mimi0108

They're the same person. FFB was a free spirit who could be close to XY, her best friend, her soulmate, someone she could have a future with. Xiang Liu is the emotionless demon General who can't prioritise her.
By killing his identity as FFB, XL is no longer free to be the companion XY cherished. So she grieves the hope of a possibility for them and the spirit of FFB. She's now facing XL, a demon who can't/doesn't want to show emotion to her and his devote to his cause.

He would have put up barriers but not as many. Certainly he is aware of his destiny and the opposing camps in which they are. But if there, with all the barriers she has put, he still doesn't stop hoping, it is certain he would have had less restrictions if she had been more open towards him. They almost kiss twice and it would have taken just one to pass the point of no return.

XY and XL both know the other has feelings for them. BUT given they are not openly honest about their feelings, that XY made a promise to TSJ, and that XL is tied to his adoptive father and his cause, each doubts the depth of the other's feelings and wants some confirmation. That's why they can't stop taking one step forward and ten steps back. Each , in turn, tries to probe the other, to make him/her understand there is a chance, to make him/her say what he/her feels. But each time, they don't follow through and only make themselves suffer and doubt more.

I think he knows it.
It may be implied when she asks him how long he's known about her marriage and he says since she's been in Haoling. This means he heard about it and probably came to see her. When she sees snow, maybe he was there but hidden because he hadn't made up his mind yet.

They missed their chance. If she hadn't made this promise to TSJ at the beginning, she might have kissed XL for breathing underwater in episode 19 or been a little less afraid of him "appearing in her dreams" or letting her guard down on other occasions. But she never allowed herself to because of that promess and XL started putting up walls around his feelings and got to a point where, even though he tests her to see what she feels, he knows he can't. Nothing must begin between them.
It's so sad because this have taken away the possibility of expressing their feelings and having this real possibility between them and we see them choking under the sobs of their repressed feelings.

I agree. There's no right and wrong about her endgame because :
1) That's her choice
2) That's what life is sometimes
3) She loved them both (even if it's in different way it's romantic love anyway)
4) It's realistic to not have a perfect ending. Life is imperfect and unfair. Neither men is perfect, neither life she'll have with them will be. All we can hope it's that her ending will be the less regretful for her and she'll have a chance to happiness.

I really like your analysis.

Indeed, XL is the risky choice/love. That's why she's afraid of letting him go into her Dreams. He's a "Bad boy" in some way. If she let's her guard down, she'll fall completly and violently. Since, despise her efforts, we saw her waiting and longing for him and hitting chance to him.

As for TSJ, like you said, he can give her the peace, security and priority she always wanted. It's a slow burn because it took time for her to open her heart for him (even if she made a promise really soon) but she chose him and started been seduced by his attitudes and devotion to her. She felt safe enough to be vulnerable but, at the same time, always keept a part of who she really is for herself because, maybe, a part of her was working on this relationship rather than letting it be organic. She acted the way she thought he want her to be, like been more feminine and childish sometimes.

We need to start a "Free Hug session for XL"

I haven't pay too much thoughts about the lovers bug at the beginning of this Season. But you're right, feeling her pain made it difficult for him to stay away. However, I stand that XL is masochist. He knows he can't bé with her but, deep down, he can't help to gravitate around her, saying some innuendos and hoping for reciprocity. That's why I said he tortured himself. They both did. Because their heads know they can't be but their heart are still beating for each other, as each other. So they're hoping deep inside.

You're welcome. Glad my thoughts were liked x)

Because his fiancé was pregnant so he needed to marry her and raise their child.

I don't have the same interpretation. I think the drama succeeds in showing us she pines for both and even pointing out to us XL is the one she would choose if she were free of all responsibility, as she tells her grandfather.
"I can't be free and casual like you want because my last name stops me. If I did what I wanted, I would join XL, but I can't."
She openly admits what she wants most at that moment is to be with XL but that being from two enemy camps, her birth chose for her they could not be/hang out together.
That’s the tragedy of this moment. XY is in mourning for the two men she loves, for the two lives she would have had, for the choices that were taken away from her.
And while TSJ is definitely lost in her eyes (since he's married with a child), she still desperately and involuntarily clings to a hope for XL, which is why she keeps questioning him, to see if he would be ready to give them a chance.

I just finished the 3 episodes and my heart breaks for all the characters (except the new queen who doesn't deserve an ounce of pity) and at the same time, I'm frustrated by them FOR THEM.

TSJ is a shadow of himself but, as usual, he closes in on himself, is mute and suffers fate a little too much. I feel sorry for him and, at the same time, I want to shake him by telling him "either you act to become master of your destiny again, or you lock yourself permanently in your room and no longer appear in front of XY for the torment".

CX has to endure marriage after marriage and he is expected to consume each marriages even though it's torture for him. It's horrible to see the price you pay to be in power. Even though that's the choice he made and his obsession with XY scares me, I feel nauseous for him when the crown keeps forcing him to sacrifice his heart and body for the kingdom.

