soTreeD

I was really expecting that the official would turn out to be her brother in the end but I guess that is just too far-stretched haha

That set up I was expecting a Hateful Eight vibe which I get won't work at all hahaha

From a narrative pov, I understand why Xiangliu had to die.

I don't know if XL really felt like his life purpose has been fulfilled, but if he lived, the impact felt about his character will probably be different. Also, since he and Hongjiang are characters from the Classic of Mountains and Seas, they have to die by Ru Shou's hand as written so that they can fulfil that reference to that particular source material as well.

In the subtle writing undertones, this also supports their country's narrative that unity is good, resistance is bad.

This is the failing point of the drama version, because when Hong jiang actually seemed unsure, the drama made Xiangliu insist they should carry on... Why did they have to think that dying was the best way out for all those men?

I get that perhaps the men might be too damaged to lead happy lives after seeing what they have lived through during war, but in our modern world now, we try to help soldiers with PTSD get through it. We don't tell them death is the way out. Maybe that is why I can never accept the so called glory that laid in the final battle of Chenrong army.

That was my question too, because some of the very toxic Xiangliu fans only praise his loyalty to Hong jiang but mock Jing's filial piety to his grandmother.

No one is perfect in LYF but there is no need to further bash what is already a character who had been robbed in S2 like TSJ.

And nobody told Cangxuan. I loved how they included that from the novel.
Double the fist pumping for all the lurking he did in S2 hahahaha

I cried for the characters in the second case more than I did for the LYF S2.
I really blame the LYF team for botching this drama!

Funny you should say that because that is exactly what I see Xiangliu doing in Season 2... after 'giving Xiaoyao up to the better man' Xiangliu continued to stalk Xiaoyao, appearing before her so often, definitely moping around, drinking copious amounts of alcohol in self-pity, looking so sad about his impeding doom curling up in Xiaoliu's bed; and yet he was the one who rejected the final offer from Xiyan when Hong jiang expressed doubt over why they fight.
Xiangliu could not express his deepest desire, not even daring to ask her the question he wanted to know the most when he had Xiaoyao under his spell... he can't be true to himself in the end. He can't even mention his own name but phrase his question in an ambiguous manner because he can't handle hearing the truth.

The more scenes they gave Xiangliu in the drama the more out of character he appears. Xiangliu already knew the blood arts since in the novel he was supposedly some great master's disciple - I think Cangxuan mentioned it in the drama, and knew how to get rid of the bugs when he took it over. Over the years he looked very adept at manipulating them, even more than Xiaoyao. Yet they had to add that extra scene where he goes to Jiuli to ask how to do it, just to let him have more mopey moments.

I liked Xiangliu in the novel but drama S2 really ruined his character for me.

Not every 'Jing fan' thinks Xiangliu is incapable of kindness. I don't overlook how he does things for Xiaoyao without expecting acknowledgement.
But its also true that Xiangliu gets the best out of every deal he makes and he is not as 'pure' or righteous as some of you make him out to be. As the fox demon at Mount Jade said, Xiangliu cannot be tempted, but this does not make him necessarily some 'kind' soul out to save the world. It just means his resolve in his life is that strong. Is this resolve 'right'? That remains to be seen.
I wondered if he ever brought Hongjiang to see the super moon over the centuries?

Also this concept of 'kindness'. Is it possible to still be kind but be ruthless at selective times so that you are not 'crippled' by it?
In every teaching about kindness, I don't believe they teach a 'limit' on how kind a person has to be. Or teaching that you can have exceptions on how you live life and its fine to do bad just once or twice.

Why some XL fans have to mock Jing's kindness as a weakness is so unnecessary.
Living kindly not easy to do, and yes people like to mock it. Its not easy to understand. Xiaoyao understood. Jingye did not.
Even Fangfeng Yiying finally understood it - even though the drama cut her dialogue acknowledging that yes, Jing is strong afterall.
But its a virtue that is not easy to live by. If you are so into Confucian teachings, you should know benevolence is at the core. (This is for Plor.)
As far as I can see, Jing is not foolishly kind. He may not retaliate for getting slapped, but he did not 'turn his other cheek'. He took steps to ensure he won't get slapped again.

