TW : Discussion Of Death And Suicide. I Know These Themes Are Present In TGCF, But This Post Delves Further

This took FOREVER but here's my tribute to A Long and Slow Recovery by @ardenrabbit

He Xuan is terribly underestimated as a Ghost King. I don’t see why he would be that far behind White no Face and Hua Cheng.

I think this widespread conception comes from the fact that, yes, in a fight, both HC and JW would wipe the floor with him. But that doesn’t mean (I think) that He Xuan is inherently less powerful or impressive.

See, the thing is… fighting isn’t He Xuan’s domain of expertise. He is a scholar. He is good at plotting, scheming, and has excellent control over his spiritual power, perhaps even better than Hua Cheng’s.

Think of all his clones in Heavens, that must all be powerful since they are supposed to pass for Middle Court Officials. Think of his domain: the guy controls a part of the damn ocean.

So yeah. Justice for He Xuan.

Only my opinion of course. But feel free to give yours in the comments. I love reading people’s thoughts.

There’s something so subtle about the way Hua Cheng loves Xie Lian.

(Hold on, hear me out...)

In fiction, when we have a character who loves someone as deeply as Hua Cheng loves Xie Lian, we usually see the ugly side of that affection rear it's head eventually.

Adoration turns into obsession (any positive thing can turn ugly in excess). Obsession can drive behaviour that most of us cringe at; one worst case scenario is stalking, but even a best case would be the expectation (or worthiness) of reciprication.

This obsession can also be followed by huge, grandiose actions that leave the object of the affections no room to guess at the other's feelings and intentions.

Hua Cheng doesn't do any of that. His love is akin to worship, or rather, it literally is reverance for a god. No expectation, no indignance - just pure adoration untainted by the usual consequences of human love.

His love is so subtle, in fact, that Xie Lian can't even begin to guess at his intentions. Even going so far as to wonder continuously in the beginning why Hua Cheng spares so much time and kindness for him.

Hua Cheng expects nothing from Xie Lian - he demands nothing from Xie Lian, not even in the way a worshiper might. This type of god-worshiper love is so hard to fit into the mould of a romantic relationship.

Watching it unfold is so beautiful, complex, and fragmented. It's not the innocent love story you would expect, and honestly it's part of the reason why I love their relationship so much.

You rarely see such pure, unadulterated, and selfless love written this perfectly in fiction.

I was thinking about how in modern AUs XL is often portrayed as liking to wear things that are typically considered “feminine” (skirts, heels, makeup, etc.) while HC is more “ masculine”

When in reality… am I the only one to think that the one wearing heels and make up would be HC? He’s canonically very careful of his appearance and the way he dresses, always wearing make up and carefully chosen jewellery, he has his own style, etc. He also gives off (that´s only my personal opinion though) massive non-binary/gender fluid vibes

So. Idk. But I think he would have an androgynous and refined style while XL would stick to something basic (maybe gender neutral) like baggy pants and sweatshirts. And crocs.

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Any day now

Hong Hong'er appreciation post, reblog to appreciate him

Currently translating A Long and Slow Recovery by the amazing author @ardenrabbit into French. 11/? Chapters are out

Traduction en cours de “A Long and Slow Recovery” par l’incroyable auteur.ice @ardenrabbit. Le 11e chapitre a été posé il y a quelques jours ^^

https://archiveofourown.org/works/58407070

It’s Wu Ming Wednesday! So here is my humble contribution to the fandom ^^ (I posted this on monday but shhh)

Expect angst, protective Xie Lian and a hopeful/open happy ending. The rating is Teen and Up, and this is a canon divergence. The fic is complete.

Here’s a little extract: 

“He is at his side in an instant, closing his arms around Wu Ming’s flickering form only moments before he hits the ground. He should not be here, Xie Lian thinks, frantic as he desperately calls the ghost’s name, to no avail. He should not be here, bleeding out his very essence in the blinding light of the Heavens for all to see. Because he should be gone.”

Many thanks to the amazing @nootcatt for beta reading 

Hope you enjoy!

Currently working on a small wip… I didn’t know it was SO DAMN HARD to write in HC’s POV. Wu Ming? Easy. Xie Lian? Easy. Hua Cheng?

Hahaha

Hell.