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dim-3kx · 2 years

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soooo i just finished reading no paths are bound by cataclysmicevent and there is so much i loved about it but for the purpose of this post i will specifically focus on one aspect of it: the myth of the fire master and his soulmate.

i absolutely love the soulmate trope and when this part came up i audibly SQUEALED!! spoilers ahead:

im going to copy paste that section so all of you can understand why it’s one of my favorite parts - i don’t think it’ll sound nearly as good if i paraphrase it (and for context: when HC ascended he was appointed as the fire master)

“See, according to the mortals, there was a volcanic eruption eight centuries ago—and a star that burned so brightly in the aftermath, it could even be seen in the daylight, and it remained that way for several months—” Shi Qingxuan prattles on, and Xie Lian stops her.

“That actually did happen.”

Shi Qingxuan stops, surprised. “...Really?”

here it’s implied that HC was born on the same day this happened!

The drum beats stop again, this time landing on another civil god, with some tale that doesn’t seem particularly worth describing.

After all, Xie Lian’s revaluation is more interesting.

“Yes,” the prince agrees, straining to remember. “It happened when I was...around seven years old. The star burned red in the sky for around three months. It was... beautiful, but strange.”

Later on, it would be called a cursed omen, foretelling the fall of Xianle. Xie Lian only remembers thinking that it was beautiful.

“Well, who knows—maybe there’s some truth to it. The story goes that the Fire Master was an ancient star, looking down on the world each night—until one day, he fell in love with a mortal. One of royal blood.”

The prince smiles faintly, listening close.

“He would watch the mortal each night in his dreams, and the young noble would look up at the stars each night, finding one more beautiful than all the rest. And as time went on, it became more and more painful to be apart.”

It’s a beautiful story. Something like a fairytale, but...

“The Fire Master knew his beloved would ascend as a god one day. So, he waited, and he waited...but when the noble’s day of ascension came, his godhood was stolen from him.”

That’s the thing about fairytales.

“And so, the exalted fire master, bound to the heavens, was torn from his beloved, shackled to the earth below. In his rage, a volcano rocked the earth, spewing flame and ash into the sky. And his star burned brighter and brighter, until...”

He faded away.

Xie Lian frowns, his stomach sinking.

What a miserable story.

But—

“He gave up his godhood, and his star fell, crashing to the earth below.” Xie Lian pauses, his lips parting. “His beloved caught him, cradling the fading god in his arms.” Shi Qingxuan recalls.

“And in exchange for giving up his own life, his beloved rose at last as a god, separating them once more.”

There’s something heartbreaking about the tale—and without thinking, Xie Lian finds himself grasping the chain around his neck, his chest aching with something bittersweet

“According to such tales, his beloved still roams the earth as a martial god now, sustained by one believer—the fallen fire master, who watches over him from the ghost realm below.”

just the. symbolism?? in Shock And Awe o_o i just loved this part soooo much so so so much how do people even think of these things!!!

#hualian #no paths are bound #npab #mxtx #tgcf #heaven official's blessing #mo xiang tong xiu #tian guan ci fu #danmei #hua cheng #xie lian #cataclysmicevent

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nazitty56 · 11 months

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I recently got sucked into the TGCF fandom, and now I have a rabid story bunny on the loose in my head.

It's a reverse role fanfic, but the thing is, almosy every time I reverse a role, a name changes.

Hua Cheng and Xie Lian are reversed (of course)

Hua Cheng's name becomes Xu Hong (since he's part of the Xuli royal family. Original, I know). I realized that Xie Lians's official title, Xianle, doesn't fit Xu Hong, so I had to create a name for him: Ying Guan (Flower Crown -- just a rough translation since Chinese characters have more than one translation per character. Keep that in mind for the other names and titles)

Xie Lian becomes Fang Cheng (Beautiful City), though Ghost City's moniker is Hua Cheng (Flower City). Only people who don't know what it is call it Hua Cheng (sometimes locals will call it that to mess with humans). Fang Cheng is also nicknamed HuaHua by the locals (Hua Chengzhu when they're being really mischievous). They call him that (and the city that) because he's always covered in flowers and wraith butterflies, and the city is covered in flowers as well.

I'm still deciding on how they look.

I made Feng Xin, Xie Lian's maternal cousin. Qi Rong is Xu Hong's assistant (becomes Xuan Zhen when he ascends). Mu Qing is Xu Hong's guard (Nan Yang when he ascends).

He Xuan becomes He Sheng and the Water Master (Shui Shi Sheng). His little sister, He Baihe, becomes the Wind Master (Feng Shi Baihe).

Shi Wudu becomes Xuan Shui (mysterious waters), the equivalent of He Xuan.

Nangong Jie (former Ling Wen), was a female general of Xuli and ascends as Ming Guang Jiangjun after the Xuli rebellion -- that still happens, though Xuli doesn't officially falls until a century later.

Pei Ming was a shoemaker in Xuli, and he ascends as Ling Wen.

As you can tell, the three tumors are already a riot.

The hardest part comes in the form of Jun Wu. His original name (in this fic) is Wu Yong, and he never became a god. His wife, Wu Jianlan, did (goddes of forges -- Lin Long ((fine jade dragon)) ). Her new official title became Long Jun (Prosperous Lord) after she crowned herself as Empress.

I like everything I've made so far, but it's going to be a pain in the ass to write because of how the characters are going to change and thus the circumstances are going to change.

The fun part is when I go to post on AO3 and have to figure out the tagging, lmao. The relationship tags are going to make EVERYONE cringe, I can already tell.

If you guys have any ideas, feel free to add to this!

#tgcf #tgcf reverse fic #writers on tumblr #my writing #this is going to be a disaster #but a good one

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antebellumite · 1 month

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additional thoughts on wuyong/the cotton kingdom:

alr so the scene: the cotton kingdom is actually the cotton republic in the beginning, formed in year -1776/-1783 depending on how you see it. Washington is president, cabinet formed, etc.

james monroe is NOT royalty at this time. He's a martial cultivator, and follower of the Heavenly Emperor, the Sage of the Little Mountain, Thomas Jefferson

( Side note: Since TJ is the Heavenly Emperor, I'm going to use this as the explanation for why Mei Nianqing!John Marshall survives this long: Jefferson ex machina means that so long as TJ's spiritual power exists, the rest of his close relatives ( including JM ) remain immortal as like a familial priestly cast or something )

( Side note side note: Unsure as to how much this immortality thing extends to TJ's children. Maybe its uncontrollable by him? )

Normal shenanigans occur within this time. Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton are rival cultivators, Monroe and Madison are appointed Deputy Gods by Jefferson. Actually, maybe all of Jefferson's close family is appointed Deputy Gods, and that's how Monroe and Marshall meet and become friends. Shenanigans happen, Reynolds Pamphlet still released, Monroe-Hamilton duel, etc. Eventually, Monroe manages to ascend as a God sometime during the later years of the Washington Presidency.

Unfortunately, the second GW leaves office as President, it appears that the whole country is going to crash down.

The second President ( not John Adams, I need him to be alive for the Xianle/Union days ) is incompetent, there's suddenly a war brewing on the horizon,

And a volcano is about to blow up and destroy the CK.

Things progress more or less as they do in TGCF: No one pays attention to the volcano about to blow, the CK doesn't go to war with the other nation ( Monroe and Hamilton both advocate for war in order so like. They have land to escape the volcano ), Monroe decides to save the country by building a bridge to Heaven for all of the civilians to crowd onto, but the issue is by spending all of his time building the bridge he doesn't respond to his followers' prayers, resulting in a decline of his spiritual ability, and so when the volcano does blow he isn't able to keep the bridge upright and all the civilians on the bridge fall to their deaths in the volcano resulting in Monroe being thrown out of heaven as outrage over the tragedy means his temples are all burnt down now

And yes, TJ is doing nothing throughout this.

So now the country is in shambles, and Monroe is basically crippled without any of his cultivation, so he starts experimenting as best as he can, trying to solve the calamity that just destroyed the country.

And also, the volcano is still exploding. It has not yet stopped exploding.

There are a lot of corpses, so people start tossing bodies into the volcano as a way of disposing them.

Somehow, Monroe notices that some of the bodies are not quite dead yet...not alive either... and those bodies quell the hunger of the volcano.

Incidentally, during this time, Hamilton gets shot in a duel with Burr.

