TGCF reread new finds #1
Xie Lian actively and consciously knows that he is attracted to HC the MOMENT THEY MEET in the Ox Cart. Like it’s not just blank gay panic, he knows.
His beauty was deadly like a sword, sharp and mesmerising. Xie Lian only met his eyes for a moment, then lowered his eyes in defeat.
MATE, normally wouldn’t you continue to be mesmerised and can’t peel your eyes away? That is, UNLESS YOURE WHIPPED. XL knows that SL's looks affect him to this degree. Defeat is the key word here.
Also
The distance between them had closed too fast. he suddenly didn't know what to do[...]Xie Lian blanked on the spot. He watched as the tall and slender youth walked away with his giant bag of junk as if it were the most natural thing in the world to do, and it made him mutter inwardly, Forgive my sins.
Making a rich young lad carry your things? Making him sleep in your crappy temple? That doesn't warrant the weighty thought? FORGIVE WHAT SINS Xie Lian??!!!
Many village girls saw (HC) and blushed [...] Xie Lian didn't know what they were going to ask, but felt instinctively that it must be stopped at once, and cried, "No!"
Jealous jealous boi! XL WAS POSSESSIVE after ONE night spent together at Puqi Shrine. Didn’t XL just say to SL that he will have no problem in the love department because girls will throw themselves at him? Yo, why are you cock-blocking? Everyone says HC is insane, no XL is equally insane for the other!
Also, when HC revealed that it's his real skin after the Banyue arc, XL instinctively poked him. Then
He looked at his own finger then hid it away, betraying nothing of his thoughts.
What thoughts XL ?!! Explain yourself right now!
Jumping back to OX CART scene, Xie Lian's character development was foreshadowed when they were talking about the gifting of ghost ashes.
Book 1: Xie Lian sighed. "It certainly is painful to think about, to have given everything for love and lose everything in return."
This is what Xie Lian is most afraid of! Like even thinking back to Xie Lian pushing Feng Xin away in Book 4, he definitely operated under that mindset. Love is a risk, it's something to be feared. Even now 800+ years later, he still feels that way and doesn't allow himself to get close to anyone. It just hits so much harder thinking that he operated under that for so many centuries.
Then Hua Cheng says
"What there to be afraid of? If it were me, I'd have no regrets giving away my ashes"
Which I think really changed the way that Xie Lian thought about love. Book 5 Xie Lian completely operates with Love is empowering and isn't something to be afraid of.
TGCF isn't about XL realising his feelings, literally from Book 1 it's about him wondering if it's worthwhile to act on them.
Three things, is this person worth losing cultivation over for?
He needs the reassurance that this person must reciprocate his feelings.
Then HC changed his perspective on love from FEAR -> EMPOWERMENT.
XL is soooo self-aware (unlike SQQ from SVSSS and WWX from MDZS), he's an unreliable narrator in the way that he doesn't reveal everything to the reader, especially his own feelings until he was absolutely sure that there really was both a physical and romantic attraction. I wanted to make this post to dispel the assumption for XL it was easy to forego 800+ years of cultivation. It was not? He ABSOLUTELY thought about it carefully.
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Been thinking about the homoerotic potential of Xianle Quartet again and I think I’ve figured out the best/funniest way for the post canon dynamic to play out: Xie Lian gets his offical harem.
And no I don’t mean Xie Lian just gets to hold hands with everyone. I think Hua Cheng who wants Gege to be happy and give him everything he wants but also genuinely believes he’s better than Feng Xin and Mu Qing starts acting like the Wife and Feng Xin and Mu Qing are Xie Lians concubines.
I think it would start with Hua Cheng giving them strictly solicited times to be with Xie Lian and then later when Xie Lian admits he feels something more about the two of them he would get real into it.
He makes it extremely clear he’s the first and most important wife in this game and they play by his rules. They deal with his times and get to see him give Xie Lian really extravagant gifts to wear when he spend time with them as well as giving him lots of love bites not to mention lots of little digs and because Fengqing are Fengqing they instantly match the energy.
The Harem games begin.
There’s so much side comments and subterfuge and of course fights to see who is the favourite while also convinced that it won’t be them because they start to notice all the beautiful things about their competitors in a really homoerotic way.
They would all start to act nice with each other when they are with of Xie Lian because they notice that he likes that and they have points to win. So there are lots of group spars and meals with a general play nice vibe to them. Until they reluctantly start to like playing nice but are also be thinking fuck these guys. These two guys are the worst people in the world.
Then of course Xie Lian goes away for a few days on a mission and they all lose it . They will literally have no one to perform for and yet they are all still being so petty and in each others business, then each others faces, and then suddenly they are all in each others bed.
Xie Lian naturally comes back to this and is delighted by this development.
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