ShortCircuit

This drama is making ALL of us into Devil God's minions.

... I mean, I'm kind of ready by now.

Can you imagine?! He lived some 17-20 years of physical pain and mental anguish, met this insane woman who taught him to love and at the same time tried to hunt him down, they had what, at most a year together? with not a lot of sweet moments. And then there's 500 years of pure torture.

And she says - oh, sorry, I'll go cultivate the Heartless Way. Why the hell doesn't she just tell him she can't contain the freaking Bone and needs something powerful to keep resisting?! Why is her immediate go-to any manner of hurting him?!

If I were him, I'd go crazy and stop caring immediately. What, the world needs saving? Good luck buddies, I'm tapping right out!

How is he even supposed to RESIST anymore to the seduction / compulsion of the DG? He has the God-Slaying Crossbow in him, the Bone Refining Seal did a lot of work on his heart (that still has the Soul-Slaying Nails in it, thanks to SOMEONE), the only thing missing is the Devil Bone, but the DG just might be strong enough to get past that anyway.

And why would he even keep resisting?! It's not like there's someone still loving him and waiting for him, and hoping he has a HEA?!!!

I have no idea what the hell she is thinking!!!!!!

This battle for the Bone Refining Seal has to be the best yet - I keep saying this, and they keep coming up with BETTER fights, LOL.

Where did NBY go, though? Is he now hidden somewhere in the sects? If he and Yue Ya get together, I'm shipping this :D

Oh, SOMEONE is back. If the original(s) and Mo Nv weren't the same people in the novel, I think it makes perfect sense they're the same in the drama. I mean... Who ELSE could raise up so much instant hatred of the chara, LOL?

He spent 500 years of pain to get to her, and she just... threw it away. And that now, when he needs help more than even. And then she goes to have soul-deep discussions with Xiao Lin / GongYe - whatever - why doesn't she talk so openly with TTJ? Why does she have to pretend not to care when she obviously cares, is her purpose to hurt him even more?!

This woman is the Ancient Devil God's perfect tool to make TTJ definitely go through all life's pains and surrender to DG just to get away from everything...

And it started so well - those near-misses were maddening but endearing, and then the reunion at the end of 31, so quiet and sweet. I was all ready to get completely on their side with his trick (LOL, she fell right for it) but oh no, she has to become the cruel b*tch yet again.

What, did the production team think we didn't get frustrated enough?!! DAMMIT

She is so DAMN FRUSTRATING! Why doesn't she ever learn?!!

Yeah but he's instantly smitten with the doll, he's str8.

I think the too-sweet-cake baker did it. I think he's somehow related to the other girl's mom bakery shop. And the missing girl's mom is kind of strange too... Could we please get a HE for this case? Though I don't have much hope :(
Are the dad and the co-worker having an affair?! They're so strangely awkwardly close with each other...

PS And I'm getting to really really enjoy the Chief and One-Per relationship LOL

PYY: I called you, why didn't you answer?
CGY: I didn't hear you...
PYY: You gotta answer even if you don't hear me!

LOL, he's expecting CGY to get psychic about him :D

Also PYY: 9 times 1 is 9, 9 times 2 is 18... OMG LOL. He can be so efortlessly funny :)

Why does CGY's light slap pack such a destroying force for PYY? :D

That's what I'm saying :)

Yeah, xianxia Fox Demons don't, but the folklore they're based on don't present them as nice as we see them in modern stories.

((Fox demons (or húlí jīng 狐狸精) are almost routinely suspected of appearing in other guises with the intent to do harm, often to cause illness or death. The archetypal fox demon story has the fox appearing as a beautiful maiden. The older the fox, the more beautiful, and hence dangerous, the maiden.))

And I have no problem with making them more likeable, as long as there's always the understanding of their nature.

What of SJ though, then? She's not a fox. Why is her demonization acceptable (or fast-waltzed over)?

EDIT Wait, now that I thought about it, I do not like this appropriation of a known folklore symbol and whitewashing it to be more appealing to anyone. And it's precisely for this reason - the hu li jing is NOT a positive figure, EVER). But modern xianxia takes the cast of the demon and fills it with basically nonsense, thus emptying of any meaning beyond being a sexy seductress.

That being said, I have no power over novel authors or drama producers and they can write and produce whatever they want. I might even like the charas they create, as I like PR. But I can't accept the idea that this horrifying folklore monster is instead a nice, sexy misunderstood girl, because they are not. (I won't try to convince anyone else to change their own preferences though, because what anyone else likes is basically not my business LOL).

Yeah, that's the thing... Sadly, we all get legal systems, not justice systems (or what we would like to see as justice). I am not certain there's a perfect way to peace and normality (at least), but the world is what it is...

Read my above comment on SJ's demonization. The drama team did present a more gray problem, and not just in the character that starts out being presumed evil either, but some of the viewers decided to focus on TTJ.

It can't stop you to take a minute and consider, anyway. How much is enough to justify anything? What does it depend on? Let's say a demon's work (we're talking about this particular drama in specific, not about demons in general or in the real world's religions) does NOT impact you but it impacts someone you never knew or had any reason to learn about, or even if you did, could never like. Do you consider destroying that demon as amoral? What if it DOES impact you or someone you love - would then destroying that demon be acceptable?

