SagaTeAles

GJM had a similar band aid ending in FOF too...similar to the one you mentioned. He gave a clear hint about it in the extra episodes. He usually finishes his stories, so I don’t expect an open ending here...
The exception is MJTY... which had an open ending...but that’s cause he was planning S2 as was long rumored. It just didn’t happen. The same goes for L.O.R.D....but the third movie also couldn’t be filmed for various reasons.
So I don’t think an open ending is really his intended style unless something happens bts. So it probably won’t happen here.

Wanna thank @BaekhyunoonalD and @wasabi for the Character Relationship Chart in the discussion section...just saw it and want to recommend it to others, it's helpful..nice work👌

Hahaha....that, nah. I've watched many of his works, his movies too, long and short ones, and it's just something that brands him. If not death, then it's separation. He is a true believer in those. The best happy ending he offers is bittersweet, leaves you sad with some hope and gives you a band aid to patch a giant wound.

I've watched the reuters and have a theory about the ending. I wrote it even back then... and if I'm right, be prepared for the band aid he'll give you...ofc It’s just my theory so don't take it seriously 😁

This drama is the first where everything is done by himself.... meaning it's the first time he has full control of the editing cause this time, it's done by himself from beginning to end (he said this on Weibo). It's also the first time he is the solo director (before.. he shared with other directors)... and with his script and OST, we can say it's his first solo work out of his dramas..

This is why i love it..there are many layers to peel off, can't be sure what to expect, cause the story can go in any direction anytime....even when heavily guessing..
So who knows, is LJ a also a puppet but of YHW🙃...i don't think so, but even when unsettling, I crave a plot where many things will stay unpredictable. ..unlike those where you know where it's going miles away and just wait to see the execution...

I've read Lilun 😂but when it's abt choking it's not like i totally misread it😂

I'm stunned, sorry if already posted but I had to share
http://xhslink.com/o/5ixEzrIYZpt
Copy and open rednote to view the note

It's yet not fully clear what's behind CW and LS/Jiling story, but there is some guessing. In the story it was said none or a very few know his human form, how he looks. So it's possible that LS/Jiling uses this fact and show himself as CW, but as to why and where is true CW ...did he and why give his ring allowing all or not, is yet to be seen.

Yep....Rui was acting so well...t's even more stunning when thinking how he played both of these char so distinctively that I nearly forgot it's the same person 🙂
The the whole scene was tense...looking so real..his heartbreak from learning the truth, processing it and pushing back with his ..it matters to me, the purpose mattered...😢

I hear people saying this nonsense "no plot, no substance," about gjm's work. It's often just parroting what they hear from others...or they simply don't like character driven stories. Those tend to be slower...and for them that's just boring...Give them fast paced...action packed staff, and they call it a good plot. Give them five minutes of people just talking, and they'll die of boredom..

Looks more and more like it..meaning Chi Wen saved current LS, who really was the innocent fox who liked raspberries and now when he makes the puppet he transfers his memories into it, which are his own..but i still think there must be a reason why Chi Wen gave his ring to a fox and not a dragon..(if he gave it in the first place).

I'm still not into this LS is evil and corrupted..yes, he's cold..but evil? That scene we saw with him... when drawing energy from mortals appeared while LWY was listening to her master tell how dragon deity is now corrupted..and could easily be something lwy just pictured in her head...it looked more like that to me. Maybe this dragon is evil now, is just what the Formless Moon Sect, or what's the name, is cooking up.. or some within by falsified bogus prophecy to win in some power struggle..

I think that Rui even said "loneliness" in his farewell message, the part about LS😭

Omg..the pain and the whole cycle of his thoughts ending with "finding a purpose matter even as a puppet" 😭But now I'm thinking, could the raspberry memories be real memories of LS..he spoke about Jiling is his innocent youth and the last memory we saw of the figure in white approaching the fox could that be Chi Wen? And if memories were real could it mean Chi Wen found LS, back then a fox?

It was heartbreaking...😭😭

The trailers hinted at time travel.. or something with time bent, and it could be the reason that we will see the same people looking slightly different. For example there will be a shorter arc story of Rui and JJY as Manman and Dizhu. From reuters, we speculated that it must have been some illusionary world showing their past or something, and it is still unclear what that arc is all about. But to me...after I saw the trailers, I started believing more we'll be seeing different timelines, maybe one where some things happened, and another where an attempt to change them is made...

It was 8.2 like an hour or two ago. So clearly a move we've seen many times... with haters giving the lowest rating to all episodes not even aired to sinkthe score. Rating each episode right after watching is what we should do to balance it.

I understand. I agreed with you. You, me and many other just want this to stop. Telling these two accounts to stop is one solution, and I wrote that the other solution is to ignore them completely, tell other people to ignore them and to report them to MDL. They will delete them. This often works best. And it was mostly about that. The two accounts will probably be deleted soon. Let's enjoy this drama. I know that I am😁

It's ok. Everything you said was right, so it's all good.

I just came, and it’s clear a troll account has appeared. Telling these people to stop may sound good, but it’s often in vain because the very reason they are here is to seek attention, stir chaos, and enjoy the reactions.

It’s their daily thrill. They go around and do the same to their chosen targets. I see that here it’s JJY, but they often pick targets based on what will give them the best results.

So it doesn’t have to be about any real feelings or opinions toward an actor or actress. Their satisfaction comes from making people angry and turning threads into being about them instead of the drama. These people roam all over MDL every single day.

The key is to ignore them completely, and report to MDL. That way, they can’t get what they expected and were hoping for. The worst thing is engaging with them. They will stay longer.

These types of trolls are easy to spot, and once spotted, the best thing is to keep scrolling and not reply to them. In more stubborn cases, not only to report them to MDL but also to write a separate post on the page to warn people who are just coming about the spotted troll account. Include the account name with a big TROLL ⚠️ warning and tell others to skip their comments and not engage.

For now i can only answer the second question. In other adaptations.. they were mostly female, but it's not exclusively. GJM in his version of Painted Skin, had a man as Xiao Wei.