x_AJ_x

the forehead touch. it's my weakness haha.

The ending for the drama is essentially the same as the first part of the novel's epilogue. They just don't complete it. TTJ sacrifices himself to save the world and destroy the Devil God completely. The three realms are now at peace. Susu gives birth to their daughter and is travelling the mortal realm. (in search of him & waiting for his return) We find out part of his soul was saved. (by the Tiger demon in the novel, and by the HGS in the drama.) Which is what allowed him to come back. Only in the drama, they simply stop it there, rather than showing his eventual rebirth and their reunion.

It's just open ended, so that the audience can decide what happens next based on their own preferences. Of course most of us would have really liked to have seen the full epilogue play out though...

There definitely was also some scenes that were cut out of the last episode that probably would have helped with pacing and making certain other things more clear too though. Which sucks.

Like never really. Not that ive seen anyway. Not even on reddit. Don't get me wrong there might be a few snarky or defensive comments that pop up here and there from those that can't seem to accept others opinions but the vast majority of responses to critics and hate posts have just been people expressing their own opinion and view points on the criticisms made. Majority has been respectful in my experience.

Apparently that is toxic now?

Definitely give it a go! Either you'll end up really loving it or you wont. Obviously most of us here are big fans and think it's amazing but it's not going to be for everyone and that's okay too.

Lol you were right. They've started to drag us in that thread too. 🤣 It was only a matter of time.
Apparently we are all toxic and cult-like and delusional and cant deal with people not liking TTEOTM.

That's not been my experience here at all...

It depends on how you feel about open endings. Haha. Whether people are happy or 100% satisfied with that will vary.

Personally I was satisfied with some things and disappointed with others. But what I was disappointed by did not outweigh everything else. It was bittersweet and hopeful at the same time.

Totally worth it. It was amazing and I cant see myself moving on from it anytime soon.

I only say I hope for a republican era drama for he and Lulu sometime in the future because it's something they said they wanted to do together during press. A republican era suspense thriller specifically. They said they wanted to do a Historical/Xianxia together during Love is Sweet era and they got it. I just think it would be fun if they got their wish again for a third collab.

I think BL shines in most of her dramas. I suspect Story of Kunning Palace will be a good one for her.

I hope so. A republican era with Lulu, please. Because they both want it. 😂

Completely agree. A character that is "void of emotion" or has an inability to feel like a normal person could easily have been played as blank or like a cardboard cut out. He managed to create something else entirely. Even when he didn't feel much of anything, there was this strange underlining sense of longing and something bubbling under the surface. He was still so expressive. It was refreshing.

I think she believed and knew he was in love with her even when she was putting nails into his heart. At their wedding we hear her think about how happy he must be on that day. But that didn't mean she trusted that he wouldn't turn into the devil god for some reason or another. I think him having love threads and being in love with her made the whole thing more painful for her and that's another reason why she was distraught in those scenes, but I don't think that was enough for her (in her mind) to take the risk that it could be averted somehow. Not when the fate of the entire world rested on that decision. Any time he did something "morally wrong" (in her POV) she viewed it as proof of an inevitable outcome - regardless of his love for her.

I don't think her not confronting him or communicating to him about it is that out of character - she kept everything close to the vest for the entire time. Even when she was "nailing him" she didn't actually explain why she was doing it. Of course things may have turned out better or differently had they communicated all of this to each other. Had she confronted him. But I guess that was the point - the "woulda, shoulda coulda" of it all. Or maybe nothing would have changed at all - destiny and all that. That's what makes it tragic.

This is not to say that it isn't completely fair to be frustrated by this! It completely is and I get it!! haha!

I always think about what might have happened had Nian Baiyu not interrupted them at the bridge. Would she have mustered the courage to tell him the truth? what would have happened? would it have changed anything? Ugh. So sad....

She was definitely in love with TTJ at this point (though perhaps still in a bit of denial over that) but she still didn't really trust him at this time. I think she wanted to... but she was always afraid to take the risk.

