Xiang83

I can understand the plot-point of why they wanted to include A-Shui. The primary problem for the characterisation of A-Shui arises from wanting to accommodate a barely-there romance easily perceived as one-sided. I would have swapped out certain scenes of A-Shui for different scenes of A-Shui, whereby A-Shui's soothing calm and intelligence and ability with words to encourage the team plus a certain little boy would have strengthened her characterisation. She is not supposed to fight. She could embody other forms of love with her words and interactions, such as cementing family and friendship. When characterisation is strong, a character becomes memorable and also strengthens the overall plot.

There's three examples I could think of pertaining to A-Shui, which would actually cement what the directors were going for by episode 35. If I'm not wrong, Kwanto mentioned that in December 2023, the plot was heroism-focused. The MangoTV trailer of this drama that I watched in April 2024 also gave me the same impression.

A-Shui is an apt example of why characterisation should be favoured over romance, when this is an adventure-focused story with multiple themes about Tang Lici understanding the seven emotions. There are many forms of love, and he grasps the most important forms so he can truly embody the most noble form of love without running away. Romance is not on that list of most important forms of love.

That sucks.

I was discussing with someone elsewhere about how the earlier episodes could have been improved. There are specific episodes I would have restructured within 21 episodes, removed the one-sided barely-there romance where Tang Lici shows minimal reactions in order to strengthen certain characterisations including a certain female character whose portrayal appears weak (several people conveyed that they think her existence isn't necessary but I believe with different scenes, would have strengthened her presence to really cement a certain impact by episode 35), and would definitely be able to include one episode or more of the Celestial Realm so we get the necessary of Ye Mo and Bai Nanzhu.

For five seconds at one point of an episode, Xue Xianzi almost achieved that XD

Even though she has a rather evil heart, she still shows her humanity by wanting to free her foster father. But when she speaks of freedom, he already decided he would kill her. Oddly enough, I used a towel a lot more over Shao Yanping than Chi Yun, although both of them created a lot of emotional sand in my eyes.

Thank you for your review. The first 14 episodes saw my sides aching.

Mandarin-speakers who completely understand the wuxia tropes will definitely have a blast. Makes me wish for more C-Drama wuxia comedies!

One could say Ding Yi has a crush or feels strong emotions for Zhang Tian Ai's character, but it's questionable if she feels the same way because of her beliefs. She has very good rapport with the two MLs from a non-platonic angle.

You and kwanto can always meet there XD

Thank you for sharing. This entire thing is nuts. No ML or FL would have been happy to see this drama airing in such a manner that saw their hard work being wrongly perceived.

Only confirms the CEO Producer and his production house intentionally planned in an unacceptable manner on how to milk and scalp the ML and FL.

Even if her foster father is a puppet, she is human. She will feel for someone who brought her up and in his own twisted way, protected her from what would befall a lot of females but only because she was also very capable.

She's a villainess, and she will get the end she deserves. But even in her shades of grey, somewhere in there, what Puzhu touched in her with his gestures and words that people can deem as foolish is enough to help her make a certain decision at the end, thereby also changing what happens.

If they had altered three episodes which would have been doable, there would have been more of the Celestial Realm plus strengthening of certain supporting cast characters. Maybe ask for a bonus episode? Hope they will listen to the fans?

Tang Lici needs to understand love, and there are many forms of love whereby the drama wants him to grasp the most crucial forms for his story. This drama catered to three different factions (including the no-romance faction), and the producers walked a very thin line well for the most part. I have finished all 40 episodes and if you are hoping for romance, specifically two-way mutual romance between the male lead and female characters, you will have to squint very hard and use your imagination otherwise your expectations will be wrong.

To say "no romance" is a fair comment. But if you use your imagination with what you watch, you can definitely find a ship because Tang Lici has chemistry with many characters.

Tang Lici needs to understand love, and there are many forms of love whereby the drama wants him to grasp the most crucial forms for his story. This drama catered to three different factions (including the no-romance faction), and the producers walked a very thin line well for the most part. If you are hoping for romance, specifically two-way mutual romance between the male lead and female characters, you will have to squint very hard and use your imagination otherwise your expectations will be wrong. To say "no romance" is a fair comment.

