Frost_edelweiss

I am behind in watching, catching up, now at episode 10, but I came with a positive bias and still like the drama, the snow and gloom, and theatrical vampire "who does not hunt for human blood and sticks to chicken!" Also thinking the doctor must be the lost bro, although why so shy to admit it (suppose that will come to light later). Quite amused by the monomaniacal antagonist Li , and by finding Maggie Huang in another Jin xiaojie character (the other one was the brothelhouse/informants center owner in A Journey to Love): from the moment I spotted her, I thought hmm she reminds me of.... of course!

(I had not studied the cast before, just jumping in with no more bias than "I usually like horror/vampire stories, and this will be a nice change from business or costume dramas". So I let myself be surprised and sometimes delighted by the characters - including Ouyang Nana whom I already remembered from Secret Fruit and... -other dramas? Tang Jingmei (Miss Mu) I remember as playing “herself” in Meteor Garden 2017, “poison lady” in new Sword&Fairy 1, Li Dai (SFL competing with Yang Mi who was the FL ambitious lawyer vying to become partner in the law firm with "glass ceiling" against females) in She and Her Perfect Husband . Actually this is also only second Vengo Gao drama I watched. Happy to add another actor -and more- into my "interesting ones" list, now. )

Since I started, I went back to start of comments to find data about when this one was shot (from October 2021 to January 2022 - it was very much anticipated by a crowd but postponed many times, causing speculations as to why ? theme? contents? something/someone potentially offensive? Or just usual tardiness from platform, which also famously delayed airing for The Oath of Love for years? I skimmed the long Tumblr post (https://ashesforfoxes.tumblr.com/post/666095634 ) about the story. But not too attentively, so as not to be too spoiled or expecting. I also tried the early links to novel (but they drew 401) and despite noticing the link to https://www.kanunu8.com/book5/ruyue/ for the Chinese e-novel (pointed to by Haveninmuse in Discussions) I decided to just forge ahead and have a look at comments later. The one by Berbox (https://kisskh.at/707003-ru-yue#comment-1) made me laugh. The Peachey Blossoms snippets look interesting, but I watched only two before thinking I'd better watch the whole drama and not be stopped by those previews at my stage of watching.

Wondering when the reference to the troubled 1937 time will be more explicit. The tumblr post announced the setting as Shanghai French concession, and the antagonists being henchmen of the Japanese invaders, but it is not that clear in the first episodes (despite some sets have been reused from other dramas set in that period).

I liked the dropped reference to and interpretation of plight of Zhu Yingtai in the Butterfly Lover story when Shen took Mi Lan to enjoy a snippet of Chinese opera. Not sure all audience caught that: it's one of those Chinese culture references that get dropped in some dramas to vibe with audiences of Chinese world but which other culture audiences may find cryptic without explanation (like the one about that "calf" mention in the interview mentioned by favblanket (https://kisskh.at/707003-ru-yue#comment-1). Perhaps all these things should be pinned into a suitable Discussion so as not to be buried under the avalanche of comments about likes and feelings of many for characters, disconnected from these cultural references.

The three (cursed?) families mentioned in the opening, the arrival (pedestrian wise by train) of the Mu witch and her Lightning fast henchmen ; the (psychopomp?) raven depicted as something else by the mysterious "seer" who gifted to/imposed it on Shen: these bring in fantasy elements to widen the scope.

So, that was my comments pause part-ways before going back to this tangled story. I sure like the leads. But I have the feeling that the logic in script is sometimes lacking - or I did not understand it yet - but the drama' has got an addictive feeling nonetheless.

That scene (the ice bath) puzzled me for two or three reasons.

Where did he get the neat ice cubes from?

How come Mi Lan could not sense him when she could "smell" his scent as he was standing still far away in the first episodes?

Why did not he warn her simply to stay out of the bathroom because he was busy there, instead of "playing dead" and just watching her explore the bathroom with her stick and hands?

I thought perhaps it was in order to insert a "sweet scene" but no, it was staying on the dad-adopted daughter line despite the show off kiss (not sure why she kissed then? Had she bitten her tongue to make it bleed so the vampire could get some needed blood?)...

