MyLangyaList

I might be mistaken but I don't think she refused treatment. In ep 29, the doctor offered her two options: the aggressive surgical approach and conservative treatment approach. The surgery would be open skull, has risks, but would be more effective. She chose the conservative approach, which risks it getting worse (I'm assuming it's brain tumor based on the subtext).

Neglecting all treatment would be quite OOC, but choosing the conservative treatment is understandable. Since open skull surgery means she couldn't hide it from her family and friends, she'd need to shave her head, and it would be a much bigger wrench into her career and relationship. But then in ep30 you get the doctor's update that it's progressing and she should not delay surgery any longer.

I also think it makes sense she's hiding it from her family and especially XWH. Because she knows he would take the matter into his own hands and it would completely disrupt his work, etc. The same way he took the photographer matter into his own hands with questionable result. She didn't want it to affect others in significant ways.

Those are just for keeping plebs out of banquets and commoners from becoming an eyesore to people like the 2nd Prince ; )

Yeah, I think ppl who grew up with CDramas would naturally assume there would be some internal injuries even if the arrow didn't pierce the skin. The minor detail that would have made more sense is if he had a big bruise, the same way body armor can stop a bullet, but the transferred force will leave a bruise.

Also blood spitting has just become accepted for any semi-serious injuries. Supposedly it started based on Chinese lore. Then became omnipresent because it was an easy/cheap way to project injuries without the expensive makeup required to replicate wounds/gore that you have in Hollywood shows.

https://thefangirlverdict.com/2021/05/26/open-thread-nirvana-in-fire-episodes-1-2-3/

Thanks, heard a lot of good things about it, and it seems like my kind of drama. Definitely on my priority list, which unfortunately or fortunately is too long.

Also Later I Laughed, which is contemporary, and quite a different flavor from many modern dramas. It's a nice lampooning of the work culture idiocies, and perhaps has a slight echo of American shows making fun of corporate life.

John, if you haven't yet, check out romance in the alley, it's a very realistic retro drama. Not really about romance.

Woohoo, finally subbed. Not the best subs, but serviceable. It's two seasons and multiple episodes compiled together.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLykbRqPIkH79xSpFJceBUWTkQk_n1CEu6

to be fair, not everyone is an expert on extreme wiener squeezing. Some will feel it with just some gentle squeezing.

It also helps that they are close friends in real life. ZYW and ZSW were literally classmates at Beijing Film Academy, and ZYW has also been supportive of ZSW during some trying times as Zhou found success earlier, but ZSW struggled for so many years before The Bad Kids and exploding in popularity with The Knockout.

No it's still mostly a mystery, hence future seasons.

Yeah please, for the love of god, just let people have one quality costume drama with 'old people' as casts. There are a million costume dramas already ruined with young idol casts.

For detailed background, see Sent-Down Youth: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sent-down_youth

There are a lot of cultural and historical context that would be missing for intl audience or even young Chinese audiences. The late 70s was when China just emerged out of the chaos and policies of the Cultural Revolution. During that time, many young adults were sent from the city to remote provinces to 'aid the countryside'. And this was a terrible ordeal because there's a huge gap in resources, opportunities, and status from being in the city vs. countryside, especially top tier cities like Shanghai or Suzhou. Keep in mind, China has a Hukou, or household registration system. Think of it as an internal residence permit, that's tied to the city or countryside you are in. And that also applies to your children.

For families with several children, they had to decide which one to send to fill that quota. And the countryside was rough, the sent-down youth were doing really grueling labor. So when the cultural revolution ended, policies were relaxed, the sent-down folks were desperate to return to their home city, for very significant practical reasons, but also to be back with their family and their 'hometown'. To complicate things, many also got married and started families in the countryside. And the policy wasn't clear yet and was changing, so many were rushing to get in line, or make a gamble on the matter.

And this also causes a lot of family squabbles because the sent down member felt they sacrificed for the family, and it's now for the city folk to make the sacrifice for them. But the city folks are also juggling many demands, and often struggle to accommodate those siblings or relatives trying to return to the city. So it's the situation with Li Jia, Xiang Peng Fei, and Wu Shanshan (the girl from early eps who couldn't go to college).

Keep watching, her Mom's motivation and reactions are not unreasonable, and pretty reflective of the realistic context in China.

I was also expecting a more triumphant story of overall obstacles, but I also really appreciate the different direction the writers took and the story they told.

Because the core story went beyond simply gathering the courage to be yourself, to the very real struggles and cost of being yourself in the world. Having the courage and passion to be yourself is already hard, but negotiating the trade-offs, the inevitable challenges, and different set of compromises is even harder. And WXY, Shi Ye, Da Yong, and others are all took the first step to pursue a life authentic to themselves, and are now trying to navigate the even tougher challenge of dealing with other compromises. This would be very realistic situation, and especially for China.

So in many ways, this is an even more profound exploration, even if it leads to more sobering and challenging circumstances.

Some thoughts regarding the story and ending:

As viewers we often get furious about obtrusive parents trying to control the lives of the characters, including in this show. Yet we are often acting exactly like the parents, trying to dictate how the plot should unfold to our own satisfaction, without fully understanding the story and messages that the drama is trying to convey.

As long as it's largely self-consistent (stays true to itself), why not let go of preconceptions and try to absorb the story as presented. Here, I thought the writers had beautiful story and complex, realistic messages are trying to convey. And it was a sensible, coherent, and profound ending. They could have gone with a more typical and predictable ending that would make many viewers even happier.

But I'm much happier they have their own voice and the courage to tell a unique story.

yeah that's a good point. I guess the show ended with her being still a work in progress, the standup pursuit a WIP, and the two suitors and respective relationships WIP as well, which while realistic, is not the most satisfying way to go out.

Yeah I agree from the romance angle that would be pretty disappointing, especially with how much they leaned into the Shi Ye and WXY setup. Even as someone who's not watching for the romance I can see how it could have been much more satisfying that way, even if they still sprinkle in various caveats of realism.

On the other hand, I understand and appreciate this ending as well. In that they are cautioning against the romantization of pursing your dream with wild abandonment that often ends up smashing into reality, a situation that's even more acutely felt in China for cultural and practical reasons. So pursuing your dream is also quite difficult and one still need to make compromises is an important and realistic message.

Overall a reasonable, though unspectacular ending for me.

You definitely want to check out the OG CDrama then, as the family relationships and their youth days are top-notch.

I'll have to check but it's not that significant and I doubt they miscounted.