Kokuto:
Today's controversial take ....
XL escaped from the cage in the fighting slave arena. But Gong Gong basically put him in another cage, in another arena, to fight to the death -- only with this time with no hope of escape.
Okay, to be fair, I've developed a dislike of Invisible Gong Gong, and XL probably bears some responsibility for the cage's he is now, but am I wrong?
I feel like part of this goes back to XL's demon inferiority issues, as well as spending his life in battle and blood, but watching his scenes trying to give hope to Left Ear and to XY about Jing, while completely denying himself any hope, breaks my heart all over again.
Honestly, this take makes sense.
I honestly don't like Gong Gong either because his delusions sent so many people to death. If they had a fighting chance it would make sense but they never did. This invisible gong gong is very selfish. But imo XY's bio dad was also selfish/to blame (looking solely from a chengrong/XL standpoint) because he doomed his country for the sake of a woman from an enemy country.
A part of me wonders though, why do people view demons the way that they do in their world? Is it because of the whole war thing? Also, where do most of the demons live? And most importantly, what happened to XL's family.
Also, I really want to know what would have happened if XY's bio dad didn't sacrifice himself.
Lol, this turned into a semi-long ramble but I'm actually so curious about the lore of their world outside of the love triangles etc.
Also, after that episode with Jing where the ancestors/heavens blessed him I am really curious as to what happens when people/deities/demons in that world die.
Megumi-H:
I started reading the novel. I realised in the novel, the author described more from Xiao Yao’s perspectives, her feelings for XL, which was shown more subtly in drama. And in drama, I am so glad the screen writer and TJC shown us more from XL’s POV, his longing glance for XY, his desperation and concern stare at XY, which XY wasn’t aware, and how he shows moment to moment secret, soft look at XY, which was not written explicitly in the novel.
I really Love TJC’s presentation of XL and FFB, shows this character’s depth and inner struggles.
That's an interesting point. Cause in the show there's the endless debate on who XY actually loves, without the realization for some that XY can love CX, XL, and Jing all at once. But part of that is because while the story is about XY, we don't always get a blatant declaration of her feelings.
But yes, Tan Jian Ci actually SHOWS us how XL feels in so many ways. I literally can not tear my eyes off him when he's on the screen. He's an amazing actor and I'm sure Tong Hua is THRILLED at his performance.
I feel that they could have sold us on Gong Gong appeal, and XL and the rebels insistence on fighting to the end, had they actually put him on the screen and shown them interacting with XL.
Yeah, that's the part that is kind of annoying. We are seeing a lot of other side characters and not the man who is behind everything that XL is currently fighting for. It's kind of odd tbh.
I don't know about Demon Chi Chen and the previous war and how his actions screwed any one over. He sounds pretty ruthless, considering how survivors wanted anything associated with him dead dead dead.
I said that mainly because the ChengRong army was not losing any battles before the battle with XY's mom. They were winning and gaining a lot of territory. They only started losing after XY's dad died/sacrificed himself. So in a way, at least from a rebel army standpoint, he screwed them over.
I think the demons of this world are normally monsters. They eat humans and deities (remember that creature that was hunting kid XY when she first shapeshifted). They lack 'human' emotions.
I didn't really get that vibe from the show or the novel tbh. I haven't read the prequel though and I have only seen parts of the prequel tv show. From the little that I watched, it seems more than an us versus them thing/ "cultural" difference rather than a lack of emotions. But that's just my opinion.
That's an interesting point. Cause in the show there's the endless debate on who XY actually loves, without the realization for some that XY can love CX, XL, and Jing all at once. But part of that is because while the story is about XY, we don't always get a blatant declaration of her feelings.
I feel like the debate on who XY actually loves is taking place with novel readers because people aren't viewing the story being told in its entirety they are solely reading for their favorite ship/to live vicariously through XY. So even though TH does a great job of showing readers in the novel rather than telling, that XY loves all 3 of them, they chose to ignore it because it doesn't fit with what they imagined in their mind. Additionally, for some people, they think that loving more than one person is immoral. This last part I've also noticed with drama watchers as well.
Tan Jian Ci actually SHOWS us how XL feels in so many ways. I literally can not tear my eyes off him when he's on the screen.
Same! I love how expressive his eyes are and how he's able to change from one emotion to the next. I saw a meme saying there were 4 characters that he plays: Xiang Liu, FangFeng Bei, FangFeng Liu, and Xiang Bei. It's interesting to see how he lets bits of the 2 identities that his character has peak through.
Ari_Lee:
I think he might because he kept mentioning how she will hate him when she regained consciousness because of her new demon features.
Yep you are right! XL is extremely insecure about being a 9 headed demon. Another user mentioned it earlier about why XL said it's a taboo to talk about it. I'm assuming as a child, he was talked down to a lot about how weird, ugly, and monstrous he is/looks... hence why his later words when he was talking w/WXL, he told WXL that he allows him to talk about his true form cause tho WXL makes fun of him by mouth, by heart, WXL doesn't think he's weird or strange.
Even later too when XL finally sort of show his true form to XY, he was mad cause she peeked at him. He wasn't cause she peeked, he was mad cause he's worried she might think he's ugly and weird looking.
QuinlanKay Yes! In nearly every drama, there's always some 500-1000 years of waiting for someone to be resurrected/ reincarnated, and they're telling us that this very powerful being with NINE lives will simply die and that's it? I think a riot may be in order ?nathsketch:
The thing about XL's ending is that it's not what XY wants for him and its not what most readers / viewers want for him, but it was what XL wanted for himself. From the beginning. I 100% don't think he wanted to survive the last battle. Resurrecting him would be taking his ending and all his planning / work to arrange it away from him. Reincarnation on the other hand...
