1) That Xie Lian is such a die hard obsessive romantic just as Hua Cheng is. He barely knew this kid on a cart who told him his placating lines of gods and everyone being equal is dumb and he fell for the guy like a ton of bricks!
Now 7 days later he is defending his honor against people terrifyingly more powerful than him risking his own position and life. I do not think fandom understands how big of a risk Xie takes and hence, how much he is already in love with Hua Cheng at this point. Its subtle but very powerful and usually I do not find that in the shy, introverted love interest types written now a days.
If Fafa would say the Sky is Green now then Xie Lian would 100% repeat the sky.is.green, unironically. He is WHIPPED. I love that. Hua is not the only simp in the dynamic.
2) Also what I love about this dynamic is their absolute trust in each other like they were fated to be. I was talking about it in my old post some days ago but unlike us, Xie Lian has no clue about Hua Cheng's past entwined with his for the last 800 years. To him he just met this terrifyingly powerful Ghost King by "random" chance who could totally smite him dead like Bai Wuxiang can. In fact he probably should see similar patterns of dogging his step like Bai Wuxiang did( but to not torture him but protect him)
His seemingly hovering over him cannot be anything "normal". He lied to him about lot of things whether it be his identity at the start or about aiding and financing the murder of fellow God( Shi Wudu), ruining life of the only friend he knows now up there, one way or another( SQX). He seems to know too much about him and is not even hiding it and what if he is doing that for nefarious reasons? Yet he is willing to risk it all for Hua Cheng.
When push comes to shove he chose him. He is willing to choose him over EVERYBODY. Even when he for a wild second thought killed real Feng Xin and Mu Qing in Cave of ten thousand Gods, he was still willing to choose him. That kind of intensity which matches with the devotion Hua Cheng has for him is what makes their dynamic so gratifying to read about. If it was any less or any different, it would not work.
So RIP to Juliet who quarreled with Romeo over Tybalt, but Xie Lian is different LOLOLOL
3) Also its not particularly about Hualian but MXTX's decision to equate devotion with love. I love that about Hualian because its extremely familiar to me as a Hindu where being in love with someone you worship is not a foreign concept. We still use romantic lyrics in our Hindi and regional movie songs, classical and traditional dance music where the singer expresses love via equating the lover to God! Like this
/( And if anyone finds the translated lyrics ...uh..suggestive, don't feel guilty its meant to be :) )
4) The most notable part which i first noticed about Hualian is that these two may be hopelessly in love with each other but they never once put each other on pedestal and can be just snarky or buddy buddy with each other too.
I saw some people acting like Hua Cheng had a character flaw along the lines of not really loving Xie Lian but an idealized version of him and like....they are wrong. Hua Cheng absolutely loves Xie Lian as a person who is a God and has been doing that for 800 years. He has seen him fighting for his life with his own crazy cousin, rebel against his own father for Feng Xin and fail to stand up for Yong'an against their King. He has seen him leap 100 of meters to save him and also fall drunk and pathetic in a grave. Then also curse every innocent citizen to die in a fit of rage-- Hua knows Xie the back of his hand, more than most people.
And Xie does the same. He has seen him as a powerless child, a terrifying Ghost King who could kill the Emperor , fellow Gods and fellow Ghost Supreme in fits of rages, He has seen him arrogant and insecure. He has seen him cruel and ruthless and uncaring. He accepts Hua Cheng for who he is and never asked him to change for anyone's sake just like Hua does not ask that of him even when they disagree with each other's life philosophy.
5) I think this one is a bit silly but I love the reversal of power dynamic between them which also pertains to theme of who has power between a God and a Devotee theme MXTX has going on. Like if the world order went as it should have, Hua Cheng would have been someone who would have been under Xie Lian's power-- as a subject of a Crown Prince or King or even as a devotee under a God. Yet by the end of this tale, its reversal of fortune, where he is the "King" of two realms -- one in name, one in all-but-in-name while Xie Lian is now a penniless commoner now who depends on him for spiritual power to be known as the strongest martial god in the world. This is why Hua Cheng is Seme LOLOLOLOL. I like this kind of contrasting role reversals and how it reflects on their dynamic and does not detract from it. The power imbalance twist no one saw coming.
