Come back to Gusu

“Keep memories until the next meeting”

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Artist: ImaginaryCanvas

(and Hua Cheng is so deeply, terrifyingly angry, but also hurt)

because to anyone, anyone else, the idea that someone has carved ten thousand statues of your likeness seems obsessive, creepy, even stalker-ish–which, compounded with Hua Cheng’s behavior, is not an unreasonable conclusion to draw from the outside, and that’s not even getting to the mural that they didn’t let Xie Lian see

but Xie Lian isn’t remotely bothered, and the more I think about that, the more it makes sense:

he was once the beloved taizi dianxia of Xianle, he knows what it’s like to be worshiped, and he knows exactly how little that worship really means when the winds change

Hua Cheng has already proven himself, over and over again, that he wants nothing but the best for Xie Lian, Xie Lian’s safety and happiness above all else

more importantly, Hua Cheng has proven that he respects Xie Lian’s boundaries and agency, which, unfortunately, Feng Xin and Mu Qing do NOT

look, it’s Xie Lian. He would never judge someone solely by their worst moment in life, and if all Hua Cheng did in the depths of his despair was to create an astounding trove of art? Well, it’s a far sight better than Xie Lian’s coping mechanisms in book four

and really, it all comes back to the idea of unconditional love, and the way that Xie Lian’s divinity and talent and royal birth make it that so rare and precious for him

because as the crown prince, he was beloved for what he represented, rather than who he was

and as a god, he was worshipped for what he could do for his believers, rather than who he was

this is the thing about godhood in TGCF–it is not a guarantee of power, it not inherent, inalienable. Those heavenly perks come with caveats, that spiritual power comes with fine print

(gods can die in TGCF, just like any human, or monster, or ghost king)

no power is unbreakable. no adoration is unconditional

and then there’s Hua Cheng

the strength of Hua Cheng’s love can level mountains, topple the heavens, and most of all? it is completely unconditional

if Xie Lian decided to become his mask in book four, Hua Cheng would have stood by his side and unleashed a plague

if Xie Lian decided to dedicate the rest of his life to collecting scraps and barely scrape by, Hua Cheng would roll up his sleeves and carry trash right beside him

if Xie Lian decided to take all of that immense power and turn it on Hua Cheng, burn a ghost king, then burn the ashes, Hua Cheng would simply stand there and smile and say if that’s what gege wants and let him

it’s you, not the state of you

my dream is only you

I would be the stone beneath your feet you use to climb higher

Xie Lian: *calls him Hua Cheng*

Hua Cheng:

HuaLian later arrive and find the adorable cinnamon roll curled up beside their bed.

like,

like when he’s with Lan Wangji, he catches himself the first time he starts to say “Shijie,” and then freezes, swallows the words with a flinch, and corrects himself to call her “Jiang-Guniang”, because Jiang Yanli is no longer his Shijie, he has no right to call her that in public,

 or when

or when he bows to her before he leaves like he’s not her family anymore, putting up that barrier of formality that should not be there between family members, but he has to do it because he chose the Wen Remnants and he can’t treat her just like family anymore, he has to put up that barrier even as it breaks him to do it

or when

or when she calls out to him as he’s leaving and he stops, and stands there, and goes through about 5 stages of grief, where he can’t help the smallest glance back before he forces himself to face forward, away from her and Jiang Cheng, physically shoring up himself and his heart and his pain, and burying it under determination because he must go forward, he must go to the Wens and away from the Jiangs, he can’t have them both, and 

and

Ling Wen: [pinching the bridge of her nose] Just- just give him a minute.