ANY xianxia demons are not actual human beings and are not generated from humans. They have nothing in common with humans. They are spirits of nature either being cultivated into positive things (like a dryad, for example, or actual fairies, pixies, etc) or evil things in the eyes of humans (like the actual daimon of the Greeks). They're not inherently bad, it's their nature making them do things that could harm humans that eventually makes them undesirable and dangerous. And most of the demons do hurt humans (or could care less if their actions hurt humans, which is basically the same thing).

So I can't really feel bad a fictional character is doing fictional bad things to other fictional characters, for fictional reasons. Because it's not a real-world thing (not the characters, but the actual problems). It's an entertainment thing.

And yes, TTJ is not squeaky clean, nor is SJ, nor is LSS, actually... I've no idea if this drama has any squeaky clean chara yet, at least until now.

The laws are seriously the worst backup system you can present as an example for enforcing anything, LOL. (This is just because I like playing devil's advocate here - how about the KSA laws that keep people in actual slavery? How about US laws that allow child marriage? Some of which have been heavily protected lately despite tries to make them obsolete. How about the new anti-LGBT laws in Uganda, that would kill people who are homosexual if found out? How about the US laws that prevent abortion procedures for women who will die unless they get the procedure? How about the laws that allow Singapore, for example, to kill small-time drug dealers? How about any law that allows for the death penalty, even IF the legal process is flawed and quite a lot of the convicted are later cleared of those sentences?!)

Even in these modern times, the laws aren't all squeaky clean. Not even in the Western world, not to speak of other parts of the world.

We get the "semblance" of order, but there's no peace maintained in society only through the police forces.

SJ became a demon and immediately killed a whole sect to create a weapon of mass destruction. She was initially a fairy water spirit, how come she demonized so fast?

Fox Demons are usually busy seducing people and eating their livers (yeah this drama's FD is a cute and sexy one but she didn't get those nine tails by being cute and pure).

And those are two demons we basically all like and can understand.

The point is - the are no completely good demons. That's the whole idea with a demon. Even if they (from time to time) do good things... it's not in their actual nature. Unless we squint really really hard (which we do, if we like those demons.)

I myself haven't read the novel. The novel readers in this comment section though have repeatedly explained that the Bo'Re Life (the dream arc) is NOT the past lives of the characters, and frankly, the drama (with no relation to the novel), really does make this point very specifically.

There is one very clear explanation that gods DO NOT have souls that reincarnate, because they are pure divine essence that either gets destroyed (if they're in a battle for example) or returned to nature as spiritual energy.

So the fact we do or do not accept the explanation that this arc is not a reincarnation sequence doesn't have any impact on the actual plot of the drama. You could make your own explanation, though, I mean, who's going to say no? The scriptwriter did their job and I don't think they mind anyone making a variant of the tale...

I mean, they ARE called demons (with everything that implies). And this is xianxia, not politically-corrected real world. If you try to apply modern ethics to any xianxia, there won't be much left to show in it.

I am not in the mood to hold a whole ethics course here, but this is the thing (making an analogy, I'm hoping it makes sense to other people). It's like what the Romans did with their ancient circuses. They pretended the arena was the world, surrounded by Rome, and all the barbarians and wild nature who got in the arena were eventually conquered or controlled by Rome. In fiction, presenting things that might not get a pass in the real world, is dealing with those issues SAFELY. You get to point and say - well, it's not RIGHT that he gets to eat demons who did nothing wrong (or not to him anyway) and we should see him as a hero. NO you shouldn't see him as a hero, but then he's a fictional character you can judge, in a very strict and controlled environment where most of the details are not even presented (it would take too much time). He has no actual impact on real world and real morality issues. The FACT you recognize that there's a moral problem is the whole idea. You HAVE to realise that he's imperfect, and identify his issues, and judge him on THOSE. And then move on with your life with a bit more experience (not gained by direct exposure, but imagined and internalised) that might be of use in the future. It's how empathy works (even for an adversarial figure).

This one is not a particularly good example of moralising fiction, given it's more of a dogblooded romance that's made for a more basic entertainment (which doesn't mean it's badly done or low-morals, it just is what it is.) But fictional worlds are NOT lessons but examples. What you take from them is what YOU make of them and it actually says more about yourself than about the drama.

I said I wouldn't give an applied ethics lesson, sorry if it comes as patronising, it definitely isn't my intention.

So if he killed the nightmare demon but didn't absorb her power he'd be a good guy in your eyes?

If he killed the Ancient Devil God's minions but didn't absorb their power, he'd still be a good guy?

If he killed any twisted humans - like TTML for example - but had no power to absorb from him, he's a good guy?

What are the standards for a good guy? Does he have to be immaculate in morals to be appreciated?

(Not going to bring in the discussion the Fox Demon either.)

Ming Ye doesn't necessarily look like TTJ. Obviously in the drama they use the same actor, LOL, but in the story it's not needed. LYX is playing MY too because it's easier for the viewers to understand that TTJ is dreaming MY's life, and not Xiao Lin, for example (who was also caught in the dream with them).

TTJ is not MY's reincarnation. He IS the Ancient Devil God's vessel to reincarnate.

Lu Di got on too late, the only repeaters were those already on the bus when the bomb got on (a station before Lu Di's). So he didn't get to repeat with the others.

Also, the only two charas who seemed to be aware of the loop are those who are asleep when the first loop happens, anyway.