H19279:
If I were XL, I would say "sorry fox, help yourself. I am exhausted enough to help your fiancee" :D
Xiang Liu í such an enabler when it comes to this whole saving Jing for XY business. The best way for someone to learn is through natural consequences. XY chose this kind (read: useless) git because he's kind (read: useless) and couldn't live without her. Well, the consequence of that is the useless git is unable to protect himself and could end up deader than a doornail. Some natural consequences would do XY good.
Removing it simply made Hong Jiang and his men appear to be a bunch of fools who persisted for no good reason except the unwillingness to change, and I hated this omission.liddi:
I hate this bloody narrative that the resistance army is a bunch of fools who persisted for no good reason. Let's leave it at that!
Kokuto:
LOL! Fang Feng Bei after riding on Chubby. Look at his face! Wheeeeeeeeee!
Me too! I need a Furball plush and keychain! Have you seen any on sale? I remember seeing Furball on a bracelet from last year. If all else fails, I will follow @Kokuto 's lead and whip out all the cotton balls I can find!
LOL. Desperation will lead to invention. However, I'll save you from having to whip out the cotton ball. Furball is part of the mini dolls collection and I've seen a bigger version of him floating around during the first season.
Is it just me but Xiang Liu's hair is actually shorter in the mini-version?
The hair on the mini-XL doesn't look to be real like the one on the big one or mini-FFB. Seems to be felt material like the rest of the other characters.
AH :
I did not enjoy it. But, based on all the comments, I was prepared for worse.
I'm also at a point now where I'm sort of past caring... Took me ages to watch the last two episodes. There was a lot of pausing out of disinterest... punctuated with unhappiness every time another change for the worse presented itself.
Surprisingly, one of my biggest disappointments wasn't about a change from the novel. It was over the way they significantly changed Hong Jiang's tree metaphor scene from the leaked script. For me that was probably the very best change in the entire leaked script, and yet they messed that up too.
Is that you AH? LOL. Are you still in Grump Town doing your Grump watch?
It's nice to be past the point of caring. You know that your level of emotional investment is near zero when you watch the emotional scenes and just think that it's overwrought.
HeadInTheClouds:
LOL. Desperation will lead to invention. However, I'll save you from having to whip out the cotton ball. Furball is part of the mini dolls collection and I've seen a bigger version of him floating around during the first season.
The hair on the mini-XL doesn't look to be real like the one on the big one or mini-FFB. Seems to be felt material like the rest of the other characters.
There he is! Chubby key chain!
Xiang Liu í such an enabler when it comes to this whole saving Jing for XY business. The best way for someone to learn is through natural consequences. XY chose this kind (read: useless) git because he's kind (read: useless) and couldn't live without her. Well, the consequence of that is the useless git is unable to protect himself and could end up deader than a doornail. Some natural consequences would do XY good.
This is why I disagree with the argument that XL thinks Jing is the best man / choice for XY. In the drama, it seems clear to me that XL has a low opinion and dislike for Jing. The look he gave Jing when he was helping XY buy a bow, and the same at the wedding robbery. And a few times when Jing has tried to buy XL. That time that Jing presumptuously declared to XL that he was taking WXL back to the Tushan manor in Qing Shui Town, and XL correct him, "that depends on if WXL wants to go." Another thing for me to watch for when I re-watch.
He wouldn't have chosen Jing. But because XY said she wanted Jing, that's what he's trying to give her. Kind of the opposite of CX. lol
I am not happy Liddi!!! Even though I knew there was no chance for this part to be false but I am still not happy!!! UGHHSssnoopyyy:
So, very sorry. It's beyond disappointing.
But the leaked script says Jing saved himself as the one who fought Hou was a puppet right? I only skimmed through the leaked script so not 100% sure. I mean they should've kept it as XL saving Jing because why else would XL ask for XY to give him all that blood? (it would otherwise be unnecessary)!
Awww. If he's a puppet, I'll have to eat crow for laughing at Jing just standing around waiting to be killed. ;p Of course, it says something that we can't the difference between a puppet and Jing.
I feel robbed of the scene where Xinyue and CX perform a duet together at a gathering with all his harem, and XY coming by to visit - I mean what was the point of the flute scene? I think having this would be perfect motivation before the really terribly executed 'assassination attempt on XY' (did Xinyue even try to kill XY lol)? I will say CX was literally asking for trouble because we do not see him with any of his women in S2 - ofc they will be suspicious haha!
I was wondering about Feng Long bringing her the flute. She's has so many hints that haven't played out at all.
