u/One-Pay-6742

Hua Cheng belongs to the same broad “powerful, intensely devoted, intimidating male lead” archetype, but his relationship with Xie Lian is fundamentally different from the controlling-romantic archetype you see in many CEO novels.

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• Chinese web-novel CEO archetype: His love may be expressed through control—deciding where she goes, whom she sees, what she wears, or what choices she is allowed to make. The narrative may frame this as overwhelming devotion.

• Rochester (Jane Eyre): Rochester has enormous social and economic power over Jane and repeatedly tries to control the circumstances of their relationship. His secrecy and deception are particularly significant.

• Christian Grey (Fifty Shades): Control is explicitly built into the relationship. His possessiveness, rules, surveillance, and attempts to influence Ana's behavior are central to the romance.

• Hua Cheng (Heaven Official’s Blessing): He is extraordinarily devoted and protective, but he doesn't need to possess Xie Lian in order to love him. Xie Lian retains his autonomy.

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And that's what makes Hua Cheng interesting: his power doesn't translate into entitlement. He could easily be written as the stereotypical dominant who says, essentially, “You're mine, therefore you must obey me.” Instead, his attitude is much closer to “I adore you, I trust you, and I'll stand behind whatever you choose.”

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Even when he's fiercely protective of Xie Lian, there's an important difference between protecting someone because you respect their life and protecting someone because you believe you own them.

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That also makes Hua Cheng's devotion feel unusually secure. He doesn't need Xie Lian to become weaker, dependent, isolated, or obedient for the relationship to work. In fact, Xie Lian's agency is part of what Hua Cheng loves about him.

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Rochester, Christian Grey, and many CEO MLs often turn power into authority over the love interest. Hua Cheng turns power into freedom for the person he loves.

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That's a major reason why people who dislike the controlling/abusive “alpha male” romance archetype can nevertheless find Hua Cheng extremely appealing. His intensity is enormous, but intensity and coercion aren't the same thing.

Hua Cheng belongs to the same broad “powerful, intensely devoted, intimidating male lead” archetype, but his relationship with Xie Lian is fundamentally different from the controlling-romantic archetype you see in many CEO novels.

——————————————————

• Chinese web-novel CEO archetype: His love may be expressed through control—deciding where she goes, whom she sees, what she wears, or what choices she is allowed to make. The narrative may frame this as overwhelming devotion.

• Rochester (Jane Eyre): Rochester has enormous social and economic power over Jane and repeatedly tries to control the circumstances of their relationship. His secrecy and deception are particularly significant.

• Christian Grey (Fifty Shades): Control is explicitly built into the relationship. His possessiveness, rules, surveillance, and attempts to influence Ana's behavior are central to the romance.

• Hua Cheng (Heaven Official’s Blessing): He is extraordinarily devoted and protective, but he doesn't need to possess Xie Lian in order to love him. Xie Lian retains his autonomy.

——————————————————

And that's what makes Hua Cheng interesting: his power doesn't translate into entitlement. He could easily be written as the stereotypical dominant who says, essentially, “You're mine, therefore you must obey me.” Instead, his attitude is much closer to “I adore you, I trust you, and I'll stand behind whatever you choose.”

——————————————————

Even when he's fiercely protective of Xie Lian, there's an important difference between protecting someone because you respect their life and protecting someone because you believe you own them.

——————————————————

That also makes Hua Cheng's devotion feel unusually secure. He doesn't need Xie Lian to become weaker, dependent, isolated, or obedient for the relationship to work. In fact, Xie Lian's agency is part of what Hua Cheng loves about him.

——————————————————

Rochester, Christian Grey, and many CEO MLs often turn power into authority over the love interest. Hua Cheng turns power into freedom for the person he loves.

——————————————————

That's a major reason why people who dislike the controlling/abusive “alpha male” romance archetype can nevertheless find Hua Cheng extremely appealing. His intensity is enormous, but intensity and coercion aren't the same thing.

