#illuspeaks

The way Hua Cheng says "it's not your fault" and "you, not the state of you" and "there's no banquet that doesn't come to an end" and that all of these Xie Lian said first. It truly showcases just how highly Hua Cheng thinks of Xie Lian, that so often he decides the best way to support Xie Lian is by repeating Xie Lian's own words back to him, like he can't think of anything better or more fitting in these moments. And every time he does it he's saying, "I listen when you talk, I hear what you say, and I think you're right" to a man who has been ignored and maligned and alone for almost all his life. It's one of the sweetest possible things Hua Cheng could do.

FIRST SILKSONG ENDING DOWN, MOTHERFUCKERS

'if Jun Wu had had someone like Hua Cheng, he wouldn't have turned evil' Hua Cheng had jack SHIT to do with Xie Lian's choices. That they landed him a sexy ghost king baddie is incidental. The difference between Jun Wu and Xie Lian is that Jun Wu couldn't handle suffering for making the right decisions, and Xie Lian could. That's it.

Xie Lian's bad luck carries so much meaning in TGCF. Like, Xie Lian has actual bad luck but wait, the bad luck is actually commentary on the self-perpetuating nature of poverty- wait, no, it's not actually bad luck at all, it was just a cover for how Jun Wu took advantage of his power to abuse Xie Lian- but wait, it's not bad luck, it's that Xie Lian keeps ending up in situations where his moral character means he refuses to disengage or ignore people's hardships even if he suffers for it. But WAIT-