Monroe proceeds to kidnap Hamilton, who's still alive, though dying, and throw him into the volcano, stilling it's hunger for a week.

And that's how Monroe begins his quest on kidnapping civilians and other founding fathers alike to take their bones ( yes our man is stealing bones ) and toss them into the volcano in order to satiate Mt. Tonglu's bloodlust.

( Why does he steal their bones? How? Obviously they still need to be alive for the sacrifice to work, so maybe he only steals a small bone each time. The bones are necessary to keep their post-death souls in check so they don't become ghosts I suppose )

Mt. Tonglu stops erupting.

At this point, people start realizing that Monroe is the one stopping the volcano from erupting and he begins to be worshipped again, granting him renewed godhood status, though no one actually knows how he stopped the volcano.

At this point, the country is destroyed and democracy is basically dead, so Monroe gets appointed as Prince of the newly christened Cotton Kingdom, dubbed the Age of Good Feelings.

But he still has to toss people in. Since the stronger the body, the longer the eruptions are delayed, Monroe throws in civilians, but he also tosses in other founding fathers. Jay, Troup, Morris, Franklin, Washington, Patrick Henry

And it's at this time, that John Marshall, immortal of the Jeffersonian Priestly Class despite not being a Jeffersonian and hating the Heavenly Emperor, Chief of the Supreme Court, starts to get suspicious. When Burr ends up getting tried for treason, Marshall uncovers that Burr didn't kill Hamilton fast enough for Hamilton to have needed being buried so quickly, so something must have happened. He must've been kidnapped.

Marshall ends up putting two and two together, and finds out that Monroe has been serial killing founders and civilians, and he was about to sacrifice [ insert names of three founders here ].

A giant confrontation happens, and Monroe is able to toss the three founders into the pit, but not until something very odd happens.

The spirits of the three dead founders become infused into Monroe's flesh, becoming miniature faces on his original face.

Giving him the first case of the Human Fcae Disease

Anyways, because of their pre-existing bond, and because Marshall is still infused with the Protection of the Seal of the Heavenly Emperor, Marshall escapes the volcano.

Not sure what Jefferson and Madison are doing at this time, but I don't think they particularily care about Monroe doing this whole slaughtering thing.

Monroe is panicking over his newly scarred face though, because all these new warts on his face are actually screaming and moaning on his skin.

Which is terrifying and VERY suspicious.

So he tries to burn his face to burn them off.

That is very, very, painful, and it also does not work, but it does scar the miniature faces enough so that they can't scream anymore.

He resorts to using makeup to cover up his face, making the most palest paperwhite foundation possible.

for a moment, life resumes as normal.

But then it turns out that now, every time Monroe sacrifices another person into Tonglu and steals their bones, the Human Face Disease incorporates their soul into his flesh

After a year of this, Monroe ends up having enough- his body is basically covered in scarred mini-faces, and he stops sending bodies to Tonglu, having ammassed enough spiritual power and recultivated his golden core to the point where he's a god again

Tonglu explodes, all its pent-up energy after years not not exploding absolutely obliterating the Cotton Kingdom

This kills James Madison, who was trying to relieve the CK of the ongoing stress of the post-volcano years.

Monroe ofc is horrified and ends up stealing Madison's bones and head.

But then he begins to be mad, at the one person who could've stopped the pain that the volcano caused

The other Heavenly Officials, and the Heavenly Emperor himself, Thomas Jefferson

So, Monroe,( using his collection of bones ) makes a cloak that can transform him into a Supreme, turning him into a semi-Ghost. He dubs this cloak the Cotton Cloak, and makes a mask to hide his identity, becoming 'White No-Face/White Iron'.

As White Iron, Monroe goes up to Heaven and rips all of the officials of their immortality ( using his collection of bones ), eventually killing Jefferson through decapitation ( though not before dramatically removing his mask to reveal his scarred face )

Now the only God, Monroe crowns himself the Heavenly Emperor, taking in new gods and rewriting history for over a thousand years.

Until all his sins come to light due to Biddle and he ends up being buried under a mountain in a metal cage that looks like he's trying to crawl from...

#tgcfu au #james monroe #john marshall #thomas jefferson #albert Gallatin #george washington

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boop-someone-today · 1 year

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Hahahaha I’ve been thinking about this but I don’t think it’s long enough to post as a complete fanfic so I’ll just post it here. Tumblr is now my shit post of ideas when they can’t be long enough.

Anyway, Qi Rong don’t exist I guess🤷‍♀️

He didn’t choose violence today🤭

Here you go, Xie Lian angst…

“Xie Lian crawled out of the well. He had slipped on the way up and had to restart a few times, but he made it. As his feet hit the ground, he slumped and sighed, feeling drained and numb after saying hello to his parents. Rouye slithered about, trying to comfort but understands that if he did anything, he would make it worse, but wanted to show sympathy.

Xie Lian gave a gentle pat to Rouye and began walking. He wasn’t walking away from Mt. Taicang, quite the opposite. He was walking further up, to the peak. Along the way his robes obtained more rips, and he had gathered more scratches, unfeeling of them. The further up he went, the denser the forest got, to the point that unless you knew the way, you would never find the path paved under centuries of dirt.

When he finally broke threw the foliage, he has met with a tall skeleton of a temple. The wood somehow still standing, though charred beyond repair, and stone pillars that had toppled over, the tallest still standing just over his head.

After quickly locating the best place to climb up the beams, he scurried his way up, finding balance at the top. The wood was sturdy enough to support him through mystic means, but it worked. And he was grateful for it.

After he found the best spot to sit, he sat in the direction of XianLe, and dropped his head in shame.

There were many reasons for him to feel shame, he just couldn’t identify which one this time.

But before he could dive too deep into a spiral of self-loathing, he heard something, and something bright was just ahead. His head shot up.

Right where XianLe rested, there was a huge and glamorous kingdom, stretching for miles. He could just make out the city walls, covered in flowers in his honor. He could see the Main Street, covered in vendors filled with merchants selling gorgeous jewels worth fortunes, and women without compare but each other play music like no other. Everything was covered in a thin, but very shiny, layer of gold, making the city so bright during the day, it was almost blinding. And he could see home. A home that held his mother, and his father, and his cousin, and Feng Xin and Mu Qing, those nice cooks and washerwomen, his pets and treasures. It held all he ever dared to hold so dear, what he wishes he could have preserved, what he could have saved. He felt his tears build and fall.

So he blinked.

And it was gone.

All that was left was a blank plain of grass.

And suddenly he wanted to be a child, wrapped in his mother’s arms.

He also wanted San Lang. He wanted the man to hold him, to tell him it was alright. But he wouldn’t dare. Even if he was crying for him, choking his name out as he sobbed.

“Ma-ma! S-San La-ng! I wan-t you! Wh-ere are you!”

His sobs were a wretched sound, more of an animal then human. He was sobbing towards the heavens, and screamed his heart out over what he lost. And for the wish the people he wanted to comfort him to come back.

But he understood it wouldn’t happen, he just… he just wanted a moment for himself.

Just a little moment to sob. And no one be there to taunt him. Call him weak and to be a man.

He wanted to sob like a child, and so he did.”

#Xie Lian was having a bad day #Qi Rong doesn’t exist for the moment #he was put in jail #Xie Lian has the mental breakdown you know was building #Hua Cheng gritting his teeth rn wondering if something happened but trust Xie Lian to call him #Mount Taicang #tgcf fanfic #tgcf novel #TGCF spin-off ig

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feietouhuo · 2 years

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ok i swear im not doin it for the memes but.....uranus

planet headcanons / questions separated by paragraph per question !

this particular planet is the planet of sudden inspiration and change, so how does your muse handle unpredictable changes ? how do they handle planned and known changes ? what about inspiration ? do they do whatever inspires them in that moment, or is their inspiration something that takes time to develop and build ? what makes your muse special ? what makes them different and eccentric, if they are ? where do they create the most change ?

he handles unpredictable change pretty okay, i think? he survived the fall of xianle & the push back into banishment without much of a notable change in character ... though, i guess you could argue his life didn’t actually change that much from one point to another. that’s another conversation for another day. but mu qing is a very “life happens” kind of person & will deal with it as it comes. he might get thrown off & be shaken, yet ultimately understands he needs to move on & survive.

planned & known changes he takes extremely well. he isn’t caught off guard & he can start preparing for them way ahead. so that, when the changes do happen, they don’t touch or alter anything about his life or himself too much!

