maryxiah

Yep, that's the whole point of fans meet events, being a celebrity doesn't strip off their rights to privacy, all that public figures should have expected it stuff is bullshit. Some people don't understand this stalking behavior can affect someone's emotional and mental health. I'm aware that celebrities' height are often exaggerated, but I think they're already very thin on screen it's quite concerning. I think it's in the culture itself that fair skin and skinny as stick body are perceived as a beauty standard. I'm half Chinese so I don't feel much pressure about it at home, but I definitely feel the fat shaming pressure among my circle of immediate family and friends.

Omg! Lol, that's straight up drama material! I have a slight aversion against stalking because I have had a stalker in the past, so I probably wouldn't attempt following a celebrity I like. Also, I'm a bit shy irl so probably wouldn't even try chatting up celebrities, maybe just asking for a handshake like normal fans lol. I'll do the rest in my dreams.

That sounds great, but might be hard to schedule a trip according to filming time. I'm thinking something outside his work schedule, I know he has a vlog of trips so I could stage bumping into him during his trips? Haha jk.

I don't think he ever fought with a sword in any scene. Sad.

I don't think this drama's strong suit is fight scenes, at one point, I'm beginning to think this is more of a political drama than wuxia. The only watchable fight scene is probably when Emei and Huashan attacked Hall of Flames.

I feel sorry for Mu Yuan and I feel his pain, but I think it's plain to see he doesn't stand a chance and he missed his chance. I don't mind unrequited love trope, I just hate it when it gets to the point of obsessive and destructive.

Oh, I don't like Jin Mi either, don't really care for Jin Mi and Phoenix's loveline either. I had to watch the beginning 3 times because I was really distracted by Yang Zi's monotonous voice, it was a bit high pitch too, makes me appreciate voice dubbing by voice actors. I only started Ashes of Love because of all the ravings, and stayed watching cuz the family loved it, only when Run Yu's character was experiencing a shift that I got hooked by his character's arc. I honestly don't really care much about other characters.

LOL I need to stage an accidental meeting with him first, something that's natural and not too creepy. Leo's actually not my type too haha, my type is more of the crown prince in this drama, but I enjoy watching him in dramas/interviews, he's actually a very friendly guy.

I wouldn't say Xue Zhi was leading Mu Yuan on. She clearly was making effort to forget Tou and asked Mu Yuan for some time, Mu Yuan even said he didn't expect her to forget Tou completely, just a chance to be with her. I think she did properly consider Mu Yuan as a life partner and almost went ahead with that plan until she found out the truth about Tou. Maybe if the misunderstanding was resolved sooner, Mu Yuan didn't have to suffer from a non-existent hope. Or if he had confessed to her sooner, he might have had a chance to woo her before Tou. I guess it's all about timing and fate.

I'd go for bad boys or goody two shoes as long as the character's arc is developed properly and I can relate to the character. In Ashes of Love, I was rooting for Run Yu even though he turned dark, not for him to get the girl but for a happier ending.

I'd love to see that too, but unfortunately, the way Mu Yuan and Tou are over protecting Xue Zhi makes me feel like it's not gonna ever happen. I can't count how many times Mu Yuan and Tou said, "保护她周全". I mean really guys? She has Lotus Wing, you guys have normal martial arts.

Yeah, I get what you mean. I usually just watch 2 episodes per night as released on iQIYI, but now that all episodes are up, I'm trying to watch more than my usual, which is not just time consuming but also draining my energy, partly because some emotional scenes get to me.

I would have dumped him if he's not Leo, haha.

I read a couple of chapters in the middle to get a sense of Xue Zhi and Tou as a couple, and skip to the end to see how it ends. I wouldn't normally read Chinese novels as my Chinese is a little weak and rusty, but I did for this drama, I wouldn't say I regret it but it's not a very enjoyable read.

From my understanding, Xue Zhi is a character that does everything as she likes and sometimes of no consequences of how it may affect others. For example, she sleeps with Tou on a few occasions but refuses to be with him because she thinks he is too much of a flirt and tells him she regrets it (the sleeping together part). When she finds out about Tou's past with Feng Zi, she asks him to take responsibility of Feng Zi and Tou does what she asks. She then finds out she is pregnant and asks Tou to marry her as well (she's willing to be second wife) but does not tell him she is pregnant. Before this, Xue Zhi tells Tou she'd never be with him because of Feng Zi. So I get the sense that Xue Zhi is playing with Tou's feelings. Also, near the end, Xue Zhi marries Mu Yuan knowing fully well that Feng Zi is in love with Mu Yuan, completely disregarding Feng Zi's feelings when just a few chapters in the middle she seems to care so much about Feng Zi. Oh, and she hates Feng Zi in the beginning simply because Qing Mei likes Feng Zi and she had a crush on him.

