Lingxi (灵汐) – Strong Female Lead?

Frankly speaking, we appreciate Lingxi, but our appreciation has everything to do with Ni Ni’s charisma and nothing to do with the character herself.

We will explain with our usual ten questions that cover flaws, consistency, development, etc. To each question, the answer would be either Yes (1 point), No (0 point), or Kind of (0.5 point).

So here we go, Lingxi, played by actress Ni Ni – the leading female character of Love and Destiny.

Long story short: we found it extremely hard to break down Lingxi’s character, to determine her purpose and what on earth she wants out of life when Jiuchen keeps throwing himself in danger every other episode, abandoning her every time they’re about to be happy for some noble reason, and broods so gloriously, making her react to his actions instead of forming her own. But we managed it. And… hopefully, you will find this analysis useful (or rage-inducing, it’s kind of both for us, to be honest).

WARNING: this analysis 1) contains spoilers 2) is humor-free

1. Does she have a story to tell besides romance? No (+0)

Lingxi begins as a young fairy with a mysterious power inside her body who wants to spend her life with Jiuchen. There’s nothing that she’s actively working towards, no long term goal that she wants to pursue. In the end, she’s a queen who’s not that much into her job, who wants to… spend her life with Jiuchen.

There is one instance in episode 6 where Lingxi expresses that she wants to become a female general like Yuan Tong one day, but then it’s simply brushed under the rug and never mentioned again.

Then, there is that conversation between Lingxi and Huayan in ep. 5, where Lingxi expresses how she believes Huanyan’s life is pointless because the latter has always been a servant and has no other ambitions. Kind of ironic, don’t you think? Anyway, Lingxi’s potential desire to be something more that’s mentioned here is also never explored.

When you put the love story aside, Lingxi is presented as an innocent being who happens to have a malicious energy inside her body. This COULD HAVE WELL worked as her own story arc if she was allowed some say in HOW to overcome this problem – a chance to learn of this whole tragic business on her own and maybe chooses to sacrifice for world peace. But she wasn’t.

Lastly, Lingxi’s lack of a life goal and a chance to control her own destiny makes her becoming the queen of Shanling later on pretty much pointless. Because once again, she takes on the job to resolve a temporary problem, not to learn her mother’s work or find a grander purpose for her life.

No, she isn’t allowed a story, a journey of emotional growth as an individual character, because Jiuchen’s heroism is the focus. After all, tragedies keep getting thrown at her. It’s impossible to identify a single story arc for Lingxi that does not have to do with her romance with Jiuchen or his decisions about her.

0/10

2. Is she an active character? (Does she make things happen or do things happen TO her?) No (0 point).

Oh, dear…

For your convenience and mine, I will divide the answer into three parts, each focusing on a different period of Lingxi’s life.

LINGXI AS THE FAIRY FROM THE PEACH BLOSSOM WOODS

First of all, by “making things happen”, I don’t mean blowing up Jiuchen’s place, or jumping into an icy lake to test out his medicine or adopt a puppy who later wets on Jiuchen’s boots (although that was pretty satisfying to watch), “things” refer to major decisions that drive the tide of the plot.

Does Lingxi get to do any of these things?

The whole first LARGE part of the drama revolves around the fact that people believe Lingxi is a bomb that might explode on them. She’s carried dark energy from her infancy and this is something completely out of her control. She has no choice but to be at the mercy of the other characters who are more powerful, more knowledgeable, more resourceful than her.

Jiuchen, Qingyao, and Lebo run around trying to save her life when the truth is out. The Thunder God and Yuan Tong do what they can to learn/expose her secret. The Demon Lord sends out his servant to capture her. Etc.

She is set up to be the target from the start, and that is the plot that we have – what people think about Lingxi, what they think they should do to Lingxi, and what they ultimately do to Lingxi.

