mione

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

they’re pretty much “together” throughout the whole drama but there are lots of ups and downs before they reach their true happy ending.

totally an understandable and relatable feeling about having a handful of characters killed. but trust me, this drama is already treating us nice because lots of other chinese ancient dramas won't hahahha c':

to answer your question about sui he: yes, it does make sense for her to 'frame' xu feng because she wants jin mi to believe that it was xu feng who killed her parents (besides, the only people who knew how to use 'glass fire' were only xu feng and his mother. his mother was locked up so it wouldn't make sense for her to be the one to kill jin mi's parents). sui he doesn't know about the pill inside jin mi's body (therefore is unaware that at this point of the story jin mi hasn't willingly reciprocate xu feng's feelings) and sui he is also blindly in love and just wanted xu feng for herself; she was simply jealous of jin mi winning the attention of xu feng [SPOILER ALERT] making it as though it was xu feng who was the one who killed jin mi's parents then triggered jin mi to kill xu feng in the later episodes (sui he then took credit for 'reviving' him even though it was jin mi who did). but dw, things will get resolved and sui he gets her punishments...a terrible one imo.

we must also note that while jin mi was in the mortal realm, her pill was damaged which was why she felt love towards xu feng at that time. after when she had returned back to the heavenly realm, it was the night deity who repaired the pill to its original form therefore this played an impact in the way jin mi behaves before deciding to kill xu feng (the night deity obviously couldn't control himself craving for power and his jealousy was growing, especially after secretly witnessing the night xu feng and jin mi 'mutually cultivating'. hell, he even became delusional and claimed that it was him who mutually cultivated with jinmi, not xu feng. [SPOILER ALERT] it was only after when jin mi has successfully killed xu feng that she choked out the pill and realised that she was wrong.

tbh, i personally think the drama was well made because for those who have read the novel, the concept of the story and its characters are actually more complicated than what's being depicted in the drama, especially jin mi because of the pill and her naiveness. even xu feng was quite a complicated character. the drama actually toned down a lot of scenes from the novel, but still staying faithful to the original storyline with only minor tweaks. if you let me take the vote, i prefer the novel over the drama anytime ;p

p.s. if you're going to continue the drama, which i reallllllly hope you can try to <3 there's a surprise for you in the last ep if you were sad that her parents died :D

hmmmm, i havent watched whirlwind girl...only because my sister told me that yang yang's character dies, sooooooo ⏤i just lost interest lmao c':