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This is entirely plausible. If aired in March 2022, they would have had 9 months to work on post production. For a 43 to 44-episode fantasy drama, it is a reasonable time frame.

This is a drama with a heavier emphasis on character growth than romance. In the source material, there was hardly any romance. Here in the drama, the scriptwriters injected more romance, but you need to bear in mind, romance was never the main emphasis. Else, there will be more romantic scenes.

Next, unlike a typical Tang Princess like Leyan, whose parents were likely to have prepare for marriage by the time they turned 14, Li Changge was brought up like a prince. So, we see her learning military strategies, horse riding, arrow shooting, martial arts, etc. rather than flower arrangement, dancing, cooking, etc (stuff that princesses learn, in preparation for marriage alliances which were very common during those times).

Hence, while Li Changge had a body of a woman, her mind acts and thinks like a prince, more than a princess.

A'sun had already admire Li Changge's skills in E1, when LCG was able to make use of military strategies in that cuju game. When, in E5, he found out that LCG was actually a girl, we suspect, he already fell in love in her. Which is why he was there to protect her, whenever she was in danger. But, for political reason, he cannot reveal his identity to LCG, until E15, at the snow-walk surrender scene.

At the grasslands, starting from E15, A'sun continued to show affection for LCG, but she, being a tomboy, did not fully understand many of his gestures. It was only when she was at the Liuyun Temple, when she had more time to think and reflect upon all the past events, and perhaps finally came to better understand what it meant to be a woman, that she developed romantic feelings for him. E30, we can clearly see she was thinking of Asun, writing his name in all those pieces paper, but unfortunately, he did not see it.

I feel that by E31, she already expressed feelings for him when he found and rescued her. Perhaps she was still shy, so she did say it in words, but through her actions, she already indicated she was ready to be his woman. She knew he had forgiven her for indirectly causing the death of his adoptive mother, came all the way to Tang, to look for her. She knew what those actions meant. And many of her subsequent gestures showed that she had feelings for him. So, while they both did not say, "I love you" to each other, many of their actions from E31 onward indicated that they had started their romantic relationship.

It will be a relationship that would slowly evolve and grow, and run alongside her character growth and development, as we move from E31, to the end of the series.

Quite a fun read. But, a bit disappointing if this is indeed what happened. That they only have one child. They can afford more. Didn't they both come from big families?? Maybe I remembered wrongly

Definitely. She has a rare combination of being both good in martial arts and intelligent in using her brain to do all sorts of things (military strategies, negotiations, thinking out of the box). In the source material, she was also vicious. Here in the drama, the scriptwriters made her a little kinder. In some scenes, perhaps too kind for our liking. Yet, it may be a more realistic and consistent character. Someone without a drop of kindness and tenderness may well find it impossible to forgive. There are at least 3 characters she needed to forgive and she forgave them all.

After TLB, two of my favourites with FLs that match your description will be Princess Silver and Bloody Romance. In these dramas, the FLs can fight. If you want strong FL who uses her brain to 'fight', it will have to be the story of Yanxi palace.

I do agree. Some of the conversations in the early episodes are important, to establish context and help us understand the later episodes. For me, I only fast forward scenes with them looking at their phone, with little or no conversations or with them just talking about the game itself (cause I am not a gaming person). And there are lots of viewers who are just not into gaming. Even some of the aerospace scenes are highly technical, and not really central to the plot.

For my rewatch, I jumped straight to E21. Those into gaming can easily watch the entire series on normal speed and not get bored.

Plot wise, this is a relatively simple drama, compared to those 'heavy' historical dramas which have lots of twists and turns. It is light and sweet. It does not deplete much of our brain cells, but sets our heart pumping. Practically all the online articles that I have read concerning this drama said that what set this drama on fire is the amazing on-screen chemistry between Dilraba and Yang Yang (not discounting the fact that they played their individual roles really well). While their on-screen chemistry can be seen even in the early episodes, the fluffy part really starts from E21, when they began on their journey of love and romance. Nothing could break them apart, not even when QJJ has to be away sometimes months at a time, filming at Hengdian studios or the desert.