My theory is that XY is responsible for the death of Jing, and it was supposed to include the assassination of XY. It's interesting that FFYY isn't holding a grudge against XY at all -- just Hou ... and maybe still Jing. But in the 'dream', CX believes he is the one responsible.
GIVE ME BACK A PROPER CX. Lol weibo fans are literally raging - and I am toooooooooo.
It's nice to know that we aren't the only ones who are unhappy with these changes.
Liu Yifei:
But as far as I can see the drama makes it even more obvious that the fox is nothing but a side piece. That's good. As you can see XY is kissing the fox after XL behaved more angrily with her. When with the King of Haoling the fox was treated as cupbearer, it was fun. I don't know how many more signs from the heavens XL need to realise that he should be marrying Xiaoyao.
I think so too. The cupbearer / tray holder in Haolin was just ... "welcome to your servant life, Jing!"
But somehow, WE are the ones who are blind. smh
Yun Sang just seems to be surrounded by tragedy heaped on top of more tragedy.
I'm trying to recall if anyone had a happy ending in Once Promised, but am coming up empty.
It's a miserable tale.
Hmm. I imagine Hou Tu would. And presumably Chi Chen would. What was Gong Gong's relationship with her like?
I am certain Luo Jia would have stayed with her come hell or high water. There is no notable indication of Hong Jiang's relationship with Yun Sang, but he had always maintained that Shen Nong needed to be united under a leader in order to fend off the enemies of the nation. As such, I believe he would have pledged his loyalty to Yun Sang, even more so because she is the only surviving daughter of the Seventh Flame Emperor. I am not as certain about Chi Chen. Given the opportunity, he wanted nothing more than to be with A Heng and his daughter. If Yun Sang were queen of Shen Nong and the external threat had been stayed, I believe he would leave.
But wouldn't XL already have been FFB by this point? He took over FFB's identity before XY was born and used that identity for ~100 years before he went to Gong Gong (when Gong Gong was abandoned by the world / after Chi You's death) and joined his remnant army.
Oh you're right! I forgot that he was already leading life as Fangfeng Bei by then and he should have been doing so even before Xiao Yao was born. Xiang Liu escaped to the North Pole during the reign of the Seventh Flame Emperor. Though we are not told when he returned as Fangfeng Bei except that it was after 100 years, Xiao Yao was born after Yu Xiang was killed. Do we know how old she was when she was sent to Jade Mountain? I can't remember off the top of my head.
Can you refresh my memory again how you deduced he was Fangfeng Bei for roughly 100 years before he went to Hong Jiang? My calculations put him as being Fangfeng Bei roughly 30-40 years before the final battle at Ji Province. He returned as Fangfeng Bei about (478 - 45) = 433 years ago, and the battle at Ji Province took place roughly 400 years ago as well.
Although they'd be different people, it's hard not to be drawn in by the "what if...?"s.
Yes. There would be no armour-wearing Xiang Liu to speak of, and perhaps she might never have come into possession of the Lovers bug to begin with. Still, Fangfeng Bei was simply Xiang Liu without the armour - carefree, unrestrained, enjoying life in the mortal realm. She would not have ever suffered the horrors of torture and incarceration, and her spiritual powers would have remained intact, if not even greater. Would he still have been drawn to her since his history at the death match arena remains intact? Would she have fallen in love with Fangfeng Bei?
Sigh.
And I imagine Chi Chen and Ah Heng would inevitably be involved in that war too.
I would like to think not, but would A Heng be able to stay away, since it is Cang Xuan? And would Chi Chen be able to stay away when Shen Nong's sovereignty is threatened? Perhaps not...
But Xiao Yao would have been older by then and a different person, without the scars of abandonment trauma, so she might not react to their decisions the same way anymore. By the same token, do you think a certain Nine-headed demon would still offer himself to Hong Jiang when that happens, seeing Hong Jiang would be defending his country, and not a general abandoned by all with the fall of his country? I think he still would. Does that mean they end up on opposing sides again? If Chi Chen and A Heng are able to stay out of the war, would Xiao Yao be so passionate about helping Cang Xuan based on their childhood ties? I am not as certain that she would. So as long as Chi Chen and A Heng stayed neutral, the conflict of being on opposing sides might no longer be a factor.
You anticipated my next thought! ^^
Anticipating my next thought again!
Lol, more anticipating. You seem to know exactly where my thoughts will go! ^^
LOL! We do seem to be following a similar train of thought!
Is that you AH? LOL. Are you still in Grump Town doing your Grump watch?
Maybe...
It's nice to be past the point of caring. You know that your level of emotional investment is near zero when you watch the emotional scenes and just think that it's overwrought.
