#AND HUA CHENG WHEN HIS EYES LOOK LIKE THAT

[xielianlover2]

The first Hualian's kiss was one of the funniest things I've ever read. Every page was funny sjksks.

First, Xie Lian reverting straight (ahem not so straight but anyways) to Crown Prince of Xianle and going who DARES??? Who could!?! NEVER in his LIFE have I been treated this way. If this were anyone else, he would have stabbed them way before they could ever lay their hands on him.

But it's Hua Cheng!! His San Lang. And can ghosts transfer air to me!? Don't ghosts drown?? (Yes, I memorized the kiss scene. My memory is terrible, but I remember this vividly. I need help.)

And he's feeling overwhelmed that he lost his sense of self. He literally felt so overwhelmed he felt like crying. That part just made me sjskksks, feeling many things.

And then they break apart and stare deeply into one another's eyes and there's like twenty paragraphs of Xie Lian's monologue of how everytime Hua Cheng appears he just looks more older, more handsomer, more better, and omg is that a widow's peak??? Look at his eyepatch that exceeds a beautiful murderous aura, which should technically mute his elegance, but it actually balances his good looks perfectly.

Like. Okay, Xie Lian.

Poor Xie Lian. He's in such a rattled state. That kiss was way too amazing, Hua Cheng.

Usually he doesn't know whether to laugh or cry. That's normal. Now he doesn't know if he's hungry or sleepy.

And oh, look. He lost his bamboo hat. The hat he had for the last 800 years (shit, don't cry again this is supposed to be funny dammit), gone because of how mind-boggling that kiss was.

"I... I can't find it. I'm leaving now. I'm going home to eat... I need to go collect some scraps..."

Dying. He's so shaken. He's full-on panicking. He's like this is it. Hundred years of locked up and nailed to a coffin is nothing. I finally lost my marbles.

And then Hua Cheng's like "...I'm sorry."

The scream that tore out of my throat lmao. Anyways. I 1000% believe Hua Cheng.exe also stopped working at that point.

Then he was rebooted back online once he realized that Xie Lian was just casually hobbling on his injured foot, which you know had a nail embedded deep into it.

And Xie Lian is just absolutely losing it, especially when he realizes they're in Ghost City.

Not all the ghosts exitingly shouting if Hua Cheng needs help raping Xie Lian 😭😭😭

Oh my gods. That part. And Xie Lian at this point just feeling grateful he lost his 'fake baby' and didn't appear pregnant anymore 😆 (MXTX is really pushing the mpreg agenda, huh?)

And then finally when Xie Lian calms down a bit, his next thoughts are like... the state preceptor only warned me about the wiles of women :((

Nobody prepared me for this!!! So, yeah, Xie Lian, how does it feel to be a demisexual gay.

#tgcf #xie lian #hua cheng #hualian #tian guan ci fu #book 3 #first hualian kiss #this part in the book had me screaming into my pillow #last week #I scared my whole family lol #heaven official's blessing

[magicpotatothoughts]

TGCF reread new finds #1

Xie Lian actively and consciously knows that he is attracted to HC the MOMENT THEY MEET in the Ox Cart. Like it’s not just blank gay panic, he knows.

His beauty was deadly like a sword, sharp and mesmerising. Xie Lian only met his eyes for a moment, then lowered his eyes in defeat.

MATE, normally wouldn’t you continue to be mesmerised and can’t peel your eyes away? That is, UNLESS YOURE WHIPPED. XL knows that SL's looks affect him to this degree. Defeat is the key word here.

Also

The distance between them had closed too fast. he suddenly didn't know what to do[...]Xie Lian blanked on the spot. He watched as the tall and slender youth walked away with his giant bag of junk as if it were the most natural thing in the world to do, and it made him mutter inwardly, Forgive my sins.

Making a rich young lad carry your things? Making him sleep in your crappy temple? That doesn't warrant the weighty thought? FORGIVE WHAT SINS Xie Lian??!!!

Many village girls saw (HC) and blushed [...] Xie Lian didn't know what they were going to ask, but felt instinctively that it must be stopped at once, and cried, "No!"

Jealous jealous boi! XL WAS POSSESSIVE after ONE night spent together at Puqi Shrine. Didn’t XL just say to SL that he will have no problem in the love department because girls will throw themselves at him? Yo, why are you cock-blocking? Everyone says HC is insane, no XL is equally insane for the other!

Also, when HC revealed that it's his real skin after the Banyue arc, XL instinctively poked him. Then

He looked at his own finger then hid it away, betraying nothing of his thoughts.

What thoughts XL ?!! Explain yourself right now!

Jumping back to OX CART scene, Xie Lian's character development was foreshadowed when they were talking about the gifting of ghost ashes.

Book 1: Xie Lian sighed. "It certainly is painful to think about, to have given everything for love and lose everything in return."

This is what Xie Lian is most afraid of! Like even thinking back to Xie Lian pushing Feng Xin away in Book 4, he definitely operated under that mindset. Love is a risk, it's something to be feared. Even now 800+ years later, he still feels that way and doesn't allow himself to get close to anyone. It just hits so much harder thinking that he operated under that for so many centuries.

Then Hua Cheng says

"What there to be afraid of? If it were me, I'd have no regrets giving away my ashes"

Which I think really changed the way that Xie Lian thought about love. Book 5 Xie Lian completely operates with Love is empowering and isn't something to be afraid of.

TGCF isn't about XL realising his feelings, literally from Book 1 it's about him wondering if it's worthwhile to act on them.

Three things, is this person worth losing cultivation over for?

He needs the reassurance that this person must reciprocate his feelings.

Then HC changed his perspective on love from FEAR -> EMPOWERMENT.

XL is soooo self-aware (unlike SQQ from SVSSS and WWX from MDZS), he's an unreliable narrator in the way that he doesn't reveal everything to the reader, especially his own feelings until he was absolutely sure that there really was both a physical and romantic attraction. I wanted to make this post to dispel the assumption for XL it was easy to forego 800+ years of cultivation. It was not? He ABSOLUTELY thought about it carefully.

#honestly without the thousand caves reveal these two gays would still be 👉👈🥺 at each other #I was inspired by grimbravado's tumblr #tgcf #mxtx #heaven official's blessing #also these are my own perspectives #take it with a grain of salt #hualian #hua cheng #tian guan ci fu #xie lian #feng xin #fenglian #TGCF meta

[spoiler-alert-andabunchofnumbers]

Anyone else losing sleep over how Hua Cheng treats Eming poorly? Eming was made from his own eye, so you'd think they'd be in sync - and they are, when it combat, because Eming was born in a desperate need for a weapon and to overcome enemies.

But Eming was also born from a low point in Hua Cheng's existence and must represent the person he was back when it was created - utterly devoted to Xie Lian, but also too weak to have been of any use to him. He saw himself as a loathsome lost puppy lapping at the heels of a god he couldn't hope to be worthy of serving, crying over everything.

It was also during his time desperately overcoming the trials to become a Supreme, aka what Hua Cheng also considers a shameful part of himself. The moment Xie Lian learns about the divine statues and murals, Hua Cheng jumps to suggest they be destroyed, and had tried as hard as he could to make sure they weren't discovered at all.

He changed himself into a suave, calm, collected, overpowered loyal servant to Xie Lian after 800 years, thinking that his prior exploits as a human and as a Wrath were too erratic and disrespectful and not at all how he wanted to be. He would indeed still do everything that Xie Lian wants of him, but now he's actually confident he could do it - so confident that he would even follow Xie Lian's heart when it doesn't seem like the right thing to do or even endangers him. No more hiding behind a mask as Wuming or lying about being his follower. He looks down upon who he used to be: all the same devotion, but not enough power, experience, or confidence to actually do anything RIGHT.

It's no wonder that Hua Cheng not only says no when Eming first wants a pet, but also repeatedly whacks Eming when the blade gets too needy. He thinks Eming's needy behavior (a reminder of his own personality back in the day) is as shameful as the past he worked desperately to leave behind. When he would have broken out into tears just trying to be noticed, when he was desperate for love and clung to Xie Lian when he first showed him kindness.

Eming is willing to show emotion and cry and become erratic even when Hua Cheng himself is keeping a surface-level calmness or focus. Is it any wonder why Hua Cheng doesn't want Xie Lian to see that he still feels emotions and weakness when he dedicated himself to being strong enough to protect Xie Lian, eliminate all his threats, get him whatever he wanted, so that he never had to suffer again?

Eming's sentience is limited, so the blade never evolves or changes or gets over its emotions by processing them over time. Hua Cheng himself was able to change into the person he wanted to be - or who he thought Xie Lian would need and like better - but Eming could never take the same steps. It remains as utterly devoted to Xie Lian and simple-minded as the moment it was born.

It just also happens to be a super deadly saber on the side nbd

#e ming #eming #tian guan ci fu #tgcf #tgcf spoilers #hua cheng #hualian #xie lian #heaven official's blessing

[angelltheninth]

Hua Cheng Lets You Take His Eye-Patch Off

Pairing: Hua Cheng x Reader

Tags: fluff, teasing, flirting, soothing kisses, vulnerability, sharing a bed

A/N: Binged the last of s1 just before the new one dropped!

Hua Chen rarely lets anyone see his true form unless he plans to either and them or fuck them

Luckily he took a liking to you but there was no fucking happening yet, so you were a little confused

By his reputation alone, you expected him to be handsome, but cold, "Hopefully I can dispell such romors of me. I assure you I'm quite the passionate man."

Often he kissed your hand upon your meeting and tended to your every need, looked away when you changed for bed and kept a respectable distance even while sleeping

This was not without flirtation, every day he would compliment you, kiss your neck, nuzzle his nose against your cheek, send you letters

Letters weren't written by him due to his writing not being the best but it was the words that made your heart skip a beat

You were sure that Hua Chen charished you but you didn't realize just how much until he asked you to untie his eyepatch

"No harm in letting you see me when I've already seen all of you. Heh, yes, as you know I am no saint. I'm afraid I've stolen a glance or two." He leans in close to you on the bed, his hair falling acrosd his back, one shoulder bare as the robe slipped off, "Only fair that you see all of me."

