AWARE OF SWORD (pleas pet sword)

[keltena]

Wow, it's... been a while, hasn't it? In retrospect, disappearing at the start of 2020 was pretty unfortunate timing, but I've been safe and well as can be expected; just preoccupied enough to lose track of social media. It's good to be back, though!

In between real life responsibilities, one thing I've been doing more of in the past year or two is reading. (I got an e-reader, and it's amazing how much easier that's made things.) surskitty got me into the webnovel Mo Dao Zu Shi (魔道祖师, lit. "Founder of Demonic Cultivation") by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu—which, for the record, is fantastic and I'd highly recommend it if you like social/political worldbuilding, complicated dysfunctional relationships, and aggressively gray morality, among other things. The plot in brief: Wei Wuxian, the young inventor of demonic cultivation who went from war hero to public enemy after the war, wakes up thirteen years after his widely-celebrated death to find that he's been mysteriously resurrected, and his relationships with the world and people he left behind have gotten no less fraught in the time he's been dead.

Afterwards I went back to check out the author's first novel, The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System, in which the protagonist dies and is reborn into the trashy power-fantasy harem novel he hatereads for the plot... as the hate-sink villain fated to die horribly at the hero's hands. I'd recommend this one much more selectively, but it's a delight if you're into what it's offering—ridiculous metafiction/internet fandom humor, dubious life and relationship choices, and The World's Least Self-Aware Man as narrator—and don't mind the wonky pacing and more purely relationship-driven plot.

I recently got around to starting the author's third novel, Heaven Official's Blessing, and while I'm not even halfway through, I'm having a great time. The main character's PoV is a delight to read from, and every worldbuilding detail feels like a gift to me personally. ♥ I also felt like after reading the author's first two books, I ought to have a bingo card for this one, so I threw one together before starting:




(The middle square is, of course, free.)


Under the cut are my notes while reading Heaven Official's Blessing, Book 1: Crimson Rain Sought Flower.


I've only read the prologue and the main character is already the single most #valid person I've ever seen. I don't even know his name, and I already love him and support him in all his endeavors on principle.


Opening chapters are delightful. I hope this novel continues to be significant part divine workplace comedy; I eat that stuff up with a spoon.

Then, if there was an Upper Court and a Middle Court, was there a Lower Court?

No.

Actually, there really had been one when Xie Lian first ascended. At the time, the division was still "Upper Court" and "Lower Court". However, later everyone discovered a problem: when one was giving a self-introduction, it really sounded bad to say "I am xxxx, from the Lower Court". With the word "lower", it felt like one was lower compared to the others. It must be known that there were definitely geniuses and outstanding figures with impressive spiritual power among them; what they were missing was only that one heavenly calamity before they could become real heavenly officials. Who knew when that day would come? Thus, it was proposed that one word be changed, and it sounded so much better to say "I am xxxx, from the Middle Court"... even though they both meant the same thing.

My middle school drama teacher, who year after year managed to organize a polished school play around several dozen flaky teenagers, used to split kids into two casts who'd perform alternate nights. It made it easier to give everyone a role and plan rehearsals around their zillion individual schedules. When my older brother was in the play, they were called Cast A and Cast B.

The teacher got so much whining from kids offended not to be chosen for Cast A, over the years, that by the time I got there they were called Cast A and Cast 1.

My point is I love this passage.


I hope Nan Feng and Fu Yao stick around after this arc, because I'm already quite fond of them.

No matter who looked, they could tell with one glance that this was a handsome man with gentle brows. But this was precisely the reason why not many would be able to stand the image of a perfectly good, handsome man wearing a woman's wedding dress.

Hey, speak for yourself! >:( Cowards.


Damn, Xie Lan, that is a stunningly #aesthetic weapon. Who let you be this fashionable?


The lovingly-detailed prose on every visible inch of this "young man"'s appearance is adorable. The zero-to-ten jump in costume porn the moment he appeared! It's practically a giant banner announcing the arrival of both the author's precious baby and Xie Lian's new crush; I'm so endeared.


I'm glad Xie Lian enjoyed his blind date. Yes, he may have been extremely shady, never spoken a word, and vanished before Xie Lian could get a single look at him—but he was such a gentleman! He gave Xie Lian butterflies!

