Sssnoopyyy

Oh no is it getting heated and intense again? I don’t want to read them hahaha. I share the same sentiments, who XY ended up with was due to circumstances and who fit the bill to accompany her at the end. It is not so much about who is “better” or loves her more. She loved all 3 guys in her own way, and they all had their opportunity to be with her at different points in time. Likewise, all 3 love her in their own way. The relationships shown in the series are definitely not ones I would support irl as they were quite unhealthy at times (I mean XY is not a Disney princess and definitely has her toxic traits), but doable in Cdrama universe. The complexities of each relationship is what makes the story so intriguing.

I am a YaoXuan shipper (minority here) so totally agree with your suggestion especially because I also love TSJ and XL and I can see the two agreeing to be consorts haha.

However, I have been very worried this past week after skimming through the leaked script. There will be many changes that really butcher the main plot and essence of the characters. Eek…

over here holding a torch for CX's character before they ruin him lol

I feel like they will do every main character dirty including Jing and XY, just to wrap it up with a nice bow and take away the meaningful aspects of it. :(

🙌🥹 so glad to have likeminded ppl here. I prob need therapy to get over S2 after watching, can someone create a thread for this hahaahahhaha

CX was my least fave in the beginning and I only understood why he was the ML as the story progressed. This was his journey as much as it was XY’s and XL and TSJ were just part of it. I feel like there are many fans of XL and TSJ in the romantic aspect - prob cuhs everyone was irked by the fact CX is her cousin (which I looked past because I viewed it through a historical lens rather than what is the norm now). I mean we had a drama like Goodbye My Princess - with a morally grey ML who lost the woman he loved due to his actions, similar to CX in the novel. It diminished the whole Lost You Forever concept. I cannot see him just pull the reigns on his selfish desires and having self realization on the consequences of killing TSJ before actually doing it. Maybe I’m a sucker for his possessiveness in the novel haha.

They also did XY’s character dirty because it took away all the complexities of her feelings toward all the men in her life (especially XL) and made it seem all too simple/shallow in the leaked script.
Haha thanks for understanding and hearing my rant 🥺I am literally grieving over the story even before the drama is airing. At least I know what to expect and won’t be shocked when I do watch (if I even watch it).

Rant alert:

I skimmed through the leaked scripts and am speechless, SPEECHLESS. How could they do XL and CX (and even TSJ) dirty like that? The multi layered characters were watered down to become one dimensional just to create a cute HE. This is not Lost You Forever, because it seemed like the love they all had was insignificant. And omg CX, my fave character, whyyyyyy. The angst I felt reading the novel was mainly from him. Yes you can prob guess I am a YaoXuan shipper. What happened to the development and greedy, selfish acts from his obsessive love over XY? We had grey characters in the past, so why did censorship not allow certain things this time - from changing the “cousins” aspect, voicing over things to avoid taboo (which was not a taboo in historical times), having the events just be a dream sequence, etc. We don’t get the scene with XY’s mother, or the attempted assassinations on XY and TSJ…
I was anxious about the air date because I will be away at the time, but now, I don’t even know if I want to watch it haha. Sometimes I wish I didn’t read the novel, then it wouldn’t be a big deal. But then again, I feel like even if I didn’t read it, it would still be a shame to not have S2 continue sticking faithfully to the rest of the novel

Been seeing it all over socials and it saddens me that they cannot freely interact without backlash. I didn’t know the fan wars got so bad last yr. It looked like the cast members were friendly before but now they are all treading softly.

There is a hi6 episode? The first one aired, but I thought the second one they did was already filmed last yr - I saw a teaser of it somewhere on socials. Or is this another one that is separate? I figured all the promos and events wouldn’t be happening this yr since they must’ve prefilmed things during S1 to be released now, and also considering how busy they all must be to even have time to promote a drama from last year.

Now I don’t even feel like watching lmao. I need to tone down the expectations and excitement since I will likely be very disappointed. All a dream? So he will just happily send her off and everyone lives happily ever after? Haha. I’ve been seeing a lot of gossip/drama about a promotional event the 4 male leads attended, where there was backlash on the fact that none of them took XY’s human sized cardboard cut out off the stage when asked to (YZ couldn’t attend). Not sure what’s happening or if this is a continuation of the fan wars, but already not starting on the right foot lol

Interesting, I felt that their bond was more emphasized in the drama. Also the line that Jing says in the trailer doesn’t seem in character, about his heart being too small for the world lol (think that was actually XY’s line in the book).
I am worried about CX’s character in S2 too, most concerned about him because he is the most layered and shows the most development throughout the plot! Especially if everything was all a dream sequence - that basically eliminates some of the climatic events (perhaps that’s how they shorten it?). So his character will be watered down. I feel like I’m more wary than excited at this point haha. But glad to have you all to discuss this with!

I read the novel after finishing S1 so it has been a year. But from what I can recall, the characters felt a lot more layered and up for interpretation in the novel - which may be hard to capture through acting unless we hear their internal monologues or something.

