UnaSpenser

I finally made it to the last two episodes. I don't understand what is going on, at all.

Who are these "enemies"? Why are they attacking? What does the uncle have to do with it?

In the convo between ML and the uncle what does he mean, "You shouldn't...."? And what does the uncle mean, "So, you should?"?

What the hell is even going on?

the old guy that works for the CP's household is a poorly written character.

He's been in the palace for decades and he still flies into a frenzy any time anything happens; and behaves like a nag constantly. Absolutely zero adaptation to the context of the palace and the person he serving? Seems very unrealistic.

Ok, this is about royals. But why is "Nirvana" in the title?

This is just relentless misery.

Also, a very sado-masochistic relationship. Why would anyone want to be in relationship with the CP? He is ferociously suspicious of everyone. He's cruel - having her tortured or tormented, at times, when he knew she was innocent, and finding it entertaining. His affection can't be trusted, as he turns on a dime.

And why would he ever trust her. She is river rapids of lies. It's always a different update about who she is or what she's up to. Just f*cking tell him the truth and get it over with. She seems glutton for punishment. I get that because her father and brother were executed, she's afraid to reveal her actual name. But, she could have vaguebooked an explanation, as she finally does sometime after episode 40 (my father was a convicted minister. I entered the palace trying to save him.) That could have been said about 25 episodes earlier.

the acting is good. and, if you like tragedy, it's an active volcano of it, spewing one deadly misunderstanding after another.

Don't even get me started on the sadistic father/emperor. wtaf?

Watching some more.

Do we ever get an understanding of why the emperor is such an a-hole to the CP? Is he really just a sadistic creep? Why treat anyone this way?

right? it has to leave her feeling somewhat disposable. that's why I can't figure out why she'd remain devoted to protecting him. especially in that way, where she has to endure that unimaginable level of heartbreak.

And that supervisor who forces her to witness the consummation. How cruel.

This was a fantastic, if hard to watch (because it's a harsh world), story. Even though I had myself tensed up, knowing that bad things were going to happen, I still kept watching, because it's so well done.

just getting around to this.

whoa. it is so heavy. I'm in ep26 and its so hard to watch her having to witness him loving someone else. (I will say that he switched romantic gears quite speedily. I guess soul mates abound.) I'm not quite sure why she is putting herself through this.

omg! I had forgotten. I loved her in that!

Totally enjoyable.

The acting was good throughout. The leads had wonderful chemistry whether it was a seriously dramatic or comedic scene. I'm not familiar with the FL, so it was a good introduction to her. I liked Chen Feiyou in Ever Night, then found Lighter and Princes to be unwatchable (not because of him.) Here, though, I have a greater appreciation for his acting. He managed a lot of nuance here. Looking foward to seeing more of his work.

The story had good continuity, with no major logic fails. It did feel like it dragged a bit in the demon and human realm arcs. I know these stories like to go through the 3 realms cycle, but perhaps they could have gotten through them more quickly? Luckily, I had crocheting to do while watching.

In the demon arc, the clingy "you saved me once, so I must be your destined partner" characters was just awful. I hate those arcs in general, but as they go, this one was particularly lame. The author really couldn't come up with a better way to drive the story?

In the human arc, I found it hard to believe that the supposedly savvy politician who has spent many years building his plan to take over the throne was so easily fooled. Sure, this person who wants you to bring them children to kill will be a trustworthy partner in your shady political play. Anyone would fall for that! It made this part of the story lackluster. It was anticlimactic when they finally trapped the villain.

Was also never convinced of the romance between the Nangjiu and Ruling. He was infatuated because she helped him, but it never felt to me that she had any real feelings for him. It didn't matter, though, as nothing in the story hinged on it, so I could just let it go.

One major writing critique I have: stop having people agree to be honest/open with each and then repeatedly not be. It degrades the relationship and it gets boring as a device. The final one in this was so horrible. Her excuse for not treating him like a partner who deserves to be making informed decisions was so that he could have pleasant memories?! wtf?

Still, with all these flaws, I enjoyed it. My only big question is: what was the message of the story? Was there one? Or was it simply a warm/fuzzy romance? Which is fine. It can be that. They portrayed it quite well.

Lastly, Sima Jiao is, perhaps, the most green flag male character ever. He suffers, but doesn't translate that into psychopathy. He connects and he learns and he never veers from his trust and admiration of those he loves. His ability to be sweetly amused after enduring 500 years of imprisonment and torture is, frankly, beyond amazement. It's nice to see a character who isn't written as "suffering = psychologically malevolent." I'm grateful to the author for that.

I was actually enjoying the low-key nature of it. And that it wasn't so melodramatic. It definitely builds to more action and I'm enjoying that as, well.

Is there a video game? It totally feels like it could be to that format and be fun.

only up to ep 4, but really enjoying the tone and production quality of this.