Tou, on the other hand, is exactly like Tou in the drama right now. He is protective of Xue Zhi to the point that he isn't willing to open up to her about anything. I can feel his love for her in the novel, I just find him too frustrating of a character because he hides everything from her. Just before Tou's disappearance/death from the world for 6 years, he actually tells Xue Zhi he has someone else and a child with that person because he knows he might not come back and wants Xue Zhi to forget him (unverified because I read this from a review). And then he comes back disappointed and angry that she moves on with Mu Yuan, when he's the one who lied in the first place!

So from the very little that I read, I find it hard to relate nor root for Xue Zhi/Tou as a character, they're not terrible people, but they're definitely hard to root for.

I'm up to episode 38 now and slightly appeased by the sight of the OTP together, notwithstanding she was on her death bed, they looked content to be reunited and very much in love, which really should have happened eons ago but whatever. I'm even back to smiling like an idiot when they were playing chess and Xue Zhi cheated, gosh, why couldn't you guys be this cute last week? I'm well aware Tou is falling off the cliff in the next episode so I'm half turning off my brain of the impending tragedy and trying to savor my OTP as much as I can. I can't help rolling my eyes when Tou was, yet again, hiding his intention to meet the crown prince from Xue Zhi after just promising her like 5 seconds ago he wouldn't do that anymore. At this point, I don't think I expect much from Tou's character, I just hope he won't burst my blood vessels.

That's the thing, most viewers watch it with the expectations they have from TMOPB and some couldn't feel the continuity between the two. The two are essentially different and though it's the same premise of love spanning 3 lives, they both focus on different love stories and background. TMOPB focuses heavily on Bai Qian and Ye Hua's love story as well as the background of Qing Qiu, Heavenly Realm, Ghost Tribe, and Kunlun Mountain. In Pillow Book, the main focus is the OTP, essentially it's about a girl's persistence in love that moves the heaven. Also, I think it's because they want to retain the sense of continuity from TMOPB, they altered relevant people in the drama that it feels like the Pillow Book world is relatively small compared to TMOPB. I'd say Pillow Book is a very romance centric drama, maybe a bit of a slow burner, which is my cup of tea.

Didn't they fight together with Lord Lu's men in episode 34?

I'm taking my sweet time to finish it, thought I'd gobble this up after they released all episodes, but I find it easier to stomach little by little than forcing it all down my throat at once. I can't say I'm loving the plot, but I have affections for this drama so I'm gonna see it to the end. Probably because the last drama I watched before this was so infuriating that this seems like nothing compared to it.

I find the rating system is just a gauge of interest rather than an actual rating. You'd probably be better off reading reviews and understand what you should be expecting, though I checked and the reviews are mostly just people watching midway and dropping due to lack of interest and connection, maybe wait a few more days/weeks until people properly finish the episodes and can form better judgment.

I'm only up to episodes 38 and all I can say is the romance is quickly established but slowly developed and by midway it becomes stagnant. The story started off sweet and fluttery but becomes rather frustrating midway, maybe a little dull too because the build-up takes too long. Though I can't say this is a good watch, it's not something I'd label bad because I do have affections for it, maybe something you have to explore and see if it's an okay watch.

The novel seems dark because the writer is willing to go there and isn't afraid to explore the plot. However, I do think some of the plots in the novel don't really make sense and are just plain convoluted for the sake of torturing the OTP (more so than in this drama), and probably not something that'd translate well on screen. I think the fact that they wanted to retain the many hardships of the OTP in the novel is what actually brought the couple down in the drama. And like what chasingpolaris said, the characters are very unlikeable (to me) and very hard to root/care for. I didn't read the novel completely but from the bits that I read, Xue Zhi is far too headstrong and willful, while Shang Guan Tou is frustrating as a lover (Tou in the drama is behaving more and more like him towards the end). All in all, I don't really think this is a good/decent material to adapt in the first place.

Oh, I see. Thanks for clarifying.

That's because he was disfigured, or so I read.