The ending is either happy or sad or acceptable to different viewers. A happy ending or good ending is what one makes of it.

My view is that for those who have a background of understanding or strong background in Buddhism, this ending is a happy ending that is good. To break the cycle of rebirth, to change one's origins and destiny and truly achieve the necessary for others- I know I'm not alone in this view, but once again, this has to do with the background. Episode 8 was not merely conversations between Tang Lici and Puzhu, but it's hard to accurately translate when "our paths are different" in translation from five words of Mandarin isn't referring to a journey in subtitles of other languages but certain specific fundamental values found in Daoism and Buddhism. The Buddhism aspects are strong in that episode.

In terms of negativity, given how the ML suffers alongside new joys and all the foreshadowing about his journey and character whereby he doesn't give up on people across the first twenty episodes alone = I only expected one ending.

A good or great drama makes people emotional. I wouldn't go as far as to claim the creative team disrespected viewers, and that viewers feel cheated and disappointed, but you are clearly posting while high on emotions which the drama has managed to evoke for you. Sorry to know you felt very upset over the ending. I hope you will feel better soon enough.

I don't know if you can access reddit, but someone decided to do a deep dive into the numbers 2 weeks ago including kuyun, cvb, etc. There's a specific lengthy exchange about why Yunhe or douban alone as primary data is unreliable: https://www.reddit.com/r/cdramasfans/comments/1oo99ju/congrats_to_whispers_of_fate_breaking_records/

Maybe someone could do an equivalent of this reddit thread on this drama page, for the latest figures. Would be very interesting.

I hope there doesn't need to be any more summaries of the final 5 episodes, because the story-writing should not depend on viewers to summarise.

Will post a compilation today in the discussion thread.

I have two questions on this subject:

1) suzuko_d_law's account is new. She seems to be very triggered by how Bao Shang En's role Zhong Chunji has been bashed to the point that it extends to the actress, and I can see how the level of uncalled-for sniping plus nastiness of several days triggered her reactions, whereby I mentioned two MDL users who are most likely the cause of her ire. Those two also likely inspired a lot of private reactions of being ignored by other viewers. Is your reply above extended to suzuko_d_law's account and if so, why?

2) I only joined this page when this drama started airing. As such, if there is some major backstory involving multiple users (as your comment conveys) of blatant hate and misinformation against a specific actress you back, are the MDL users you are referring to still bashing and/or undercutting Lin Yun publicly on this MDL page ever since the drama aired, as per your claims?

I'm asking this out of curiosity because as far I am concerned, whoever likes whatever ship is fine by me and that's what this drama seems to encourage with its vagueness. How each of you wishes to express yourselves is up to you. There are a fair number of viewers who come to this page during or after the drama airs. As such, we are not aware of any backstory between any users.

However, I have no interest in being used by anybody who wants to settle any beef with someone else. Furthermore, I believe the majority of newcomers to this page are not interested in shipping wars. Whatever happened between users on this page before this drama aired, it is best to draw a line where applicable, even if it includes potentially ignoring each other.

Perhaps someone can talk to suzuko_d_law by DM and settle the waters of whatever grievances that account has.

I'm sorry to hear you feel aggrieved about Lin Yun and her role in this drama. I also hope you will feel better about her overall, should you finish watching this drama.

I am primarily for strong stories with good subplots, sufficient character development of the main lead(s) and supporting cast, and if possible good to awesome sets. This is also because I'm used to being around others with more than 20 years experience watching C-Ent, and we know differences between whether someone can act versus someone still improving and should be encouraged versus a VA saving their ass. Those are the viewers who make THE difference as to whether a drama reaches the levels of success of "This Thriving Land" or "The Knockout" which gets peanuts mostly on MDL.

