First question: "Why are people shipping Cang Xuan and Xiao Yao aren't they just cousins from the same grandmother…
I completely understand where you're coming from, and yes, if we look at it realistically and with our 2023 views, it's difficult to wrap our heads around this. But I try to separate myself from our modern reality and get completely immersed in the fantasy and in the world building. I remember I wrote a whole essay down in the comments (unfortunately, it will now be impossible for me to find it 😅), but basically it's more or less like this: XL is not a man. He's a literal monster ("a venomous nine-headed snake monster that brings floods and destruction in Chinese mythology"), a very important part of Chinese culture, much like the Loch Ness monster, or the many Greek mythological creatures. He takes on this human form but that's not what he really is. So expecting him to behave like a "normal" good person is already the wrong approach.
I could go on, but, to sum it up, the fact that we almost involuntarily try to project on his character our modern notions of morality end up sort of ruining the viewing experience. As you said it yourself, you can't understand why people find him appealing. So maybe if you could remove that modern approach, it would perhaps make a bit more sense.
Apologies if I sounded rude before, it really was not my intention. It's just that I feel protective of the character because he's much more than simply the "abusive bad guy". I dare say he's not a bad guy at all. He's just been treated with the same amount of violence. The irony is that the one person who ends up getting hurt the most by his own actions is himself. 😔
Why do people ship CX and XY? CX and XY are cousins in the novel, yes. They may nor may not be cousins in the…
I may have exaggerated for dramatic purposes. I started watching LYF because of Deng Wei, yes. And I liked him for about three episodes or so. But then the platinum hair appeared on my screen and BOOM, it all became Love You Forever 😭🤣
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Harper's Bazaar Photoshoot BTS https://twitter.com/tan_jianci05/status/1706654085150081079?s=20
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-fWDrZSiZs&t=44s
"I'm in love and always will be".
I could go on, but, to sum it up, the fact that we almost involuntarily try to project on his character our modern notions of morality end up sort of ruining the viewing experience. As you said it yourself, you can't understand why people find him appealing. So maybe if you could remove that modern approach, it would perhaps make a bit more sense.
Apologies if I sounded rude before, it really was not my intention. It's just that I feel protective of the character because he's much more than simply the "abusive bad guy". I dare say he's not a bad guy at all. He's just been treated with the same amount of violence. The irony is that the one person who ends up getting hurt the most by his own actions is himself. 😔