mione

well, i would say that we’re both being biased here :) i can clearly see that your opinion is quite biased of runyu’s character when you said “I fell in love with leo luo ...aka run yu.” i’m not trying to pick up an argument here, but the tone of your comment makes it seem like you can’t accept any other opinions other than your own…

i respect your comment because it gives me another insight about the story/drama, which is refreshing. however, it doesn’t seem like you understand/view the story from an ancient era [pov] even though you claimed to “know its about ancient time period.” i can’t see it being reflected in your comment, especially when you said “its about feeling and respect not about blood and neither about status.” people from the ancient times do care about feelings and respect, but for them —idk about other cultures, but in chinese culture, blood-relations and status play very big roles in society, some which can sadly still be seen nowadays. if feelings and respect were so important back in the days, we wouldn't have princes killing each other for the throne or have corrupt officials in every city while the poor stayed poor.

i still believe that for xu feng to not do anything in the beginning for runyu was already helping him. although xu feng is a prince, his status expects him to behave in a certain way so he is limited to do certain things (this is very normal, especially for families born into aristocracy because how they behave also impact their family name. in this case, it’s the heavenly realm). the same thing applies for runyu. so neither of them spoke up which then led to all the events that happened in the story because they never properly sat down to communicate the problem. if xu feng were to take any actions in standing up for runyu, this would not only anger tu yao even more, but it would also shatter their brotherhood (even though they were not close). xu feng could even be mistaken as pretentious and this could make runyu feel useless and helpless than he already was in the heavenly realm. it’s similar to the concept of: only speak when you know what you’re talking about because if you don’t then you’re only going to make the situation worse.

in response to why saving runyu would be embarrassing —the one embarrassed would not be xu feng, but would be runyu because he is the older brother. this is also why I’ve mentioned earlier that I feel that you’re not thinking of the story from an ancient pov: in ancient times, those who has higher status would not want for anyone lower to help them. applying this on xu feng and runyu, the status here is their position in the family; runyu is the older brother while xu feng is the younger one. although xu feng made more achievements than runyu and was more respected by those in the heavenly realm, it doesn’t change the fact that runyu is a senior to xu feng. while runyu couldn’t clearly see it, but xu feng obviously respected this because he never made things hard for runyu. xu feng could have simply worked with his mother to plot something against runyu and finish him for good, but he didn’t do anything. if xu feng were to help runyu directly, it would not only hurt runyu’s pride, but would make him feel more useless.

at the end of the drama, we can see that xu feng actually cared for runyu. if he didn’t he wouldn’t have saved runyu from qiong qi even though runyu brought it all upon himself. xu feng made it clear that the heavenly emperor gave the sword to him to fight against qiong qi, not to kill his brother. by acknowledging runyu as a brother…if this is not caring, then idk what is in your dictionary. xu feng could’ve simply used that opportunity to kill runyu for the wrongs he has committed, but he didn’t because they are brothers.

again, you’re thinking too deeply about the story from a modern perspective, “as long as she determined she can do anything”. Well, yes I would agree to this statement if this was a modern drama, but ancient people (women) don’t have mindsets like that; very rare at least.

as for the debts, hmmmm, well we can’t expect all the karma to fall on xu feng because overall he is innocent. tai wei and tu yao got their punishment from their deaths, although it was a very easy one but they died. what else could be expected more? revive the dead and those they have harmed in the past? or what else could xu feng have done to repay the debts for his parents? die once again?

in regards to this, “The past run yu had has nothing to do with sympathy but with justice he must seek not only for his mother but for all the other innocent lives which were killed without any reason and who's life were ruined for no reason” —well, this is what a lot of people misinterpreted and fell for, that’s why they “sympathise” with his character and find his character more likeable.

i give him praise for being courageous and brave to stand up for justice, but i don’t agree with his actions and the methods he used to seek revenge and justice. “its easy for us to judge bcoz we were never in his shoe to understand what he went through,” yes true, but this doesn’t make him forgivable, simply because he was wrong.

runyu was actually very smart because he knew how to use people and turn them into his own chess pieces to plan out all the schemes that happened in the drama. just because everyone else were being unfair to him and his mother in the past, this doesn’t make him right for the chaos that he created. he was basically on the journey of becoming a mirror of his father: manipulative, greedy and devious.

