antiherodiaries

Thank you. It's a tough world out there. Lol. People believe what they want to believe. For example, I believe:
1. XY fell in love with XL at first sight despite her fear of him. And again at first sight of FFB.
2. XY only have eyes for XL/FBB as his reflection is the only one that is reflected from it. He is and was the apple of her eyes, her soul mate.
3. XY love XY helplessly. It was never unrequited love. The Lover's Bugs is all the proof you need.
4. XY is a prisoner to her abandonment issues and she never truly outgrows this.
5. It took XL death for her to let go of her past....not her marriage to Jing, not even her reconciliation with her mother and father. BUT XL's DEATH!
6. Her choice to live and travel the ocean is her way to make up for lost times with XL. (¬‿¬).
7. Jing is a cunning sly fox...and since his whole existence and personality is XY, he will do whatever it takes to keep her.
8. I also believed without CX, FL and XL, Jing wouldn't have been able to be XY. Each men decisions and actions paved the way for Jing to meet XY's idea of a perfect companion.
9. XY idea of a companion is unhealthy and and though I understand why her ending is this way, I just can't wrap my heart around it.
10. No one put XY first, not even Jing. And people can argue with me all they want. Jing still put his duties before her for a century. But people are quick to use XL's duties as excuse to invalidate XY love for him.
11. Aside form gaining the abilities to protect herself, everything XY learned (heart melting, companionship, living life, enjoying small things, making the first step, having compassion, forgiving) stemmed from her interactions and conversations and time with XL. She gave all that she learned to other people especially Jing, so people are quick to give him credit for "saving" XY. Heck even XY gave Jing credit....but dude was asleep for 37 years...(¬‿¬) and when XY wasn't spitting blood, drunk, or trying break his marriage, she was just making out with Jing. She even compared him to her mom.
Lol...I have so much more but...it's getting long. 😂

In exploring the protagonist of "Lost You Forever," Xiao Yao finds herself at a crossroads, torn between choosing to love and the one she can't help but love hopelessly.

In modern times, people often equate choosing to love with being in love. The prevailing notion is that marriage signifies the union of two individuals. Yet, not long ago, women married for socioeconomic security, and marriage traditionally meant the union of two families. In the world of Dahuang, where bloodlines and loyalty reign supreme, love is reserved for the most privileged. Ironically, Xiao Yao, who is a princess, is privileged to love anyone except the one she truly desires.

Navigating the ideologies of love leads one to question the very essence of marriage and commitment. Is there a difference between "willing to marry" someone and the person you "desire to stay with for eternity"? While romantics would equate the two as the same, marriage technically involves customs, while the latter question signifies a profound desire that one would forgo all wedding traditions just to be with. So why can't Xiao Yao answer whom she would elope and run away with for eternity?

She once said one is willing but not capable (Jing), and the other capable but not willing (XL). Upon XL's probing, Xiao Yao answers to "willing to marry" Jing, which ironically is a reflection of his incapabilities, while her desires mirror the lack of willingness of XL's capabilities. Does this mean she is willing to marry Jing but is incapable of truly desiring him? She is willing to marry him, but she wouldn't dare elope with him? If she truly desires him, why can't she answer the question?

In our quest for answers, we continue to delve into Xiang Liu's probing inquiries into XY's desires. When he questions her willingness to marry Jing, she impulsively responds with a "yes." However, when he delves deeper into the person she wishes to spend her whole life with, she instead clutches her head in pain. Even Xiang Liu, with his profound spiritual powers, couldn't extract a straightforward answer. Consequently, he chooses a path of cruelty, sending her excruciating pain via the Lover's Bugs, avoiding entering her dreams in an attempt to shield her from an agonizing decision.

The assumed love that Xiao Yao has developed for Tushan Jing has always stemmed from pity and her sense of control and security. It never seemed to have stemmed from true love. Upon scrutinizing it multiple times, no passage explicitly describes Xiao Yao's hopelessly falling in love with Tushan Jing. Instead, the depth of her emotions stems from the oath she took in the Dragon Bone Prison, securing his affections to aid her beloved cousin, Cang Xuan, to the throne.

Further implicating her feelings, she somehow finds Tushan Jing's inability to live without her astonishingly romantic. His incapabilities become a lever for XY to hold onto because she has complete control over her feelings, and it further meets her requirements of someone who could never abandon her.

