not to deliberately kick a hornet's nest but why are so many ppl obsessed with making beefleaf have this stereotypical m/f "brooding edgy emo boyfriend who hurts you without meaning to" x "sunshine uwu emotionally strong but physically weak girlfriend who is too naive and too forgiving for her own good" sun and moon dynamic and THEN also make them have the most predictable hetero sex in which shi qingxuan exclusively bottoms and submits... because i am very confused. did we read the same book. (of course it's okay to explore that type of dynamic as well, but why is it nearly always the case?)

i know the original novel switches pronouns based on outer appearance, but come on. it's 2025, can we not have more diversity in the way we write canonically genderfluid and nonbinary characters. it gets so tired so fast.

i find it hilarious that in canon shi qingxuan and 'ming yi' always happen to end up matching their gender and present as either m/m or f/f... and ur telling me they would be having m/f sex and never switch up their roles?

Y’know it’s funny how Hua Cheng chose to be called “San Lang”, both meaning third born son and a term of endearment meant for lovers, hinting at his past and what he hopes to gain in his future, when he also kinda maintains both meanings again throughout the events of TGCF

Like we all know he does become Xie Lian’s “beloved San Lang”

But I would argue he also becomes the “third born brother San Lang” in a way as well through his relationships with He Xuan and Yin Yu, two men he really doesn’t HAVE to care for since he claims his only care in the world is Xie Lian, and yet he does in his own way anyway

Yes, this man sought out He Xuan and made a deal with him so that he wouldn’t become a future threat to his beloved, but he ALSO took it a step further by helping to feed He Xuan’s fish, meets up with him regularly to feed him (claiming it’s to keep him in debt sure buddy) and HONORS HIS WORD not to mess with his revenge schemes during the Black Water Arc even though his beloved is horrified and wants to stop what’s happening

And with Yin Yu! Hua Cheng initially saw a banished god and saw the perfect opportunity to try and figure out how to free Xie Lian from his shackles, but Hua Cheng eventually came to TRUST Yin Yu with even his most sacred tasks in finding and caring for Xie Lian. Not to mention how it’s implied after canon that Hua Cheng KEPT Yin Yu’s shackle and helped him reform as a ghost after he died

He didn’t have to do any of that if what he claims is true and his only care is his beloved! And yet he did it anyway! Somewhere in that little ghost flame that cares and burns so brightly for its Dianxia, it came to care and burn just a little bit brighter for two more souls. The ONLY men that Hua Cheng ever treats as something close to an equal and confidant are those two, and he has proven again and again that when he cares, he CARES even if he denies it with his words

Also yes, Hua Cheng is WAY older than both of them physically, but one could argue that He Xuan and Yin Yu (having died/ascended then banished) as full on adults vs Hua Cheng’s 17, they are both MENTALLY older and therefore can be considered the older brothers to Hua Cheng’s “San Lang”. He trusts them with his deepest secrets, he listens to their advice (however much he tries to deny it), and he has shown again and again through his actions that he gives care to their relationships

Hua Cheng may have had two abusive, terrible brothers growing up, but he somehow managed to find and make two more on his own, proving that family is more than blood, more than what time and fate and even death dictates and he clung to that with everything he had and he came out on top for it

Hong’er may not have had the family he deserved

Wu Ming may have been abandoned by the world

Hua Cheng may pretend nothing can phase him and that he doesn’t care about anyone but his god

But

San Lang has a beloved in this world

I kinda like this scene (not because it’s really funny how they want to save xl, and xl just starts a fist fight) but because it really shows the nature of fx and mq. And how their personality’s compliment each other. (I am not a fengqing shipper but do like them as a duo )

First we have our sunny boy Feng xin, formally pardoning himself for going against his highness that he cares so deeply for, he would even struck against him, if it means to save him. Also I think it’s again the pov that says „Feng xin looks troubled because he think he can’t win“ but honestly the Feng xin we know is more troubled to fight against xie lian, his sun, his everything, the person he orbits around as if he were his sun.

Feng xin is a really forward character, a honest person never attacking from behind or trying any shady tricks. It’s actually a personality trait that is so typically Feng xin, but also can be a great weak spot.

And here comes mu qing, a character that is really interesting to me, sometimes I can’t figure him out. I mean I’m trying BUT ITS SO HARD.

He also treasures Xie Lian (even if he won’t admit it) he also wants to save him, but uses the trick to attack Xie Lian from behind, because he knows a straight forward fight with him would be pointless. So, he is filling that weak spot Feng xin has. And also Feng xin filling his weak spot: being straight forward, making clear what his intentions are.

I like to think that if either one of them weren’t at that place in that time, none would have succeeded alone.

So, yes they are a great duo and I totally love them.

So im a multishipper and I love me some rare pairs. Tumbler have always been THE place to go for rare pairs, I've never had a ship where I couldn't find anything... UNTIL NOW!

Im reading TGCF (heaven official blessing) and obviously I ship Huelian, FengQing and... uuuuh (looks up Wind master and Earth master... Beefleaf... uh okay) Beefleaf...

But as a person who loves chaos Pei Ming and Qi Rong are fucking hilarious... They hate each other and Qi Rong calls Pei Ming a manwhore and I find that so funny.

But there just isn't any fanstuff of them. Ao3 has 5 fics. I've only seen 1 pin on pinterst and twitter was no help. So of course I go to Tumblr, because this is like I said THE place for shit like this, and what do I find?

NOTHING!!!!

HOW?