you even said it yourself, “he tricked [jinmi] into saying i love u bcoz he thought, after what evil deeds are done by the emperor and empress against jin mi mom it will be difficult to carry on the engagement…..” this adds up selfishness to his already detestable personality… moreover, you said, “coming to the part where run yu started planning it was after he understood that if he needs to protect the one he love, he needs to be powerful ...he didnt took the throne just to enjoy but had a reason, is to change the tyrant rule and also he can be with jin mi without any hurdles …” well, another point for being called selfish because he used other people for his own happiness…

and no, I don’t think runyu had done all of that because he 110% loved jinmi. yes, he loved her, but not as much as xu feng imo. jinmi was more of a prize that runyu felt like he must have because she was the only one who did not see him differently in the beginning, which led to attraction. then, because of his resentment and insecurities, she became an obsession, an object that he must possess in order to feel like he is worth something. it just angered him more that the one who he has to fight against was xu feng, who was favoured by many people while he, runyu, was seen as nothing by the heavenly realm people in the past. he was literally consumed by his own resentment and hatred that he didn’t think of the consequences in bearing the throne. he treated the throne as if it was a toy —use it to have power and when he doesn’t have the power and respect anymore, he throws it away, back to xu feng.

when everything ended, runyu wrote an edict of repentance and then locked himself up thinking that it would be the end of him. He was basically suicidal because to him at that time, death was an escape. this is a good example of someone trying to run away from their responsibilities…that’s not very likeable imo especially when runyu have caused so much chaos between the six realms because he wanted happiness for himself. although his past actions were meant to seek for justice and to take revenge, we cannot ignore that he chose the wrong methods to do all of that and ended up ruining himself.

“as for xe feng never wanting the throne, the one who already had everything and everyone, as long as he can do and wish as he desires what else does he needs??” ...this is a misjudgement imo. even though in the past, xu feng was the favoured prince, he did however work hard for his own achievements. tbvh, runyu could’ve done the same, but he decided to hide himself in the dark and just be stuck in his lonely shell. he missed his chance, who could he have blamed?

whether it’s god or a human, everyone and everything has its own flaws. i agree that the “affair” between xu feng and jinmi was wrong, and like i’ve mentioned; xu feng and the fox immortal did exploited jinmi a lot while she stayed in the heavenly realm. tthis became one of her many flaws because she couldn’t control herself in that moment of time when they had the “mutual cultivation”. it sounds stupid, but for someone with a personality like jinmi and xufeng, when they’re in love it’s hard to turn back. this is why people say that we can be blindly in love whether it’s right or wrong. as viewers, we cannot expect them to be perfect and flawless either, likeable or unlikeable, this is actually how life is in rl, modern or ancient. you might not be the one experiencing it or has experienced it, but it doesn’t mean that someone from this world hasn’t experienced it. like you and me, we equally have flaws that maybe we can’t even identify ourselves. perhaps we have done something that seems unlikeable to other people too. same thing applies for jinmi and xu feng in this case.

i strongly disagree that “[jinmi] was no fool to be tricked by anyone.” she was manipulated by runyu many times before she spat out the yundan and learned better of her own feelings and herself as a person in general. what you witnessed throughout the drama (from being seen as innocent to looking as though she is not innocent anymore) was her journey of growth and maturity. some of her actions cannot be easily explained, but it’s all part of her journey. as the saying goes, people learn from mistakes and with that comes a process.

regarding, “but when he realized that his birth and his mother was nothing but a joke for the emperor and that tu yao can easily get away with everything, also he saw his own brother cant wait to sleep with his fiance what u think he should do is ???” —sounds unconvincing and rather simple, but runyu could’ve just ask to call off the engagement and move on, while the whole world can see jinmi and xu feng as the bad people…because they were in this case. but no, runyu didn’t do that. he took his anger and brought more innocent people into his schemes and plotted to kill xu feng. this is not self-respect and is in no way an honourable way in winning someone he claimed he loved. that’s straight out immoral vengeance.

runyu brought it upon himself to become a laughing stock, we cannot blame this entirely on jinmi or xufeng or anyone. again, he started the schemes and now it backfired. as for “he is the heavenly emperor his position is no joke,” well…he was already treating the throne as a joke because he didn’t want the throne for the throne, he wanted the throne because he wanted jinmi. so i don’t actually sympathise him on this one.

