sirup

ML is from Dominion and Devotion? Right, now you say it I recognise those cheekbones haha. He was great in that one! Hope he does it again here

The female lead is so gorgeous. So princess-like and mysterious

Oh I am one of those skim watchers as well so I can't, ironically X)

Shirtless scene right at the introduction of ML. I really cringed hard at that one

I agree with INTJ for Si Mu but I could see Duan Xu as INFP or ISFP. He has that vibe of "I do what I want to do and I don't need to explain or justify myself to you"

Yeah. Our time as viewers and humans is precious. Everyone has a right to drop any boring book, show, game, whatever, on the first episode, on the first page. What is this recent tendency to urge people to consume the media they are already not liking, in order to have a right to not like? I see it all the time now

Lol at the borderline suicidal look. The very first frame of Yi An, camera just on his face, I was thinking 'ah is he standing on a roof, about to jump down?' - then it zoomed out to a random palace yard. He really gives this 'done with the world' look

True, that was sudden and dark lol. Wonder if he secretly agrees and therefor acts so martyr-like.

Yeah but I gotta say, I don't love it about many Korean dramas (and Chinese). This portrayal of the "insufferable woman"... who is the actual problem, no matter if men have ever so much more influence in real life. It's so common.

Right, but, like... as if a woman who married into the family could bully an man born into the family. In such a conservative institution. Thats not how this kind of thing works in reality. Which makes my sympathy with him so limited rn... it is as if he chose martyrdom

Yeah but I kind of include the ML in that. If you are a pampered prince, don't always look like a dog being kicked. What is the point of all your wealth and status if you can not even stand up to your sister in law...

I suppose I should know what I am getting into with this drama but damn, these are some really privileged people acting like they are downtrodden.

I recommend excellent short drama Dominion and Devotion, loved that one

Fate's Crossing Nan & Ke. I liked that one. She is not as powerful as Simu is, but she is an ancient spirit of sorts

Huh. I skim read the novel and the very end is them being rescued from that predicament by another spirit - with her turning mortal and him remaining a (healed) mortal

Oh that sounds frustrating. That really sounds so much as if they are just mixing and matching genres and standard tropes within one drama. "some amnesia, some transcendence, some demon, some scrappy urchin, sprinkle it all in, all good". Thats so typical of dumb Cdrama

Honestly - I found these dramas you mentioned extremely boring, worse than Love beyond the Grave, so I stopped before the acts could unfold. Did they really have acts? They seemed one "cute" scene after the other for me, with barely any plot

Yeah. It is sad that almost literally the only thing that comes out of Chinese dramaland anymore is idol dramas - the lowest common denominator for teen and early twenties girls.

So are trashy Fabio romances, yet sad when an entire medium of entertainment becomes just that

I feel like a lot of writing in recent Cdramas is... procedurally generated. They only generate one scene or setting after the other, with barely any coherence or storyline holding it together. So "scene where badass assassin bleeds in the snow, sounds good" then "jealous love rival" sounds good, "surreal spirit world with gothic clothing" sounds good, "ancient immortal spirit and innocent young lover" sounds good... no matter that the "young lover" was "crazy blood soaked assassin" just a few episodes ago. Who remembers that, between their bouts of doomscrolling and watching other drama? That seems the way they think. Sucks