V. On Paper

…or the ramblings on being a fictional character

Being a fictional character, Yong Qi thought, was rather like being a volcano. Well, perhaps not with the same ferocity and the same amount of self-control. But it did involve a large stretch of time when one is active, and when that particular movie or TV series or book is over, one must go dormant. Just hide away, on standby, in case someone, somewhere, wishes to pull you out of your sleep to put you in another movie or series or book. There was the lack of self-control. In fact, he would say, being a fictional character gave one no control over one's life whatsoever. After all, every single action or word he ever uttered had been scripted and written by another person – he never decided what he would do! Sometimes this was to his detriment, and he had been forced to say things that made no sense whatsoever, or that was so totally out of character. But then, what did he know about what kind of character he was? It wasn't as if he was the author or scriptwriter, writing himself!

Regardless, Yong Qi had never really known another life than this, so he was, more or less, resigned and used to the state of his being.

When he was first created over a decade ago, he was sure his creator didn't expect him to be quite such a popular figure. He wasn't really even supposed to be the lead in the first part of the TV series he would appear in – no that role, he was sure, was intended for Er Kang. But the actor who played him had such good chemistry with the actress who played Xiao Yan Zi that he became a sensation that became very beneficial for the actor's career. Yong Qi supposed it benefited him, as well, but honestly, he was just a name. He didn't even have a true physical appearance, as of course, he took on whatever body and face that happened to be possessed by the actor who played him, or as the reader would imagine him, when he eventually appeared in a set of novels.

This sensation carried on for two TV series, and that was when Yong Qi experienced the first ordeal of leaving the words of his original creator and being tossed back and forth between the minds of fanfic writers. It wasn't a particular uncomfortable experience, per se, as most of the time, he still managed to end up in a pretty happy ending. Then, apparently not wanting her fans to have all the fun, his original creator pulled him back onto her pages and wrote a third installment to the series. Well, Yong Qi wasn't sure what she was thinking when she wrote him into such situations. If Yong Qi could think for himself, he would say the image he portrayed in Tian Shang Ren Jian didn't quite add up to the prince he supposedly was in the first two installments. But again, what did he know, right? As it was, Yong Qi felt the less said about himself in Tian Shang Ren Jian, the better.

Except that he wasn't sure whether it was this apparent out-of-character portrayal that did it, but Yong Qi didn't have much to do after Tian Shang Ren Jian was completed. The fuss gradually died down, and he was only pulled very occasionally out of his dormant state for a random fanfic chapter here and there.

People didn't forget about him, really. They talked about him, but it usually in nostalgic conversations about the "good old days'. Yong Qi was totally prepared to go into a permanent state of dormancy, as, he assumed, there could not be a possibility that Huan Zhu Ge Ge would ever be remade. The first version had been so epic.

The she came along. She was seventeen then, with too much imagination, too much time and worrying too little about her future, which really should had been her focus at that age of crossroads. But nevertheless, she came, to him, and Xiao Yan Zi, too, he supposed, but mainly to him, armed with…a computer.

Oh, at first, she could best be called sloppy. She put him on the page, but in prose so disjointed that sometimes he wondered whether she would understand it herself if she didn't have it all in her head to begin with. But then, he had to admit, and she liked to think, she got a bit better. She became, he was quite sure, the one who wrote most extensively about him, other than his creator. Of course, being just a name as he was, he couldn't be sure if there weren't other authors out there writing him and just choosing not to share it with the world. But basing on what he did know, and considering she must by now have something close to over five hundred thousand words written into various stories about him, that she was probably the most prolific in this fandom.

That she loved him, he was sure, but Yong Qi wondered what in that love inspired her to put him through so many suffering and discomfort. So very nearly every single one of her ideas involved paining him or putting him through some sort of suffering. But he didn't really mind, as he was, after all, just a character. When she would close the word document and put it away, he would not feel anything she had put him through. He could live with that.

Over the next four years, he became used to her, the pain she put him through notwithstanding. He knew the changes in her writing reflected the numerous changes that stormed her life in those years, but her love for him stayed constant, more or less. Sometimes she chided him for not being more cooperative in her writing, but he wondered how he could cooperate, being a fictional character. After all, wasn't he just in her head? But somehow, she was convinced that fictional as he was, he had a mind of his own.

Yong Qi was convinced, that over ten years after his first creation, that she would be the only one who would still write him. But apparently his creator had other ideas.

At first, Yong Qi had thought it was a joke. A remake? Surely his creator would see that such success could not be recreated it.

But slowly, he had to get used to the idea that his creator had taken up her pen again to write a remake, putting him in a new situation, and most likely, with a new actor who would bring an entirely different outlook to him.

But that was all the news he would get for a long time. For a long time he didn't know what this new version of him would look like. Most likely, no one knew, not even his creator, since they have not yet chosen the actor.

Then came the title for the new remade series and plot details. Yong Qi was, of course, too sensible to dismiss the whole idea of a remake merely based on an atrocious new title (really, Huan Zhu Ge Ge – Little Swallow Flies Swiftly? What kind of a name was that?), but this little plot details made him cringe.

Again, Yong Qi was forced to remind himself that he was, after all, just a character, made to follow the imaginations of others and had no say in his life whatsoever. But the idea that in his world would suddenly appear a Westerner, named Benjamin, who would compete with him for Xiao Yan Zi's attention – well, it shocked Yong Qi. He supposed he could pass the appearance of a Westerner in Qian Long's court to be merely artistic freedom, but the idea that while Xiao Yan Zi was pretending to be a princess and trying to keep her life, she would at the same time be involved in a love triangle…It was just…unreasonable.

He had thought, there was a reason that Er Tai gave up Xiao Yan Zi in the first part of the series. After all, it would just be too complicated. And yet in this new remake, he would have to go through a love triangle.

He didn't like love triangles, despite the fact that fanfic writers seemed rather keen to put him into them – and this young writer was no difference. But when written by his creator, Yong Qi dreaded love triangles. He had to admit, she had great ideas, but her love triangles are always so forlorn, teary and more importantly, drawn out, that he really didn't want to have to go through again. It had been amusing, Yong Qi admitted, when he was competing with Xiao Jian, but it had been downright frightening when he was stuck in the middle of a very manipulative Zhi Hua and a very jealous Xiao Yan Zi. Now, he wasn't sure how having yet another love triangle being the center of the plot would turn out.

Right now, he was mourning the loss of Er Tai in this remake. It was probably too much to hope that his friend would make an appearance, not when there was this Benjamin character, who apparently was like a brother to Yong Qi, to take his place. The replacement seemed so manipulative and meditated. Yong Qi was sure the replacement was made as an attempt to make this remake different, but maybe, sometimes, what is needed isn't variety. Perhaps just consistency is needed…

If Yong Qi could decide for himself what direction his life would go, there would be no chance of complicating life with a love triangle. After all, Huan Zhu Ge Ge would not be remade if Yong Qi was left to decide things. It was always best to leave when you are on top, but clearly his creator didn't know that.

Being a fictional character, perhaps, wasn't like being a volcano, after all. A volcano got to decide when it would erupt. Being a fictional character was more like being a rock at the foot of the volcano. Whenever the volcano erupts, you move. But you never get to decide when that was, and in which direction to move.

A/N: Let's just say I don't particularly like the information they've recently released about the remake of HZGG.