He... has the Human Face Disease

Aaaand there's our CW: trypophobia. Didn't take long this time!

"So he's called Hua Cheng? Hm, it's a fitting name for him."

Anyone know what characters this is written with, incidentally? The translation doesn't say and I'd rather not risk spoilers by googling, but I'm curious now. (Well, extra curious; admittedly I'm always curious about names.)

And when it came to Hua Cheng's backstory, there were endless different versions. Some said he was born crippled without a right eye and was bullied and humiliated since birth, so he was filled with hatred for the world; some said he was a young soldier who'd died in a lost battle for his country, and later came to walk the earth in resentment; some said he was a fool who was tormented by the death of his love; some even said he was a monster. In the most outrageous version, supposedly—only supposedly!—supposedly, Hua Cheng had ascended and become a god but immediately jumped back down on his own and became a ghost. But this was merely a version that wasn't widespread. No one knew if it was true or false, and not many believed it. It had to be false, though; even if it was true, it'd be a complete embarrassment for the heavens that someone would rather ditch the heavenly official role to become a ghost. Either way, the more diverse the stories were, the more mystery he was shrouded in.

Okay, so in descending order of likelihood, I think:

• The last one is sort of true, in a sense, but the rest are false


• All of them are sort of true, in some sense


• The last one is true, but the rest are false

Everyone: detailed account of history's most inexplicably-overpowered and inexplicably-motivated wrathful cryptid
Xie Lian: Wow, really? He seemed like such a nice young man, though...

Xie Lian is such a delight.


Xie Lian: hey, does anyone here know that nice young man with the butterflies?
Everyone: ...first of all, how are you still alive
Xie Lian:

Mothman is real and romantic

— mothman (@mothmanbot) August 25, 2021

Feeling light and high-spirited, Xie Lian decided he'd now focus on being a good god, and it would be great if he could make acquaintances or friends with other heavenly officials. Although the heavenly court communication array was generally peaceful, it would turn boisterous once things got busy. Sometimes if an official was feeling good or had encountered something interested, they'd share in the array, and there'd be merriment. Although Xie Lian didn't recognize most of the voices, he would listen silently. But he couldn't always remain invisible! After a while, he'd randomly join the conversation:

"That's really quite interesting."

"I read this pleasant verse in passing, and thought I'd share with everyone."

"Here's an effective cure for back and leg pains, thought I'd share with everyone."

Unfortunately, every time he'd share these mindfully-selected, physically and mentally beneficial tips, the communication array would go silent. Until finally, Ling Wen couldn't take it anymore and told him privately:

"Your Highness, the things you're sharing in the communication array are nice, but even those who are hundreds of years older than you wouldn't share those kinds of things."

I'm dying.

Sitting upright on the cart, Xie Lian watched him thoughtfully for a moment, then said, "'Crimson Rain Sought Flower' is quite the name. Do you know where it came from, my friend?"

The youth sat up casually, propped and arm up on a raised knee, and fixed his sleeves. He replied drolly, "Nothing major, really. Just that, there was once an incident where he cleaned out the nest of another ghost, and a shower of bloody rain poured from the skies. He saw a flower was getting battered by the bloody rain, so he stopped to shield it with his umbrella."

Ahh. And a friend showed me how his name's written, so—Flower Castle, huh? Very appropriate.


Xie Lian and Hua Cheng really have great rapport off the bat. I love how much fun they're clearly having just casually chatting and flirting while pretending they don't know each other's identities.

Xie Lian pressed on, "Does Hua Cheng have any kind of weakness?"

[…] The youth answered immediately, "His ashes."

If one got a hold of a ghost's ashes, one could take command of said ghost. If the ghost disobeyed, then by getting rid of the ashes, the ghost, too, would dissolve and its soul disintegrate. This was common knowledge, but using it on Hua Cheng seemed fruitless.

Xie Lian smiled. "There's probably no one who can obtain his ashes, so this weakness doesn't count."

"You never know," the youth said. "There are circumstances where a ghost voluntarily gives away his ashes."

That sure is a choice of topic to randomly bring up, Hua Cheng! What is this, a ghost marriage proposal?

"There's a custom in the ghost realm where, if a ghost has chosen someone, they would entrust their ashes to that person."

That was like handing over one's life to another person. Such passion, what charming tales.