Does she make anything happen? Not really. She wants a relationship with Jiuchen, but can’t, because he’s the one to have to the final say (because he’s trying to PROTECT HER and all that). She wants to know what’s wrong with her, but is kept in the dark, then decides that it’s better to just leave everything to Jiuchen. And frankly, that is the only viable choice she has anyway considering how the story is set up.

Her decisions don’t make a difference, Jiuchen’s do.

Maybe you can make a case that Lingxi decides to save Jiuchen’s life by giving away her hearing to the blue demon jailer after Jiuchen dug out his heart and decides to kill herself rather than let Jiuchen kill her.

But here’s the thing: these decisions she makes do not directly influence the plot, it’s Jiuchen’s responses to them that do.

Besides, I doubt it would make a difference whether Lingxi trades in her sense of hearing for the magic fire that later on functions as Jiuchen’s heart or not because if people can walk around without a heart in this universe, they can resolve anything without Lingxi’s sacrifice. If there was no Blue Demon to offer the magic fire, they would have found something else to magically heal Jiuchen, it’s not like this magic fire was introduced and weaved into the plot organically, it is something that gets spilt out just exactly when it needs to be.

LINGXI AS A-MO

A-mo is quieter and less reckless than Lingxi. She grows up with her father’s guidance and is pretty efficient in protecting herself emotionally from bullying. In this particular arc, it’s hard to ask A-mo to do more than accepting her fate quietly because the consequences can be severe for a woman of this era who tries to be more than conventional; and running away from your family is probably out of the question.

After almost being killed by her own father, A-mo leaves her house, finds a job, and intends to study herbs and medicine more. On the way, she also takes in Jingxiu and looks after him.

But just like Lingxi, the biggest problems with A-mo as a character are 1) for the most part, tragic things find her before she could begin living her life, and 2) her actions do not drive the plot, rather, they generate reactions from OTHER CHARACTERS, which do. In the case of Jingxiu, her kindness touches his heart and leads to his “protecting her at all costs” later on. Her refusing the scholar’s proposal doesn’t make the guy stop pursuing her, it’s Jingxiu’s speech to him that does.

Also, if you look at A-mo’s life on a larger scope: it is a plan made by someone else. And the only choice she gets to make is being an angel throughout.

The tragedies that A-mo meets with are not brought about by her decisions. A-mo is destined to be hunted down because her birthday happens to be an unlucky day for the current mortal prince. Later on, she’s destined to die from sickness.

The biggest tragedy of A-mo’s life – her heartbreak – has been foreseen by the Star Lord beforehand, and it is he who decides to let Jiuchen hang around her just enough to make this happen, therefore helping her complete this trial.

No matter what decisions A-mo makes, what her hobbies and interests are, her life would eventually turn out the same way, the same kind of problem guarantees to find her. And this really has us wonder: why couldn’t the writer have given A-mo a chance to make decisions that lead her to the tragedies she’s supposed to face?

Lingxi is familiar with medicine, A-mo wishes to become a doctor, she loves to read about herbs and has a talent in this field – that is a great start. Why couldn’t she have become a doctor and encountered troubles that are related to the life/career she’s chosen? Not only would this make A-mo’s actions more relevant to the plot, but it would also benefit the character Lingxi more once she returns. She wouldn’t have been stuck with being a queen – a job she has no passion for, she could have lived at the Peach Blossom Woods for a while and continued her father’s work and bonded more with Qingyao, who also happens to be a doctor.

Lingxi’s being the daughter of the queen of Shanling serves no purpose except to give her powers that aren’t necessary for her character and a lot more misery. And that brings us to the next part…

LINGXI AS THE PRINCESS/QUEEN OF SHANLING

Coming back with enhanced powers and a great lift in status, Lingxi has every opportunity to actively pursue a different life, or at least show us that she wants to. She’s known hardship and injustice from her mortal experience, she’s kind of really into medicine now and is no longer a hunted person. This is where she should not be passive anymore, isn’t it? Well, we’ll see…

Confused and dejected about her past trial, and also wanting to spend some time with her biological mother, Lingxi leaves Jiuchen’s place and moves to Shanling Palace (props to you, baby girl, we’re proud of you). But that’s about the only thing she actively decides to do. And does it drive the plot from this point on?