When my own mother asked me why I wanted to marry my husband at 18, I said it was because I loved him and we wanted to go to college together, grow together. Xiao Yao's own answer to her mother was that TSJ is the one who wouldn't abandon her. In my answer, there is an untold understanding that we wouldn't abandon each other, that we should stick together through thick and thin. Yet in Xiao Yao's answer, there is no "I" in the equation, only the result of the union: she wouldn't be abandoned.

In both XY's and my answer, there is a looming uncertainty because the future is unpredictable, and life is full of surprises. So why wouldn't she just say she loved him, like how I simply declared my love? Both of our answers have a level of naivety; I was sure I loved him and that we wouldn't abandon each other, while with XY, she was sure he loved her so he wouldn't abandon her. Both of our answers show our lack of understanding of what the future holds, but in XY's answer, I am unsure and bewildered by how much she truly loved Jing in return. In my pessimistic view, with Tushan Jing's track record of broken promises and illnesses, who is to say he will outlive Xiao Yao's abandonment issues?

For a girl who had hoped for nothing, Xiao Yao becomes unable to guard her own heart and falls ill with lovesickness. According to Cang Xuan's inner thoughts, it would seem that Xiao Yao's lovesickness is due to her turmoil with Jing. However, further reading reveals that Xiao Yao's lovesickness is complicated and layered, appearing more profound than it initially seems. As the narrative unfolds, Xiao Yao's dreams become a canvas of her subconscious desires and fears. Tong Hua delves into two dreams of Xiao Yao that correlate to Xiang Liu, providing glimpses into her emotions.

One is of her genuine happiness picking up ocean stars while sleeping soundlessly in his clam. This dream happens on their second date in the ocean, where after tiring herself out, she falls asleep on the waves. XL's Cinderella carries her to the shell to let her rest, while he stands guard and watches over her. Like all the years parading as FFB, he would let her nap at dance halls and casino lounges.

The other dream: "[Xiao Yao] saw Jing with his son, but she couldn't see his son's face. Only that he curled in his dad's arms and called him sweetly 'Daddy,' while Jing smiled back. Xiao Yao ran away as fast as she could. In a second, she ran from Qing Qiu to Qing Shui Town. Xiao Yao jumped into the river and swam towards the vast blue ocean. She could see endless horizons and the joy of swimming freely, but she was so tired. Where could she go in this entire world? Fang Feng Bei appeared on the surface, sitting on an all-white clamshell, smiling at her with his black hair flying in the breeze. Xiao Yao swam towards him, but in a second, his hair turned all white, and he became Xiang Liu, coldly staring at her. The white clamshell, all-white Xiang Liu; it was like an ice mountain floating on the ocean surface. The black-haired him, the white-haired him, closer and further away... Xiao Yao suddenly turned and swam towards land. As she swam, her tears tumbled down like rain. Xiao Yao startled awake from her dream, feeling coldness next to her. She touched her face and discovered that she was drenched in tears."

Xiao Yao's journey further involves her interaction with Xiang Liu. She once turned down an air kiss from him, citing her princess status as the reason. However, she later admitted that it was because of Jing's oath, which forbade her from accepting Xiang Liu's advances. This oath, born out of pessimism and the assurance that she couldn't be swayed, sets the precedent for Xiang Liu's resolve to push her away, ultimately resulting in her lovesickness.

Xiao Yao's characterization emerges as a complex interplay of being a coward of the heart, a prisoner to her dreams of a peaceful life, and a slave to her fears of abandonment. Her codependency limits her abilities to grow, and she yearns for a situationship that ensures her sense of control, comfort, and security.

In the end, Xiao Yao's decision to marry Tushan Jing is not without its nuances. She doesn't hesitate when asked by XL if she wanted to marry Jing—not because he is the person she has chosen to love, but rather because he's the only one who can afford to meet her requirements. With the sacrifices of Cang Xuan and Xiang Liu, Tushan Jing is able to give up his status for her. Xiao Yao can't help but love Xiang Liu hopelessly and would forgo any customs to be with him if she could. Unfortunately, Xiao Yao and her psychopathic deficiencies don't let her choose; they make the decision for her.

As we wait for the July 8 premiere, here's some food for thought. 👇👇👇

we have a thread! please share when you do! 🔥

I am not holding onto much. I plan to watch the episodes with Xiang Liu and dropping it the moment he dies. Hahaha...the changes takes away the integrity of the novel.

I disagree. Xiao Yao ended up in the exact same character set up as she did when you meet her in Qingshui Town. The only difference is that her environment changes a bit. Her development was minimal at the least, but I wouldn't call it phenomenal.

