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How many times have you watched this video?

Me: YES.

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Unhealthily obsessed with them. A Dream Within A Dream still halfway through but I already badly madly need a reunion drama, preferably modern 🥹🙏.

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I'm just a girl begging for this drama to have a good script because C'MON you cannot waste a Tan Songyun and Liu Xueyi pairing! You just can't! It's a crime on humanity. 🙇‍♀️

I could not even care less about the visuals (I survived AMBF and made it my 2025 drama!) and I can turn a blind eye to it if this drama just delivers on the script part. MAKE IT FUN AND LOGICAL!

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Recommending some of my faves off the top of my head (although not sure about the angst because I try not to go there 🥲):

1. The Pillow Book (xanxia) - the drama is ehh but the novel is soooo 😗👌! The quality of the translation is also 💯. (Angst: 85/100, happy ending)

2. Refusing to Serve Me then Off with Your Head (historical) - we have an unreliable narrator from the FL whose coping mechanism is self-loathing (and tw: self-harm) and an ML who's absolutely down bad. (Angst altho not romance related: 90/10, happy ending)

3. Sansheng, Death Exists not at the River of Oblivion (xanxia) - three lives three worlds love story of god of war and stone from hell. This one's a riot but will also make you cry. (Angst: 80/100, happy ending)

4. Our Second Master (historical) - really really short story that will never fail to make me cry. (Angst: 85/100, happy ending)

5. The Chronicle of the Oriole Island (historical) - this one doesn't have angst but it's a short mystery story but it's so so soooo GOOD! Really HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! (happy ending)

6. One Night, One Day, One Year, One Lifetime (modern) - oh this one wrecked me and by far one of the most twisted cnovel I have ever read. Also a short story but angst galore all the way to the end. (idk how to categorize the ending but I really couldn't see it end any other way for the characters).

okay frens, since i am spending at least one more day recovering from sickiness and may want a diversion that’s not watching a drama…what cnovel should i try?

the only ones i’ve read are the blossoming love and mdzs.

i like angsty romances with happy endings, if that exists in cnovels. i like a fl who could kill me. i am absolutely not afraid of spice or violence. translated to english. influence me, please!

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One of the most well-written, best acted, profound xianxias I've watched in a while. Too bad you've probably not heard of it! But well, you're hearing it from me now: It's really worth watching and damn it, please watch it.

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A Moment But Forever is one of the best xianxias in years, so I wrote a shit tonne of analysis of each episode as a result. Do read this while watching the show or after, to prevent being spoiled. It's worth it. #CDrama #CDramas #Xianxia

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I love figuring out how to summarize my Cdramas for my friends in the most deranged way possible.

Area woman realizes her aro/ace bestie actually thinks they've been dating the last 30,000 years. When she gets a boyfriend, her bestie reacts in a totally normal and rational manner...by turning everyone into a demon.

2. A white ape and tree demon break up so badly that they kill most of the cast, nearly annihilate two realms, and then fling themselves into self-sacrifice in the most dramatic way possible. Many trees were harmed.

3. STEM goddess dabbles in cult deprogramming and love with mixed results.

4. Sunshine woman falls for grumpy master, who is still obsessively pining for his deceased master, who has reincarnated into...the sunshine woman! She just didn't fully ripen in her fruit phase. They go forth and multiply. The tree was not harmed.

5. Woman travels back to her childhood to prevent her boyfriend from turning into a sexy silver fox.

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Idk what's going on in this still but hmmmm...

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Love in Pavilion | Young Master Wangquan Hong Ye is not to be underestimated.

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A Moment but Forever sent me to sleep giggling while Love in Pavilion sent me to sleep crying.

This drama is not good for my mental health. Because this is literally me after 8 episodes:

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I need to this drama to be good enough for me to enjoy I AM BEGGING 🛐

It's been ages since I've liked a Li Yitong drama 😭🙏.

2025.04.23 - 书卷一梦 | A Dream Within A Dream - First Trailer

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🎶 help, i'm still at the restaurant 🎶

I swear, I TRIED so hard to start watching new dramas (3 DRAMAS already with my fave people!) but my brain is still on AMBF high for some reason 😕.

