#I need to find a parallel for hualian that xl can work on

[fortune-maiden]

The more I work on my long fic the more work I’m realizing it needs…

Maybe I should just take it down for now and repost it when it’s actually ready

#don't mind me having a moment #the main issue I’m realizing is Hualian #XL is a pov character but there’s no real stake for him in this adventure #so there’s no real conflict or growth for him to be had #but on the other side some of the planned scenes with sqx just won’t work if he’s the pov character #because he’s unconscious for them #and there’s no other character who can really fit the role XL plays #because he’s the one sqx trusts the most #things to think about #maybe I should shift gears to my 3T fic instead because the goals for all 3 are defined there #it’s not something I think about as much when writing oneshots #but character drive and motivation is important #the pov character needs to have a reason for acting #that goes a little further than ‘he’s my friend and I’m concerned’ #the fic has some good themes with sqx & the peis #I need to find a parallel for hualian that xl can work on #another theme is disappointment (and that it’s ok) so….. #(hualian being one of those couples who support each other 200% makes them kinda boring to write in this sense) #(I think I might need to embrace the ooc a little >.>

[mrcformoso]

Parallels and Details (part 1) in Paper Flowers for the God of Gods

OMG so the response to this fic has been PHENOMENAL, but I also wanted to show off talk about a lot of the little intricacies I put into this fic because I think this rivals A Matter of Time with how big-brained I had to be hahaha

Spoilers ahead for those who haven't made it to Chapter 3. If you wanna read this Hualian fic, you can find it here!

The more obvious parallels I put in are the parallels of their interactions with one another to HC’s flashbacks in Chapter 3:

Chapter 1 (End of chapter)

Xie Lian watched the man through the river as he turned his head towards Xie Lian, meeting his eyes through the river reflection. There seemed to be no judgement in his eyes, no aggression.

“You can call me San Lang.”

Chapter 3 (HC flashback)

 Another laugh, and the flowers seemed to sway and brighten, as if bolstered by his joy. “You can call me Gege.” He winked.

Chapter 1 (before SL meets XL)

“Where did you come from…?” Xie Lian asked, bringing his face close to the butterfly. It fluttered its wings in greeting, walking around the Butterfly Weed, but it seemed to be paying more attention to Xie Lian than the flower it was perched on. “I have never seen anything like you before. You’re beautiful.”

[...]

“You think so?”

Chapter 3 (HC flashback)

“Where did you come from…?” He asked himself as he reached out to touch one of the dainty petals, snatching his hand back when they realized they were real. “I have never seen anything like you before. You’re beautiful.”

A red parasol shadowed him from the sun.

“You think so?”

Chapter 2 (When SL first meets XL)

“There you are,” San Lang smiled. The butterfly on his shoulder fluttered to Xie Lian’s forehead. “Just as I thought, you’re much more beautiful close up.”

Chapter 3 (HC’s flashback)

But the man bent down, and gently took Hong-er’s hands away, holding them. He met Hong-er’s eyes without fear. In fact, his smile widened. “There you are.” His eyes were so soft. “Just as I thought, you’re much more beautiful close up.”

Chapter 2 (first meeting of SL and XL)

Xie Lian winced. “Please don’t tease me.”

“Who’s teasing?”

Chapter 3 (HC’s flashback)

Hong-er pouted. “Please don’t tease me.”

The man poked his cheek. “Who’s teasing?”

Chapter 2 (every end of the section)

“You should go…” Xie Lian sighed as the sun started to set.

Chapter 3 (HC’s flashback)

Hong-er winced. “I think you should go.”

And besides that, I included little nods to the canon:

Chapter 2 (in the scene with the cherry blossoms)

“...sorry.” Xie Lian looked down, tightening his grip on the bag. “I’ll be right back.”

“No need to hurry.” San Lang raised a hand, and turned to leave.

Oh.

Well, not like Xie Lian expected anything else. He started to bring in the bag of cherry blossoms to his cottage, and returned to the bridge to get the second batch. Just as he picked up the second bag, E-ming fluttered in front of him.

>>Imitates the part when XL puts talismans on the entrance of the temple, and SL leaves, so XL thought he scared SL away, only for SL to come back with wood to help repair the house

Chapter 2 (scene with the juggling)

“San Lang teases me all the time.” Xie Lian replied, before juggling the balls in place, his hands effortlessly catching and tossing balls. Perhaps, in another life, he would have been a good street performer.

>>we know that XL was a busker during the last 800 years in canon, I believe juggling was one of the skills he picked up as a street performer.

Only once he managed to get the one-up on Xie Lian, but it was only because he got Xie Lian flustered at the story of a Heavenly Official who tried to catch a ghost groom by pretending to be a bride, but was so ugly that the bait didn’t work, and “oh, if Gege was the bride I bet every ghost would fall to your feet and beg for your hand in marriage!”

Xie Lian got him back by saying “only if my groom is as handsome as San Lang.”

>>Little nod to the ‘marriage’ scene because I couldn’t put it in the fic

Chapter 2 (scene with Pei Ming)

“Shhh!” Xie Lian chastised, but there was no heat. It was just instinct.

San Lang stuck out his tongue playfully.

>>insipired by that scene in the donghua where SL tricks people into bowing to the tombstone in the cave.

Chapter 3 (HC flashback)

A red parasol shadowed him from the sun.

>>XL shadowing HC from the sun, like how in canon HC protects the flower from the blood rain

And of course, SL giving his ashes (and saying it’s nothing), and the dice.

And finally, the parallels of the characters.

He Xuan is both a parallel of HC and XL, with HC going up into heaven with his own undercover mission, but as opposed to HX, his is a mission to be with the one he loved versus HX who is trying to learn the weakness of the one he hates

HC and XL swap places in the time between HC’s flashback and XL’s present. In HC’s flashback, XL was the one full of color and beauty and light, but in the current time, it is now HC who is full of those things while XL has been dulled.

HC’s garden in paradise manor consists of the flowers XL gave him when they first met, saying they’re his siblings.

More are going to crop up in the future and I'm so excited for you all to read it <3

#fanfic #tgcf #tgcf fanfic #tian guan ci fu #heaven official's blessing #hualian #hua cheng #xie lian #san lang #he xuan #wip #parallels #meta post #meta analysis #paper flowers for the god of gods #i am so proud of myself #flower language