Dogmatic Princess

lol I'm pretty sure most everyone agrees that the mom was being degrading and did a horrible thing that is incredibly infuriating. Some of us just don't see her as beyond redemption despite her actions. Truth be told, I'm intrigued by what sort of things people find absolutely unforgivable. Shame and humiliation really hits a raw nerve with people, and that's understandable. But given the context of their relationship, should this be the point of no return for the mother/daughter? I certainly hope not.

I think mom's resentment actually comes from guilt. I think she is fully aware of how much fault she has at how CSS has turned out, but she wants to fix it so it doesn't ruin CSS's life. Sadly, she's going about it all wrong - as they say, the first step was wrong and so all the steps following are wrong.

I know I'm not the one you were specifically replying to with this post, but I am on the side of mom/daughter redemption. I'm not offended by people calling out the mom's actions. I just thought it was an interesting discussion point. I think some of us just are trying to provide a different perspective. It is a public forum after all ;)

For sure, it wasn't right for her mom to degrade her like - especially given the particular make-up of their audience. It was stomach churning particularly because her mom really does love her and wants to protect her. She's just failing spectacularly and CSS suffers even more for it. I think they're both yearning to have a connection with each other, they just keep pushing each other away. Mostly what I want to say is that I don't find her irredeemable. She's not intentionally malicious, but she has some severe flaws that I hope can be rectified. She's a parent who keeps making massive mistakes in dealing with her child, but hopefully she'll learn.

Exactly! I am so drawn in by their scenes because CSS always has something to say back to her mom and every time it is the honest, brutal truth.

I know there's a lot of hate on the mom, but I feel like I understand why she is that way. She's raised sons and trained soldiers, but has an undisciplined daughter that is of age to be married. Everyone tells her there's time to teach CSS slowly, but from her mom's perspective, there isn't time - CSS is already grown and so mom takes some pretty harsh tactics in trying to correct her or save her. She's overcorrecting for the mistake of leaving her behind which also makes her feel guilty. Mom is blunt, but so is CSS - she is always firing back at her mom, which I love about her, but it also pricks at her mom's sorest points. I think everyone expects the mom to be better than that because she is the elder, but neither of them have been in each other's life very long, but neither have held back on picking at each other's flaws. I actually think this mother daughter dynamic is fascinating and I hope it eventually leads to a better understanding of each other.

I haven't felt bored at any episode. In fact, I rewatched them each a couple times (and had to binge all the available episodes back to back) just to double check if there were boring episodes. I couldn't find any. Maybe I'll check again. (^ワ^＝)

He IS hilarious! He really just does whatever he wants all over the place.

I <3 the emperor for moments like that. LOL

Yeah. I believe is trying to overcorrect her mistake in leaving CSS behind as an infant. I think she does care a lot, but because CSS is actually so similar to her with her stubborn personality she's particularly harsh with her. I also think that CSS pricks at her sorest spot (her abandonment of her child) on a regular basis and that makes her more irrational. If her daughter is able to do that to her, she probably believes it really would be immensely disastrous if she did that to her in-laws in the future. Her mom is right to be worried and full of guilt that it is her own fault CSS turned out that way. I know people hate the mom, but I think its a relationship that is pretty realistic given the types of personalities and societal expectations involved. I also wonder if some of her fears are because she was married before? Do I remember that correctly? I though in the beginning it was mentioned that CSS's mom had a husband before she married the Cheng Shi. If that's true, then she probably has other experiences that play into her behavior.

Okay. But! I wonder if she will change him in some way. A'Yao was SUPER annoying to me at first, but he ended up with a fighting attitude thanks to CSS so now he's cool （＾ｖ＾）

Ahhh. That would explain it!

This drama gives me MingLan vibes. Love it so much!

The army of anti-fans was actually enacted because of some overzealous XZ fans that got the fanfic site AO3 banned in China. As there's already so much censorship in China, people protested the actions of XZ's fans by boycotting and downvoting XZ's work in retaliation. I hate that XZ had to suffer for it because he had nothing to do with it at all, but people were right to protest the increased censorship and were right to be upset with those XZ fans wanting it enforced to higher degrees.

The comparison between the two has always been puzzling for me as well, but it generally boils down to an irritation at the ratings difference. Truly, there are times that I wish The Untamed wasn't the top rated drama on MDL since it creates a weird competition between it and other dramas which also means that The Untamed gets random and unnecessary hate.

I understand why there would be people who consider NiF a better drama than The Untamed, but your comparison really summed up my feelings on it. NiF may be good from a technical perspective, but The Untamed is a work of art that moved me.

Wait, what? I love TMOPB, but it was never rated higher than The Untamed. LOL

Ah, I misremembered the number. You're right, the rating was around 8.2/8.3.

I watched NiF and I gave it a 10 because I thought the story was pieced together well. Once it was over, though, I had no desire to rewatch it and only have a vague impression of the actual story line. It didn't really stay with me outside the fact that I appreciated the logic and well woven script. The Untamed, however, is a drama that managed to carve itself into my stone heart - I wouldn't be able to forget it even if I wanted to.

Indeed, this is a fascinating subject. When The Untamed first came out, its Douban score was something like 3.3 because of rumored changes to the story line which got some fans of the original material in an uproar. After it finished airing, the score was around 8.3 and was one of the most rated dramas on the site (you'll also note that The Untamed has about triple the number of user ratings as NiF). Then another scandal created another uproar and anti-fan down-rated the show. The disparity you see isn't as much a statement of quality of entertainment so much as fan/anti-fan wars.

That said, one must judge for themselves on the quality of entertainment. Clearly, CQL is highly favored here on MDL. For good reason.

.ʕʘ‿ʘʔ.

I feel exactly the same way. The depth in this story and the characters is why it's so unforgettable. If JC would have been more like WWX and stood up for the innocent Wens, then maybe they could have avoided some of the trouble, but not even the Lans stood up for the Wens like that - and they were supposed to be the most righteous of all the sects. They were more concerned about WWX's abnormal cultivation than they were about innocent lives being taken.

JC definitely wanted them to be the Twin Prides of Yunmeng, and I think he was fine with WWX's "demonic" cultivation - and everyone except the Lans were okay with it too. The problem actually occurred when WWX wanted to protect the remaining Wens and then everything spiraled out of control.

WWX chose to be righteous time and again by protecting the Wens, but the cost was ultimately JYL's. From JC's perspective, if WWX didn't get involved and just chose his family over the Wens, none of it would have happened. He is understandably angry at WWX's choice.

But even though WWX had no regrets in giving JC his golden core, I think he struggled a lot more with it than he anticipated. He was doing the right thing in protecting the Wens, but he also probably wanted to keep his distance so he didn't accidentally say something regretful to JC if he kept pestering him over his cultivation.

Ohhh! It's been a few months since I've (re)read the novel. Do you remember where this was in the novel? I like the novel and the drama as separate things, but it's hard not to conflate the two. :)

I've only watched to episode 5. I'm impatiently waiting for the subs to the next episode LOL Watching them pick their team was super nerve wracking to me, the rest of this show is gonna kill me! I enjoy watching the other captains, but I am heavily invested in YiBo's success.

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