You praise Xiangliu just because you claim he is loyal to his foster father and his army, but he also did this at the expense of the lives of other innocents and being a threat to world harmony and balance. So what is so great about this loyalty?

I was looking forward to LON because the trailer looked amazing but sadly after watching it halfway, I dropped it.
The cases were a bit lacking and the leads were lacking in chemistry as a crime fighting duo? Even when they were supposed to be a bickering pair it somehow lacked the necessary sparks. And I am not even expecting a BL.

If you like crime solving duos, check out Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty.
There are two seasons now, so far so great!

Bleaching hair is awful for the hair and scalp! If they don't maintain with regular treatments, the hair later turns straw-like and will be quite terrible... one of my friends who bleached his hair ended up shaving his head so his hair can grow out again 🤣

If Xiaoyao sells that medical formula that turned Jing's hair black again so fast, they will never need to worry about not able to make a living when they roam Da huang.
They can open wellness clinics all across the land hahahah
Not only can they help couples who have difficulty conceiving, they can also do hair treatments 🤣

In the novel, Jingye told Xiaoyao that she started serving Jing when she was about eight human years... and he is seven in human years.
From their form, it seems deities are still child form until they hit hundred over years since we see Xiaoyao still roaming around Dahuang as a child when she was well into her first hundred years.

I think its safe to say Xiangliu is definitely a few thousand years older than Jing or Xiaoyao, at last hundreds more in human form. So I really don't think he is only 6 human years unless demons have some kind of different gauge.

But also in TTEOTM, we also see Tan taijin's daughter still a child after 500 years...so yeah...xianxia years is different in every drama? lol

Right?? Almost every casual drama fan reacted the same way even when they didn't read the novel.
The payoff just fell so short.
And don't forget the amazing karma fruit that takes almost 10 thousand years to grow just to let Cangxuan have his moment of truth lool

What made me even more disgusted with CX was after that reveal, he still did not learn from his own errors. He felt righteous enough to slap Xinyue for wanting to kill Xiaoyao, when it was his own shortcomings that led to this tragedy.
He married Xinyue to stabilize his kingdom but he did not bother to put in the time to let her feel secure in her position. He basically gave her the cold shoulder after marrying her. Where is the supposed 'wise' ruler that CX was supposed to be? The drama version of CX seemed very indulgent with his own feelings and short-sighted in how to manage the harem he married.

If Xinyue didn't try to kill Xiaoyao, Fenglong won't have volunteered to fight the rebel army to be able to beg forgiveness for his sister's behalf. If Fenglong didn't go and got over eager to win, CX won't have needed to go Qingshui town when he lost, and Fenglong probably won't have died. Now that is karmic hah

I guess not many drama adaptations really managed to stay true to the source material, and LYF S1 tried its best but S2 was really just a huge creative mess. This is mostly due to budget constraints and the strange way where investments in a drama does not distribute evenly in the overall production but it seems for the specific individual who brought in the money.

We didn't expect that because this time the writer Tonghua herself was directly involved in the screenwriting process so most novel fans expected a more accurate adaptation since its 'her baby'.

For other dramas, League of Nobleman had bought the novel IP rights but changed the story so much the writer was livid and cut ties with the drama completely.
Most recently Princess Royal's novel adaptation was also marred by the production team boosting the second male lead's role so much it overshadowed the male lead as well, that led to much fan outrage.

This is really common in C Ent now, but is it really a good way to make dramas? I am glad Kdramas and US dramas still tend to look at overall production value.