Xie Lian excitedly said, "I didn't know the ghost realm had such a romantic practice?"

Literally the next line. It sounds like Xie Lian would happily accept, in any case. :P


At this point, I actually can't tell whether Xie Lian knows who Hua Cheng is or not. :|a In the first part of their conversation, it seemed clear that he knew and they were both just acting like he didn't, but his narration since then seems to be claiming otherwise. Not sure yet if he suspects but is being polite about not jumping to unnecessary conclusions, if he's basically sure and is just that unreliable a narrator, or if he really hasn't gotten around to connecting those particular dots somehow.

Xie Lian finally looked up and realized with a start that San Lang was actually a head taller than him! It wasn't obvious when the youth was lazily lying in the hay, but standing tall, the two couldn't see eye to eye on even ground.

oh well then it's definitely meant to be, no two ways about it

San Lang picked up the fortune shaker, playfully gave it a shake and then put it down. "So... is there a bed?"

Xie Lian silently took down the straw mat from his back and unrolled it to show him.

San Lang raised his brows and asked, "There's only one?"

Hua Cheng is really having the best day, isn't he? It's the first time these two have even gotten to talk, and they've already found so much time for flirting and romance clichés.

Xie Lian flashed a smile, then looked down again at the characters. He suddenly said, "General."

"What?" Nan Feng and Fu Yao answered at the same time.

Xie Lian looked up. "The first word on this stone slate is 'General'."

—oh, hah. I was slow on the uptake with this one. Very cute, guys. :P Seriously, is anyone in Xie Lian's life not catfishing him right now?

This raises the same question about whether Xie Lian has caught on. On the one hand, part of me finds it very hard to imagine he wouldn't have; and while his narration has never said he's caught on, it's also (unlike with Hua Cheng) never said anything to suggest otherwise. On the other hand, it has been hundreds of years—the story specifically made a point of Xie Lian not recognizing them after so long—and, well... judging by the (very few) times Xie Lian has allowed us to dwell on his history and relationship with them, it sure doesn't seem like a subject he wants to consider.

I guess the question is, did he realize who they were and then promptly nope out of thinking about it any further? Or has he basically warded himself against the knowledge by refusing to even Go There in the first place?

When A-Zhao saw the hanging person, his face paled. This was such a chilling and peculiar display that even a calm individual like him couldn't bear the sight of it.

That doesn't sound like a normal reaction, it sounds like unsubtle foreshadowing. :P

Under the weeds, in the mud, was a man's face.

In a field such as this, a live human being was buried in the mud with only a face showing on the surface?

It was a nightmarish picture, and a couple of merchants held onto each other and screamed.

Xie Lian comforted them in a skilled and practiced manner: "Don't panic. Everyone calm down. It's only a face, nothing extraordinary. We all have faces, no?"

xie lian........

(I love him, god.)

Ch.24: Dallying HuaLian; Night-Fall in Sinner's Pit

Ha, I appreciate that the chapter titles don't even make a token effort at playing along with the "nice young man who definitely isn't Hua Cheng" thing.

After a while they could see the pole that stood in the centre, and atop the pole hung a corpse. It was the same one they had spotted earlier. The corpse was of a small, black-clad girl, tattered and head bowed.

Hm. I wonder if that's the body of the woman in black we saw earlier?

Suddenly, the Guoshi grabbed his wrist. […] She didn't say a single word, but her dark eyes were intense with a flaming sense of life.

This demeanour overlapped with an image from a fargone memory. After a pause, Xie LIan blurted, "It's you?"

The Guoshi's voice also trembled. "General Hua?"

"Hua", huh? Obviously not a coincidence, so... does that suggest Hua Cheng got his name from Xie Lian's alias? Or that they both got it from the same source? (Vice versa seems less likely, though I guess theoretically possible.)

... is "Hua Cheng" basically the equivalent of the screenname "xXGeneralHuasHusbandXx"

Xie Lian heard San Lang snicker and say "useless trash!" before gripping his shoulders to pull him close. Soon after, Xie Lian heard a sudden downpour of endless battering above them, like a thunderstorm hitting an umbrella.

