Xiang Liu and Xiao Yao’s Story and Romance

 Kokuto:

That's why that scene with him killing everyone in the dark to steal the provisions while XY and her friends danced happily in glowing candlelight was so poignant.

Yes, it would definitely be AU, as part of the story would have to be Hong Jiang and his army coming to realize that they won't be able to overthrow the current government, but, perhaps could seek to carve out a place to keep their culture alive. (Clearly, I was spitballing above and hadn't thought through everything. Also, I have only read the first few chapters of the book, and am trying to stay unaware of what's past season 1 until I get there in my reading.) Hong Jiang could have some sense of responsibility to the army and not wanting them all to just die in vain. Perhaps there is an outside influence who catches his ear. He could then be sharing his changing perspective with XL and asking XL to help him achieve a new vision for his people.

As for XL, he would have to undergo some inner healing, where he realizes that he is not JUST a killing machine. As he brokers things, he could slowly come to realize that his keen perception of people and dynamics could have a constructive use and that he has a purpose beyond killing for others. He would have to go from being monstrous to being majestic - both in the minds of others and in his own mind. He recoiled at this thought when XY started to mention it, after the fighting slave was freed. But, that might be because its too painful to imagine that aspect of himself, given the life he has been through thus far.

Anyway, it was just off the top of my head after reading someone ask for some FF that might make it possible for them to be CP. I actually prefer XY as independent. The moment the character became the princess she got a little boring for me. I want her to go back to her wild self. I want her to come to appreciate her ability to transform and to have an adventurous life of her choice which is empowered and exciting rather than frightening and lonely. I could see XL as an eternal more-than-friend, but not a husband,  in that life.

 Kokuto:

The only way it is possible, IMO, is if he is released from his debt.  He can't abandon Invisible Hong Jiang or the rebel army.  And TBH, XY would not want him to abandon them.  If he did, what's to say he wouldn't abandon her?  It's sort of the same problem she has with Jing.

The thing that makes it so difficult is that he's already paid off any debt that he had to Gong Gong / Hong Jiang. Now his ties to Gong Gong are based on feelings. It's no longer transactional. The novel doesn't confirm that directly, but we get XY's speculation in chapter 22 (which correlates with the episode that shows the 37 years of healing):

Xiang Liu stopped talking and Xiao Yao was so anxious inside. She thought that he must’ve decided to leave the North Pole after meeting Fang Feng Bei there. But by then the Sheng Nong Kingdom had fallen and General Gong Gong was leading a paltry resistance army with all his family and friends abandoning him. Yet a certain Nine-headed demon actually willingly went to him, perhaps initially it was to repay a debt, but then Gong Gong truly bonded with him so adopted him as a son. One could repay a debt, but the bonds of love and affection are impossible to ever fully repay.

I agree, that perhaps he could be convinced to help Gong Gong and the resistance army in a different way (rather than just helping them die slower). He definitely hates having to constantly cremate his comrades, so helping them achieve a fate where they live would be a win... It's hard to picture how Gong Gong would fit into that though, or how to do it without forcing XL to take on a governance role (i.e., a life that XY doesn't want).  

One of the more frustrating parts of the novel ending is that XL dies with the army, but he does so in a way that saves Gong Gong. But Gong Gong is the one who can't live in a world where Sheng Nong has been conquered, not XL! Perhaps there could be an alternative ending where Gong Gong sends XL away to do something for him and then writes him a letter before going to battle (intending to die on the battlefield with the rest of his army) asking XL to look after his remains and the remains of his comrades (i.e. bring their ashes to the mountain peak that he negotiated for them). The letter could acknowledge that, even though Gong Gong considered him a son and the army considered him to be one of them, this was never XL's fight and not something he should die for. His true home is the Ocean, and he should return to it. The letter could include Gong Gong's well-wishes for him, maybe a hope that he could finally live a peaceful life. 

That would put XL in the position of losing a parental figure in battle (like XY). The narrative could be adjusted so that XL (rather than ZX and TSJ) helps XY discover the truth about her parents and goes with her to meet her mother so she gets closure about being abandoned. Let's say XY still cuts ties with ZX for the same reasons she does in the novel but she and TSJ hadn't gotten back together, ZX kills TSJ for the pain, suffering and heartbreak that he caused XY rather than out of fear of losing XY to marriage. And in that narrative, XL doesn't need to figure out how to (and maybe isn't in the same position to be able to) bring TSJ back from the dead. He just saves XY and convinces her to live. Idk if this is compatible with how the bug connection is supposed to work, but it would be so satisfying if he did so by letting her feel (through the connection) the depth and breadth of his feelings for her. That would also help with any lingering doubts or fears of abandonment. And after that, XL and XY end up leaving together to go explore the ocean and its wonders, the way XY wished she could (and the way TSJ and XY do in the novel - but in this version they are both able to function under water the same way and are both fully at home in the ocean). They return to the relevant burial grounds in Dahuang once a year to pay their respects to their lost loved ones, but otherwise they learn to let go and enjoy life the way they did when XL was XY's companion as FFB. 

Arrrrgh!!! 

Invisible Gong Gong SURVIVES?!?!

Flips a table.

ooops.  I fixed it.  Just in case.

But yes, it's getting hard for me to tell what someone might find spoiler.  I know there's new people still coming in.

Anyway, I will be most upset if that's the case. I can think of a couple of reasons why he would other than that, but we've stills of the battle, and it's clearly XL.

 AH :

I would love to hear theories, especially if they would make the ending more satisfying!

I doubt it would the ending more satisfying.

But strategically speaking ... if Gong Gong died, he might need to keep that from the troops to keep them fighting.  It could make the enemy change their tactics and split their forces  if they couldn't figure out where the leader, Gong Gong, was -- plus it rally their troops in two different places.  Sometimes you had doubles of the leader on the field, like in the same or similar armor, to help prevent targeting by enemy snipers.

Can I just say that I really dislike this Gong Gong dude?

 nathsketch:

Can I just say that I really dislike this Gong Gong dude?

You're not the only one.

I understand loyalty, I understand pride, I understand honor. But I'll never understood suicidal stubbornness by dragging other people down. 

XL is supposed to be his adopted son, someone he loves. Yet he lets him screw up his life in a fight that isn't his and die to protect a man who wants to die.
Gong Gong also trains his soldiers for slaughter, and while I'm willing to believe that some of them are as stubborn as their general, I'm sure at least half of them might have wanted to live a decent life far of Dushuang or in the central plains, with their former fellow citizens. But with a general who refuses to give in and advocates sacrifice at all costs, it does not help anyone to give up. 

I hope that season 2 will give a minimum of explanation on Cong Cong's fate and that he will not remain this ghost, symbol of stubborn sacrifice.