Frost_edelweiss

Thanks for that additional title among those you translated!

I read that there are 28 items on the OST list.
I was wondering. Are the 11+2 alternates on the playlist in Discussion the only songs with lyrics (apart from the HITA reprise which I pinned in another Discussion about Playlist, and, there is another title with HITA among artists but I did not manage to hunt it up with certainty - yet) ?
Are other titles on the list still being processed, or are there only instrumental versions remaining?
Two days to go, so ample time to listen carefully to all those delicious songs ! ;-)

If you like to sing, you can sing the lyrics that come with the videos I selected here :
https://kisskh.at/discussions/really-miss-you/121599-love-you-love-my-voice-playlist-and-more

I am totally left smiling by the charmed bubble around Mo Qingcheng and Gu Sheng and their lovely songs.

I dived in to watch it (like you?) as a fluffy excursion into other times other views and sounds from dramatic A Journey To Love with its Buddhist/Daoist sects "paths" complications, switching to the main app (WeTV) where I have a subscription as VIP so also watching other shows on and off.

This drama is a really nice one, with mouthwatering recipes and kitchen stuff. I am not surprised that it is "quickly moving up in ranking just behind Hidden Love"! Those who are afraid of sweetness overdosing should quickly turn away and dive into One and Only masterpiece tragedy instead of complaining about voices (the song ones are excellent here, and as a musical drama it is up till now totally satisfying! and spoken voices are also totally fitting the sweet romance) or love themes and tropes! Those who crave Wonder Woman "strong women" to overpower the stupid sentimental or overbearing older males should perhaps not stay with c-dramas, even though some may fit their taste (Dream of Splendor, perhaps?). Tan Jianci's Mo Qingcheng is certainly unusual in his busy pro medical and dubbing business, having resisted love affairs until suddenly falling for a voice heard online and on a demo song played in ... a supermarket!

Although as a timely romance, airing of Love Me Love My Voice would have been more appropriate for early February before CNY and Valentines' day? (Perhaps it will have a re-run then and charm more audience... )

I am also a mandopop/gufeng/zhonguofeng EDM lover. I assume most here know about the resurgence of that "ancient Chinese music influence" on Chinese pop music, popularized in the early 2000s by Jay Chou, which is showcased in Love Me Love My Voice. So, for those who are looking for more musical pauses (and the OST), I have pinned a selection of songs here :

https://kisskh.at/discussions/really-miss-you/121599-love-you-love-my-voice-playlist-and-more

and feel free to add your own favorite mandopop/gufeng/zhongguofeng songs in reply there !

Yes, still work in progress. hahaha. Hope MDL will not have me forced to move parts for "excessive length". I should probably have foreseen that I needed some different "reply" segments to continue the characters directory in "chapters". Maybe I will do it later. Although it does add time, but this once, all the pictures I need are screenshots by me or reworked by me that are in a handy file in case something has to be moved.

"Calvary in a religious context", yes hmm, I was watching quickly so first assumed that it was a spelling mistake, although the recurrence puzzled me, therefore I chose to not put it in the description of characters I illustrated, first found in dramawiki and also in the MDL cast list for some, since there was no corroboration from the Baidu page.

I am not much into Buddhism, have not really seen that word used in Daoist texts or other media before, perhaps ought to have a talk with a true-blue Daoist about that. To me it sounded Christian and Jesus story like so rather irrelevant. And yes, you are right that the word Daoist/m was briefly mentioned in ep.1. We do learn a lot of arcane stuff through watching those c-dramas, don't we, lol !

I will check further perhaps about those calvaries (not sure, since your interpretation is sound to me too now), as I did for Yulin which also puzzled me (that word is now clear to me: I was not much into costume dramas of ancient Chinese History although I did watch some series like The Legend of Condor Heroes, LLTG, The Sword and the Brocade, A Dream of Splendor... but did not remember that word from those. Perhaps it was there also and I just did not pay attention.