No, Jingxiu and his gang do.

Jiuchen warns her a lot of times about Jingxiu’s dishonorable intentions, but Lingxi never once takes his opinion into consideration and AT LEAST has Jingxiu followed. She continues to trust Jingxiu and turns on the bad guy when he downright kills Baoqing in front of her.

After her mother dies, Lingxi’s life goes back to revolve around a Jiuchen and that’s where problems arise – Jingxiu becomes the Demon Lord, Jiuchen once again takes matters into his own hands, makes his plans with Yunfeng, and abandons Lingxi. She climbs down the Dark Land and insists on marrying Jiuchen. But as Evil is unstoppable, Jiuchen sacrifices himself and she is forced to leave him there, return home, and wait for him to come back.

Until the VERY END, this story is still just about “what should we do about Lingxi?”.

Nothing Lingxi ever does directly produces conflict to drive this drama. She is the kindest, purest, most peace-loving person in the whole world; and somehow things just cannot stop happening to her.

She does not drive the plot, the plot drives her.

So, as much as Yuan Tong and Jingxiu annoy us all with their pointless plotting, let’s thank them for moving this story forward, because the female lead is certainly not doing it herself.

0/10

3. Does she take action to accomplish her goals? Kind of (+0.5)

Lingxi does not have any goals for herself before Jiuchen comes into her life. After meeting him, despite how Lingxi is completely oblivious to what’s going on in terms of the main plot, she does take initiative to be closer to Jiuchen, either to help him conceal the real condition of his health, or make him notice her more. So her main goal is to pursue a life with Jiuchen, and this is a romance drama – good enough. She naturally earns 0.5 here.

When you take Jiuchen out of the picture, though, is when you start seeing that Lingxi is given nothing to pursue on her own.

Let us not discuss the first arc where she exists to be hunted.

As A-mo, she also doesn’t have much to work with. She was born with disabilities and her life is more about coping with judgement than altering her own destiny. This, however, is more understandable because this arc takes place in the mortal world, specifically the kingdom of Dayue, historical and cultural context matter.

After leaving home, A-mo forms a goal for herself: learning to be a doctor and returning home to surprise her parents, proving that she can be literate and capable after all. After she decides to pursue a future with Jiuchen, her doctor goal is kind of out the window. No problem (yet) because at this point, she’s still making plans to earn money (raising chickens, etc).

However, the moment Jiuchen abandons her, her life is once again at the mercy of other people. Her existence is about yearning for Jiuchen now and all of her goals are never explored again. Even if A-mo is now weak and heartbroken and unable to carry out these goals, shouldn’t the things that initially motivated her to leave her home get SOME mention? Couldn’t she reflect a little on her failures to become a doctor?

Coming back from her trial, Lingxi does not have to make plans, nor is she given a chance to be motivated to expose Yuan Tong because Yunfeng and Qingyao have already taken care of collecting the evidence and all Lingxi has to do is bring it to court.

Lingxi also doesn’t actively seek to ascend the throne to investigate her mother’s death, she does it because Jingxiu suggests the idea of the throne to her first. She only subjects Jingxiu to investigation after Baoqing is killed right in front of her and Huayan has gone missing.

Lingxi simply goes with whatever life has to throw at her without a specific direction. And whenever she kind of expresses a tiny hint of a goal, her romance with Jiuchen takes priority.

Hardly anything Lingxi does stems from a desire to achieve something, it is rather her reaction to a situation. And most of them, she does either for, with, or because of Jiuchen. There are barely any goals in her life that contribute to her own story arc, which she doesn’t have, so… OK, I won’t be repeating it too much here.