hm, he doesn’t get much inspiration actually. the crown prince version of xie lian was definitely his inspiration in the past, but after that, i can’t really say much on it. if “inspiration” can be taken to just mean something that makes him complete an action, then the suffering of his friends HAHA that always gets him kicking. oh, & canonly, feng xin’s ju yang :) that inspires him too in many ways.

his inspiration is of the moment! a lot about mu qing is of the moment, he’s sort of uncontrollable in my opinion. unable (or maybe unwilling) to hold back or resist a strong motivation. he only holds himself back because of reputation reasons.

i’m going to be honest, i don’t ... really know what part of mu qing to call special. my immediate answer was his ambition, but wanting to ascend & prove yourself isn’t anything special. of course his skill is special ( one of a million ), but in the context of tgcf, it’s not a good answer either. hm, i’ll say his lack of resistance to change. i think, throughout the book, he’s been the most open to kind of discussing where he goes wrong & what his flaws are. like, he accepts hua cheng the quickest as xie lian’s source of happiness even if he was being annoying, an entirely new “openness” to himself in post-canon to the point that he can genuinely joke about brooms & sweeping himself, & is just overall not quite as stubborn or ... as dedicated to being static as the other characters.

as for different & eccentric, his entire gremlin energy as fu yao. his obsession with never shutting up or dampening his excited childish self when he teases feng xin or xie lian. his excuses to people & the way he says things like “here, open the binder & i’ll do the math right here , right now, follow along” & “my wrist is recuperating” with a straight face & neutral tone. pure clownery & he’s insane.

where he creates the most change ... i couldn’t really tell you. in people, i want to say. he’s dedicated to always making sure people don’t talk down of people choosing to walk an easier path if it means saving yourself. so, if people wanted to listen to him, it’d be there where he makes the most change. but, otherwise, because of his cold personality & natural way of poking people with a verbal needle, he can’t make change. because he makes people over defensive instead.

#pcachdrunk #THIS WAS A REALLY TOUGH ONE i liked this set of questions FAJDSK the special one caught me off guard #i spent most of my time on that one and even then #im not sure of my answer #BUT LMAO #u saying you dont mean it as a meme makes it more likley you mean it for the meme #x to doubt #tgcf spoilers

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ilovereadingandstuff · 2 months

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I'VE FINALLY CAUGHT UP TO VOLUME 6 OF TGCF!!!

I'M FINALLY READING BOOK 4!!!

I'M FINALLY IN THE TRAUMATIZING PART OF THE STORY!!!

You can insult me if you want, but that' why i'm so happy to read this volume: I'll finally understand why the hype is so hype, why it is such a meme that tgcf is traumatic.

I'll finally understand Xie Lian's dark side, Hua Cheng's motives... AND WHITE NO-FACE'S STORY!!!

I'll respond to this post latter on, so my predictions before entering the drama are:

Jun Wu, White No-Face, Crown Prince of Wuyong, Mei Nianqing, Lang Ying (the man) and Xie Lian are all related. I don't know why, how, when, whatever, but these names here are going to be a big drama. I feel it.

I think I've seen spoilers, so I think Xie Lian is tortured after Xianle's fall, Hua Cheng dies 3 times (and one of them as Wuming??? As an old friend of Xie Lian), something happens with Heaven, etc.

Xie Lian becomes a Ghost King?????

#mxtx tgcf #tgcf book 4 #mxtx I love u #mxtx bless you #tgcf volume 6 #just my ideas BEFORE reading the book... so wait for me.#I'm expecting to cry #I hope that all the hype i've seen of this book is worth it #I hope it will be true for me that this book is sad #I was shocked reading black water arc #so I have really high expectations #wish me luck

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exulansis-z03 · 2 years

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Dianxia's birthday calculation💐

((spoilers!!)) (( → insta ))

So I had a realisation about dianxia's birthday

In this essay I will attempt to convince you that our dianxia had the worst birthday ever in the history of worst birthdays —ever™

As history lover, I'd like to point out first - that for ancient China, or really, any pre-modern countries, birthdays weren't celebrated the way we do today, annually. → For China, birthdays then were probably more focused on only the 1st, 10th, 60th and 70th. — So this probably isn't that tragic of a realisation from tgcf's characters' pov – but it would be to us (and perhaps hc) — Besides, they did have a Gilded Banquet for lqq's 17th so maybe royalties would care – and hence:

So, was just thinking about how Xie Lian's been passing his birthdays for all those 800 years..

I mean, for a prince like him, as a child there must have been grand feasts; then, at Mt Taicang in his training years, he still mustve received some regards or respects or gifts from his peers and family, congratulating him on his birthdays But after his 2nd banishment (post-Book 4), xl was by himself, alone. Nevermind not having any feasts or gifts, there was no one to wish him "happy birthday".

No Feng Xin, no Mu Qing, no father, no mother.

And from then, for eight hundred years, he probably didn't and couldn't do anything for his birthdays (for himself). Just busy collecting scraps, alone, like any other day.

Then, what about his 1st banishment? (during book 4) When fx, mq, and his parents were still with him?

xl was banished "a few months" before winter (winter began when he first tried robbing)

When he ascended the 2nd time, it was still winter too.

→ So, with his birthday in summer, xl didn't celebrate a birthday during those last months when he still had fx, mq and his parents. So whew.

→ but that also means: the first birthday he passes without his kingdom, the first birthday he passes since XianLe fell from his mistakes, was during his 2nd banishment (post-book 4) — a time when everyone (including wuming) had all left him, when xl had become truly alone.

The first time spending his birthday in a world without his parents, without fx and/or mq beside him, without a XianLe. Maybe that one day, for just that once, the nagging awareness that he was alone finally crept up to him. That all that was once there with him on his birthdays - were gone now. And each absence was because of him too.

. . .

↑ After XianLe fell

Now, that was about the first birthday he has after XianLe fell.

What about the last birthday he had before XianLe fell?

→ It would've happened before his 1st banishment, during the ending phases of Yong'an's rebellion — but I'm going to narrow it down. And dare I deduce, xl likely had a birthday happening during the worsts of the chaos:

→ Before XianLe fell:

So, xl's 1st banishment was "a few months" before winter. Say 'a few' means 3~4. China's winter begins Nov~Dec. = "a few months" before = Aug~Sept

XL was banished in Aug~Sept

Still not July 15. So, what was happening much earlier during summer, before his banishment? — the pagoda collapsing, and then thereafter, there were still those battles xl joined, shaking in fear and unable to fight well

Though the time between [pagoda falling] and [banishment] is not specified, those battles that he joined in between those events likely meant several days~some weeks. (( 'several' being 7~8 and 'some' being 4~6, aight?))

So [Aug~Sept banishment] - [some weeks] = end-July ~ mid-Aug

Pagoda collapsed between end-July / mid-Aug

Now, adding that xl held up that pagoda for several days, it means there are two conclusions:

The pagoda dropped around end-July → xl passed his birthday around/within the days he held that building under the hot scorching sun

The pagoda dropped mid-Aug, aka xl started holding it up around start-Aug → his birthday, July 15, was not spent during this pagoda-holding time. So whew. . . . But, July 15 being 'half a month' before, around 'half a month' before was also when the disease started.

And tbh, I'm more inclined to believe (1); because if we went even more specific (aka overanalysing), through the novel's diction, we get this detail:

Throughout Book 2, "in his twenty years of life" was used a lot, describing xl's age.

After the pagoda fell, however, on the battlefield, he was described as "barely past twenty", so you could say he's turned 21 by then, perhaps even newly turned 21 ( and ofc, he did pass his 21st bday at most before the pagoda fell )

So, when was the last time xl was just "twenty"? — —that one day when he, for the first time ever, was stabbed on a battlefield (by Lang Ying); when he cut off that man's leg; and that same day when he started holding up the pagoda.

An awful day brimmed with misfortunes.

So, possibly, in between that [awful day] —then through the days he held up that pagoda, passing out under the hot sun, including the day he cried out his little "save me"— and finally [the pagoda falling and xl thereafter suffocatingly fighting on the battlefield with evergrowing fear of failure],

xl passed a birthday on one of these days.

Worst Birthday Ever Crown 👑 !

There were quite a few other clues too; like when his parents came meeting him with torn looks as he was holding up the pagoda — perhaps one of those visiting days was xl's birthday

xl was turning 21 but all he wanted to do was turn back into a 10-year-old child and cry

One last thought:

what if: that last day —before the patients swarmed xl, before he couldn't hold the up pagoda anymore— he received a white flower, didn't he?

