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rose-tinted-kalopsia · 3 months ago

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xavier x mc hualiand coded u say......can you explain why im so curious

omg. omg anonie. are you familiar with tian guan ci fu (heaven official's blessing)..... hualian refers to the main couple of the book (hua cheng x xie lian) !!! in case anyone out there is trying to avoid spoilers for it i'll answer this under the cut 🥰 but they have a very very very beautiful love story, one that's been Ingrained in my head since the first time i read it. it's so whole and deeply rooted, and sincerely xavier and mc give off similar vibes. like SO. MUCH. probably more than any of the other LI's!

so this's going to talk about things like: the "fallen from grace" trope, the mirroring between xavier and mc, how xavier's love for mc transcends time, how all he thinks about is... her.

(i'm also going to talk a lot about xavier's myths (both lightseeker and lumiere) and maybe a lil bit of the no restraint card! so this'll be long...)

but so on the tgcf side: ESSENTIALLY the very basic explanation of hualian's love story is that hua cheng has loved and admired xie lian for more than 800 years. and it's a love that's very very deeply rooted. a love where xie lian becomes his everything.

THE OFFICIAL SUMMARY OF TGCF READS—"Eight hundred years ago, Xie Lian was the Crown Prince of the Xianle. He was loved by his citizens and was considered the darling of the world. He ascended to the Heavens at a young age; however, due to unfortunate circumstances, was quickly banished back to the mortal realm. Years later, he ascends again – only to be banished again a few minutes after his ascension. Now, eight hundred years later, Xie Lian ascends to the Heavens for the third time as the laughing stock among all three realms. On his first task as a god thrice ascended, he meets a mysterious demon who rules the ghosts and terrifies the Heavens, yet, unbeknownst to Xie Lian, this demon king has been paying attention to him for a very, very long time."

now, two things to understand are—(1) hua cheng was born an unwanted child, and (2) xie lian, the crown prince, has always had a kind heart. these are important to the story. because eventually it goes that hua cheng, who was unwanted and discarded and overall regarded as a disgrace, disgusting to look at, bad luck, etcetc., found solace in xie lian's kindness—his warmth. his light.

chronologically, as the story goes, xie lian, as a very esteemed crown prince of his nation, ascends to the heavens and becomes a 'martial god' (this gives him things like immortality and the ability to use magic). but his nation falls into chaos, and the long story short is that he absolutely fails to save it. instead, he ends up turning his own people against him. he falls from the heavens as quite literally a fallen god. ridiculed, no longer worshipped, despite how much love and praise he always used to get. and for several, several years, he has to deal with coming to terms with his past. there's a lot of quite graphic trauma here.

and now, hua cheng... he's been there through all of that. he's stayed by xie lian for as much as he could stay with him. he fought as a soldier for xie lian, died in battle for xie lian—and the thing about his death was that,, he didn't want to rest in peace afterwards. and when that happens—if you have a strong enough reason to remain, you take on the form of a ghost, starting out as a little ball of light (a "ghostfire") to eventually getting a ghost form.

so he stayed.

even as a baby ghostfire, until he got his own ghost form... he stayed. he's seen him get beat up, and hurt, he's seen him make the wrong decisions, he's seen him manipulated, and trampled on—he's seen him at his worst. but he stayed, because he wanted to. that might have been all he did sometimes, and xie lian might not have particularly noticed him then, but he stayed.

of course; it wasn't enough for him to just stay, not when it was all he could do, so naturally—he'd get stronger, right? they separate at some point, and hua cheng loses contact with xie lian for several, several several years.... but he keeps looking. he literally becomes the most feared ghost (a "demon king"), while xie lian essentially has been banished from the heavens to redeem himself.

and, what's interesting to note is that xie lian—always kindhearted, always meaning to do the good thing—is a lot morally different in comparison to hua cheng. it's not that hua cheng is a bad person, but just that he's willing to do more extreme things for xie lian's sake, especially now that he's plenty powerful. he only thinks of xie lian, while xie lian, as a crown prince, tended to be selfless and think more of the betterment of the general people. it's like a balance, or sorts? xie lian is able to act as his moral compass, in a way, because simultaneously hua cheng's ultimate goal is to make xie lian happy, and he wouldn't do things that won't make him happy.

