Aya

That's adorable

It's a distasteful joke. To be expected from a country obsessed with white skin.

This is definitely one of the episodes that just ripped my heart right out. At the same time my appreciation for BL and LYX's acting definitely rose higher. Whatever else can be said about their acting, the two definitely give it their all.

That detail also always caught my eye

The plot reminds me of Story of Kunning Palace.

The similarity is definitely there 🤣

Seeing that side of him in the memories of his fellow Gods was absolutely heartwarming. It really shows that he's the youngest among them and can get away with being mischievous. We obviously get to see a bit of that side of him in his interactions with Shen Li before we ever get to see those memories, but it has a different meaning to see him act like that with his 'friends'. It also clearly shows that he treats her differently. That there's a connection that he doesn't feel with others.

Them being genderless actually would have made much more sense.

I see the patriarchy argument, because it's not only the Ancient Gods. Shen Li is only female warrior in her realm. Their ruler is female, but all the officials serving her, except for Shen Li are male. The argument that men are stronger than women doesn't really apply in this setting, because it's not physical strength but spiritual power that determines strength so why are there only 2 strong females in the realm? The divine realm is not much different. All the important positions seem to be taken up by men. In terms of gender imbalance, this is the worst example among all the Xianxia dramas I've watched so far.

I know it's explained in the drama, that Ancient Gods are born with a certain task/mission which is revealed at the time of their birth. That's what was mentioned in one of the memories that SL received from one of the memorial tablets. Afterwards, XZ also explained that Ancient Gods like all living things eventually are meant to perish. If they did their duties properly and perished naturally, everything they did in their lifetime remains because their divine power remains part of the universe. If however, they made mistakes and are stripped of their divinity, then everything they did before that is undone, because their divine power vanishes and they are punished.

None of this explains however why they are all male, because first of all, they are not locked up in their own realm, so they did encounter women all the time (case in point, Qing Ye who fell in love and was punished for using his powers for personal reasons). Secondly, there's nothing holding them back from falling in love with a fellow male Ancient God and making things complicated. Thirdly, them being all male didn't change the fact that 70% of the perished Ancient Gods were punished for whatever mistakes they made and only 30% of them died at the natural end of their lives.

The saddest part about XZ is that because he's the last one, he doesn't have the luxury to make a mistake and just be punished, knowing that there's someone else to protect the world when all his magic/deeds are undone. This is something that the other Ancient Gods did have and could rely on, which probably made it possible for them to just go for it.

Natural Law seems to be rather cruel. It clearly gives these Ancient Gods emotions, but at the same time they are expected to be/behave as if they are emotionless.It's understandable that a supremely powerful being using that power for personal reasons could lead to catastrophe, but it still doesn't seem to be the most efficient design.

🤣🤣🤣 So Natural Law is Mother Nature and she only has sons? Or do you mean Natural Law is male and so everything produced by it is also male?

Will the provide a reason for why all the Ancient Gods are male?

That's a very good description. In this drama we get two leads that have very specific duties and image. They are both seen as very powerful beings that protect others, so others assume that they don't need protection themselves overlooking the fact that that might not be entirely true. Yes, they are powerful and strong, but both show a vulnerability that coincidentally only they can see in each other. So they can't help but care.

I'm looking forward to them 😊

"Because when I see you, I'm blind to all other colours."

One of the things that I really like about the main leads is that even though they are weighed down by enormous responsibilities, they are not oblivious to their own emotions. They both clearly know how they feel about the other person, but don't have the luxury to say it out loud.

I think it will be absolutely heartwarming when they finally do admit their feelings to each other.

She endangered her life for him (not really, seeing as she didn't even need the core anymore) to make him feel guilt. That was her choice. He didn't love her, but based on some of the things he said to her, he made her think he did. That was his choice. Also, he clearly chose Qing Lin over Hong Ruo and even came to inform her of his choice so she let him go (unless I missed something in the drama or this was explained differently in the novel?) Moreover, him not being able to treat Hong Ruo as his "only one" is abandoning her. Unless, he expects Hong Ruo to still be with him and tolerate Qing Lin who seems to have been a thorn in their relationship from the beginning.

Valid point. Xianxia definitely makes a difference between regular animals and "spiritual" animals. While regular animals are treated as such, spiritual animals seem to be treated differently, because they are considered "sentient" and one day may even take a human form. So obviously you wouldn't eat such an animal as opposed to a regular fish for example. It's a fantasy setting, so at some point you need to adapt the attitude of not overthinking things to be able to enjoy it.

I guess some things didn't translate too well from novel to drama in this case.

Hmm.... To me he definitely didn't seem like an adult, but that is an interesting take. It never even crossed my mind that that could be a possibility.

Please tell me that's not how you treat your pets? Also, as you said, he's sentient, so if anything he's more like a child than a pet. He was not annoying enough to deserve that treatment. There's nothing that will convince me otherwise. You don't treat someone who's helpless against you that way.

I'm sorry if this sounds rude, but I get riled up when it's about animals and children.

I have heard a lot about how animals are treated on set as well. Especially horses and frankly it's more than disturbing.