Needless to say, now that the defense barrier was gone, the snake deluge came pouring down crazedly. The open umbrella was blocking the downpour, and Xie Lian could smell the thick, foul odour of blood.

broke: holding an umbrella to shelter your crush from the rain
woke: holding an umbrella to shelter your crush from the rain of blood dripping from the corpses overhead
bespoke: holding an umbrella to shelter your crush from the rain of infinite deadly snakes

Xie Lian then asked, "If you knew it was a sure win, why did you have Banyue open the fortress gates?"

"Because I needed to slaughter the fortress city," Pei Su replied.

"What do you mean?" Xie Lian asked. "Since you were already going to win, why must you slaughter the city?"

It couldn't be that it was a hobby of his!

...Your Highness, it's entirely possible that that's a hobby of his. Have you even seen my bingo card?

"Quan Yizhen is also a new official. He ascended around the same time as Pei Su. He's young, and a little...but, very powerful.

I already want to meet this guy. Characters who are a little........ are my favorite.

Xie Lian grinned and stood up again, turned around and casually cleaned the altar table.

"Alright then. What do you want to eat, Hua Cheng?"

Behind him, there was silence. Then chuckling.

"I still prefer the name 'San Lang'."

Ah, and there we are!

He continued, "That night at Mount Yujun, the groom who took me away was you, right?"

Seeing Hua Cheng's meaningful smirk, Xie Lian realized his words might have meant something else, and corrected himself.

"I meant, the groom in disguise who led me away was you, right?"

"I wasn't disguising myself as a groom," Hua Cheng replied.

"We're married now. I don't make the rules. No takebacks."


In any case—looks like the answer to my question is "Xie Lian really is just that polite and laid-back*". Fair enough! I appreciate his respect for boundaries.

* Or, well. I guess this could probably also be phrased as "that thoroughly depressed and apathetic", but. Same difference?

"Hua Xie" was a fake name he'd taken from the first word of the title "Flower-Crowned Martial God", so "Hua Cheng" might very well be a fake name too? That they both coincidentally picked the same surname was rather amusing.

Hm. Sounds like they probably got it from the same source, then?

Xie Lian was pensive for a moment, and smiled softly as he chased his memories. “Many, many years ago, there was someone who told me they couldn’t live on anymore. They asked me for what reason they were alive, and what was the meaning of their life.”

He glanced at Hua Cheng. “Do you know how I answered?”

It might have just been Xie Lian’s imagination, but there seemed to be light in Hua Cheng’s eyes. He asked gently, “How did you answer?”

Xie Lian said, “I told them: ‘If you don’t know how to live on anymore, then live for me!’

“‘If you don’t know the meaning to your life, then make me that meaning, and use me as the reason to live’.

“Ha ha ha....”

As Xie Lian spoke, he couldn’t help but let out a small laugh and shook his head. “Even now I don’t understand what I was thinking back then. How did I ever have the courage to tell someone to make me the meaning of their life?”

Hua Cheng was silent

...

That sure is a choice of topic to just randomly bring up, Xie Lian! I wonder if it will ever wind up being relevant.


I appreciate the Wind Master for being, in a group of people who can all shapeshift, the sole remotely relatable person.

The 'Three Tumors' is the nickname given to the three heavenly officials who don't have a good rep, but have a good relationship with each other: they're Ming Guang, Ling Wen, and my brother."

What did Ling Wen do wrong??


... "Society felt I wasn't heteronormative enough, so I complied by being genderfluid" is an absolutely god-tier backstory. (Appropriately.) Holy shit.


ETA: While showing my brother the above worldbuilding passage about gods' genders changing due to their believers' cultural hangups (which is frankly my favorite passage in the book thus far), it occurred to me...

Later, some of the devotees couldn’t get over it, and rebuilt her statues into male gods; transforming her from the Goddess Ling Wen to the God Ling Wen, and even made up an entire extravagant backstory. After this change, her temples became prosperous, and everyone praised how effective the God Ling Wen was. But the truth was, an official was an official, spiritual powers were all the same, and the legends were all fake. Still, the people ate them up. Since then, when Ling Wen needed to appear in dreams, she could only do so in a male form.

Appearing in dreams must be pretty awkward for Feng Xin, huh.

When he passed by a food stall, he saw the stall owner use a giant bone to stir a giant pot of soup; while it stirred, spit would spill from between its teeth, dripping into the soup, and in that soup filled with weird colours floated many an eyeball. Xie Lian watched and suddenly gained confidence.

xie lian, please......

