Xiang Liu and Xiao Yao’s Story and Romance

 Kokuto:

But it looks like he has long black hair?

I didn't picture the merman having white hair, and the novel doesn't mention him as having white hair.  It did mention the mermaid having "seaweed-like black hair". 

The figures aren't meant to look like XY and XL I don't think. The mermaid and merman are just meant to represent them in a more metaphorical sense.

一个美面的女鲛人侧身坐在贝壳上，海藻般的青丝披垂，美丽的鱼尾一半在洁白的贝壳上，一半浮在海水中。。。

 Kokuto:

I get so much more heartbreak joy from the show, it's worth being grumpy every once in a while.

I went and rewatched certain scenes from S1 Ep23 and S1 ep34 yesterday and was drawn right back in.

 liddi:

I am not very sure what the changes to the crystal globe implies. Was she asking him to take her away? Yet the merman was already facing the mermaid. And then there were two seashells. This seemed to indicate she was asking him to come to her world instead?

I feel like they might have added the second shell and had the merman facing the mermaid for a practical reason - they weren't able to get the merman to float totally suspended in the water the way he was in the novel version of the scene so they decided they needed something to attach his tail to. So they added the shell and attached the very end of the merman's tail to it to create the illusion that he is floating in the water. 

I'm watching episode 6 now and just got to the line about TSJ not raising the rent for the Lirong family's gambling den in many years... meaning the gambling den (and death match arena) owned and operated by that clan for generations is in a building owned by the Tushan clan and they've been paying rent to the Tushan clan for that space during all of that time?

I always felt uncomfortable with how the main characters could be so untroubled by the continued existence of the death match arena and the demon slaves who were kept there and forced to fight for there lives... Especially XL and XY. I know there are no quick fixes for a systemic issues like that, but still. 

On top of the general indifference, XL and TSJ are both close with the Lirong family. And now, on top of that, TSJ's clan owns and makes rent money from the propery where the death matches take place? It's nauseating.

I need to go read that fic about the demon slaves being freed and the death match arena being burned to the ground and imagine that XY and XL were the ones behind it. 

 chen358:

Yea, I had to search this on Chinese TikTok, but then again what didn't make sense was even though he was really popular at that time because of another show, he still played a pretty big role in this show. Like you would see him in almost every episode

I don't think it's about how much screen time he got, though I think he was 4th behind YZ, ZWY, and DW.  It's about billing precedence.  The first and highest billed actor is Yang Zi, of course.  Then Tan Jian Ci gets precedence, as Special Guest Star, then ZWY as ML, and then DW as 2nd ML, etc.

Tan Jian Ci can't be Male Lead, cause that's ZWY's billing.  Special Guest Star puts him outside the 'normal' billing hierarchy, but gives him precedence (and pay) and acknowledgement as an important role and actor.

 liddi:

She was wearing all red in a form of a wedding dress (instead of white per the script) as she waited by the sea, and she looked eagerly the moment she saw snow over the ocean, which indicated that she was waiting for Xiang Liu after all. However, her dialogue with A Nian remained unchanged, which felt wishy washy, despite the implications of the red robes she wore.

The description of the crystal globe was already different from the novel even in the leaked script.

Within the crystal globe was a base of blue sea, with colourful small fishes and red corals in it. On the surface of the sea was a great white seashell, and a beautiful mermaid sat on it, one hand on her heart, and the other hand outstretched towards the merman in the water, floating on the waves.

-- Leaked script Ep6 (S02E14 scene 8)

Here the drama changes it again with two seashells facing each other - the mermaid sitting on a smaller seashell facing a larger seashell, one hand on her heart, the other held out to the merman who swam facing her from the larger seashell, with his hand stretched out to her.

 liddi:

I am not very sure what the changes to the crystal globe implies. Was she asking him to take her away? Yet the merman was already facing the mermaid. And then there were two seashells. This seemed to indicate she was asking him to come to her world instead? Whatever it is, it would have made more sense if this was something she had prepared with care for years, to have made that plea, especially dressed in wedding robes during the 7-day wait, and not as a final gift that required prompting from her maid to come up with. It feels inconsistent in that sense.

This departure from the script of changing one seashell to two seashells really frustrates me. It completely changes the meaning of XY's message. Female mermaids don't have seashells. In the novel, the mermaid being in the merman's shell and reaching out to him suggests that XY was telling XL that her heart already belonged to him. She was willing to run away and let go of her identity and all her other ties to be with him (perhaps provided he also let go of his ties, perhaps unconditionally). In the drama, XY slapping together a makeshift crystal ball containing two shells at the suggestion of her maid at the eleventh hour makes zero sense to me. Perhaps this really was a Platonic SOS Ball. 

 liddi:

My impression is that she is asking him to come to her world because she is beckoning to him from her smaller seashell. It does not seem to imply that she wanted to share his world...

