The complex universe of Xavier Shen (pt.1)
Recently, I was told that Xavier & Rafayel always rank last in the popularity polls. I can't really speak for Raf because I'm not his main, obviously I don't know that much about him to make a comment. But speaking as a Xavier girl, I honestly don't mind it.
In fact, I feel pretty indifferent towards it. The nature of any ranking is there's a spot for everyone so someone's bound to be at the bottom. However, a consistent result does say something about people's preferences and how Xavier is viewed as a character & love interest.
In the context of these rankings, I'm not at all surprised that Xavier occupies the undermost position. A lot of people mistake him for being generic and unremarkable in comparison to the other LIs. At first glance, I can see where they're coming from.
I should mention that I'm a little star so I don't ever feel this way about him. But as I try to put myself in the mind of the average LADS player, I can understand how some people would assume he's less interesting than the other LIs and so, they don't bother trying to figure him out, preferences aside.
In terms of looks, Sylus is soooo visually striking; Rafayel is the face of the game; Caleb is modeled after an iconic actor. And Zayne stood out among the OG 3 as the more masculine-looking LI.
(*) A note, whenever I say "masculine" or "feminine", I mean the conventional standards by which how most people/society at large define masculinity & femininity. All 5 LIs possess masculine AND feminine traits (and so do we - the players), which is what's so great about them.
Back to Xavier, his appearance has a healthy balance of feminine and masculine features. If we only consider the OG3, Xavier isn't as flamboyant as Raf but not as prudent as Zayne. On the LADS spectrum of gendered appeal, Xavier lands somewhere in the middle (which is so Libra of him...but I digress). So, instead of standing out, Xavier tends to blend in.
This understatement extends into his personality and mannerism as well, which can be described as minimal, subtle & elegant. A lot of people find him similar to Zayne in this way, which I can see the resemblance. But to me, while Zayne comes off restrained & haunted by self-control, Xavier's subtleness is more about distance & being untethered, just like a literal ⭐. You can see a star but only from afar, and you can't hold it. In a nutshell, Zayne's stillness is earthly while Xavier's is otherworldly.
As the game goes on and the relationships between the LIs & MC progress, I find that MC's bond with Xavier takes the longest to warm up. Sometimes it feels like taking 1 step forward & 2 steps back. Don't get me wrong, there's not a lack of iconic & loving Xavier-MC moments but there's also a fleeting quality to it. Just like air, it's unstable, non-solid.
You know how you can't see stars when the sun is out? Sometimes I feel that way about Xavier's connection to MC, at least in the beginning. She's trying to figure him out but he's constantly hiding, disappearing, sometimes literally. Before anyone says it's avoidant attachment, it's not, but I'll get into that another time. Maining Xavier requires patience, this is not a whirlwind kind of romance and it's definitely not loud. So again, instead of standing out, Xavier continues to blend in.
Blending in is the keyword that comes up a lot when I dive into Xavier's character. And I find it incredibly interesting because if you watch a lot of CN dramas, you must know about 微行 (wēixíng). It literally means to travel in disguise and in this context, it's often the Emperor/Empress or high-ranking officials who dress themselves as commoners and blend in with the people.
This is nothing like the cosplaying of the poor that Marie Antoinette did because wēixíng can be dangerous. Primarily, the goal of wēixíng is for these heads of state to examine the reality of life of their people. With this, they can see for themselves if they've done a good job ruling their country/region and ultimately use this knowledge to further solidify their political power.
From what I know, Xavier doesn't go on literal wēixíng with this specific purpose BUT he literally is a Royal Prince walking among us. Xavier clearly has an affinity for an ordinary life but what fascinates me is his objective is personal and free from ulterior motives, because of that, it's even more precious and pure.
This stems from Xavier's intense desire to not only examine but to live an ordinary life. We should not mistake this as him wanting to irresponsibly run away from royal duties, but it's caused by alienation, which is another theme that keeps resurfacing as I look deeper into his character.
Social alienation is a person's feeling of disconnection from their affiliated group, such as friends, family, or wider society. As a royal Prince, heir to the thrown, Xavier is revered but lonely. The life of a Prince is hardly normal. MC was likely the first ordinary person to approach him and wanted to be his friend, which is why she left such a strong impression on him. As a space traveller who's not originally from Earth, he's again an outsider here, this time on foreign soil. He never fits in anywhere despite earnestly wanting to.
Xavier is often lovingly called the slice-of-life Prince by little stars. Slice of life is my favorite genre but it can also come across as boring because there's often no plot. It's just about the little joys of the day-to-day. However, it's perfect for Xavier - the eternal traveller. To him, the simplicity is aspirational, grounding, and exciting even. It's also his way to feel closer to MC, who for the most part is a regular person living a regular life.
SO, up to this point, I've realized that the picture of Xavier that I'm trying to put together has become even more abstract. But it is authentic to his character because he's difficult to grasp in this way. He's a crown Prince, but not really. He's a colleague, but there's more. He's a classmate, a senpai, but he's hiding something. It can be confusing at times and confusion makes people uncomfortable.
The original title of this piece was "The simplification of Xavier Shen" because I was thinking about how Xavier only starts trending whenever he has spicy content coming out. As if his only desirable quality is being freaky. Otherwise, he's "boring" and "not that strong". But I decided to change it because I wanted to focus on what's underneath the surface, as a tribute to my fellow little stars, a lot of whom (like me) feel intensely drawn to Xavier despite not being able to explain why.
Like I said at the beginning, I can understand how certain people feel a certain way about Xavier, that's okay. But in case you're wondering if you're missing out on this character, which in all honesty I think you are, you can start here and enjoy getting lost in the vast universe that is Xavier Shen 🪐.
1-Everything is my own opinions based on my own experiences.
2-My analysis is for entertainment purposes only.
3-Do not repost without credit.
