soTreeD

Jing doesn't know who is in her heart. He doesn't have the cheat hack.
After their breakup he didn't even know she suffered heartache over him. He didn't think she really loved him that deeply.

Xiaoyao remembered how Xiangliu tried to force her to kiss him, and pulling Jing underwater was her way to try to get Jing to kiss her again.

Xiaoyao only wanted kisses from Jing. I can't believe so many people buy into this 'she was thinking of kissing Xiangliu when she kissing Jing' bs.

When Jing said ' you don't have me in your eyes' he meant the situation was not romantic and they were not kissing because of the mood or the feelings.

Not the Lovers bug again... if you can't tell what is real love that TH is trying to tell us.. then you are missing the whole point of LYF.

True love is something two people have to work towards to make it happen.
You can have all kinds of advantages: like Cangxuan was already in Xiaoyao's heart and been her number 1 for years, Xiangliu got that couple bug; but if you don't work towards it, you won't get it.

Xiaoyao never wanted to make out with Xiangliu, and if you even said that, I don't know how you watched the scene.

I am sure Xiangliu is so thrilled that the woman he wanted a kiss from is thinking about how Jing left her and she had no more reason to save her lips from another man anymore... and so she decided to get CPR instead of drowning again. Real romantic thoughts... she wants Xiangliu so bad... wow...

This is the major issue with yaoliu fans. You always interpret physical, even forced physical contact as something Xiaoyao enjoyed or wanted.

Excuse me, I was not around here the past year so I cannot bring up discussion points I want to discuss? As I understand you guys don't have to engage with me so what is this ridiculous response on an open forum page?
It's not like I went into your yaoliu threads to make my claims...

You have your views, I have mine and I can share them out here at least.

Don't worry about my reading. I have read the Chinese novel extensively over the past year ( I don't need translated version) and also read the leaked script. I just can't stand you people trying to drag Xiaoyao and Tushan Jing just because Xiaoyao never chose Xiangliu.

And Xiaoyao was healed by the end of the story btw. She didn't choose TSJ just because she was 'sick and co-dependant'.

If you can't tell that poor Xiangliu was just her rebound guy, that Xiaoyao was just waiting to be rescued from her desperate situation because she wants to run away from it all, then he is even more tragic that you all are making him out to be.

I see many repeating the 'Xiaoyao had no choice' that's why she chose TSJ.

As we can see, she has many options.

The trope of a 'dear cousin', who is so deeply in love with her, he's willing to give up his own personal happiness so she can remain safe in the kingdom he will build.

The trope of 'falling for the enemy', the one repeatedly 'forbidden' by her grandfather, father.
Most times this type of 'advice' from elders would trigger a response to act contrary to their words but Xiaoyao is not that kind of female lead and she could control herself not to let her feelings for Xiangliu pass a certain boundary.

The trope TH used eventually for LYF is the trope where we see often in Cdrama or Kdramas, where the female lead runs into her love interest and saves his life, but neither will know each other's 'true identities' so it can keep the reason they will fall for each other 'pure' and not affected by material interests. Everything TH timed is to keep the yaojing relationship pure, up and including TSJ's confession, before she was revealed to be the Grand princess.

When Xiaoyao talked about marriage with her grandfather, the first person she mentioned indirectly was TSJ, with his engagement. The second person she mentioned was Xiangliu, with his enemy status.
Her grandfather suggested to her a third option, which would become Fenglong - the perfect partner but a loveless union.
Poor Cangxuan sitting by the side lines watching everything, constantly offering to be her eternal companion but did Xiaoyao ever include him as an 'option'?

Ye Shiqi has always been her first choice.
To be blunt, Xiangliu was more like a backup.
But probably better than Cangxuan who was a backup based on familial ties.

Every time Xiaoyao was happy with TSJ, she never seem to remember XL. But he was there for her during her breakup period, and he was a comfortable friend. I enjoyed their buddy vibes on the beach where Xiaoyao shot him that dirty look when he casually offered to kill ffyy and her child.

The only thing I see Xiaoyao having 'no choice' over is how she cannot forget her Ye Shiqi, her Tushan Jing. Because her feelings for him just cannot be controlled by cold reason.
She needs no magic mirrors with TSJ, he has branded onto her soul and haunts her dreams with phantom sweet kisses.

I just hope with all the changes in S2, we can still get a good and reasonable development of the story. 4 more days left!

Zhang Wanyi is the first male lead.
Tong hua has said in her interview that all the characters in LYF suffered from lovesickness, but Lost You Forever is for him.
This is because LYF is a sequel from Once Promised, which was about the past generation, and LYF focus on the lives of the two royal orphans - Cangxuan and Xiaoyao, which continued from that story.

Yes poison bugs are actually not a new concept... In other dramas, most of them are use to control the host, and normally there is a mother and child/children bug.
So typically the stories will be like, the controller who usually wants to take over the world have the mother bug, and the children bug who are in the other hosts will be able to make them do their bidding.

I believe the most recent case I seen them appear was Mysterious Lotus Casebook.

As I have said I don't really understand how the couple bugs work.

