#i LOVED tgcf and when i reread it im sure ill say tgcf is the best but

[lizzzardwizard]

Fine. I'm about to say it.

svsss is mxtx's best work.

[mousehole5000]

okay im rewriting tgcf (only in my head im lazy) here are my notes on hua/lian specifically this is long bc fuck it. major spoilers obviously and same trigger warnings as the content of the book

disclaimer disclaimer disclaimer that i dont know anything about the cultural background of anything in tgcf or story tropes etc etc this is just I Think It Would Be Neat If..

there’s not really any reason to keep hc as a kid in the backstory BUT in the story in the intro (which i like narratively) it still says that it was a child who xie lian caught. it’s one of those things that got added to the legend to make xie lian seem even more noble, there are also probably a few other inaccuracies in the intro that get found out as the story progresses. in actuality hc was kind of a known troublemaker to the city guards or whatever or had been in the past. maybe his mother just passed after a long illness and his tumble off the wall was intentional. either way he’s kind of pissed at xie lian for saving him. xie lian is concerned about his health so he has to stay at the palace for a while he recovers and only interacts with xie lian a few times. there is a point where he says out loud all the things about the divide between the rich and the poor that have been illustrated by the scenes with mu qing. feng xin tells him to shut up but mq goes dead silent bc he kind of agrees but can’t say and does have his loyalty to xie lian (its a whole thing) and the resentment begins

also i think young hc’s personality is similar to his personality in the present but a bit more reserved and he’s got like this plucky streak or something. also he is unquestionably gay

anyway hc sneaks out of the palace and xie lian catches him obviously but they have a brief little heart to heart where xie lian is like “look you can go if you want here take this money food” etc and demonstrates that he has actually listened to what hc has to say and hc is like “wow no one other than my mom has ever listened to me in my life so thats what that feels like i kind of like it” and he probably is a bit awestruck by xie lian in different ways and after that is like “okay this kingdom sucks but.. that guys not so bad”

sad ironic sense that if xie lian hadnt ascended until he was older he may have actually be able to do something about the problems in the kindgom but alas we have a cycle to perpetuate

the “take me as the meaning of your life” scene still happens p much the same but xl doesnt recognize hc who is actually now at his lowest point. hc tried to find ways to make things better for people like him but he simply did not succeed (maybe his were efforts quashed by the corrupt authorities? its implied probably) and he’s more disillusioned with the kingdom and life than ever but still is holding on to those memories of xie lian as proof that it doesnt have to be like this but that thread is slipping until!! whose fucking voice is that??? thats right its the one person you ever believed was truly good and went and proved you right by ascending to the heavens at age 17!!! guess its time to stan him forever

anyway hc joins the army but legally or whatever and tbh i would have hated the flower cave scene regardless of anything i just hate any sort of s*x pollen trope or anything so thats gone (they can have a wound tending scene or something tho thats the good shit) and instead we have HL getting overwhelmed by some other demons or something together and xie lian protects hc and they both get injured very badly (maybe hc would lose a limb but im not sure how that would work once hes a ghost so thats on hold for now until i figure it out) and xl is fine but this situation ends up being part of why mq kicks hc out of the army but yes hc still ends up dying on the battlefield anyway </3

the wuming stuff is the same i think but also at some point xl is despairing and says something about that guy he saved from falling and wonders what happened to him and fire ghost wuming is like !!!!! (wait does this happen in canon? honestly it should)

in mount tong’lu i was tempted to actually have hc have a similar moment to the bamboo hat scene with the humans who are trapped in there but im not sure if i just want it to be the same as xie lian’s story... also i like the idea of hc needing to hang onto his devotion to get through his first few centuries of being a ghost so maybe he’s just inspired by xie lian’s sacrifice with the sword and the souls and thats why he claws his own eye out as a sacrifice

so this can go one of two ways from here!!! both are me projecting hardcore so take them with a grain of salt im not saying im right about the way relationships should be these a re just my thoughts <3

1. (the not fun one but it still has a happy ending) the story more or less continues the same as canon. pure and simple devotion is what carries hc through the centuries. we get to see some ghost city antics and its fun but there is nothing complicated about the devotion hc just wants to find xl and protect him. hualian eventually meet. they get along pretty well!! eventually there are cracks. when you hold someone in your mind for so long you have expectations for them that no person can meet consistently. hc thinks that since he’s seen xl during the worst time in his life that he can handle anything but it turns out that as amazing as xl is, he is also just a person and sometimes he is wrong or irrational or annoying. xl is so happy to have someone who will listen to him talk that he kind of neglects to really get to know who hc is as a person and hc is kind of like “huh i didnt expect this but im kind of hurt. i genuinely thought that i just wanted to serve and protect you but actually im my own person and this is weird” but he doesnt say anything he thinks he has to stick to his promise and it gets kind of uncomfortable!! maybe his luck goes haywire bc his faith gets rocked for the first time ever and they end up having to talk it out but their relationship is stronger for it <3

