song

Just feeling nostalgic comparing how I felt before and after I watched LYF. 💔

When the first trailer dropped, I was excited because yay! a new costume drama from my fav actress. Though I'm not gonna lie, the trailer and synopsis confused me so bad lol. The only thing I knew was that Yang Zi and the guy who yelled "Is it wrong that I want to be with you forever?" were amazing actors.

I originally watched LYF with a grain of salt but quickly realized just how complex and interesting the story was, and that was what made me fall in love with it - it was unique from other dramas. At first, I liked Ye Shiqi and wished he would be the endgame, even though Xiang Liu was incredibly hot lol. I never expected that the latter would be the character I end up loving the most. His development and selfless love are top tier, nothing can compare. I didn't even care that much about my fav actress's character anymore LMAO

Now that I've finished, my stance on Yang Zi's and Zhang Wanyi's acting stays the same but I'm adding Tan Jianci too. Xiang Liu is a really difficult character to portray yet Tan Jianci made it look effortless. LYF is definitely a story that I'll remember forever.

"re- introduce a male lead filmically" omg yess that's a perfect description! I love it ❤ and yes I 100% agree with what you said

Ohh that. Yeah that was annoying. I'd love to give you my QR code to scan but unfortunately I only had my account for 2 weeks 🥲 When I created mine, I just did the card verification method. But if you'd rather do the QR code scan then you could wait if TaliaToo is able to provide theirs or if someone else is willing to.

Love this explanation. No doubt, Xiang Liu is the main character. He didn't receive as much screentime as the other leads but still stole the spotlight, and hearts of many viewers like me haha. Despite the changes, you can tell that the drama poured a lot of thought into his scenes, Ex: his first appearance as you mentioned, Xiao Yao seeing Bei for the first and second time, her discovering Bei's identity, even the final episode was more focused on him instead of the supposed happy ending lol.

What do you mean? Are you asking how to scan the QR code in WeChat?

Okay I said I'm rating this an 8 but the LYF withdrawals are too strong that I just have to change it to a 9... (and yes I'm biased lmao)

Xiang Liu suffered a tragic and lonely past. Since the day he hatched out of the egg, his parents were nowhere to be found. He spent so many years fighting in the slave arena just like Left Ear. Hence, when he received kindness from Hong Jiang and Xiao Yao, he spent his entire life generously repaying them back. He also fell in love with Xiao Yao because of their similar experiences; they could understand and confide in each other.

For those who are interested, here's a link to the Lost You Forever OST and BGM playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nEG-HEcXbmnde2QgD678kU_7z7Eod_RuU&si=frLrvwON-5Mdl6dB

The only difference between S1 and S2's soundtrack is the addition of Tan Jianci's "Peach Blossom Blood" (桃花血). Kinda bummed that they didn't release all the BGMs shown in the drama, including the variations of it, because they're so so beautiful. I really wanted to hear the music box version of Cang Xuan's sad BGM and the beautiful flute song that played when Fangfeng Bei drank in S2E02 and when Xiao Yao cried over Xiang Liu in the final episode.

Agree with everything you said, especially this part, "While we've seen variations of this selfless sacrifice in c-drama and particularly in xianxia dramas, we haven't really seen one as extreme as XL." This is what makes Xiang Liu such a lovable and memorable character. So extremely selfless, did basically nothing for himself, only for others. And yes! We really need Winner is King to air 😭

Hope it's true! It'd be awful if they delayed it til 2025

Forever replaying Xiang Liu/Fangfeng Bei's scenes

That entire scene was heartbreaking. It's my second favorite after S1E34, when Xiao Yao hugs Fang Feng Bei because she was so happy that Left Ear/Zuo Er won.

I have too much to say about S2 so to keep it short, I'll just say this: Xiang Liu deserved better and the script changes were horrendous. Went from a 10/10 S1 to an 8/10 S2.

Edit: And I'm not a fan of YaoJing but their wedding was so bland it's sad lol. Xiao Yao's wedding when Jing wasn't there was SO much better.

Then why would the drama use specifically Jing's BGM for her scenes? Why not XL's or CX's? At first, after watching S1, I had the same thoughts as you. Until S2E06 came along and I realized it is NOT a simple coincidence, it's clearly intentional. They had all those other options yet decided to choose Shiqi's and Jing's theme.

If you watched S2E07 (46) where Xiao Yao and Jing get back together, you see Xiao Yao admit that she never fully trusted him before. "Because of my childhood experiences, I feel pessimisstic about human relationships." "I've never truly believed in you because I don't dare to." Doesn't it sound similar to what Tian'er said?

The relationship between Xiao Yao and Tushan Jing is just like the relationship between Tian’er and Chuan Zi (Skinny). Both Xiao Yao and Tian’er gambled that their fake affection towards Jing and Chuan Zi, respectively, will eventually turn sincere.

As Tian’er said to Wen Xiao Liu: “Chuan Zi has always said he wants to marry me but I never took it seriously. With a background like mine, how can I take men seriously? Actually, until now, I don’t believe Chuan Zi will be nice to me forever. But I want to try. If Chuan Zi is willing to stay with me wholeheartedly, I am willing to be wholehearted in return.”

Since S1 aired, I noticed that the drama sometimes used the BGM for Shiqi and Jing during Tian’er scenes. If that’s not telling of the parallels then I’m not sure what is.

Links to BGM (the titles are literally his names)

Ye Shiqi: https://youtu.be/u00KzytKguM?si=HkBrE2BFTd-krmbt
Tushan Jing: https://youtu.be/OBHQ_1qOyT0?si=Yuf8A5cSaaaa5PB5

S1E06 @ ~5mins (YSQ bgm): WXL first meets Tian’er and asks if she’s willing to spend her life with Chuan Zi

S1E06 @ ~35mins (TSJ bgm): The critical conversation between WXL and Tian’er, where she says that she is willing to spend her life with Chuan Zi as long as he is also willing to

S2E06 @ ~35:40 (TSJ bgm): XY meets an elderly Tian’er

Are you a writer? Your posts are always so poetic and beautiful!

"Xiang Liu was never born, he never lived
and he's about to die."
I love and hate this line because of how true it is 💔

lmao you're right 🤣 Xiao Yao should've said that! This girl will always lives in delusion sigh. She can lie and deny but she can't hide... The Lovers Bug and Xiang Liu's spell have clearly shown us her inner feelings.

I don't remember him ever crying in the novel, or if he did, author Tong Hua didn't mention it. The novel was written in mainly Xiao Yao's POV so it's understandable that Tong Hua wouldn't explicity describe how Xiang Liu or the other characters felt. I'm glad the drama let us take a peek at Xiang Liu's emotions though.. 😭

If we're already crying at this scene, imagine how much worse it'll be at the final battle 😭💔

I cried.

I read the novel beforehand so I should already be prepared right? But no... it's even more painful seeing it in action. His face when he kissed her wrist, how gently he carressed her ARGHHHH I can't do this yall... I can't... I don't wanna say goodbye to Xiang Liu 😭