inbox but i had no idea you like tgcf?!?? omg. i perfectly understand the whiplash between hualian being.... hualian and the absolute tragedy beefleaf is going through 😭😭 still experiencing five stages of grief after the revenge scene and here we have hualian. living their best life HAJSHD

im very much unwell about beefleaf in general..... both about the ship but also about the characters + shi wudu and their entire story... like its so tragic?????? and also an amazing topic for many character analysis and essays but shh... id be very happy to see this all play out without the gut-wrenching angst but alas 💔💔 the angst is what we get........

KHSD UR FINE DW AND YES I LOVE TGCF 😭 its been so long since i read the novel so some things a re blurry but ourghghg... i should reread it... and i need to catch up on the donghua bc i havent watched s2 onwards ;w;;

no bc its literally just. hualian doing their thing and having their moment so the hualian lover in me cheered so hard and cried tears of joy only to find the beefleaf audio drama right after and wallow in despair and anguish 🧍‍♀️one couple is getting it on and the other is going through absolute hell i cannot why would they do this to us 🧍‍♀️

AND NO BC SAME 😭 like on one hand i understand hx and his revenge and the fact his existence as a ghost built on vengeance and such cant go against his cause, but on the other the absolute pain and anguish sqx went through in the blackwater arc and apologising and screaming and crying and begging hx and ourhgkh GIVE ME ALL HIS PAIN AND SUFFERING INSTEAD MXTX WHEN I CATCH UUUU

hx: what did you call me?

sqx: ming-xiong...

hx: you called for the wrong person.

THROWS UP I HATE THEM AND SWD TELLING SQX HE IS LEAVING FIRST AND HE WILL MEET HIM LATER WITH SQX CONSTANTLY APOLOGISING IM SOOO

LIKE

AND ON TOP OF THE ANIMATED VERSION OF THE ART??? LOSING MY MIND I HATE IT HERE

on another note, i just saw someone on twt put the beefleaf audio over the "I JUST WANNA BE PART OF YOUR SYMPHONY 🐬🐬🐬🌈🌈🌈 🎶 🎶" meme with the dolphins and sparkles and i think that killed me :D