“it was also a matter of his self respect and pride ...what kind of impact will it have in all the realms ??” —if he did care about the realms in the first place, he wouldn’t have started the war. before the war even began, he even told his people that once they succeed in bringing jinmi over to him, then the heavenly realm people were to destroy everyone from the demon realm. self-respect and pride? i can’t see it…

sigh, my comment is too long again…haha, about the comment, you’re welcome :) i hope i don’t appear offensive. i wrote this comment in total calmness; just really enjoying this discussion haha. thanks for trying to give me a different side of the story + characters!

p.s. i'm hoping it's not intentional but it’s xu feng not xe feng… :')

might be a personal preference, but i found my story for you to be a good watch as well :) same as this drama, msfy is based on the author’s real story + his journey of success as an aauthor. he initially wrote the story for his wife and while penning the story, his wife was actually diagnosed with cancer. the story + the drama was sort of like hope for him. unfortunately his wife didn’t survive the cancer after the drama finished airing. if it makes you feel better tho, the drama has a happy ending and the wife did not die. since the drama is based on a real story, it’s realistic. i actually enjoyed msfy more than lfdc even tho in msfy there weren’t much kisses haha...well, there was actually none between the leads...unless you count a kiss on the forehead as a kiss, you know what i mean? :’)

i agree with the others that put your head on my shoulder is a must watch! it caters more to younger audiences so i think it’s an easy-enjoyable watch :)

it has been a while since i've last visited this page, and your comment was really interesting hahaha :')

first off, i partially agree and disagree with your pov. i think it's important to keep in mind when watching these dramas is that the story is set in an acient period, therefore we cant really judge the plot or characters from a modern perspective...which i am seeing a lot in the comment section.

before i add my own pov, i just want to touch up some things: the novel is amazing and honestly, runyu's character is nowhere near the one portrayed in the drama (at least not much sympathy is needed). there was actually a lot of backlash when the drama first aired because the director made a lot of changes for runyu's character...even stealing some of xu feng's dialogue from the novel —so in the end xu feng actually had less screentime even though he was the lead (there was actually a fan war on social media between deng lun's and leo's fanclubs). the director was just too immersed in developing runyu's character, in fact giving his character more depth and detail than xu feng; which is very frustrating lmao. i still personally don't think his tragic past justify his wrongful actions —from making the water immortal believe that he and jinmi were in love which then eventually led to the engagment and then starting the war which affected the six realms. (i'm not going to lie, perhaps i was already a little biased before i had started the drama because i really loved xu feng's character in the novel, so this could affect my pov in contrast to your pov) :')

i sort of diagree that xu feng does not care about his brother. in a way, he does, but he doesn't show it. the character's real form is symbolic of the way they behave...at least in chinese mythology. xu feng is a phoenix, we can't blame him for acting self-centred and arrogant (and even selfish most of the time) —this is his nature as a phoenix and the prestige that have been printed on him since birth; and obviously from the way he was raised as a prince, moreover, the favoured one. it would make sense to think that he cannot relate to runyu or even sympathise or reach out to help him from tu yao's bullying because he simply couldn't psychologically connect himself with runyu's resentment. and their status were also different despite being brothers so it would actually be inappropriate for him to take actions against his mother to just protect a brother that was birthed by another woman from the dragon fish tribe (we can say, xu feng was in a way protecting runyu's pride as well. why would anyone want their younger brother to protect them? it's embarrassing, especially in ancient times). keep in mind here that xu feng is part of the bird tribe. for him to not do anything by staying silent was actually already helping runyu; if runyu were to have more attention then that would anger tu yao even more. as explained in ep 62, xu feng never had the intentions to go against runyu. we can say that prior to all the events that happened, xu feng only viewed runyu as another exisiting person from the heaven realm, someone he didn't love nor hate. this is normal behaviour for siblings birthed by different mothers, legitimate or illegitmate.

