chrimsoncalamity

[chrimsoncalamity]

Oh I see how it is, then. So, Heaven Official's Blessing really immediately hit us with three ghost/non-ghost love stories in its very first arc. I see what you did there, and I am going to talk about it, TGCF.

Some spoilers for the first part of LN3 ahead.

Please bear in mind that I have only watched the show, and read the first part of LN3 as of yet, so I am certainly missing crucial information, but I need to talk about this.

We have Xie Lian/Hua Cheng, Pei/Xuan Ji, and Lang Ying/Xiao Ying.

Hua Cheng and Xuan Ji parallel each other in that both of them became ghosts because of love, but in very different ways. Xuan Ji died holding a grudge and became that grudge personified, she turned into a monster, despite having been capable of love once. She wanted to end her life because of her love for one man.

Hua Cheng wanted to end his life but didn't due to his love for one man. While he must have known that he will never really be with Xie Lian, he still loved and followed him, and his love never turned into the vile resentment of Xuan Ji, despite the fact that for many he is the definition of a monster.

Then, Lang Ying really reminds one of a young Hua Cheng - face hidden by bandages, reviled, and lonely, and there is only one single being that he can lean on to, which is a girl with a heart so kind that it gets her killed in the end. Xiao Ying tries to be helpful the whole time we see her on screen, be it to the boy, or someone she assumes to be a bride, Xie Lian, or freaking bandits - she has compassion with all of them, even with the most undeserving people. She really can't help but offer a helping hand, and she throws herself at Xuan Jin to help an infinitely more powerful Xie Lian, and that act of kindness becomes her downfall. And the ghost boy weeps at her grave, alone again. Like, sorry, but does that remind us of someone? That's like, the whole arc of Xie Lian during LN3, and why he descended and why he fell from grace, and lost everything. He is basically Xiao Ying.

On a side note, why the hell is the ghost boy called Lang Ying, of all things. I have war flashbacks, literally, reading that name. What does that mean?! It can't be just a coincidence, right? DON'T SPOIL ME!

The first few episodes really rub it into our faces what Hua Cheng and Xie Liang could have ended up as, and how lucky they are that they have each other's love to protect them from outcomes like that.