0.5/10

4. Does she have an interest? Kind of (+0.5)

Lingxi during the first part of her life doesn’t have much of an interest. The second she escapes from her father’s watch, she becomes occupied with caring for Jiuchen right away and while we see her make him some bomb-sized pills, it’s never established that she’s interested in the art of healing or medicine.

A-mo shows some interest in herbs. This, however, is rather inconsistently played out. Most of the time, we don’t see A-mo ENJOY learning about herbs or medicine. We see her go out to collect different herbs, but it’s never clear whether she does these things out of enjoyment or obligation (at least it’s not clear enough for us here). We see that she’s pretty good at what she does, but only when the plot needs to show that she’s capable – when she points out the mortal doctor’s assistant’s mistake, for example, or when she looks after Jingxiu. She’s capable, but we don’t see her regard this as an interest, but rather something which enables her to earn money.

And of course, all of this is only relevant BEFORE Jiuchen steps into her life. The moment he does, her interest is forgotten and whatever desire she has to improve herself is never explored again.

The same thing can be said about Lingxi as the princess of Shanling. Sure, Jingxiu gives her a book about anatomy but the only times we can tell that she’s still involved in medicine are the times she lays out information to solve a problem. We don’t see her seek out more books or talk about the material she claims to like.

In conclusion, for a short time, A-mo KIND OF expresses some interest towards herbs, and because this factor about her has some great potentials if it weren’t for Jiuchen’s storyline that takes priority.

1/10

5. Does she act in accordance with her beliefs? No (+0)

In a few words: I have no idea what Lingxi’s beliefs are aside from the fact that she is irrevocably in love with Jiuchen.

OK…

First of all, let’s just acknowledge that Lingxi (in the first part) is purposely written to be blank – someone the audience can insert themselves right in from the start without having to deal with distinct opinion or a complicated backstory. Not that it is a bad thing, this is actually the most common characterization we see in every other drama.

What’s truly the problem with Lingxi is that the moment her life is entangled with Jiuchen, his beliefs become hers. She does what she does for his good, because, you know… she’s the only woman who sees his pain. She hates being controlled by her overprotective father and loves her newfound freedom after leaving her father’s woods, but this doesn’t extend to her actually DOING SOMETHING with it other than waiting on Jiuchen’s hand and foot.

As a sheltered child, Lingxi tends to warm up to and trust whoever is kind to her, which is a completely realistic and expected belief from someone like her. But this belief only holds true outside of Jiuchen, and since her life is NOTHING EXCEPT Jiuchen, the “belief” is invalid.

Before Lingxi’s “death” in the first part of the drama, she submits to Jiuchen ENTIRELY and trusts that HE will get her out of the mess. Despite how Jiuchen has done questionable things to her – locking her in an ice chamber, hurting her feelings by saying that she doesn’t deserve him, and not telling her A SINGLE THING about her condition – she keeps following wherever he leads without any opinion of her own.

Now, when we get to A-mo’s story, there’s also no defined beliefs to work with; but for a while, she is shown to be very reserved, cautious, and tends to question the people in her life. She values the power of communication – trying to talk to her mother and grandmother before her wedding to clear up the awkwardness between them and so on – but clearly not to the point where she actually carefully considers Jiuchen’s in-your-face bizarre actions, his constant attempts to justify them by saying that he wants to protect her, and his NEVER giving her a straight answer to ANYTHING.

A-mo, for some mysterious reason, has it in her headcanon that this man of hers must have some hidden pain, even when she concludes that he only takes advantage of her because SHE LOOKS LIKE SOMEONE ELSE, instead of just simply being a weirdo/player.

And we are supposed to buy into the fact that Jiuchen is just right for A-mo? Sure, he’s the one strategizing everything and is doing what he can to make it right for Lingxi, all of that is true in the big picture. But strictly from A-mo’s perspective, Jiuchen’s influence on her beliefs is immense, to the point that it’s destructive.

