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meganbmooreThe gneral LJ dorama fandom is about as deep as I've ever willingly gone into a fandom. Message boards scare me. Fandoms scare me. I generally avoid them like the plague.
Since I already knew pretty much how it ended, I've been reading threads on Sword Stained With Royal Blood, as opposed to the skimming I did to see if it was any good, and there are 2 things (both primarily from Sun Fei Fei fans) that I keep seeing from some that really irritate me:
1) The idea the Chengzhi isn't interesting if he isn't in love with both Qing Qing and Ah Jie.
2) That Chengzhi has to love Ah Jie or their relationship is irrelevant.
For the first...ok, lets ignore that he DOESN'T love both girls, that Qing Qing always seems to be more worried about and happier to see Ah Jie than Chengzhi, that Chengzhi obviously only loves Qing Qing even though he's an idiot when it comes to showing it or understanding a girl's feelings, that he barely treats Ah Jie any differently than he treats anyone else. How on earth is a character a "better" character if he can't decide who he loves and leads both on? To me, it seems that flip flopping back and forth means he doesn't really love anyone and, saying that he does cheapens all three characters and his relationship with both girls.
And the second...that one actually irritates me more. Part of what makes the series good to me is that he ISN'T romantically interested in Ah Jie. Now, am I all for a "in love with my enemy" type story? Oh yes. When the characters are compatible. Ah Jie and Chengzhi AREN'T compatible at all.
Does she love him? Yes. Could he have loved her if he didn't already love Qing Qing by the time they met? Probably. But the point is that he already loved Qing Qing by then, and the idea of leaving her or being with someone else never crosses his mind. Chengzhi can be happy with Qing Qing...in fact, the only time he's been happy since leaving the mountain was when he and Qing Qing were wandering around, having adventures, and the only time he really seems to be at ease is when she's by his side, even when she annoys him. Even if he did love Ah Jie, they'd never be able to be together. They just couldn't WORK. And Ah Jie knows this, even though she loves him. I don't think Chengzhi is aware enough of her feelings for him to have thought about it, but even if he did, Qing Qing would make it a moot point.
Does he care about her? Oh yes. He values her friendship and felt betrayed when he learned who she was. And yes, he's attracted to her...the boy has hormones, but he gives her only a little more attention than he does anyone else except for Qing Qing, and he tends to even take her for granted(nothing resembling social skills in the boy.) He wants to "save" her from her sadness, and I think the fact that he wants to help her even though he loves someone else means more than it would if he was in love with her. It means that he wants to help her for purely selfless reasons, simply because she is someone he cares about and wants to help. There's no personal gain for him...with Wing Qing, making her happy makes his own life happier, because she's an intrinsic part of his life, but with Ah Jie, there is no gain for him beyond making someone else happy. Even though it's romantic on her part, I think the fact that their relationship is a selfless friendship makes it much more poignant than it would be if they were the OTP, and I think saying it should be romantic on both sides cheapens the relationship they have.
Anyway, only 5 eps left, so I should have it finished by tomorrow.
1) The idea the Chengzhi isn't interesting if he isn't in love with both Qing Qing and Ah Jie.
2) That Chengzhi has to love Ah Jie or their relationship is irrelevant.
For the first...ok, lets ignore that he DOESN'T love both girls, that Qing Qing always seems to be more worried about and happier to see Ah Jie than Chengzhi, that Chengzhi obviously only loves Qing Qing even though he's an idiot when it comes to showing it or understanding a girl's feelings, that he barely treats Ah Jie any differently than he treats anyone else. How on earth is a character a "better" character if he can't decide who he loves and leads both on? To me, it seems that flip flopping back and forth means he doesn't really love anyone and, saying that he does cheapens all three characters and his relationship with both girls.
And the second...that one actually irritates me more. Part of what makes the series good to me is that he ISN'T romantically interested in Ah Jie. Now, am I all for a "in love with my enemy" type story? Oh yes. When the characters are compatible. Ah Jie and Chengzhi AREN'T compatible at all.
Does she love him? Yes. Could he have loved her if he didn't already love Qing Qing by the time they met? Probably. But the point is that he already loved Qing Qing by then, and the idea of leaving her or being with someone else never crosses his mind. Chengzhi can be happy with Qing Qing...in fact, the only time he's been happy since leaving the mountain was when he and Qing Qing were wandering around, having adventures, and the only time he really seems to be at ease is when she's by his side, even when she annoys him. Even if he did love Ah Jie, they'd never be able to be together. They just couldn't WORK. And Ah Jie knows this, even though she loves him. I don't think Chengzhi is aware enough of her feelings for him to have thought about it, but even if he did, Qing Qing would make it a moot point.
Does he care about her? Oh yes. He values her friendship and felt betrayed when he learned who she was. And yes, he's attracted to her...the boy has hormones, but he gives her only a little more attention than he does anyone else except for Qing Qing, and he tends to even take her for granted(nothing resembling social skills in the boy.) He wants to "save" her from her sadness, and I think the fact that he wants to help her even though he loves someone else means more than it would if he was in love with her. It means that he wants to help her for purely selfless reasons, simply because she is someone he cares about and wants to help. There's no personal gain for him...with Wing Qing, making her happy makes his own life happier, because she's an intrinsic part of his life, but with Ah Jie, there is no gain for him beyond making someone else happy. Even though it's romantic on her part, I think the fact that their relationship is a selfless friendship makes it much more poignant than it would be if they were the OTP, and I think saying it should be romantic on both sides cheapens the relationship they have.
Anyway, only 5 eps left, so I should have it finished by tomorrow.
In other news, a few icons for the series:
