#tgcf chatter

[nyerus]

Hi! I would love to hear your thoughts about classism in TGCF, but specifically regarding XL. It surprised me to see people hating on XL for not knowing or doing better during his teenage years of luxury as the crown prince and making XL a complete villain because he didn't take down classism and restructure society despite still being a kid himself. It struck me as odd that the fandom is well aware of his 800 years in poverty but also not really addressing the fact that XL, too, is a victim of classism albeit a little different from someone like MQ.

Hi there! So sorry it's taken me this long to get to this ask, I've just been in sort of a funk for a few days haha.

But yeah, this is definitely a topic that comes up from time to time, with lots of discussion about. It surprises me that despite that, there are still people (maybe just newer fans? idk) who still hate on Xie Lian for his naive views as a 17yo. Especially since, despite being a naive 17yo, he still really wanted to help people less fortunate than himself. He didn't quite understand how to do this in the most effective ways (because he was a teenager), so it came off as somewhat patronizing as he was a person in a position of power compared to everyone else. Yet his desire to help people was genuine, and he didn't personally think of "common folk" as being any lesser than "royalty" -- even though in this case, there kind of literally was a difference. (E.g. when Lang Ying goes from being a commoner to a king, he gets a "kingly aura" that protects him!) So it's honestly kind of incredible that Xie Lian is willing to say things like "I think people are equal, even gods and humans, and if the Heavens disagree with me, then it's the Heavens that are wrong" with his entire heart.

I imagine a large part of the hate Xie Lian gets from certain fans is jealousy or resentment, due to the fact that Xie Lian was "born privileged." But on it's own, "privilege" is not "the great enemy" -- it's what said privilege means in the context of society, and what someone does/doesn't do with it that merits judgement. Xie Lian doesn't fully understand the privilege he had until he loses it (again: because he was 17!), but he still understood it enough to use it to protect and help people. That's more than many other characters can say. Him starting out as a prince doesn't automatically disqualify him from class struggles or the horrors of poverty. It's nonsensical to think so, when this is a character who literally spent almost 800 years busking for scraps, while sleeping in dirt outside and eating garbage….

On the flip side, as you mentioned Mu Qing -- yes, he was a victim of classism. But he's a very strange figure to use as the poster boy for that, though he often is by people who are critical of Xie Lian. This may be a controversial take, despite it being something I think that makes the character of Mu Qing really interesting: but he's a very "typical" guy within the concept of classism. He's someone who started off with a bad lot, but then ended up ascending to the highest point you pretty much can in that world/society. Which is great! He did that through hard work, and it paid off! But now, since he got his "happy ending," that's kind of it for him. He doesn't do anything to materially improve the lives of those less fortunate, especially those he has no personal connection with. This doesn't make him a bad person -- it's not really his job to that, even as a god. He's a martial god, so he's there to subdue threats and all that. Yet you can clearly see, that's exactly the type of person society values because such "rags to riches" stories give legitimacy to the whole system, and because they don't rock the boat once they're on top.

So then it's odd to be angry at Xie Lian but not Mu Qing (or others) for the lack of some "grand revolution" that some readers seem to want.

Ironically, Xie Lian used what power he had to try and help people -- and he was worse off for it. If he had done nothing, he would have been able to live a happy and carefree life. He would have lived and died as a rich prince/king with no troubles. Like, that's the point! The societies we live in punish those who want to broadly help others or make meaningful change, while rewarding those who quietly play the game for themselves -- because it helps keep the wheels turning. It doesn't matter at "what end" of the spectrum you start out on, the rules apply the same way. If you go against the establishment, there's a price to be paid.

Throughout Xie Lian's long journey, he learns this lesson the hard way. And the fact that in order to change it, he would somehow have to change the hearts and minds of pretty much everyone -- which is an impossible ask. How is he even supposed to that, or restructure society as a whole, without vast amounts of collateral damage? In the end, Xie Lian discovers that he was not wrong in his desire to help people, even if he cannot help everyone. He can still help people he meets in whatever ways he can, and that is still important. To show kindness, mercy, and empathy towards your fellow man is worth it. Helping your neighbors or complete strangers you meet once and then never again -- all that is still worth it.

I wish I had the time to sit down and really talk about this in a more organized way, but these disjointed thoughts are all I can manage at the moment! I hope it was still valuable to you in some way, and thank you for sending in the ask!

(Also, I recently reblogged a post that talked about something similar if you wanna check it out, Anon. It's right under the manhua highlights I think!)

