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Here's a couple of toxic and problematic cdrama characters who I would gladly keep and follow despite them being awful people because they are so pretty and they're fictional so it's okay so indulge me in my delusions.

Some spoilers ahead.

Lost You Forever - Xiang Liu (aka 9-headed snake demon aka Live action Sesshoumaru aka Silver Haired Snake Demon King of My Heart)

So this list isn't in a particular ranked order except that Xiang Liu is #1 because LOOK. AT. HIM. I could stare at him forever.

He's an emotionally constipated asshole who will resort to violence when he is displeased but I can work with that. There's a lot of pros that comes with him. First, he has 9 heads and it might have been implied had different personalities so you'll never be bored with him and maybe one of them is somewhat nice or more reasonable? Second, he lives and can travel via a giant clam. Enough said. Third, his blood can let you breath under water. Fourth, despite his rough personality he is extremely loyal and will literally give up his life and do anything for you once you earned a place in his demon heart.

His cons are he's unable to express how he truly feels (but can travel via giant clam) and he is determined to die in the battlefield. Again, I can work with that and I think the dying in battle can be negotiated. I would convince him to first travel and explore the world together via his giant clam and his pudgy pet bird and then go to battle and die together. This works because my ultimate goal would be to explore the world. After that, if he dies and I don't then I would no longer be able to look at his beautiful face so what's the point in continuing to live? So that's why we go into battle. We both achieve our goals this way. It's a win-win situation.

Generation to Generation - Mu Qingyan (aka Chang Ning aka Scammer Extraordinaire aka Should've Died From Blood Loss 10 Episodes Ago)

Holy face card batman. I'm okay with him scamming me.

I don't really think he's that bad. I mean he's manipulative and you'll never really know if he's lying to you but his scams and schemes ultimately were to the benefit of the FL.

We can work on this. Just need to convince him to communicate and share his plans. A couple that scams together are happier together.

I think the biggest problem with him is his propensity for coughing blood out every 5 seconds. We'll just have to schedule regular check ups with the doctor.

The Rise of Ning - Lu Jia Xue (aka Your Unfriendly (At First) Hot Temporarily Blind Neighbor)

If my neighbor looked like him, I would try to be less of an awkward turtle and not avoid social interactions.

So I kind of felt bad for him because it wasn't his fault that he had a falling out (literally) with the FL. It was the crazy lady he was engaged with that pushed her. He did do some bad things for power. He also got creepy and stalker-y after finding the FL again. But again, he wasn't the one that pushed the FL off a cliff so that's a point for him. He also learned to make those wooden doll things because the FL mentioned liking them and he took up paper cutting because it was the FL's hobby so that's nice and shows he's talented and pays attention. So he’s not completely irredeemable?

Pursuit of Jade - Qi Min (aka The True Heir aka You Know What I'm Okay With This)

Another silver/gray/white haired king. What is up with all the the white haired characters being super hot but also they're always sick?

Anyway, his obsessive and possessive treatment of Qianqian was straight up abusive but I understand why he is like that. He's been abused and neglected his whole life so when Qianqian actually treated him like his life mattered enough to be saved he latched on.

Not gonna lie his intensity and his obsession with Qianqian was kinda hot so I would probably stick around and not run away. Offer to help him get his throne back whilst convincing him to kill less? Also would have to take him to a lot of therapy.

And I think that's it for now. Who are some other problematic cdrama faves I missed?

Every single person on this planet thinks about dark and taboo things. It's literally the most normal thing in the world.

I was already annoyed with them when they roasted Ruyi because way to miss the entire narrative of the story (she did love Qianlong too much too long and tried to make the relationship work and it was her downfall and if that theme isn’t your thing, don’t watch but it was ample) …. But BBJX?

Bc apparently the drama portrayed Ruoxi as imperfect. Or something. Every creator’s (and the Gen Z commenters) take seems to be “well if I tried back in time I would have made better decisions.”

(Also related — I don’t think censorship screwed long form dramas as much as the whole ecosystem. Now, people are free to post whatever, I’m not in favor of restriction of speech. But the outsized influence of recent of these entertainment and marketing accounts* making screenwriters write scared — I do have a beef with that.)

the only point I sort of vibed with was that Yongzheng never loved Ruoxi as much as he loved power, which is why he never tried to make things official with her until there was a baby's legitimacy on the line. which, sure, but then that had to be followed up with, so Ruoxi is stupid for loving him.

Listen, I would love it if Ruoxi was self-aware enough about both the historical future and her own literal future to marry Fourteen at first chance because even before things start hitting the fan, you can kind of predict being with Fourteen wouldn't be the most horrible end considering he outlives practically everyone, but that wouldn't make a very good story.

(My in laws have the cutest, healthiest marriage ever and they were both divorced with kids when they met each other. Jesus Christ people.)

Re: Ruoxi — I think it comes down to bad faith interpretation. I agree that it’s clear that Yongzheng loved power more than he loved her, and she shouldn’t have been with him as long as she did, but I think narratively it’s clear that it wasn’t exactly healthy? It fits well thematically.