There was a tremble in his voice, he may have looked calm but he was very afraid of what you might say

You still wanted him to be able to back out so you started by running your fingers through his hair when you sat behind him

When your fingers took hold of the strings and pulled you heard an audible whimper, followed by a shaky exhail of breath, "I'm fine. It's been a long time since someone did this for me. In fact I can't even remember when." Hua Cheng turned to you slowly

His hair fell over his eye, obscuring it from view and he made no effort to move it

You realized that he was waiting for you to do it, only when you did his eyes shut tight, body shaking, hands in his lap

Starting at his neck you aimed your kisses higher and higher, lingering touch, feeling him gasp at each one

Comfort was your goal but he was still being very cute right now

Your hand moved his hair out of the way before you kissed his brow, finally getting him to open his eyes

Both were beatiful in your opinion, even if one was an empty void, you knew it's location, it's purpouse

The next kiss was on his lips which gave Hua Cheng the initiative he needed to respond in kind, sighing with relief that you're aceepting him as he is

Perhaps now would be a good time to take your relationship to the next level, "I did promise that you would see all of me didn't I?"

#mxtx x y/n #mxtx x you #mxtx x reader #tgcf x you #tgcf x y/n #tgcf x reader #hua cheng x reader #hua cheng x you #hua cheng x y/n #heaven official's blessing #hua cheng #tian guan ci fu #tgcf

[ladydostoevsky]

Idk of request are still opens, but if no you can just ignore this haha.

Sooo can you do an escenario of hua cheng x male!reader x xie lian where the reader was the best friend of xie lian before xian le fell and like with the power of character backstory they knew hua cheng aswell.

That was like the context, but my request is like:

After the 800 years of previous events, xie lian, hua cheng and the reader meet again at the banyue arc(with xie lian meeting hua cheng fisrt ofc) and when they saw the reader (who ill suppose died by saving xie lian from something and u know, ✨️drama✨️) they can't belive it cus his soul should have been banished and welp. After the end of the thing (timeskip) when the reader tries to leave after helping em' with the mission, both xie lian and hua chen stop him from doing so. But why did M/N tried to leave as fast as possible? Hoho, well let's say he accidentaly inhaled a flowers scent wich had an strong afrodasic and didn't want to make a fool of himself in front of his dearest friends and tried to leave (failling miserably) and we all know both of our bois are so fricking touch starved at this point and here is where the smut makes it's presentation. (idk much about that so u can just wite it however you'd like, but reader should be the bottom oh yes hahah)

ik its a large request so if its too much just ignore me haha 😭.

A tender touch🌺

Xie Lian & Hua Cheng x m!reader

Warnings: nsfw, 18+, novel and donghua spoilers, little bit violence, breeding, m!sex

A/N: I’m not the best when it comes to smut, especially when it’s threesome so warning, this is really cringe🥲 but I hope you like it

The floor of the temple was icy, freezing, just like the atmosphere which surrounded them. Fear seeped through y/n, who was kneeling on the cold ground, before the altar of a temple on which Xie Lian was chained on. He didn’t know if he was more afraid of the creature, the monster with white half crying-smiling mask or this thing hurting Xie Lian - his prince, his best friend, his beloved. The latter. In his hand, was the little ghostfire who tried to keep them out of the temple and warn them. y/n felt pity for it.

He bowed down, his forehead touching the ground. ‘’Please. I beg you. Take me. Have mercy on His Highness. Whatever you plan to do, please take me instead of him.’’ y/n straightened himself a little and looked with teary eyes towards the white clothed creature, pleading, ‘’I beg you… punish me for whatever he has done,’’ he whispered desperately. ‘’Y/N! STOP IT! I FORBID YOU TO SAY ANOTHER WORD. YOU WILL NOT SACRIFICE YOURSELF FOR ME!’’ Xie Lian screamed. The creature laughed out loud, slowly moving towards yn, like a predator. ‘’DON’T YOU DARE TOUCH HIM, YOU FUCKER. LEAVE HIM OUT OF THIS.’’ The Crown Prince screamed but to no avail, the creature ignored him. y/n gulped as he got closer. ‘’My my, are you a brave one,’’ he stopped right in front of him and crouched down to be on the same eye level, the little ghost still in his hand, ‘’and so stupid. Willing to give your life for someone else's sins and choices.’’

y/n eyes widened slightly after the realization. He whispered to the mask in front of him, ‘’kill me instead then.’’ The little fire started to glow even more, little sounds coming from it. ‘’Oh I will. Let’s see what face His Highness will make after it.’’ The next second Fang Xin pierced through y/n.

y/n looked at the ground, in shame and sadness. He didn’t dare to look His Highness in the eyes, or even San Lang, who he knew was actually Hua Cheng. ‘’I don’t understand…how?’’ The Crown Prince was in shock, in disbelief. Xie Lian saw his best friend being killed in front of his eyes by White No-Face. Same as Xie Lian, Hua Cheng felt some kind of betrayal and hurt, he - being a little pitiful and weak ghostfire - also was in that temple and saw everything. If he really somehow survived, why didn’t he come looking for His Highness? It has been 800 years…

‘’Tell me, how are you here? What happened to you?’’ Xie Lian asked, his earlier shock turning into a sadness. y/n looked at San Lang then Xie Lian. ‘’Did you really think he would have let me die? That easily? My life was worse than hell, a constant torture after that night.’’ He looked away from them, towards the darkness of the cave. All hidden and locked up memories coming back to him. ‘’He did that only to torment and manipulate you. And me.’’ Xie Lian let out a sight he realized he was holding. Hua Cheng’s eyes were full of sorrow. They looked at each other then back to y/n.

He looked at Xie Lian, ‘’I’m sorry, Your Highness. After that, I didn’t dare to show my face anymore. Not like the monster would have let me. I was afraid. I hated myself for I couldn’t save you in the end. I blame myself till this day. You had to go through so much because I was too weak to protect you.’’ Hua Cheng’s dead heart warmed in that moment. After all, he felt the exact same way. He blamed himself for not protecting the two when they needed it the most. But he is here now, and he will protect them for eternity, from now on.

‘’Can you forgive me, Your Highness? I understand if you don’t want to or-’’ Xie Lian gave a sad smile and moved closer to y/n. ‘’There is nothing to forgive. You did nothing wrong. It was never your fault, it was White No-Face who did this. I just wish you hadn't been there. I’m sorry you had to go through this, because of me.’’ The prince leaned closer and hugged his former friend. It took the man by surprise but gladly accepted it. The warmth of his best friend being so foreign to him. He locked eyes with San Lang who looked at him with sadness. y/n gave him a sweet smile of reassurance, for which the Ghost King smiled back.

After that the three stuck together the whole mission. y/n and San Lang got to know each other more, surprisingly they clicked immediately. Hua Cheng and Xie Lian still didn’t know how y/n survived that night. He wasn’t a god, neither a ghost so what was he? But they understood that it was not their business if y/n didn’t want to tell them.

Currently, everyone was looking for the Banyue Fern to use as an antidote for the scorpion-tailed snake’s venom. Unfortunately, y/n had strayed too far from the others. He realized it when he found flowers that shouldn’t be growing in a desert. They were bright, colorful and smelled so nicely. They were tempting. They were so very familiar…

NO! The land of the tender! They were the tender flowers that contained strong aphrodisiacs. The moment he realized he backed off. Thank the heavens that these flowers didn’t speak or he would have surely done something he couldn’t even imagine. He ran back to the others, hoping that the aphrodisiac didn’t make it to his system.

After all the hell was over and the mission completed, Earth Master Ming Yi and Wind Master Shi Qingxuan came to take Pei Xiu back to heaven realm. The gods exchanged a few words. Beside Hua Cheng, y/n felt ill. His body temperature had risen after the tender flowers. He was sweating and his knees felt weak. He holds one hand in front of his lower face to hide his reddened face and to seal his mouth. Hua Cheng turned to him, concerned, ‘’y/n? Is everything alright? You seem… sick.’’ Only thing he could do was nod his head and turn away from him.

With every passing second he could feel more sweat forming on his skin, he wanted to let out sounds he thought he could never form. He felt a painful pulsing between his legs. Seeing Xie Lian and Hua Cheng next to him didn’t help, it made it all worse. Slowly, he started to back off but Hua Cheng grabbed his forearm before he could escape. Xie Lian walked over to them. ‘’y/n, what’s wrong?’’ He walked to him and put his palm on his forehead to feel his temperature. ‘’You are burning! You must have a fewer.’’ Feeling his prince’s touch he put his hand over his mouth even harder. He let out weird noises that neither of the two understood. y/n shook his head. ‘’Gege, we have to get him somewhere else. I don’t think it’s sickness.’’

The two brought y/n to an old empty house of Banyue. They put him on the floor, making him sit against a wall. Only sound that was heard was y/n’s constant breathing. With shaky hands he tried to open his robe. ‘’Y-you two… you h-have to leave.’’ Xie Lian was first to react. He crouched down in front of him, ‘’we will not. Tell us what happened?’’

He helped y/n and tore the robe’s front open so he could get some cold air. His fingers brushed against y/n’s hot skin which made him let out a little whine. Xie Lian’s breath stuck, but he didn’t back off. ‘’T-the flowers, t-tender…’’ the arousal he felt made it hard to talk. San Lang came next to Xie Lian and put his hand on y/n’s chest, feeling his fast heartbeat. y/n wrapped his fingers around San Lang’s wrist, not wanting him to pull away.

‘’That’s what I thought,’’ Hua Cheng whispered, mostly to himself. ‘’Please…’’ y/n’s other hand made it to his hard erection. His hand was quickly replaced with Xie Lian’s, ‘’you helped us today so well, it’s only fair if we help you now.’’ The prince and the Ghost King gave a knowing smile to each other. Hua Cheng tore the whole robe to shreds, freeing the whole body beneath it free to the cold air of Banyue. Xie Lian leaned in and kissed his old friend, his- no- their beloved.

His tongue taking the lead and exploring every corner he could find. His fingers ran delicately over y/n soft pink nipples. The man didn’t see the point to hold back anymore and let out all the sounds that were stuck in his throat. Hua Cheng also leaned closer and wrapped his fingers around y/n’s precum leaking cock. He slightly pressed on to the pink tip which made y/n whine against Xie Lian’s mouth.