regardless, they only meet again after 800 years, in the first arc of the book. during this time, like the summary says, xie lian had ascended once more, but still not very well-liked in the heavenly realm, and hua cheng meets him as he's sent to investigate a case. it's at this point that they grow naturally closer through various book events (because right now, xie lian doesn't yet know that this is the same little ghost, that one soldier, from the past).

the point is, though—xie lian had really become hua cheng's everything. he's been looking for him for that long. he's remained a ghost still on this earth for that long. because xie lian showed him a kindness that no one else would when he was ridiculed... and now, hua cheng is returning the favor.

from the start, being by xie lian's side, hua cheng has always been promising "forever". and he's been keeping that promise. xie lian believes it.

at its core, tgcf has always been a story about a fallen god and his last believer.

and the following quotes really bring out how deeply rooted their relationship is! the book is very beautifully written, and hualian's relationship flourishes under this kind of writing. they're quotes that will stick with you a lot.

“If you don’t know the meaning of your life, then make me that meaning, and use me as your reason to live.” (xie lian, in the past, to the hua cheng who wanted to give up)

“To die in this battle for you is my greatest honor.” (in the past, soldier hua cheng to xie lian)

"i pray to never rest in peace.” (hua cheng to xie lian, when xie lian finds out he is a ghost)

“I have a beloved who is still in this world, I want to protect them.” (in the past, ghostfire hua cheng to xie lian)

”To watch with your own eyes your beloved be trampled on and ridiculed, yet be unable to do anything. That’s the worst suffering in the world.” (hua cheng to xie lian)

“To me, the one basking in infinite glory is you; the one fallen from grace is also you. What matters is you, and not the state of you.” (hua cheng to xie lian)

“If I could, I would have you use me as your stepping stone, the bridge you take apart after crossing, the corpse bones you need to trample to climb up, the sinner who deserved the butchering of a million knives. But, I know you wouldn’t allow it.” (hua cheng to xie lian)

“If your dream is to save the common people, then, my dream, is only you.” (hua cheng to xie lian)

“Only after having met you did I rediscover that it’s such a simple thing to be happy.” (xie lian to hua cheng)

“There’s no banquet in this world that doesn’t come to an end, but I will never leave you.” (hua cheng to xie lian)

“I will be back. Your Highness, believe me.” (hua cheng to xie lian)

“‘Forever’ exists. There’s one person who can truly achieve it. I believe.” (xie lian about hua cheng)

“He believed that this man would die for him again and again, and would be reborn for him over and over. Even if he fell into the depth of hell, he would break through the abyss for his ‘belief’.” (xie lian about hua cheng)

“Last time, they spent eight hundred years running towards each other. This time, it only took an instant to fall into each other’s embrace.” (about hualian)

“I am forever your most devoted believer.” (hua cheng to xie lian)

so how does this relate to xavier/mc?

WELL I'M GLAD YOU ASKED! 🥰

(1) in relation to xavier's lightseeker myth.

i talk a lot about this in more detail here! but a lot about xavier is very deeply rooted into his past, as the prince of philos.

in this sense we can compare him to xie lian—princely duties, tasked to care for a nation, a lot of responsibility on his shoulders... but unlike xie lian, these are duties that he doesn't want. he doesn't accept them. he'd rather not, thank you very much.

however—what exactly did his experiences as the crown prince give him? xavier, like i've talked about many times before, was forced into a role he didn't want to be in, essentially having his identity chosen for him. it's identity foreclosure. and this leads to: (a) difficulties with commitment, (b) weaker sense of self, (c) lack of confidence, (d) weaker mental fortitude, (e) self doubt and low self esteem issues. this is where he's comparable to hua cheng; both of them had identities forced onto them that lead to an onset of insecurities. it's where you have no choice but to ask yourself questions such as: who am i, really? who do i want to be? am i doing enough? am i enough?

because you never feel enough.

and combining both factors with xavier—the pressure to do his best and be the best, all that burden of responsibility that he never wanted... with all the insecurities that manifest as a result of that?

just like hua cheng found solace in xie lian's kindness towards him, xavier finds solace in the freedom that mc grants him.