as to why xu feng was willing to go against his mother to protect jimni, while he couldn't do the same to runyu...the answer is also pretty simple. again, it's all about status and how each of their relationship link to each other. runyu is a dragon with years of cultivation; he was more than capable to protect himself (at least now that he is an adult...). as for jinmi, she has served by xu feng's side as his attendant so he knew clearly of her power level —she could never win against someone as strong as his mother. it has something to do with gender roles too. jinmi is a girl, so society see her as weak compared to runyu who is a man. so was xu feng being unfilial? yes and no. i'm no expert in chinese literature, but there is a saying, something along the line of a son must pay his parent's debt which basically means that whatever wrongs done by the parent, their child would be the one bearing the consequence for them. xu feng did exactly this for his mother.

i loved reading all the responses to your comment haha because it shows that the characters are not perfect and i like that because we can't be perfect in rl. it's interesting the way the characters were built. tai wei and runyu are dragons, while tu yao and xu feng are phoenixes. if we compared them as a pair, they share similar traits and personality. except, they all having different endings because of the way they were raised, plus how the events that happened affected them and their actions, which came with a little bit of greed and hatred. the one who had more greed turned out to be bad, while the one with less greed ended up being good.

it's been a while, but i think i've mentioned in another comment that for the writers to show runyu's past was not to ask for sympathy from the audience. but rather, it is to let the audience understand why he became who he became. yes, his childhood was awful and even after growing up, it was still awful. but this doesn't mean that all the wrongs that he has done could be ignored.

i disagree that xu feng should've backed out from the relationship. again, gender roles and social hierarchy. as a man, especially for a prince who was raised up with an i-know-what-i-want personality, he couldn't because that would hurt his dignity (it's the same for runyu, that's why none of them gave up). and of course, we wouldn't have any drama to watch if xu feng was to simply back out...

hmmm i see a lot of people disliking jin mi's character and saying she's the problem in this story. well, yes, it's true. without her, there wouldn't be a story to tell haha. but i disagree that she is problematic as a person. we must remember that she spent most of her life in the flower realm with little contact to the outside world. most of the stuff that she learnt were from books, but none of that could beat experiencing it herself. and that was exactly what we witnessed. she was new to the outside world which was why she appeared to have "no brains" in most of the events that occured and what we witnessed throughout the drama was her growing maturity. as for her engagment with runyu, i sort of agree that she was being ignorant towards runyu and his feelings. but we can't fully blame her because in ancient times, a daughter's marriage was to be decided by her father and jinmi was simply following this rule and guidance. keep in mind that she was also enjoying her dad's company, and this experience was new to her so she was still trying to adapt to this by trustng her father and the engagment that was organised by her seniors. of course, the yundan also comes in act because she couldn't feel any romance (whether it's with xufeng or runyu), so her feelings were quite neutral in this whole engagment thing.

i have to say though, jinmi was exploited by xu feng and the fox immortal a lot. the affair between her and xu feng wouldn't have happened if she wasn't exploited, thus leading her to become ignorant about some things. with that, it was also because her yundan was broken, which gave it gaps for her to feel a little bit of romance, but very confusing romance.

tbh, i don't think jinmi made runyu feel hopeful, but it was rather runyu who was pushing her to make him feel more hopeful. he knew about the yundan and took advantage of that and manipulated her decisions. in regards to bibi-bobo's comment, the love that jinmi was supposed to not feel was romantic love. this has nothing to do with family love, friendship love and so forth which explains why her actions and emotions can be so confusing and bizarre. this is why she was able to be desperate in reviving her friend, on the other hand, she could also be heartless in killing xu feng.

runyu was innocent, but he wasn't so innocent anymore after he began all the schemes in winning jinmi and the throne. on the other hand, xu feng never once plan to scheme against runyu. this was their differences and why xu feng had a happy ending, while runyu didn't (ep62 explained this very clearly and brought a lot of closure for the brothers). xu feng just wanted to live his own life with jinmi, no need for the throne, no need for status, no need for war. it was runyu who started it all. yes, it is true that what happened between xu feng and jinmi triggered runyu's actions, but he had the choice to not do any of those bad schemes. in fact, he added more oil to the fuel when he healed the broken yundan (so we can't blame xu feng for being selfish, because runyu was being selfish here too). when a person decide to walk on the wrong path and start to do evil deeds, they can only expect to recieve karma. xu feng... he already received his own karma after being betrayed by jinmi and being killed by her. this was all part of the "love trial" as well. we wouldn't have a story if none that this had happened haha.