To be fair, I could probably be 100% emotionally invested in a story and still end up thinking like that for certain types of emotional scenes that are acted out in a certain way...
I just don't express or externalize emotions loudly or wildly (except maybe in very specific contexts, like shouting for joy while watching certain sports in a venue where shouting would be appropriate) and I'd say that's generally true for everyone in my social circle. So when I see characters do so on screen I usually find it very hard to relate to. Most of the time it feels very inauthentic to me and I feel like I'm no longer watching the character(s) and instead I'm just watching the actor(s) put on a very exaggerated performance of a toddler's version of a particular emotion. It almost always takes me out of the flow of the scene so that I no longer feel immersed in the story.
I feel like that's one of the reasons I tend to like books more than their screen adaptations. Books can easily convey all of a character's complex and deep internal emotions even if the character's external expressions or behaviour remains very neutral or contained, whereas it's really difficult to translate all of that same information into a visual performance and you often end up either getting a performance that feels exaggerated or lacking. But when a talented actor can convey big emotions through very subtle acting? That's the best.
That said... my main thought during the pancake scene was about other actors in the past who talked in interviews about how difficult it is to keep eating and eating in take after take. Between the intense acting, the crying, and all that eating, I imagine it must have been a difficult day of work for YZ.
He wouldn't have chosen Jing. But because XY said she wanted Jing, that's what he's trying to give her. Kind of the opposite of CX. lol
Only an idiot would think Jing is the best man for anything, besides crying and selling his sob story. Oh, and exploiting people's weaknesses and difficulties, using transactions to gain what he wants. Jing is not vindictive or evil, but his kindness ends where his self-interest begins. He's weak emotionally and physically. The thing is that XY sees all these things through the lens of her abandonment issues - so instead of someone unable to protect himself, she sees it as kindness because such a kind person will always forgive and never abandon her. I find it interesting that XY and Jing both automatically see dealing with Hou as taking revenge/punishment. Are these people's thinking and problem-solving skills in the toilet? There are many things that you could do besides revenge or pretending that it didn't happen. Looks like I need to offer a few classes in Da Huang besides Effective Communication 101. Such as: Setting Boundaries 101; Problem-Solving Skills 101; Conflict Resolution that Doesn't Involve Killing Someone or You Ending Up Shit Creek 101.
I think XL knows XY really well. He saw all her strengths, but also her fears and limitations and did his best to work with them to prepare her for the day that he wouldn't be around to protect her. He pushed her to discover her strength and resourcefulness. But he also sees that she isn't ready to deal with her abandonment issues (the refusal to answer the fourth question) and that she still clings to having someone who will never leave her. ie. Jing, so he facilitates it. The key word is facilitated - what XY do is still up to XY. You can only teach people at the level that they are at, you cannot expect them to do more than that. And that was XY's level at that moment.
The comment is too long already. Maybe I'll come back with a few more thoughts on XY.
Awww. If he's a puppet, I'll have to eat crow for laughing at Jing just standing around waiting to be killed. ;p Of course, it says something that we can't the difference between a puppet and Jing.
Literally makes no sense - there should be limitations with puppets - they cannot possibly hold out that long and go unnoticed by Hou. AND where was the tail chopping scene huhhh haha. Also was FFYY supposed to look like that? I thought Jing let her go in the novel (where she didn't have to sacrifice her blood/whatever).
I was wondering about Feng Long bringing her the flute. She's has so many hints that haven't played out at all.
My theory is that XY is responsible for the death of Jing, and it was supposed to include the assassination of XY. It's interesting that FFYY isn't holding a grudge against XY at all -- just Hou ... and maybe still Jing. But in the 'dream', CX believes he is the one responsible.
I don't get how this included the assassination of XY LOL they didn't execute this very well, hard to believe. I mean when seeing the Jing and XY together, Hou would obviously target Jing first. What was Xinyue's plan exactly? I dunno, XY shouldn't have even been in that scene. It would make a lot more sense if the assassinations weren't combined, or at least, happened simultaneously. And where is Left Ear?! Give us back Left Ear!
Seems like they really wanted to show how Jing and XY can get away fine on their own without XL's help and just live happily ever after. And CX somehow going against everything that he has said by saying that power/the throne is most important. The end.
I am not happy Liddi!!! Even though I knew there was no chance for this part to be false but I am still not happy!!! UGHH
I'm so sorry - I had been hoping we would see this changed too. I honestly don't know what they were thinking to have done this.