(2) ”To watch with your own eyes your beloved be trampled on and ridiculed, yet be unable to do anything. That’s the worst suffering in the world.”

this is hua cheng's quote!

but doesn't it remind you of how upset he was over philos mc being labeled as the sacrifice? so much that it tore his relationship with his father more than it had already been torn? so much that it would be the breaking point for him to step back from the throne entirely?

xavier, in that moment, had to make a choice. he felt the need to do something; he couldn't just sit back and watch his beloved be treated that way. he was aware they weren't seeing mc as a person anymore, and he didn't like that—that's his beloved.

(3) "No matter how many times it takes, and no matter where you are, I'll find you."

pretty self-explanatory, right?

we're all familiar with this. that anecdote broke our hearts. we know that xavier is willing to wait for mc, to look for mc, to love her in ever universe and in every timeline—

he'd wait for mc for 800 years, too, if he had to. just like hua cheng.

it's a promise for forever—that his love for mc transcends the bounds of time and space, that... his forever belongs with her. he wants it to belong with her. and he hopes that she wants that, too.

(4) Fallen from grace.

similarly to xie lian's situation, in a way!

I feel that this is not necessarily a topic talked about a lot regarding xavier, and i may or may not make a separate post about it in the future... but his storyline is definitely some variation of this trope.

maybe it's not outright obvious; xavier isn't a god, after all. but... he is a prince.

he was a prince.

he was the crown prince of philos, set to inherit the throne, set to lead his people.

he's not anymore.

and maybe that was a title that meant little to him, and one that he definitely intended, wholeheartedly, to relinquish, but—at this point, he doesn't have the favor of his people, whether it be the general philosians, or even the (majority, it seems?) team of backtrackers that he's lead to earth. and with losing that title, like i have talked about before, again—means losing his identity. an identity so strongly associated with being a prince, with being a leader... it's gone, now, because that isn't who he is. it might not have been who he wanted to be, he might have been so averse to it, but it's always been part of him. losing the title means losing a piece of himself he can't really go back to, only that it sits there with him now at an awkward angle.

unfortunately for him, this was always the xavier that he's known mc to love—all of him, all of his identity that he's shaped around being the prince of philos, that's the xavier he knows mc loves. he's not quite sure if this mc will love the xavier he's changed into. so "fallen from grace" to him refers more to the fact that—will mc love me like this?

(5) MC is his everything.

and this point goes across virtually all possible cards of xavier's, and all possible events, and all possible moments—any interaction that he's had with mc.

mc is his everything. just like to hua cheng, xie lian is his everything.

he doesn't think about anything else. he doesn't care about anything else.

even our previous point—about the fallen from grace trope—is centered more on mc herself, than the rest of the people he's dealt with.

we can legitimately go through all of his cards and pinpoint how this is.

precious bonfire. he joined the camping trip for mc. he notices mc prioritizing the rest of the team more than herself. he plays the game because she's playing it. he'd drag mc away to rest with him instead of joining the bonfire event. he's only thinking of her. fluffy trap. we know how this unfolds—he legitimately let her do whatever she wanted. he saw what kind of booth she intended to drag him into; the setup, the costumes she wanted... and he let her. for her. to make her happy. fragment of time. less obvious, maybe, but it's still there—he had her on his mind when he wanted to complete those 100 steps, too.

heartstring symphony, unique aftertaste... prime examples of how he'd virtually let mc do whatever she wants, whether it be to reprimand him for getting injured again, or drag him around fo a little holiday. he's basically freely indulging her in her whimsies? and heartstring symphony quite touches a lot on his promises to her to take care, and how he misses her when he's away... etc. it's still... all about her.

romantic afternoon. he generally helps her with her sleeping problems—again, centered around her. faint sensation. he's trying to get her heartbeat to rise because of him—again, still centered around her. even tender nights. he's attentive to her needs, notices her heels aren't comfortable. that conversation they have by the bay proves meaningful; he wants to share that special moment with her, and he wants to reassure her somehow that he does—that he's thinking about her. that he always does.

then some more obvious ones, like 21 days (which i also kind of talk (yell) about here), and no restraint (which i talk about here).

and we get to the myths—the lightseeker myth. how he's willing to go to the ends of the earth just to find a way to ensure she won't be sacrificed. how he's willing to completely abandon his post... for her. not for the people, but for her. the lumiere myth, and the whole essence of lumiere being lumiere. how it's lumiere who saves mc not once, but twice. how in this myth, xavier pushes his limits to the point of exhaustion multiple times, all for mc.

and that's just the five-star cards. but in every single one of them... he's always thinking about her. centered around her. that if he's the stars, the moon, the planet—she's his sun. and he would gladly orbit around her. she's all he needs.