‘’Don’t worry, love. We will take good care of you,’’ whispered Hua Cheng. Xie Lian leaned back, a string of saliva connecting the two. ‘’Have I ever told you how beautiful you are, y/n?’’ Xie Lian said while taking off his white robe. Hua Cheng followed and his red clothing was thrown somewhere he could care less. This time Xie Lian took y/n's pulsing cock and started slowly moving his hand up and down. San Lang latched his mouth onto y/n’s sensitive nipple, kissing and teasing it. y/n moaned their names, feeling himself nearing. ‘’X-Xie Lian…nghh San L-Lang, I’m g-gonna cum.’’ Xie Lian’s other hand played with y/n’s smooth hair, ’’cum for us, dear.’’ He came without a second thought.

The Crown Prince gave him a sweet, loving smile, pecked his darling’s soft lips and started moving towards his abdomen, leaving butterfly kisses behind. He took all of y/n in his mouth, swallowing his cum in the process. With his experience in sword swallowing in the past it wasn’t very hard. He had no gag reflex.

While Xie Lian was busy with y/n’s cock, San Lang used his own precum and saliva as a lube and smeared it on his own hard cock. y/n felt his second orgasm coming. In ecstasy he grabbed Xie Lian’s hair, not wanting him to pull away. ‘’Y-your Highness…mm,’’ The prince started to run his fingers gently across y/n’s body. Being so hot, bothered and sensitive, this act threw him over the edge again and he came deep into Xie Lian’s mouth. ‘’Xie Lian…’’ he breathed out a whisper, barely hearable. ‘’Such a good boy, aren’t you? So good for us,’’ Hua Cheng teased with his low voice. The man beneath let out a desperate whine, knowing what’s coming next. The black haired king leaned closer, giving him a gentle kiss on his forehead and lips. ‘’I’ll try to be gentle.’’ Xie Lian went to y/n’s neck and started to suck marks into his skin.

San Lang positioned himself in front of y/n’s unprepared entrance and slowly entered. Feeling soft and thigh walls around him he let out a grunt, entering inch by inch. y/n let out loud cries from the pain. Tears started to drip down from the corners of his eyes. Xie Lian shushed him, assuring that everything was alright. He kissed the tears away and started to abuse his mouth with his tongue again. When Hua Cheng was finally all in, and confirmed that y/n wasn’t uncomfortable anymore, he started moving his hips. At the beginning it was slow and gentle, as time went by he started to speed up. Rocking in and out like an animal in heat.

He pulled y/n’s legs more towards him to hit that one spot that surely made his darling lose it. y/n grabbed onto Xie Lian to steady himself. ‘’Gods y/n…’’ San Lang moaned, feeling his peak coming. He pressed y/n into a mating position, to look him into his beautiful tear stained eyes while he cums deep into his gore. y/n screamed, feeling overstimulated. ‘’S-San L-Lang… p-please,’’ with a few more pumps he came inside.

After a few moments he pulled out, panting. Feeling himself coming down from his high. He watched how some of his seed tried to come out of y/n. He pushed it back inside with his fingers, smiling, feeling some kind of pride. ‘’You are so beautiful like this. Now my beloved…’’ Xie Lian moved away from his side and placed himself on top of y/n. He already knew that it was going to be a long night.

#heaven official's blessing #danmei #x reader #tgcf x male reader #tgcf #tgcf fanfic #tgcf x reader #mxtx tgcf #x male reader #hua cheng #hua cheng x reader #xie lian x male reader #xie lian #xie lian x reader #hua cheng x male reader #mxtx x reader #mxtx #hualian #hualian x reader #smut #tgcf smut #tgcf spoilers

[mikaela-the-slut-expert]

Tea Shop

Xie Lian x M!reader x Hua Cheng

Y'all I've been thinking for ages how to make a two person scene a three person scene. What am I supposed to do, make two brides??? So if you have any ideas come bless me with them. 🫵🙃

Previous part: God of Song's second ascension

_____________________________________________

After you guide Xie Lian carefully out of the heavens so that he doesn't kill himself by accident . It takes a day to get to a tea shop. It could've taken longer, like three days but you saved yourselves sometimes. Since you can actually have spiritual prowess. The only reason it wasn't any quicker is because Xie Lian demanded you to not overwork yourself and use too much mana.

Xie Lian has always looked simple enough with plain, white robes. You on the other hand have to take on an 'avatar' you don't need anyone noticing you either. So you also dawn white robes, but of course a veil stays on.

You and Xie Lian sit at a table in the corner of the tea shop and you sit across from him. The two of you look over the scroll Ling Wen has given you... it isn't very helpful, but that's alright.

Both yours and Xie Lian's attention is captured by a silver butterfly. It flies across both of you and out the window. When you turn your head your heart almost drops out of your throat. Xie Lian is surprised as well to see two men sitting by you. One sat by you and the other sat by Xie Lian. There's only so much room on these benches after all.

You grimace at their presence. It's not hard to read the spiritual energy from them, they're obvious officials. You glare at them, Xie Lian is much kinder, "Oh uh who are you guys..?"

"Fu Yao" the one by you replies.

"Nan Feng" the one by Xie Lian replies.

You've never side eyed someone so hard in your endless years of life. At the 'Fu Yao' person beside you.

Ling Wen transmits a message to the two of you that they're volunteer officials. You huff inwardly. There's no way anyone from the upper court would offer their deputies from the middle court to help them.

That's because they aren't from the middle court though.

"Well I thank you for your help" Xie Lian says, quickly accepting their new guests.

"Which highnesses sent you?" You ask with narrowed eyes. You know they aren't deputies. Who are you to stress Xie Lian out more though, he already looks horrified when the officials answer his question.

"The palace of Nan Yang"

"The palace of Xuan Zhen"

"..."

Your glare only grows sharper. You've no clue why Mu Qing out of all people would want to help. You also have no idea why he would sit next to you of all people.

"Oh did your generals send you?" Xie Lian asks with a mouthful of tea.

"They didn't know we were coming" they answered in unison.

Xie Lian ponders for a moment, but you're quick to make the two squirm. Just because you can.

"Two officials from the lower court shouldn't go off without permission no? The trouble surely isn't worth it." Your eyes crinkle, as you smile at the two.

Lower court used to be what's now called the middle court. It was changed when whiny officials started complaining it made them seem trivial compared to officials in the upper court. To them an apparent mark to their honor. To you a pathetic attempt to seem important.

"..."

"..."

Your smile widens under your veil when they don't answer. What are they going to say? Their lack of words don't stop Fu Yao from glaring at you or from making Nan Feng squirm in his spot.

Xie Lian ever so kindly saves them, "Well do you know who we are?"

"You're his royal highness the crown prince and he's general /n"

"You're the justice of the mortal realm, the center of the world"

Mu Qing does not regard you at all and rolls his eyes when he answers.

Xie Lian chokes on his tea, "Did he just roll his eyes?"

" He did, tell him to scram" you and Nan Feng say together.

"Any official who was available was welcome to help so who are you to tell me to scram?" Fu Yao sneered. Again his words are only pointed at Nan Feng, not you.

"Ah well more help is better than none right?" Xie Lian smiles.

You sigh and all four of you go over the scroll together.

**********************************************************

Eventually it begins to get dark and all of you will need to find a place to sleep. Long ago, Xie Lian and you would sleep in the streets or on the ground. You put a stop to that. After becoming a powerful enough ghost and god you entreated yourself to your own palace. Not in the heavens though, you chose for it to be in the ghost realm. This was a while before Crimson Rain took over ghost city

Your palace just happened to be in close proximity to it and eventually ghosts started inhabiting themselves. Now all three realms call your palace, "The city of the lost". It's rarely talked about because well it's "lost" not many people find it, your city also doesn't cause trouble. It's just kinda there.

That is where you would usually go though but now you have two more officials with you and you'll be damned if you bring Mu Qing into your city.

"Why don't we find a temple of Nan Yang? I'm sure there's one around." You say, standing next to Xie Lian.

The four of you do eventually find one, it's a little run down but it's good enough. Your attention is dragged away when you notice a girl praying. A girl praying in a temple of Nan Yang? Makes you want to give your heart out.

You can't resist your temptations when Xie Lian asks why the temple has so many women worshippers. It's unusual for a martial god's temple after all. While Nan Feng feels the need to block the question, Fu Yao indulges it.

"I know what you want to ask, you want to ask why there's so many female worshippers right?"

You hold the urge to cackle, and lean in close to Xie Lian's ear. You happily ignore the two officials's glares. You whisper to him, "Xie Lian many women worship Nan Yang's temple so in the future their man will have... Good assets" you giggle into his ear.

For a martial god it isn't normal for many women to pray in their temples. Xie Lian was an exception because he was more of a ' feminine god ' depicted with lotus flowers. You were an exception because of femininity and because you're the God of song. The arts, like dance, drawing, and song were more partaken by women than men. Most martial gods don't have femininity, so rare for women's prayers.

You stay close to Xie Lian's side as Fu Yao judges the poor girl to pieces, calling her ugly. Xie Lian sighs, "You can't talk about girls like that Fu Yao" but you can tell Xie Lian is thinking the same thing. You snicker placing a hand on your hip.

Xie Lian notices a slash in the girl's dress, he tries to offer her his outer robe so that she can cover herself but of course she freaks out. She moves to slap Xie Lian but why would you just stand there? You grab her wrist and throw her to the side. 'throw' is an overstatement it was truly a nudge.

Once Xie Lian tells her she has a slash in her dress she finally accepts his robe and then runs out of the Temple.

Now Xie Lian's undressed. Bandages over his chest, and neck can be seen now. Nan Feng and Fu Yao stare in quiet shock. You on the other stare in admiration. Xie Lian is undeniably beautiful. You chuckle softly and remove your outer robe, unlike Xie Lian you have an under robe on. You move it over Xie Lian's shoulders.

"Should've let her run out with the slash in her dress. It's just like you to give the clothes off your back, A-Lian" you hum softly. Xie Lian smiles in thanks and puts on your robe.

He does look very pretty especially in your clothes.

**********************************************************

The next day all four of you go back to the tea shop. You aren't paying attention to the conversation about Mount Yunjin. You'd much rather pay attention to Wèizhī. The two birds hop around on the table and chirp away.

You decided to bring them today, simply because they bring you peace of mind. Of course they aren't only birds they're much more than that. Anyone would know if they're close to you, and they've seen the earring hiding behind your long hair.