Still not able to enjoy the new dramas like I was enjoying this one 😮‍💨. This is exactly like post-TLOS drama slump all over again. UGH

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Out of context things from a xianxia drama I'm watching that I find funny because why not

- FL has a "shields you from a fatal threat with my body and dies before you, altering your brain chemistry" moment in front of the ML. This is is however ruined later by the fact that she comes back to life. Only to die before him again. At which point he's not swooning like she expected but just wary and understandably horrified

- Is It Really Stalking If You're a Goddess Trying to Save His Life and Ensuring He Lives a Long and Fulfilling Existence But Then You Accidentally Die and Resurrect In Front of Him Multiple Times and Make him Wanna Bolt

- Guy's living a psychological horror while she's in a romcom for something like 10 episodes straight

- there is a guy who, due to a bug in the heavenly code, gets tortured to near death by lightning every 49 days instead of ascending. Somehow this doesn't stop him from being the most relaxed and easygoing dude of the entire show

- all the men in this immortal clan have blue tipped eyebrows. Make up exists in their plane so this must be a fashion statement. Will update if this ever gets commented on.

- ML gets shat on by a bird at one point and this has plot relevance

- FL is the fantasy and ancient version of a modern engineer. ML, on the other hand, is an erudite who cannot solve basic math problems from a child's book

- an immortal from the same clan of the ML struggles to put together a puzzle with less than 50 pieces. Clearly the immortal education system is biased towards the arts rather than the sciences, proving they really are enlightened

- there is an accidental child acquisition arc and they almost feed it wine. Healthier solution turns out to be feeding it gold instead.

- This happens in their "oh no we're suddenly broke" arc btw

- in the same arc, a goddess gets her shit nearly totaled by a dog

- at one point, the main couple has a mini arc living in the the FL's best friend's house. The enemy who tried to assassinate the ML is also there, sharing domestic moments with them and only making it slightly awkward

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Somehow the "Wei Shao turns into a cat" choice is the least unhinged. The rest of the options really just went on and on...

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A Moment but Forever x Bigger than the Whole Sky

An attempt to hopefully get this drama out of my system so I can proceed to the next one with a fresh mindset and appreciation.

I don't know why I do this to myself but this is by far the most time consuming edit I have ever done. Fun but time consuming. Ughhh I just love them too much 😔✊.

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Rating A Moment but Forever's story a 4.5 and the overall visual a 10 is... certainly a (interesting) CHOICE...I wouldn't make but each to their own I guess?

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A Moment But Forever: Not Your Typical Xanxia (REALLY LONG REVIEW coz I have a lot to say but by no means comprehensive)

STARRING: TANG YAN AND LIU XUEYI

Disclaimer: NOT A SPOILER FREE REVIEW

A xanxia drama meets cyberpunk sci-fi and then you have A Moment but Forever. Our female lead, Ji Tanyin, is basically a really smart engineer who created innovative machines and technology when she was a human. The heavens were moved and she ascended into the divine realm. Our male lead, Yuanzhong, high priest of the Youhu clan (fox race) who is known for having a bad reputation.

Ji Tanyin continued her innovative ways in the divine realm and created a strong artifact, the Divine Left Hand that was used by Taihe, the primordial god in a war against the War Demons. These War Demons were originally from the divine realm and for some reason was banished to the human realm (for reasons that the drama did not elaborate). In the chaos of the war, the Divine Left Hand fell into the human realm and into the hands of the Youhu clan cult. So many things messed up about but let's sum it up with they're not a good group of people.

The Divine Left Hand combined with Yuanzhong and he used the power he gained from the artifact to defeat the War Demons in a war. After the demons were defeated, the Youhu clan, scared that Yuanzhong will discover the things they had done to his family, manipulated him to wear a gold necklace that would seal his power and convinced him to isolate for 40 years, during which he was driven to madness.

Enter our female lead who was given the task to retrieve the artifact that she made. And to take it back, she has to kill him.

So we now have, jaded and genocidal, philosophical male lead meets the straight-forward and sincere engineer female lead. If that doesn't spell chaos to you, I don't know what does.