[agendratum]

i lost it today while reading tgcf btw and wanted to share why, but first - some backstory

so, despite the homophobic laws getting worse and worse in our country by the day, russian edition of tgcf is getting published unaltered. mostly. with the first three books everything went extremely smoothly. after the last year's law there was even an official statement from the censorship committee that stated that no homosexual or transgender propaganda was found in the text (tho idk if by the time this statement was published they only submitted one book or the whole text, but let's hope). the first hiccup happened with the book 4.

the original cover for book 4 was stated to be unacceptable. the committee didn't approve of it even after the artist made some changes, de-gaying it slightly. it is just too obvious from that cover that the demon and the god are about to start violently making out exchanging energy in the temple and we just cannot have that in our beautiful christian country. so the artist very generously made an entirely new cover for our edition, here's for your reference

a funny note about this first image - the publisher made a statement regarding the cover change, and that they did everything they could and suggested all kind of options, but still were told that under not circumstances this image can be spread. and then they added that image to the post "for our reference". my heroes, to be honest

so even after this matter was settled, they just couldn't leave this poor scene alone. sometime before the book was ready to leave the print, the publisher made another statement, basically saying that no matter how they tried, they ended up having to alter one phrasing (not even a phrase - a phrasing). yeah, you guessed it, it was a bit from this scene with them violently making out exchanging energy in the temple.

it was sad, but at least we were warned and prepared. when i got to the, at this point, infamous scene, i could tell it wasn't changed too much. i don't know the original phrasing, but in the text it's still very obvious what they're doing, that is - exchanging energies. violently. with their lips. they just don't have words like "kiss" or "lips" in the text. but they're still doing it, you know, very. clearly.

they even reference the previous time "it" happened, which was in another book in another scene that was not altered, but they just mean exchanging energies of course. and that was what i thought! they took away like one or two words from the text, keeping the scene basically unchanged, but making it slightly low-key. so one could in theory say that, no, they were not making out, the energy transfers well enough through tight hugs. and bros hug. okay? that was what i thought.

until a couple of chapters later a bunch of cultivators show up on xie lian's porch and detect all that demonic energy. on his lips. and then xie lian thinks, oh no, who could have thought that all those embraces and kisses from the temple could have left marks like that.

like he thinks exactly that. embraces. and kisses.

AND THAT IS WHERE I LOST IT CAUSE WHAT WAS THE POINT

so anyway if anyone needed to add another coin into the jar of "censorship is stupid and homosexual propaganda is an arbitrary term that has no definition", you can have it, and may the gods exchange energies with the demons in your temple, good bye

[httpiko]

I went to an event today.

Sadly there's no Piko merch due to how unknown he is outside of a few specific circles.

But I got a lot of neat loot so to speak... btw two of those stickers on the last image are for my friend, who I'll pester into going to a con w me tomorrow. They follow me here as well so... hi m8 .+:｡ ヾ(◎´∀｀◎)ﾉ ｡:+.

[carriagelamp]

I'm 80 pages into TGCF bk5 and so far I've really enjoyed watching xie lian power walk away from any and all responsibilities

cannibal's kidnapped a child under his care? ghost woman from his past has escaped imprisonment? dangerous fetus ghost at risk of getting untold power? old friends embroiled in some serious heavenly scandal and personal issues? another friend literally kidnapped by a powerful ghost that loathes his very being? should we do anything about all that? nope, walking away from it, gonna go play with the ghost king who is currently like 10

crown prince of ineffectively trying to stay in his lane

[luminyan]

Every so often I will come across a fictional character that effects me so deeply that I model almost my ebtire person after them

And, if this says anything about me at all: the last time this happened I was a freshman in high school and Oikawa Tooru from the hit manga series Haikyuu!! modelled my entire appearance

[books-and-tears]

Tgcf having the two of the strongest devastation level ghosts' goals being revenge and hatred and the third being love and devotion was so... brilliant?

It follows the idea how the opposite of love isn't hatred- its apathy. None of these ghosts would become strong if they were apathetic.

If hua cheng was simply thankful to xie lian for saving him- rather than whole heartedly devoted. If He Xuan made peace with the fact he wasn't given his chance at life; the fate he deserved rather than let it fuel him to the point of becoming a myth or legend. If Bai Wuxiang accepted Xie lian's idealism and connected sense of humanity rather than try to break him and by extent a younger, idealistic version of himself.

And this idea circles back to the overlying theme of tgcf- humanity. Because no matter how disconnected (whether god or ghost) someone is from a normal mortal life, they experience things and are affected by things as a mortal would be. Gods are meant to be above such mortal things. Ghosts are meant to be haunted themselves as they can't rest in peace. Yet these characters are so human, they let their emotions guide them. Over hundreds or thousands of years, these characters are constantly driven by their emotions rather than any sense of logic or structure.

[yinyangbuns]

i’m about to rewatch tgcf i stg i need to find something else to hyoerfocus on before i burn out on mdzs

[whiterosemilktea]

is sofi blind? yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyes. is she blind in every verse? nnnnnnnnnnno. is she consistently blind in the verses where she is? ........ also no.