When they were first planted on Cangxuan, did the bugs accept the criteria because he loved Xiaoyao as family? He did not give consent so it was temporary but the bugs did accept that he was a candidate.
Cangxuan's love for Xiaoyao only changed into a romantic nature after he saw her as a beautiful woman again, or do you think he actually had 'feelings' for the little girl from 200 years ago?

I don't think the bugs have turned into heartbreak bugs, because Xiaoyao would have suffered backlash as well and she had no spirit power to suppress them. But does anyone really know how the bugs assess what is 'love'? Do they feed on the feelings of their hosts or just hang around in their bodies? Do they have a tipping point when they feel 'hey this is not love'. Or its more of just the conditions of 'installation' for the man to accept the bugs and later on the life and death part is just through their connection.

Maybe it a couple was really 'in love' the bug connection would be able to link them and make them truly 'as one' in mind.
So in theory if the man changed his mind and fell for another, the woman will feel pain and anger and so she can torture him with the pain she is feeling? And if she was vengeful and decides to kill herself she can take the man along with her? Which is why I always felt the couple bugs is not romantic at all, its sometimes more like a threat in a relationship.

Or maybe the couple bugs are usually fine and require no sustenance but I feel that is unlikely. When they had no hosts, Xiaoyao had to use her own blood to feed the bugs. So after they live in their bodies, what kind of toll would they demand?

But what was clear in that moment when Xiangliu floored Xiaoyao with pain that was like 'a sword to her heart' perhaps it was his own heart breaking at that moment he saw her running back to Jing. As Xiaoyao said, you cannot fake heartache. What she felt, he was feeling it at the same time too.

I don't know if S2 would shed more light on how the bugs actually work, but even the author covers for the mystery of the bugs using different characters as mouth pieces to say 'they don't know'.

And its because its not a clear cut thing, that is why you and I can have this discussion now.

I don't think Xiangliu regrets his choice. He had been with Hong jiang for centuries but other than that one moment with Xiaoyao as Fangfeng Bei where he asks if she would leave with him, he had never again brought it up as Xiangliu to her.
It was a pity because that was totally a 'wrong' moment, since Xiaoyao thought he was merely being unserious.

I feel that Xiangliu is very lonely. Being the only one of his kind, and he already took Hong jiang as his foster father and the Chenrong army as his family, so he was not going to turn his back on them. In the years, I think the army felt they might have a shot at destabilizing the central plains if Cang xuan's uncles had taken over, but once CX became quite the capable new King of Xiyan, that hope quickly faded away and their fate seemed sealed. Even then, after meeting someone who could tempt his heart, Xiangliu still would not leave them, that was his shackles of his 'family'.

All the characters have this shackles to their family.
Cangxuan wouldn't consider killing his grandfather to take over, Xiaoyao would always want to side with Cangxuan. Tushan Jing couldn't hate his grandmother even after she betrayed him and Fenglong was bound to his twin sister Xinyue.

This really adds so much more depth to the characters.

So now that you don't agree with what Yangzi said, you say this right?
Maybe type less and think more for yourself instead of joining in what your fellow fans all repeating to each other.

We are here to discuss but you seem like so bent on 'winning' I don't even know what you are trying to win.

In that case did you skip the interview where Yangzi said Xiaoyao loves Tushan Jing? They didn't hack or edit it maliciously. She said it very clearly.
Its also not from a scripted variety show but an actual proper interview.

Also she also said there is no BE at all.
She said everyone is happy and 'got what they wanted'.
So yeah Xiangliu didn't get a BE, you can stop your whining. Celebrate with wine because man got his wish fulfilled like the warrior he is.

There is a theme of 'cages' in LYF.

After being tortured, suffered in pain and eventually gaining 'freedom', different characters end up choosing different choices in life.

I start with Tushan Jing first, not because the story revolves around him, but he is the most misunderstood as the 'weak' for not seeking revenge. This view is not only thought by audience or readers, but even other characters in the story like Cangxuan.
However, it seems TH actually hoped that more people will realize the truth in 冤冤相报何时了 : two wrongs don't make a right.

After Tushan Jing went back, if he chose revenge, that would become his new cage. With the available resources he has at his disposal and reason on his side, he could get rid of Tushan Hou with a flick of his finger, but he chose not to kill him.
Not many could understand this, and Xiaoyao was one of the rare ones who did. After being in darkness, and I am not just talking about the years of torture but also his glorious years as Dahuang's most eligible bachelor. He realized that all these is pointless in life. What he wanted was difficult to attain, he wanted to make peace with the brother who once loved him. If he had killed him, he would be shackled by guilt because he understood why his brother 'turned evil', due to the actions of his own mother. If Hou was just clearly evil over the 400 years of brotherhood, he would not have this issue. Even though it made his life very difficult and caused alot of grief, Jing was strong enough in character and did not choose revenge no matter how others viewed his 'inaction'.

Cangxuan's cage is invisible but he build it out of guilt, loneliness and pressures he faced being a political 'hostage'. He too had to undergo different kinds of struggles alone as he grew up.
However, he still can't step out of the boundaries of it. He can go higher, but his cage just became more narrow as he went onto higher grounds.
With all the power in the world, Cangxuan could now call the shots, but his actions are actually restricted by many other things. How can he be free?