Shen Yurong is not a grey character. In my opinion, he is a complex villain. Grey characters are known as antiheroes and antivillains. What's the difference? Antiheroes are heroes with some villainous traits, like Duke Su. Antivillains are villains with some heroic traits—the best example would be Magneto from Marvel's X-Men. There are no antivillains in The Double. Shen Yurong has no heroic traits; he doesn't deserve to be categorized as an antivillain. (¬‿¬) Shen Yurong is nothing but an unredeemed villain with a little bit of conscience, he deserved to be belittled by Jiang Li.

lol. Have you never played beer pong or Truth and Dare? These are just some western drinking games.

Why would you feel bad for him? He betrayed his loving wife, the one who, despite his poverty, helped him get where he is. He is nothing; there isn't anything worth praising or sympathizing with. He deserves whatever karma is coming to him. Whatever he is feeling, it better be the fear of losing everything Ah Li helped build for him. Any "protective" feelings he has later on is the least he could do for her.

Me too! 😍🪭

Chinese dramas or any dramas outside of the Western Hemisphere don't need to build historical context to cater to their audiences. You are complaining about a non-issue. Many C-drama viewers have always accepted the fan as a weapon of choice for suave heroes and anti-heroes, regardless of genre.

Duke Su 🪭! where were you when I was suffering and unable to move on because of a certain character (🐍❄️)? 😍🥰🥹🤭

It is very unfortunate that it makes these kinds of polls inauthentic at times. Though it is fun and exciting to see your favorite rise to top, it is much better to see them rise up due to organic and genuine love of thier work and character, and not just for to be number one for number one sake.

Lol. No one said anything bad about Yangzi. Stating an observation about fandom culture and reciting someone's lived experience as a Yangzi fan is not being disrespectful. Putting words in our mouths because you misunderstood our conversation by skimming and glossing over our talking points—now that's being disrespectful.

Whao...chill. You have mistaken my observation. I am merely reciting an observation about the power of influence, to which, Yangzi has an incredible amount of, and to which, her fan club follows to a T.

There is a strong cause and effect going one here in this CP voting phenomenon. As someone who works in marketing, I find it absolutely facinating. Yangzi nonchalantly remarks that she will pick Feng Long, and in this poll, you can see the power of that statement manifesting.

And her fandom is not the only one, by all means, idol celebrity culture benefits of this kind of parasocial relationship.

And for the record, I am not a YaoJing fan. Heck I'm barely a YaoLiu fan. I am and will always belong to Xiang Liu nation.

It looks like the poll is has changed drastically , all the new and or upcoming CPs has risen to the top. ShenLi being miles ahead! YaoLiu fallen of the top five.

Yes, Yangzi's camp is very single-minded, which I think is a silver lining in disguise. The poll is proving the extent to which Yangzi's camp will organize for her, so if Yaojing was the official CP, that means its popularity in season one was NOT organic! Whereas the results for the other CP were more organic and thus more authentic, resulting in YaoLiu technically being the more AUTHENTICALLY favored pairing overall.

YaoLong is a cute pairing, but because of Yangzi's interview, the results are now pushing him to the top, which is making his results weird and ironically, inauthentic.

In the rules of online engagement, the quality of it determines the value of click-throughs, unearned media, and return on investments. But for some reason, in dramaland and idol celebrity culture, even unauthentic engagement somehow generates investments, and I think it has to do with the strong single-minded mindset found in fandoms.

😆😂 Congratulations to YaoLiu and YaoLong! 🤭

As we wait or season 2, here's a little trivia:

Affecting 72% of Weibo survey takers, YaoLiu is the most popular CP that affected people's heartstrings! 🥹😍🤧🤭😭 Source shared via Susu: https://x.com/tlmssusu/status/1788203163306348648?s=46

XY already loved XL the moment she set eyes on him. The only thing that kept her from pursuing him is the fact that she's always in survival mode. FFB's personality is who XL really is, while XL's personality is who he is with his armor as the general of Shennong.

XY was drawn to Jing out of pity and fear of letting XL into her dreams. Like Tian'er, she was going to fake it until she made it...plus she needed to string Jing along to help CX. *Barf* Didn't you hear the fake-ass voice she had on when she told him she wanted to kiss him? There's a BTS out there somewhere where you can hear the director telling Yangzi to approach the scene from a perspective of pitying Jing for having such low self-esteem, trying to appease him.

The lover's bugs were the ultimate plot device for a love confession. The FACT that it planted successfully proves that she was already IN LOVE with XL. So you are correct, it was definitely wrong of her to confess her love to someone she only pitied when she was already in love with another man. 🥴😆