Now that I’ve read the entirety of TGCF, here is the result of my grand research on:
“The number of times that Xie Lian did not know whether to laugh or cry”
Volume 1
Pages 79, 107, 235, 330, and 367 - 5 times
Volume 2
Pages 28, 80 (81), 206, 256, and 339 - 5/6 times
Volume 3
Pages 321, 330, and 363 - 3 times
Volume 4
pages 212, 290, 298, 311, 317, 338, and 368 - 7 times
Volume 5
Pages 27, 121, 177, 246, and 300 - 5 times
Volume 6
Pages 22, 40, 80, and 119 - 4 times
Volume 7
Pages 33, 81, 124, 134, 151, 164, 171 and 196 - 8 times
Volume 8
Pages 176, 213, 266, 285, 305 and 322 - 6 times
Which makes it a whopping average of 5 times with the Median being 5~5.5, Mode being 5/6 (depending on whether it was 5 or 6 times in volume 2), and the range of 5.
I could be missing a couple more of the instances so if I find anymore at any point in time during my re-read, I’ll come back and add it up and recalculate everything.
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i know the fandom loves to pretend that xie lian doesn't take care of himself but let's really think about it for a second. he doesn't have a penny to his name, he has no luck, no spiritual powers and no friends and family left in the mortal realm. how exactly should he take care of himself?
he eats food off the floor because it's better than going hungry. that's how many people in poverty live. he doesn't think twice before touching something that might poison him because when you don't receive medical attention for centuries, you're naturally going to adopt an "it is what it is" mentality about your health. he probably didn't get treated by a healer the first few times he got corpse poisoning because he didn't have enough (or any) money to pay them with. he's humble and ignores however which way he's slandered because what can he do? he's heard things like that and worse before.
800 years of poverty will teach anyone humility as well as strip them of it. 800 years of poverty and solitude can make anyone into a complete cynic, an abuser and/or worse.
but xie lian didnt break, not permanently. what jun wu put him through is nothing compared to what the world put him through. tell me this: is jun wu truly the real villain of the story? or is he a micro manifestation of all the other systematic issues in the TGCF universe, wrapped up into a shiny, evil package that's easier to hate, easier to digest and easier to fall for?
know that even though jun wu "set up" the fall of xianle, it was corruption and imperialism that truly brought the kingdom to its knees. know that teen xie lian truly fought for his people, be they patriots or rebels, and that the reason his efforts could never come to fruition was the corruption of the royals and the nobles.
in a world as systematically corrupt as that (much like our own), how easy do you think it would have been for a poor, homeless and friendless man to live a happy, fulfilling life (which he never lived)? and how much easier would it have been for him to gradually give away his morals and principles in favour of a better meal for once, for a better bed for the night? considering his martial skills and vast knowledge of cultivation, would it not have been easy for him to take a path like jun wu himself? like xue yang, even?
and do you think that xie lian did *not* do all these things just because he had "self-sacrificial" tendencies? after centuries of being only a little better than a beggar, do you think the reason he wants to help the common people is because he feels Rich Prince Guilt?
don't you think that the act of preserving oneself here, the act of not sacrificing onself for a cause, is actually whenever xie lian decides to keep following the path of justice, his Third Path? does self preservation only count when it's your body you're preserving, or your material wealth, or your name? surely your own principles matter more. surely you mean more than a fancy title on a tyrant's mouth.
place yourself in xie lian's shoes, and answer this: if you were to go through all that, even if you were to not become a horrible person, would have found and maintained the courage, time and time again, to keep being kind, to keep taking care of yourself, to not become heedlessly reckless, to not become a walking corpse with a noose (ruoye) wrapped around your neck?
in my opinion, xie lian is a hell of a lot positive for a man who's been through so much and never heard a "it's okay, you can rest now" once (until hua cheng came along, at least).
do you think xie lian doesn't feel bitterness towards lang qianqiu, who buried him with a stake through his heart for gods know how many years, because he just... hates himself? or do you think it's because he helped raise lang qianqiu since childhood and earned real respect and admiration from him, after so many years of being spat on, cursed and ultimately turned invisible? do you think he begged to be banished once again only because he felt guilty (although yes, he did feel very guilty) for the terrible fate that befell lqq's family, or because he also genuinely cares about what happens to his people --- he protected the xianle remnants by setting himself up as a cold-hearted murderer, and he protected lqq by refusing to fight him.
do you think that being so old and having seen so much, xie Lian can't tell danger when it's looking him in the eye? he's not stupid. he doesn't neglect his safety until and unless it's to protect someone he cares about. e.g., when he tried his level best to protect shi qingxuan during the Blackwater arc, knowing that he's fighting things and people beyond his control. my point: it didn't matter if he failed. he had to try, just like he tried with his kingdom, and the kingdom that came next. sqx was the first person after hua cheng to befriend and defend him in a long time, and he wanted to show him the same courtesy. can this be reduced to "self-sacrificing" tendencies or "playing the hero", too?
when xie lian stepped out of that bridal sedan, he knew he was playing with fire, but he's not stupid. if he hadn't stepped out, who is to say that crimson rain sought flower wouldn't have entered on his own, or dragged him out forcefully? xie lian isn't a "you only live once, let's make bad decisions" person. xie lian is a "no matter how many lives i live, i will not change" person.
