How to cross a burnt bridge.
The highlights so far after season 1:
'Why is he scared when someone mentions butterflies?' (I ... honestly can't answer that. Yeah, their wings can cut stuff - or people - but still, it seems so excessive.)
'Idiot woman, have some self respect.' (About Xuan Ji. Not how I would have put it, but I share the sentiment.)
'I want a little ribbon like that.' (About Ruoye, obviously. I tried to explain to her that she might reconsider eventually. She has since produced a white silk band from God-knows-where in her house and keeps fondling when we watch.) 'Aw, come on, how bad can it be?' (Worse. I offered to lend her the books after season 2.)
'I like that snake. I want one.' (She's a biologist.) 'Okay, maybe not that many.' (The scene where they pour down into the sinners' pit.)
'Are we going to see those two women again? They seem fun.' (Wind Master and Earth Master in Banyue arc. I told her yes. I managed not to look like I want to cry.)
'Isn't it a little early to be giving him a ring? Waiiiiit. ARE THOSE HIS ASHES?' (We had a death in the family recently and burning your ashes into a diamond was a VERY present topic of conversation over the past couple of weeks, but I feel so stupid now because I only got that one when HC says if the place where they're kept is destroyed he doesn't care anyway.)
Edit: I'm forty, she's seventy. I swear she knows more anime than me and this is the kind of story she totally digs.
... And the juniors he lured to Yi City. And the cats he killed in order to do that. Making NHS out to be a sort of saint is so odd to me. Most of the characters have done a lot of unnecessary and cruel things. And the margin between them is really, really thin.
Like, look. I don't hate Huaisang. I don't hate anyone.* But thinking that butter wouldn't melt in his mouth just means he hoodwinked you, too. Congratulations.
*Okay. Notable exceptions: Jin Guangshan, whose existence I tend to forget, and Wen Ruohan, who's a turd. I'd like to add Sect Leader Yao, but he doesn't even deserve that much attention, and Wen Chao ... well, neither nature nor nurture worked in his favour so I'm on the fence there.
sorry to be a hater but i gotta say. fics where other characters find out about the full shit nhs pulled in his anti-jgy revenge quest, and then act as if nhs did some Great Moral Good.....are kinda missing the point
pretty sure that one of the Major Points of mdzs is that revenge isnt morally justified and should not be glorified....if jc was wrong to hold a grudge against the wens for literally killing almost everyone he grew up with, then nhs is also wrong to put innocent third parties only tangentially related to jgy into the line of fire in his pursuit of revenge :/
Okay, but this isn't the ultimate He Xuan song, I don't know any more.
Avenge the Living, Heal the Dead
A ghost is being harassed and a mortal is taken. A god and his ghost king follow the trail.
Someone sneaks into the temple Shi Qingxuan and his beggars use as a shelter, acting like a sneak-thief. Of course, he won’t have that. Hua Cheng and Xie Lian on the other hand just want to spend the morning in bed. Possibly the whole day. An unannounced visitor spoils that plan.
Seriously, though, I'd be happy about fifteen more versions.
so I found this sketch languishing in my WIP folder and was like "omg why did I never finish this, it's really nice" and only after finishing it yesterday did I realise that. uh. I did already finish it. nevermind! here's an alt version for you guys :)
Avenge the Living, Heal the Dead
Once affairs in heaven are brought to a semblance of order, Xie Lian and Hua Cheng finally get to look for the ghost causing trouble in the Royal Capital.
Okay, listen. I never read WiPs because I got invested in too many of them before they were discontinued. I have no idea what possessed me to open this one first BUT I AM SO GLAD I DID and you should, too.
This fic takes a somewhat different direction regarding what will happen with Shi Qingxuan after canon, and it's believable and brilliantly executed.
Go on. If you like Beefleaf and slow burn and HELL I DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW THIS IS GOING TO END but I think it'll be fine because if it isn't I'll cry ... Anyway, if you like those things, then read it.
Check out the 100k+ word, still-in-progress story now!
Soon We'll Be Found - Chapter 1 - bluberryblurays - 天官赐福 - 墨香铜臭 | Tiān Guān Cì Fú - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù [Archive of Our Own]
http://www.wattpad.com/story/359906100-soon-we%27ll-be-found-tgcf-beefleaf
Re-reading TGCF is interesting. Someone has probably said this, but here I go anyway.
During the Banyue arc, I had a bit of an epiphany. Hua Cheng catches Xie Lian, keeps holding him while fighting Kemo, and tells him not to be worried.
In the flashback at the end of the second volume, Xie Lian catches a then unknown child, keeps holding him during the staged fight with Mu Qing, and tells him not to be worried.
Even the first time I thought ‘It’s dirty’ is an odd excuse for not setting Xie Lian down. I mean, they’ve travelled through the desert by funnel cloud, they’ve had a building collapse right near them, and had an intermezzo with the mud face. I’m sure Xie Lian’s clothes weren’t exactly pristine any more. But that isn’t what it was about: He refused to pass up the opportunity to recreate their first encounter with reversed roles. It was just too good to let go.
This is really, really well done.
(Pictures from the Seven Seas novels 1 and 2.)
You can find me on Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pre_Reform_VoiceMostly I stalk tags, post fan fiction updates, and comment randomly on the aforementioned tags.
102 posts