In the end, A-mo throws away (or turns in to Jiuchen) the Life Pearl that Jingxiu has given her. But she doesn’t do this because she wants to return to her true identity, but rather because… Jiuchen wants her to…? Because OBVIOUSLY, A-mo herself does NOT look like she wants to abandon her mortal life even though she already knows at this point that she is Lingxi’s reincarnation. She still hates Jiuchen for wanting her to finish her mortal trial even though she’s already grasped the reality that Lingxi, who is HERSELF, can only return to the immortal world if she finishes this trial.

OK… so, as mind-numbing as this is, we can all agree that for whatever reason, A-mo doesn’t throw away the pearl because she believes it will benefit her future.

She doesn’t do this to pursue a goal. She doesn’t do it because it’s compatible with her beliefs. She does it because she’s been maneuvered into a position where she is surrounded by people more powerful than she is, who know more than she does, and where giving up her life makes more sense than whatever she believes even though she would like to remain a mortal more.

As the queen of Shanling, specifically right after her mortal trial, Lingxi’s belief in free will is heightened due to her realization of Jiuchen’s huge involvement in what should have been her decision. But this issue is never addressed in a fashion more serious than Lingxi avoiding Jiuchen for a few days. In the end, it is passed off as her appreciating his effort.

At this point, Lingxi’s determination to make something for herself is also stronger than before. But all this stems from the fact that she wants to be someone who DESERVES Jiuchen, not because her new position and her potential career actually appeal to her.

She wants more time to think about their marriage, but bends to Jiuchen’s request to hasten the process. Is this because she herself craves some isolation or does she just do this so he can take a permanent break from life? Well, I don’t know that, either.

All of this, however, leads to the same conclusion that Lingxi’s beliefs are never clear and her desire to be with Jiuchen overpowers them if there are any. She has never expressed any kind of opinion about ANYTHING at all, and when she does, her storyline doesn’t follow through. In the end, what she believes doesn’t matter, it’s what she thinks Jiuchen believes that does.

1/10

6. Does she develop throughout the story? Kind of (+0.5)

Lingxi some has development. In the beginning, she is a naive, sheltered, not too smart, and oblivious little fairy who understand pretty much nothing about the world. After her trial, she becomes more quiet and mature in the way she presents herself.

The problem with Lingxi’s development, though, is that it is only on the surface. While Ni Ni makes us believe Lingxi has matured, Lingxi’s way of dealing with life is exactly the same as before. She is still that impatient, overly-trusting, and reckless girl who would jump into fire (or black smoke) with Jiuchen.

Once again, this is due to the fact that the story doesn’t bother to give her anything to do to demonstrate her maturity.

1.5/10

7. Does she have a flaw? No (+0)

Throughout the drama, we see Lingxi exhibit some traits that, if explored, could have qualified as flaws.

She’s naive, she’s too trusting, she’s petty, etc.

But do these things really hinder her and help her grow as flaws should?

Not really.

And the main reason is that, as mentioned above a lot of times, Lingxi is a victim through and through. Everything that happens to her is outside of her control. Whether she has these traits or not, she would eventually face the same set of problems.

Her naivety is played out as proof of her goodness. Her unconditional trust in Jiuchen lands her what looks like a tragic story, but this is actually a trial for her to ascend and get rid of the demonic energy. Lingxi as A-mo is, once again, naive, she’s hurt many times by the very people she believes would always protect her, her father included. She’s also very trusting towards Jiuchen and she gets out of this relationship (by dying) with a broken heart. But does she learn anything from this experience? No. And this is evident when she places complete trust in Jingxiu even after her mother’s death.

But frankly, the drama seems to suggest through Lingxi’s mortal trial that the more tragic her life is, the more saint-like SHE is, the faster she will be rewarded for it. So there’s essentially no need for Lingxi to learn that trusting a man who lies to you about his identity is wrong, or chasing after a man who has ABANDONED YOU DURING THE NIGHT is a bad idea, or giving up on your life and sulking in misery are unhealthy. Because all of these things ultimately contribute to her status and power boost. There is no long-lasting psychological effect from these experiences. Jiuchen’s hugs and kisses and promises solve it all, therefore she doesn’t have to change.

