FoxyFennac

That's exactly why this character became more popular. He overshadowed other male leads both in book and drama.

This was my first time interacting on MDL for any drama and i am so glad i did. XL is the first character that made me think so much about someone. Infact all the characters are very complex.
The author has done a splendid job.
I will miss this drama!

XL's future was decided from the beginning. I think the way Harry Potter honored Snape for his loyalty and love, XL should also have gotten a chance to be remembered by XY.

Did XY know about the extent of his love or like in the novel, she never knew?

XY did come to love Jing very passionately by the end, which was natural since he was the one who spent the most quality time with her throughout the novel. Their time in Qingshui Town alone was pretty long. They literally lived in the same house and bonded over their respective traumas.

The 37 years XL spent with XY were sorely one sided as XY was unconscious and XL was not a talker either.

If the author wanted XY to choose XL in the end, that arc could have been written differently where XL confesses all his deep feelings to her thinking her as unconscious while XY listens to everything he has done for her.

But of course XL has much bigger purpose in the story which goes against what XY wants from life!

There is this concept about love that "You only love once". Every love or relationship after that "love" becomes some sort of rebound or option or like or companionship but never "love".

I feel that XY chose to "love" TSJ so he was the one for her in this life. It was a conscious decision on her part. Jing knew this as well and made efforts to always remind her of himself in various ways. XY did not trust anyone which is understandable considering her past. She acknowledges it herself.
Love can begin a relationship but trust sustains it. Tian'er helped her there as she was also distrusting of men. That's probably why people compare their relationships.

At one point she developed feelings for XL as well. Since XL and XY both were reluctant to act upon these feelings, their love story naturally had no ending. XY never knew XL's depth of feelings and XL understood very early that he was not her type of person.

Regarding XL torturing XY, I would not see it that way because we cannot analyze everything with modern mindset. It's a fictional world. He is an enemy general, a scorned demon who knew no love and affection. In the beginning she was an intruder.
I feel he himself was confused with his feelings for her in the beginning since he had never loved or been loved before. That might have been one of the reason why he treated her such. Later when he pulled her underwater and she preferred dying to kiss him, he understood that she rejected him.
Imagine a person in this position, background being rejected by their love, why would he have confidence to pursue her loudly such as TSJ. This was pretty early in the story before she had deep feelings for TSJ. She inherently rejected the concept of a life with someone like XL who could not give her what she desired the most out of a relationship - a quiet life with someone beloved where she would never be abandoned and would always be the first priority.

I don't mind that XL and XY didn't end up together but I feel that Jing's character lacks the kind of depth XL has. And if she only saw XL as a friend that would be injustice to XL's character and feelings for her.

Real world is already unfair. At least in the fictional world, people expect to see justice. At least I would like so!!

I agree to this. At the same time, the writer does have given some male lead attributes to XL as well. That's why he is giving such competition to TSJ.

IMO TSJ and XY's lovestory is very realistic where two people who have spent a long time together and bonded over their respective traumas develop a gradual deep love. TSJ spent the most quality time with XY in Qingshui Town. They lived in the same house literally.

On the other side, XL's love for XY seems out of storybook. They undoubtedly have chemistry both in novel and drama. People watch these things for that story book element so it is no wonder XL became more popular than TSJ.

It also didn't help TSJ that his character was executed a bit poorly in the drama.
TSJ's love for XY was loud. Dude literally confessed to her any chance he got but his personality was subdued.
XL's love was silent but his personality was loud.

People generally lean towards loud narratives so it's no wonder these characters became controversial.

After the kind of traumas XY went through, she no longer wanted to have too much thrilling life in the future so TSJ by default became the safest choice for her to love and to cherish.

Her disbelief in men is similar to Tian'er's so it's not surprising that they both have same BGM

Moon Lovers in season 1 before they tried to reunite them
The king's woman

He is the character that is lost forever 💔

Yes the writer has left no path for XL to live by this point. So at least he should be remembered by XY. People can say that XY should move on with Jing but that would so undermine the intensity of feelings XY and XL had.

XL can die but XY should know his love🥲

Substitutes, rebounds all are very real in both fictional and real world

TSJ represented stability, which was very important for XY. XY had such a tumultuous childhood that she never wanted to experience such trauma again. Even in real life, sometimes people who are passionately in love dont end up together but go different ways and usually choose stable people.

XY had a conflicting relationship with XL initially, transactional in her words. But had an underlying sensual tension and chemistry. With XL, it was a natural progress.

TSJ, on the other hand, had to make a lot of efforts to stay in her eyes. His extracting a promise from her, reminding her of his existence with wine jars and stuff. Their relationship feels a bit forced in the beginning but TSJ gives one thing to XY that neither XL nor CX can give her, absolute devotion to XY only, which was ironically the only demand of XY, sort of deal breaker.

Yep it was that one😅

Ideally it would have been great if existence of XY could bridge the gap between two countries. XY was daughter of their general and also royalty of Xiyan. The country of chenrong no longer existed but with the help of XY's unique position, those remnant people could have been re assimilated in the society.

A soldier's mindset is to obey orders. If the leadership of remnant army was properly convinced with peace negotiations, they might have given up resistance.

His mindset is pretty evident. He was a peace loving guy who hated confrontation. He was a child of a rich family with very capable elder. He was probably not put in any situation where he had to take life and death decisions. Or at least we were not shown any. He had a naivety to his character which was necessary to contrast with XY's experience.

Again had he been the sole love interest of XY, the situation would be different but with a XL to compare, his character became bland.

Also the unfairness of the real world. Some people strive for life but don't get somewhere while some are given a headstart just by the virtue of their birth.

XL's last letter says that as well. He was the one who made XY capable of protecting herself. He was the positive influence in her life but due to his character setting, his actions are seen as cruel

He was a filthy rich guy who had everything sorted out for him before his brother kidnapped him. A golden boy falling from his pedestal.
Compare it with XL's background. It is easy to see why people are more sympathetic to XL.

That's why it's so damn hard to see death of XL. I lowkey dont want to watch final episodes anymore. it's heartbreaking😭