ra111ster

That's a hell of a rushed ending, must be a record of sorts. No wonder there are so many confused comments. There's a big block of flashbacks right before it. So I thought she is imagining stuff again. Then I was like 😲 why are the credits rolling. Final episode was not the best but overall a good show. Definitely not TLOSL level.

Orchid was awesome. Steely eyes with that voice I hope she gets to play some evil goddess at some point. Anyway that's another off the list.

Lí Yi Tong's Huang Rong ftw.

I liked the romance. Obviously it had little to-do with original but as standalone I found it more interesting than some

Let's not dwell too much no why you consider them to be faults.

Lol yeah, you consider their interactions and her gestures negative, I find them cute. spooky.

Lol.
Twice you said that I've never watched it from ML's pov and if only I did that then everything you say will make sense.
Now, you say that I have to make some mental gymnastics to watch it from his pov.
Do you feel a tad presumptuous? Sounds like your perception of his pov transcends age and gender. Anyway, "my default" was not something up for a debate; so could you please humor me and assume that I've watched it a few times and had ample opportunity to ponder on different characters and issues.

As far as sympathies go, I like them both.
One of the aspects of the story is that she needed to provide motivation and help him to get through his other issues.
I found their interactions funny, lighthearted and at no point did I interpret their relationship to be one sided, unfair or demeaning. If your experience differs then it's just unfortunate. Like I said I'm not trying to convince you otherwise.

I also like Miss Gu. I understand her purpose but would've been better if they killed her or gave her happy ending.

Oh thank God for that. I'm on e28 now would suck to end up with sad ending.

I've watched romance of condor heroes, then picked up another one from recommendations. story felt familiar started to dig into that and it turned out that i've seen one of the versions like 100 years ago when i was a nipper. So just got dragged in i suppose.

A fairy .... with a name Orchid ... without a cutesy voice ?! come on now. I would've dropped immediately! 😂 It's alright so far, still not hating it. But that comment section is a mess some say happy end some say sad end... confused me to bits 🤪 i'll just avoid it.

Oh but he's allowed to retaliate for his army.
But his expectations to end up on her good side after this would be farfetched.
He derived benefits from saving her.
I would've expected her to try to kill him for real.
But she's like "yeah, whatever, I understand".
So, yeah she got over it way way too fast for my liking.

Difference between half of his army being destroyed yet remaining functional and her whole army being destroyed and father going crazy? No difference at all? alright then.

Me mentioning power dynamics, her not needing him to fulfill her ambitions and lack of inclnation to chase him implies he needs some work to do. Someone liking you does not put you under any obligations to reciprocate.
And given such a disparity in those things he has a lot of work to do.
She does not. I wonder if you confuse his explanations of her actions to others as apologies.

This crown prince business was the only viable solution to the problem of rebellion.
Himself and everyone else knew it had to happen, he just didn't want to accept this responsibility.
Seeing that he is not a retard convinced her to change plans which were within reach but required more fighting.
If he didn't suggest that he wants to marry her there was a way around it too.

You keep bringing up some unresolved underlying conflict, they have conflicts of interests which rise now and again but then get resolved quickly. So, technically I don't think they have anything major to resolve other than issues which we mentioned. Fast conflict resolutions is one of the reasons I actually liked it.

Yes, there are plenty of benefits being an empress and emperor but for some reason neither of them wants that life. Only in the case of ML he pretty much had no choice, but FL had. Yet she stepped up.

Anyway, I'm a man well in his 40s, so by default I look at the situation from ML's point of view.
To suggest that I didn't watch drama from ML's pov is just weird 🤭

I probably watch it differently to normal shows.
My brain just compares previous versions and trying to figure out how they changed the plot. So not that bored.

I read so many negative comments about Orchid, so I expected an 8 year old girl running around the place. Turned out she was alright.
Voice didn't bother me. Really loved the hard core look and her eyes during those devil meetings ( part of the body swap maybe e11?) - excellent.

Story is alright I'm not rushing to get through it. So far I can't say I hated anyone.