My recent reply to A_cappucino_gal here less 20 minutes ago may be useful, on this subject of acting and the script: https://kisskh.at/755725-shui-long-yin#comment-24210174

If quality output is to increase which therefore gives actors and actresses better scripts and roles, more people need to visibly express support for such dramas, regardless of whether it is romance-focused or not. If people only support romance regardless of the quality, then the market goes the wrong way. TJOL's storyline suffered partially from a supposed romance with a FL whose acting was run-of-the-mill and basically had zero chemistry with Cheng Yi, as a role that didn't add to TJOL and took away scenes that should have gone to other actors if they were going to give such bad writing for her (I also feel sorry for the actress, as I explained in my review). Immortal Ascension was much smarter, by zooming in on Yang Yang.

I would like more people to watch "Whispers of Fate". The producers should release certain clips from the official weibo accounts with good English translations about the cultural references and background, by the time episode 20 aired.

Having finished this drama more than 3 days ago, here's my take (I have not seen any leaked scripts before this drama started, plus I only joined this drama page when the drama started airing):

Romance is not in the top five priorities of this drama. This matches the trailer which was first released also on Mango's Youtube channel in April 2024: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdhZVlp_1m8

Marketing for this drama should have stuck to its primary PR guns of being a high fantasy xuanxia adventure centred around the ML involving strong performances by unique characters. From that MangoTV trailer, it already told me romance isn't going to be a staple or feature. If this had been the direction from start to end and maintained for a story, Lin Yun might have had better scenes included for her character instead of the ones we see. Then if this drama doesn't give a certain character the ending which fans hope for, at least a memorable character contributes to the strength and/or selection for a role in another drama.

We never know how producers think. But when it's such a packed cast, the directors and producers will usually evaluate the strength of the acting when sewing together a storyline and subplots. Ai Mi has more scenes in the final outcome than I expected for her role. That likely has to do with the fact that her non-platonic chemistry with all her co-stars such as Bai Shu and Luo Yunxi and the actor playing Shao Yanping plus micro-expressive emoting also with the eyes is very notable and on point, including the comedy. The VA merely enhances her performance. People already expected this level of acting from her, given how she outshone her co-stars at times in "The Double" in 2024.

That said, she is finally closing the gap but still not on the level of Zhang Zi Feng, whose acting literally flattens almost every C-Ent actress under the age of 35. Zhang Zi Feng primarily does not do romance for dramas or movies, and she understandably deserved the Hundred Flowers award as the youngest recipient. She's either worked with the likes of Tony Leung and Jackie Chan, or with Mark Chao. She is the only actress under the age of 35 whereby I will watch whatever she stars in.

Different people like different things, and I would say this drama is of a specific archetype. People were unhappy that any female role in the Immortal Ascension seemed to only sideline romance, but romance was never a primary feature of the vehicle fronted by Yang Yang. That drama should have also stuck to the guns of focusing on the PR line I mentioned.

When I said the producers and directors balanced the fan service for three factions in a mostly-successful manner, that usually means a two-sided romance requires squinting. At least Tang Lici treated A-Shui much better here than in the novel, and I wanted Lin Yun to have more- powerful scenes to be shown so that by a certain episode, her character becomes memorable. This is something I want for every character. That's why the likes of "The Knockout" and "This Thriving Land" were phenomenal or huge domestic hits.

If you feel that at some point that this is not the drama for you, please don't force yourself. There are other dramas out there, and there's nothing wrong with going primarily for romance. The most important takeaway (for me) is whether Lin Yun's performance and scenes in this drama give her the necessary for choosing or auditioning in another drama going forward. It is hard to get good roles in good scripts in C-Dramas.

Hahahaha! If you want to see Xixi, you'd have better luck at a cultural event or specific major gaming event. Or you have to visit China more often ;p

I'm looking forward to the second season of Time Raiders. STOTD S3 is interesting, but I will return to it after relaxing with something silly.

You should! Museums deserve more love, specifically archeological museums or those featuring classical works. I'm not a modern art fan (at least on the Western front), because too much of it is shallow or primarily for shock-value with no lasting meaning. I also visit war memorials/museums, but I won't recommend that for anyone who isn't up to it.

Whenever I am in HK, I like the Nan Lian Gardens for the Tang-Dynasty-style landscaping modelled primarily on Chinese landscaping principles and inspired by Jiangshouju Garden, with a teahouse serving aged teas. Many people don't know Tang Dynasty landscaping was a major influence on Japanese garden landscaping.