Frost_edelweiss

Very positive! Ok, even though I wrote "completed" on my Companion piece, on Dec.23, I will add this into the Popularity section about the drama so it does not get lost in the avalanche of comments or X messages :)

Wow are you a multiple account holder that has a mission to weed out dissenters from your biased views? Going to slap pop psychology labels on those who dont agree with you? If you are even qualified in psychology. Why are you still lurking here : do you feel a NEED to get last word in?
Have it your own way then, I will save myself from the annoyance of reading your "opinions" and negativity : by blocking you.
It is absolutely true that there are bigger things to worry about and I have other fish to fry than trying to make sense of the entitled feelings from someone who poses as "officialdramalover" and "seasoned watcher" (ehhhm pfff). No good day to you from me this time. Good grief. I am out of here.

Agree with you, but not on bashing a drama from only hearsay or reading negative comments of details. Appreciate that you are not a mere artist hater and don't hesitate to say you like Tan Songyun, although you have not watched that many of her dramas to support that; I do see you liked The Sword and the Brocade, which got bashed by some because of subject and age difference between leads - but I agree with your liking there, amused that in Brocade Odyssey there also was an instance of "hero returning post haste" from (battlefield/disaster area) in spite of ambushes on the way, to save his "endangered flame" ; Brocade Odyssey is both more serious about the brocade stuff and more comedic than TSATB : I was chuckling at those Qianniu guards dropping like apples from the eaves, and the ministers popping up like garden dwarves later in the midst of the wilderness (these were a bit exaggerated, I give you that, but offered a moment of levity that was not unwelcome for me) .
As you say, everyone has own taste, so no need to fuel those who actively spread negativity to ruin it for those who find value in a show, even flawed.
I know you did find stuff you liked, language wise too, to balance what did not agree with your views on editing.
Although I personally wouldn't go as far as stating that just because being from Singapore, all viewers there will have same opinions and sensitivity as you have about editing : everyone is different and indeed has own tastes. :)

Well it's good you did extract something of value to you...
If you check on the screenwriters and authors pages or just here on my Companion piece which summarized and illustrated many details including those, you will find there is no connection with the writers of Destined.
https://mydramalist.com/discussions/shu-jin-ren-jia/132940-brocade-odyssey-companion-piece?pid=3196034&page=1#p3196034

Award recipient co director Shào Chāngyǒng is behind the super popular Blossom, just aired, btw.

You did not know why the actor I hinted to had to be AI face lifted? That's ok, since the lawsuit he has started against those who dragged his reputation to tatters has not reached a verdict. He was too important to be cut out completely but the unfortunate event did affect all plans for normal post production and airing. and of course the drama suffered from the scramble to rescue it. Shooting was from 2023, September 12 to January 2024 and the full flare of the trouble led the actor to put his career on hold in August to sue, but of course disturbance started earlier hence the redesign. Perhaps some events were then redesigned also to make his Zhao character more into an expendable villain, which made it exaggerated and some scenes choppier, as you say. I am just speculating.

Considering the trouble that production went through, and the amount of effort they had put in to get the brocade right, including Tan Songyun's personal involvement in the clip for the craft (it's linked and GIFed in my Companion piece), and also the efforts to quote poetry on screen (sorry, I did not screenshoot and discuss it in companion piece, and I am too tired to do so now, but I was glad some viewers noticed) ...

So for all these reasons I am inclined not to go bashing this drama... The downer is also that the shows that could have found their audiences later are now going to have increasing difficulties finding them, at least in the fringe of international viewership which flourished since 2015.
2025 is not going to be easy for many. But let's try to stay positive nonetheless.

yes, lol

Checked quickly: subtitled only until episode 5, sync imperfect.

your opinion is not god's word (even if shared by troops who did not watch) - it's a bias. Have a good day and don't come back :)

Could be Wen saw his mother in the flashback, but he mistook her for wife and mother of someone else (Jiang?) when she happened to work for Jiang's parents for a while, or she was a friend or acquaintance asked to take care of their son at the moment Wen adolescent saw them and fled the scene in despair ? If the boy was Jiang, that is. (Possible)
I doubt Wen got proof that his mom actually had remarried away, with whom and what other children she could have (if any, it would mean a 10-15 years age gap or the man was a widower or divorcee with a kid his age).
But it puzzled me that this still hidden card mother apparently texted Wen Peng about New York weather as if she was keeping his phone number but not aware Wen had come back and started a high profile career in China.
I am convinced Jiang's parents have nothing to do with the murders. They were old time acquaintances of the Ding Jing parents, and except for Jiang's mother, almost set on arranging a marriage between their daughter and son: so a stable background which does not leave much room for suspicion.
Ding Jing clearly was not working for her dad even if he did not seem to be a nice and 'responsible' one, nor for her mother even if she was an 'irresponsible one who had spoiled her daughter frankly rotten'.

ehhhh like in fishbowl on a table.... but not yet swimming on same side of glass.

