Xiang Liu and Xiao Yao’s Story and Romance

So, I'm watching Love and Destiny, a xianxia from 2019.  It's referenced Zhu Rong, The Flame Emperor, Chenrong, Fuxi and Nuwa "Stones," Chi You's Blade.  I need to pay more attention, as there may have been more references that I missed.

It also has a male 'god' named Siming, who has the same role as Orchid's shifu of the same name, from Love Between Fairy and Devil!  But he doesn't use leaves to make his books, and he has these cool scrying mirrors set in what looks like a circular calendar, that can reveal the past.

 HeadInTheClouds:

I haven't watched this one, even though I liked both Cheng Chen and NiNi. It was an odd choice for them to star in this genre of dramas. Is it good?

It's slow, but has a large cast with a few plot lines running.  It's 60 episodes, but high quality as far as production.  It doesn't look dated at all, even the CGI, and would look good even today.  The drama has some funny parts, and some interesting characters, including a male merman, who transformed into an amazon of a female, sort to get closer to his best friend Siming.  I mean this actress is tall and solidly built.  NiNi is playing an ingenue sort, which is a bit odd to me.  Cheng Chen is doing his best stone pillar imitation... I'm somewhat disappointed, but maybe it is because I'm being exposed to him much longer than in the movies of his that I have watched.

It is entertaining.

 HeadInTheClouds:

These characters are based on mythology, so they are featured in many dramas. Nuwa, in particular, seems to pop up often.

Any mention of our Hydra?

Sadly, no, though we did get one snakey creature, but it only had one head and was something else. 

Yes, but I think this has more than I usually see.  Is Siming a mythology character?

Very quickly since life is hectic again and I'm travelling in the next few days...

@Kokuto @HeadInTheClouds

You can get Filter's official merch on Taobao here:

32cm alpaca plush - RMB 139

10cm alpaca keychain - RMB 79

12cm Tang Qi keychain doll - RMB 45

Am not sure how much it would cost to ship to the US. Hopefully the price is not too steep.

There's another website that sells Filter merch and does free shipping to the US but is more expensive than Taobao. Perhaps you can compare and see which site gives you the best deal and buy it before it is no longer being sold. I am still so annoyed with myself for not getting the 2nd Mao Qiu when it was readily available. Argh!

 HeadInTheClouds:

Shipping being more expensive than the actual product is such a pain and deterrent. I think I paid more for shipping the Snail noodles than the actual noodles themselves. 

Did it live up to all your expectations? I saw some in the local supermarket but can't remember for the life of me whether it was TJC endorsed. Perhaps I will hunt for it when I get back.

 HeadInTheClouds:

The poster's colour is gorgeous. Very vibrant.

Did you buy it in the end? I am truly glad I did after guessing and second guessing myself for the longest time!

 HeadInTheClouds:

I would have sprung for the entire thing. Lol! But I love books, and the first editions are special. Unfortunately, the books that I would buy first editions of would probably cost me my house and a kidney :-). 

We'll see whether I end up buying them in the end. Chances are, I might! The real question is whether I would still end up buying a 2nd copy of the 2019 Once Promised, just for the character diagram. My daughter keeps shaking her head vehemently whenever I start mulling over it!

 HeadInTheClouds:

Hmm! I might. My family and friends are used to my craziness, so they'll deal :-)

Looking forward to the pictures!

 HeadInTheClouds:

I'm afraid to ask if your Mao Qiu is still in one piece, that you wanted to buy another one just in case :-). You can probably still find him on Ebay for triple the price.

Mao Qiu is still relatively intact... but definitely has signs of being loved (...........). My daughter accuses me of not truly loving Mao Qiu if I would actually consider getting a 2nd one just because he looks a little worn LOL. Please do share the link if you see it being sold anywhere. I am still desperately searching high and low for anywhere that does sell it but no such luck yet.

 HeadInTheClouds:

I'm a little worried about my XL doll. I think he's in danger of becoming bald. I made the mistake of having him in bed one night, and the poor thing got squashed. Luckily, I have the hairpiece, so if necessary, I'll do an emergency hair transplant with super glue. ;-). 

Oh no! Good idea with the hair transplant. Hopefully it does not come to that! On the bright side, the 20cm doll is still available for purchase on various platforms, unlike a certain Dodo-esque white furball..... On our end, Xiang Liu is doing okay so far, though he is looking increasingly grumpy about his very unkempt hair, with or without the hairpiece! I must say that bedraggled look is probably in keeping with Mao Qiu's appearance, so there!