The novel and drama ended at E32, with his dream fulfilled, her career rock solid. If there is E33, we would have seen children. Not one, but likely many, knowing that apart from their common hobby of playing video game, they really do have one other activity that they enjoyed tremendously.

Congrats to them!! Well deserved! Now, on to their next milestone. Maybe 4.5B in another 6 months or a year??

True, her visual will be great in any era. And it will be great for us to see her playing roles she had never tried before. Given her personality, I doubt she wants to play a female lead that is constantly in need to be saved by the male lead. She will probably stick to female roles that are strong, independent and able to stand on her own two feet. But, even using that simple parameter, there are lots of things she can do. Let's hope we can see her in something really different from whatever she has done in the past. It will be refreshing.

About Ball Lightning, I do not really know too much about the story/plot. But, I think if she is offered the role, she will have people from her team to look at the script. If it is good one, I think she might be brave enough to try it. After all, it is something she has never tried before. Will be nice for her to expand her horizon.

Read those comments in the link you posted. Yes, some weird comments. Most of those people may not really know her too well.

I think prior to The Long Ballad, she did not really have much choice or freedomm to choose. Lots of the stuff she did were offered to her by her studio. Perhaps that is how a young actress' career. You start by trying out various stuff that your studio asked you to do, whether you liked it or not. So, playing those cute roles in TMOPB and ELOD, she really have very little choice. And, you will notice she will frequently be acting with male leads that are from Jaywalk.

Perhaps starting from Love Designer, she started to act with other male co-stars who are not from her agency. And then with TLB, YAMG and so on, we can see that she is trying to do one thing: acting with male co-stars who are NOT from her agency. So, this is one change we see in her career.

Next, she will need to try different roles. Honestly, playing Li Changge is already rather different compared to Baifengjiu in TMOPB and ELOD. That cute dimension is gone. I think it is also not there anymore in TBW and LOA. She and her agency can continue to look for serious roles that are as different from TLB, TBW and LOA as is possible. I think she has her own sub-studio within Jaywalk, so it should not be too difficult to do that.

Likewise for modern dramas. Good for her to move away from just doing QJJ kind of characters, even though we know she will excel in them. It is really up to her and her studio to look for and fight for roles that are different, to expand her acting range and gain more respect in this industry. Or else, we can hardly blame people for saying she has limited acting range.

When you said Mongolian Princess, I am reminded of Goodbye My Princess. Yes, she will look great in those tribal princess costumes worn by Peng Xiao Ran. I think a kickass Mongolian Princess would be fun or a rough female gangster leader. Somehow, no producer or director offered her those kinds of roles?? Or, was she offered and she turned them down? Hope not. Hope she will try new stuff.

Indeed! For those who really love to watch character growth and development in a historical drama, this really is one of the best around, if not the best. The many adventures that the main characters went through, they really did change them from innocent juveniles into responsible adults, able to make decisions that consider the greater good, instead of focusing on their selfish motives or desires. Those who were timid became brave. Those just listening to orders, able to think and make decision based on their internal sense of what is right and wrong.

Some of the changes we see here are mirror image of changes we see in ourselves, when we moved from our teenage years into adulthood. We may not be a Princess like Li Changge or Leyan or a grassland general like A'sun, but we face decision dilemmas like they do, having to make difficult choices between options that all seem right.

For me, for instance, this drama conveyed the importance of forgiveness over taking personal revenge against those who did us wrong. It releases us from such a heavy burden of the past and allow us to live for the promises of the future.

Indeed, he was just like a dog, hounding Li Changge endlessly!! He seems to have a GPS tracking device on Changge. But keep watching. Toward the end, he too will change.