It’s like saying GMP is bad because Li Chengyin was more of a villain. Yes he is, and that’s the point of the story!

(But also yes — I’ve been in a nice informational cocoon)

I had a whole rant in the tags but it got too unwieldy so I'm putting it in the reblog:

It really does feel like lots of online fandom wants Vulcan-type characters, at least ideologically. God forbid they're actually portrayed that way, then they're boring and uninteresting etc. The over-identification with media and characters plus the toxic way some (too many) people use social media has really fucked up perception of fiction and how an audience could and should take it in - most often from said same people.

Now to Minglan:

I am not a Manniang Hater, and she is a victim of the oppressive societal structure that surrounds her and limits her choices in what she can achieve in life. But so is *every other woman - and even man - in this show*, it's almost like it is a fucking theme in the writing that gets addressed over and over from multiple angles. She is a villain, she makes the worst choice every single time because she is a narcissist at her core, who almost succeeds at getting both of her kids killed.

I'm not even gonna touch Minglan not respecting herself because she marries a man with kids, because what the fuck on so many levels it would take another 5 page rant to untangle.

I honestly don't understand what kind of media these people want. 10 minute PSAs about Good People doing Good Things and then they lived happily ever after? That's what it boils down to for me. Dislike something if you like, I dont even care if you make content criticizing stuff I like, but at least base it on facts and logic that appear in the story you're criticizing, not whatever made up version lives in your head.

It also sucks that new fans coming into cdramas often don't know what they are missing, because they only see what's out now and never check out the older stuff, even if it is so easily found nowadays.

I was already annoyed with them when they roasted Ruyi because way to miss the entire narrative of the story (she did love Qianlong too much too long and tried to make the relationship work and it was her downfall and if that theme isn’t your thing, don’t watch but it was ample) …. But BBJX?

Bc apparently the drama portrayed Ruoxi as imperfect. Or something. Every creator’s (and the Gen Z commenters) take seems to be “well if I tried back in time I would have made better decisions.”

(Also related — I don’t think censorship screwed long form dramas as much as the whole ecosystem. Now, people are free to post whatever, I’m not in favor of restriction of speech. But the outsized influence of recent of these entertainment and marketing accounts* making screenwriters write scared — I do have a beef with that.)

the only point I sort of vibed with was that Yongzheng never loved Ruoxi as much as he loved power, which is why he never tried to make things official with her until there was a baby's legitimacy on the line. which, sure, but then that had to be followed up with, so Ruoxi is stupid for loving him.

Listen, I would love it if Ruoxi was self-aware enough about both the historical future and her own literal future to marry Fourteen at first chance because even before things start hitting the fan, you can kind of predict being with Fourteen wouldn't be the most horrible end considering he outlives practically everyone, but that wouldn't make a very good story.

(My in laws have the cutest, healthiest marriage ever and they were both divorced with kids when they met each other. Jesus Christ people.)

Re: Ruoxi — I think it comes down to bad faith interpretation. I agree that it’s clear that Yongzheng loved power more than he loved her, and she shouldn’t have been with him as long as she did, but I think narratively it’s clear that it wasn’t exactly healthy? It fits well thematically.

It’s like saying GMP is bad because Li Chengyin was more of a villain. Yes he is, and that’s the point of the story!

(But also yes — I’ve been in a nice informational cocoon)

I had a whole rant in the tags but it got too unwieldy so I'm putting it in the reblog:

It really does feel like lots of online fandom wants Vulcan-type characters, at least ideologically. God forbid they're actually portrayed that way, then they're boring and uninteresting etc. The over-identification with media and characters plus the toxic way some (too many) people use social media has really fucked up perception of fiction and how an audience could and should take it in - most often from said same people.

Now to Minglan:

I am not a Manniang Hater, and she is a victim of the oppressive societal structure that surrounds her and limits her choices in what she can achieve in life. But so is *every other woman - and even man - in this show*, it's almost like it is a fucking theme in the writing that gets addressed over and over from multiple angles. She is a villain, she makes the worst choice every single time because she is a narcissist at her core, who almost succeeds at getting both of her kids killed.

I'm not even gonna touch Minglan not respecting herself because she marries a man with kids, because what the fuck on so many levels it would take another 5 page rant to untangle.

I honestly don't understand what kind of media these people want. 10 minute PSAs about Good People doing Good Things and then they lived happily ever after? That's what it boils down to for me. Dislike something if you like, I dont even care if you make content criticizing stuff I like, but at least base it on facts and logic that appear in the story you're criticizing, not whatever made up version lives in your head.

That was so badass.

But more badass? Susu coming back, killing all these men! She came back for him!!!!! Mutual saving!!!!

I was wondering what the number was but I went to my trusty calculator and it's the three years he spent in prison!!!

And then some surviving flunkie lifts a gun and she realizes she is out of bullets so MRQY is about to be shot and she covers him with her own body omg!

Hooked up in ep1 - expected normal, it's the set up for the story

That one is called Ggeomeoksali. It is no ordinary creature. It attaches to the living, not places, feeding on Yang energy. Those drained of it see terror and die. It is a terrifying creature.

When did you get in here? Stop. You. Who said you could act cute?