Was that day xl's 21st birthday...?

hua hua's first birthday present to xl...?

if so, then now, 800 years later and reuniting, hc's finally giving his dianxia flowers for his birthday again.

an upgrade 💐

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protect-namine · 3 years

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I should probably revisit this topic again when I finish books 4 and 5 because an analysis would be incomplete without finishing the novel. But for now, I’ve been thinking some thoughts.

I think the play between free will, fate, karma, and luck in the novel is super interesting. Something about Xie Lian trying to find the “third path” and Shi Wudu defying fate and Hua Cheng’s uncanny power over luck... like, with all these elements, I’m sure. I’m sure if I think about it hard enough, I can understand why the motto of the book is “no paths are bound” even though time and time again the characters keep telling Xie Lian and the reader that there is suffering when you fight fate and that, conventionally, you shouldn’t meddle with fate. Xianle is proof of this.

Yet Shi Wudu was able to overcome fate (at the cost of a scholar’s misfortune and that of his family’s). And he was successful for a long time too! He would’ve gotten away with it if He Xuan wasn’t resentful enough to power his way through death and come out of it as a calamity with an obsession with revenge.

Hua Cheng was supposed to live a life of misfortune too, I believe (Star of Solitude baby). But when we meet him in the book, he’s already a wealthy and powerful ghost king with all the power of luck in his hands.

I posted this on reddit but I think (??) that’s what the problem of two cups is about?

So my reddit response went like this:

Interestingly, Xie Lian as LQQ's Guoshi gives a similar story. Two people are hungry and trying to rob each other of food. Guoshi!Xie Lian posits that to solve the problem, the third person must give food from their own purse. Similarly, his two sword attack that saved LQQ's life twice only works because the third person (Xie Lian) absorbs the attacks. We're starting to see a pattern here.

When Guoshi!Xie Lian finishes, LQQ asks what would happen if the third person didn't have enough food to provide. Xie Lian asks, "What do you think?" and LQQ answers, "Maybe he shouldn't have intercepted from the start."

Sounds familiar? The problem of the two cups foreshadows how Xie Lian handles the fall of Xianle. It's even more on the nose when you think of how Xianle's doom started because of a drought. Yong'an was thirsty, there are only limited resources, and it's not like the king didn't try to mitigate this (although imo he was still fairly incompetent as a ruler). Xie Lian's solution was to create more rain with the Rain Master's help. To "provide another cup" but that cup is not enough, may have even been too late. We all know how Book 2 ended.

Throughout the book, Xie Lian says he wants to save the common people, but he doesn't always have the power to do so. Nobody does and it's ridiculous to put that burden on just one person. That's what Xie Lian did to himself, what Xianle did to Xie Lian. He was put on a pedestal and doomed to fall because, god or not, he's only human and could not provide another cup.

There is another thing to point out, but I don't think I can speak on it until I finish the novel. Xie Lian's answer, to "give another cup," is him trying to choose the (impossible?) "third path." I've seen this mentioned in the novel several times.

When Xie Lian tries to solve all the problems of Xianle and keeps failing, Mu Qing admonishes him, "THEY REACHED THEIR BAD END, WE’LL ALREADY HAVE PERISHED! YOU DON’T HAVE A THIRD PATH AND THERE IS NO SECOND CUP OF WATER. WAKE UP, YOUR HIGHNESS! YOU’RE RUNNING OUT OF TIME.”

When He Xuan exacts his revenge plan and Shi Wudu tries to bargain, He Xuan says coldly, "Did I give you a third path?"

When White No-Face meets Xie Lian at the Kiln, he offers Xie Lian a third path (for XL to kill himself then kill White No-Face and escape the Kiln as a Supreme).

In other words, each time a "third path" is presented, the novel posits that it's an impossibility. You have to work with the choices presented to you. And any time you mess with fate (Xianle, Wuyong?, SQX, etc.) it always ends in suffering for someone. You can't please everyone.

Interestingly though, TGCF's motto is "no paths are bound." And there is one person whose fate was changed for the better: Hua Cheng. Hua Cheng was born under the Star of Solitude and is supposedly destined to live a life of misfortune. And yet now, he is the Supreme Ghost King with all the wealth and power and incredible, incredible luck. In many ways, Hua Cheng for some reason (because he was saved by Xie Lian, a “savior” to nullify the Star of Solitude’s fate?) was able to defy his predestined fate of misfortune.

And oftentimes, it's with his intervention (his luck?) that Xie Lian in the present can freely explore his third paths.

Now, I'm still procrastinating on Book 4 and 5 so I can't definitely say yet what the conclusion of the novel is yet with regards to the theme of choosing a third path. Maybe Xie Lian makes a "third path" solution work for him one day? I know some spoilers and can think of a few possible answers to this, but I can't say until I finish the novel.

But yeah, I think that despite what Guoshi probably wanted to teach us, we should still keep in mind that one of the novel's themes is, "no paths are bound" :D

So! All that said, I’ve been thinking some thoughts, as one does. I’m not sure if I’m reading too much into it, if I’m biased and reading with an agenda lol. Again, I’ll revisit this when I finish books 4 and 5.

But I’m thinking about how Hua Cheng respects Xie Lian’s decisions and is always there to unconditionally support him unless it ends in self-harm. All the times they “shared spiritual energy”

Book 3 is titled “No Paths Are Bound.” Let’s go over some events. When Xie Lian was at the lake trying to catch the fetus spirit, he had a dilemma. If he should come up for air, he would swallow the spirit, so naturally (in his eyes) he could just swallow Fangxin too. Otherwise, he’d drown. But Hua Cheng arrives and gives him another option: he could just give him air, duh!

In the Black Water arc, Hua Cheng urged Xie Lian not to meddle too much. When SQX gets kidnapped by the Reverend, they could either try to find them on their own (a futile effort) or let them be. They can’t report to the heavens because Shi Wudu was preparing for his heavenly calamity. But then, Hua Cheng shares his spiritual powers to Xie Lian that allows him to explore a third option: why not just switch places with SQX? Brilliant!

So idk how the novel will wrap up its themes, but I’m thinking that if we continue in this direction, one way we can see this end is like this. The premise is: you can’t save the world alone. Sometimes kindness and hard work alone is not enough to overcome fate, because fate intertwines people and taking something for yourself means taking something away from others. But. But. If fate intertwines people, then if those people could work together, would they be able to change their future? If luck works like karma, if it works to balance things out, then can it be shared?

I think this is how the book will end (lol if I’m wrong then welp, take this whole essay as a joke, it’s fine) because it ties very, very neatly with how Xie Lian first meets Hua Cheng at the ox cart.

On the way to Puqi village, they discover that it’s the Zhongyuan festival and they must be careful not to cross over to the ghost realm. In the forest, they meet a fork in the road that splits into two paths. Xie Lian takes out a fortune shaker and lets fortune decide their path.

“By Heaven Official’s Blessing, no paths are bound! Every road leads to heaven, may they all be walked! The first stick left, the second stick right! We’ll go the path with the best fortune!”

Naturally, his sticks always have the worst of luck. But Hua Cheng intervenes and tries his luck, and of course, his luck is always good. I’m not sure if the point of this scene is that their lucks cancel each other out, but regardless, isn’t it so lucky for them to meet in the first place? Or maybe it’s fate after all?

Either way, point is, if Xie Lian tried to save the two of them alone, fortune says they will meet a bad end. Or, well, they will go through an unlucky path. Xie Lian tries to give another cup, a third path, and like a magic 8 ball, fate says “that’s a bad idea, no”

But Hua Cheng goes, “nah, we’re in this together” and helps him out. And the thing is. I don’t think it’s even a matter of Hua Cheng overpowering Xie Lian’s fate, because time and time again all he really does is let Xie Lian decide where to go and he just follows. He doesn’t solve Xie Lian’s problems for him, but he shares the burden. And maybe. Maybe that’s the point?

If two people are thirsty and there’s only one cup of water, and the one who drinks lives and the one who doesn’t dies, as a god who would you give the cup to? Well, why not let them share the cup? If changing the fortune of one person reverses another person’s fortune, why can’t those two people work together and ping-pong those fortunes back and forth to each other and create their own future together?