Cause in the show there's the endless debate on who XY actually loves, without the realization for some that XY can love CX, XL, and Jing all at once.
Agreed, she loves all of them in different ways.
One of my favourite things about this story (novel and drama) is that XL's offer to receive the poisonous bug (knowing what it was and what that meant) means that no one can refute that he: (1) loved XY already at that point - enough that he was able to successfully accept the bug; and (2) knew it surely enough to have the confidence to make the offer in the first place. There's no room for anyone to debate whether he loves her at that point in the narrative (and after), which is helpful because his hot-and-cold behaviour up to that point does not make his feelings all that clear.
I think the demons of this world are normally monsters. They eat humans and deities (remember that creature that was hunting kid XY when she first shapeshifted). They lack 'human' emotions. They probably mostly live in the wilderness like animals, but those that can, hide or walk among humans and deities. They are feared, hated, used and abused by humans and deities.
I didn't get that sense from the novel or the drama. The first episode has XY delivering bunny babies from a bunny demon, with plenty of humans around congratulating the mother afterwards. Demons are just animals that are enlightened / have cultivated enough to obtain human form. Like humans, they can be good or bad.
The snake demon that XY antagonized when she lived in the mountains had enough cultivation to understand her, but not enough to manifest a human form yet.
But maybe some important cultural context: "Xiangliu" is the name of a mythical creature in Chinese legend. An actually bad (not just wrongly maligned) mystical snake with nine heads that brought calamities like floods. If I remember correctly, Xiangliu from legend was a subordinate of a snake deity... also called Gong Gong.
So creating a character that is a nine-headed snake demon called Xiangliu for your novel, but making him a selfless and principled person is a bit like creating a fantasy novel with the ancient greeks + greek gods + a character named Hydra of Lerna who has a human form and is a snake monster with many heads, but has a winning personality. The name comes with a pre-existing reputation.
The novel also references a beast / demon / monster that creates an entire desert. There's a nice scene where A Nian thinks the Emperor should send soldiers to kill the beast for turning forest into desert, while XY says that it hasn't harmed anyone and even chose to create a desert in a place with lots of water where it's impact would do the least harm.
I started reading the novel. I realised in the novel, the author described more from Xiao Yao’s perspectives, her feelings for XL, which was shown more subtly in drama. And in drama, I am so glad the screen writer and TJC shown us more from XL’s POV, his longing glance for XY, his desperation and concern stare at XY, which XY wasn’t aware, and how he shows moment to moment secret, soft look at XY, which was not written explicitly in the novel.
I really Love TJC’s presentation of XL and FFB, shows this character’s depth and inner struggles.
Actually, this may be because TJC himself wanted to show what's beyond XL's coldness. He wants to present to the audience the image of XL that he envisioned.
"I must present the fiery passion in his heart that I imagined to the audience, how to let the audience see his heart beneath this cold mask. This was something I was endlessly discussing with the directors. I said I don't want to play an ice cube. I don't want to play a person who only speaks with a cold face. I said if that's the case, then I think it's meaningless for me to play this role."
I think because of TJC's deep understanding of XL's, he was able to pull off XL and FFB flawlessly which we see in the drama, specifically the pain and longing he feels for XY, that prolly was not explicitly detailed in the novel.
Actually, this may be because TJC himself wanted to show what's beyond XL's coldness.chase_kayden:
TJC is great, but I think Megumi-H is referring specifically to the fact that the drama writers have added several short scenes or moments with XL (and most of them show him feeling sadness, heartache, or XY's pain) that aren't in the novel. Although the novel definitely makes XL's longing and feelings clear, the novel rarely includes a scene that only has XL in it (without XY).
Example 1: After the "You're not a person who should appear in a young girl's dream" conversation, the drama shows XL watching and clearly feeling heartache when TSJ carries XY out of the ocean. The novel includes that scene with TSJ carrying XY out of the ocean, but doesn't mention XL.
Example 2: In episode 34, when TSJ appears and XY pulls him away, the novel's perspective stays with TSJ and XY. It doesn't describe what XL does or feels, whereas the drama includes that long sequence where the focus stays on XL, his facial expressions, and then his long walk (alone) towards darkness.
Example 3: In the novel there is no scene showing XL commissioning XY's bow for her. We only see the scene where XY is told about the bow, the scene where XY receives the bow, the scene where XY tames the bow (and XL is not present for that), and a scene with the bow, XY and XL where XL tells XY she has graduated. Those scenes include enough details for the reader to understand that XL was the one who commissioned the bow without actually including a scene showing him ordering it.
Example 4: The drama shows XL's reaction on-screen when XY's leg is broken and when A Nian has XY's hands beaten. The novel doesn't spend any time showing the reader that XL felt those moments of pain. The novel just shows XL arriving at Five Gods Mountain and offering to rescue XY. The reader is supposed to understand that XL felt XY's leg get broken (along with everything else he can feel through the connection).
Recent Discussions
-
BL Drama Lovers Club13 minutes ago - axdxex
-
Am I the oldest fan girl?29 minutes ago - HuaXing
-
Feature Your Profile35 minutes ago - HuaXing
-
Last Korean song you listened?1 hour ago - Moonlight
-
Last Japanese song you listened to? #21 hour ago - Moonlight
Hottest Discussions
-
10 dramas/movies with ____? #43 hours ago
-
***Count to 100,000***50 minutes ago
-
♥️Count to 7000000♥️27 minutes ago