Up to 17, now. I don't know. A lot of this is falling flat for me. So much is formulaic. And then, this king just blithely ordering one of sons to cut out the heart of his other son and them both acting as if this is totally normal. I think I'll come back to this later.

agreed. it's about the whole package. if, in every other way, she felt like the "fierce general" they're telling us she is, the voice might not bother me as much, in terms of portrayal. (It would still be hard on my ears.) I also like her as an actress and simply feel this isn't a good fit.

Agreed about that ML. (Yes, I meant Fighting For Love) And they didn't end up together, which felt like the right ending.

Shuang can be feminine and still feel like she's also an active general fighting on the front lines. They want her to be in fight scenes, supposedly so fierce that she can fight off an entire battalion by herself, but she doesn't have the presence of a fighter, at all. What would have been great was if she had the ability to fight and look truly fierce (as she calls herself) and then for us to see an almost transformation as she softens into her more vulnerable feminine self when she's around the ML and feels safe enough to do so. We don't really see a juxtaposition, because she's not able to pull off the "fierce fighter" feeling.

It's too bad. I like this actress. I just think this role is not a great fit. (I wonder if they even gave her any martial arts training so that she would know what it feels like to execute a powerful punch or kick of sword movement.)

Anyway, the story is interesting and I'm looking forward to seeing how they resolve what will be the conflict of the leads being from enemy camps. And what her paranoid emperor and his malevolent son will do as this plays out.

It's just a nitpick about her voice, due my disability and that I'm a vocalist, so I'm more tuned into voices than some might be.

I think that someone who has been fighting all their life on the battlefield would speak with a lot of strength with the air being pushed from their gut and not speaking with a head voice. As a vocalist, I can do both and I can tell when someone is using a chest voice vs a head voice. For some reason, in the Chinese drama industry, they prefer their actresses to use head voices. They seem to think it's a requirement of being feminine. Those head voices are often consciously done and are not what they naturally would sound like as adults. Esther Yu is a good example. It was so awesome to hear a more natural voice from her in Journey To Love. She then publicly explained that directors are requiring her to use a higher pitched voice in most dramas. I don't know many adult women in real life who speak with the high-pitched voices we keep hearing in these dramas. They are definitely affected.

Anyone who has been very athletic with their body is likely to have activated their chest voice, as their abdominal muscles are more engaged. So, yes, I would expect a military person to have that voice. It doesn't have to be gruff. I'm not sure where you got that from. And it doesn't have to sound as deep as a man. But, it would be a stronger, richer sound that what we're hearing.

While generals are chosen for their intelligence, in this drama, she's also portrayed as someone who fights on the front lines. So, she should be physically strong as well as intelligent. Her fight scenes are very unconvincing. She doesn't know how to conjure up the energy to make it look real. There is one scene where she's supposedly pushing back multiple men as they attack her. She displays absolutely no signs of physical efforts and looks completely fragile.

I like her as an actress. Have enjoyed her in other things. This was not a good match for her. I'm trying to ignore that and just enjoy the story.

I'm familiar with her and have liked her in other things. Her voice is hard on my ears each time. This time, I think it's exasperated by my sense that she doesn't at all feel like the military leader she's portraying. So, along with the sound is the dissonance with the character.

oh. I missed that. thanks.

I want to love this and am interested in seeing where the overall story goes. But, I the line delivery of the FL is hard on my ears. There is an older Korean actor who has a similar style of line delivery, like a gatling gun. Just firing out words rat-a-tat-tat-tat in a rapid fire. Because I have something called hyperacusis, it literally hurts to listen to it. It's exhausting. I may, for the first time, switch the spoken word to a language other than Mandarin, just so I don't have to hear it.

I gather that they are trying to make her sound commanding. But, this isn't the way. They could have worked on having her speak more from her gut than her head. It would naturally lower the tone and give her voice more strength.

I do wish that Chinese drama directors/producers/whomever makes these choices would consider whether the actresses they are choosing can actually pull off a feeling a being a "fierce general." When they have the physique of a pipe cleaner and a high-pitched voice, there is no way that they can seem like someone who would overpower people built like tanks on a battlefield.

There are definitely women who can pull it off. Sandra Ma did it pretty well. In Fight For Love, the actress did a good job of having a posture and walk that felt commanding, even though she was still petite compared to the men. Any woman who has been training a fighting all her life would be quite muscular and would carry herself differently than women who are not. It is hard to hold onto willing suspension of disbelief when the actress doesn't feel like a fighter at all.

Anyway..... like the story. Wish they had pushed for a better portrayal of a female battle-hardened soldier.

I think because he's trying to foster good will between the two realms and he knows that Feng Qi was being controlled by someone else and isn't fully responsible.