Novella

Eh, there has been an uptick in negativity lately but I usually just regard it as venting and don't engage. I get that GJM is unpopular and the obvious target for blame and venting and I suppose that I have a more nuanced perspective but I'm hardly a GJM shooter so I'd rather just ignore the venting and hope the show wraps soon and the comments section dies down a bit until the show airs. (Also, I imagine that he couldn't care less about international fans talking sh*t about him on MDL anyway.)

Overall, I think this comment section has been positive and fun and I still look forward to commenting here when the show finally airs. I've prepared myself so I'm ready (and maybe a little looking forward to???) a super SE!

Wasn't this a misunderstanding? That poster was advertising a specific promotional event that the two leads weren't attending. If they advertised an event with a picture of the main leads and the main leads didn't actually attend the event, fans would have been pissed off too.

I'm so confused. I've completely lost the plot. (Not that I had it in the first place.) Now that filming appears to be wrapping up, I'm just going to turn off the speculative part of my brain and continue to enjoy looking at all the pretty people and pretty costuming.

Or just go full-on AJTL. Actually, I'll take anything as long as it's a satisfying and earned ending. Hopefully, that is not asking too much of GJM.

I'm curious about YL's character. I think his styling is appealing. I hope the actor gets noticed and he gets a career boost from his appearance here.

I'm prepared for ZYZ's death but a little part of me is holding out hope...until the last frame. If this were a different genre, he might just spontaneously reincarnate in the last 30 seconds!

Ah, I forgot that Zhu Yan is a "harbinger of war" until you reminded me. Yeah, that complicates things (and perhaps explains why he wants to die.) Wanting to die but finding a reason to live...only to be compelled to sacrifice yourself in the end (in order to protect the people who gave you a reason to live) would inject delicious pathos into the story and perhaps a little dramatic irony. But wanting to die and finding a reason to live...and finding a way out of the whole "chaos and tragedy follows me around thing" would also be super awesome! GJM, please take notes! Your audience will love it.

I would not be surprised if it ends this way.

I had my doubts about Zhuo Yi Chen until he showed up with the overnight white hair. That seems to indicate that he will live. I never had much hope for poor Ying Lei. There's always one or two people in a group that seem to be walking around in with and "X" on their back. Bai Jui was a question mark but, considering the Reuters I've seen, it's not hard to imagine the circumstances under which he would die. And nothing seems to indicate that the ladies will die.

I did have my hopes up for Zhao Yuan Zhou though! I'm not sure what to make of the synopsis: "The story revolves around a powerful demon who desires death but refuses to passively accept his fate, leading to a rebirth." Does this imply that he dies and is reborn? But saying "a rebirth" rather than just "rebirth" makes me wonder if it's meant to be understood as metaphorical rather than literal. Ah, I'll just go into the drama assuming he dies at that end.

It's so pretty! I appreciate getting a glimpse of a happy moment. (Since I'm getting the feeling there will probably be more sad moments than happy in the drama.)

(Every time I see videos like this, I wonder just how lax the laws regarding fireworks are in China. Setting off fireworks like these would be super illegal where I live.)

They look like they're having so much fun! It's still NYE here but Happy New Year, everyone!

Yes, I was thinking the same about Ying Lei. I'm sad for myself, as a viewer, but oddly happy for him, as an actor, since actors seem to like to film death scenes. (I'm trying hard to look on the bright side).

Is Zhao Yuan Zhou's character premise that he wants to die? (I think I've read that but I rely on computer translation so I might be wrong.) In that case, I think an obvious character arc for a character that wants to die is for them to find reasons to live...unless the story is meant to be a complete tragedy and utterly hopeless. My fingers are crossed that he lives to the end. Though, given the genre, it's best to assume characters will die. I'm hoping for at least 50% survival rate!

Roughly piecing together her storyline through her reuters, it does seem like she suffers a lot but they did give her a puny little knife to fight with and, overall, I get the impression her character here is stronger than in previous dramas.

It conjures to mind a vampire stockbroker in the late '80s. By the time he's finished draining your blood, he's already drained your back accounts! Instead of the Wolf of Wall Street, we have the "Fangs of Fortune."

I don't know, somehow the title is growing on me little by little. Sometimes you just have to embrace the silly.

I agree. "Fangs of Fortune" isn't a bad title...for a campy horror film. Who knows? Maybe when this drama finally airs, we'll all be in for a big surprise.

Sorry to say, it looks like Lin Shuanghe will not be in the adaptation. (this is a major gripe of books fans.) My impression is that the screenwriter has combined Lin Shuanghe into Cheng Li Su's character so maybe he will take on Lin Shuanghe's matchmaking?

Is this for a flashback? He is styled more "boyishly."

Maybe the dances are hazing rituals for new/guest actors???

Actually, I read a comment somewhere that was interesting. They speculated that the actors are dancing to the ending song and that production will use the dance footage for the ending credits of the episode. With all this footage they are shooting, production can change the ending credits to reflect the story arc, appearance of guest actors, etc.

Well, you can get a glimpse of their hairstyles (fwiw).

https://weibo.com/tv/show/1034:4969023394218041?from=old_pc_videoshow

Yet another dance?! (featuring Yan An and ???? with a bonus Lester and Xu Zhen Xuan at the end) Lester's wig is different here:
https://weibo.com/tv/show/1034:4967673281577017?from=old_pc_videoshow

Per the discussion below, I decided to try to upload some CDL photos here...but I'm having a hard time getting them to upload. I will try again later.

In the meantime, if anyone is interested in CDL or CX photos/reuters, try this Weibo Super Topic:
https://weibo.com/p/10080823ea1a743a1b161ed5edb7a2f858779b/super_index#_loginLayer_1699896560239

I just want to clarify that I really appreciate all the photos you post of TJR and Lester and that Xu Yi posts of Neo. I feel like the tone of my post was a little off. Compared to the energy of some other dramas on MDL, I think the discussion here is quite convivial so I don't want to bring any negative energy!

Yeah, I've found *a lot* less photos of CDL than Neo and TJR. I guess the point I was trying to make is that since solo on-set photos of CDL exist but there are practically zero CDL photos uploaded here, MDL users are simply not choosing to upload her photos. And I speculate that's largely because she's not popular here.

I guess I'll have to get off my butt and upload a few photos of her.