Xie Lian walked up to the doors, and on the two pillars at the entrance, there was a set of verses . The left said “Money Over Life”, the right said “Gains Over Shame”. On the top horizontal beam it said “HAHAHAHA”.

Amazing.

I am in awe.

Xie Lian asked, “Lord Wind Master, how’s your luck?”

Shi Qingxuan replied, “It’s sometimes good, sometimes bad. There’s no certainty in something like ‘luck’.”

Xie Lian said, “There can be. For example, look at me; I’ve never had any good luck.”

Honestly, when you put it that way it actually sounds very practical. If it's reliably bad, you could just have Shi Qingxuan bet against you.


Oh, haha, SQX immediately jumps to the same conclusion only to fail predictably. Sorry about your life, Your Highness.

Countless pairs of eyes zoomed in on the cup in his hands, and Xie Lian felt that somehow, this tiny little gambling cup had grown heavier. He didn’t know if there was a right way to flip it. However, just as he was about to reveal the outcome, the croupier stopped him.

“Wait.”

“Is something the matter?” Xie Lian asked.

That croupier replied, “The lord said your cup shaking posture isn’t quite right.”

Xie Lian thought to himself, “Is there really a correct way of doing this? Was all my bad luck before due to my bad posture?”

He asked modestly, “May I ask what the correct posture is?”

The croupier responded, “The lord has invited you to go up, as he’s willing to teach you.”

That is a fucking incredible excuse to hold his hand.


... You know, it very belatedly occurs to me, having now met the love interest, that the "technically contains no necrophilia" square may be a non-starter for this novel. :P

Gold Foil Palace. Xie Lian had played this game often when he was a child; it was a game that was no different than village kids stacking rocks to build houses. Yet because he'd disliked separation by nature when he was younger, it didn’t matter what it was; as long as the objects were placed together, Xie Lian would refuse to separate them. After making a palace, he’d forbid anyone to touch it, wishing if only he could glue the fragile sheets together so that it’d never collapse. When he was even younger, if he saw his golden palace fall apart, he’d be depressed to the point of refusing food and sleep, until the king and queen coaxed him from his shell. The golden palace before him now was grand, layered in hundreds of foil sheets, fragile like an egg, as if a gentle breeze could blow it down.

Xie Lian prayed mentally: “Don’t collapse, don’t collapse.”

Oh, honey.


holy shit E'ming is adorable????

CUTEST SWORD. EVERYONE ELSE GO HOME. ♥




This is now an E'ming appreciation blog.

Xie Lian couldn't breathe, and his voice cracked, mumbling to himself, "I...only wanted to start a small fire to create a distraction, how did it turn out like this..."

...

Even I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry. Xie Lian.........

I mean. I don't think he's even going to be mad, I just. I don't think you're supposed to burn down his house on the third date.........

Xie Lian looked at the sword, then looked at him, and finally, shook his head slowly. “I’ve sworn many years ago to never kill with the sword again.”

With those words, Lang Qianqiu recalled that night when he finally arrived at the feast: the scene of that black-robed man pulling out a longsword from the dead bodies of his parents, his eyes reddened with madness, the sword in his left hand emitting a shaking, crackling sound from his left grip.

That's... an interesting sound for a sword to make.

“Do you concede to Tai Hua’s accusations?” Jun Wu asked.

“I concede,” Xie Lian replied.

The “I concede” was uttered in a frosty tone, very unlike Xie Lian’s usual manner of speaking, and the faces of Feng Xin, Mu Qing, and Shi Qingxuan all dropped.

Huh. I don't think I've ever seen his demeanor change like that before, have I? That's interesting. Wonder what's going on with him psychologically at the moment?

“I don’t want to fight you,” Xie Lian said.

“Why?” Lang Qianqiu shouted. “It’s not like we’ve never fought before. Life or death, the outcome doesn’t matter, let’s just put an end to this!”

Xie Lian said plainly, “No reason. Fight me, and you will for sure die.”

Although the words were an understatement, lightly said, it caused all those around to take in a harsh breath. Many had in their minds: you’re nothing more than a powerless rubbish god, how could you be so shameless to say to the one Lang Qianqiu, Martial God of the East, that if you fight, he’ll die for sure? What arrogance! It was like the request for banishment was because fighting Lang Qianqiu was beneath him. Pure bullshit.