Right now they're birds though and you'd much rather chirp away with the Magpies then pretend to chat with the officials next to you.

It isn't until loud drums and a gathered crowd outside has all four of you going outside to check it out. A line of men outside carrying a sedan is what the crowd is gathered for. As for the last inside the sedan... She looks like her neck has been snapped. It proves so when a fake head rolls to yours and Xie Lian's feet.

"Ew" you sneer and quickly kick it away. You assume whatever these mortals are doing is connected with the Ghost Groom. You stand to the side however as Wèizhī perches on your shoulders.

"If I was a ghost groom I'd kill the entire group for sending such an ugly thing to me" Fu Yao comments in disgust and rolls his eyes

"Fu Yao you aren't talking like an immortal should." Xie Lian said. "And can you fix that eye-rolling habit of yours? Why don't you set a small target for yourself first and only roll five days or something like that?"

" Set it fifty times a day and it still won't be enough!" Nan Feng yells

"Leave Fu Yao alone, if he rolls them hard enough maybe they'll fall out on their own." You add, with a snicker.

You're interrupted by yelling, one of the men in the group yelling about how it's useless and that they should just charge into Mount Yunjin and dragging an ugly freak out. They all hoot in agreement.

"Ugly Freak? Shopkeeper what are they talking about?" Xie Lian asks

The tea master explains, "The ghost groom has such an ugly appearance that no woman loves it, so he wears bandages around his face. That is why he kidnaps brides."

"Just because his face is wrapped in bandages doesn't mean it's ugly. There's a possibility it's so beautiful that it doesn't want others to see it, so he covers it up" Fu Yao says.

When Fu Yao quickly glances at you, you ignore. This isn't about you and you know that Fu Yao is truly a prick. No need to make something out of nothing.

Your group's attention is caught when the same girl from yesterday begging them not to go do anything dangerous and a man bitching at her because she refused to join them.

You don't care about anyone's affairs unless it has something to do with Xie Lian. You perk in attention when the man pushes the girl roughly, Xie Lian ever so kindly catches her.

Xie Lian uses Rou'ye to smack down the man and then just as quickly hides back in Xie Lian's sleeve. You snicker softly at the slumped man in the dirt. The man is not happy though, he's having none of it. He brandishes his sword and yells that Xie Lian is using wicked magic.

Nan Feng uses his palm to snap a wooden pillar of the tea shop and the group of men run in fear. You side eye Nan Feng. You have mixed opinions on him, but even after so long... "You're still just a brute dummy. You're paying for that" you smile behind the veil and return to Xie Lian's side.

The four of you eventually head back to the temple. With newly acquired information from Ling Wen, you now know that you're going to need a fake bride. However you can't use any mortals since it's a wrath level ghost.

"Well if we can't use women we'll have to use men" said Fu Yao.

"What man is going to want to dress up as a bride?" Nan Feng sighs.

The two suddenly have the same idea and look over to you and Xie Lian.

"???"

"No." You glare.

**********************************************************

Nighttime, the temple of Nan Yang.

You watch as Xie Lian walks from the back in a brides dress, hair down and flowing. You sigh into your hand. It doesn't look like a bride at all

Nan Feng has a more extreme reaction, "Fuck!" He just can't stand to see Xie Lian in a brides dress, it's awful.

Fu Yao scans Xie Lian with a complicated look.

"Do you have something you wish to say?" He asked

Fu Yao nodded "if someone sent a woman like this to me..."

"you'd kill the whole town was it?" You snicker.

"No I'd kill the woman." Fu Yao replied frigidly.

Xie Lian smiles, "Then thank goodness I'm not the woman."

You hum, "A-Lian let me help you, obviously these two have and never will see a bride in their lives" you smile, "not unless it's each other..." You mutter the last part out.

"Excuse me..." The four of them look at the voice. It's the girl from earlier. She has a white robe in her hand and stands with trepidation. "I've washed these clothes to return them to you and thank you so much for yesterday and today"

You see Xie Lian smiles in response but suddenly remembers his attire.

"Are you... if you want I can help?" She asks, no longer shy.

"No miss you misunderstand this isn't a hobby of mine" Xie Lian laughs nervously.

You on the other hand are happy with this development. "Yes! Come help us."

And so that began Xie Lian's makeover. The girl has a sewing kit on her and helps Xie Lian fit into his dress. You do Xie Lian's hair - you do it all the time anyways - and together the two of you do Xie Lian's makeup. After you're finished with him, he looks like a proper bride and a damn good one too. If you weren't a ghost there would be a blush on your cheeks.

__________________________________________________

Guys. If anyone has actually read all of these parts I need y'all to tell me if Y/n is making sense. 😭 Like do we understand the background and his character? Do we understand the b i r d s?

Time gap between here and first glance

First Glance

#hualian #hualian x reader #tgcf headcanon #hua cheng x reader #tgcf #tgcf x male reader #tgcf hua cheng #hua cheng #mu qing #fu yao #nan feng #feng xin #xuan zhen #nan yang #tgcf xie lian #xie lian x reader #xie lian #tgcf hualian #mxtx tgcf

[niki-phoria]

I'D GIVE YOU ALL THE BEST YEARS OF MY LIFE

pairing: xie lian x gn!reader (no pronouns used) genre: fluff/comfort word count: 472

notes: tgcf has taken over my mind so enjoy some (possibly ooc ??) xie lian nightmare comfort lol, set at puqi shrine before xie lian meets hua cheng, title from the 1975 - i couldn't be more in love

your body jolts upright as you’re forcibly ripped out of your dream. you can feel your heart pounding wildly in your chest. shivers run down your spine as you blink a few times, desperately willing your eyes to adjust to the darkness quicker. 

in your disorientation, you quickly scan the room for any danger. the fabric xie lian had hung up as a makeshift door flaps quietly in the wind. a few stray offerings sit on the edge of a nearby table. a stream of moonlight shines in through a small hole in the roof, illuminating the small shrine just enough for you to make out xie lian’s worried figure staring at you. 

“y/n?” his voice is quiet, as if you’re a small animal that will bolt at the first sight of danger. xie lian pauses for a second as if to search for the right words before finally settling on, “are you alright?”

“yeah,” you breathe. you run a shaky hand through your hair, taking a shallow breath. “i’m fine.”

xie lian doesn’t believe you. he’s smart enough to recognize the signs of anxiety. he’s known you for long enough to know exactly which nightmares plague your dreams. even the exhaustion of traveling for hours on foot isn’t enough to starve off the horrors that live inside of your mind. 

xie lian turns, reaching over to grab his boots. “why don’t i go get you some water? it’s been a while since you had anything to drink.” 

“wait,” your hand catches xie lian’s wrist before you can stop yourself. disguised by the darkness of the night, a flush rises to both of your cheeks. your grip around his hand loosens, but you don’t pull away completely. “stay?” your voice is barely a whisper; it’s all but swallowed by the quiet of the night. “please.”

xie lian’s gaze lingers on your hand for a second before he looks up into your eyes once again. your touch ignites goosebumps along his skin. since the fall of xianle, he had long since forgotten what it felt like to be touched with care. 

despite his reservations, xie lian curtly nods. “alright,” he murmurs, settling down on the straw mat beside you once again. 

the ground is uncomfortable, but it’s nothing you’re not used to. xie lian lays facing you; even with your eyes closed you can feel him studying each of your features. you can feel the mat move slightly as he shuffles closer. he props his head against his arm like a makeshift pillow.

you tense momentarily when xie lian reaches over, gingerly resting his hand on top of your own. despite the cold night, his skin is warm. his fingers gently trace along the grooves of your knuckles. “try to get some sleep,” he whispers. “i’ll be here when you wake up.”

if you enjoyed this fic, please consider leaving a like, comment, feedback, or rebloging !!

#xie lian x reader #xie lian x male reader #xie lian fluff #tgcf fluff #tgcf x reader #tgcf x male reader #tgcf xie lian #xie lian imagine #xie lian one shot #xie lian x you #xie lian x y/n #tgcf x you #tgcf x y/n #tgcf imagine #tgcf one shot #heaven official's blessing #heaven official's blessing x reader #heaven official's blessing x male reader #heaven official's blessing fluff #xie lian drabble #xie lian scenario #tgcf drabble #tgcf scenario #tian guan ci fu #x reader #x male reader #male reader #gn reader

[one-flower-one-sword]

"Mu Qing spat out a mouthful of blood and grimaced like he'd been stabbed where it hurt. He replied, spiteful slowly, "Thank goodness I kicked you out. If we'd kept you in the army and let you get closer to His Highness, were you going to watch him all day with your mind full of unspeakable filth? Disgusting!"

Xie Lian's heart squeezed violently. Hua Cheng had his fist raised at first, but it froze in midair when Mu Qing spat the word "disgusting." Veins bulged on the back of his pale hand. The fingers clenched and loosened, loosened then clenched.

A long moment later, Hua Cheng said icily, "For now, I won't argue with you on that point. [...]"

TGCF Volume 6, page 66

Hua Cheng's reaction here is really interesting - and gets more heartbreaking the more you think about it. I think to understand it, we need to take a look at his distorted self-image and his extreme self-blame whenever he feels he's failed Xie Lian in some way. While doing this, I think it's important to keep in mind that we're looking at these things as separate from Hua Cheng's very real - and very earned! - confidence in his knowledge, abilities, and strength. He knows exactly what he can and can't do and has no problems stating those things as facts. That "aggressive, rebellious confidence" as Xie Lian describes it is a defining part of Hua Cheng's personality and who he is as a person, that is then juxtaposed by a surprising fragility in other matters.

Right when we meet Hua Cheng at just ten years old, he's already been abused for so long and so severely that it's made him actively suicidal. He's also already internalized that his right eye is ugly, evidenced by the way that he keeps covering it with his hands when the bandages are removed after he was beaten and dragged through the streets by Qi Rong and his lackeys:

After a pause, Xie Lian smiled softly. "The doctors will see to your wounds now. Don't be afraid and lower your hands, okay?" The child heard but hesitantly shook his head.

"Why not?" Xie Lian asked.

He was silent for a long time before replying, "Ugly."