[silviakundera]

Shi Qingxuan's teeth were chattering. "I want to die.."

"Dream on," Ming Yi responded coldly.

There it was again, that familiar frosty tone of voice and those equally icy, cruel words. It was the same as it had always been, but now it took on a completely different meaning. - TGCF

I'm sure this has been pointed out many times, but when re-reading I have been DELIGHTED by MXTX's slight of hand with the He Xuan character. The cast and the reader both presuming tsundere cliches & writing off any derisive and adversarial statements as moody, harmless defensiveness instead of sincere malice. The guy told u a thousand times he's not your bestie!

👏 👏 👏

[wutheringskies]

feel like for me MXTX works could be ranked as:

1. MDZS

Pros

The morality discourse

tightly knit work with like 2 plotholes that are minor or can be explained

the dynamic is so interesting to me

blue white gong and red black uke

maiden gong and charming sexual awakening uke

but it's more complicated

fuck stereotypes

cute juniors

the debate on what happiness, balance revenge, love, lust is

The whole self actualization, self realization, happiness comes from within, positive mentality, just how brave and idealistic these ppl are

the righteous choices may disintegrate your body but your soul will remain pure

makes you think of life away from the usual chitter chatter, mob mentality and all that.

the way i can add on mahabharata to this

Cons

The minor characters other than the juniors are STRONGLY written but they're not necessarily likeable in their canon form

most of the characters end up dying anyways

really desolate (but realistic) world

fanon and canon are two separate things

in the loop of "an interpretation is considered canon"

falls into the loop hole of people upraising characters meant to not be as likeable as the main pairing by applying white, modern day standards onto them to diminish them of their glories and thus justify the actions of unrighteous people, thus completely stray away from major themes of the book

2. SVSSS

Pros

from what little I've read this is chaotic af

which is a good thing

fuck fandom discourses give me bad sex and a strange plot and a bunch of cool characters

so many ships

many other likable characters

The main dynamic

The angel that lbh is

how hot they look in the anime

cumplane

Cons

somehow the main dynamic ? idk. like it's great it's likeable but it's not my ride or die and that's okay

writing can be a little loose

where are the adaptations

I personally don't feel svsss is life idealogy altering but I think it can be mind boggling

3. TGCF

Pros

Hua Cheng's dialogues

The name Xie Lan

The scene where XL catches honger

character designing

places design

fanart

The themes of gods and morality

bravery and stupidity

kindness

Cons

Personally do not like the main dynamic a lot. rather, find it less interesting than other parts of the plot

much of the plot revolves around xie lan and I think that sort of turns me off even tho he's so pretty and fine

it's just a heavy loose work for me

like I like both the characters and they're okay together but nothing out of these three particularly tug at me

:"""")

yet I do enjoy it

[rphunter]

hello! 🐦‍🔥 looking for 20+ partners to roleplay from heaven official's blessing (tgcf). i am primarily interested in writing hua cheng against xie lian, but i an also interested in he xuan against shi quigxuan or feng xin against mu qing! i am a literate writer and i do my best to reply every other day in the least. i also love ooc chatter! i will get back to you asap!

,

[agendratum]

rock star is so fucking good I'm so happy

[roleplayfinder]

hello! 🐦‍🔥 looking for 20+ partners to roleplay from heaven official's blessing (tgcf). i am primarily interested in writing hua cheng against xie lian, but i an also interested in he xuan against shi quigxuan or feng xin against mu qing! i am a literate writer and i do my best to reply every other day in the least. i also love ooc chatter! i will get back to you asap!

.

[dramaticviolincrescendo]

Thanks for the tag, @4typercent ! 😁

Share the first lines of ten of your most recent fanfics, then tag ten people! If you’ve written less than ten, don’t be shy and share anyway.

I haven’t done much writing lately and no longer write for one of the fandoms in my most recent ten, so here’s my most recent six!

~*~

Imparting (The Untamed/CQL)

“Jiujiu!”

“Stop shouting. And when did you abandon proper manners? Didn’t I teach you better than that?”

Jin Ling skidded to a halt next to where Jiang Wanyin was standing, hands behind his back and staring out over the river. So much for a bit of peace and quiet after an afternoon spent training a group of enthusiastic yet underwhelming young archers. Leveling his nephew with an unrelentingly stern, disapproving glower, he watched in satisfaction as the latter’s lip curled like he had eaten a bad lotus seed and he brought his arms up in a hurried but appropriate bow.

~*~

Kiss the God (TGCF)

“Why exactly are you coming to me for this instead of your goons?”

“I told you—He Xuan and Yin Yu have their jobs.”

“And you don’t think someone closer to your quarry would be of more use in this situation?”