None of the problems Lingxi encounters are the consequences of her “flaws”. These “flaws” don’t help her grow, they don’t hinder her. And whenever she runs into a problem because of her naivete or compassion, Jiuchen is right there to get her out of it, and she goes right back to exhibiting these angelic traits.

Flaws are only flaws when they are recognized by the story. And in Lingxi’s case, all of her flaws are essentially her attributes.

1.5/10

8. Does she have meaningful relationships with other characters besides her love interest? Kind of (+0.5)

First of all, I’ll clarify here that “meaningful” doesn’t necessarily mean “good”, which is what Lingxi has in the drama – a lot of good relationships with others. But do these relationships contribute to shaping her character?

This is a difficult one to decide. I’ll say that the two characters with the most influence on Lingxi are Qingyao and her mortal father.

With Qingyao, there are some interactions here and there, but because of the number of tragedies that keep getting dumped on Lingxi’s head, Qingyao’s influence becomes pretty insignificant. Lingxi doesn’t get to make any decision to begin with, let alone decisions that are influenced or driven by a minor character. For the most part, Qingyao is there to protect Lingxi like a lot of other characters.

Lingxi’s relationship with her father, however, is notable. He teaches her what she knows as A-mo and contributes to the strength she has. Amo’s major decision, which is leaving home, is also to keep her father and other family members safe. His action of sacrificing her makes her realize that their family is not where she belongs. And even though they don’t have much impact on each other after Jiuchen shows up, what Lingxi learns from her father as A-mo persists in her character even after she finishes her trial. This is “kind of” good enough.

2/10

9. Is her character consistent? Kind of (+0.5)

Other than the mystery as to why Lingxi’s innocent brain decides it is a good idea for her body to stand still when Jiuchen’s sword comes at her in episode 2, for the most part, Lingxi’s kindness, naivete, and meddling personality remains fairly consistent.

But there are two major problems with her during the later part of the drama, the first one being her attitude towards other people after her return from the trial.

When Lingxi comes back from her trial, she suddenly appears to be this supreme-looking queen who’s capable of smashing down anyone who says a word against her.

I simply cannot see where she’s gotten that kind of superior air from. Maybe it requires some imagination from the audience, like… the entire plot.

Sure, A-mo was a quiet, independent, and maybe intellectual, woman, and Lingxi before used to be someone who wouldn’t back down from bullying (at least when Jiuchen’s not in the picture). But neither the young Lingxi nor A-mo bears this aura of authority. She came back from the trial, went through the whatever magic in the magical cauldron and then all of a sudden she’s eloquent and capable of presenting herself as a queen right away.

Her conversations with Baoqing, the way she sits, walks around, and looks at her inferiors – where has she learned all of this? Why is she suddenly so comfortable in this role when she’s never been this kind of public figure before?

Long story short: THESE THINGS TAKE TIME. Lingxi/A-mo’s manners could not have changed this quickly, even if she just does it outwardly for show.

We don’t see this change as development, but instead a rushed attempt to make her look like Jiuchen’s equal. There is a difference between maturity and superiority in appearance and manners, and Lingxi displays the latter, for no particular reason other than she needs to make up for the all those times she was looked down upon.

Her skills and abilities are also another story (or I should say another mess). We honestly don’t know what Lingxi is capable of.

First of all, she doesn’t have any skills.

Lingxi, in the first part of the drama, has never been said to be a great fighter, she needs rescuing every single time, which is understandable because she’s young and probably not as disciplined as she should be.

When Lingxi comes back from her trial is when we are shown that she has been given a power boost that comes with her status as a High Goddess. She can now allegedly kick any guy’s butt including the soldiers who work for Jiuchen, can transform into a Phoenix and holds her ground against the ultimate evil Jingxiu in the end.