TGCF Volume 2, page 349

The right side of his face also appears to receive the most abuse when he gets beaten, as Xie Lian realizes when he sees him again a few years later and his bandages come loose after being attacked by a group of other kids:

During that scuffle, the bandages on the boy's head had been partially yanked off, giving a peek on the other half of his face. It was quite swollen, covered in black and blue bruises. It was obvious that these injuries hadn't been caused by the brawl just now. TGCF Volume 3, page 56

It can be deduced that he probably learned very early in his life that if people see his eye, he gets beaten. It seems to be known around the area that he frequently gets beaten up and kicked out by his family, to a point where even kids from wealthier families know about him and refer to him as apparently everyone else does - the "ugly freak":

"Wow, wow, the ugly freak got kicked out again!" Although these kids were all around the same age as the boy in the shrine, every single one of them was taller than him and looked like their parents fed them well. There was probably a holiday coming up, since they were all dressed in new clothes and shoes. [...] "Hey, ugly freak, are you sleeping at the shrine again tonight? Watch out, your mom is gonna beat the crap outta you when you get home!"

TGCF Volume 3, pages 54-55

This post is going to get quite long, so I'm putting the rest under a read more.

Hua Cheng seems to internalize this view of himself as something ugly and revolting to a point where even hundreds of years later, he's wary about showing Xie Lian his true form. At the same time, he seems to long deeply for Xie Lian to see and accept the real him, so he tries to test the waters when Xie Lian asks the "young master" on the ox cart what Hua Cheng looks like :

The youth laughed. "Who knows? But he's blind in one eye." He pointed to his right eye. "This one."

That was nothing outrageous. Xie Lian recalled one of the many backstory versions where Hua Cheng wore a black eyepatch to hide that missing eye and asked, "Do you know what happened to that eye?"

"That's a question everyone wants the answer to," the youth replied. Others asked because they wanted to know what Hua Cheng's weakness was, but Xie Lian asked purely out of curiosity. He didn't say anything, and the youth continued, "He dug it out himself."

TGCF Volume 1, page 175

And then again after they're back from Banyue:

Hua Cheng didn't turn around but continued to stare at the dilapidated ceiling of the shrine, and Xie Lian could only see this handsome young man's left profile. Hua Cheng said softly, "If I was ugly."

"Huh?" Xie Lian gaped.

Hua Cheng finally turned his head slightly. "If my true appearance is ugly, would you still want to see it?"

Xie Lian was taken aback. "Is it? Although there's no real reason, I never thought your true appearance would be too horrible-looking."

"Who knows?" Hua Cheng said, half-jokingly. "What if I'm discolored, disfigured, ugly, monstrous, and horrible. What will you do?"

At first, Xie Lian thought this line of inquiry was rather fascinating. So the overlord of the Ghost Realm, the one called the devil incarnate and feared by all in the heavens, would care about his looks? But when he thought about it deeply, he didn't think it was very funny anymore. He vaguely recalled, in one of the many rumored backstories of Hua Cheng, one said that he was a disfigured child from birth, or something along those lines. If that was true, then he must've grown up discriminated against by others. Maybe that was why he was particularly sensitive about his appearance.

TGCF Volume 1, pages 369-370

This quote is really long but I wanted to include all of it because Xie Lian's realization here is very important - Hua Cheng's issues don't stem from vanity but from being othered and subsequently abused because of his unusual red right eye. The society they're in shows many instances of ableism, racism, xenophobia and classism, where any attempted change to the status quo as well as anything that goes against "the norm" is regarded with instant suspicion and rejection - as Pei Ming puts it once, "Where there is abnormality, there is evil."

When he finally does show Xie Lian his true form, Hua Cheng is anxious about it up until Xie Lian remarks that it doesn't look bad:

Xie Lian examined him as he followed, smiling. "So, this is your real appearance." Hua Cheng paused slightly in his step. Maybe it was his imagination, but Hua Cheng's shoulders seemed to stiffen for a flash of a second. The moment didn't last, and Hua Cheng responded naturally. "I did say that the next time we met, I would greet you with my real appearance."

Xie Lian grinned and said earnestly, "Not bad." Xie Lian's tone wasn't teasing or consoling, the words were simply said. Hua Cheng gave a small smile back, and this time, it was genuinely relaxed.

TGCF Volume 2, page 103

Xie Lian's acceptance of his true form seems to have reassured Hua Cheng enough that he appears in it a lot more regularly after that, though it's always with the place where his right eye used to be carefully covered. He's also still too afraid to tell Xie Lian about their shared past and who he really is, and even more afraid to confess his feelings because he fears that then Xie Lian will no longer look at him with acceptance and instead see Hua Cheng as this:

He pointed at a little blood-red person on the wall. Right next to it, there were a bunch of messy, twisted, indiscernible characters - it looked like they had been written in a state of delirium or scrawled to vent the author's feeling during a period of extreme suffering. Based on those characters, Xie Lian could guess that the little blood-red person painted there was Hua Cheng himself, but for some unknown reason he had depicted himself as extremely ugly and disfigured.

[...] There was an ugly little blood-red figure at the bottom of the mural. It cupped a small flower in its hands, which it was offering to the statue.

TGCF Volume 6, pages 52-55

Hua Cheng having internalized this distorted "ugly freak" image of himself isn't the only thing tripping him up though. Every time he can't prevent Xie Lian from getting hurt or can't help him, Hua Cheng takes it as a personal failure on his part and immediately seeks to punish himself. Be that by lashing out at Eming, which is essentially an extension of himself:

Xie Lian stroked Eming. "Fangxin is still better suited." Fangxin remained motionless. Eming had tried so enthusiastically to offer itself up but was so blatantly rejected. It hopped back to Hua Cheng's side, weeping. Hua Cheng didn't spare it a single look before he smacked it with a backhand slap. "What are you crying about? This happened because you're useless! Trash!"

TGCF Volume 5, page 120

Or denying himself to touch Xie Lian, like after Xie Lian got accidentally hurt by Eming (an especially cruel punishment given that Hua Cheng had longed for Xie Lian for hundreds of years):

Hua Cheng, however, let go of his hand. "Don't mind them," he said to Xie Lian. "Come with me." His voice was low, the emotion behind it hard to discern. Yet the way he let go of Xie Lian's wrist was swift, almost like he'd been shaken off.

TGCF Volume 2, page 192

Repeatedly witnessing Xie Lian be brutalized and violated while he didn't yet have the power to stop it from happening traumatized Hua Cheng deeply and left him with a wrathful anger that he wields not only against those who wronged Xie Lian but also against himself for any and all perceived failures.

Now, what does all of this have to do with the quote that started it all? In it, Mu Qing accuses Hua Cheng that if they'd have kept him in the army, he would have kept watching Xie Lian "with his mind full of unspeakable filth! Disgusting!" (the fact that he describes a man having romantic feelings and sexual desires for another man in such a way comes off as extremely homophobic of course but that's not the topic of this post)

Hua Cheng, who hates Mu Qing deeply and with good reason, then not only stops his assault but actually goes on to say that he won't argue with him on that point for now. His inner conflict shows in the repeated clenching and loosening of the fingers in his fist - he's extremely angry and would usually never agree with Mu Qing, yet finds himself unable to deny his words. It's noticeable also that it's the "disgusting" that makes him freeze up.

So why would Hua Cheng, someone usually so confident and so unapologetically himself, concede this point to Mu Qing, someone he hates and who's just been viciously insulting him? I would argue that there are two possible reasons.

First of, if viewed through the lens of everything we reviewed in this post, Hua Cheng feels like he "can't argue" on this because he does desire Xie Lian and always has - while at the same time knowing that he, an ugly disfigured other that has repeatedly failed at keeping the God he's pledged his existence to safe from harm, could never be good enough to deserve being with said God like that.

Second of all, as I analyzed in my previous post, Hua Cheng's reaction to Xie Lian having seen the statues and murals is profound fear and heartbreak because he's so sure Xie Lian must now be scared of and disgusted by him. At this point in the story, Hua Cheng is still utterly convinced that his feelings aren't requited, which is something he can deal with. But what he can't bear is the prospect of his feelings, his very devotion, causing Xie Lian pain. Failing to keep Xie Lian safe from being harmed by others is bad enough, but hurting Xie Lian himself? Unforgivable. His fear that his desire for Xie Lian will be upsetting to him is so strong that even after the confession scene, his immediate reaction to Xie Lian even just mentioning the murals is "I'll go destroy them" (Volume 6, page 88), and he doesn't calm down until Xie Lian reassures them that he only saw a few of them and won't look at the others if Hua Cheng doesn't want him to.

#tgcf #rereading tgcf #hualian #hua cheng #i almost didn't post this despite how much work it was #because i kept second-guessing myself and overthinking everything #so now I'm just gonna throw it out there and hope for the best haha

[dumbkatsu]

Hi! Could you please do hualian (together or separate) with a mortal s/o who has reincarnated? Thank you!!! (I don't normally do request like this so I'm kinda nervous)

Hey anon! I'm so sorry I'm only responding to you now. Thank you so much for waiting! I really like this prompt so I'll try my best. Hope you like it!

(I'll do a mix of both here. from personal pov to hc of them together)

I was listening to this playlist video on yt while writing

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Xie Lian saw you he couldn't believe it. He thought it was just some spirit messing with him. But no it was you. It was you.

Time stood still while flashbacks of memories and feelings you shared styarted flooding back in. From the joyous times where everything seemed right to the unbearable grief, rage and sorrow from your loss. By the time he'd recovered you had already disappeared into the crowd.

He wandered around for a while until he heard the voice of his beloved in the comunication array. "Dianxia where are you? Did you forget about our date in Yu Jun mountain for our 50th anniversary. I'm counting on your wonderfull cooking." "Ah yes San Lang I'm on my way!"

Xie Lian arrived and Hua Cheng was quick to greet him with a peck on the lips. A cheeky gesture that held an insurmountable of love. "Gege everything's ready and this tine I'll make sure we won't have any interruptions" "Hmm" Xie Lian was looking at the horizon deep in thought. "Gege are you alright? You seem distant. What happened today?"

"I saw them" xie lian blurted

"Who?" San Lang inquired

"Y/N san lang."

"..."

" I-I couldn't believe it myself either but- "

"No."

"What?"

