nathsketch:
They even sing one of the songs together. The first kiss thing (ok, air-kiss, but whatever).
OMG I remember when I first watched this show in early August and a Viki timed comment said something like this:
"Xiang Liu scored the first kiss and I heard he is the author's favorite so that's usually a good sign he's endgame"
Oh how innocent and naive we were back then.
nathsketch:
To this day I cannot wrap my mind around this ending. People keep saying it's more memorable this way, that his epic death is what makes him so special. Not really. He can still be unforgettable even alive. That whole epic justification is nothing but a heavy dose of Copium being injected into our veins.
I don't get this either. The story can still be memorable even without his death. Some people say they wouldn't be obsessed with Xiang Liu if he didn't die. Well, I was already obsessed with him even before finding out about his death. In my unpopular opinion, he would've been even more memorable if he broke free from his idea that he had to die with Hong Jiang and his army. He's too loyal to an adoptive father that goes against peace. Time and time again, Cang Xuan and the Yellow Emperor tried to make peace with Hong Jiang and Xiang Liu. They even offered these two princedoms in the novel but they refused every time.
Maybe my view is too western but I don't see fighting to the death for a lost cause as honorable. Honestly, Hong Jiang and his rebel army are a nuisance to Cang Xuan's kingdom that is already peaceful and united. It's so infuriating to me that Hong Jiang won't lay down his arms and live in peace.
nathsketch:
Even with the cuts and watering downs, XL is too much of everything to not be the endgame. It will never make sense to me. The whole "three things that he'll give to XY", his "I'm dying with my army bros", that's the biggest nonsense
XL did everything that a first male lead would do. The dates, saving her life more than once, and giving her everything she needed and desired. This is why I can never be onboard the other ship. Him doing everything so that someone else gets their happy ending is like the equivalent of someone doing all the work in a group project while everyone else was slacking off and they all still got credit for it.
nathsketch:
I know that Tong Hua has a flair for the dramatic, but it's just so infuriatingly absurd. Just go for the full-blown tragedy, kill everyone. I would be okay with XL dying if there was no Jing. The moment there's a Jing in this, then screw it, it's just plain terrible. The dude constantly needs others to safeguard his happy ending. Boo-hoo.
liddi said Tong Hua tried to make XL the endgame but couldn't. I don't understand why not? She's the author so anything is possible :( I would've preferred it if they all died in the end lol. The way the ending played out is not satisfying to me. Jing got straight up carried by Xiang Liu. (I'm a gamer and carried in game slang is "where one person wins the match for everyone else. Basically, the rest of the team was either useless or just played a supporting role to the one person who “carried” the team.") That's how Jing is. Xiang Liu, Xiao Yao, and Fang Feng Yi Ying carried him to a happy ending.