Dominique Euqinimod

I am collecting what is owed to me... so many friends who raved about their fave KDrama persuaded me to watch it with them before. NOW IT'S MY TURN TO RECOMMEND TLP and they are all watching now, too, muahahaha!!!!

The comment here is making me reflect about my own habits of cultural consumption. I bought so many books, albums and film (VCD, VHS, DVD) just based on the BLURB alone and the vibe. Sometimes just the art of the cover attracted me, too, lol.

Some of it I "dropped" and just gave away for others to enjoy. The rest I have kept and read, listened to, watched over and over again. I did not crowdsource opinions, there was no way to know back then unless I consumed it. I just dived right into it.

Did I regret making the purchase, yes sometimes LOL. But that's how you know and how you eventually cultivate your taste.

Ultimately, it's the choice you yourself will make whether to watch, not watch, drop, not drop, rate, not rate. Rating fairly or unfairly is also up to you.

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I am fortunate that when TLP started it coincided with my vacation. It's highly watchable for me so I'm up to date with the latest episodes. No regrets here, in fact I recommended this series to everyone on my contacts list ha ha. Glad they can watch this now on Netflix. :)

I am watching TLP with my niece, she is 14yo and they're her favorite couple, LOL.

They have an incessant need for a public service announcement. Banner men and women camp here. Thanks for increasing the comment count! Lol.

Fight for Cuteness Trophy we all know who's winning! Ha ha. Xiao Bai, take a Xiao Bow lol.

I feel you.

Maybe it's just me, but when I watch a show and I don't like it, I drop and run. I do not bother to vote/comment or camp in the page. I tried watching some Xianxia in the past and after the 5th drama that I dropped, I thought maybe the genre is just not for me, LOL.

Truly loving TLP though. :)

I'm looking forward to the next two episodes tomorrow!

Hello! :)

I'm coming to MDL from an outsider's perspective, so I am happy to learn about discussions on genres such as Xianxia and Wuxia over here. I've watched more series from the west and even so it's a challenge to find female characters who are 3-dimensional and relatable anywhere. It's getting better but we have a long way to go yet.

I try to be self-aware too, for example, even when I watch TLP, I feel like CM is me, ha ha: eccentric bird, drinking ink water absentmindedly, protective of SY and 900 years old. LOL. I'm closer to the age of SY's mum, and the scheming concubine, but irl I am childless, can't relate. So if (big if) I were to write my own character into TLP, I'd be the spinster bird auntie, maybe? Less annoying/vain and just a tad wiser. Ha ha!

The FL was just like me when I was 15yo: reckless, mischievous, stubborn. Also young and wild and free. Ren Min is playing her part well, imho. I look back at my childhood fondly so I have no complaints here. I also like XZ the actor, and when I watch him in TLP I admire the character's patience in teaching, his calm demeanor, deadpan humor, ethereal beauty. I wish I had his equanimity, LOL.

I loved the humorous bits in tonight's episodes. I will keep watching for more. :)

Let us know if or when, please?

Thanks. :)

I understand what you mean.

I am fairly new to Asian drama in general and I can think of very few examples where I see female characters that are relatable. From my watchlist, I really liked Rock It, Mom (2022) and the way the mom and the daughter portrayed their roles to reflect contemporary society and also the way unconventional women might choose their life path.

This is a Xianxia and I do not have enough bg information about the status of period drama writers in China. I imagine that half of them is composed of females, too. One of the articles I skimmed is about Yanxi Palace where the pov is female. I watched that drama, too and find that the female characters have greater variety despite the limitations placed on women in that time period.

Apologies for citing other drama titles here. But just placing TLP in context since I have not really seen any Xianxia in full. Whilst I tried watching other titles in the past, I could not continue. I am on ep 10 here and eagerly anticipate eps 11 and 12 in a few. :)

I noticed because the same happens to me LOL. I use ink pens a lot and when they skip, I need water to dip. When I'm really busy I forget which glass I'm supposed to drink from ha ha.

I did a quick search and it's supposed to be harmless. CM and I are safe, LOL.

Thank you for your reply.