But the leaked script says Jing saved himself as the one who fought Hou was a puppet right? I only skimmed through the leaked script so not 100% sure. I mean they should've kept it as XL saving Jing because why else would XL ask for XY to give him all that blood? (it would otherwise be unnecessary)!
Yes it was a puppet that was shot, but based on the script, Jing was caught in a vortex after that. Still keeping fingers crossed that the fact Xiang Liu saw them searching for Jing and felt Xiao Yao's heartache, meant that he himself searched for Jing in the ocean, his territory, and was instrumental in Jing surviving.
As for the blood he took from Xiao Yao, it was a ridiculous change. Why on earth would he need to drain her blood, just so that he could later feed the blood pill back to her when he kills the Lovers bugs? Seriously? Won't she have fared better during the killing of the Lovers bugs without the blood letting? Mind-boggling. So please have this changed in some form or rather.
I feel robbed of the scene where Xinyue and CX perform a duet together at a gathering with all his harem, and XY coming by to visit - I mean what was the point of the flute scene? I think having this would be perfect motivation before the really terribly executed 'assassination attempt on XY' (did Xinyue even try to kill XY lol)? I will say CX was literally asking for trouble because we do not see him with any of his women in S2 - ofc they will be suspicious haha!
There is a lot of disconnect be it from the script or the editing, that makes for a very disjointed narrative. Cang Xuan is far far more than just a lovesick puppy, but the drama undermines it. I understand showing Cang Xuan's desperate longing for Xiao Yao that was gradually spiralling out of control, but I feel that even that was too much, and the narrative would have benefited more from his interactions with Xin Yue, if they wanted to drive home her reasons for the poorly executed assassination attempt. And don't get me started on the assassination attempt. Who on earth would actually be naive enough to believe that Hou would care about killing Xiao Yao at a time when he had a bigger fox to fry? And are we really to believe that Xin Yue could not find anyone to assassinate Xiao Yao specifically instead of resorting to a plan with plotholes the size of Gourd lake, which predicated on Xiao Yao actually choosing to accompany Jing to Qingshui Town? What guarantee did she have that Xiao Yao would be present? It is a ridiculous plot device.
I still cannot believe they would have HJ sounding unsure about persisting previously. Makes it all wishy washy because the army was always resolute in their choices. Takes away the reason/essence behind their determination and perseverance, making it look like a foolish choice.
Exactly. Suddenly it is Xiang Liu and his dogmatic insistence on fighting to the death while Hong Jiang was questioning his own choices in the face of Shao Hao's decision to abdicate in favour of Cang Xuan when in the novel, it was the collective decision of every single man who chose to fight to the death, now that their people were at last settled and secure. Really?
In the distance he could see fires burning, that was Ru Shou burning the entire mountain to force them to come out and battle. The moment of the final battle was at hand. All the soldiers clearly knew their fate, but they still chose this path with no hesitation. The world was at peace, the people settled and secure, and they had been ruthlessly discarded by the passage of time, their existence pointless. Death was the best release for them, the best destination.
-- Epilogue
I hate this bloody narrative that the resistance army is a bunch of fools who persisted for no good reason. Let's leave it at that!
YES. Of all the things to cut out, they had to choose to remove that part of the dialogue? Seriously?
LOL. Desperation will lead to invention. However, I'll save you from having to whip out the cotton ball. Furball is part of the mini dolls collection and I've seen a bigger version of him floating around during the first season.
Ahhhhhhh! Do you have a link? I can't find one!
The hair on the mini-XL doesn't look to be real like the one on the big one or mini-FFB. Seems to be felt material like the rest of the other characters.
It does look that way doesn't it? I am still sore we don't get an official Fangfeng Bei 20cm doll...
I think XL knows XY really well. He saw all her strengths, but also her fears and limitations and did his best to work with them to prepare her for the day that he wouldn't be around to protect her. He pushed her to discover her strength and resourcefulness. But he also sees that she isn't ready to deal with her abandonment issues (the refusal to answer the fourth question) and that she still clings to having someone who will never leave her. ie. Jing, so he facilitates it. The key word is facilitated - what XY do is still up to XY. You can only teach people at the level that they are at, you cannot expect them to do more than that. And that was XY's level at that moment.
While I disagree about the abandonment issues being the reason she refused to answer the fourth question (for me, she refused to answer because she wanted him to accompany her for a lifetime, but she knew that even if he took her hand, he would not survive her lifetime, hence her unwillingness to even think about it), I agree with everything else you said here. He made provisions for her, and ensured that what she needed or wanted was within her grasp. In life or in death, he had no way of determining what she chose to do with the provisions, but he ensured that it was within her reach as long as she wanted it.
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