“If your dream is to save the common people, then, my dream, is only you.”

xavier might as well have been saying that to mc herself.

he doesn't care about anything else.

(the event is proof of that too!)

(6) Mirroring.

I mention this first here!!

and there is so, so, SO much of it throughout all of his cards and interactions with mc too, because it's founded on his love for her... and the love she returns back to him.

xavier who is willing to do anything for her. xavier who would prioritize her, think of her, love her—at the cost of himself. he would love her in every universe. he would love her no matter who or what she becomes.

he doesn't know how to receive the same in return.

yet, we know that mc does exactly that.

she does return it.

in regards to the lumiere myth, i talk about it a lot, too: "i think what's most beautiful about the lumiere event is like? she's not even trying to belittle his feelings of jealousy? she'd tease, yeah, but i think the gist of this event, and the myth, was mc still trying to convey that—she'll love him no matter what, even if it's lumiere, even if it's the him that he isn't fond of, himself."

and you realize that the entire theme of their storyline is "i will love you no matter who or what you become"—they say it to each other. they convince themselves of it.... that they love each other just that much. that they're willing to do whatever it takes.... for each other.

that they mirror it.

“To me, the one basking in infinite glory is you; the one fallen from grace is also you. What matters is you, and not the state of you.”

doesn't it sound like a line they would repeat to each other?

(7) Moral compass

this goes back to, again, how MC is his everything—and, conversely, how “If your dream is to save the common people, then, my dream, is only you.”

for a prince, xavier isn't one who necessarily prioritizes others—he's not a hero, he's not the chosen one, he's not.... someone who would sacrifice the world for his people. he's not like that.

i think that there's a lot of selfishness that's embedded into him because he precisely does not want to be a prince, and he's always been extremely averse to this role—that kind of aversion sticks with you. it's hard to take things seriously when the hatred is all you can think about.

but like hua cheng, it doesn't make him a bad person.

it just means he has other priorities, which—happen to be mc. because everything he's ever done, again, is for mc. everything. always. and sometimes they're selfish, sometimes they're a little extreme or hard to understand... but the fact is that, well—everything is about her.

it goes without saying, then, that xavier isn't the most morally-aligned person out there.

because mc, as we know, is founded on justice. on protecting the people she loges, protecting thevpeoole around them—she became a hunter for that purpose. she took on the throne for that purpose. she helped the backtrackers for that purpose.

“If your dream is to save the common people, then, my dream, is only you.”

it's starkly different for them.

mc would act on the behalf of others, xavier would act on her behalf. all he's ever looked at was her.

yet at the same time, it means that—like hua cheng and xie lian—xavier's ultimate goal is to make mc happy. he won't do anything not to make her happy. he doesn't want to upset her.

so he'll go along with her wishes, enough so to genuinely think positively of his actions too—because it's what mc wants.

and i think that's it—it is all i can think of—but xavier and mc's relationship perfectly capture the essence of hualian that i've always associated them with each other, and perhaps that's why mc and xavier also mean so incredibly much to me ... because hualian does, too.

and granted all of the LI's have aspects that reference hualian as well—not to mention, sylus being incredibly hua cheng coded—but imo xavier/mc truly comes closest

and maybe it has to do with the sheer devotion that comes with xavier and mc

that it feels really... close

BUT ANYWAY THIS WAS LONG 🥰 AND UH 🥰 YEAH 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰

#i got this ask yesterday and had this whole thing drafted LMAKFNSNFB #anonie i hope you enjoy...........😭😭😭😭😭#xavier/mc never beating the hualian allegations 😭😭😭😭#*ੈ♡. rose jar #*ੈ♡. rose talks #ʚɞ*.ﾟ. lnds #☄︎*.ﾟ. lndthonk #ʚɞ*.ﾟ. tgcf #xavier #lnds xavier #lads xavier #l&ds xavier #love and deepspace #love and deepspace xavier #love & deepsoace xavier

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