Am too lazy to go re-watching those for the minutiae. Also other business will most probably hinder me from too much drama catching lol !

Continuing the drama with much pleasure, undeterred by possible (probable) tragic end, and looking forward to your take on it, in Reviews or Discussion, whatever you'll choose to pin your writing ;-)

I love your view about these mythical beings (have one real true-blue heavenly Dragon at home, lol!!) and about watching c-dramas for your own reasons ♥♥♥

Am not too much into friends on social media (too much to handle for me: am probably same age and situation as you, but maybe not here for many years any longer, Heavens will be done, and already writing/watching /reading too much). I may DM you later perhaps, and will reply to DM if you have any question that I can answer or things you prefer to write about more privately.

perfidious? that's not an arcane word, nor a minutiae :
Perfidious Albion is even the name of a board game, a naval war game, of the 2000s updated in 2019 still played by war gamers (although it is decades since I gafiated from their tribe, and even from my main fandom of SFF, I still get some updates about gaming universes from younger fans who are into these fanacs and mention their passions...)
More mundane, a long blog post of 2020 by Irish republican politician Gerry Adams (who was the president of Sinn Féin between 13 November 1983 and 10 February 2018) mentions " Perfidious Albion has been a part of our historical and cultural narrative for almost 900 years. " referring to the numerous contentious issues and historical strife between Eire and the so-called United Kingdom. (http://leargas.blogspot.com/2020/09/perfidious-albion.html)
Although the concatenation of the two vocables may not be that ancient since it looks like it mostly gained audience in the 19th century, according to this entertaining piece: https://www.jjon.org/joyce-s-allusions/albion

Words are fun! I am an avid reader too, also of older English literary gems such as the plays of Marlowe, and Shakespeare which is quoted from in every book of the urban fantasy novel series October Daye, penned by American writer and songwriter Seanan McGuire - I also like that series for its catalogue of gaelic mythology spirits that are a nice addition to the world collection of assorted monsters, demons, and ghosts : centaurs and griffin, gorgons/medusa, in their Greek and Roman manifestations; Lorelei and German other worldly beings in the Nibelungenlied, the Tales of Grimm ; giants, dwarves and elves of the norse Eddas and their Tolkien offspring ; rusalka, drekavac, baba yaga of slavic folklore; yokai of the Japanese; Chinese dragons, qilin, kun and dapeng, white or green snakes, fox spirits, e gui, etc. (I like to read about folklore since I first enthusiastically came across Frazer's "The Golden Bough" study of comparative magic and religion, and expanded to other cultures' folklore).

Yes, reading many books (also of poetry, History, travelogues, biographies, contemporary geopolitics, business and computer culture!) are great to expand one's vocabulary and understanding of the world we live in!

I am almost disappointed that we don't (yet?) have some interesting monsters and demons in A Journey to Love. The shape-shifting device of the Scarlet guards' "skin mask" is depriving us of some of the magic of wuxia, which was still present in the older stories (Legend of Condor Heroes etc).

Hello again!
and thanks for this ; I have referred to your duly credited comment in the Characters directory that I have put in Discussions under https://kisskh.at/discussions/a-journey-to-love/121473-a-journey-to-love-notes-on-production-location-dates-cast-characters-and-more
I had been puzzled by the "calvaries" mention, so thanks for having cleared up what it meant in this context. The inspiration for this sect like Liudao looks indeed quite Daoist to me too, although it is not precisely mentioned.

Small corrections that need to be edited in your presentation :
Marquis Changqing
4. Yuan Lu .... martial arts skill

Yes, he also caught my attention since ep 1, so I may be looking at future other dramas with this actor 哈哈哈
I am sure I will watch "Chasing The Moon", since it also has my favorite Bai Lu and Ao Ruipeng in the cast, but perhaps also later "Dali Temple", where Chang Huasen will have his first main role.

