AH

"9 heads thinking power is like a super computer right?" LOL

I've come to quite like the ending. I haven't been able to come up with an alternative version that's feels more satisfying and right for the characters. Like you said, it's not a perfect fairytale ending. None of the main characters got absolutely everything they wanted, but each of them at least got the thing they wanted most.

<3 ^^

Koala included portions of the last three chapters (17, 18 and 19) in her translation of LYF.

See my most recent comment ;)

"Wow...it's a snippet from the novel and it made me tear up reading it. 🥹😭 I am seriously gonna need a lot of tissues when I get to the later part of the novel."

Okay more novel spoilers ahead, but yeah there are so many devastating little details.

XY sends the ice crystal ball to XL with a letter that just says "In two months I am getting married. This is the last poison I will make for you. Please accept with a smile.” But the obvious hidden meaning (with the mermaid holding one hand to her heart and extending the other to the merman) is that XY is reaching out to him. She's saying: this creation (which obviously took a huge amount of time, effort and care to create) is the last poison I'll make for you. This is the end of our relationship - unless you do something about it. Please come give me a reason to not marry FL.

And the doll that XL carves for XY to hold the ice crystal ball? He can't help but laugh when he looks at its impish expression. After XL's death, XY decides she wants to leave Xiyan to go explore the ocean and the islands that XL mentioned. When she's packing up her things to leave, seeing the impish expression on the big-bellied laughing doll's face is the first thing that makes her laugh after she finds out about XL's death.

And both of their present-making and sending approaches were nearly identical. They both chose rare and precious materials. They both hand-made something that was beautiful / visually pleasing, but also indestructible. They each put a huge amount of effort into sealing their creation so that it would be completely seamless. Both presents were accompanied by hidden messages, and both presents were ostensibly sent because XY was about to get married.

You're welcome ^^ Although I gotta say I was not expecting this thread to go on a TSH / FFYY tangent!

Both the novel and the drama make a point of telling us that XL doesn't use his powers to disguise his hair when he is FFB. He dyes it black with herbs. When XY asks why (since that approach is less convenient), XL says that it was originally to avoid making a mistake, but then it became a habit.

Since regular people in their true forms dye their hair all the time (and it's not all that dissimilar from XL wearing a mask to hide his face when his hair is white), I think Tong Hua emphasizes this point to make it clear that FFB isn't a false form for him. As XL says himself, he isn't acting like someone else when he's FFB. XY realizes that when he's FFB, he acts like XL would act if he were able to take off his armour and escape from the war and his loyalties to Gong Gong.

"Xiao Yao thought back and realized that Fang Feng Bei appeared different than Xiang Liu only on the surface, but the way he didn’t give a damn about anything and didn’t want for anything was the same attitude. The only difference was Xiang Liu appeared to be him when wearing battle armor and heading to war on the battlefield, while Fang Feng Bei was him who shed the armor and was enjoying exploring the world."

There are times in the novel where XL does change his form to disguise his appearance, but being FFB is different. In a sense, XL gets to be more himself when he is FFB than when he isn't. As XY noted when she stayed with XL in the military camp, training soldiers day in and day out and maintaining a disciplined military lifestyle would go against his basic instincts.

"Xiao Liu was suddenly rather impressed with Xiang Liu. Demons were by nature wild and untamed, refusing to follow rules and authority, and definitely no desire for status. But Xiang Liu reined in his rebellious streak to live a mundane daily life doing what might be something he utterly despised."

The real FFB died hundreds of years ago. After the real FFB dies, XL starts using his identity. From then on, XL is FFB and FFB is XL. When XL tells XY that FFB is dead, it's a figure of speech. For all intents and purposes, FFB is "dead" because XL will never use that identity again. The world is also told that FFB is dead. But apart from the practical implications and wanting to start putting distance between himself and XY, there's nothing stoping XL from using that identity again if he wanted to.

There was definitely a moment where I thought to myself, rather than representing TSJ, one could decide to interpret this added man as representing FFB. The warmer side of XL who appears to be a deity rather than a demon. A version of XL that didn't live on the opposite side of an invisible "mortal enemies" barrier. A version that could smile at XY and take her hand, if only temporarily. Except that, by putting a representation of FFB in the crystal and gifting it to XY, XL was almost making XY's wish that FFB would stay with her forever come true. As if, rather than the two of them considering FFB to be "dead", his likeness would live on in the crystal, and accompany XY forever.

Based on the context, I think the only logical conclusion is that the man represents TSJ. But the novel doesn't say so outright. So who cares about logic? You can definitely decide to interpret the man as representing FFB if you want to.

Which countries?

I've got to hand it to her. Tong Hua is a master heartstring tugger.

You're welcome. Enjoy ^^!

This has to do with the scene that XY creates in the ice crystal ball that she sends to XL before her wedding with FL.

In chapter 31, the scene is described three times. Once when XY assembles the scene. A second time, after the ice crystal has been re-sealed (which took four years with the help of a powerful ice goddess) and shaped into a ball (which took a master carver three days and three nights to complete). And a third time, after XL receives the ice crystal ball and looks at the scene after being reminded of XY’s upcoming wedding. The scene is also described one more time in XL’s epilogue when XL carves his wishes for XY into the ice crystal ball before sealing it inside the big-bellied laughing doll. But that final description of the scene includes an additional detail.

