Xiang Liu and Xiao Yao’s Story and Romance

 Elise:

From what I've seen from the polls, it looks like there more YaoJing shippers in China and other Asian countries while a lot of the YaoLiu shippers are international viewers. On Twitter, I saw a China poll with YaoJing winning with YaoLiu coming behind in second place. On an English Tencent poll on YouTube, YaoLiu won by getting 71% of the votes while YaoJing got 18%. I wish I could see more of those polls but it's hard to find.

Yeah, I wish I could see the Chinese numbers. I keep seeing that English Tencent poll, but I'm interested in the Yikes shipping.

 atmospheres:

For the English subs on the show, I usually don't turn them on because I don't need them

That's the kind of power I crave ahahahaha. Respect.

 liddi:

I am of Chinese descent, living in a multiracial country where it is common for us to formally learn at least 2 to 3 languages.

 Elise:

I'm Asian American.

Wow, I didn't know so many of you had an Asian background. Lovely! ♥

 Elise:

I know they lurk our thread. I've seen them "refute" some of the stuff we said on here and I've seen them get annoyed by that meme I posted and what I said about it. However, I'm not going to explain myself or say anything on that thread since it's their safe space. It is what it is. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions.

I love your memes and your opinions, Elise. Don't ever stop. 

 Elise:

I'm a young adult (20s, Gen Z) but there are plenty of XL fans that are older. Even when I'm in my 30s, 40s, or reach 100, I'll still be a XL fan and stay on the YaoLiu ship???

I think you may be the baby among us ( ˶⚈Ɛ⚈˵)

 liddi:

How much of your love for Xiang Liu is based on Tan Jianci's performance, and how much is due to the character itself?

Would you have loved him as much if he was played by another actor?

That's interesting. I haven't read the entire novel, but I've read enough to sort of have an idea of the character. I think I'd probably have loved him all the same (just based on the book). The other dude is not the kind of character I usually enjoy, so he would probably not be very appealing to me in the novel either.

But about TJC's performance. No other actor could be better than him. I mean:

I'd be lying if I said he didn't have anything to do with my preference heh.

 liddi:

How much of your love for Xiang Liu is based on Tan Jianci's performance, and how much is due to the character itself?

I had read the novel before I watched the series. I fell in love with XL's character even before TJC's performance. It is not that I did not appreciate the other characters. It just so happened that I gravitate towards  XL the most.  

 nathsketch:

Yeah, I mean, I don't like Jing. I'm sorry, but I really don't like him and I'm honest about it. The character, not the actor. So we make some jokes about the character every now and then, and suddenly they get upset as if it were a crime. All the while they keep calling XL a domestic abuser. That's way more serious than our jokes.

For example, I dislike characters such as Dolores Umbridge, Joffrey Baratheon, Ramsay Bolton, and others. The funny thing is that evil characters are allowed to be criticized and mocked, but never the Good Guy™. He's not even a 100% green flag as most people seem to think. So we're allowed to dislike some of his traits. Pointing this out doesn't equal toxicity. 

This is stereotyping in its finest form. In my life experience, it is easy for many to make generalizations without genuinely understanding and respecting different perspectives. Also, no one is a pure green ( what are you holy and a saint?)  or red flag ( unless you are a sociopath). 

 liddi:

Just curious...

How much of your love for Xiang Liu is based on Tan Jianci's performance, and how much is due to the character itself?

Would you have loved him as much if he was played by another actor?

For me, it's essentially the book. No actor would have taken away from the character in the book. But, a well cast actor could help bring him to life for me. 3D vs. 2D. I was very pleasantly surprised by the actor for XL (and the actor for TSJ).

 liddi:

How much of your love for Xiang Liu is based on Tan Jianci's performance, and how much is due to the character itself?

Basically, almost all of it based on TJC's performance. I have not read the novel and had never even heard of it prior to TJC being cast (although I had heard of Tong Hua and Bu Bu Jing Xin), but just going by the show itself, I think in pretty much any other 20s-early 30s, so same age range as TJC, actor's hands, XL would've been a cipher -- difficult to read and to relate to or feel for without being a fan of the character of the book first. Had he been played by any other actor I wouldn't even have watched the show, I don't usually watch romance-centric shows or xianxias. 

I consider the casting for this show a happy accident. Tong Hua wanted either Xiao Zhan or Yang Yang for the role. It was offered to Yang Yang and he turned it down (I do not know if it was ever offered to Xiao Zhan). One of the directors, the female one, suggested TJC because he was her personal choice for the role  -- I think it worked out well because he had a lot of other stuff going on during the same time as filming for LYF, he was also doing Hi6 and Campus Go so a role like XL where he wasn't required to be on set all day every day, he could just come in the mornings and do his scenes and then leave to fulfill his other work commitments as needed, was actually perfect scheduling-wise (although very taxing).

The role of Jing was initially offered to Xu Kai who turned it down in favor of Snow Eagle Lord. So except for maybe Zhang Wanyi, almost none of the male leads were first choices in terms of casting, but it ended up working out better this way imo.

Had Yang Yang played XL I think the show would've been even more popular given his individual popularity, however I think he would've played the role more like how the production wanted the role played -- colder, more detached, even more restrained. I personally would be bored watching that, but I think a lot of viewers wouldn't have an issue with it and would still really enjoy the character because he would be like a beautiful glassy icy mirror they could project their desires onto and see those desires reflected back. That's not how TJC acts a role and I don't think that's how he would ever act a role because that's not his approach as an actor -- he always does a lot of research and preparation for a role, forms his own beliefs and understanding of that character, and acts out his own interpretation not the interpretation the audience may want to see. He was getting feedback from the dailies to act colder, more aloof, and he had many discussions with production that he didn't want to play an ice cube and say his lines with a cold face and if that's what they wanted he felt there was no need for him to play the role. 

Ultimately, my trajectory of feelings for the character of XL tracks quite closely to TJC's in that he started off knowing nothing about the book or the story and only having heard of Tong Hua and then after he did his research and prep he became very interested, greatly sympathized with the character while portraying him, and found it hard to let go of the character and the show after wrapping filming. I also think I see the character's storyline pretty similarly to how TJC does as kind of a bildungsroman of this demon who has an abused and traumatic past and a solitary emotional world who gradually learns how to be a man through loving XY.