WHY?

that's all... thanks for reading I guess. Im sorry this is a mess...

Usually with cons, you have guests of honor like VAs for characters like Dazai, Jinshi, Maomao, Izuku, Akutagawa, etc

This con however had 2 VAs that i have been really wanting to meet! Now one of them is Shawn Gann, I wanted to meet him cus he did Shu Itsuki’s VA but someone else was gonna be at Taiyou con that made me & my mom flip our shit in happiness.

Howard Wang. Xie Lian’s VA. Now I (and my mom) am a huge fan of TGCF, especially Xie Lian (he’s like my favorite character!!) and I was so excited to see him and perhaps have him sign smth for me! Now remember when I said I got my tickets for the 24th? I was excited about that & meeting Howard Wang just to find out

That Howard Wang would only be there on Friday🥀🥀

i basically screwed myself over 😭😭

If I’m going to look at an appendix, I want facts. Not conjecture, and definitely not someone injecting their own thoughts and feelings into someone else’s work and presenting it as fact.

Using Vol.8 seven seas since it’s complete, let’s take a brief look at some of the character descriptions I personally found the most galling:

Pei Xiu: “…His ascension to godhood occurred because he led the charge to slaughter the Kingdom of Banyue, and his exile from godhood occurred because of his morally dubious attempts to save his childhood friend Banyue from her fate of eternal punishment.” —Appendix: Characters. Vol.8

Morally dubious? Since when is slaughtering an immeasurable amount of innocents over the course of 150+ years considered “dubious” by moral standards? And that’s assuming that he was actually trying to “save his childhood friend”

Let’s look at the facts. Pei Xiu, although he cared for Ban Yue, sent her to infiltrate Banyue which directly caused her death.

After succeeding in his scheme, he ascended. But he had a mess of resentful ghosts that were unliving proof of his war crimes.

In order to maintain his squeaky clean image, he routinely fed living people to the ghosts in an attempt to disburse their resentment.. quietly.

Did this help Banyue? No. It actually did the opposite. She spent 200 years being hunted down and hung over the sinners pit in an endless cycle of pain and suffering. Not only that, but Pei Xiu used her snakes, which further dragged her name into the mud and (ironically) fueled the ghosts anger and hatred for her.

So how.. just how.. does the Official Appendix Character Description get away with saying “…because of his morally dubious attempts to save his childhood friend Banyue from her fate of eternal punishment.”??

[I didn’t use quotes from the story because it would make this post congested, but the details are in Vol.1 Ch.10 about 86%]

You know what? I was going to continue ranting, like how He Xuan has almost no factual content or backstory yet practically ships him with Shi Qingxuan like “maybe he likes her idk 🤷‍♀️” and his unknown relationship with Hua Cheng. Instead it could have said at least something about Scholar He..

It’s a reoccurring thing that sometimes comes off as absolute fanon and sometimes comes off like they’re trying spin a picture or soften a character to a more sympathetic light.

Just give me the facts.

That’s the only reason I’d ever look at an appendix, I’m not here to read your drivel!

I know one of the most popular interpretations of He Xuan in fanon is that he had known all along that Shi Qingxuan had received his fate, but a part of me wonders why so little posts, discussions, fics etc explore the other possibility - the one provided in the book, according to which although He Xuan had been keeping tabs on Shi Wudu and trying to figure out what exactly happened, he did not know the full extent of the truth until the information was deliberately leaked to him by Jun Wu in order to trigger the Black Water arc and get rid of Shi Wudu.

i'm not trying to invalidate the other theory, because when it comes to He Xuan there is so much we don't know that we can only speculate and that just makes his character more intriguing and fun to analyse. But I guess it's a little odd to me that the fandom seems to have accepted just one interpretation, as if it's canon and not simply one of the theories. I went back to the novel countless times to find evidence of that being true (cuz I was like... did I miss something when I was reading lol), and we actually do not learn anything that would suggest that He Xuan somehow absorbed all of the Reverend of Empty Words' memories upon defeating and consuming him, it's just a popular fanon assumption. I guess it makes sense that He Xuan would have been smart enough to figure it all out even without Jun Wu's tip. And perhaps he really did. But... why is the alternative never explored, even though it's the most obvious explanation and one offered by Hua Cheng, who is typically a reliable source of information throughout the novel?

Usually whenever Hua Cheng comes up with a theory, it is meant to point us towards the truth. Xie Lian's POV is misleading at times, but Hua Cheng's deductions are usually pretty trustworthy. Why did the fandom collectively choose to dismiss it as obviously incorrect...? What if it is what really happened?

I hope this doesn't come across as an attack, because ultimately we don't know what exactly happened behind the scenes, but after reading hundreds of fics and posts I'm surprised at the fact that only one interpretation has cemented itself as some objective truth about He Xuan and his motivation (e.g. all the popular memes about how he knew all along he had to take his revenge on Shi Qingxuan but waited and waited for one reason or another). We don't know that! There is so much we don't know for certain. And I think it would be super interesting to explore a scenario in which He Xuan doubted Shi Wudu and collected dirt on him, but did not know for sure whether Shi Qingxuan was involved - they seemed innocent enough, they cared about justice and fairness and never seemed undeserving of their divine status. We also don't know if Shi Qingxuan had ever shared their past with 'Ming Yi', close friends or not, my personal take on that would be that they were instructed to keep their mouth shut about that and never mention it to a soul, otherwise Shi Wudu would've had a stroke. Well, we don't know this for sure.