Thank you ! Yes, I was checking whether ABAY had reached the coveted level... ah, almost, but not, so be it. I added the data compiled by Dreams in the relevant section,
https://kisskh.at/discussions/as-beautiful-as-you/128207-companion-piece-places-characters-songs-and-more?pid=3099947&page=1#p3099947
and since I also had been scrolling down as far as could to find the interesting tidbit I remembered, I found it.

Also some singing, and of course the nice song with A'Lan, whose stage performances and recordings I've been following for a few years, liking her Chinese version of the song from Red Cliff https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uc7Mr2oseP8, her take on the Sally Yeh song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ibv36hANfTc , her Tibetan mantra https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LStBIUEUOrM , her song Love of Nature [did we hear Alaso???!! almost, it's Ai la so...🤣] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYgJWeg__08 etc etc)

So, I added those XK songs in the relevant subsection :
https://kisskh.at/discussions/as-beautiful-as-you/128207-companion-piece-places-characters-songs-and-more?pid=3103893&page=1#p3103893

Now, I think I have squeezed out all the blood for that cup, and can "nail the coffin" to be buried in the next Snowfall 😅
Thanks again and cheers for your n-th re-watch of ABAY!

Let's do a Profile for Songyun or Xu Kai next time. I need more digging and pointers to gold veins, into their different fandom, to extract the good lore (she's a dog person, he's a cat one, so that's really different) and to dispel the toxic mist about the vampire girl he once met who tried to squeeze blood out of him... "ego eum absolvo a peccatis" if any, from my Vatt'ghern seat in deep space. Looking at my golden-eye dusk-dream colored cat daemon, who winks cryptically 😅.)

NO thanks....... I have NO hate for any actor/actress
(except, on reflection, mild disgust for the one who sits behind bars, not worth mentioning name and deed -iykyk)

It's a lovely one. I have trouble to unglue myself and dive unrestrained into the vampire story in suitably gloomy republican era 😁
Despite my own self imposed August 4 deadline which I've gone beyond (well, I had stated August 5 at the latest : so, if I count Hawaii time, I am still not liable for penalty 😁)
I will probably come back once in a while to double check for mistypes and of course add (I hope) many more spots in the Top Ten of weeks to come.

I do have a question for you. Going back to our brief convo a long while ago in this comments thread : did XK sing ? Do you have the link for it if he did, so I could add it as link to "he can sing" instead of the previous song you mentioned then ? I unfortunately did not copy the links then, so would have to wade through hundreds of posts to get back to it, but perhaps you have that handy ?

I just added the kids in the end. From Baidu 😊
So, as Xu Kai said, the coffin is sealed

Arsenal Military Academy was the one I liked best hitherto 🔥
Now... hard to decide: AMA or ABAY ? different time, different focus.

I was betting "The Tale of Rose" would endure, when I started watching it and began my other Companion piece for it (including an LGX profile because the actor will likely be more seldom seen while he engages in doctoral studies) ; I am pleased to record in relevant section its 8th week in the top ten (4 times as #1) .

I hope "As Beautiful As You" will also remain a favorite. I had started on it just for entertainment, since I watched many of Seven's dramas with pleasure before (without exploring her fandom yet), and had excellent memories of a handful of Amber Eye's works (I still have quite a few more now in my tbw list...). But I was hooked enough, and particularly so after Chang He showered the pixiu in tea (not sure that using gongfu cha thus is very good for luck!!) and realizing how much of Qingdao was used there. So, I began, a bit belatedly, to compile my newest Companion piece, for ABAY. The section recording weekly score will of course be maintained as I do and did for other dramas I "drank ink" for. (After all, the Stars story is also about the merits of brushing up with foreign education like in the phrase : 喝过洋墨水的人有丰富的知识 (Hē guò yáng mòshuǐ de rén yǒu fēngfù de zhīshì / People who have studied abroad have a wealth of knowledge.) 😁

Greetings from deep space and I wish all here continued pleasure in drama watching, while moving on to other times and places.