HOW DOES THIS WORK?

Jiuchen spent all his life studying under his teacher to reach the level of magical power he has today, so did Yunfeng. Jingxiu, before he becomes a High God, has also served as an adviser to the Shanling Queen, which indicates that he’s probably had to train for various skills and has probably seen a war or two in his lifetime. The queen of Shanling, we don’t know if she’s a High Goddess or not, but she certainly had to work for her position – rebelling against her father and winning her people over, for instance. But somehow, Lingxi, who has simply gone through a trial that feels a lot more like a VR game if you ask me – something that all immortals are required to do more than once – with no significant achievements at all, is now on the same rank as these people who have contributed more and probably taken more trials than her.

And while we’re on this subject: the hierarchy in this universe indicates that Lingxi is initially one of those fairies at the bottom (地仙 – Earth Fairy) while “High God (上神) is the highest rank, but just by being in an unsuccessful relationship with virtually no lessons learned she gets to skip all those steps in between?

Is ENLIGHTENMENT what determines the status of an immortal and ultimately what makes Lingxi a powerful High Goddess after her trial? If so then how exactly is Lingxi enlightened (or more enlightened than others)? Her getting stood up twice by Jiuchen and dying for him are about the only things she got from this trial, but if this is the standard then shouldn’t all teenagers be High Gods and Goddesses by now? There is no proof that Lingxi is an enlightened being, either in Taoism or Buddhism’s book.

Anyway, I’ve given up trying to figure out what makes Lingxi a Goddess. If you know the answer, feel free to give us a crash course. However, nothing changes the fact that Lingxi’s magical abilities are not gradually acquired and are only there for plot convenience.

2.5/10

10. Can you define her character by her personality? Kind of (+0.5)

Technically… yes.

Even though Lingxi’s life is all about by the misfortunes she meets with and how much she is in love with Jiuchen, not by what she decides to do, we can see her ‘personality’ through the way she reacts to these things.

She’s reckless – proven in how she tries to protect Jiuchen at all costs during the first 20 or so episodes, and in how A-mo goes after Jiuchen after he abandons her at the expense of her own safety. She’s also a nice person in general.

The problem is, however, “reckless” and “nice” are very generic traits to give a character. Sure, they are Lingxi’s traits, but throughout the drama, they exist mainly to get her into trouble more than to propel her into actions that don’t require Jiuchen’s resolution or open an independent line of story for her.

Yuan Tong’s manipulative nature enables her to escape from prison and bring harm to her enemies. Qingyao’s stubbornness initially drives her to despise Yunfeng but also serves as something she later learns to overcome, therefore growing and so on, so on.

Lingxi? She has next to none of the characteristics that could define her as something other than a trouble-magnet whom Jiuchen simply could not leave alone.

But at least we can say that her kindness and tendency to plunge into trouble are consistent.

SO HOW WELL-WRITTEN IS LINGXI?

3/10

CONCLUSION

So, putting aside Ni Ni’s excellent performance, her character raises a lot of questions about the expectations for female characters in C-drama Land, because there’s no denying that Love And Destiny has reached 8.3/10 on Douban – a pretty bada** rating that other dramas with way more plot, story and complexity of character, struggle to achieve.

The one thing I constantly questioned while watching this 60-EPISODE DRAMA is the writer’s intention with Lingxi.

Is Lingxi supposed to be seen as a bada** who starts out with nothing but in the end acquires skills and intelligence to resolve the story? Certainly not, other than a few instances where she flicks some magic around, Lingxi as a queen does very little (none) to qualify as a “bada** female lead”.

Was Lingxi simply written to be a gentle and understanding woman towards Jiuchen, the only woman who knows his pain and burden? That is, by itself, a perfectly acceptable characterization. But if so, then why bother making her a queen and granting her the ultimate position at all? She could have easily become a self-made woman like Qingyao and asked for a job in the Heaven Palace after passing her trial.