...my comment is getting too long lmao so i should end it here :p

it's on dailymotion, you just have to type in the chinese name. unfortunately, none of it is subbed... :(

apparently s2 is going to be about their children, not xufeng & jinmi :)

so i just went back to replay the scene where the emperor died...i don't think that song was ever officially released as an ost (???) D': at least i havent seen it in any playlists, yet. when you when said la la la i thought it was the la la la from ruthless painting :') sorry for the disappointment!

there are no season 2 in novel version. apparently season 2 (drama) is going to be based on their children :)

if you want a more satisfying ending, i totally recommend reading the epilogues from the novel! :D fox immortal had a small appearance (a scene which was not included in the drama). it took place after jin mi and xu feng married, but before she was pregnant.

should be called ruthless painting (无情画) by wang cheng zhang (王呈章)...?

you can try flowers in fog (2013)! :) it was deng lun’s first drama and he was paired up with yang zi (which probs explain why they had super good chemistry in AoL) although they are not the whole focus of the story, but it’s still not too bad to watch and you get to see another side of the young them hahaha their characters are totally diff in that drama. it was written by chiung yao, the one who wrote huan zhu ge ge! :)

not draggy all at imo if you pay really close attention to the dialogues. they become meaningful by the end of the drama and you will have some sense of closure that most drama cannot succeed in giving to the audience :) i personally enjoyed each episode. of course, the drama does have its flaws too, but nothing is perfect anyway.

unfortunately i dont think there’s a pdf version, only online reading because theyre fan translations. maybe you might have some luck if you can find an audio version (cause theyre usually downloadable) in your own language? :/

lmao ikr, she never gets roles that starts off mature haha (with the exception of noble aspiration). but not her fault —blame the producers because actors themselves cannot choose roles theyre fond of :’(

yeah maybe 3l3w wasnt so irritating for you to watch because of the actors —they are more experienced and older than actors from AoL (excluding runyu, which is why you probs find him appealing) :’)

you shouldn't have skipped the eps after jin mi killed xu feng; they were the best eps! :'( and would've probs explained to you clearer in relations to your questions above.

I personally disagree about jin mi's character being annoying...lets not forget that she's not like the norm so we can't judge her character from that perspective. her character has been built that way to show her innocence from the years of being confined in the flower realm + having no contact to the outside world and its nature to understand maturity and sensibility. this also explains why she acted so rash to make the decision kill xu feng because she was so overwhelmed by the emotions of losing her father and aunt, and so she was easily manipulated by runyu + others. the pill that she was fed since born also played a big role in her actions as well; if she was not fed the pill, she wouldn't have killed xu feng and would've confronted him in a different way instead of listening to runyu because at that time she couldn't grasp the idea of romance (you can see her pain after she spat out the pill after killing xu feng and this marked the beginning of a major change in her character as well because she learnt to have better control of herself + understand her own feelings). in addition, i think yang zi's acting in this drama was great; i srsly cannot imagine anyone else playing jin mi better than her. this could be a biased opinion though cause i've loved her for years ever since she was a child actress haha :')

i also disagree with your point about runyu having everything at the end because he didn't. like xu feng, runyu only ever cared about jin mi and it was his only wish and desire. the only point that made him different to xu feng to deserve a happy ending was that runyu was consumed by his own resentment and hatred, which led him to fight for the throne because he believed that it could give him power and status to win jin mi over xu feng; so it wasn't the throne that he cared, it was jin mi.