In the novel, YaoLiu is grass snake ash thread (草蛇灰线). In the drama, someone must have mowed the lawn after the snake crawled through it and the wind must have already scattered the ashes in all directions after the thread was dragged through it.

 Taspia:

Guys why Xiang Liu says that,the person she likes is not me?? ? ? 

This line is consistent with the novel, where XL reassured A Bi:

Xiang Liu smiled before turning to look at Xiao Yao “The person Xiao Yao is missing is Tu Shan Jing.”

-- Vol 3 Ch 15 (Chapter 48)

The difference is that in the novel, he is smiling when he says this, indicating he's hiding something and knows how much he means to her. However, the drama, it's almost appears as if XL believes the person in XY's heart is not him, which is ridiculous considering their Lovers' Gu connection.

Random other things I'm dissatisfied with in the drama (Season 2, Episode 2):

•  When XY is depressed in the novel, she isn't interested in practicing archery or making poisons (things associated FFB/XL), but in the drama, she also isn't interested in playing qin, eating snacks, and drinking (qin, duck necks, chicken feet, plum wine are all associated with Jing). 
• XY explicitly tells CX she is always thinking of Shi Qi. In the novel, it can be construed that XY lets CX think Jing/Shi Qi is what is causing her sadness, but in her heart, she is sad primarily because she loves Xiang Liu, but knows they are destined to walk separate paths. XL might still be the primary cause of her sadness in the drama, but if this is the case, I don't like that she is overtly lying to CX.

Despite these nitpicks, I'm quite enjoying Season 2 so far. The acting is superb. TJC, Yang Zi, and Zhang Wan Yi are killing it :)

 solarlunareclipse:

Female mermaids don't have seashells.

Exactly. Though Xiang Liu never explained the details of a mercouple's mating process in the drama. The only thing we saw was a rocking seashell, so maybe that part of the lore doesn't really count here?

 solarlunareclipse:

Her slapping together a makeshift crystal ball containing two shells at the suggestion of her maid at the eleventh hour makes zero sense to me. Perhaps this really was a Platonic SOS Ball. 

So platonic that she had to wear red robes while she waited, and he too wore red despite being stubbornly rooted in his seashell. It is the inconsistency that really bothers me. The way she waited for him, that eagerness when she saw the snow, and the dejection when she couldn't see anything - Yang Zi beautifully captured Xiao Yao's emotions of waiting for someone she desperately hoped would come. And yet, we then have that dialogue with A Nian about not knowing what she was waiting for - really? So she jumped up in anticipation because she thought she saw Nessie the Lochness monster? 

 solarlunareclipse:

However, the drama, it's almost appears as if XL believes the person in XY's heart is not him, which is ridiculous considering their Lovers' Gu connection.

I don't quite see that scene the same way. He already knew way back that they stood on opposing sides because of her bloodline, which was why he would secretly protect her while pushing her away time and again - just as he did when she asked him the leading questions about whom she should marry, whether it was possible to never forget a person. He was stunned because he learnt of her true parentage. In that moment, he saw clearly the outcome of being in love while standing on opposing sides - her parents' tragedy was a clear example. Hence his grief, because knowing it in his mind (which he did all along), and realising how it turned out in her parents who were in the exact same position, just drove home the impossibility of their situation. So the words he said to the Lirong old man - about her saying he was someone she could not allow into her dreams, and that the one in her heart was not him - was more him telling/convincing himself that was the case, even though he already knew that that was not true (her actions and words already belied it).  And now the knowledge of her parents' past would strengthen his resolve all the more to totally remove himself from her life.

 solarlunareclipse:

Despite these nitpicks, I'm quite enjoying Season 2 so far. The acting is superb. TJC, Yang Zi, and Zhang Wan Yi are killing it :)

Yes. Absolutely love their performances, along with the other supporting cast - old Xiyan king, Shao Hao, the old Lirong donkey meat seller, and a surprising new favourite being Lirong Chang. I totally disliked him in the novel and when I first saw the script, but his actor Shao Weitong really nailed his performance despite the fact that he is clearly a Jing fanboy in there.

I still haven't figured out one thing why and how      XiaoYao loved Xiang Liu???