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Rating the MXTX main characters and leads on how well they would pass the “I would know him anywhere” test
(For those who don’t know, the full context of the test is this:
This is a v famous Patroclus quote from Madeline Miller’s Song of Achilles: “I could recognize him by touch alone, by smell; I would know him blind, by the way his breaths came and his feet struck the earth. I would know him in death, at the end of the world.”
The test is how well a character could make the same claim about their own love interest)
Ok let’s go
Shen Yuan/Qingqiu: 8/10
Manages to differentiate his Binghe from og Binghe several times throughout the story, most notably in the punishment protocol chapter and the Bing-ge vs. Bing-mei extra. Points are deducted however because it takes him until he gropes Bing-ge’s chest to realize that this is not his Binghe
Luo Binghe: 6/10
Never realizes that his Shizun is a transmigrator. I will give him points though for eventually recognizing plant!zun
Wei Wuxian: 5/10 (?)
Not a lot of canon data for this one because Lan Wangji is never in disguise. Points deducted for Wei Wuxian not initially recognizing Lan Wangji at the Wen Discussion Conference. However Wei Wuxian does recognize Lan Wangji in literally every other appearance he makes so who knows really
Lan Wangji: 10/10
Patroclus himself. The only one of every character here to definitively recognize his beloved in a stranger’s body after one (1) meaningful interaction with him (yes he had the help of the object of his affections playing his secret boner song to summon Wen Ning but shhhh)
Xie Lian: 6/10
In Xie Lian’s defense, it’s not reasonable to expect a guy that’s been around for over 800 years to realize that all these one-eyed guys/very devoted ghosts he’s run into through the years are the same guy, especially since said guys have witnessed several of the most traumatic moments of his very long life. However, points can be given because Xie Lian does manage to recognize Hua Cheng in every form he takes after Xie Lian truly meets and falls in love with him
Hua Cheng: 9/10
Hua Cheng wants to claim Patroclus swag so bad but unfortunately I must deduct a point for him failing to recognize Fangxin Guoshi as Xie Lian until Lang Qianqiu identified him as such
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The Happiest of the New Years from me to everyone! I haven’t been in this fandom long, but I am so incredibly glad that I’ve discovered this series when I did. To be honest, when I first found the series as the donghua, I didn’t think I would get far with it because I’ve dropped MDZS so many times (I’m so sorry, I swear I’m trying 😭), but hohhh boy was I wrong.
2 days later and I was already on Season 2, which is when I started to listen to an audiobook version that was posted on Spotify. By the second week of December, I already had my hands on the first 3 volumes, with the 1st volume being completely read through by the 2nd day of being in my possession.
I am so grateful to my friend who got their hands on the volume 8 Special Edition for me for Christmas, which I read over the course of New Year’s Eve and at the crack of dawn on New Year’s Day.
Truly, I did not expect to fall head over heels for this series the way I did since I normally don’t read romance filled reads, but I guess the universe has it’s own ways of proving me wrong.
This series will forever have a special place in both my heart and mind; it has taught me so many different things and have helped me through the processing of so many difficulties that I’ve accumulated over the course of my life.
I remember trying so hard to not get frustrated and upset, and have told myself that I’m in the wrong for having these feelings. I’ve gone back and forth from being overly positive for no reason, to feeling bitter and angry for several days because it felt pointless to force myself to be positive when life just… didn’t seem fair to me. I felt like I didn’t know who I was, who I am, and who I’m meant to be. Why I’m here, what purpose I have, and where I even was.
But this series taught me that sometimes, it’s okay to let go. It’s okay to feel frustrated, and to feel upset. It’s okay to not worry. It’s okay to not dwell. You don’t have to be overly positive and friendly all the time. You don’t have to force yourself to be out there just because you want people to like you, and care for you. Life has its ups and downs but no downs are forever, just the same as how no ups are forever.
And quite frankly, this sounds cheesy, but after starting this series, I’ve felt so much better about myself, my outlook on life, and the way the universe has its own ways. Yeah, life sucks. But life also doesn’t suck all the time. So… as XieLian had said (or at least a reiteration because I don’t have the exact quote on me) why not think about the good food that I’ve had, rather than dwell on the complicated and negative stuff that happened in the past?
Again, happy new year to everyone. And I hope to see you all and interact one way or another somewhere down the line.
(Please enjoy my TGCF shrine that I’ve set up in my room right past the door)
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