i wouldn't say runyu "had everything at the end, yet they made him so narrow-minded in seeing that he did not have anything." like i've mentioned above, yes he got the throne in the end, but that was not what he wanted -the result, i mean. the only reason why he wanted the throne was so that he could win jin mi (and of course revenge for his birth mother). but did he win jin mi? no because she only ever loved xu feng. we can say that by the end of the story he was still blindly in love (because he couldn't accept kuang lu) and that he could not forgive himself for the wrong deeds he has done. [SPOILER ALERT] in ep 62, after when jin mi was 'killed' by runyu and xu feng, run yu wrote an edict of repentance and this was a major turning-point for his character because it explains a lot about his regrets and his past actions which then led to his ending. he lost all of the respect from the heavenly officials because of the war he started, and despite still having the throne, it can be seen that he doesn't have anything because what's the meaning of sitting on a throne without having respect of your people? this was bitterly and beautifully illustrated in the ending scene when he was sitting on the throne but the hall was empty and dark (apart from the presence of kuang lu). this altogether was a punishment for him and he accepted that because he knew he deserved it. [END OF SPOILER ALERT]

i would also say that he did learn to properly love and this was nicely shown when he visited xiao lu in the mortal world. he asked jin mi when they met, "all these years, have you been happy?" and jin mi responded with a smile while looking at her son. he ended up answering the question for her "of course you are happy" and this tells us that he finally came to understand that loving someone means letting them be happy (and out of all people, jin mi deserved her happy life to compensate the things that runyu had done to her in the past).

i agree that it was quite sad to see kuang lu's feelings not being returned by runyu. but if they were to have a happy ending together, it would defeat the purpose of runyu punishing himself for the wrongs he has done. in a way, kuang lu is like a female version of runyu. she was blindly in love and would listen to him whether it was right or wrong. in the ending when she was shown to make the decision to continue to stay by his side, it was like she was punishing herself as well because she never made an attempt to stop him for the wrong deeds he has done. of course, on top of all that was because she loved him just like how runyu loved jinmi.

[SPOILER ALERT] at the end of ep 62, xu feng and runyu had an intense conversation about their intentions and actions. this scene is quite important to the story because it brings closure to the both of them for what had happened in the past and how things ended up the way they were. the scene from ep 63 where runyu and xu feng were drinking together was good too. runyu said a very powerful line to xu feng, "i've been drunk for too long, it's time to wake up. these days i finally understand that what you seek for is what you get." this refers back to my first comment "you can’t have everything you want in life: you may get this, but you can’t have that." for runyu to say this to xu feng is also kind of like he was giving himself a wake up call and reminding himself of his own duty as the heavenly emperor. that scene when xu feng called runyu "brother" was an emotional one too because we can see from runyu's perspective that he accepted being defeated and that what he did in the past was meaningless because his brother (xu feng) never wanted to fight with him. that bitter sweet smile before he left and said "take care" to xu feng also show that he knew letting go of his resentment was the right thing to do. [END OF SPOILER ALERT]

200% agree that the OST was very pleasing to listen to though! if you can understand the lyrics of the songs, it makes it sooooo much more emotional and meaningful because it's actually very poetic and describes xu feng'a and jin mi's relationship perfectly :)

oml and i just realised that my comment is so long. i apologise, i got too immersed in my response haha :p

i personally dont think he was portrayed “good.” he defs had flaws (e.g. high pride and can be arrogant). even if he was portrayed good just because he was an heir to the throne, it doesn’t make any difference to the story because xu feng never cared about it anyways. in relations to sui he, i think she deserved the terrible ending. in all honesty, compared to jin mi (even though she was the one who killed him), sui he only contributed a little to saving him and she did it out of selfishness; because she wanted him to love her back. lets not forget that she took jin mi’s credit who went the long way and actually made sacrifices to save xu feng because she knew she was in the wrong for killing him. whereas with sui he, she doesnt understand that what she does wrong was wrong. everything that she has done for him seemed right to her just because she claimed that she loved him. that sort of excuse is not good enough compared to jin mi who actually realised her mistake and made an effort to fix it (she didn’t even tell xu feng that she was the one who actually saved him until fox immortal couldnt stand xu feng acting blindly anymore in the wedding scene).

as for runyu, yes he had a rough childhood/past but that doesnt mean that he had the right to do what he had done to jin mi and xu feng + others. his actions were wrong therefore his ending was deserving because it would be unfair to those he has harmed if he were to have a happy ending; it’s like telling people that you can still have a happy ending if you choose to act bad. that’s a very negative way to teach people how they should treat other people....