"No, that's impossible they're dead" Hua chengs face was deadpanned. Showing no emotion "San Lang it's true I saw them today at the market"

"No gege they're dead I saw them die"

It was brutal and ice-cold. Xie Lian knew this was a touchy subject but he pressed on. "I think they've finally reincarnated" "..." "It's been so long since I've seen their face...seen those eyes-" "Dianxia I'm very sorry but it seems there is trouble in ghost city and it requires my presence. I'm terribly sorry but I must go. I'll meet you in puqi shrine." with that hua cheng disappeared. Xie Lian knew Hua cheng didn't need to go to ghost city, yin yu could basically manage ghost city without hua cheng for a year in the least. He'd seen it. Alas xie lian sighed and he knew hua cheng just needed space.

Hua Cheng didn't even try to find you. With his network already so spread out (yin yu) it was too easy to find out where you were.

You were there. Rigth there.

You were working in a lantern shop. Helping the owner preparing for the grand festival that celebrated the two deities of the village. Hua Cheng could only watch. Fighting the urge to come to you and hold you. To make sure you were real. It took too much of him when he lost you right in his arms. He wanted to protect you. So much so that you'd never leave like that ever again.

But he couldn't. He didn't move and just stared at you until the shop closed.

The walk back to puqi shrine felt longer than usual. With all his turmoil at least he knew with certainty that he could always find comfort in his beloved's arms. Xie Lian swallowed him in a hug as soon as Hua cheng laid down. "So how were they?" "Still has that same selflessness... they were helping the old Tao with the lanterns for tomorrow " "Do you want to meet them?" "I don't know" "I don't know either. To be honest I'm scared." hua cheng turned cupping xie lian's face "It will be alright. We've been through worse."

The day of the festival was hectic. You were filling in for old Tao's nephew that broke his leg two days before the festival and the customers were flooding the humble stall, the craftsmanship and ability of old Tao that translated to his lanterns was indeed mesmerizing. After things slowed down old Tao gave you time off to enjoy the rest of the festival. You went straight to the food stalls and grabbed some "chastity meatballs" you always found the name a bit odd but the tale was that the Scrap‌ ‌Immortal saved a family by offering the ghosts those meatballs and went to a quiet table to enjoy your treat.

After the meal, you got up but tripped on your robes and bumped into a man and spilled some liquor on them. They made quite a fuss and were very angry. As they prepared to strike you, you closed your eyes and prepared for impact. But it never came.

A strong hand pale as chalk was holding tightly onto the wrist of the man. A youth that had such a delicate physique was looking at the man like he was about to kill him.

"Is there a problem here?" Hua cheng inquired.

The look from his threatening gaze was enough to send the man running. As he was out of sight Hua cheng swiftly turned away and started walking. Until he felt a gentle tug on his sleeve "Hey gongzi wait up! I never got the chance to thank you. Can I offer you a meal to repay your act of bravery and kindness?"

The young man turned to you with a face of disgust. But his eyes were of melancholy and hurt.

"Hong'er?"

Hua Cheng breathed in sharply and held his breath. His pupils slightly shrunk. "Ah, I'm sorry I don't know why I called you by that name, forgive me. You do look quite familiar..."

The resurgence of memories foreign to you started flooding back into your mind at a rapid speed. The fog started clouding your mind and you started to lose your balance. But before you could fall you were enveloped by soft white fabric.

"San Lang let´s get them somewhere safe"

That was the last thing you heard before falling into slumber.

Alright! Time for some hc!

Ok so while you were sleeping you regained your memories of them. You saw everything happen before your eyes. How you met Xie Lian and Hong'er when the kingdom of Xianle was vast and prosperous. The memories you made with them. How you died in honger's arms in the war. Everything.

You woke up in a staw mat. The two faces you thought you'd never see again now are looking at you with worry.

Your eyes started to swell up with tears and pulled them both into your embrace while softly crying.

Xie lian closed his eyes and embraced you with so much strength to compensate for all the years filled with regrets and let out a deep sigh.

Hua cheng on the other hand hugged you reluctantly and buried his face on your shoulder, biting his trembling lip to keep himself under control.

He was the first to break the embrace and booked it into the woods. With you following behind for a while.

He stopped at a lake and turned to you.

"I'm sorry"

"For what?"

"For leaving you"

You got closer to hua cheng and just held him there.

"It's ok. I'm here now"

You both stayed there for a while. Sitting in front of the lake embracing each other. Hua cheng with his head on your chest and you carding your fingers through his hair. Xie Lian Joined you shortly.

Now! Obviously they put you up to speed on all the events that happened. And you were incredulous at the adventures and plots they uncovered. But you were glad everything turned out in the end.

Surprisingly, an activity you guys like to do together is fishing

Even though you and hua cheng had to "fish" xie lian out of the sea most of the times.

You help xie lian in collecting trash so you can sell it.

Dude. When I tell you sleeping with them is THE BEST THING

Take that info as you wish 😏

They would introduce you to their friends. Even yushi huang!

Becoming buddies with shi qingxuan was bound to happen.

Thankfully mnq although at the beginning skeptical, accepted you more then hua cheng for xie lian.

Travelling with them to other lands is so enjoyable.

Hua cheng likes to spook you with sneaky kisses on your neck

Giving gifts to each other bcs something reminded you of them is very frequent.

One day after xie lian came from working in the rice fields you were preparing dinner and he sneaked up behind you, covering your eyes "Now who from my two lovely husbands might this be?" you said playfully.

Xie lian's heart skipped a beat.

"It's me dear" he said pecking your cheek lovingly.

He then took your hand stroking it lovingly and and sliding a grass ring in your finger.

"I did that with a couple of grass I found. I know it's nothing compared to san lang's elaborate rings but-" he was interrupted with your kiss.

"I love it A-lian"

#hua cheng #katsu writes #tgcf fanfic #tgcf #hualian #hualian x reader #tian guan ci fu #mxtx #mxtx novels #heaven's official blessing #heavens official blessing #mxtx characters #gender neutral y/n #gender neutral reader #tgcf x y/n #tgcf x reader #xie lian x you #xie lian x reader #xie lian #hua cheng x reader #hua cheng x you #hua cheng x y/n

[illuminatedferret]

Back Hugs in Tian Guan Ci Fu:

1. Volume 2, "To Ascend is Human, to Fall Is Also Human", pg. 380

The Deputy State Preceptors hurriedly moved aside, and Mu Qing and Feng Xin didn't know whether to act. Seeing that everyone was avoiding him like he was poisonous vermin, the child was shaken and started thrashing even harder, biting and screaming with all his might. "I'm not! I'm not!! I'M NOT!!!" Suddenly, a pair of arms wrapped around his waist, encircling his small form. A voice came from above his head. "You're not. I know you're not. Don't cry, now. I know you're not." The young child pressed his lips closed tightly, grabbing on to the pair of snow-white sleeves around his waist with a desperate grip. He forced himself to hold back for a long time, but in the end, he couldn't. A stream of tears suddenly rolled down from that round black eye, and he burst out into sobs. Xie Lian embraced him from behind and reiterated with conviction, "It's not you. It's not your fault." Honghong-er whipped around, buried his face in Xie Lian's chest, and wailed.

2. Volume 6, "Cave of Ten Thousand Gods- Faces of the Ten Thousand Gods Revealed", pg. 78-79

Hua Cheng inclined his head slightly- it was like he wanted to glance back but was too afraid to look Xie Lian in the eye. Only the two streaks of blood on his cheek could be seen. "Your Highness, would you please... not tell me?" His voice cracked as he asked. "I'm sorry," Xie Lian said. "Something like this has to be made clear." Hua Cheng didn't need to breathe, but he still sucked in a deep breath. Although his face was awfully pale, he still smiled and replied courteously, "That's true. It's for the best." He was like a criminal on death row, waiting for his sentence. He closed his eye. Yet his eye didn't remain closed for long- soon it snapped open once more as a pair of arms suddenly circled him from behind and caught him in a forceful embrace. Xie Lian buried his face in Hua Cheng's back, but he didn't speak either. Though nothing was said, it was enough. It was a long time before Xie Lian felt the man he was hugging turn around. Hua Cheng fervently returned the embrace, engulfing Xie Lian in his arms.

3. Volume 6, "Warm Words of a Cold Ghost Beguile the Lost Child", pg. 203

And then, Xie Lian abruptly froze. White No-Face was hugging him. As Xie Lian tilted and fell to his knees in a slump, he had been captured by a pair of cold, powerful arms that pulled him into a lifeless embrace. At some point, White No-Face had sat down on the ground with him. "So sad, so sad," he murmured. "Your Highness, look. Look at what they've done to you." He whispered softly as he stroked Xie Lian's head, his hands gentle and full of pity. It was like he was petting a wounded puppy or his own gravely ill child on the brink of death. The smiling half of the crying-smiling mask was hidden in the darkness; the moonlight revealed only the half that was crying, looking like genuine tears of grief shed for Xie Lian. Xie Lian remained stiff and curled in on himself, moving no further. The man in white behind him raised his fingers to wipe the filthy mud from Xie Lian's face. He sensed a peculiar kind of loving compassion in the man's touch. Like the embrace of a close friend or a dear family member, it miraculously returned a bit of warmth to Xie Lian's shivering body. He never expected that this sinister creature would be the one to finally offer him compassion.

4. Volume 7, "Dominate Heaven and Earth, Divine Being Breaks Through the Kiln", pg. 19

Xie Lian stood on the giant's palm, one hand pressing the bamboo hat down on his head while the another blocked his face from the snowstorm. The stifling hot air was swept cleanly away, and Xie Lian took a deep breath of fresh, freezing air and shouted: "San Lang-!" The first syllable was still echoing in the air when a pair of arms pulled him into an embrace from behind. Xie Lian stiffened at first, but he relaxed when he looked down and saw red sleeves and silver vambraces circling his waist. A deep, forlorn voice came from above his ear. "...I was about to lose my mind!" Xie Lian hurried to turn around. He cupped his captor's cheeks with his hands and soothed him, "Don't... don't. I'm here... I'm out!" Hua Cheng stood before him. His raven hair was mussed, and there was a lost look in his eye. He gripped the cry-smiling mask Xie Lian hadn't been able to remove no matter how hard he tried, easily tore it off, and tossed it away.