I don’t think the characters felt weaker per say (I feel like this is the common argument for Jing which I think is very unfair haha), but the complexities and essence of how they are in the book are hard to fully capture in a drama. Surprised ppl think XL appeared weaker. There were definitely more XL scenes in the drama, I think because he is the author’s favourite, and we get to see his expressions in the drama (we do not know much of his thoughts or feelings in the novel). TJC is also very expressive and added warmth and flavour to the character (if I’m not mistaken, I think they wanted the actor to be more cold but he couldn’t help but show that gentle side of XL haha). I think ZWY did the best he could to play CX, as close as we can get from how I viewed him in the novel. I just wished they didn’t change those little details in the drama.

I think the reason why I have complaints about the drama is because my thoughts on the characters are all based on the novel, and the little subtle nuances that can be interpreted differently depending on how you read it. That is probably why books are just fun because you use your own imagination haha.

Also, I read in the XL-XY thread that there were leaked scripts (just as you mentioned). Do you have a link because they sound pretty realistic, and from my experience on seeing leaked scripts, they are usually real. I am not pleased with the dream sequence and all the other changes…

I sometimes wish I didn’t read the novel, so there would be no expectations. At the same time, I was happy to learn that the author wrote the script and that S1 was pretty faithful to the novel. It is sad when most adaptations deviate from the original story. It is understandable to have tweaks here and there due to certain factors or limitations, but not ok when the essence of the characters and main plot are changed. Also a shame when there are many restrictions on what can or cannot be shown in dramas. I guess we can only wait and see. Considering how strong S1 was, it makes me even more worried haha. There are SO many chapters of scenes I wouldn’t have the heart to remove!

Also not sure how things will play out after ep 39 where CX gave XY the flower pin, kinda earlier than planned. Considering she knows the meaning behind that flower, did they plan to have her know his feelings earlier in the plot? That would be quite the shift. I do know there were fancams of the final scene where XY and TSJ leave the place and she is seen wearing the pin with the wooden doll in her hand.

That’s fair, I respect everyone’s opinion. It’s fun to read ppl’s thoughts and interpretations on the characters. I do believe their familial bond could have grown romantic if they grew up together in different circumstances. They were just kids. His love for her at that time was just the same as hers, until later on when they reunited.
A lot of ppl are irked by them being cousins but it was not out of the norm for cousins to marry back then. And I guess the reason why I believe her love exceeded that of familial love at some point was based on one of their last conversations in the novel - sort of implied. But that bud of possibility never bloomed because he was not an option considering the path he wanted to take. If he chose love, none of the other guys would have had a chance. I think the “what if” is what makes it tragic.

One can only hope that it was the latter, with the planned 60 eps. Just based on the novel and where we left off in ep 39, I just feel that so much time is needed to get through those action packed scenes. But let’s hope for the best 😭 considering the author was the scriptwriter right? Censorship better not have destroyed this masterpiece - it always upsets me when good storylines get butchered in the latter 10-15 eps because they are scrambling to wrap it up. But can you imagine if it ended at the first assassination attempt? Gosh that would’ve been quite the cliffhanger! Haha actually, would have packed a punch and caused a frenzy!

I love CX (maybe it’s his angsty love hahaha, tortured soul that gets me). so glad ZWY was casted. I know everyone will cry about XL but I honestly was crying for CX in the novel - despite his own doings. Is his other drama coming out after? I heard about it and figured they’d have to release LYF soon since the actors have so many dramas lined up to air.

Haha yeah I do still enjoy ranting and fangirling in the forums. Just didn’t know about the yz and dw fan war. Thanks for sharing!

Sorry I’m quite anxious about how the story will be impacted lol I was hoping it would change but guess it is official

NOOOOO that is not enough to cover the latter half of the story 😭 they are allowed 40, why reduce if it is needed

Wow I’m glad I didn’t linger for too long in the other forum, I was exhausted with seeing the standard shipping wars and kind of dipped. It’s ok when it’s playful but that’s intense. Didn’t know real life ppl were getting dragged so much.

There were so many fans of Jing and XL (understandable) but any love for CX here???

I went from Jing > XL > CX. TBH I love them all, they are just as flawed as XY - all with their own struggles and heartbreak. All bound to a life they don’t desire, but doing what they can with what they were given. That’s what makes it fascinating yet tragic.

CX has a special place in my heart, mainly feel for him because if he and XY weren’t royals and/or had a different childhood, there wouldn’t be any of the following events. They would probably be somewhere happily together and bickering like when they were kids.

Ppl are not happy about him attempting to kill Jing but I remember he did tell Jing in the beginning that if J ever breaks XY’s heart, he would kill him. And he did looool (ofc on top of jealousy).

This is my first drama with ZWY and he did AMAZING. Honestly the acting range and chemistry with YZ was admirable. Didn’t care for him in the first few eps but he totally won me over later. Glad they casted him