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Right up his alley indeed, he didn’t even have a chance to come to terms with Feng Xins departure yet.
Feng Xin doesn’t lash out with jabs and barbed wit like Mu Qing, but hes absolutely no better. His way of hurting Xie Lian is just as problematic.
It’s more sanctimonious, more judgmental, more “I’m disappointed in you,” which in some ways is even worse because it masks cruelty as morality.
“Where is your dignity?”
“Aren’t you ashamed?”
“You call yourself a man/god/whatever?”
Might as well say
“You used to be better.”
“Look how far you’ve fallen.”
It’s never overt abuse, it’s moral posturing. It’s humiliation disguised as righteousness.
There’s one scene where Xie Lian asks about Nan Fang and Fu Yao, and both of them claim they’re in detention. Mu Qing, ok yeah. He’s just like that, but Feng Xin? Willingly and publicly saying ‘I punished my subordinate for helping you’
That wasn’t the only time Feng Xin would pretend like Xie Lian meant nothing when others were looking iirc
And I 100% agree with you. by the end I think Mu Qing and Xie Lian are closer and I think it has a lot to do with Mu Qing being honest with not only himself, but Xie Lian. They both had a chance to express themselves in a healthy way and come to terms with the past. Because both of them made mistakes.
Meanwhile Feng Xin is still in his own world of “I did nothing wrong, theres no reason to reflect”
Hello there!
I saw the thread about topics within the book and one I had to ask about is what is this spicy take on the black water arc? Like now, I'm super curious and have to follow up on this!🤣😅
Veering sideways about the one on if Jun Wu did it or not. Xie Lian's parents being either killed or manipulated by Jun Wu to do so would track with him. Have you determined which stuff was probably him and which wasn't? It's honestly really terrifying to think how long he was terrorizing and ruining their lives until things unraveled with Xie Lian's third ascension.
And the three clowns one - what's that referring to?
TIA!🌸
Some of this is going to be tough to answer without going into full dissertation mode but I’m going to try to keep it brief and platform appropriate. I’ll save Blackwater for last haha you're tryna get me blacklisted
The thing that sold me on Xie Lians parents was the fact that they used his white silk band to do it, which is hugely symbolic and basically screams “It’s your fault.” First read through, I thought they did it because they were feeling as if they were a burden to Xie Lian. Since then though? No. That silk band was used by Xie Lian every single day, and he had to search for it. His parents were not so cruel. Then there's the amount of trauma that band would have had to endure to become sentient. A quiet acceptance of death by suicide doesn't fit the bill.
I actually want to keep on that to further compound my thoughts, but I'm wont, because the point is; in finding out what Jun Wu may or may not have done, looking at out-of-character actions and what doesn't add up is best. Like Xie Lians sleeve getting caught on a cloud during his descent. The Spirits at Mt. Taicang that attacked Honghong'er. Mu Qing just so happened to show up at the blessed mountain when Xie Lian finally thought he was catching a break. Who killed Ming Yi? The friggen drought.
And yes, the clowns. MQ/FX. This ties into the prior: Why are they so unbearably acidic towards Xie Lian? Some past grievances, yes. But they are hostile, they think he's an idiot, and they're never there when Xie Lian needs them yet fight over who's the worse friend- not who is the better friend. It's not a bitter past, its more like their flames were stoked beyond reason. Then, time and time again, they deny any association with him in public, leaving him hanging. Are they just afraid of rumors? Mu Qing, maybe. But the noble and just beacon of righteousness, Feng Xin? Would watch his friend and former liege be humiliated and not say anything?
And could I, in all confidence, after reading multiple mxtx works say "It's just because that one event upset them,” and leave it at that?
And no, I have not verified all. Some have backup, some are speculation. It’s something I’d like to work on the next time I return to tgcf though.
The Blackwater arc.. woof. Ok, bracing myself for incoming projectiles.
In a nutshell, it's that Shi Wudu stole Shi Qingxuans fate of wealth and that's how he gained the title God of Wealth, contrary to popular belief. I could go full blown dissertation.. and actually I might, but first I'll just start with where I started:
Shi Qinxuan had a fate of wealth that was verified to not have been touched by Blackwater, nor consumed by the Reverend of Empty Words. So why was he a destitute beggar at the end? Not poor, not struggling, but a crippled, starving beggar. 0 wealth. None. Not a single coin.
The wealth he has as god was showered on him by Shi Wudu and most Shi Qingxuans temples were shared. I actually dont recall it saying he had his own temples at all (doesn’t mean it didn’t happen)
Then I asked myself "Why was 'wealth' used so many times in this tangled arc? Qingxuans fate, Wudu's domain, He Xuans windfall.."
"Who benefitted the most?"
Then questions like "What was Shi Wudu's overprotectiveness really about? Mostly optics, right?"
Because... what if someone found out..? His overprotectiveness really only flares up once the spiritual power is gone.. you could say it's all about safety but..
And so I read through carefully to either confirm or deny the hypothesis and regardless of how much no one wants to hear about it I'm firmly in the camp that this isn't a head-canon but possibly an intention. The timelines of Shi Qingxuan and He Xuan dont back the idea that the fate swap only happened at the last moment before ascension. Shi Wudu moved them to a home less than an hour away from He Xuans hometown before he even ascended. The power of the RoEW was not insurmountable. And just because Shi Qinxuan wasn’t “fated” to ascend doesn’t mean he couldn’t have, but Shi Wudu sure wasn’t going to wait to find out.
Maybe it was greed, maybe it was a necessity in order to preform the fate ritual idk. But Shi Qinxuans fate is gonezo and neither the RoEW nor Blackwater laid claim to it.