Xiang Liu and Xiao Yao’s Story and Romance

 liddi:

To be honest, I haven't rewatched the entirety of S1 more than twice in the past year (the 2nd time was with my girl), though I do revisit certain scenes every now and again. What does keep me company most is the soundtrack, and I find myself reading the novel and listening to the audiobook more. I would like to revisit some time and compare it against the S1 script though...

Last year I watched the special clips which consist of all scenes between XY and XL/FFB. 

I also listen to the ost album occasionally. I felt more for the novel.  

@Liddi, is there an audiobook for the novel?? Getting lasik so won’t be able to tune in when the drama airs so would be nice to have the book via audio! Is it the same place as where we read the novel translations?

 H19279:

Last year I watched the special clips which consist of all scenes between XY and XL/FFB.

I also listen to the ost album occasionally. I felt more for the novel.  

Me too. The YaoLiu compilations which total up to less than 5 hours (as compared to YaoXuan and YaoJing's). Those are not sufficient for me though, because it excludes Xiang Liu-only scenes (I particularly liked the one where he said "The fox of the Tushan family is really useless" when he sensed Xiao Liu's hands being beaten by A Nian's maids; and when he tells off the moping Jing and concurred that he was a "scoundrel" after Xiao Yao's engagement to Feng Long).

There are certain scenes where I feel the drama did well. I will always love the lesson he taught her during the bow recognition scene (in the novel, she did it herself with her own blood that had his flowing in hers, with the help of Jintian Xing Chen). And the scene where Xiao Yao and Jing are dancing with Xin Yue and Feng Long, intercut to him in a bloodied battle at that same moment, will always hurt.

 liddi:

Not as much a fan of the female Xiang Liu scene (it still does not make sense how Xiao Yao could not even sense it was him, when she would be able to do so with Fangfeng Bei and later the man in the gambling den).

I remember thinking that some of the details didn't add up with this new scene (e.g., the childish weather-changing and boat-tipping behaviour seemed out of character for him). And I didn't like that their last exchange inside the boat resulted in WXL inadvertently rejecting XL. But I really liked that XL got to hear WXL say something nice about him when she didn't know she was talking to him and had no reason to lie, so he could assume she meant it honestly. 

WXL/XY not sensing that Female!Xiang Liu was Xiang Liu doesn't seem totally out of line for me. Wasn't XY's ability to sense that Xiang Liu was present or that Xiang Liu was actually Xiang Liu inconsistent in the novel? I'd have to go back and check to be sure. 

Edit:

• Chapter 15 - Dance Hall - XY recognized XL's face, but couldn't tell if FFB was or was not XL.
• Chapter 15 - Ciu Lang's Banquet - FFB introduced himself and XY once again couldn't tell if FFB was or was not XL.
• Chapter 15 - Attempt to Assassinate CX - XY was able to instinctively sense that the person on the winged horse was FFB, but that didn't lead her to conclude that FFB was XL.

...

• Chapter 38 - Richly Dressed Man - XY was able to recognize that the richly dressed man she saw on the street and the same man she saw in the gambling den (with a mask on) was actually XL with his appearance transformed. 

 liddi:

look forward to greater insight into Hong Jiang and the Shen Nong resistance army;

I do like that, according to the leaked script, the drama will elaborate on how the remnant army's fight benefitted the people of the Middle Plains and wasn't a completely pointless excercise beyond just satisfying loyalty / vows / their sense of honour. 

 Kokuto:

That happened to me last night too!  I ended up copying the whole edited post, then deleted the original, and opened a new post and copied the whole edited post into.  It was a pain in the butt.  Haven't tried editing posts today, yet.

Oh - I raised a ticket and the issue was resolved very promptly. And it appears my notifications are working well so far since then too, which is such a bonus (touch wood!). If you're still having problems, do raise a ticket to get it fixed!

 liddi:

I too am looking forward to these scenes, and Yang Zi's interpretation of them. She does deliver on emotional scenes - I will never not tear up watching the scene where she mistook Royal Consort Jing An as her mother; her tears when Cang Xuan asked if her broken foot hurt; when she wished she had been the one to save Fangfeng Bei from the death match arena.