But first let me start with the not so good things about this drama:

The visuals, color grading, cinematography are all getting failing grade from me. I can't believe this is even uglier than dramas made in the last 5 years. No color coordination, color theory WHO? Nothing. I love pastel but they just gotta pick the most boring pastel shades and run with it. When I tell you, the casts visuals were hard carrying the aesthetic of the drama, I am not exaggerating. I'm not really a visual viewer and visual aesthetic is not at the top of my list of reasons in enjoying a drama but in this drama it's just tragic.

The styling, atrocious. If you manage to make two beautiful people like Tang Yan and Liu Xueyi look boring, then congratulations. Very plain, plain styling and again, THE COLORS! Who said, bright orange and pastel blue with yellow lights go together? Apparently the team who made this drama!

THE ENDING! I already ranted about this so I will not elaborate any further. I did not hate that it's an open ending but I hated that it was lazy and I know could've been done better.

So all those things aside, what sets this drama apart?

Surprisingly refreshing take on the xanxia genre. Three lives, three worlds who? This drama just gave one lifetime of chance for Yuanzhong and Ji Tanyin to create their story. Stakes are high and the chances are low. Like really low~

The sci-fi elements of the drama is also fun to watch and it's not just there as background but woven into the plot and the characters especially to our female lead, Ji Tanyin. And she is one heck of a character. Straightforward and kind with no malicious bone in her body which is the complete opposite of our male lead who is cynical and completely jaded. I say, the perfect match!

The dynamic of the leads! I am completely obsessed! Ji Tanyin is so STEM-coded who just runs numbers in her head and very genuine. Yuanzhong, on the other hand, very HUMSS-coded who can talk about time and existence all day long. Haven't had anyone who treated him with sincerity as much as Ji Tanyin has and so he's confused and suspicious. The misunderstanding that ensues is hilarious.

Surprisingly, no love-crazed character?! This is a personal preference but love-crazed characters especially if it's female, is a major pet peeve of mine. Cause they're the characters who tend to ruin perfect plans, relationships, etc in the name of love and I just - HATE.IT! Thankfully, everyone in this drama seem to have their heads on their shoulders.

Really interesting and diverse female characters. Ji Tanyin as the female lead is very fascinating. Zhi Dai and Yun Niang even though secondary characters had their chance to shine even with limited screen time. Even A Xue was able to stand out and felt like a real person.

This drama is so FUNNY! And not in the slapstick comedy kind. It's genuinely hilarious! The dynamics between the characters feels genuine and the flow of the dialogues - just perfect! The comedic timings are also perfect! It's like the scriptwriter sat down and said okay what jokes would work (one me) and then just wrote the script to A Moment but Forever. And so I laughed more than I cried.

The drama is very unpredictable (at least in the first 2/3 part) in a fun way! We have two leads whose brain operates very differently so I was taken to a roller coaster ride of adventure and very interesting conversations between them.

The philosophical discussions are deep DEEP. Like it is serious in this drama! However, it was written in a simple and fun way that as a viewer I was able to understand and engage in the conversation. Very comprehensive too! And definitely makes you think, does time really exist? What does it even mean to exist? What is good? What does it meant to be evil?

Yuanzhong's redemption arc! Can I just say it was so perfect?! I love LOVE that at the end, it was him who decided to save himself. Had Tanyin come and be the main reason he changed his plans, it would've been less impactful of a scene. But no, he decided HIMSELF that maybe the world is worth living after all. Maybe, he'd go on that adventure that Tanyin was talking about. The flashbacks with all the people and friends he met along the way and then when he said, "Never mind", made me cry not gonna lie.

The music scoring! The OSTs are really really good! And it's added perfectly to the scenes and it doesn't drag on forever! 10/10!

This drama is by no means perfect. But a really strong script really does great wonders in my enjoyment of the drama and the things that I'd allow them to get away with. And as I have already said before, this is MY 2025 drama. Even with the cheap looking set and boring styling, it's really hard to beat the fun that I had while watching this drama.

Rating: 9.5/10 (could've seriously been a 10/10 if not for the ending) Rewatch Value: 10/10 (will definitely rewatch this on my break) Acting: 10/10 Category: MASTERPIECE