Yet Lang Qianqiu didn’t think his words were exaggerated at all. “I said, life and death don’t matter! I don’t need you to let me off easy either!”

Xie Lian ignored him and reiterated his request to Jun Wu, “Pray my lord banish me to the lesser realm.”

Scandalous arrogance aside, I'm pretty sure Xie Lian's actual motivation is pure "I would like to be Not Having This Conversation." I'm basically reading it in the tone of the Dirk Strider meme, tbh. "Well, this has gone completely pear-shaped. There's no other way out of it. My lord will have to banish me to the mortal realm."

He dreamt of many things.

He seemed to be meditating with his eyes closed; when when he blinked his eyes open, he found himself sitting in the lotus position before a desk, his black robes flowing on the floor in layers around him, and on his face there seemed to be a cold, heavy mask.

When he lowered his head, the sight before him was of a young boy sprawled over the desk. The boy appeared to be fourteen or fifteen years of age; his attire distinguished, his form strumming with life, but fast asleep.

He shook his head and walked over. Bending slightly, he knocked on the desk. “Your Royal Highness.”

Maybe it was because of the cold mask; even his voice was cool.

This is such lovely dream-flashback atmosphere.

His hand that held the sword wouldn't stop shaking.

Oh, is it the sword itself or just his hand shaking? ... Well, I mean, the description before doesn't sound non-supernatural, so... presumably not just normal hand trembling, at least.

“What are you doing here?” Xie Lian asked.

“The emperor detained you, and won’t let His Highness Tai Hua come. But he didn’t say I couldn’t come,” Mu Qing said.

He didn’t bother answering Xie Lian’s question. Whatever. Xie Lian wasn’t actually curious anyway, and didn’t question him further.

Oh, Xie Lian. What are we going to do with you.


Mu Qing and Feng Xin's impromptu fistfight while Xie Lian blinks tiredly on is so delightful. Your Best Friends, Unfortunately

The front doors to the Palace of Xianle had been kicked open by someone. Beyond the door wasn't the expansive Great Martial Avenue of the Heavenly Court, but a dead, deep blackness.

And from within the darkness, innumerous chilling silver butterflies rushed out towards them.

I just need to take a moment to mention that my mind keeps seeing descriptions of eerie, ethereally beautiful silver butterflies in the darkness to herald the arrival of a mysterious and deadly supernatural figure with inscrutable motivations, and jumping straight to preexisting associations from Umineko. It's a slightly disorienting experience every time. "Oh, it's the Silver Witch! —Wait, no." (Interpreting Hua Cheng's silver butterflies by Umineko rules would be an extremely poor choice, on multiple levels.)

Millions of silver butterflies jetted towards them, flapping their wings like blasting winds, but there was an invisible wall blocking them, and the butterflies smashed against it like a thunderstorm, hailing and battering. White lights flared from the friction like sparks. It appeared that the two had cast a spell to shield, but even against a magical shield, the wraith butterflies were forceful and endless, crazy like moths to flames.

That's some gorgeous description there.

The two looked closely and almost spat blood from angry shock on the spot. Xie Lian had in his hand a wraith butterfly, looking rather confused. Earlier when the butterflies were gusting through like wild winds, there was one that was a little slow and couldn’t follow. It’d flapped with difficulty in front of Xie Lian; he thought it worked really hard, but the poor little silver butterfly couldn’t fly anymore, so he extended his palm just beneath it. That silver butterfly landed on his palm, wings still flapping, but refusing to leave.

Both Feng Xin and Mu Qing popped veins. “DON’T TOUCH THAT THING WITH YOUR HAND!!!”

Just then, Xie Lian felt a tightening on his wrist—someone had gotten a hold of him, and pulled hard. His entire person was pulled into the darkness beyond the door.

Thus was the Crown Prince of Xianle kidnapped by the Ghost King, in much the same way one with a comfortable lap is kidnapped by a kitten.

Hua Cheng watched him intently, his left eye unusually bright. Xie Lian suddenly noticed that he appeared to be shaking.

After a moment, Xie Lian realized it wasn’t Hua Cheng who was shaking, but the scimitar E’ming on his waist.

That silver scimitar, hung upon the red robes, was shaking nonstop. The eye contoured by a silver line was also trembling. If it was the eye of a child, then this child, at that moment in time, must be bawling with tears.