But, I find myself giggling at the costumes a lot ( in TTEOTM too).
I guess I didn't watch enough of the genre to get used to devil fashion trends yet 😂

As far as acting like a victim, 🤔, Only in the episodes following disbandment of her army that her behaviour for a brief moment could be interpreted as "victim". Which in fairness was the case.
Even if LiNi became crown prince and emperor ordered to clear them out, Cui Army would be a formidable force and they would fallback to their original plan. Her father thought he was doing it for her best not realizing that she was not prepared to make this sacrifice just to be with LiNi.

So yeah, this was the time she became completely helpless and essentially at someone's mercy. Her failure to convince her father to not disband the army was the only misstep she had, and rightly blamed LiNi for dragging her into this crown princess business.
Yet she bounced back pretty quickly.

The rest of the time I thought she handled crisis very well.So, honestly I'm not sure where those claims of immaturity, tantrums and the need to apologize come from.

If it's LCF's "death" - her reaction again was justifiable and I thought she got over it way too fast.

If it's LCF attacking LiNi's army? - here I thought that just shutting up and saying nothing was the most brilliant and mature move ever.

@godscow gave a lot of examples where she makes sacrifices for him far greater than what he did for her. Just to highlight again. She didn't need LiNi to fulfill her ambitions. And the power balance was in her favour all the way. So I guess in the end LiNi's groveling did the trick alright.

Anyway,

Lol, I'm watching it from an "aging man" point of view 😆

If that's an impression you get I'm not going to convince you otherwise but I just don't see why you have those expectations of her. There was no declaration of undying love or till death do us part or whatever from either of them. They find each other interesting and courting throughout but that's as far as it went. It was him trying to win her over not the other way around.She had plenty of other options. He did what he had to do to get her hooked on him. And in the end the girl he wanted is in love with him. Success. If he gave up crying something along the lines of she doesn't get me, why i'm even with her. etc., why would anyone watch character like that.

Anyway, pasting excellent post from @godscow a few months ago in case you missed it. He is not big fan of hers either but I think he captured their dynamic very well:

she also made a massive sacrifice. she was willing to give up her purpose in life (the army) - to enter a prison (palace) and have to put up with constant schemes and god knows what else (just how consort Xiao told her..being a woman in the palace is 1000s worse for her than being a prince in the palace). she sacrificed her life too..because she knew theyd never live peacefully, and ML was truly the only legal heir who could make a difference and put an end to the mess that was happening and causing people to suffer endlessly. she was actually behaving like a true good empress would. she had foresight. yes she had to coerce him..but he was so delusional in his wants for a simple life, perhaps coercing him was really the only thing SHE could do on her end. she could have easily just left with her father and continued beign a general with no worries except those she was willing to take on (dying on the battlefield) - that would have proven she didnt love him. she explained what kind of woman she was in episode 26 when talking to that cartoon character of a brother of hers. she was just like ML. she had no interest in anything but roaming the lands with her army..and she could have easily had that life..all she had to do was just leave ML. but she couldnt. why? cuz she loves him
she fought with her own future for whats right..and for him. because she loved him and was willing to do anything to protect him.

Cuí lín isn't like miss Gu because with her father's army she had plenty of other options.(there's an excellent comment below from godscow) Miss Gu had no other options.

FL's transactional nature as you put it might stem from her attempts to motivate him.

Well yeah. Since he came in so late he is an accomplice. So looking like and idiot is the least he can do.

😂 well put.

Magical relationship yet gives an impression of being something attainable. Maybe just me.

Lol it's a psychological weapon alright 😁

Everything else feels like a chore.to get through the plan to watch list. Started on the legend of heroes purely because I watch everything related to condor trilogy. Also giving a go to LBFAD. Which kinda surprised me a bit alright. But I have to mentally reduce my age by about 30 years to not start picking on it 😆 so I'm jumping around it.

I see sub stories are listed as "specials" rather than dramas in actors profile. Wonder if it's just MDL thing or the proper loophole.

I'd second @akunBaruDL.. it's a lot of stories with different plots.