What the Haoling King said to Cangxuan was a foreshadowing to this...
"Some harm is caused not only in the name of evil, but in the name of love".
Even grandpa told Cangxuan not to try to control Xiaoyao's life, but he didn't pay heed either. That was why the tragedy happened.

But now the drama is just... failed to hit any mark since the production team chickened out in the end.

TH gave Cangxuan the 'childhood' 青梅竹马 trope but she does not fulfil it.

I think in the end, Cangxuan still number 1 in Xiaoyao's heart. In the novel, when Cangxuan was happy about that, but it was such a pyrrhic victory.
But as you said, this love is familial love, not romantic love. She can't even contemplate being 'in love' with him.
Xiaoyao would rather kill herself because she cannot live with herself for not being able to kill him, because of the promise made to their elders and how important he was to her.

Here is also a point where I feel it proves that Xiaoyao didn't even have Xiangliu in her mind when she made up her mind to die. She didn't care what XL was doing, she probably thought he had lives to spare anyway. If this was true love for XL, I feel sorry for him. The drama manages to stop this discussion point since they made the moment a 'karmic dream'.

In this world setting, it appears Mount Jade is like a special zone untouched by all kingdoms, like a truly divine place?
Queen mother is like the all powerful deity who rules over this place. Not sure what her duties really entail, other than harvesting divine peaches and making all kinds of coveted divine wine and power boosting items. But this position is exalted and that's why being her disciple really boosted Xiaoyao's status as well.

As for the role itself, its equivalent to being a nun if I have to compare to other dramas. In the novel, its stated that Mount Jade does not allow men to stay there.
All male visitors can only stay for a maximum of 3 days.
Thats why Xiaoyao was ready to finally take over the role in the novel, because she wanted to be free from Cangxuan since he essentially took over the world and forced her to have no other place to go.
Too bad after the horrendous adaptation, we fail to fully appreciate how desperate Xiaoyao was to escape Cangxuan, for her to choose this place she considered a prison in her youth.

I don't know where this came about, I think its a marketing joke to make XL look cute.

Xiangliu is a demon who cultivated and achieved human form. That in itself might have taken thousand over years, if normal xianxia time is anything to go by.
After that, he spent at least 500-600 years as FFB and Xiangliu... from child form to adult, surviving the fighting rings and then becoming an adult.
There is no way he is only six years old? Unless there is some kind of different life meter that demons go by, like dog years to humans?
Anyone well versed in xianxia can share more about this?

Its very strange why you bring up those points about dengwei when I didn't even mention that at all?

What I am writing here is about how some people are accusing others for 'conspiracy theories'.

"The essence of Jing, being smart, supportive, and kind to the end is projected through the drama. " Really? because most of the XL fans only bash Jing and say he is bland, boring and useless.
The drama even adds Xiangliu saying such things just to make sure viewers are influenced this way. And when Jing helps Xiangliu escape CX's men twice, they only chose to show it once, like just one more time makes Jing look better and they can't have that at all!
In the novel, Xiangliu was more admiring of Jing. He definitely thought Jing was 'good enough' for Xiaoyao.

"the production team catered more to Yao Jing and gave them more romantic time."
You say this but did you know there was a grand and sweet proposal scene and Jing succeeded? Xiaoyao blushed and everything?
Their prewedding honeymoon, just the two of them but drama had to inject Cangxuan as a third wheeler.
Jing was key to bringing Xiaoyao to the Haoling king for Xiaoyao's closure with her parents. He was also only the one to go with her to Jiuli to find out about the bugs...
What we got in S2 for yaojing was so watered down that most audience who didn't read the novel wondered why Xiaoyao was so broken up for. They even cut 2 short flirty scenes from the leaked script.
Even the only kiss scene in S2 was a far shot that didn't even last 2 minutes, when the team made the actors kiss for real. The most hilarious thing was Xiangliu's inserted scene, reacting to TSJ's kiss that lasted longer than the yaojing scene itself. Did we really have to see him being all jealous about Xiaoyao happily kissing her man? What a way to ruin the CP's moment.