And this is my point: Lingxi is written to complement Jiuchen. As a character, she simply can’t stand on her own.

When Jiuchen is all-powerful, brooding, and cold, Lingxi needs to be a ray of sunshine who touches his heart. And she is.

Next, Jiuchen is a god of a high status who’s sacrificed so much for the world. Can you imagine him marrying someone who’s not his equal in terms of status and powers?? Oh the scandal! The shame! No, he must have someone who’s at least a queen and owns a whole kingdom. And Lingxi is now that someone – his equal in every aspect, unless when it comes to sharing his thoughts and plans with her. Because no matter how powerful and prestigious she is, she is still not someone he respects enough to communicate to.

When Jiuchen decides there’s no way to end Jingxiu’s spreading evil unless he sacrifices his “glorious and manly” self to contain Jingxiu, and needs someone with magic strong enough to seal him inside, once again, Lingxi is that person. She does what he thinks should be done and returns home to wait for him.

But in the end, frankly, I do understand why Lingxi is made royalty and ultimately a queen – what else can you make a character with no beliefs, no interests, no hobbies, no aspiration of any kind, do?

Everything about Lingxi is ultimately there to serve Jiuchen’s story. There’s not much we can say about her that doesn’t involve Jiuchen. And in the end: she is just that – the woman who understands Jiuchen’s pain and is always ready to support him. Why is this type of writing unfair to the female character? Oh, I can write a ten-page essay about it, but since a lot of other people already did, I will just direct you to one of those excellent articles instead.

Similar to most others before her, Lingxi is a generic female lead whose main job is to make it easy for the target audience to fill in their own personalities and live out this romance. It’s never about watching Lingxi grow, learn to be a queen, or strive on her own in this 60-episode drama, it’s instead mainly about how well Jiuchen can protect her, how macho he is for hiding the truth from her and going out to save the world alone, and how beautifully he broods when he thinks he failed. Watching the drama, you can completely erase Lingxi’s vague characteristics and insert yourself in.

Any mistakes on her part would make her “unrelatable”. Any real flaw or distinct belief would take away the viewers’ chance to see Jiuchen’s through her eyes and slip into this world – hence, she has none of those things.

But I will repeat here: wish-fulfilment characters are NOT A BAD THING. They’re there for entertainment and entertainment is what we all watch dramas for.

But like all things, wish-fulfillment ceases to be fulfilling if used in excess.

The other characters get to go to school, receive training, pick their branch of study, make connections to achieve their status, lead the lives they want for a long time. But somehow, our female lead just needs to go get bullied a lot, get her heart broken, and get rewarded for it. For some magical reason, Lingxi achieves easily what other people have to work hard for. And what does she get to do with her powers and status? Be someone who deserves Jiuchen.

Sooo… the good news is: Lingxi is probably a more tolerable character than Bai Qian, in the sense that at least she’s not a weak character under the disguise of a bada**. The not-so-good news: she is still a walking example of passiveness and gender roles.

If you’re a woman, put up with the man’s secrecy because he’s probably trying to protect you (or the whole world); be virtuous and innocent and wait because that dark, powerful man will eventually figure out a way to get you what other people have to work for; in return, all you need to do is be there for him and heal his internal angst – Lingxi’s journey in a nutshell.

These elements in a story would have been fine if there was some resolution, but until the very end, they get reinforced and glorified no matter how well masked they are with Lingxi’s elevated powers.

Do I still love Lingxi? Sure, why not. In real life, Lingxi would be a delightful friend. Devoted, may require some whacking in the head sometimes, reckless, but with a kind of quiet strength we can learn from.

But from a different point of view, is it enticing at all to watch a character who’s meant to embark on a journey of hardship, and come back stronger and stand on her own two feet turn out to submit to every single solution her boyfriend pulls out of a hat and be strung along all the way? I will say no here.

Leave me your thoughts.