Not to mention, when she talks with XL at the prison she tells him that TTJ won't kill him and then XL says that TTJ will never release him either, and implies that if he can't escape, he would kill himself. I felt it was consistent with her character to not want someone who she see's as a good and noble person to die like that. It would have felt a little out of character to see her not react or care. It's not that she wanted to betray TTJ... but she didn't want XL to die either. I would agree that she probably could have handled it differently and much better. But I guess this was what she saw as the right decision at the time....

I remember an interview with both LYX and Lulu where they talk about that idea - that characters aren't perfect and choices need to be made. The choices made may not always be ideal or the best option from an audiences perspective, but they make them based on what they see as correct at the time. For better or worse - and then you have to deal with consequences of those decisions. And boy did they... lol

Yeah, I agree! which is why I said people are definitely entitled to their own opinions about it. But for me personally, virtually everything she did made sense to me from a character and story stand point. I guess I'm just tired of seeing double standards for male and female characters in fandoms. (that's in general... and not just this one) Men can be morally questionable and make mistakes and it's completely fine and the fandom fawns over them. (me included) but a female character always seems to get a disproportionate amount of hate for the same things.

Oh im not talking about on here. I'm referring to other places. Every other day there is talk about "how awful the fl is" .

Man, I'm so tired of the Li Susu hate. Like, I know everyone has the right to their own personal opinion, but I always feel the need to defend her...
It feels like some people ask for complex female characters but as soon as we have a female character that is complex and not "perfect" then she's the worst and we must protect the equally (if not more) morally grey male character from her. and this is coming from TTJ's no: 1 fan btw.

I've seen so many people say Li Susu never loved him, at all. "It's clear she never actually loved him and it was an act from beginning to end." Were we watching the same drama? 🤣 lol

The august 20 melon is definitely fake. The exact same melon went around last year. Nobody believes it. 🤣 hence all the clown faces. Sometimes all you can do is poke fun and laugh at it.

I agree in a way. Tantai Jin was tragic no doubt but at least he and Li Susu had moments where they were together and they got to express their love. They saved the world and it ended with true understanding of one another. There was a child - a physical representation of their love - and there was enough of the novel's epilogue there to provide hope. The open ending leaves the possibility of a future HE there. So even though I would have preferred to have seen the reunion as in the original script or the novel's epilogue. it's really not the worst ending imo. (perhaps a bit underwhelming in areas, but ya know i'm used to that with C-Drama endings)

But Xiang Liu.... *sigh* Yeah, that one is really painful to watch. I'm only continuing it because Tan Jianci is so damn good. He's really stealing the show. & He's really breaking my heart.

SML? He's listed 15th as a supporting role. He'll probably be edited out with very little impact on the plot.

From what I know back then, they deleted it off Douyin and then did a post clarifying their reasons as to why on Weibo because people were asking on there. There does seem to be screen shots of Douyin in that article too. And the Weibo posts asking Harper's Bazaar why they took the video down are also using screen shots from Douyin. (Date on the screen shots used is 21st April 2023. which would have been the OG post of the photoshoot)

Not to mention the exact weibo post used in that article is also the same that @SMilkDrama's used on twitter on the 29th April, when discussing the deleted video.

So even if that article is recent, the posts and information they're using is from April.

I can't say whether they have deleted it on weibo since then, but I've not heard anything anywhere else. @SMilkDrama would probably know. lol

Harper's Bazaar deleted the original post on Douyin. They said it was to do with a music copyright issue. But they uploaded a different "new" version a few days later or something. On weibo. It was slightly different (a few extra shots ) with different music so it seems it was a copyrights issue. (maybe?) But this was back in late April. So I don't know if this article is referring to that or something else...

Original official version is still up on the official Youku channel on Youtube too. Not to mention all over the internet.

I know they both have said they want to do a Republican era suspense thriller together. So maybe it'll be something along those lines. Lulu and LYX in Republican era outfits could be fun too. They'd look beautiful.

After Love is Sweet they said they wanted to do a Historical or Xianxia together and they did. During the press for TTEOTM they said they wanted to do Republican era suspense. They're throwing out hints. Maybe they already have an IP in mind. 🤣