For some light reading, I made a (very long) Companion piece, very illustrated, full of links to a galaxy of more, pinned up in Discussion section :
https://kisskh.at/discussions/as-beautiful-as-you/128207-companion-piece-places-characters-songs-and-more

It's not too complicated to navigate through the cross links between sections and subsections, using the "Table of contents" device.
Anyone interested is welcome to comment and add info if they like ! 😁

Thanks for recoms! If I wasn't wrapped up now in Snowfall (it's hot here so... thoughtfully licking my strawberry flavored ice cream..... ) I'd swiftly click to watch the one I missed there. 😁

Yes, I think the strong reactions to the story are indeed one reason it still is so successful and even coming back as #1 watched this past week in China.
But... it's just a drama, not a blueprint for real life behavior, which is often whimsical and depending on many outside factors, even weather !! It is well played and I have enjoyed it enough to re-watch it twice, while building the Companion piece in Discussion section which is now, chabuduo, complete 😁

I put a GIF of it in the Companion piece 😁

Indeed. I think that the name was cooked up when she still thought she could have it all : her company + a spouse that would end up more supportive and respectful of her, when he saw that she was capable (wish thinking on her part). It sounded perhaps nicer than XingZhi or XingZhou if she concatenated her partners name, which could have made her future spouse offended as if she was having shady dealings behind his back; plus perhaps the names were already copyrighted ?
As for the easier, more middle of the road employee future, Ji Xing had really had enough of it: she did not trust employers (other than herself and best friend) any longer after the burns she suffered in Guanghua. And anyway, it all went back to square one for Han Ting when he roped her in to be in charge of developing the AI talents team, wouldn't you agree?

implicitly, yes for most (one villain, no) - and there is one wedding for one of those.

Yes, there's even a video with a "part2" showing him doing that in post production in October 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otqbWmmR1Is
(I added it with a Gif in my Companion Piece in Discussion section --above this comments one--, which is nearing time I'll write "completed".)

very relaxing and easy to watch, cute fairy tale with a beautiful doll like FL : Mr Insomnia looking for love ! (2023, 24 episodes, Youku)
same, less doll like : My Girlfriend Is an Alien (2019, 28 episodes, WeTV or Viki)
with a touch of fantasy and Hanfu but modern : Mr Bad (2022, 24 episodes, iQiyi or Viki)
---just off my hat, not saying they are the ultimate masterpieces, just good relaxing fun.

I'm off to check out airing Snowfall, because it looks like a vampire story and I have fond memories of such ! There will be stress, for sure, gore perhaps as well !! 😁😁😁 (but it is Republican era, which some dislike -- me not: I also loved Xu Kai's Arsenal Military Academy, so that's another one for your watch list if you missed it ; Bai Lu is always adding touches of comedy).

All good. 😺

Yes I also think Xu Kai should be careful now not to remain typecast as the eternal "domineering boss/CEO" ! He did it very well, but he needs to do other things to demonstrate his real versatility. After having watched a few dramas where he was the "rich heir" or "ruthless CEO" (and he combined the two in ABAY commenting in an interview that Han Ting was from "an aristocratic family", which made me half guffaw coming from a citizen of the PRC), I will be looking to other sides of his work that I missed or which will be upcoming.
Going there with a positive bias: I like cat persons 😺

I enjoyed your comments about this drama and tried to answer a couple of times, but perhaps my MDL has more than hiccups trouble, so I just wanted to say thanks to you for your dedication about Xu Kai.
I was mighty pleased to have the infos about his "Persian cat" old nickname from your former post, and the links to the amber eyes. Since I first saw XK back in Arsenal Military Academy, I thought he had a feline grace, walking like a cheetah, and surely must be a cat person ; a while ago, I had found out about his three beloved cats and their names, which I added in my (ongoing) inventory of c-drama actors and actresses' pets, housed under "My Precious" discussions. 😆

Maybe a number of people who don't like the leads came to down-rate the whole drama, and they did not find the special episode ? I think the drama is worth much more than 8.2, but the special episode at 8.6 since it is not much fleshed out, is indeed worth 8.6 for the mixed feel good and heartbreak quality, sometimes puzzle, of its contents. Many people complained they could not find it. My opinion is, it should have been included in the drama, at least in part, although episode 40 can be considered also a fitting end one.