 Kokuto:

So, I'm watching Love and Destiny, a xianxia from 2019.  It's referenced Zhu Rong, The Flame Emperor, Chenrong, Fuxi and Nuwa "Stones," Chi You's Blade.  I need to pay more attention, as there may have been more references that I missed.

I watched snippets of Love and Destiny but did not continue because neither lead nor the story drew me in enough to want to do so. Please do share how the references are tied to the story though! Any mention of familiar names is a boon to the parched LYF heart.

Welcome, AkuMau. I’m stunned you actually managed to read the entire thread. Did you earmark any pages along the way? With 700+ pages, it’s hard to search through the thread or find things later. You shared some interesting content recently on the main discussion page that I hadn’t seen before.

Thanks for the link, but most of these Chinese links don’t work for me. Was there anything in particular that called out to you? Personally, I try to focus on my own interpretation of the novel and drama. I find it more meaningful that way. We all have our own perspective and experiences to draw upon. Anyway, I’m sure you’ll find the thread is good place to discuss/share/ruminate over all things YaoLiu.

This thread is awesome !  Some posts, lavishly illustrated, are so good!

 AkuMau:

Translate : "Filter"

There's another drama with so much LYF content.  lol

Have you seen anything about XL's last quest to get XY to admit who was in her heart?  Of course, there's the hypnotizing scene after the wedding robbery, which we've discussed quite a bit here.  But I think the drama added more scenes where XL seemed to be seeking this admission or asking XY this question.  Like the casino scene.  Like him returning to the Donkey Meat Seller and reassuring him that he knew who was in XY's heart.

@AkuMau

I read everything, thanks again for the translations! There are lots of things that I agree with, but there are also things that make sense only if you put them into the "reborn" theory's context, which I personally am not too fond of. The funny thing îs that people who believe în this theory can actually make a good case about it, even I who am against it have moments when I doubt the ending, but than I recall the theme of the novel, that romantic love is not everything în life and you can still enjoy life regardless of losing the one you loved and to me that's enough to take the ending as it is and disregard the scenario of XL being reborn.

I do understand there is some basis for this theory too though, the guifang clan especially. Thinking about it, even Ah Nian explaination to XY when she told her about the rumors involving Bei's death could be interpreted as a foreshadow, since there is some resemblance to what XY did în the end.

"The palace maid also said that because Xuanyuan's soldiers killed Fang Fengbei, you were so sad that you had a falling out with His Majesty the Black Emperor and ran back to Wushen Mountain.

You collected so many spiritual herbs during this period of time and borrowed the Qinglong tribe's artifact Qingmu Ding to refine the resurrection pill to save FangFengBei".

If this was supposed to actually be a foreshadow or if some people just interpreted as such is debatable. 

I personally do believe that Tong Hua had something else în mind at the beginning, if I am not mistaken she even said so în an interview, that a decision was made în the middle. Maybe the whole "lost you forever" theme at first was supposed to target only CX, him losing XY forever, while XY breaking free out of the prison CX and Jing made for her and why not, trying to have XL resurrected. This I can believe, giving the snake and the fox's metaphor, where she does end up alone. However, to what extent Tong Hua changed her initial story îs up to anyone's guess.

Btw, I love the point about how the mirror reveals the truth. It makes so much sense, I never though of it în the context of FYY and Hou's affair, but since it's been used by Jing to reveal the truth, it's easy to see how Tong Hua used it for XY in the same way, as means of revealing to the audience her true heart. 

About the journey to the west's reference, I know it's been brough up on several blogs. I don't know anything about this movie,  but I definetely see the similarity in descriptions.

"My true love is a great hero. One day, he will come to marry me, riding on a cloud of rainbow colors. I guessed the beginning right, but I couldn’t guess the ending.”

" XY looked up and saw the sunset glow in the sky. Xiangliu was wearing a silver mask and a snow-white robe, standing in the colorful clouds with a white feather and golden crown. He was holding a large silver bow, and had obviously shot an arrow" 

@AkuMau   Enjoying the posts!  So much information.  Thank you for posting them.  It's nice to see some things that I also noticed.   But lots more that is making me think, though of course, I don't agree with everything.