I am new here so please be kind 🥺
this isn't an in dept analysis for Hua cheng, as a character but i would like to give just some small feedbacks regarding some things i have read about him in the fandom, that i respectfully disagree with.
i see a lot of posts and articles in the fandom trying to make Hua cheng less morally threatening or at least excuse his principles as ''good''.
denying Hua cheng's flaws is literally going against what HuaLina stands for ( but this is for another post ) , and of course the whole message of TGCF.
the greatest lines that sums up TGCF is : "To me, the one basking in infinite glory is you; the one fallen from grace is you. What matters is you, and not the state of you."
we are reminded over and over again, that it doesn't matter if you're a raising God, or fallen Demon. You are ( and were) at the end of the day a human, and thus it is impossible to put someone on a pedestal or throw you in the dirt without truly knowing who you are. Godhood doesn't equal good, and Demon doesn't equal bad.
Hua Cheng and Xie Lian love and accept each other as a whole : the good and the bad.
there is no character in TGCF who's fully good ( or fully bad ), everyone in standing in that grey area of morals, and Hua Cheng is not exception.
Hua cheng is not friendly, benevolent or kind. he is not the type of person that will harm innocents but he won't go out of his way to help and protect them either.
other than Xie Lian, he doesn't care about anything or anyone else. Of course, this is something that might be coming from his childhood and life ( which i'll get into in a bit).
Hua cheng is fiercely loyal, kind, respectful and honest with Xie Lian, but compeltly cold and uncarring towards the rest the of world, himself included.
When Xie Lian asked Hua cheng about his aches and wether or not they're properly hidden, Hua cheng said that they're hidden in the safest place in the world. and if that place is destroyed, he has no reason to live anyways, that place being Xie Lian's body of course .that's how much Hua Cheng doesn't care about himself or anything else other than his Dianxia.
Xie Lian is his only reason to live, and why he is still alive despite dying twice before . Hua cheng's whole existence, his whole goal and his whole motivation is Xie Lian.
Of course through the course of the stroy, Hua Cheng is involved in many stories, not because he cares, but because Xie Lian is involved, and he is there for one and only reason :to protect him. He doesn't care about the whole fiasco of SQX\HX\SWD, he didn't care if they lived or died, but the only reason he was there was to accompagny Xie Lian, since he knew the identity of HX and what he was planning to do. he never cared of SQW lived or died, only it matter to him is that xie Lian is safe and unharmed.
When he forged E-ming, he was a spirit of the verge of being dispersed. Hua cheng himself when he described that moment, said that "he went mad". he was on the verge of sacrificing the innocent poeple there to forge E-ming but stopped himself at the last second, it wasn't because Hua cheng's moral compass kicked in, but because his whole life, his whole path , his whole principles are made around Xie lian, and Dianxia would never aprroved this. Him going with this method, would be disrespecting Xie Lian's memory.
the theme of Hua Cheng hating on the world, and himself isn't new. He was like that since he was a child, which is very understandable. we get a glimpse of his previous life, he was bullied and beaten to the point he wanted to k*ll himself as a child. he asked for guidance from xie lian, his savior , on what to do, he was in so much pain he wanted to burn the world and himself and Xie Lian told him to live for him, making him his reason to live. from this point onward, Hua Cheng lived and continued on living and making himself better, not due to some ambition of his, but due to his compelte devotion to Xie Lian. everything else, everyone else, didn't matter.
Hue Cheng as a character, is a very tragic one. complexe but simple at the same time. He was never a special person, he raised and reached where he is today, not because he was skilled or special, but because of his , dare i say positive obsession , of Xie Lian. He worked hard, not because he had any selfish motivation, but because he wanted to be at the level to protect his Dianxia, while expecting nothing in return. i think the real turning point was him as Wuming ( but i'll leave this for another post ). his only reason to exist is Xie Lian, if xie Lian ceases to exist, he will too.
so Hua cheng , never really cared about Morals, or what's the right or wrong thing to do. he never cared if he was called good or bad. the only opinion that mattered to him is Xie Lian's . everything he does or doesn't do, is based around that and only that. which brings me to my point : Xie Lian knows and understand that about Hua cheng. he knows Hue cheng isn't perfect, he knows their principles are diffrent, he knows he doesn't and wouldn't care about anything else other his Dianxia, yet he still loves him and accepts him as he is, and never thought of making him change. Why ? well .."To me, the one basking in infinite glory is you; the one fallen from grace is you. What matters is you, and not the state of you."
Canon Hua cheng isn't good, but isn't bad either. but so is Xie lian and everyone else in the book. if canon Hua cheng makes uncomfortable and would like to seek other versions that is fine, but my point is, it's the imperfection o his character that makes him as a character even beautiful. to be loved i nall your states, good and bad, that is the real message of TGCF.