Psyche and Eros = Beauty and the Beast:

• two evil sisters

• protagonist is sacrificed by parent/s

• male lead is believed to be a monster or is a monster

• protagonist is taken to a enchanted palace with invisible servants

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Psyche and Eros = Cinderella:

• two evil sisters

• antagonist assigns impossible tasks which are completed through supernatural help

• protagonist is hated and treated like a slave by the antagonist because of her physical beauty

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Psyche and Eros = Snow White:

• female lead is the most beautiful woman

• antagonist is jealous of the protagonist’s beauty

• antagonist sends a male (Eros, hunter) to punish/kill of the protagonist

• the male decides to not punish/kill the protagonist 

• protagonist falls into a deathlike coma due to object (box, comb)

• protagonist recovers from coma with a kiss from the male lead

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Psyche and Eros = Sleeping Beauty:

• protagonist falls into a deathlike coma due to object (box, splinter)

• protagonist recovers from coma with a kiss from the male lead

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Psyche and Eros:

• female lead is a princess

• female lead has two evil sisters

• Aphrodite is the jealous wicked mother-figure who causes the trials and dangers of the female lead

• helpers (Eros controls ants, Zeus sends an eagle) in overcoming obstacles

There are many similarities unrelated to the heroes journey, which is the explanation I'm always given for the similarities.

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Frodo = Luke:

• reluctant to leave home, raised by his uncle

• uneventful life becomes disrupted when he comes into the possession of an item of key importance to the evil regime

• is being hunted down by minions of the dark lord

• wizard encourages him to go on a journey to transport the artifact in his possession to a heroic stronghold (The Rebel Base & Rivendell) so that a plan can be put together to destroy the enemy's powerful item (Deathstar Plans & One Ring)

• received a family member’s weapon

• tempted by the ring/dark-side, if he succumbs he would become a tool of the dark lord

• final part of the protagonist’s journey is deep within enemy territory separated from his allied army that is doing battle afar

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Gandalf = Obi-Wan:

• seen as a crazy old man by everyday people

• wizard, mentor

• knew a relative of the protagonist years before (Bilbo Baggins & Anakin Skywalker)

• sacrifices himself to help his allies

• returns from death in a more powerful form to help

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Witch-King = Darth Vader:

• becomes something less than human (a cyborg & a wraith)

• second in command to the dark lord

• a slave to the will of his master

• serves as both a field agent and a commander

• tasked with tracking down a vital artifact that could lead to their downfall in the hands of their enemies (Death Star Plans & One Ring)

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Sauron = Vader (evil counterparts to Istari/jedi, believes in authoritarism, second in command to another dark lord)

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Gollum = Darth Vader:

• previously succumbed to the temptation the protagonist struggles with

• destroys Sauron/Palpatine by sending them falling down a pit

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Strider = Han Solo:

• roguish shady man

• meets the protagonist at a bar and helps him escape

• heroes are at first unsure of whether or not he can be trusted

• leads in the decisive battle against the dark lord's army while the protagonist ventures into the belly of the beast

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The heroes have swords that glow blue (Sting & Luke) and the villains have swords that glow red (Balrog & Vader)

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Two characters bicker constantly (Legolas-Gimli & C3P0-R2D2)

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One Ring = Deathstar (item that the enemy needs to rule everything and needs to be destroyed by the heroes)

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Prancing Pony = Mos Eisley

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Wearing orc armor = wearing stormtrooper armor 

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Captured in Lothlorien = captured by Ewoks (captured and taken to a village in the trees)

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Galadriel = Yoda (mystical and wise, advises the protagonist, warns protagonist of a possible dark future)

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Rohan = Cloud City (secondary characters escape to a place where they think the ruler is good, the ruler is being manipulated by the villains, the ruler winds up on their side)

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Mouth of Sauron = Grand Moff Tarkin:

• one of the highest ranking members of the dark lord's regime

• command role inside his group's most important structure (the lieutenant of Barad-dur & the commander of the Death Star) 

• taking amusement in threatening people with the suffering of those they care about in order to get them to do as he wants (threatening to indefinitely torture Frodo & threatening Alderaan)

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Frodo/Luke fail against Sauron/Palpatine, but the dark lord is destroyed because of another villain (Gollum & Darth Vader) 

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Sauron = Palpatine (manipulative and strategic, sadistic psychopaths, manipulated others while acting as a non-imposing advisor, ruler of an empire)

Architecture:

• Otranto Castle (The Castle of Otranto)

