Nam Gonzales

Story wise most villains even people don’t mellow down unless they learn certain lessons. But from the time skip it looked like they didn’t so they should have either stayed the same or became more evil.

It's because the "main villains" Yeon Jin and Jae Joon grew up to be weak losers. Totally far from their teen versions. From their stories, they never learned their lessons (hence the revenge) so you'd expect the adult versions to be bigger, meaner, versions but I was more scared by the teen cast.

It's not entirely Dong Eun's fault. It's more like teen Yeon Jin and Jae Joon got swapped with weak ass excuse for villains which is why Dong Eun's schemes fall flat. It's so funny seeing Yeon Jin run around like a headless chicken not knowing what to do when she's supposed to have the money and power. The mysterious teen Jae Joon was turned into an obsessed, hot tempered g*g*lo. If their teen self saw their adult counterpart they would be so embarrassed.

| 𝗕𝘂𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝘃𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗺'𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗳𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝗳𝗹𝗮𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗲𝗮𝗸 𝗮𝗱𝘂𝗹𝘁 "𝗯𝘂𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘀"| Acting was was ok for all of the actors, specially Song Hye Kyo and the young cast. But I don't know if it's the writing, directing, or maybe the adult casts' decision, but adult Yeon Jin and Jae Joon were complete misses. With the level of evilness of those people you'd expect them to turn out like fake, manipulative Seong-hye of One the Woman, and psycho Tae-goo of Voice -- but they didn't. *eye roll* The adult versions were so weak that they didn't even flex their "power and money" properly. That's why instead of enjoying Dong Eun's schemes, I felt embarrassed for these bullies turned losers. It's not like they're even trying. Also, I felt like Do Young looked more like adult Jae Joon than adult Jae Joon himself.

𝗙𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗽𝗶𝗱 𝗼𝗿 𝘃𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗾𝘂𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗵𝘀
I can recall several recent dramas define “strong” female leads as mary sues protected by plot armor — incredibly strong just because, doesn’t do or like feminine things, genius tactician, that doesn’t bow down to anyone (basically toxic traits in female form). What sets MUD female characters apart from the recent ones is that most if not all of them represent women in different shapes, form, and personalities and how they are strong in their own way.

We have the cross dressing FL, who proves she doesn’t only need to be good in kungfu to be a great heroine but she also needs to empathize with the people around her, and also use her brain to solve her problems. She’s not averse to asking help from the people around her (even the male characters) because she acknowledges everyone’s strengths.

We have several supporting female characters that are also strong in their own way. The spoiled princess that’s very witty and ingenious in her tricks that she was also able to use it to help her friend and change her man for the better. The initially irritating jealous girl that had a character arc turning her into the FLs friend. The doormat concubine that showed her loyalty and kindness that acknowledged her worth and fought for her own happiness. And the female villain/s that used her abuse to fuel her ambition making her a worthy opponent of the FL.

The male characters were not your typical aggressive, domineering type but more like the whole rainbow of male characters. The brawny, slightly dumb, ambitious, but patriotic general. The smart, suave, but playful 2ML. The bumbling adoptive family. And finally the smart, capable, confident, but also goofy ML that can plan as well as the FL but also knows when he needs to support the FL to do her thing.

𝗥𝗶𝗱𝗱𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗞𝗘𝗬 𝗜𝗦 𝗜𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗗𝗘𝗧𝗔𝗜𝗟
My Uncanny Destiny’s main premise about a cross dressing monarch who falls for her enemy might not be new, but the way the producers directed and wrote the characters to be 4D without being too angsty is just so refreshing!

I don’t know who the writer is and their other work, but the way they decided to pace out the story by having subplots in each episode that contributes to the overall story arc made each episode exciting and relevant. We don’t see a lot of those useless, draggy scenes, repetitive misunderstanding between the leads, or side characters stealing the spotlight because most if not all of the episodes had a climax that had you wanting to watch the next episode. The writing was so on point that I don’t even mind that they teased about a 2nd season because the current season was tied up nicely.

Saw the clip on YT on a Korean channel and had to search Google to get the title. Glad the whole movie is on YT with AUto subs. Great acting of all the cast but the film could have been better plot wise. The topic is interesting and new so more minutes to explore the theme would’ve been better. The ending was such a cliffhanger that I think this film will also work as a TV series because Wendy/Tim’s story has a lot of possible turning points/climax — dealing with her transition, choosing who to love based on her heart or her sex, how to express intimacy with her chosen partner now that she’s transitioned, etc. If this was a TV series, maybe under Netflix so more budget,
the issues about intersex and transitioning will be given more light.

