Xiang Liu and Xiao Yao’s Story and Romance

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 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.

 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. 

Sirry Usly

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. 

I'm definitely intrigued by the world, also. So many other characters and past stories!  Besides reading the book for LYF during the break, I also am going to watch the prequel series, even though I've heard it isn't the best. 

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.  I mean, heck, look at all the time they've spent on that brother that tried to kill CX twice?  Is it Yue Liang?  Which is why I keep calling Mr. Invisible.  We've had to infer so much.

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 don't think he's responsible for the reputation of demons, though he might have been a good example of why humans and deities hated them.

I don't think XL had family.  I think it was just a random female snake demon, who laid an egg -- father not neccesarily needed -- and left it to hatch.   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.

Yep, religion and the afterlife aren't really touched on here, though there's clearly ancestor worship.

I also want to know how he can keep offering hope to others, but not himself?  Is it tied to XY's rejection?

 nathsketch:

I haven't watched that far ahead but it's so sad to see how he disregards his own well-being. I just want to give him a hug *sobs*

How far have you gotten? 

He doesn't seem to believe in creature comforts of any kind.  I can imagine his stunned reaction to the idea of self care.  LOL!

 Kokuto:

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. 

 Kokuto:

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. 

 nathsketch:

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 😆

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... 

 Kokuto:

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. 

 chase_kayden:

Actually, this may be because TJC himself wanted to show what's beyond XL's coldness.

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).