There’s something to be said here about agency and whatnot but my brain is scrambled and this post is too long. But at least, I think I’ve successfully procrastinate from starting book 4 with this internet essay lol

#mine musings #liveblogging tgcf #tgcf meta #help me i am consumed by this novel #and i haven't?? even finished it yet??#anyway i'm only starting book 4 so take everything with a grain of salt #i just needed to put my thoughts down into writing TT #if books 4 and 5 call this internet essay a joke then fine. fine. i accept being a clown :(

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nyerus · 4 years

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Xie Lian and Hua Cheng’s Luck

I’ve been asked about the topic of Xie Lian and Hua Cheng’s luck on some servers and by friends a lot--so I thought I’d make a whole post on it for good measure, haha! This is as accurate to canon as possible, but there is also some theorycrafting involved since there are some missing gaps we have to fill in for ourselves.

So first off, we know that Hua Cheng was born under the Star of Solitude, a star sign that ensured that he would either be extremely unfortunate, or extremely fortunate:

Upon his birth, as a result of being under such a star sign, Hua Cheng absorbed all the misfortune released by Tonglu (and thus was also born with his unusual red eye). I.e., he ended up being born cursed. He was doomed to misfortune and hardship--but there was something that stopped it.

The Star of Solitude can be nullified if the person meets a savior figure. As we see in book 2, this is precisely what happens to Hua Cheng. When he falls from atop the stands during the ShangYuan parade in XianLe, he is caught and saved by Xie Lian. And interestingly, Xie Lian actually saves Hua Cheng multiple times in book 2 alone (in every sense of the word--physically, spiritually, etc).

While the first instance of being saved is certainly due to chance, one can actually even argue that the other instances where Xie Lian saved young Hua Cheng to be... rather lucky events. This is where some theorycrafting is involved, so it needn’t been taken wholeheartedly. But basically, it seems awfully lucky that Xie Lian was there to help young Hua Cheng all those times. From saving him from Qi Rong, to freeing him from the ghost lanterns. It could be chance, but it could also be chance that’s attributed with a little luck in Hua Cheng’s favor. We can conclude that after being saved during the ShangYuan parade, that’s when Hua Cheng’s luck started to turn around.

But even without that notion, we can continue onwards to a slightly different theory. That after Hua Cheng’s star sign and misfortune were nullified, his luck was as normal, maybe a little better. Certainly not at the level it is presently, but alright. However, after death, his luck could have reversed from that of his birth. Born unlucky, died and "reborn" lucky--if you want to get poetic or symbolic. (Xie Lian being at the right place at the right time to free Hua Cheng from the ghost lantern is actually shockingly lucky, all things considered.) But regardless, if we go off what Guoshi said: if Hua Cheng is not tragically misfortunate, then he will have the best of fortunes. And regardless of anything, his misfortune did not follow him after death--and certainly did not follow him after he became a Supreme. Thus, we can interpret this literally as an if;then statement, and conclude that now he must be 100% lucky because that’s the only option left.

The main point I want to make here though is that there’s a misconception that Xie Lian’s luck went to Hua Cheng, as his last believer--i.e., when Xie Lian got his 2nd cursed shackle. But this is not what happened, and is not what Xie Lian asked for!!! Xie Lian asks very simply for his luck to be dispersed in general to flow to the less fortunate. Xie Lian at that point in time thought that he had literally no believers left. He just watched as his last believer was destroyed in front of his own eyes. Who would he think would be left to absorb that luck? Thus, he asked for it to be dispersed in general:

Additionally, Xie Lian’s luck was never anywhere near the level that Hua Cheng’s presently is. Hua Cheng isn’t just relatively lucky--he has perfect luck to the point where he will always get the outcome he desires. Even if 100% of Xie Lian’s luck flowed to Hua Cheng, it would not get the latter to the heights of fortune he’s famous for anyway. Xie Lian was simply never lucky enough for that.

To move on though, it’s unclear the status of Xie Lian’s luck post-canon. Free from his cursed shackles, some of his original luck may have returned to him (or started to), or the dispersion could have been a permanent thing in the first place--it’s hard to say. There is not much evidence about it. At least he has a perfectly lucky husband by his side to make up for it, in any case!

TLDR; Hua Cheng is lucky not because Xie Lian’s luck went to him, but more likely because his star sign was nullified/reversed when Xie Lian saved him as a child during the ShangYuan parade. That, and/or it (further) polarized after his death and becoming a Supreme Ghost King into the Perfect Luck he has presently.

#tgcf #tian guan ci fu #heaven official's blessing #hob #tgcf meta #meta #nyerus.txt #tbh tho its vague that you can really sort of make up your own headcanons for the status and origins of both their levels of luck #i just wanted to give my two cents!#also the luckiest thing about Xie Lian was that he was born a prince #everything else about him he got either because of his status or thru his own hard work

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akatsuki-shin · 3 years

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Review: 天官赐福 Tiān Guān Cì Fú (Heaven Official's Blessing)

Notes:

(Very) long post ahead

Contains spoiler

This is my personal review and does not represent the entire audience, you are free to agree or not agree with what I’ve written here

Feel free to reply/send me a message if there are things you want to discuss

Summary:

The most beloved Crown Prince, pride of the Kingdom of Xianle with abundance of talents and achievements, Xie Lian, ascended to Heaven and became a martial god at the young age of 17 on the path to fulfill his dream "to save the common people".

Three years after his ascension, he saw his kingdom beginning to decline and in order to save his beloved country, Xie Lian defied the rules of Heaven and descended back to the mortal realm. Nevertheless, instead of saving them, his interference ended up accelerating the fall of Xianle, annihilating the once prosperous nation under the war of rebellion and a mysterious, horrifying plague.

The people who once praised and worshipped him day and night now condemned him, his devotees left him, they burnt his temples and divine statues, and Xie Lian himself was ultimately banished from the Heaven.

He ascended for the second time a short while later, but was banished once more very soon after. Since then, he lived among the mortals - surviving by collecting junks as he was now branded as the "God of Misfortune", the "Scrap Collecting Immortal".

800 years later, Xie Lian ascended again for the third time. Though having neither temples nor devotees, he accepted his responsibility as a martial god and carried on with his duties until one day, there came a certain, incidental encounter with a mysterious youth clad in red.

STORY: 7/10

TGCF overall is an (almost) complete, satisfying read with well-written twists and development.

Unlike the two previous MXTX's novels, the main pairing here (HuaLian) did not have to go through complicated misunderstandings and is a beautiful representation of love and devotion. Of course, this means there is a lack of conflict between them, but considering all the trials and tribulations the characters have gone through, this lack of conflict feels like a relieving fresh spring amidst the painful and exhausting journey throughout the entire five books.

The best and my most favorite plot twist is the Earth Master Ming Yi having been dead for a while, and the "Ming Yi" we know turns out to be the Black Water Submerging Boats, He Xuan. I'm the kind of person who always suspects characters, but even my furthest suspicion was "only" him being the Reverend of Empty Words, not He Xuan.

Truthfully, prior to reading this novel, I've seen Shi Qingxuan's "MING-XIONG, I'M SORRY x9999" post before without context, and I thought Ming Yi was going to die a tragic death because of Shi Qingxuan. Turns out it's kind of the opposite, huh? Nice one, really.

I also like how each character's "end" feels satisfying. Especially for the villains, they didn't necessarily have to die some tragic, vengeful death, but was provided with an ending that perfectly fits their background story and deeds. For example, in most stories, a character like Xuan Ji would be most likely be given some well-deserved punishment as her death, given everything she's done. But no, in the end she was given a reality check and was finally able to let go of her hundreds of years grudge. And then Qi Rong - I will talk more about him later on in the "Character" section.

One part I really love is the Extra Chapter about the Cave of Ten Thousand Gods. The chapter itself overall is mostly nonsensical and chaotic, but it was just so touching when HuaLian created a "Little Hua Cheng" statue to accompany Xie Lian's "Crown Prince who Pleased the Gods" statue, especially when this Little Hua Cheng statue gave Crown Prince Xie Lian statue a flower, and then Crown Prince Xie Lian received it, lifted him up and carried him in his arms. This one was maybe a bit biased because as much as I love the current HuaLian, I have a special soft spot for the young Xie Lian carrying, cradling the little Hua Cheng back then in the past. ;v;

Though, with all due respect, I must say that TGCF is actually below my expectation.