XL likes to suffer and he wants more. He keeps reaffirming he will die for his cause and will not choose the path of survival but, for all that, he continues to torture himself by circling around XY and hoping deep down she will return his affection while at the same time pushing her away and choosing to deny the reciprocity he feels on her side. These two are unbearably masochistic!

XY, my poor XY. She is drowning under the weight of her status as a princess and the loneliness it brings her. CX is the king and has responsibilities. She has no friends or lover to keep her company. She is heartbroken because of the two men she loves and lost: TSJ and XL.

The scenes with XL/FFB were incredibly powerful because of all the innuendo between the two. When we talk about star-crossed lovers, they are the exact definition. XL wants to know who she really loves because a part of him is aware she loves him and wants to hear her say it, XY persists in wanting to know if XL could choose her if she gave him one more chance. But each, to protect themselves and for fear of the other, refuses to be completely honest, perpetuating the misunderstanding between them.
The mutual hope and sadness in their eyes as each tries to question the other about their intentions, near the bridge, is heartbreaking. And the look that each gives to the other as they see them leave expresses everything they cannot say to each other.
When XY cries afterwards for TSJ, it's pretty obvious she's also crying for XL, for the fact that no matter what man she loves, she can't have him. XL is an uncontrollable love, the one she would choose if she had no responsibilities (as she tells her grandfather). TSJ is the reasonable choice, someone with whom she can build a future, someone stable and kind who can be a lifelong companion. Despite loving two different men who can offer her two different lives, she can't have them . Neither the man she desires and loves in spite of herself, nor the man she chose as a suitable husband and learned to love. Her frustration and pain are heartbreaking.

I told myself the same thing, the voice seemed odd it's why I asked here if anyone had a clue.

Just saw this on FB. Do someone know where this coming and if it's legit?
https://fb.watch/t6GmGw1RfT/

I understand your frustration. However, I found the scene where she realizes XL won't see her very emotionally poignant.
XY knows TSJ is dying yet, upon learning XL doesn't want to see her, she turns away from the bird and takes the time to cry/mourn once again for a hope she had for them together.
XY has always held back emotionally towards XL even though she has never been able to truly stop herself from loving him. The lyrics of the song, the look on XY's face when she realizes XL doesn't want to see her, and the moment where she allows herself to cry for him, even if it's only 3 tears, say it all: namely that he is the man she would choose if things weren't so complicated between them.
With TSJ, XY is freer to show her emotions. She also has the higher ground over him because she saved his life and took pity on him.

Edit: In XL/XY relationship, many strong emotions are compressed which makes the moments of abandonment even stronger because it indicates the violence and strength of the feelings between them.
Like when she grips her sleeve tightly when he sees her again at TSJ's house. This shows she is emotionally agitated to see him again but then forces herself to keep an imperturbable demeanor so as not to show him how much his abandonment has affected her.

I think we can all say she has learned to live with the pain.
But Jing is not an enemy of her family, he is not constantly trying to kill her cousin, he is not the general of a doomed army. Jing brings her share of pain, of course, but at least she can envisage a peaceful life with him and hopes that once his problems are resolved, he will not abandon her. It's a sweeter love.
With XL, it's a love as a storm, which she cannot control despite herself. XL can be violent, angry, impulsive, controlling, evasive and so on. As she says herself, she is afraid to love him. He is, in a way, the definition of a bad boy. He represents danger, violent passion and at the same time he is her soul mate, her best friend, someone she needs in her life, the one who understands her best and accepts her the most, the one with whom she would like to spend the rest of her life. It's a love she doesn't control but that she tries to keep quiet as much as possible because she is aware they will not have a good ending and prefers to keep her feelings as quiet as possible than to suffer a thousand times more if she admits her love for him in broad daylight.

Yeah, the fact she's trying to resist having to answer that question say everything she can't say to him out loud. He's the one that got away. The one she'll have choose if she was free of responsability and if he wasn't doom. But her family's name and his responsabilities prevent her to be with him even if a lot of the time, she almost fails to resist him. Despite his personnality, the fact he hurted her and he's her family's enemy, she still wants to spend time with him and loves him deep down.

The long wait will be finally over soon.
I can't wait to watch it.
At the same time, I'm a bit worried 21 episodes will not be enough to conclude the story. I love XL and his relationship with XY so I hope their scenes will be great and emotional and important.

Exactly!
He made her his servant for 3 years, shot her with his arrows, strangled her several times, sexually assaulted her, forced her to kneel for a whole day/night twice, forced to listen to his intimate night with his wife to the point she injured herself and passed out.
He tortured her mentally and physically, humiliated her and he is surprised she prefers to commit suicide? He pushed her to it!

He learned she was assaulted by her ex-husband XH hated. He was mad about her safety because she made plan where she exposed herself to danger.