Bonus: Volume 7, "Dominate Heaven and Earth, Divine Being Breaks Through the Kiln", pg. 29-30

Before Xie Lian could finish his thought, the three mountain spirits besieged them together. They surrounded the giant stone statue and pressed firmly inward, trying to crush the state to pieces. The divine state couldn't move a single limb, nor could Xie Lian. He poured all of his strength into getting the statue to push them back, but it didn't budge- and at that point, it was probably powerless to fight back! As he tried to think of another way to escape, he unconsciously took a step backward and bumped into a chest. When he looked back, Hua Cheng grasped his shoulders. "Fight freely! It'll be fine- none of them are a match for you. Nothing in this world can stop you!" His chest was the strongest backing in existence, and in an instant, Xie Lian was brimming with confidence. A refreshing current flowed through his body, and he struck back with all his might.

#tgcf #hua cheng #xie lian #tian guan ci fu #hualian #heaven officials blessing #tgcf meta #heaven official's blessing #illuspeaks #bai wuxiang #god this was a lot of typing #im pretty sure i didn't miss any #i thought mt tonglu opening was one too but it looks like it was a normal hug #the rest of the time theyre on the statue they dont hug #lmk though #tgcf spoilers #???? i suppose. dunno how to tag for donghua watchers

[foxyjoy-art]

"Hua Cheng’s hair was as dark as a crow, and his eyelashes were like lacquer. With both his eyes closed, you couldn’t tell he was missing an eye. His handsome face and naturally hostile expression are dampened by his sleep. Looking at him now, he looks gentle, somehow."

From The Ghost King's Birthday extra.  I love Xie Lian noticing how soft Hua Cheng looks when he's asleep. Big scary calamity not always big scary calamity

#tgcf #heaven official's blessing #hualian #hua cheng #xie lian

[shadowgale96]

Little Moments in S2E2 of Heaven Official's Blessing

San Lang's jewelry sparkling when he's amused (?) by something. This one happens when the ghost gambling bets his daughters life. Reminds me of an anime glasses character's glass shine. this happens several times through the episode and is usually accompanied by a high pitched metallic sound. Like the chime of a sword unsheathing.

The green deer demon girl is adorable. Loving the frog man too.

The wind master genderbending back into a man after being dragged to a ghost spa with the undead women and freaking out about what kinda of products they used on his precious skin.

Xie Lian physically grabbing the wind master to keep him from slipping away to find a mirror. You're on a potentially life or death mission my guy. Bring a compact mirror on your next adventure. Fast thinking on an excuse by Xie Lian though!

This guy having zero points in stealth on a mission that the emperor himself said must be handled discreetly to avoid conflict with the ghost realm.

I love how they both panic, than immediately accept Qianqiu's imminent death at Hua Cheng's hand after he continues to insult the man in his own establishment.

'This place of mine is meant for revelry. If you don't want to take the path to heaven, and break into hell, what else can you do?' Hua Cheng revealing that he knew who they were already. Which isn't surprising because they all stand out enough as is, even if his husband wasn't with them and standing within within eyesight.

Respecting the demons/ghosts for calling out Qianqiu when he said they're lacking humanity and decency. Like 'Bruh, We are literally NOT human. We don't share you're morals or sense of decency at all. Just let us live our lives.' Like, I'm actually in agreement with them.

Getting into an air bender battle, while San Lang is barely flicking his wrist at him. I like how San Lang crushes the table and sends the shards flying at him. Showing he could easily impale Qianqiu before pulling him up at the last moment. It felt like San Lang was trying to teach him. He might have recognized that Qianqiu was young and foolish, but was trying to do good. So San Lang warns him by showing him what could happen if he keeps running his mouth without knowing who he's threatening. That or he decided not to dice Qianqiu because Xie Lian was watching... could go either way

HuaLian having a tender moment looking into each other's eyes while everyone waits downstairs confused.

San Lang 100% offered Qianqiu as a prize to give Xie Lian the chance to help him and Him the chance to hold hands with Xie Lian X'D

We hear that metallic chime noise again here. I think San Lang gave Xie Lian some of is luck here. San Lang also holds Xie Lian's hands on the final round too when Xie Lian rolled two 6's and wins.

Everyone's reaction to San Lang calling Xie Lian 'Gege'. Qingxuan is curious and confused. Qianqiu looks shocked and a little embarrassed. and the grandma Pleakley looking demon's head falls off their body.

San Lang telepathically ordering his assistant to have everyone STFU while he's playing with Xie Lian.

Wind Master Qingxuan pelting Qianqiu with his fan for continuing to run his mouth.

San Lang being completely smitten with Xie Lian as he drops a man from the ceiling

Xie Lian making Qianqiu shut his mouth. Dude BE QUIET! They JUST saved you.

It was incredibly sweet how when San Lang approaches Xie Lian asking for the bet he's owed, Qianqiu steps between them and holds his arm out to protect Xie Lian from who he perceives to be a threat. Qianqiu knows he wouldn't win, but he moves to protect Xie Lian anyway. He's so foolish but so brave.

San Lang would eat stale pringles off the floor if Gege touched them,

Prince being to good for his own good again by telling Xie Lian not to lie to Hua Cheng. Despite himself not liking him at all for treating him like a pinata prize in front of everyone.

This was a very cute episode and there were so many enjoyable moments.

#shi qingxuan #tgcf #lang qianqiu #heaven official's blessing #xie lian #san lang #hua cheng #tian guan ci fu #hualian

[justaghostingon]

Shi Qingxuan and the Quest to Win the Heart of the Hot Ghost

A beefleaf au to soothe my soul since i’ve reached “that” arc in the series

It all begins when He Xuan makes a mistake. A mistake that almost cost him centuries worth of work

He accidentally saves Shi Qingxuan in the wrong form!

He meant to save him as Ming-xiong, the trusted best friend, but due to an unexpected flux from Taicang mountain, he couldn’t control his form, and slipped into his true form.

Fortunately shi Qingxuan did not see him transform, and he was able to quickly get out of sight to change back

Unfortunately, Shi Qingxuan interpreted He Xuan suddenly appearing, saving his life and then leaving as a sign that He Xuan a hero!

His hero!

His Ghost king who wants to be friends just like Hua Cheng and Xie Lian!

But he’s shy! That’s why he ran away! So its Shi Qingxuan’s job to seek him out and thank him.

And treat him to dinner, and go out on the town, and hold his hand… you know, sworn brother stuff!

Shi Qungxuan might have a bit of a crush.

And Ming Yi, good old best friend ming yi, has to listen to all of it. Every excruciating detail, every inch of his face painted with such flowery language he wants to throw up.

Is he jealous of himself? No way! Not a chance! He’s just worried shi Qingxuan will put sowmthing together before its time!

At first ming yi hopes it will go away, a passing fancy, if shi qingxuan never sees he xuan again

But shi Qingxuan is way more determined than ming yi was expecting. He hunted down his layer, and threw his favorite foods down into the sea as an offering

How did he know he xuan’s favorite foods? They were ming yi’s favorites too! Did he know???

He xuan had to throw him off his trail, so he shifted in to his true form, just to reject them and throw him off the scent.

Shi Qingxuan then asks what his favorites are

He xuan panics and says super rare dishes like “cinnamon” and “corn” thinking the fetch quest will deter him.

It does not. Instead shi Qingxuan drags ming yi on a quest to find a whole nother two continents just so he could bring back food for his new “friend”

And of course, he brings his trusty friend ming yi with him. So ming yi has to go on his own impossible quest

He xuan has just about had it with this, ans vows never to appear before shi Qingxuan again, except…

Shi wudu comes to visit him.

Shi wudu wants to recruit him, ming yi, to keep he xuan away from his brother. To stop this disastrous crush before it destroys everything

He even offers to support ming yi’s own endeavors to court shi qungxuan, because clearly that’s ming yi’s goal here.

“This is that is that important to you?” Ming yi asks

“He xuan and shi qingxuan together would be the worst thing to ever happen to me” shi wudu says (not exactly in those words, but its what he xuan hears)

And suddenly he xuan sees a perfect opportunity to hurt shi wudu in a way that is intense and long lasting

Forget physical torture! Let him watch his brother fall for his greatest enemy!!!

So he begins to court shi qingxuan in his true form. Offering gifts of precious treasures from the sea bottom, eatinf his food, giving him the smoldering look that shi qingxuan will not shut up about to ming yi

Only one problem: he xuan is a little too good. He knows all of shi qingxuan’s favorite things from being his best friend, and bringing them up in courtship…that’s kinda creepy

He doesn’t want to come off as creepy. He needs this to go well.

So he tries to dial it down, but he’s not nearly as good as he thinks

Because one day shi qingxuan looks ming yi right in the eyes and goes “you know there’s nothing that would make me love you any less right? He xuan?”

And ming yi/ he xuan, realizes he’s been caught

But he’s also got a boyfriend, and shi wudu’s worst nightmare has come true, ao its all good

#beefleaf #beefleaf au #tgcf #heaven official's blessing #tian guan ci fu #ming yi #he xuan #shi qingxuan #tgcf au #shi wudu

[oshikasa]

return of idol au!! 🌸 idol hc and manager xl

now why would mega rising star hua cheng appoint what seems to be a random manager working with rookies from small agencies to be HIS manager? 🤭

that’s what the tabloids are asking when xie lian starts appearing by his side, showing up to sets and shows with the idol.

a manager isn’t usually speculated over, but fans and spectators have an idea in their brain as to what a suitable manager for hua cheng should look like. maybe a mysterious person wearing an expensive black suit and sunglasses on, communicating with a sleek earpiece while holding a shiny clipboard.

they certainly didn’t expect a man with soft features and slightly oversized clothes to climb out of the black sedan.

as for xie lian, it seems like the world has entirely forgotten about him. he couldn’t blame them; it’s been seven years—a lifetime for popular culture—and a star could rise and fall in the matter of six months if they really tried.

he wasn’t really complaining about being forgotten either. he was already content with his life as a small time manager, even if he’s made some mistakes, and his rookies rarely heeded his existence. and what more could he ask for, now that the beloved idol that caught his eye recently suddenly reached out to *him*, offering him a position as his personal manager.

yes, and to call him “san lang,” too.