... I only just now made the obvious connection between Hua Cheng's missing eye and E'ming's. Duh.

(If E'ming turns out to be some dissociated piece of Hua Cheng's psyche, I will be so happy. Please, novel. Please.)

Seeing its state, Xie Lian unconsciously reached out, wanting to pet it.

“What’s wrong…”

But Hua Cheng side-stepped and turned his body slightly, avoiding Xie Lian’s touch, and smacked hard on the hilt. “Nothing’s wrong. Don’t mind it.”

After getting smacked soundly, the cursed scimitar E’ming, feared by all in the heavens, shook even harder.

👏 LET 👏 XIE 👏 LIAN 👏 PET 👏 THE 👏 SWORD


I'm glad Mu Qing and Feng Xin are having fun on their own.

The only thing that could be said with certainty was, of the two Crown Princes, Lang Qianqiu had always been more fortunate than Xie Lian.

Well that's a hell of a loaded comment.

After hundreds of years, Fangxin finally returned to the hands of its master.

It moaned softly in Xie Lian’s hands. Closeby, Hua Cheng’s eyes also shone from hearing the euphoric cries of that sword.

this is what happens when you give your at-least-vaguely-sentient weapons abandonment issues, xie lian

they get weird about it

Seeing that he wouldn’t speak, Lang Qianqiu’s anger flared and took in a huge breath. He yelled, “IF THAT WAS YOUR INTENTION THEN I WON’T LET YOU HAVE YOUR WAY!!”

Xie Lian’s eyes widened at those words.

Lang Qianqiu couldn’t stand, but his eyes were bright and his tone tenacious, as if a roaring flame was blazing within his eyes. He continued, his tone harsh, like he was peeved but also like he was declaring war.

“If you want me to fill my heart with hatred like you, I surely won’t! If you’re going to force me to abandon myself, I refuse! I will never!—NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO TO ME, I WILL NEVER BECOME LIKE YOU!!!”

holy fuck lang qianqiu is adorable

i mean, he already was but. oh my god :D :D :D


I really do love Xie Lian and Hua Cheng's dynamic. It's so relaxed, low-key, and natural from day one, in a way that's simultaneously cozy/comforting and really weird in a way neither of them feels inclined to actually acknowledge. I love how you can see both of them privately observing that wow, this guy is really Not Okay and being very worried, but acting like everything's normal because there's only so much they can do without blatantly overstepping. It's such a nice, human kind of dynamic.


...

Whatever else you might say of him, Qi Rong is undeniably a Supreme-level mood killer.

Look, I think I'm pretty laid-back and open-minded about these things (I'm a homestuck, for goodness' sake!), but... When you lead me alone to a hauntingly scenic tomb after an emotionally-fraught Act 1 climax and show me children in coffins where they don't belong, even I may come in with certain expectations about the mood.

(Joking, of course; though I'm surprised how often I do find myself wishing for a version of Qi Rong's scenes with Qi Rong's dialogue redacted and paraphrased. :P The content of his lines doesn't annoy me, he's just so grating to read! I mean, I don't doubt that's the intended effect—kudos to MXTX for making me genuinely dislike a character without disliking the writing itself, really, because that's a rare occurrence. I'm just startled by how strong my reaction of "oh my god just SHUT UP" is...

... Actually, wait. Is that a reaction to Qi Rong, or to the translator's overuse of all-caps? :|a Hang on, I'm going to do some science...

ETA: Haha, turns out it was the all-caps. Normally-formatted Qi Rong is at least 50% less grating to read! I guess I owe him an apology; he's still an impressively obnoxious character in his own right, but without the caps he's only an almost-Supreme rank annoyance.)

...This has brought me back to wondering where the translator got the all-caps yelling from in the first place. Were they just trying to get the tone of those lines across, or is there actually some sort of formatting used for emphasis in the original? Because ... it's a heck of a lot of all-caps. _@


My bingo card, as of the end of Book 1:




Since I'm only a little ways in, I've chosen to play conservatively and only mark off squares the book has definitely earned already, so some of the unmarked ones may be arguable. We'll get there eventually, though!

I'm still laughing at how I played myself with that necrophilia square. "Main Character Death" may also have been a mistake...