2. (i think this one is fun) hc struggles with waiting. he does it but its hard. he has doubts and when all his efforts to find xl are fruitless he starts to grow bitter and curses the day that xl saved him. his faith burns low but doesnt go out. then ghost city!! hc realizes that he can finally help people like him, even if theyre ghosts now and hes grateful for the chance to do this and grateful to xl and resigns himself to waiting. but its still hard!! he realizes that his luck is tied to his devotion and gets kind of pissed about it!!! he tries to remember all the good things about xl but its hard!!! his search becomes more about repaying a debt so he can be free than anything else, he just wants to help the common people spirits with no strings attached (this actually allows him to keep his luck bc he has the same wish as xl and thats what makes him a true believer!! is this corny? does it make sense? i dont care) and so eventually when he finds xl he’s like okay how quickly can i repay this debt/how can i keep my powers but then xie lian is... so good... and hc actually really likes him he remembers why he swore his devotion in the first place. now hes conflicted!!! dont worry they fall in love tho <3

wow this was really long if you read this hiiiii. anyway when i reread ill try to pay more attention to yin yu and he xuan for hc’s 800 years. hua cheng we’re gonna get you some friends and lore i swear to god

[mousehole5000]

okay tgcf book 3 time chapter 89 - 106

goth king pei su here to steal pickle jar banyue. or maybe save her? i may have to reread that confrontation in the pit with the scorpion snakes i wasnt quite sure what exactly was going on. anyway pei ming is here now boooo hisssss actually he’s becoming funny to me now

screaming i love this. thank you mx windmaster for this gift i withdraw all my suspicions of you. pickle the man pickle him good.

cheers bro ill drink to that

oh????? curious if there’s any basis for that one with feng xin. also love that this is how the immortals get their kicks

ahh classic little frenemy shenanigans. bad liars both of you

lantern contest im guessing that xie lian is going to have something unexpected happen here in fact im willing to bet he actually wins due to interference from hua cheng and possibly relating to the merchants. if he doesnt i may delete this part out of embarrassment at being wrong but i mean its definitely not going to be completely uneventful or straightforward.

called it what an image!!! okay now lets find out how it happened 3000 is QUITE the turnout

okay my internet dropped out for most of the little catch the fetus spirit saga but we have had the first kiss now it was kind of a disaster also we’re in ghost city now? tight

idk what warning to put on this next excerpt. its a little graphic maybe idk its a description of the fetus spirit

im including it just to say.... eraserhead flashbacks.....

typical man tbh when in doubt just back out. this is a joke but also ive seen friends bfs do this to get out of an argument when theyre wrong lol

YEAH BABY GHOST CITY i love every line of the ghost city hijinks. also ME SOUP ME SOUP ME SOUP every time i take a bath this is how i feel

light in the darkness.... i would like to see it..... also wait ghost city is red????? sexy...

the fact that there isnt an idol or cushions for kneeling in the temple bc thats not what xie lian ever wanted.... the literal devotion......

goths are illiterate. amazing

my 5th grade teacher trying to read my illegible chicken scratch

xie lian saying he’s never lied to hua cheng like he didnt give him an entirely bogus fortune when he was investigating him.... amazing

hua cheng’s canonical evil handwriting is great but also i cant lie i think teaching your love to read/write is... cute.... yes my favorite disney princess movie when i was a kid was beauty and the beast..... what of it....

i actually think its pretty interesting that this current wayward spirit is a mother/child issue... im intrigued

im just now realizing that its most likely going to be a plot point that xie lian’s cultivation relies on his “purity”/abstinence... how will this be resolved considering well. you know. is it just not going to count if the sex is gay? also mu qing follows the same cultivation path? interesting. ALSO jun wu just happens to have a virgin testing sword laying around? so many questions

also im still pissed at qi rong about the queen’s corpse tbh

looks like we’re taking a break from our regularly scheduling mystery for an episode of a cooking show

this book is funny again. love this little stand off while hua cheng is just. doing dishes. also jesus christ whats in the stew?? jfaskdfjasl

windmaster using magic to make the shrine spooky for the ambiance...  dramatic legend. also this spirit is known for being a killjoy and it feeds off fear and incites self-fulfilling prophecies? only to meet its match in the god of misfortune? amazing love that

love that xie lian is 100% ready to lend the care of the children over as hua cheng’s responsibility. i really hope when they get back theres at least 2 concerningly ghostly helpers taking care of the kids

xie lian and hua cheng exchanging phone numbers private communication array passwords vs windmaster’s password being poem praising him fight. cannot WAIT to find out what hc’s password is

MORE GHOSTS??? love it cant wait for more. dinnertime now bye tgcf for now