So sad Wendy was forced to assume the male identity when from the looks of it she is a female in her chromosomes and in her heart.

I guess the prod did get a lot of budget because the OTP/CP have proven their chemistry/power in their previous work.

I was looking thru the photos — did the team raid some jewelry store because almost all the characters are decked out in exquisite jewelry/accessories.

The closest character to DFQC is Shangguan Qiu Yue (Li Hong Yi) in Love Better Than Immortality. Qiu Yue is also considered as the leader of the "demon" sect and the FL stays with the "righteous" sect in the beginning. Qiu Yue is also willing to destroy the world/give up his qi to protect/save the FL. The only difference is that Xiaolanhua had a character arc where she learned to be more responsible, care about DFQC and the universe, overall matured to be the Xilan Goddess. But in LBTI, the FL never grew beyond her quest to find her true love (Qiu Yue).

I guess if you hate Esther's voice, try watching it on iQiyi Thailand with the Thai dub with subs. It might just be your thing -- old woman, raspy voice to fit the character of a young, innocent, child-like fairy. 😅

Same here! I don't find any recent or on going drama as interesting and makes me smile from the chemistry as much as I did with LBFAD. Tried watching LLTG but the visuals was too pale for me and the characters too serious. The only other current drama that I enjoy is My Girlfriend is an Alien 2 but they only drop like 4 episodes on the weekends even for VIP. So I watched LBFAD again may 3rd time now and Didi and Xinxin bts. The only other dramas that I rewatched more than 2x are:
◼ The Eternal Love S1, S2
◼ Love Better than Immortality
◼ My Fantastic Mrs Right
◼ Lovely Swords Girl
I only enjoy re-watching dramas that are like 70% happy/romantic with 30% angst. Life is stressful in itself so why would you add more stress by watching depressing dramas. 😅

For those who hate Esther's "baby" voice and want a more mature voice for her young, innocent, child-like/immature Xiaolanhua -- the Thai Dubbed iQiyi Thailand clip might just be for you. Then tell us if you still think that type of voice fits Xiaolanhua's character. https://youtu.be/KseHjiol_R4

I guess if you hate Esther's voice, try watching it on iQiyi Thailand with the Thai dub with subs. It might just be your thing -- old woman, raspy voice to fit the character of a young, innocent, child-like fairy. 😅

I liked Jade Cheng in Unique Lady and Wang Run Ze in Eternal Love Rain. But somehow their chemistry here is not just clicking for me. I’ve put off watching this drama for several months now. I’m at Episode 11 and I want nothing more than to smack the face of that hateful, spoiled, selfish “sister” Yin Ruo. Clearly only Zi Yuan treats Yin Ruo as a sister but this 2FL even dares to look down on FL being an armed escort. I wish some bandits will just kill her.

I think iQiyi and the team did not expect this much of success and love for LBFAD so they didn't prepare for merch ahead of time. Or if they did, only for the China market. One, the main leads are not necessarily the A+ actors like Yang Mi, Dilraba, etc. The production team/director is also not that popular with the director's other known work is Young Blood which I haven't even seen. And I think the source material is popular but not on earth shattering level like WoH.

PS. I can only find the official iQiyi merch on the iQiyi China app. They have the box set with 3D Shuiyuntian, OST album, coasters, photo book, cards, and Gold leaf bookmarks. There's also the XLH and DFQC doll that you see on the VIP fan meet. The other merch like the couple locks, stickers, small standees, etc might be sold out. Seems like their target is mostly the Chinese market because they also offer the costumes of DFQC and XLH for avatars on a certain Chinese game. Not sure I can't read Chinese.

Netflix is a bit OC with the subs so I think they are editing the subs from iQiyi before uploading it. Fighting! Netflix will definitely finish uploading all 36 eps.

Agree with all your favorite scenes. I'd also like to add that most Xianxia's by default see going/living in the human realm to be some kind of punishment. But for Xiaolanhua, it's more of an immersion where she needs to understand how it is to be human and for her to gain appreciation of the human realm to complete her journey as the Goddess of the Three Realms.

I just realized, after rewatching LBFAD 3x, that though the main story might not be the most unique, but the heart wrenching scenes are definitely unique and different from each other. Most xianxia's have the ML and FL alternating from sacrificing themselves to protect each other in different lifetimes. But in LBFAD even though they also have that, they also have other tear jerking scenes about familial relationships, loneliness, sacrificing for peace, obsession, friendship, etc.

Truth. I imagine the haters will hate LBFAD more if the team didn't edit the script. 😂