for the writers to show his rough past wasn’t to ask sympathy from the audience, but to let the audience understand why he became who he became (because of his insecurities). honestly, his ending wasnt even that bad compared to other fictional villains; he even said it himself and realised that he made a mistake and that it was time for him to live the life that he had chosen —that was becoming the heavenly emperor while experiencing loneliness (not having jin mi). it makes you learn that you can’t have everything you want in life: you may get this, but you can’t have that (it’s a chinese culture-thing haha). it’s a nice contrast with xu feng, because he never wanted the throne and had only ever cared about jin mi. shows us that he was not very greedy and knew his limits which was why he deserved the happy ending.

i personally think that it was clever for the author to twist the bad and good. take runyu and xufeng for example. one god and one turned-demon —the god ended up being the bad and the demon ended up being the good. another example is their father who, to everyone, should be a role model and was seen as a role model because he was the leader of all realms. what they dont know and realise was that he had desires and needs that he, too, like runyu, needed to have and he will do anything to have it (for example: jin mi’s mother). this tells us that things are not always how we perceive it to be and that in the good there can be bad, and in the bad there can be good.

these are just my thoughts on the story after having read the novel and watched the drama more than 6 times haha. of course, you don’t have to agree :’) just thought i’ll share my view on your thoughts about the drama because that’s what this community is for <3

you’re welcome! that’s what this community is for :D

i forgot to mention, whoops. you could also try the drama flowers in fog (2013). this was deng lun’s first drama and he was also paired up with yang zi who was one of the female leads! they’re characters are realllly different from ashes of love —young and fresh, they were the couple that delivered all comedies to the audience HAHAHA :’)

maybe you could try Because of You (2017) too because, well, deng lun was the male lead :p the drama is a remake of Come! Jang Bo Ri...and imo was actually a little bit better executed than the korean version. it was less corny and cheesy...?

i personally thought eternal love was an okay drama. it honestly didnt get better for me until ep 30+. but even towards the ending, i was gradually losing interest. it’s just personal preference hahahaha

there’s lots to watch when it comes to “male characters as intense but sweet” HAHAHA

but to name a few —mostly ones i rate over 7/10 (my personal rating of 7 is usually a good, while 9 being very good. i rarely rate 10/10 :’)

recommendations (im literally just scrolling through my watchlist haha. i also dont know what kind type youre after so im going to list a mix of modern and ancient):

bu bu jing xi (9.5/10)—
i cannot recommend this drama enough because it’s so good. if you watch kdramas, chances are youve already watched scarlet heart ryeo which was the remake. imo, bu bu jing xin is still the best because the sad/heartfelt/beautiful dialogue was what made the story so good to begin with (very close with the original novel). the kversion was good, but because they had to change historical facts to fit korean culture, lots were changed and the focus/details that made bu bu jing xin so good was hence absent in ryeo. this drama has a tragic ending and does have quite an intense plot because it’s based on real history (apart from female lead’s character). what’s better? the main leads are a married couple in rl now! with a child on the way soon :)

Cuo Dian Yuan Yang (7/10)—
if you know/like zhao li ying, this was one of her earlier dramas when she was not super famous yet. it’s a low-budget so you can’t fault them for the not super attractive set designs. plot was cliche but interesting enough to watch. the male lead has an intense character but is quite sweet/protect/possessive of the female lead

general & i (7.5/10)
the novel is far better than the drama, but wallace made the drama watchable (is that a word?? :’) ) people had mix opinions about this drama because angelababy is the female lead. i personally think her acting improved in this drama compared to her movies. plot-wise, it was dramatic but cliche. wallace was an intense character and was a devoted man to female lead.

lady & liar (7/10) —
if you like male characters who has an intense aura but also sweet, hawick will probs melt you in this drama. this drama had an intense plot (it happens very gradually) but it has a happy ending :)

another drama that was often compared to lady & liar is cruel romance. i personally didnt like it as much because the plot was not my cup of tea. maybe it might suit your taste...?