I think you should give this drama (You Are My Glory) a try. This is not really a rom-com. It is a serious drama, with a sprinkling of well-placed humour. The overall tone and texture is that of a serious drama, with work related and relationship issues. I think this drama can be compared to some of the best modern romance-themed kdramas. Dilraba and Yang Yang's acting in this drama is certainly first class, excellent in their individual roles, and amazing as a couple. And the production quality is first class as well.

Reba playing a gray character in Qing era perhaps, but I doubt she will ever want to play a villain. It might just damage her image. I doubt any producer will want to waste such a beautiful face on a bad character.

Yes, I have little doubt she will look great in a Qing era costume. But, those Qing princesses, consorts and queens, from what I understand, their costumes are all multi-layered. Visually wonderful to look at when walking around, but hardly practical for fighting and martial arts kind of stuff, which Reba typically likes to do. Acting wise, I have little doubt she can pull of a role such as Wei Yingluo. All of the facial expressions that Wu Jingyan did in Yanzi Palace, I have little doubt Reba can do just as well.

But, that actress is quite something. I do agree with you concerning the way her character was written, like she is able to act above her rank and not get killed. But Wu Jingyan's interpretation of that role is close to perfection. Even the way she walks as a maid was pretty unique. And Wu Jingyan was able to have amazing screen chemistry with two male leads, not just one. Sadly, her acting abilities were panned, as after that role, most critics said she did not do well in her subequent dramas, while our dear Reba is able to transit so effortlessly from historical to modern genres.

Which brings us to Republican era dramas. Yes, that is the funny thing about Chinese dramas. You either do something really old (like Qing era or even Tang era, which is likely the most popular era), or something modern. Republican era is stuck in the middle of no where. We can easily recall blockbuster dramas with Qing era or Tang era setting, but there is hardly one that has a Republican era setting. Personally, I do not like watching dramas involving that era as well. Perhaps that is why Reba has avoided roles in that era, knowing that they are rather unpopular among viewers.

If extending her acting range is her goal, she can easily try acting as a detective, doctor or female CEO, etc, in a modern drama. Her modern dramas are just basically rom-com (Pretty Li Huizen) or romantic (like in YAMG). Even Yang Mi is trying different roles in modern serious dramas, so instead of doing something in the Republican era, there are still other roles that she can try in modern dramas (that involve as little romance as is possible), to extend her acting range and learn new stuff.

Even Zhao Liying is trying different stuff these days. One of my favourite Kdrama actresses is Han Hyo Joo. In her younger days, she did rom-com. Then she did palace drama and did really well in Dong Yi. But lately, she has ventured into less romance related roles. Han Hyo Joo is now 34, about the same age as Yang Mi and Zhao Liying, and is as highly successful in Korea as Yang Mi and Zhao Liying are in China.

So, in terms of her career progression, Reba has lots of role models that she can look at, successful actresses who are 4-5 years her senior.

I googled her name and then clicked on images. Hundreds of images, but not a single photo of her in a Qing costume, with that headdress, much less a FMV. Yes, indeed she does not have to shave off her beautiful hair, but it is just so interesting that she has never played any role as a FL in a Qing period drama, not even a supporting role. Perhaps she was offered a role, but just did not want anything to do with roles that involve bickering consorts? She would prefer more of a kickass role, and there just isn't any script that has a female kickass in a Qing period drama??

Do you think playing a role like Wei Yingluo in Yanzi Palace would appeal to Reba?? Reba in a Qin Dynasty drama, dressed as a consort or queen. That will be quite an interesting visual. Will she look prettier than Wu Jingyan in Yanzi Palace?? Your thoughts??

Many of us here support your recommendation. The characters, the acting, the plot, the OSTs and BGM, the cinematography of all the fight scenes. Everything is just so well done.

Noted. Usually, they will do one of those end-of-filming photoshoot with all the cast members, and someone will surely post it here. We will know soon enough, if this rumour turn out to be correct. Just 2 weeks to go.

Most welcomed