The biggest issue I have with TGCF is... What is Xie Lian's motivation? What drives him to move forward in the story? What is even the whole story's purpose?

I'm not quite sure how to word this properly, but let me give some examples.

When you read Harry Potter, you know immediately that Voldemort is the bad guy and he must be defeated.

When you read the Lord of the Rings, you know immediately that the One Ring must be destroyed to prevent Sauron from regaining his power.

Or, in MXTX previous works...

In SVSSS, it was clear since the beginning that Shen Yuan's mission is to fix the "Proud Immortal Demon Way" if he wants to survive.

In MDZS, it was clear that Wei Wuxian, together with Lan Wangji's, needs to unravel the mystery behind that fierce left arm. All of their past stories and WangXian getting together in the end are just something they discovered along the way, not the initial "motivation" that drives the character to move forward.

What about TGCF? The Xie Lian who ascended for the third time actually looks like he just wants to go along with the flow, carrying out his duties day by day with responsibility. When Bai Wuxiang later, later, later on appeared to haunt him again, it didn't seem like Xie Lian has any ambition to hunt him down or exact a revenge, just that he wanted to forget about Bai Wuxiang and never recall anything about him ever again. The main character looks like he's not being driven by anything, just...carrying on where the plot takes him? It's just missions after missions and whatever huge things happening in between is just something they accidentally passed by along the way.

At this point, the only purpose of the story I can think of is bringing Hua Cheng and Xie Lian together. The romance is great, I have no complain. But if it's just that, no need to jammed-pack 250+ chapters just to make two people getting together?

Speaking of which, I also think that the way new characters keep being introduced all the way to almost the final showdown of the story feels info dump-ish, because the background story needs to be dropped there along with the characters, but then most of these characters fade away immediately after.

For example, the previous Civil God before Ling Wen, who looks like he’s going to pose some real trouble, but then was easily defeated and was never mentioned again afterwards. And this is especially true for He Xuan; after such a huge arc where he committed such extreme things, after that he was barely mentioned again, even having his “strong impression” leveled down by the joke about him being the poorest Calamity and owing lots of debts to Hua Cheng.

Basically what makes TGCF a long story is because there are too many stories about the side characters in addition to the main characters that are dumped out of the blue instead of slowly being revealed along the way.

Though, I love how the story gradually unravels the "Four Famous Tales" because initially, I thought it wasn't something crucial, and I wished they could've done this for other characters, too.

There is a little bit of plot holes here and there, as in who actually cut open Jian Lan/Lan Chang's baby and made it a ghost, and for what? Even if it turned out that she just met a bad guy or nobody important, at least provide an explanation in one paragraph? Especially because important side characters like Feng Xin and Mu Qing are involved here, so I'm pretty sure us readers need some explanation.

And more importantly, how can Jun Wu become the Emperor martial god? There's no mention about him ascending, only that he annihilated a dynasty of gods before sitting on the throne of the Great Martial Hall. But how can he, like, emitted god-like aura and not some evil aura? Is it because he used to be a god? But he's a ghost? Explanation where???

The gags and comedies are pretty fun, but honestly, the more I read, the more they ruin the atmosphere and suspense, added with the uncalled PDA between Hua Cheng and Xie Lian even during the most important moments. Honestly, I was bored the fuck out of my life from the moment they start fighting Jun Wu with those divine gundams, and only start gaining interest again much later on when Hua Cheng dissipated into butterflies.

Not saying the story's bad. Just... It's not up to my expectation... Characters being inserted here and there with a bunch of background story, gags and a show of PDA being flaunted during crucial moments. And when Mei Nianqing started telling the truth about the Kingdom of Wuyong, that's just plain info dump right there, seriously...

CHARACTERS: 7/10

Interesting characters, but only a few bore a lasting impression on me. Other than the main characters, which are Xie Lian and Hua Cheng, the only side characters (minus Bai Wuxiang as the main villain) who left quite some impression on me were probably just Feng Xin and Mu Qing.

Pei Ming is okay, at least he is still memorable until the end, and his character improved, too.

He Xuan, after having been introduced with such extreme, after his arc is over, was easily forgotten just like that.

Mei Nianqing, is borderline Deus Ex-Machina with a huge chunk of info dump that could solve everything, then he stopped being useful for the rest of the story.

Shi Qingxuan... Honestly, he's almost annoying, too noisy. I don’t hate him (and I kind of like him initially), but the way his character was being handled and presented post-Black Water arc feels disappointingly lazy and he was just there to make the party more merry.

Xie Lian himself, as the protagonist, how do I say this... This is maybe due to the translator's writing style (not MXTX’s fault), but whenever he screams in all capslock, it feels too extreme and borderline OOC? Of course, the original novel written in hanzi couldn't have included capslock.

What's great about him, though, is that despite all he'd gone through, he can still retain a pure heart and could not be swayed to be evil, just as he himself said "Body in the abyss, heart in paradise".

Now Hua Cheng, he is overall a super interesting character and I personally love this type of male characters. But he seriously is way too OP, almost like the original Luo Binghe (Bing-ge) a.k.a. too ideal, too perfect, no flaws, always capable of easily finding a way out in every single peril. I only forgive him for being like this because he dissipated into butterflies at the end of the battle with Jun Wu, making me think "oh, finally he's actually not invincible".

Still, his devotion to Xie Lian is very well written, very well presented, and his "I am forever your most devoted believer" is just downright the most powerful line in the whole story.

Now I promised to talk about Qi Rong, yeah? I haven't the slightest idea why it is even necessary to have Qi Rong as the Night-touring Green Lantern. I mean, yes he is there to make up the number of the Four Great Calamities, but that was for the characters who live in that world. As the novel's reader, I don't see any particularly important roles there for Qi Rong other than being an annoying meme fodder despite his actually pretty-cool first foreshadowing and appearance? Even his issue with Lang Qianqiu does not seem to give that much impact on the overall story, it could've just passed simply being explained in several pages.

Though I'd say he's got the best character development compared to others. Instead of dying as some hateful villain, the way he ended up deciding to protect Guzi at the cost of his own life can already be expected from miles away, but still bittersweet and touching nonetheless - how this crazed, mental person could still love when being presented with such pure, innocent feelings to the point that he acknowledged Guzi as a his own son.

By the way, E Ming and Ruoye are cute, I take no criticism.

TECHNICAL ASPECTS: 8/10

I can't really describe this with words, but MXTX's overall writing technique has greatly improved since MDZS.

It feels more "solid" to read instead of scattered here and there.

The info distribution has improved (fewer info dump compared to before), the story's no longer switching between past and present all of a sudden.

Description of characters and environment are sufficient, the plot is progressing steadily.

Several issues I have with this aspect though, the Prologue being ten pages is just way too long, I don't think I need that much information being stuffed right to my face right from the beginning.

There are excessive use of "Turns out..." every single time an explanation is going to come.

"Xie Lian didn't know whether he should cry or laugh" is honestly has been used probably more than 50 times just in the last two books. Although I'm reading a translation, I'm pretty sure the original Chinese version is being repetitive with this phrase, as well, because the translators couldn't just whip up any other phrase from thin air and put it in someone else's novel.

Almost half of scene transition is always caused by some sudden, external disturbance like "All of a sudden they heard someone's coming", "All of a sudden X visits their room", etc.

OVERALL SCORE: 7.3/10

Worth to read, satisfying overall. The main pairing's love story is just so well written and sweet. As long as you can withstand the violence and gore, though. 😂

TGCF highlights perhaps one of the ugliest natures of mankind: Being nice to someone as long as they're beneficial, and immediately throwing them away once the benefit was no more.

Once that person does not seem to be beneficial anymore, everyone would leave them instantly, even turning on them and start spitting on them without even trying to understand the reason why said person "stopped being beneficial".

Both as a Crown Prince and a martial god, Xie Lian and the Crown Prince of Wuyong were praised, revered, worshipped by the citizens of Xianle and Wuyong respectively. Because they were always helping, always fulfilling the people's wishes. But how easily it was for those very same people to turn on Xie Lian and the Crown Prince of Wuyong when they encountered misfortunes, completely turning a blind eye to the laborious effort both characters have been putting to save them from annihilation, even if it was visible in broad daylight.

It is also worth to note another trait of mankind that this story underlines: To always find a scapegoat or blame others for one's own misfortune and failure - be it another human being, another group of people, the government, even the gods - after having taking their generosity for granted.