• Notre-Dame de Paris (The Hunchback of Notre Dame)

• Palais Garnier (The Phantom of the Opera)

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Tyrant, patriarchal, aristocratic, rapist, sociopathic:

• Manfred - The Castle of Ontranto (1764)

• Marquis - The Romance of the Forest (1791)

• Mr. Weimar and Count Wolfenbach - The Castle of Wolfenbach (1793)

• Montoni - Mysteries of Udolpho (1794)

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Classical hero, handsome, aristocratic:

• Theodore - The Castle of Ontranto (1764)

• Count De Bouville - The castle of Wolfenbach (1793)

• Valancourt - Mysteries of Udolpho (1794) 

• Raoul - Phantom of the Opera (1909-1910)

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Saintly, sensibility, proper, usually blond:

• Matilda - The Castle of Ontranto (1764)

• Adeline - The Romance of the Forest (1791)

• Matilda - The Castle of Wolfenbach (1793)

• Emily - Mysteries of Udolpho (1794) 

• Esmeralda - The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1831)

• Mina - Dracula (1897)

• Christine - Phantom of the Opera (1909-1910)

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Byronic, moody, charismatic, defiant, self-destructive:

• Hamlet (1603), Macbeth (1623)

• Satan - Paradise Lost (1667) (heavily influenced the Romantics, resulting in the Byronic character)

• Victor Frankenstein — Frankenstein a Modern Prometheus (1818)

• The Creature - Frankenstein a Modern Prometheus (1818)

• Claude Frollo - The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1831) 

• Heathcliff — Wuthering Heights (1847)

• Edward Rochester — Jane Eyre (1847)

• Erik — The Phantom of the Opera (1909-1910)

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Mad Scientist:

• Varthek - Vathek an Arabian Tale (1786)

• Victor Frankenstein - Frankenstein a Modern Prometheus (1818)

• Dr. Jekyll - Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886)

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Shunned for his appearance, longs for love, anti-villain, lonely, tragic:

• The Creature - Frankenstein a Modern Prometheus (1818)

• Quasimodo - The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1831)

• Erik - Phantom of the Opera (1909-1910)

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Masquerade ball:

• The Masque of the Red Death (1842)

• Phantom of the Opera (1909-1910)

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Vampires:

• Glenarvon - Glenarvon (1816) (technically not a vampire, but heavily influenced The Vampyre)

• Lord Ruthven - The Vampyre (1819)

• Varney - Varney The Vampire (1845-1847)

• Carmilla - Carmilla (1872)

• Dracula - Dracula (1897)

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Sorcery/Alchemy:

• Varthek The History of the Caliph Vathek (1782)

• St. Irvyne or the Rosicrucian (1811)

• Frankenstein a Modern Prometheus (1818) 

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Mystery about the protagonist's family:

• The Castle of Ontranto (1764)

• The Castle of Wolfenbach (1793)

• Mysteries of Udolpho (1794)

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Crazy men revealing dark truths:

• The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1798)

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Supernatural explained:

• The Castle of Wolfenbach (1793)

• Mysteries of Udolpho (1794)

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Inquisition:

• The Monk (1796)

• The Italian (1797)

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Devil:

• The Monk (1796)

• Melmoth The Wanderer (1820)

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Catholicism:

• The Monk (1796)

• The Italian (1797)

• Melmoth The Wanderer (1820)

One employee handled the beef patties, and then directly touched the vegetables, buns, and tinfoil without changing gloves. Another one handled the patties, reached into the glove box, and pulled out more gloves that she covered the dirty gloves with, not removing the dirty gloves. When I complained to the manager, she ignored my complaints. What should I do?

multiple narrative story, mystery, unreliable narrater (Utsuki)

story explained through letters, journals, notes, reports, etc.

wandering around dark creepy buildings and forests

patriarchal tyrant = Doman (kept daughters isolated and is controlling to them)

mad sorcerer/scientist = Doman

undead, demons

mansion, religious buildings (temple, shrine)

Mulberry Trees = Lovecraftian (ancient creatures, who are worshipped as gods by humans, and sealed in a sleeping state, unleashes death and destruction when they awaken)

Kureha = vampire (prolonging her undeath using others)

