Watch Love like the galaxy - Our Epic Summer 2022 Chinese Idol Period Drama
Thursday, 29 September 2022
JUST IN! My cynical cold heart has lost the battle.
It's over . The white surrender flag has been raised.
I can't watch Chinese dramas without believing in a mushy lovey-dovey love that conquers all.
And this drama was the bestest.
Not the best but the bestest!
At first the title discouraged me. I thought it was a fantasy drama,
which is not my comfortable go-to, I am still discovering that arena.
A colleague at work said that I needed to watch it,
I am so glad I did.
The #cdrama has it's serious emotional intertwined storylines but what I enjoyed so much is how the comedy creeps up on you. Humor is skillfully crafted and used so wonderfully; your small grins turn into big laughs, not too often but in all the right places. The actors know how to play off the awkward moments. It's also so effortless how they flow from comedy to drama and back again throughout.
My New Absolute Favourite 2022 #Cdrama Couple
I already said above, that they were meant for each other. They are the best thing to happen to my cdrama laptop and tv screens in 2022. I also believe that this was made more incredible by how well they played their leading roles I saw and disagreed with some of the reviews that mentioned our Mr Leo was too stiff.
I feel Mr Leo Wu understood his character, and what a skill to be able to make us laugh while remaining in his role as a dedicated strategic warrior and leader tortured by deep internal torment.
Zhao Lusi played her immature, stubborn, playful character perfectly. The depth and the growth in the arc by the end was evident. Is she also considered a Mary Sue? Tell me in the comments.
The Father Figures
Honestly for what Bao Jianfeng (Emperor Wen) and Guo Tao (Cheng Shi) were meant to do... they were great in their supporting fatherly roles. They didn't over shine but there were so many memorable moments. Through laughter they provided wisdom. Sometimes we forget the Emperor was the leader of a nation; maybe that would be one of my minor criticisms.
The Empress and Imperial Consort Dynamic
It was other people that wanted them to hate each other, NOT them. From the few c-dramas that I have watched the empress is always feuding with an imperial consort or many consorts; they have to display loyalty to their family clicks . In this #cdrama, the love of Emperor Wen's life happens to be the consort and he made both palaces of equal status to deter negativity and competition. The Empress(Tong Lei) is a neglected wife but not in a physically cruel way just in the sense that she is a gentle timid soul who is alone in this arranged-marriage-to-secure-power-alliances dynamic.
The episode with the betrothal banquet was epic! We catch glimpses of the sharp bark and bite of Consort Yue(cao xiwen) in earlier episodes but this I felt was where her royal- rebel-for-good-in-the-palace nature really came out in all its full glory.
One Type of Mean Girl
To me the mean girls were ALL the same person. I often got confused.
This could have been decided on and done better; maybe by giving different coloured costumes, and maybe not having more than two targeting the female lead at the same time.
Avenue X is right, evil cannot just be one sided, there has to be a back story there to make it interesting and human. We need good character development on the evil side too please.
Special Mention - Two Interesting Love Interests
The soft one and the bully...
I was not a fan of the empathic Mr Lou Yao. (Yu Cheng'en) but he grew on me and their break up scene had me in tears.
Yuan Shen(Li Yunri) brought an interesting dynamic; his jealousy always festering in the background and fighting for attention with slick cutting comments.
Old Madam Cheng stole every scene
Overly-dramatic and unapologetic about it. I loved the commitment of Xu Di .
This Chinese drama is worth ALL your binge watching hours. I have tried very hard to not leave spoilers in this blog post that will take away from your enjoyment so please go watch.
You can view it on You Tube or WeTV . While watching or when you have concluded, do comment below and tell me your thoughts.
I first heard the statement "All attack is a call for help" in my teenage years, I was most likely watching something profound like the Oprah show, but I am not so sure.
I really miss Oprah's presence on my TV screen, that show was worth every Emmy it worn....Anyway the statement stuck and remained in my head, even though I was yet to understand the true meaning of it. It is attributed to the book A Course in Miracles. Never read the book but maybe that will change one day.
Then in my late teens or early 20's I came across it again while attending university. I bought the book A Conversation with God by Neale Donald Walsch-Book 1. Love the book, because it is such a wonderful way to trigger personal and internal conversations about how we form our relationship with God. For those of us brought up in strict faiths ( I am a Catholic) sometimes we need to read and appreciate such perspectives.
I accept that human beings are complicated.
We are stubbornly complex.
"I must have done something ... but what?
If I did contribute to the negativity, I am always happy to initiate an apology and find a way forward but on some rare-impactful occasions, the person hates me because I exist. Just the sight of me is a trigger to a well of discomfort and uncontrollably rage. The person will then proceed to be petty and passive aggressive in ways that baffle and confound me. On this occasion it is a person in a position of power ; I get belittled, isolated and gas lit on a weekly basis. All forms of what I remember we called 'girl bullying' /relational bullying when I was studying my first university degree.
A month ago, when I finally realized what was happening , I wasn't as broken and dejected as the first time, however inside me was a cake of confusion, hurt and sadness iced with helplessness and hopelessness. Fortunately, I returned to my former tactics. I remembered to say my prayers. Most importantly I did what my father had told me, I didn't let it distract me from my work, because that is what bullies want; their victims underperforming and failing.
I fought quietly for myself and asked God for those little pockets opportunities he provides to show the people that need to see what I could do, a chance to see it. He came through as always.
Hurt people, hurt people they say.
I allow 'having a bad day', even 'having bad weeks' , we all have them, we all have our struggles, but when you are determined to destroy people's spirits then I have to say .....no more excuses and God will decide what grace you deserve.
No compassion left in me towards them, they have exhausted it ALL...In God's hands they must go.
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