-

Chapter 31 (carving and assembling the scene):

“Xiao Yao used all her effort to carve this piece of poisonous Ice Essence into the shape of a sea clam shell. She carved two sides of an exquisite white clam shell with wave ripples along the edges. When it was opened it resembled a blooming flower. Xiao Yao then used all sorts of exotic herbs and poisons to create two merpeople. She put the mermaid on the clam shell and she put the merman in the corner away from the clam shell. Xiao Yao also made red coral and colorful little fish.

After it was all completed, Xiao Yao brought out the ice crystals collected from the North Pole and had a specialist split it open and hollow it out. She put the red coral in first and secured it on the bottom. Then she mixed up a batch of poisons with Jade Mountain bone essence to create a blue liquid suspension that she filled the ice crystal ball with so it appeared like blue water. She then put the clam shell with the mermaid and the merman carefully inside the poisonous liquid and surrounded it with the colorful fish. She then closed up the ice crystal ball and used her spiritual power to temporarily seal it.”

-

Chapter 31 (describing the scene after the ice crystal has been re-sealed and shaped):

“The clear exquisite ice crystal, inside was the deep blue sea, and in the water were colorful little fish swimming and beautiful red coral. There was an all-white giant clam shell like a blooming flower and inside a beautiful mermaid sat on the clam shell. Her hair flowed like seaweed and her beautiful tail was half on the clam shell and half in the water. She had one hand on her heart and the other hand reached out towards the distance like she wanted to grab onto something or like she was calling someone to her. In the direction where her hand stretched there was a merman floating in the water. He appeared close to the clam shell but he was coldly staring outside the ice crystal ball so that it felt like he was actually in another world and not in the world of the peaceful isolated ocean with the mermaid.”

-

Chapter 31 (after XL receives the ice crystal ball and is reminded of XY’s upcoming wedding with FL):

“Misty raindrops fell on his palm and created an icy mist around the ice crystal ball. It made the blue water inside even more vibrant like the ocean under a full moon. The blue ocean depths, the isolated peacefulness, the mermaid sitting on her beautiful clam shell home reaching out her hand to beckon, to plead, to summon. But the merman just coldly looked out at the world outside the ice crystal ball.

Xiang Liu stared at the ice crystal scene for a long, long time. Slowly he reached out a finger and pressed it on the ice crystal so it looked like he was taking the mermaid’s outstretched hand. At a glance, it appeared that they were holding hands, but in truth the ice crystal separated them. They were from two completely different worlds. They could never truly be together.”

-

XL’s Epilogue (before sealing the ice crystal ball inside the big-bellied laughing doll that will be his gift for XY and TSJ's wedding):

“A clear crystal ball wrapped around an ocean tableau inside. The glittering waves had colorful fish swimming, red coral, and a large white clamshell open like a resplendent flower. A beautiful mermaid rested sideways on the clamshell, her hair flowing like seaweed and her entrancing fish tail resting half against the white surface and half in the water. A man stood next to her, holding the mermaid’s extended hand and smiling as he gazed down at the mermaid. In the corner of the tableau a merman floated in the ocean, he appeared close to the clamshell but his distant pose made him seem like he was actually in another world and not in the same calm and serene ocean.”

-

How is this last description different from the earlier descriptions? “A man stood next to her, holding the mermaid’s extended hand and smiling as he gazed down at the mermaid.” This man wasn’t there before. It was originally just the mermaid and the merman. Somehow XL unsealed and resealed the ice crystal ball and adjusted the scene inside. But he doesn't change the scene so that the merman (who represents XL) turns around and takes the hand that the mermaid (who represents XY) is extending to him. Instead, he adds a new humanoid man (representing TSJ). This new man faces the mermaid with a smile and takes her hand.

No matter how much he wanted to, XL couldn’t face XY with a smile and take her outstretched hand. They were from different worlds. They could never truly be together. So he gave her a man who could be in her world, who could truly be with her, who could face her with a smile, and who could take her extended hand. And when she is about to marry that man, he sends this updated scene and his well-wishes to her as a wedding gift. But sealed inside a doll, where she will never, ever see them.

And my heart is broken all over again.

Welp, I’ve finished re-reading the novel and noticed another heartbreaking detail that I didn’t catch in my first read.

https://koalasplayground.com/tag/lost-you-forever/page/7/

The drama goes as a far as part way through chapter 28 if you want to stop and not spoil yourself for the parts that will be covered in S2. The scenes from XY's childhood are scattered throughout the novel rather than all shown at once in the beginning.

I binged the first 26 episodes like that, and then when I had to wait for new episodes I binge-read the novel. Highly recommend reading the novel as a stop gap against not having new LYF content to consume. I'm re-reading it now (slower this time, with no skipping) and will probably read the graphic novel next.

Well this is a throwback. It's been so long, watching the anime feels like something that happened a lifetime ago. Having a live drama version of it after all this time is a bit surreal.

Ah, Ashes of Love. Got it.

This is making me think of a period from the novel, but I feel like it's probably not the phase you're thinking of? Are you referring to her character in BoC?

Given all the things I mentioned, I basically wrote it as if FL was writing this letter from the grave. I'm assuming the actual letter is written from FL's perspective at the end of S1 (after the engagement but before the wedding), so I'd be very surprised if all the content was close ^^"