After seeing the character robbed in the drama, now in the mains, Plor is even stealing the essence of Jing's characterization to give to Xiangliu. Jing is the one who embodies Confucian values, not Xiangliu. I don't know if Plor is even chinese, but pls don't misrepresent our core values.

You want to praise Xiangliu, find other things to praise, don't make up lies.

Aren't you one of the most prolific writers who step on Jing's character in order to make Xiangliu look good?
Writing those 'fake gentleman' analysis... now even promoting Xiangliu as some 'poster-boy' for Confucian values?

"The main idea of Confucianism is the importance of having a good moral character, which can affect the world around a person through the idea of cosmic harmony. This moral character is achieved through the virtue of ren, or “humanity,” which leads to more virtuous behaviors, such as respect, altruism and humility."

I don't see Xiangliu as having good moral character. He is ruthless and he needs to be. He won't hesitate to launch the entire world into chaos again just to be able to let the Chenrong army live a little longer. But that is exactly the strange part. If his goal is to let the army live longer, why didn't they just accept the deal and go live out the rest of their days doing some peaceful farming etc?
Cosmic harmony? I don't think being bloodthirsty for a good battle is trying to achieve harmony.

Forgiving your enemies, trying to even let his brother put down his hatred and have a chance at life with his family. In your book that is 'weakness' just because it is Jing. But isn't this the virtue of 'Ren' 仁?

I am not against TJC and C Ent its a world where people with backers win over others who don't. Just don't pretend its not happening.

What I dislike is seeing how many toxic fans push their agenda here and trying to make other drama fans back down so you are the only voices left. If you are that confident your fav character is so amazing, then focus on him, but don't step on other characters when you know the drama characters were a result of this unfair bias play.

What we try to tell others is, what they saw and now celebrate was not a happy accident. Its exactly what the production company set out to achieve. And in doing so, they ruined a perfectly beautiful IP that is LYF.
We get to whine about that. What is so salty about it?

What is salty is how some fans insist Xiangliu is Xiaoyao's 'true love'.

Xiaoyao is not her grandmother and she is definitely not her mother. She lives her life in a transparent manner. That is why she loves Tushan Jing. Not because they are both damaged goods, but they found that special someone who matches their own world views.
活得通透的人，不争不抢、不骄不躁，以通达的心境追求人生的目标，活出最美好的模样 People who live this way, live their lives to the fullest and in the best way. It may not be the 'epic' way with power or riches, but its how Xiaoyao wants to live her thousands of years.
Don't step on her 'small woman' dreams or happiness.

TH has said, even housewives are important people. Not every female needs to become some big CEO or 'the best' 'the first' in order to be considered as accomplished. That is why Xiaoyao is written the way she is. Its not that she is not motivated to become more, she just wants different things in her life.

There is nothing wrong with that. What we are pointing out is, its obvious who brought the most money into LYF and who got the subsequent attention and therefore now looked like the 'male lead of LYF'.
We are saying this didn't happen just because of the role. It was because what had been given to the role. His role was expanded beyond the novel and other characters all were sacrificed to make this happen.

TJC is talented and he is also not that young anymore. Not surprising that they saw XL as a role that can help boost his career to new heights so they invested alot into it.

What we cannot stand is just how the production teams tend to be really biased in C ent. Are we not allowed to express that? Seeing this kind of foul play and then hearing his fans step all over the other characters, who have now become a casualty for his 'amazing' character setup, why should we remain silent so they can think they are in the right?

In what other circle do you see this kind of thing happening? Where even the top billed female lead's CG scenes look like crap compared to the 'special billed' 'third male lead' ... Should this even be a good business model for making dramas?

Its not you, but some people have been going around accusing other fans of conspiracy theories when the facts is so plain and in our faces.
If it happened, then acknowledge it instead of gaslighting others.