#point me to the fucking wealth of representation y'all seem to believe exists

[curiosity-killed]

Have you considered the possibility of Hualian with ace Hua Cheng and celibate (at least previously celibate) Xie Lian? Like Hua Cheng who just always understood that Xie Lian wouldn't be interested in a sexual relationship and was like, "sure, no problem here!" And then they reunite and Xie Lian is like "ah, this is awkward, about that actually 😅" before they communicate and learn what works for them? I usually really prefer their canon characterization but I think it would be a fun way to explore parallels and contrast between asexuality and celibacy (and actually wait. What if Hua Cheng we as aroace actually, wouldn't that do something cool to his obsessive devotion?) I'm not a fic writer but I know you've written asexual Xie Lian so I thought maybe you'd be ok with me rambling a little. (Love your fic by the way, thanks for writing!)

(I am always down with rambling!! :D)

i have not! but am intrigued abt the possibility

tbh I do usually headcanon both of them as ace-ish (varies between demi and asexual, mostly) but can definitely see this going down a fun path!

I am of the opinion that romance has relatively* little to do with Hua Cheng's devotion, so I'd still largely see his devotion as manifesting in similar ways to canon** (more or less—probs less kissing, but honestly possibly still flirting bc there's a thin line between flirting bc ur serious abt it and flirting bc hey it's sometimes kind of fun to flirt with the homies).

all of that to say I think it would be a really interesting continuation of their character development for Xie Lian to come to accept his worth and importance to someone while also being told 'no' in a way he is used to telling other people***. Meanwhile, fun time for Hua Cheng to actually say no to Xie Lian, which would go against so much of him!

As always, my great love of hualian stems in part from their manifestation of queerness outside of societal norms/expectations, so navigating "You Are The Reason I'm Alive" (for both of them) without the trappings of society's expectations that the Most Important Person in ur life is a romantic partner, is rlly interesting i think!!

*Yes, in canon it is romantic and I do enjoy the combo of his obsessive devotion + hualian romance but ppl who think Grand Devotion is exclusive to romantic love bore the shit out of me

**I touch on this in til my feet are memory (tho Xie Lian is aroace in that), in that Hua Cheng's devotion is devotion without expectation of reciprocation (this is a fandom hill i'll die on lol) and that it isn't diminished by lack of romantic/sexual potential with Xie Lian

***Yeah yeah I maintain my lack of emphasis on romance/sex as defining their relationship but I do think, as written, the romance is pretty important to XL's arc—which is not to negate the possibility so much as emphasize the opportunity for continued and different development