(can you tell i’m being maximum corny with this silly ass bl plot. i love it)

#my art #hualian idol au #tgcf idol au #hualian #xie lian #hua cheng #tgcf #tian guan ci fu #heaven official’s blessing #mxtx tgcf #mxtx

[mxtxfanatic]

So @fireandgrimstone and I once had a discussion about how mxtx handles Xie Lian’s crossdressing in tgcf, the gist of which was whether or not it was falling into a gender essentialist trope ("you can always tell when a man is pretending to be a woman!") despite how much of the story tackles a kind of gender fluidity amongst other characters. I said I’d return to it once I reread it again to see how I felt reading those bits in context, so here I am!

The first instance of Xie Lian cross-dressing in the story is during the very first mission: the ghost bride. In order to find out who is kidnapping brides in the area, Xie Lian dresses like a bride to act as bait. When he first gets dressed, this is how he is described:

If you asked anyone to come and see, they would be able to tell with a glance that this was a young boy with a gentle and handsome looking face.

—Chapt. 6: The Ghost Holds a Wedding, The Crown Prince Climbs Onto the Marriage Sedan (Part 1)

You can "tell" that he is still a man, even as he wears the wedding outfit, we are told. However, later on, Little Ying comes and helps fix up Xie Lian so that he looks more like a bride. When next the others see his face, this is how he is described:

How could Xie Lian have known that a girl’s skill in make-up created legendary and mystifying results? Little Ying had only taught him how to fix his eyebrows by drawing them elegantly, how to powder his face with some white powder and how to dot his lips with deep, red rouge. However, if he didn’t speak, Xie Lian looked exactly like a gentle, soft and beautiful young lady.

—Chapt. 9: The Mountain’s Locked Ancient Temple, The Forest of Hanging Corpses (Part One)

A little bit of makeup and reshaping his outfit has transformed Xie Lian from someone you could tell was a man "from a glance" to someone who "looked exactly like a gentle, soft, and beautiful young lady." Even the crowd of men acting as "guards" could not tell Xie Lian was a man, and at no stage in this entire arc is Xie Lian uncomfortable with the act of cross-dressing, at being honestly mistake for being a woman, or Mu Qing and Feng Xin's negative reactions. He is indifferent to it all.

The next major moment we see him cross-dressing is when he is running away from the group of cultivators hunting Hua Cheng:

Behind the curtains sat a woman, her long raven hair hung a loose bun, her neck slender and white with a black choker and a thin silver chain circled around. Her robe was half stripped, revealing her snow white shoulder and a small bit of her back, looking to drape and fall, making one’s face burn and heart race.

When the curtains were pulled, the figure of that woman trembled, covering her face with her sleeves, and whimpered softly, as if she was shocked and terrified by such a sudden and brutish act. Heaven’s Eye instantly dropped the curtains, “I-I-I-I-I-I’M SORRY!!!”

The band of monks and cultivators who followed after Heaven’s Eye all screamed too, “WHAT A SIN, WHAT A SIN!” And they all covered their own eyes. Using this chance, that ‘woman’ whipped around -- who else could it be but Xie Lian? Hua Cheng was sitting in his arms and was only blocked from view by Xie Lian’s body. Although Xie Lian was a man and his shoulders were wider than the average woman, but he only pulled down half of his robe to expose the best angle, creating the perfect effect.

—Chapt. 137: Upon Barren Hills; Rioting the Black Hearted Inn (Part One)

Just as with the makeup and reshaping of the bride outfit, wearing a woman's robe, stripping to show off some skin at an angle, and whimpering a little was enough to trick this group of men into thinking he was a woman. The cultivators are so embarrassed, they run away, but even the passerbies who catch a glimpse of Xie Lian fleeing later in that same outfit have the vague idea that it is a "woman" they're seeing running with a child. Then, in the same outfit, Xie Lian enters an inn and we get this hilarious interaction:

A moment later, the door opened, and several attendants came forward to greet, their faces full of smiles, “Good si...”

They had wanted to say ;good sir’, but seeing the person before them was wearing women’s robes, they changed, “Mis...”

Before the word left their lips, Xie Lian emerged fully from the darkness with Hua Cheng in hand. If there’s a child, then it wasn’t an unmarried lady, so they changed again, “Mada...”

‘Madam’ was still half on their lips and Xie Lian’s face was fully illuminated by the light within the inn. Although this person was dressed in women’s robes and had a gentle countenance, if they must be honest, no matter how they looked it was the face of a man. The attendants all became mute, and it was a good moment before they went back to their original greeting, “Good sir, please come inside.”

—Chapt. 137: Upon Barren Hills; Rioting the Black Hearted Inn (Part One)

None of the attendants are able to tell Xie Lian's gender just from a glance. They rely on context clues (his clothes, the fact that he's with a child, then finally, his bare face) to finally decide that he is a man. Xie Lian is not discomforted by this either, not even to correct them. In fact, the narrative says that he feels no mental or physical discomfort as he is. Mind you, in this world, it is established that gods can and do change their physical forms to match a certain gender, but despite having the power to do so, not only does Xie Lian not take this route but he is still able to successfully appear as a cis woman to both strangers and his closest friends with only the minimalist of effort. Neither he nor the narrative place any expectations on how he "should" feel being man mistaken for a woman, nor do they waste time trying to explain to other characters why he is dressed as one like what one would usually see with this trope. Xie Lian simply exists in the form most comfortable to him and changes minor appearances to produce the aesthetic that he needs when he needs it. No more explanation is needed.

The thing about Xie Lian, too, is that while he is assured in his own gender, this does not translate into him being adverse to either weaponizing gender to reach a certain goal (such as being bait in a mission or hiding from enemies or just finding a dangerous object) or others doing as they please. Shi Qingxuan repeatedly attempts to wheedle Xie Lian into transforming into a female form with him, but though Xie Lian refuses for himself, he never shows disgust that Shi Qingxuan prefers his female form, unlike other gods.

Due to all of this, I don't see the repeated mentions of Xie Lian's maleness within these cross-dressing scenes as meant to reinscribe the gender binary but, instead, to impress upon readers how simple it is to throw gender into question. Gender is just that malleable and its perception so easily manipulated that even one of the most manliest men in the story can be viewed without a shadow of a doubt as a woman. Xie Lian is proof.

#tgcf #human metas mxtx #there's also something to be said about the weaponizing of gender in the story #but that will likely be another meta #i was also gonna talk about how other characters view these gender performances #but every character who has a negative reaction to xie lian cross-dressing or sqx changing forms #is shown to be small-minded and obsessed with reputation above all else #while everyone who's alright with it is just normal #anyways hope this makes sense #i felt like there were more moments i'm missing #but whatevs it's going out now

[mikaela-the-slut-expert]

"If so can I do a gn s/o who's very protective of them hcs n a scenario plsss"- requester

Protective

Hua Cheng x gn!reader x Xie Lian

So I don't if you want like a normal protective reader or like a crazy one sooo I went with the normal one, thank you for waiting so long and I hope you like it

Ignore grammar mistakes

Might be short

____________________________________

Xie Lian and Hua Cheng are very happy. Of course they are and they're even more happy when they gain a third lover in the relationship.

You!

Xie Lian is selfless and Hua Cheng is a devotee.

You are also very devoted to your lovers.

You and Hua Cheng are similar, both of you are protective.

Over each other and definitely over Xie Lian

Even though Xie Lian is perfectly capable of taking care of himself.

Xie Lian spends a lot of his time trying to calm you two down or telling you guys it isn't a big deal.

Hua Cheng is obedient. He listens and he'll settle down if that's what his gege wants

Not you though, nah if someone has a personal problem against Xie Lian or Hua Cheng they have a problem with you.

You usually have a good temper, and are very patient.

You're completely different when it comes to other people though.

Xie Lian is very kind and people try to take advantage of that, Hua Cheng is so focused on you two that he doesn't know when someone is clearly picking on him. That's alright you'll take care of it.

Loose temper and quick to fight

You definitely get in a lot of fights in the heavens more than anywhere else

It's not like there's any consequences!

Except Xie lian makes some 😔

Had to get you on a leash before the heavens got upset.

You just throw hands with anyone

Soooo now you can't anymore. Now you just resort to arguing with people and hurting them with your silver tongue

You love them very much and it's not your fault you want to protect them

At the end of the day they love you very much and they know someone will always be there to protect them.

🦊🪷

It was supposed to be a good day, strolling around ghost city. Nothing bad can happen there since Hua Cheng literally owns it. So the three of you are very comfortable in taking strolls. In ghost city it's also rare for you to get into a fight so Xie Lian and Hua Cheng prefer to hang out here.

So a pretty normal, good day. Or not! The three of you were strolling and the city is crowded with people and stalls so sometimes you bump into other people by accident. Only sometimes though! Someone passed by and purposefully shoved against Hua Cheng, and even sent your lover a nasty look! but he's more focused on Xie Lian. The person has walked between them both so he isn't even concerned about himself.

It's not hard to tell it's a heavenly official who took the opportunity they could to try and pick on an all powerful calamity. They aren't getting by you though. No way! "Hey you! Yeah you! the official in the mask which is doing an awful job at hiding your nasty face, come here!"

The official has never meant to get caught, it's not good to be revealed in the middle of ghost city but you grab him by the hair and drag him back over to the three of you. "Say you're sorry. How dare you try to pick on Crimson Rain"

Honestly it wasn't that big of a deal but heavenly officials are always looking down on your lovers it isn't fair! The man quickly mutters out pleas and apologies so you let him go

When you turn back to your lovers, Xie Liam has his hands on his hips though and you flush, looking at the floor. You hadn't meant to lose your temper so fast. "Sorry" you rub the back of your neck but your embarrassment is quickly shaken away when you look at Hua Cheng.

Hua Cheng is blushing, his eye wide and blinking at you. Hua Cheng is only enabling you really, how dare he look so cute. He can't help it though. No one has ever chosen to protect him and especially over such little things. It feels nice. He's too cute so you grab him by the face and give him a kiss.

Xie Lian shakes his head and sighs. All of you go back to paradise manor and you're definitely getting in trouble.

____________________________________

It was hella short but 🙏 I hope it's good anyway.

#tgcf #tgcf x male reader #tgcf headcanon #hualian x reader #hualian #hua cheng x reader #tgcf hua cheng #tgcf hualian #tgcf xie lian #xie lian x reader #tgcf x reader