I have put the names in English version on that chart, here : https://kisskh.at/discussions/a-journey-to-love/121473-a-journey-to-love-notes-on-production-location-dates-cast-characters-and-more

But I am still catching on and working on the page, to introduce the numerous characters, so that's not finished yet.

I liked Bai Lu in her dual role as cadet in Arsenal military Academy.

Are you sure it is from a novel ? I did not find it and it was not mentioned on Baidu, only that Zhang Wei is the screenwriter. So perhaps it is an original script for drama.
Otherwise I agree with your observations.

wow, wow, wow! the beginning is just....... awesome.
sad that there is georestrictions so all cannot flock direct to iQiyi to watch it.
but when there's a will, there's a way.
catching up from episode 3.
Liu Yuning, Liu Shishi are wonderful ; Alen Fang too
with such a pace, slowing down will perhaps be difficult but let's be reasonable to enjoy those 40 episodes, sometimes head needs to emerge from the lotus basin despite the fire and fumes in the hall! 😂
just read that "iQIYI's historical drama #AJourneyToLove, starring #LiuShishi and #LiuYuning, had a heat index of 7148 on its first day of broadcast, setting a record for iQIYI's highest popularity on its first day of broadcast in 2023."

Yes, both Bai Lu dramas (SOKP and OFL were n°1 of the week past, in web and TV drama charts as computed by VLinkage etc and reported on the Marcus Here! Youtube channel Sunday evening) For second week running for both.

just avoid AvX.
Myself I used to have same opinion as Kiie below, but not since August, when she showed how truly shallow and malevolent parrot of anti fan groups she is. I have unsubscribed and don't hesitate to mention my disgust about her.
Just the mere title of her video about this Only For Love drama shows it is built in the same scorpion like vein.
[IF you want real news and balanced views, go to the Marcus Here! channel on YT instead. I globally agree with him and the commenters on his channel (not everyone though; there used to be one recognizable anti fan who crept in to spread mayhem, but she must have finally been silenced by YT : good riddance)]
Do not let the awful self proclaimed "pro critic" (she is just a Youtuber) gain more views and monies from YT or other naive followers who agree to be formatted and brainwashed by her poisonous rants.
The only stuff I found valuable (in the past) was her introduction to guqin (I play it too, long before her), poetry, Hanfu and ancient costume, some actors portraits where she strove to be neutral, and some language notes. Everyone noted that she sided against Zhang Zhehan by seemingly agreeing to the backlash that took him down over some banal pictures of flowering trees and a remote friend's wedding. I am not really following that case closely, but since I like mandopop, I can't help side with the audience that remains faithful to the probably unjustly banned entertainer whom she consistently ignored after his success and sudden downfall.
In 2023 that AvX only focused on gunning down dramas, making me increasingly irritated until one specific moment when she went totally overboard and lost me, forever, very dramatically ;)

that quote is actually in a nutshell the conclusion of this drama.

Yi Yang is a guy. So who is "herself"? Shuyi?
Plus Yi Yang the ambitious "dark horse" is no stalker : a persistent and obnoxious suitor, ok.
Not more. He never breaks into her home or grabs her to drag her away! At the worst, he lures her to climb up into a tree (that scene was nice for the "coaxing fairy" part from Shi Yi, but totally incomprehensible from Yi Yang who just stayed perched up higher and looking at the show, without even a groan to show his presence!)
Real stalkers don't declare themselves to be such and usually don't confront their prey from front ;Yi Yang did not need to be tasered. Besides, in many countries, even pepper spray is banned as it can be construed as an offensive weapon. Better learn jiu jitsu or krav maga then, or simply have a very shrill and loud whistle handy.
.............."any normal woman" : who watches dramas to see "normal women" ? but any normal woman would certainly not look for a (bulky) taser gun and risk it be wrenched from hands and used against her, or find herself in custody for having used unlawful weapons ;)