Which is why I think the true villain of the story is not Bai Wuxiang, but those citizens of the ancient Wuyong who were now nothing more than resentful spirits eternally burning within the lava of Tonglu Mountain - a well deserved punishment after what they did to their Crown Prince.

#Tian Guan Ci Fu #TGCF #Heaven Officials Blessing #HuaLian #Xie Lian #Hua Cheng #Review #Danmei #MXTX #Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

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nazitty56 · 11 months

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I recently got sucked into the TGCF fandom, and now I have a rabid story bunny on the loose in my head.

It's a reverse role fanfic, but the thing is, almosy every time I reverse a role, a name changes.

Hua Cheng and Xie Lian are reversed (of course)

I'm still deciding on how they look.

I made Feng Xin, Xie Lian's maternal cousin. Qi Rong is Xu Hong's assistant (becomes Xuan Zhen when he ascends). Mu Qing is Xu Hong's guard (Nan Yang when he ascends).

He Xuan becomes He Sheng and the Water Master (Shui Shi Sheng). His little sister, He Baihe, becomes the Wind Master (Feng Shi Baihe).

Shi Wudu becomes Xuan Shui (mysterious waters), the equivalent of He Xuan.

Pei Ming was a shoemaker in Xuli, and he ascends as Ling Wen.

As you can tell, the three tumors are already a riot.

I like everything I've made so far, but it's going to be a pain in the ass to write because of how the characters are going to change and thus the circumstances are going to change.

The fun part is when I go to post on AO3 and have to figure out the tagging, lmao. The relationship tags are going to make EVERYONE cringe, I can already tell.

If you guys have any ideas, feel free to add to this!

#tgcf #tgcf reverse fic #writers on tumblr #my writing #this is going to be a disaster #but a good one

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wolffyluna · 3 years

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Fic Writer Meme

I was tagged by @thou-breath-of-autumns-being and @eldritch-elrics. Answers under the cut.

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

135

2. What’s your total AO3 wordcount?

387198

3. How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

There’s 22 of them, using a sensible-ish count. There’s Age of Sigmar, MCU, Dragon Age, Dragonshield (yes, the card sleeves), Dungeons and Dragons, Fire Emblem Awakening, Fire Emblem Three Houses, Guild Wars 2, Warhammer 40k, Heaven Will Be Mine, We Know The Devil, Keychain of Creation, Overwatch, Revolutionary Girl Utena, The Adventure Zone, The Magnus Archives, Silmarillion, Undertale, Voltron, TGCF, MDZS, Nirvana in Fire

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

‘The Heat Talking’ - Overwatch omegaverse. It’s popularity is very explicable :P.

‘A Stained Glass Variation of The Truth’ - Xianle Trio sickfic, featuring Mu Qing have a lot of feelings about looking after Xie Lian. This is one of the ones where I look at it’s popularity and go “[nods] my audience has Good Taste.”

‘Let Bastion Say ‘Fuck’‘ - Overwatch crackfic. I wrote for Overwatch a while ago. Those fics are very much not my best work. And Yet.

‘though shadows fall’ - TGCF HuaLian post nightmare hurt/comfort. (which reminds me, I should really write some HuaLian post nightmare hurt/comfort where Hua Cheng is the one who has a nightmare.)

‘All That Can Be Done’ - Overwatch Genyatta angst featuring Zenyatta dying of a God AI virus.

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I try to, I really do, but... if I reply, the comment no longer shows up on the ao3 homepage. I do intend to reply, but the lure of having comments on my homepage wins out most times.

6. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

Probably either ‘All That Can Be Done’, the aforementioned fic where Zenyatta dies of a God AI virus and gets killed by Genji, or ‘Always Neater In Morality Plays’ where Sazed successfully poisons and kills Taako.

7. Do you write crossovers? If so what’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I don’t really write much crossover fanfiction?

...Though I am right now doing an rp featuring a character from a historical tv show set in the Tang dynasty accidentally time travelling into an AU version of the Handmaid’s Tale, so, uh, that’s probably the wildest crossover I’ve been involved in.

8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Yes. I’ve received a few “you’re characterisation is bad and you should feel bad” and “how dare you write something to your tastes and not my tastes!”

‘Always Neater In Morality Plays’ got a... bad reaction. Including a popular blogger vague posting about in a way that made it obvious exactly what fic it is and how grody they found it. They may not have linked the fic directly, but, uh, everyone knew. (And I may have also sent an ill-advised ask along the lines of ‘you have the right to vagueblog whatever fic you like, but for the love of peace could you at least check who is following you, so you don’t put ‘oh god, isn’t this fic the creepiest thing ever?’ straight onto the dash of the author?” And also a chunk of the TAZ fandom blocked me*.

And then several years later I found out ‘snuff’ meant something different than what I thought it meant (I thought it just meant ‘focus on major character death!) which added an embarassing glace cherry on top of that sundae of bad.

*This became sort of funny when some of these people got into the Magnus Archives. “Oh, so you draw the line at graphic depictions of poisoning, but someone exploding into a shower of worms is fine???”

9. Do you write smut? If so what kind?

I do, yes. As for what kind-- well, my ao3 exists and is a relatively comprehensive survey.

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Nooooot to my knowledge?

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No, but if anyone wants to-- [makes ‘call me’ gesture].

12. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No, not yet. I’d be potentially interested in doing one, maybe one of those ones where one person writes one chapter and then another person writes the next. At the moment I have a friend who is also interested in maybe doing that, we just don’t currently align on fandoms.

13. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

[whine] Don’t make me choose between my babies!

14. What’s a wip that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

‘A Shattered Angel And A Broken Fist’. It was one of the earlier fics I wrote, back before I learned that if I wanted to write something long, I needed to have an idea of how it was going to end. I lost momentum and now... I honestly have no clue what should happen next? I have re-read and gone “yep, some stuff should happen. Not sure what stuff.” So while a lot of people like it and it would be nice to finish, its probably not happening.

15. What are your writing strengths?

Hmm, I think I’m reasonably good at dialogue? I’m honestly not sure what my strengths are. I don’t mean this in a low self confidence way, more that I know I don’t have an outside perspective on my writing, and like a fish, I’m not super aware of the water I’m swimming in.

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

I have a bad habit of people have conversation in Blank Windowless Voids of No Description.

I also have a less bad habit of trying to fill those voids with a) geology and b) Australian fauna and flora. This causes problems when the pov character has no reason to know geology, and the story is not set in Australia.

17. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I am one of those people who pretty much only speaks English, except for the a bit of “Je m’appelle Wolffy. Le chat est petit.” So I don’t write dialogue in other languages. Too much risk of embarrassing error, for not much gain, when you can just use italics or something.

I do have a lot of thoughts about translation conventions in fic where the characters would not be speaking English, and things like whether to live honoriffics. The thoughts are a bit unformed, but mostly revolve around being consistent at least within a fic (no characters being “Your Highness” in one paragraph and “dianxia” the next), trying to avoid the affect you sometimes find in anime fics were every third word is in Japanese, and also trying to maintain character voice. (I occaisionally have moments of “yes, there is an English translation for what this character calls this other character, but it’s not what they canonically say and it’s going to bother me deeply if I only use English.”)

18. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Depending on how you define ‘fandom’ and how you draw the line between historical fiction and historical rpf, my first fandom was the Bagoas fandom. Not the Bagoas what followed Alexander the Great around, no, the vizier who was around before him.

...I was like twelve at the time, just to make this weirder.

19. What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

[whines harder] don’t make me pick between my babies!

#premium original content #wolffy writes fic

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mousehole5000 · 3 years

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this is it... the final post.... 226 through THE END!!!!!

this shit with mu qing and the river of lava is SOOOO dramatic im loving it

oh my god theyre on a FUCKING bridge of course they are okay let’s go boys

“You’re right. We’re alike. You think me odd, I think you to be rather weird too.” - so what im getting from this is that xie lian and mu qing are the only characters in this book with working gaydar okay yup got it this checks out

god... the fact that xie lian is ready to be like “look mu qing we can just forget about the past it doesnt matter we dont have to be friends i know you dont like me but im not gonna let you die over it” and then mu qing is like “.... god i really do admire you huh”

“You...certainly...are rather amazing. You’re...also...a better person...than me. Long story short, I...very much wanted...to become your f-f-friend.” - going to think about this for the rest of all time im about to become utterly unintelligible im overcome with emotions

“And, at the end of the white silk band, Feng Xin was gripping Ruoye with one hand while the other was holding on to a steel-faced Mu Qing, and he shouted towards him.” - the fucking IMAGE of this im gonna cry this is everything i could have asked for im so happy also mu qing dangling there like “ welp. guess ill live“

“Feng Xin was almost burnt by that pillar of fire, and he shouted in outrage. “WHAT’S WITH THIS BAND OF DOG SHITS, ATTACKING PEOPLE WHILE THEY’RE DOWN, SO VILE! FUCK YOUR ENTIRE FAMILY!” Xie Lian responded, “IF THEIR ENTIRE FAMILIES ALL LOOK LIKE THAT, YOU SURE YOU WANT TO FUCK THEM??” - theyre so funny!!! and theyre best friends!!! theyre joking together now in the middle of all this i could cry theyre back!!!