Still, I am not happy with the changes in the leaked script, moving the wedding to after Xiang Liu's death, moving on very quickly after that to happily plan her life with Jing with no signs of mourning, treating the big-bellied doll as an afterthought for her, rather than the one thing that comforted her for the first time after she learnt of his passing. We shall see how the drama handles this... 

OMG that scene with her mother will always get me. Yang Zi and Zhang Wan Yi were AMAZING there. She has great chemistry with the other two (Deng Wei - sweet and fluttery; Tan Jian Ci - alluring and spicy), but explosive with ZWY. So full of emotions because of their characters' experiences together.

NOT HAPPY WITH THE CHANGES EITHER. XL became like an insignificant passerby. Doesn't give that umph that the novel did - where it was tragic but left a deeper impression you know? Although it's nice that we will get insight on Hong Jiang, etc, they didn't have to detract from the rest of the characters and storyline. I know I should be treating the drama as a standalone, and perhaps if I never read the novel, I would think that it's great. However, I cannot imagine the mixed emotions I will feel after watching S2. Probably will cause the worst drama withdrawal, will I be lurking here for a good minute? Re-reading the novel for the 100th time to wash away the adaptation in mind? haha who knows.

 AH :

But I really liked that XL got to hear WXL say something nice about him when she didn't know she was talking to him and had no reason to lie, so he could assume she meant it honestly. 

Very true. And I liked that this was the closest he ever got to verbalising how much he missed her, even though he was in disguise at the time.

 AH :

WXL/XY not sensing that Female!Xiang Liu was Xiang Liu doesn't seem totally out of line for me. Wasn't XY's ability to sense that Xiang Liu was present or that Xiang Liu was actually Xiang Liu inconsistent in the novel?

With Fangfeng Bei, I get the feeling that he always muted the reaction of the bugs deliberately, but she still felt a sense of familiarity, not just because he looked so much like Xiang Liu, but also his mannerisms? 

Yet she sensed that the richly dressed man was Xiang Liu right off the bat. I never got the impression that Xiang Liu allowed her to sense him at the time, seeing how determined he was to shake her off. Whereas  at the boat, they were right next to each other even if he was disguised as a woman, and it never occurred to her who he might be. Unless when he was disguised as a richly dressed man, he presumed she would not be able to recognise him because he was physically different, so he let down his guard, which led to her recognition of him? 

I am getting confuzzled.

 AH :

I do like that, according to the leaked script, the drama will elaborate on how the remnant army's fight benefitted the people of the Middle Plains and wasn't a completely pointless excercise beyond just satisfying loyalty / vows / their sense of honour. 

Yes. I feel that the book did us a disservice by relegating Hong Jiang to saying just 3 words "What is it?".

 liddi:

With Fangfeng Bei, I get the feeling that he always muted the reaction of the bugs deliberately, but she still felt a sense of familiarity, not just because he looked so much like Xiang Liu, but also his mannerisms?

Yet she sensed that the richly dressed man was Xiang Liu right off the bat. I never got the impression that Xiang Liu allowed her to sense him at the time, seeing how determined he was to shake her off. Whereas  at the boat, they were right next to each other even if he was disguised as a woman, and it never occurred to her who he might be. Unless when he was disguised as a richly dressed man, he presumed she would not be able to recognise him because he was physically different, so he let down his guard, which led to her recognition of him?

I am getting confuzzled.

Yeah, as far as I can recall, she was never able to sense the bug in XL unless he allowed her to (e.g., when he used it to call her in chapter 8).

Before he revealed his identity himself in chapter 17, XY wasn't able to tell that XL was XL when he was FBB (although she was able to instinctively sense that FFB was the assassin without being able to see him - but she wasn't able to instinctively sense his identity when he broke into her room in chapter 17) but sometimes his mannerisms/behaviour reminded her of XL (e.g., when she felt like he was going to bite her neck) and sometimes the fact that their hearts beat in the same rhythm made her question if he was XL. But only to the point where she felt that way temporarily, while most of the time she accepted the idea that FFB was not XL. 

So for the richly dressed man... I guess the options are: (1) his mannerisms made her fairly certain that he was XL; (2) his guard was down and he wasn't intentionally blocking/suppressing the bug connection, so XY was able to sense who he was through it; or (3) he intentionally allowed XY to sense / recognize him, even though he acted like he didn't want her to recognize him.