Xiaoyao and Xiangliu were similar characters.
Both had been literally caged, abused and tortured for decades, and both have killed to become free. As Wen Xiaoliu and Fangfeng Bei, these two were free to do as they pleased but alas that was only fleeting.

However, Xiangliu had gone back to his savior Hong jiang, and he willingly put on new 'shackles' of loyalty. He chose his life purpose to live for Hong jiang. There is no right and wrong in his decision, his life choice was his to make, but the fact is, Xiangliu is no longer free to do as he pleased in this life.

As for Xiaoyao, she is physically free but mentally still trapped being afraid of being abandoned and alone. Her outlook on life remains gloomy and she still cannot bring herself to fully trust or love. But she was willing to try to leave the shackles of uncertainty and doubt behind. Even if it failed the first time, will Xiaoyao be courageous enough to keep trying?

Ultimately, blessed are the ones who can be truly 'free'.
I hope S2 will be able to deliver the characters well.

I just want to be able to scroll down the main page and read something different lol

Oh since i got suggestion to talk more about Jing instead, here's my way for the best of all worlds!

I happened to mention it in a reply in one of the many posts just now, but here I posit again in greater detail:

Xiangliu is Team YaoJing.

My first evidence is from S1. After the breakup, Xiangliu was the one who really knows how much pain Xiaoyao was in since he was aware of how much she was suffering. Cangxuan may listen to her words but he was always thinking that she would get over Jing as long as enough time passed.

The novel says that at Cangxuan's first wedding, Xiaoyao had not seen Jing for over a year. When she saw his white hair, she maintained her smile, but as she thought about how her heart fluttered when he let his hair down ( supposedly in ep20 but sadly wigs have limits and we got no CGI budget), Xiaoyao felt her heart 'being torn by a big hand, so painful that it seemed like it was shattering', but she kept on smiling. But suddenly, her heart beat violently, and she could no longer smile.
Tong hua described this as 'as someone can remain expressionless after being stabbed they cannot control their breathing when they have exerted themselves.'

In the drama, all these cannot be showed effectively since we got no narration nor VO, all we saw was Xiaoyao looking like she was in pain and so instead of just staring sadly across at Jing, they got their little moment.

If the novel was still accurate in this scene, and we know Xiangliu was also present at the wedding, why did he do that? Did he want to let Xiaoyao to have an excuse to be close to Jing again?
If not, why not let her pretend to be fine and move away without any interaction? I can't imagine he just wants to be mean to Xiaoyao and its not like he is Loki, being mischievous and wanting to hurt both of them.

Perhaps when you make it to the S2 part of the novel you may see other stuff.

Honestly in the novel her 37 years of coma lasted for less than 2 short chapters. Novel is actually woefully scant on many things, which the drama filled and the drama also dropped alot of things the novel supplemented.

Ironically Xiangliu is the biggest yaojing fan, wouldn't you say? He was the one who said Xiaoyao could not forget Tushan Jing, her Ye Shiqi.

Honestly in the novel her 37 years of coma lasted for less than 2 short chapters. Novel is actually woefully scant on many things, which the drama filled and the drama also dropped alot of things the novel supplemented.

Ironically Xiangliu is the biggest yaojing fan, wouldn't you say? He was the one who said Xiaoyao could not forget Tushan Jing, her Ye Shiqi.

Honestly in the novel her 37 years of coma lasted for less than 2 short chapters. Novel is actually woefully scant on many things, which the drama filled and the drama also dropped alot of things the novel supplemented.

Ironically Xiangliu is the biggest yaojing fan, wouldn't you say? He was the one who said Xiaoyao could not forget Tushan Jing, her Ye Shiqi.

Honestly in the novel her 37 years of coma lasted for less than 2 short chapters. Novel is actually woefully scant on many things, which the drama filled and the drama also dropped alot of things the novel supplemented.

Ironically Xiangliu is the biggest yaojing fan, wouldn't you say? He was the one who said Xiaoyao could not forget Tushan Jing, her Ye Shiqi.

Have you ever thought that since Tong hua was one of the screenwriters, she removed these scenes so that people will stop misunderstanding physical contact without consent as 'romantic'? I believe they feel that would be problematic so the story has been changed so the character will look more 'gentlemanly' and less liable to be attacked by audiences.

Giving her blood by the mouth is not a kiss, giving air while drowning someone is not a kiss either. Sometimes physical contact is just physical contact. Wrestling someone is also not romantic when one side is desperate not to be left behind, stranded again.

Xiaoyao did tell others things she learns from Jing, like the talk about the different types of love, and how she would take the first step towards Nian for her father and Cangxuan.

I seen the interview and its not a 'hack job edit' as you claimed.
So Yangzi's words are gospel only when it suits you then?

As for things actors say on variety shows, that is scripted for entertainment purposes. She was holding on to 'Jing's hands so tightly during their game too. CP marketing is just a tool.
And if Yangzi chose to be with Xiangliu, what has that got to do with Xiaoyao?