MXTX = Shakespeare:

• exploration and criticism of human behaviors and society

• misconceptions and misunderstandings that have to be resolved for a happy ending 

• examination of what is right and what is wrong

• drama, betrayal, revenge, romance, comedy, supernatural beings

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PIDW = The Count of Monte Cristo:

• teenager is hated because of jealousy

• teenager is sent to a horrible place to die (the endless abyss, Chateau d’If)

• mentor teaches teen (Meng Mo, Abbe Faria)

• protagonist gets something that gives him power (Xin Mo, treasure)

• protagonist rewards those who help him, punishes those who have hurt him

• protagonist ingratiates himself among the powerful and well-connected (Huan Hua Palace sect, Parisian society)

• protagonist schemes for revenge against those who hurt him

• protagonist publicly exposes the dark secrets of his enemy/enemies, and has a woman testify against him/them (Qiu Haitang, Haydee)

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Wei Wuxian = Prospero:

dark sorcerer, banished to an isolated place where he learns sorcery, betrayed by his allies, controls supernatural beings, necromancer

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MDZS = Pride and Prejudice: 

• Catherine de Berg = Lan Qiren (aunt/uncle, demanding, unreasonable, disapproves of the protagonist)

• arrogant jerk who’s the last man she’d ever want to marry = a cold, stiff, unreasonable man no girl would ever love

• commentaries on social class

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Xue Yang = Phantom:

• sociopathic manchild 

• manipulative, unhealthy and toxic relationship

• wants relationship with pure innocent person (Xiao Xingchen, Christine)a 

• wants domestic bliss with Xiao-Xingchen/Christine

• deals with rival through murder (Raoul, Song Lan)

• murderers, geniuses, sadistic

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Phantom = Hua Cheng:

rejected by their parents, outcast, becomes hateful towards the world, desires love, obsessed with their romantic interest, extremely intelligent and talented, creates statues of their romantic interests, hides their deformity with cloth (mask and face-wrappings) 

• perfectly proportioned, symmetrical, beautiful facial features

• long shiny black hair 

• yellow shriveled skin 

• skin tight over the muscles 

• yellow watery eyes

• dark lips

• 8-feet tall 

• no mention of stitches or electrodes

• deformed (Erik’s face and Byron’s foot)

• unhealthy relationship with mother (Byron’s mother bullied him over his deformity and nearly beat him to death)

• able to mesmerize people against their better judgement

• wild fits of temper and emotionally unbalanced

• wrote about Don Juan 

Horace Walpole (who wrote the first gothic novel) was heavily influenced by Shakespeare, which you can see in The Castle of Ontranto...

• doomed passionate romance (Romeo-Juliet, Theodore-Matilda)

• friars who help the protagonists (Friar Laurence, Father Jerome)

• usurping villains (Macbeth and Hamlet, Manfred)

• ghosts (Hamlet), prophecy (Macbeth)

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You can see a lot of similarities between the gothic genre and Shakespeare in general:

• examination of the darker parts of humanity, revenge, guilt, corruption, madness

• family drama, melodrama, usurped heirs (Hamlet), usurper villains (Hamlet, Macbeth), forbidden romances

• ghosts (Hamlet), sorcerers (The Tempest), witches (Macbeth), prophecy (Macbeth), undead (The Tempest)

• perfectly proportioned, symmetrical, beautiful facial features

• long shiny black hair 

• yellow shriveled skin 

• skin tight over the muscles 

• yellow watery eyes

• dark lips

• 8-feet tall 

• no mention of stitches or electrodes

• The Patriarchal Tyrant who tries to force the heroine into marriage with either himself or another man against her will.

• The plot forces the heroine to explore and travel which was considered “unfeminine.” This gave an excuse for the heroine to have an adventure.

• The heroine will marry the man she chooses at the end, and regain her property from the Patriarchal Tyrant.

• The real horror is not the supernatural, but the oppression women experienced in a patriarchal society (forced marriage, imprisonment, rape)

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The Mysteries of Udolpho was the most famous example of this subgenre

Lovecraft has evil cults, human sacrifice, evil deities, people becoming monsters, and alternate dimensions. Poe has the darkness inside people manifesting externally in multiple stories.