If she truly is paraplegic and unable to speak I rule her out. But the coach is another matter. He clearly has a link with the murder ring or something not friendly to Lu Yan.
Btw I suspect Lu Yan's early background is as murky as the childhood abused Wen's.

3rd murder, and the whodunit is established to be that short woman with martial arts and camo capabilities. Ex soldier working for a mafia ?

At one moment I thought the mastermind could be the psychology expert. Even if she works close to 'the force' she seems to enjoy blood and mayhem enough to toy with the actor, who may become turned to become next henchman, who knows?

I don't think the story follows the book anyway. It's enough that beginning and character names are similar, and it gives more notoriety to the novel however it's used. >Lots of such instances in c-drama. I will not be lamenting that it is not a faithful copy of book plot if it is not.

The deeds are murky and I am kept 'on my toes' suspecting everyone, even Jiang himself or Lu Yan or their couple friends at one moment, because they are "too good to be true" !!

The live stream of cast on Dec.24 has been posted to YouTube, but in Chinese without subtitles : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RheK_g6X1D0
edit :
there is one that has subtitles now : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nnbz31Z2TG0

I find the layout of these places puzzling too. It is a reconverted industrial building, I think. And our hero was told by his friend Da Zhong that the owner was abroad and used the space as storage room therefore the dust and decayed look of it.
Where and how Jiang Chengyi sleeps is also a mystery. We saw him sleeping in his car too!

Only poster I found was that one https://mydramalist.com/photos/YYg3Pg_3
But yes according to iQiyi :
VIPs: 2 new episodes every Monday、Tuesday、Wednesday、Saturday、Sunday at 12:00. Non-VIPs: 1 new episodes every Monday、Tuesday、Wednesday、Friday、Saturday、Sunday at 12:00 (Beijing time)

edit: the poster for the airing until episode 36 is now in photo section : https://mydramalist.com/photos/LwNJ8b_3 posted on the drama Weibo with this mention : "Under the strong request of our Jiang Baoer @Johnny Huang Jingyu and Yan Baoer @Sun Qian! That’s right! The latest version of the drama calendar! It's coming! The treasures want it, the treasures get it! At 19:00 every night on this winter day, lock in the iQiyi Winter Solstice, surprises will never stop, and love will warm the cold~

Produced by: @爱奇艺
Co-produced by: @上海金河影视 @神 Alliance Films Jiangsu Province Grand Canal Film and Television Industry Fund @星宇娱乐AstroEntertainment
Adapted from the Jinjiang Literature City novel "Winter Solstice", the original work"

Don't force yourself to watch it, then, if you already have a bias against it.
Wishing you enjoyment in other drama watching.

I have seen worse. But there are indeed some scenes that got cut and perhaps not well stitched together, perhaps in the wake of one actor's "scandal" (which he is fighting in the courts about: i have no opinion on the validity of accusations as long as there is no verdict) which forced production to extraordinary measures or risk the collective work of hundreds of people end up on the shelf or in the bin.
Many sequences are beautiful though, and the photo gallery displays very attractive shots. Brocade making is well and competently showcased and the Brocade embroidery museum who lent looms and craftsmen are happy to showcase the drama and their work in connection with it. Tan Songyun even did a special video for them.

No buckets of tears. Only a short reaction to having had her life saved by her enemy, but never in Helsinki syndrome fashion.

I think it's mostly in the context of some professions that psychotherapy is really deemed necessary in China. That's being shown in some dramas like Hello The Sharpshooter, Road Home, Ordinary Greatness, Skate Into Love, and Flight to You, from what I remember.
Ordinary people, even doctors with PTSD, probably don't rush to see a shrink, not like New Yorkers or Woody Allen style. But if the profession in China involves knives, guns, commanding commercial aircraft, or high level medals, perhaps other high level responsibilities, then it wouldn't be the INDIVIDUAL's choice to be assessed and in case of problems, get followed and treated. Public safety first...

I didn't come in with any bias such as comparing with book or wanting title to fit a romance. It is indeed part of "Love On" series so I suppose there should be some sweetness, served by a few kisses. But I watch also for a police thriller about serial murders which was how that drama first was presented way back when. No complaints from me if romance is not that much at the center in episodes 1-14 and even longer, since there are 36 thus 22 more to go...
Of course, it will be interesting to see if these two can muster sizzling chemistry, but I won't hold it against them if they don't, but have a good crime solving story instead.

I have seen some medical practitioners who were not exactly sane before (admit I fled...), so I am not that surprised that a PTSD sufferer could be kept on a medical team especially since her specialty does not involve cutting people open directly :)

I am more reasonable than you are, lol.
Used to watch one at a time to really enjoy, now find myself watching 2 or 3 and that's enough, since I do not like to speed through...
Yes, perhaps I should include UtS 2 (it was on my mind too). Now or later :) Thanks for recom.