legend of yun xi (8/10) —
this was quite a light-hearted drama but it does have it’s small intense moments. it’s a tragic story delivered in a light-hearted way. male character is defs similar to xu feng withoit those magical powers and phoenix wings HAHAHAH

lost love in times (7.5/10) —
this has it’s fantasy elements, but i wouldnt count it as xianxia because it doesnt have gods, demons and immortals. this defs has its tragic moments but all is good when you get a happy ending for almost everyone.

legend of the condor heroes (2017) (8/10) —
the newest remake of a classic wuxia story. this imo is one of the best remakes because it was very true to the novel and the cgi was mot overdone. actors are quite new but they delivered their characters well. original story is by jin yong so it defs does have its tragicness in it. good thing is our leads have their happy ending in this part one of the condor heroes trilogy.

love me if you dare (8/10) —
it starts slow, but you can understand why as you continue to watch it. it has its own mysterious aesthetic that matches with our leads very well. plot-wise, it was an intense drama but nothing new to an audience who loves to watch crime/thriller dramas. i really liked the male lead because his character was very unique.

lan ling wang (7.5/10)—
since youre watching i will never let you go, i thought i’ll recommend this which has ariel lin too. despite it being cliche and a little cheesy, i actually think this drama is better than iwnlyg.

my story for you (9/10) —
i actually thought that nothing could beat the ratings of ashes of love on my 2018 watchlist but this drama did it! it’s not a period drama nor is it a xianxia. but oml it hits you in the heart for what the male lead has to go through! fun fact: the story was based on the author’s life himself, his struggles and his relationship with his wife. this was a story he had written for her. the drama itself has a happy ending, but his relationship with his wife in rl wasnt because she sadly passed away last yr to due cancer. this drama was like a symbolism of hope to the author’s life. the story itself is also very realistic and not cliche imo.

my sunshine (9/10) —
i would consider this a light hearted drama but it does have moments that make you feel nostalgic, sad and regretful. wallace deserved all the awards that he received from this drama because his character+ acting was superb!

nirvana in fire (10/10) —
only watch this if youre into political dramas because you will not understand the intensity of the plot unless you understand what the characters are saying/doing. this imo is a masterpiece and you cannot fault it for anything.

rookie agent rouge (7.5/10) —
this drama was super intense! it was nice to see zhao li ying in a new role and the plot was quite engaging. male lead was very mysterious because this is a spy drama. i think they had great chemistry.

sound of the desert (7.5/10) —
i watch almost everything with liu shi shi or hu ge so forgive me for seemingly recommending dramas with them in it haha! :’) this was an interesting drama. it was written by the same author who wrote bu bu jing xin.


story of yanxi palace (8.5/10) —
another drama that i felt was nicely executed in 2018. cinematography was super nice and costumes too! only watch this if you watch palace dramas. this drama was quite light-hearted for being a palace drama though. together with ashes of love, this drama won lots of awards and was well-received locally and internationally.

the mystic nine (8/10) —
if youre into kpop, you might know lay of exo. he was one of the leads and his story was pretty tragic. but that’s not the focus of the story. it’s a tomb-raiding drama and that was what made it so engaging! the male lead is pretty badass but is super soft hearted when it comes to his female lead hahaha

princess weiyoung (8/10) —
this is like cinderella but chinese. main leads are married in rl!

when a snail falls in love (8/10) —
from the same author of love me if you dare. it has the same aesthetic and mysterious presence. while lmifd has a unique male lead, wasfil has a unique female lead.

oml HAHAHA i would recommend more but ermmm i think im getting too excited...the list is getting long :’) i should stop and let you judge for yourself!

unfortunately he does die, but there’s a surprise in the ending :))

if youre not up to the ending yet —ENDING SPOILER AHEAD:
when jinmi was reborn in the mortal world, her father is the water immortal, who was reborn as a mortal. possibly one of the reasons why xu feng names their son tang yue because that’s the family shop jinmi was reborn at, obviously owned by her father. imo tho, it was just a fan service by the director :p

someone asked the same question from the discussion section and i made quite a lengthy response :’) in case you’re still interested to know the answers : https://kisskh.at/discussions/heavy-sweetness-ash-like-frost/38055-question-about-the-ending?page=last&p=852245#p852245