absurd

That's what I thought, no other candidates and also, he seems like he would be a good emperor, he knows how to navigate both politics and war

From my experience of c-drama comment sections, people will always find something to complain about: big age gap, too old, too young, fl older that ml, ml too old for fl, not how they imagined it, too much kissing, too little kissing... the list goes on.
As far as I'm concerned 17 is old enough to understand and portray romance and I agree with you, that she fits the character really well. As long as her co-stars and production team are respectful of her young age, I see no problem. And from what I've seen of HMH in bts or variety shows, he seems like one of the safest actors for that kinda situation, someone who's always very mindful and respectful of people around him.

It's a drama tropes are unavoidable, but if they are done well it works

How exactly is she planning to stop the wedding if they have already started the wedding ceremony? A bit late for that, no? Something doesn't add up

I love love love the gradual relationship development. Finally a drama that doesn't just go "here, they are in love, accept it". From "I hate him" to "he's ok" to friends, it all looks natural.
Also I'd say the number of episode seems perfect for the pacing. None of that talk talk talking that c-dramas love so much, they are actually showing what's going on and progressing the story instead of giving lengthy explanations that usually put me to sleep.

I am not sure, but I saw a snippet of the livestream where HMH and AM said it is. It was a very short part though, no context

Also if you make character death so dramatic that everyone's grieving, maybe make sure audience remembers or likes them first. Otherwise it's "wait who's that?" situation. Or, like with Luo Sha, the scene was so dramatic and I was like "finally, she's so annoying"

At this point the plot and characters just stopped making sense. She's like "Oh no, I killed him", then 15 minutes later "I'm going to kill him". He woke up, no he's the demon king. Characters appear and dissappear. Do shitty things "for greater good". Is Tongzhou a nice guy or an a-hole? I'm confused. And also the skipping. They spend like half an episode on useless talking, and then action comes along it skips from scene to scene.
The story needs to make sense not only to people who read the novel, but to an average viewer too

Older brother was acting like a child. It would be one thing if it was a simple competition. But to risk the whole country for his pride? Really stupid. And it's not just his leg, he was sitting home for years. So what if he was the one who taught Xie Wuyi? Things like these don't just self sustain if you stop practicing. So dumb

When I started watching, I was pretty sure he's not going to survive. He seemed to be either dying or going blind (not really sure what his doctor wife gave him 5 years for) and also seeking revenge, c-dramas usually kill characters like this. But, he also seems to be pretty good at reforms and a good leader. So, now I'm not sure. Either he becomes an emperor or dies at the end. Hopefully not both.

ML is kinda crazy, I kinda love it. Let's hope he will not lose his ruthlesness as the drama goes on. It's very disappointing when ML who's dark and bloodthirsty in first episodes becomes helpless later on, not just to FL, but in everything.
On an unrelated topic. Is it just because I'm watching on tv in hq, that everything looks kind weird? Did they make it 60 fps or something? Everything is just kinda just a little not movie like, like I'm watching bts

She's not his biological daughter. Her mom says it during the divorce talk, in, I think, ep 5 or 6. I was kinda confused at first, since mom knew Li Mao was his son, why was she pushing them together. But divorce talk explained it.

This is probably the first time I skipped like more than half of the drama and did not miss any plot points, it was so bad. Honestly you could watch the beginning and then last maybe 10 episodes, everything else was unnecessary and boring. No relationship development, they are just... in love, accept it. No character development, not even for SML, who seems determined to ignore the most obvious things thrown right in his face. ML is barely there, like literally, if you're watching for HMH, he barely has any screen time for a male lead. Most of FL's adventures are with SML, but then they don't really get much relationship development either.
And the ending is just dumb. What was the point of that fight, that ended in nothing? Ugh.
The only interesting part of the drama was their backstory. Both of them, I guess. So if you watch the beginning, two back stories and maybe small part of the ending, it's an ok drama

I am not the best at this, but I'll try. There are 6 realms and every year they have a competition to win the blessed rain (probably not literal rain, but who knows). Whoever gets it gets to be prosperous and live better. Only men with spiritual veins get to fight, women are forbidden from ever using their spiritual veins. Also (and this is the part that was not well thought out, imo) people with spiritual veins are the ones that get the most respect in the considered the most powerful. But people, without them also can do magic and also have some kind of power. So i'm not sure why they put it like that. People either have them from birth or not, but someone came up with the way to get them through by using two elixirs. First is poison, second one gets you the veins. And everyone thinks ML has the second one, so everyone is trying to get it from him. And honestly, that's about it. Everything else will be explained as you go, but for the most part, the plot revolves around those spiritual veins, and people trying to get more powerful.

Also when Mo Li was telling Lanling immortals to shut up, I kind of agreed. So f*king loud all of them, gave me headache

I really liked this one at first, for the magical fairies and demons whatever type of drama the story was pretty solid and interesting, characters not too cheesy and it kept up for a long time, but kinda failed at the end there. Leads getting their "happy ending" felt extremely unsatisfying and the final battle and the lead up to it was boring af, I skipped most of it. Literally EVERYONE dying by the end there ruined the story and made all deaths seem empty and unnecessary. ML constantly fainting like a maiden in distress was also kind of annoying, like "oh, he's not important, let's give him leds screentime".
Overall it would have been really good, but the last maybe 5 episodes kinda ruined it for me

I did not understand why they needed to kill the empress. Could have just let her leave with FSG, problem solved. Also FSG did not even want the throne, he would have given it to his brother all by himself. But it is a good point that people only see what they want to see and can't understand why someone wouldn't want something that they want.

I was kinda hoping that princess and XJS would get together. He was a pretty sh*tty villan, but as someone who reformed for love he would have worked better. But they decided that teaching Xiyang a lesson would work better. Otherwise the parts with princess were kinda boring, I skipped most of them, only getting the gist.

The Murong uncle 180 was a bit confusing. Emperor promised not to punish his son, FSG didn't promise anything, but he probably would have left him be. Dude was all modesty and righteousness and then boom different person. That part was a little weird and did not really work for me

I did not expect to like this. Actually dropped it after 2 episodes and then tried again month later. And kinda binge watched it in three days. There are some skippable parts, but overall pretty good pacing and interesting storyline. Relationship development is believable. Some plot twists were kinda unnecessary and reasoning pretty illogical, but overall it works and characters are interesting.

This went downhill for me after they broke up. Not because of the breakup, I was actually looking forward to them getting back together and how the drama would play it out. But then ML resorted to such a childish behavior. After treating he like dirt, he then did 180 because she handed him divorce papers. So instead of acting like an adult, he decided that spoiled teenager was the way to go. Him suddenly changing his feelings gave me whiplash, but his methods of "getting her back" just made me realize that I don't want them to end up together, so I dropped it.

I liked some of the choises in the last episode. Wei Yan not being the villain, which they kind of hinted at with how he was behaving in some situations, he just did not fit the power hungry a-hole image and it turned out he was not.
Qi Min not dying from the fall. It's so annoying when characters are completely fine after falling from the cliff, but die after falling from the ten meter wall.
The return to the village full of dead people was confusing af, for a moment I thought she died.
Them going back to live in that village at all after being named the closest people to the emperor after his mother was also kinda weird. How is that ok? Do they commute to the palace for work or something?
But all in all I really liked this drama. Finally something good to watch