just to remind that translations can be very misleading too; a "dog" is familiar slang for unattached single young males in China ; "submissive" should have been better translated as "devoted, attentive". The mom just wanted her to pair up with someone matched in age, size, social status, and sufficient common interests to build a normal relationship. So, there is no hidden zoophilia or sadomasochism à la 50 Shades involved.
The "three musketeers" are not to be swooned for or pitied: they have chosen loneliness and just look at beauties with jaded eyes since many of those are only interested in their wealth and power. These characters might be interested in communication, commitment, and honesty, but don't think it really possible until they are in a way forced and pursued into it by the flawed two females and the relentless (but sweet) young one.
It is quite thorny relationships, but less unbelievable than those rosy hued tales where everyone (?) is conforming to the (old or new fashioned) western moral, cultural, and linguistic compass. For such, better turn to Disney cartoons, or old "Desperate housewives" or some better chosen south American soap operas (btw this drama, with its 7 couples and other third wheels did sometimes remind me of Brazilian soaps!)
Anyway, nobody forces audience to sit through 32+1 episodes of a drama, fast forwarding to catch translated nuggets of dialogue in order to form impression about. Unless they are professional reviewers paid to do so, belonging or not to a group of interest (competing entertainment companies or news outlets, organized fans or anti fans)?
Not that I really am enthused by the screen adaptation of this modern Chinese office romance, which is bumpy travel, to say the least, with the phones as predominant guest stars. To me, I found it interesting as a mirror of office politics and business in China, including show business, where relationships are not simple as we well know from the gossips pages.
There were some really beautiful, sweet, simply funny moments : the temple visit and quote from Du Fu's poem, the childish joy of girlfriends playing with snow in the water town (glimpse of Wuzhen), the very funny quip towards the end "Call me uncle!" that embodies all the complications of Chinese family lines...
And of course, really handsome guys and girls, despite none really are my favorite, except impish Bai Lu, who I always look at with interest : she can play such a contradictory Shuyi character, well seasoned in her line of work, but lacking both in culture and sensibility, and not as insightful and upright as she thinks herself to be, and make it work. naturally. Sometimes the way she played Shuyi reminded me of Scarlett o'Hara in the old movie Gone with the wind, in her compulsion to flirt, shock, and unwittingly antagonize Shi Yi.
As for this ML character I thought he was used to conceal his thoughts and sentiments and trained to speak as little as possible, because of his unusual upbringing as son of celebrities and celeb himself in his line of work. Wang Hedi was well chosen for such a relatively stony faced and apparently rigid character.

I object to castigate audience as "dumb" or having any judgemental attitude about them: that sort would be, to me, a very Shuyi-knows-it-all-and-believes-herself-superior to all others, like a deity basking in her own glory-vapid-beauty attitude. Religion and dramas are the opium of suffering people?

Happy to see that i was not the only one who liked Bai Lu in "Forever and Ever", albeit she played a rather delicate FL there, just a tad more talkative than mute Shi Yi in "One and Only" tragic masterpiece.
Try also my favorites : "Arsenal Military Academy" and "Love is Sweet" where pairing with Luo Yunxi was so perfect that they were eager to follow up working together again, doing the dark masterpiece "Till The End of the Moon".
I am only now embarking on "Story of Kunning Palace" so i have no firm opinion on that one yet; it looked like it started again, like in Romance of Tiger and Rose, or other twists on same idea, with FL from present times being projected into a world of fiction.

Yes, DW (ex Daoming Si in MG and Dongfang Qingcang devil in LBFAD) and Lulu had good chemistry, after all, in this one, and perhaps will find a better story than this one to play together in. Although last episodes ("call me uncle!" quip: rofwl) did leave a better impression. Anyway, dramas are in no way a moral compass...

kisskh.com until 36.5 ; soon on viki too, i think.

on kisskh.com they are all there now, until 36.5; so i finished catching up from 26+ and staying for those 10 remaining episodes; enjoyed much more the last ones. The "call me uncle" quip referring to the complicated and hidden family ties was very funny to my ears!