Brennnndda

I think if the ML was played by someone other than Cheng Yi then many of us wouldn't care for him either or even tune in to this drama. (PoCA was filmed before L&R despite L&R airing first so there may be a different/weaker skill of acting). But I get what you're saying. The ML is basically the cookie-cutter good guy who will eventually burn out because he's too selfless. The core of the story is the FL so for the people who enjoy this kind of story and aren't here for the cast, it's on Sarah Zhao to grab and hold viewers' attention.

Unfortunately, I don't care for a FL who floats between two brothers in a war for the throne...so I'm mainly here for Cheng Yi lol

We are right on the same page lol
I think the 2 FLs I've most strongly disliked are Ruo Xi (Scarlet Heart) and Mu Cheng (Autumn's Concerto). I hated them for being indecisive, selfish, and weak. The suffering they went through was mostly of their own doing plus they were the ones who shattered the trust they had with the MLs.

But I do think many dramas are biased towards MLs (I'm looking at you Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms), like the character development trajectory for MLs and FLs go in opposite directions. When a ML falls in love, his love empowers him to become stronger but it's the opposite for FLs. If a FL starts strong, she becomes weaker after she falls in love (The Legends comes to mind). I see this theme a lot in Thai dramas. The FLs usually start off witty, bold, and unrelenting but after they fall in love, they lose that spark and are reduced to women who cry all the time.

Out of curiosity, which FLs have won your praise?
I know there were many complaints about her and I may be the minority, but Xuan Ji of "Love and Redemption" is one of my all-time favorite FLs. She's strong, steadfast in her convictions, fiercely protective, and loyal to a fault.
Si Feng got the main attention/praise because Cheng Yi's portrayal was utter perfection but L&R was ultimately Xuan Ji's/God of War's/Luo Hou Ji Dou's story of love, betrayal, rebirth, and redemption. If Si Feng was the heart of the drama then Xuan Ji was the soul. Even the essence of their 10 lifetime tribulations were about God of War's journey, not Si Feng's. Xuan Ji was by no means perfect, but she was such a beautifully written protagonist. She's one of the very few FLs whom I loved from beginning to end.

Exactly!!! I also hated how Ruo Xi viewed everything from her 21st century mindset (it was weird she had issues with 4th prince attacking his brothers but had no issues hooking up with her sister's husband) not to mention she was the catalyst that started the war between the brothers!

I find that when I was younger I always sided with the FL without seeing the wrongs they committed because the ML usually became cruel and aggressive. Now that I'm older, I'm a lot more critical of the FL probably because I'm also a woman so if they are indecisive or act without logic then I no longer root for them.

As wonderfully as Cheng Yi plays the devastatingly beautiful, self-sacrificing, all-around "good guy," I would love to see him play the anti-hero or someone who starts off good and after many circumstances becomes so bad it makes you wonder if he can redeem himself (like Yan Xun of Princess Agents). Or just a role that makes him stretch his acting skills. After Love and Redemption and Promise of Chang An I'd hate to see him type-casted as the pure hearted good guy.

I guess I was in the mood to watch their doomed love crash and burn. The journey of watching GMP was fun hahaha
I need love stories that break my heart and devastate my soul lol
that's why Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms, The Untamed, and Love and Redemption are my gold standards for xianxia dramas. There was something unique and utterly shattering about each of the three love stories.

I think a lot of us came here right after Love and Redemption so we're still on our "Cheng Yi high" lol
Even so, I only tune in here and there to get the gist of what's going on, drama storylines like this aren't my cup of tea.

The OST is on my weekly playlist rotation. The ending theme is lovely. I think GMP was the first drama where I really enjoyed watching it but I hated every single character lol

The angsty parts are very heavy but also very fast paced. It starts around episode 37 and ends by the end of episode 47. It's a different kind of pain from Goodbye My Princess. In GMP, it was literally a rollercoaster heading towards the cliff but with L&R, you begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

In Goodbye My Princess, LCY massacred her entire maternal family, there was no way a happy ending would've been possible. Plus LCY became jealous, possessive, and psychotic. The damage he did was irreparable.

Maybe it would've been better if they did what The Legends did by using both Bai Lu and Xiao Yan to portray the different sides of Qin Zhi Yan so the viewers could differentiate between the two..hmm..curious

Same here. I'm not clicking with the female lead..I think it's because she reminds me of Ruo Xi of Scarlet Heart. She's a good person but her "sense of right" and her heart diverge. She loves and tries to help the ML but she stands in the middle when the inevitable brother-brother fight occurs...she won't leave her husband but also can't let go of the ML. I want to shout "Pick a damn side!" at her.

I'm fine with sad and happy endings as long as they make sense within the narrative. Sad endings, when done right are very beautiful. I think if she didn't have a child then they would've had a good chance of a HE

I belonged to group A when I watched Goodbye My Princess lol
That was a loooooooong ride...

While the cast is doing a good job with their characters I think one of many things the episode cut hurt was the transition from Eva Cheng's Mo Xin to Li Mo Zhi's Mo Wan/Mo Xin.

Maybe it's just me (and I do think the acting is fine) but I don't feel like Mo Wan is Mo Xin. It's like there's a disconnect between the two so it doesn't genuinely feel like Mo Xin is exacting her revenge from her sister's body. I don't really know how to explain it but it feels like two different actresses playing two different characters rather than two actresses' interpretation of the same person. It might just be because we weren't given a chance to get to know the original Mo Xin before the soul swap happened so result isn't as smooth...

The difference with Renascence is she won't be pregnant with the emperor's child (again). That's probably the main reason why it'll be a happy ending

I don't doubt the son will try to do bad things to CX..he might've inherited stupid from his father...I'm hoping she won't be cool about it but I wouldn't be surprised if she still sides with her son afterwards.

It's just such an unimaginable cruelty to wait until she was almost full term. We don't even do that in the present and for him to have done it...tsk tsk tsk

I don't think this drama would've done well if it was released before L&R. No one in the cast is a "household" name big enough to draw crowds and the storyline would only appeal to handfuls of people.

What do you mean? No lies were told in the story?

She's a mother..no matter how horrible her child is, a mother will always chose her child over her lover