“Using sticks as arrows, he held the bow with one hand and used his teeth to bite back the bowstring.” - no clue how practical this is but okay archer boy. hot

i actually have so many little quips between the three of them highlighted but we’d be here all night if i included them all. im literally so delighted by this omg worth the wait

“Each sabre strike slashed to the bone. It wasn’t like Xie Lian had never seen Hua Cheng use the sabre before in the past, but his style had always been easy and leisurely, nonchalant and casual. Rather than say he was handling a weapon, it was more like he was toying with a small knife. Yet those blade marks were filled with killing intent. It was easy to imagine just how skilled the one exchanging blows with him was, and how perilous this battle.” you have no idea how mad i was when i read this and thought we missed witnessing the fight between hc and jw omg

“Behind him, Feng Xin muttered, “Dear fucking god, may all the gods and buddhas grant their blessings, that better absolutely be Crimson Rain Sought Flower, otherwise he’s gonna go mad!” “Stop your rubbish,” Mu Qing berated. “We’re all the gods and buddhas ourselves and we can’t grant shit, just keep up with him! Look at the stumbling way he’s running, he’s gonna trip and fall to his bloody death before he even sees the man!” - okay i know i said no more quips but this is literally too funny i just wanted to read it again

“ However, for whatever reason, that vicious ghost, in its muddled state, took that large group of live mortals under its wing and fled for many days. In the end, they were still surrounded by millions of ghosts, trapped in a dead end, and it was going to be eaten along with those humans.” [...] “That vicious ghost almost made a move against those humans, but for some reason, in the end, it didn’t. It instead used one of its own eyes as the price to forge a blood weapon. That vicious ghost was already forcibly hanging on with its last breath; after digging out its eye it should’ve broken apart completely. Yet somehow something had shocked it, and it instead woke to its senses completely. “ - THIS IS AMAZING ARE YOU KIDDING ME???? IS THIS ALL WE GET ABOUT HIS GHOSTLY LORE?????? HUA CHENGGGGGGGG

“What a terrible offence, his old habit had come out, and he quickly apologized. “I’m sorry! You don’t have to listen to me!” Hua Cheng, however, only smiled happily. “Everything gege tells me is the best advice, so why wouldn’t I listen?” - this isnt the fucking time afjdkfjsdkl they really never stop

“So you can hold the illusion of a perfect Crown Prince of Wuyong to face and dismiss the Jun Wu now. Isn’t that your objective? Did you think I don’t know what you’re thinking?” “THAT’S NOT IT!” Guoshi cried. “Stop getting tied up in right and wrong, victories and defeat, I’VE NEVER THOUGHT THAT WAY BEFORE!” - jun wu only being able to see xie lian as his successor and believing that thats all anyone else sees too... okay

honestly this whole final showdown was a blast i cant put everything in but it was so much fun to read. the DRAMA the LAVA the SHOUTING t

“Hua Cheng had poured too much spiritual power into him. There really was too much, so much that it was completely outside the amount the cursed shackle could withstand.” - okay.... okay... the love you give will set you free... okay....

“With Jun Wu in his grip, he carried both their bodies and forcefully slammed into the incomparably-solid rock wall! He used all of his power in this smash, and in the rumbling and crashing of rocks, he also heard the sound of something breaking.” [...] “A moment later, Jun Wu suddenly asked, “That move. What is it called?” “...” Xie Lian raised his sleeve and wiped away the blood on the side of his face. “Shattering boulders on the chest.” YES!!!!! YES!!!!! xie lian actually lived that life!!!!!! i loved this detail so much

“After a moment of silence, Xie Lian took off the bamboo hat carried on his back, took it in his hand, and covered it over Jun Wu’s face.” - xie lian... good... another detail i love. a hat that protects from the rain, given in a moment of need, even to someone who has caused you hardship... we do not forget the kindness granted to us

“There was gratefulness, there was shame, there was heartache, there was wild joy, but above all else, there was incurable love.” - :pleading: i wish it was just that easy tbh. “i have to tell you about the worst parts of myself” “ive already seen them and i dont care i still love you“ truly the dream

“ It’s been so long since anyone listened to me talk, won’t you stay? Don’t...actually do this. I won’t be able to take it. Twice, it’s been twice already! I really don’t want there to be a third time!!!” - the bit about just wanting someone to listen to him talk... xie lian... :(

emily corpse bride moment.... i knew it had to happen.... butterflies.... death and rebirth.... inevitable

xianle trio bickering about ruoye..... mu qing complaining but not letting anyone else fix it... im so happy

“The Rain Master sat down on the spot, looking like she was going to perform a passing service for her. After all, Xuan Ji was the only one left of the Kingdom of Yushi besides herself.” - xuan ji you sure the hell were... a character. this little moment tho..... yushi huang... many thoughts

“ Who hasn’t made promises, or swore to the mountains and the seas when they were young? Talking of affection, of love, of forevers. But, the longer I hang around in the world, the more I understand, something like ‘forever’ is impossible. It’s never going to be possible. Having it once was already good enough. No one can truly achieve it. I don’t believe in it anymore.” - jian lan im happy for you bummer it didnt work out with feng xin but yeah that was looooong ago. also this quote me same mood kin but its chill. having it once was already good enough

although yeah tbh if theres anyone who can have a forever like that... it would be a ghost and a god

fasdfjadklfj GOD... pour one out for ling wen.. but is that not the truth of this world? the one can be pardoned for being good at paperwork that no one else wants to do? isnt that the plot of the shawshank redemption?

okay but the fact that all xie lian’s friends come to visit him while he waits for hua cheng is making me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.... fengqing coming together to try to get him out of the house but get scared off by his cooking... amazing

“Last time, they spent eight hundred years running towards each other. This time, it only took an instant to fall into each other’s embrace.” - im completely unaffected by this. im not lying i swear (i am lying im very emotionally affected)

okay i love this final wrap up chapter party its so fun. mu qing moving on from the broom thing!!! good for him!! the beggars get their reward!!! the fun ghost city chefs!! SQX!!!! and he xuan is?? here too??? he’s hungry??? fjadlkfjsdl

“The grounds that Feng Xin and Mu Qing had just swept were once again filthy from that giant crowd of muddy feet. Mu Qing gripped his broom, looking like he felt someone had infected him with fleas, and his eyes were wide.” - me when my dad comes into the kitchen when ive just finished washing dishes i get it king

the little folklore bit... fun!!! oh my god its over..... :(

that was really fun i had a blast reading it and on the whole really liked it i WISH soo badly that hua cheng had gotten more outside of being cunty and devoted even tho those are both important i just wish there was more about like how he got by during those 800 years and like did he ever have doubts? what shaped his worldview was it all xie lian or was it his experience as a mortal as well? why is he so mean to e’ming? theres bits and pieces here and there and i know it was already SO long but that really would have been great if there was more about hc cuz tbh by the end, at least for me, the hualian relationship didnt actually feel as fleshed out as the xianle trio relationship like i still liked hualian’s dynamic and it was really sweet how much they clearly really liked each other and everything but i kind of wish some of the other subplots had been dropped or diminished in favor of more hc development i think that would have been cool

but anyway thats some of my thoughts and i really did enjoy the hell out of book 5 that was a riot and uhhh thanks to everyone who read these or commented *lends you spiritual energy through a high five*

#tgcf liveblog #it is Complete i can move on now #i actually have a lot more thoughts about hl because i uhhhh relate. to things. and have opinions due to my experiences #but its also quite Personal soooo i might just keep them tucked away #anyway im freeeeeee #mouse mumbles

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