This topic made me hit the search button for articles to read, I found these:

The Construction of Female Images in Chinese TV Dramas From 2009 to 2018. Cheng Li. Atlantis Press.

Copy-pasting what I find as the important bits in the article's conclusion:

"The creators of TV dramas need to explore more possibilities of female characters. It is necessary to shape the roles of women of different age groups, and pay attention to the status quo and life of middle-aged women in society or in the workplace. Compared with men, women face greater pressure and discrimination in society or in the workplace. Improving the screen image of middle-aged and older women will help society to give more care and respect to middle-aged and older women. TV dramas should also reflect women's social values and career abilities."

Because TLP is set in the ancient times and there were fewer career opportunities for women, the above quote is even more significant to me personally.

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Also a very good pdf packed on Media Literacy by Wen Ouyang

https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/288312982.pdf

This is a longer document but Ch 3 on feminism is on point.

I'm taking time to comment here, as do most people on MDL so might as well elevate the discussion to a level where our leisure time is interrogated to include how our media consumption (consciously or not) is shaping our views of women, men, ourselves and our society.

I agree with you of course that writers need to do better. But as a discerning audience, so should we.

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I do not necessarily see it as a men vs women battle. Personally, both CM and ZY are relatable to me because of similarities in having extroverted, eccentric personalities in real life.

I think the difference lies in how some viewers may be projecting their own traits to compare with the characters. For example, I could say that I'm wiser than CM even if he is hundreds of years older, or I bet I'd make a better side-kick to Shi Ying ha ha. But then again, I could never and would never wish to be ZY because she's only 15yo and I am many decades older. I see myself as acting that way when I was 15yo though LOL.

Dare I say that perhaps some of the viewers dissing the FL see themselves in competition with her and think they could do/be better? Just making an inference and perspective is my own.

If I understand your "free speech" essay correctly, you dropped at episode 2, am I right? And nothing compels you to watch any more episodes?

Also you seem more concerned about the director's date of birth as if he needs to be born again if it is the wrong date? Is this like how the FL was also born on the darkest day of the year, why they had to say that she was born in May? Is it astrology/geomancy? I would suspend my disbelief for fiction but not in real life.

I always want to give a charitable interpretation of what I read here but maybe some things are lost in translation.

TLDR: if you dropped this drama already then maybe it is all I need to understand.

He could be drunk on ink water by now, too. Ha ha! Cheers!

Yes, he is doing facials with jade for anti-wrinkles?!

:))

Rewatching, too!

Reviewing Ep 2 again, I am really liking the Bird Man character, Chong Ming now. He cracks me up. :))

Rewatching, too!

Reviewing Ep 2 again, I am really liking the Bird Man character, Chong Ming now. He cracks me up. :))

I am re-watching ep5 now.

Timestamp 23: 48 he is saying that, "no one there is prettier than me..."

Shi Ying gives a huge sigh and says "of course" LOL

Cracks me up!

I'm like, sure Bird Immortal, no one THERE, but NOT HERE!!!! Ha ha!

I look forward to seeing more of their interaction. If this promises a lot of angst then we need this kind of comic relief every now and then no?

Hello, @OneLuffy I agree with you. We like what we like, don't like what we don't like, but I had hoped that the pages here on MDL could be used for reasonable discussions. I watch all sorts of genres (even the Human Centipede lol) from various cultures because I'm curious like that.

The bottom line is always WATCH FIRST, praise or diss later. NGL, I browse the pages here because I like spoilers ha ha. But yes, I also do not trust the ratings. I notice that C-dramas and even J-dramas here on MDL do not get very high marks.

Re: Gong Li (Hatsumomo in MOAG) is a Zhang Yimou Girl, the same way that my other favorite, Maggie Cheung is a Wong Kar Wai Girl. I love them both! When I started watching HK/Chinese cinema they were THE IT GIRLS. To me they are quite unforgettable.

Now if Xiao Zhan and Takeshi Kaneshiro did a film together with WKW at the helm, I'd be really really happy...if wishes came true? Ha ha.

I am watching this with my 13yo niece and she likes them, too, especially Shi Yu. She watched all 6 episodes with me and will come back later for more. :))

Totally agree. Bird Man (God?) is an adorable side-kick. :)