“You know that useless trash he calls friends wouldn’t help. Not with this.”

“Indeed.”

“So? Will you do it, or do I have to kill you and find someone else?”

“Oh, I’ll do it. But you’ll owe me for this.”

“…Fine.”

~*~

Loyal Companions (TGCF)

Spending multiple lifetimes walking the earth had taught Xie Lian many things about the three realms and all the creatures that inhabited them. Despite that, it never ceased to amaze him that Mu Qing’s eyes somehow managed to remain lodged in his head when he seemed so desperate to roll them right out into the dirt.

~*~

Mixed Company (TGCF)

“He probably forgot to charge his phone. Again,” Feng Xin groused as he followed Mu Qing up the four goddamn flights of stairs leading to Xie Lian’s apartment. The latter huffed, his nose practically and predictably in the air.

“First the communication array, now this… Some things never change.”

~*~

A Promise Kept (TGCF)

“He’s here.”

Perfect, thought Hua Cheng without bothering to reply through his private communication array. It wasn’t as though his informant expected a response anyway. He didn’t warrant one either. There was far more important business to be conducted now that he could be sure that one Crown Prince of Xianle was indeed present at this year’s Mid-Autumn Festival celebration in the heavens.

Hua Cheng wished his god didn’t have to participate in such a farce. The useless trash up there did love dragging all and sundry into their boring, self-aggrandizing formalities, though, didn’t they? How disgusting.

~*~

A Steadfast Retainer (TGCF)

There was laughter and chatter on the Grand Avenue of Divine Might today. It wasn’t the kind or even impartial sort, though. Instead, it was the type that had once and was again pushing Feng Xin to the verge of violence: snickering and ridicule.

Targeted snickering and ridicule that made a long dormant beast within him stir in displeasure.

~*~

So…I actually haven’t recently talked to anybody who writes fics 😅 Uh… @glon-morski , you still out there? And anybody else who sees this can feel free!

[moonwaif]

I posted 10,549 times in 2022

448 posts created (4%)

10,101 posts reblogged (96%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@jedistranger

@ecccentrick

@getsmashed

@nohelan-img

@vanajannoita

I tagged 4,071 of my posts in 2022

#svsss - 803 posts

#wangxian - 378 posts

#tgcf - 316 posts

#wwx - 307 posts

#ofmd - 306 posts

#halloween 2022 - 189 posts

#chatter - 132 posts

#lwj - 95 posts

#shl - 90 posts

#queue - 83 posts

Longest Tag: 138 characters

#i feel like this fandom just reads book so they can decide which characters are good and which are bad and then bully others based on that

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Goodest boy.

[ID: Illustration by zeldacw from volume 2 of the official English translation of TGCF. Xie Lian pets E'ming. End ID.]

239 notes - Posted February 21, 2022

#4

Have you all seen this?

See the full post

310 notes - Posted January 17, 2022

#3

I like Xie Lian because he has survived embarrassment on a cosmic scale so he's immune to embarrassing situations. At the same time he's like, "If San Lang realizes I have a boner, I will actually have to go die."

321 notes - Posted October 20, 2022

#2

SVSSS post-canon memory loss AU where Shen Qingqiu gets wife plotted (again) and is hit with an amnesia curse, causing him to lose all memories of his life as a transmigrator. Now Shen Qingqiu is no sucker, so he doesn't break character. However, having forgotten about the system, he is absolutely BAFFLED at some the decisions his post-transmigration self made. Why the hell would he choose to still push Binghe down the abyss?! Why? It doesn't make sense!

Like, he's more shocked by this than the fact that his future self is not straight.

Does Shang Qinghua choose to explain about the System? Maybe. Or maybe he's on a vacation with a certain ice prince, giving plenty of time for BingQiu drama:

"Binghe, do you know why I pushed you into the abyss?"

"I don't know. Shizun never said."

"I never gave you any clues?"

"Perhaps because I was a demon, or because Meng Mo--"

"No. That doesn't make sense." [Shen Qingqiu doing some quick thinking.] "Binghe, I think there must have been another reason. A threat, maybe to you or me, or to all of Cang Qiong Mountain sect. Something or someone made me do it. Otherwise, there is no reason on this earth why I would ever push you into the abyss."

[Binghe, already crying.] "Shizun . . ."

347 notes - Posted June 20, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Hua Cheng: I can't predict what gege will need, so I became good at everything.

597 notes - Posted January 9, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[prpfs]

hello! 🐦‍🔥 looking for 20+ partners to roleplay from heaven official's blessing (tgcf). i am primarily interested in writing hua cheng against xie lian, but i an also interested in he xuan against shi quigxuan or feng xin against mu qing! i am a literate writer and i do my best to reply every other day in the least. i also love ooc chatter! i will get back to you asap!

give a like and anon will get back to you