#don't give up tantai jin!

[movielosophy]

till the end of the moon  | reviving the demon lord

[mirageofadesert]

Looking back on my first year as a c-drama fan!

This year I fell - first down a flight of stairs - and then (because I couldn't walk properly for a few weeks) down a rabbit hole of cdramas!

In total, I have watched 28 dramas since May. I actually finished 17 of them. I re-watched 8 of them at least once. My most rewatched show is Till The End Of The Moon, followed by Love Is Sweet and The Untamed!

Shows I loved

Till The End of The Moon: This drama triggered my hyperfixation, and I still love it so much. Tantai Jin became my new obsession.

Love is Sweet: This one surprised me because I don't usually care for romantic dramas. It made me more open to different genres.

The Untamed: I watched this for the first time in 2019, and now I can appreciate it even more.

The Sleuth of Ming Dynasties: It took me several tries to get into the drama because the political setting was too complicated. I'm glad I didn't give up. Wang Zhi became one of my favorites!

New Life Begins: I was just looking for something light in between and was quite surprised how much I liked the show.

Things I learned as a newbie:

Cdramas are an acquired taste. Sometimes it's worth going back to a drama that you initially gave up on.

To avoid spoilers, it's best to skip the intro and especially the outro.

I love my characters unhinged.

Apparently it is okay to share leaks from filming.

Never believe anything that comes from yxh accounts.

Shippers are toxic in any fandom.

C-drama fans are a bit older than K-pop fans, but they can be just as unhinged and have trouble distinguishing between how to treat actors and the fictional characters they play.

My ADHD is better regulated when I watch shows in a foreign language while reading the subtitles. I don't get bored watching TV, which is rare!

Shows I dropped, and what I learned from it:

Hidden Love: I still don't like romances that have no significant plot beyond the relationship. Especially if I don't care about the characters at all.

Back from the Brink: Sometimes dramas that start well become an unwatchable, rage-inducing mess halfway through, and it's not worth sticking it out to the end.

Beauty of Resilience: I'm a character-driven audience. If the characters aren't compelling and the story isn't interesting, I don't care about the show.

Ashes of Love: I hate childish FL with baby voices and naive personalities. I need better written female characters. I'm on my 3rd attempt to watch this show and I only have a handful of episodes left, so I'll actually make it to the end (eventually).

I've dropped a lot more shows and actually watched some to the end that I didn't like very much in the end, but those are the ones I learned the most from.

What will stay with me:

Tantai Jin: I'm still obsessed with this character. He is everything I need in a fictional character.

Luo Yunxi: This will come as no surprise to anyone who follows me, but my obsession with TTJ soon extended to Luo Yunxi.

Bai Lu & Sun Zhenni: While I appreciate both of them as actors, it's their fun and uninhibited personalities that made me fall in love with them!!

Costumes: I adore the detailed costumes and hanfu styles, and do prefer costume dramas to modern ones.

Food & drinks: I'm now looking into more Chinese foot now and how to cook vegetables in more interesting ways. I also bought "moon cake stamps"... so wish me luck!

New online acquaintances: I have made some new friends online who I can fangirl with to my heart's content!

What I'm looking forward to in 2024:

I'm really looking forward to Luo Yunxi's upcoming dramas, Follow You Heart, Shui Long Yin and Immortality (🤡). I'm also looking forward to Sun Zhenni's first leading role!

There are still many dramas I want to watch, but haven't found the time for. Like A Journey to Love, Goodbye, My Princess, Nirvana in Fire, Then Miles of Peach Blossoms and The Blood of Youth.

I'm not sure what else I'll post here next year. Probably more reviews and content related to my favourite actors. Let's see if something triggers my hyperfixation soon!

Happy New Year!

[suzannahnatters]

Till the End of the Moon: Unconventional Enemies to Lovers

A few months ago I posted my own personal thoughts on enemies-to-lovers that don't cross my own personal red lines. Since then, I enjoyed watching the absolutely next-level cdrama TILL THE END OF THE MOON, which is a uniquely complex and delicious take on the enemies to lovers trope which goes way harder than any other ETL I've ever seen. In this post I'd like to break down how TTEOTM addresses each of my points in turn, and I think this will highlight two unique features of this story: the wonderful complexity of the characters' alignment between good and evil, and the way that the ending, while flawed, unconventional and not completely satisfying, nevertheless makes a certain amount of dramatic sense.

In case that wasn't obvious right away, SPOILERS AHEAD.

Remember that evil is not misunderstood.

This point is about keeping your moral categories straight and not treating something genuinely problematic as though it's just a misunderstanding. One of the really fascinating things about TILL THE END OF THE MOON is that you couldn't quite call Tantai Jin either evil OR misunderstood. Instead, he's a complex mixture of both - a man who uses demon magic, wears black, and tends towards vengeance and mayhem when he feels attacked, yes, but who deep down very profoundly just needs to be loved. The show proves this over and over. Tantai Jin only acts out when he feels threatened or betrayed, when his belief that no one will ever love him is validated by the actions of those around him. On the other hand, when people show love towards him, he responds with wary but genuine trust, affection, and self-sacrifice. Our heroine Li Susu and others are quick to misunderstand Tantai Jin, but this is mainly because of the sinister vibes that surround him on account of him being picked out as the Devil God's future vessel. So, is he evil or misunderstood? He's a bit of both, and the really delightful thing about this show is that it does a beautiful job of keeping its categories straight, resolving misunderstandings quickly but doing the hard yards when it comes to addressing Tantai Jin's propensities towards vengeance.

Enemies doesn't need to mean hatred or toxicity.

Every romance needs reasons for the characters to love and trust each other, despite the things that are keeping them apart. TILL THE END OF THE MOON, again, takes a super complex approach to this point as well. Both Li Susu and Tantai Jin have incredibly mixed feelings towards each other. Li Susu deeply hates the Devil God and throughout the show, the major obstacle standing in the way of her learning to love Tantai Jin is her hatred of what she believes he will one day become. This provokes her to whip him, betray him, and plan his death. But she also sees very clearly that Tantai Jin is a pitiable outcast who has only ever known hatred and suffering. When she defends him, he quickly warms up to her. Tantai Jin, meanwhile, has heard Li Susu's vows of undying hatred and hostility, but has no defences against her practical acts of kindness and self-sacrifice. When she starts telling him that she loves him, he believes it because he so desperately wants to. Then, when she betrays him, his hostility is born of desperation: he thinks her cruel and heartless for toying with him. And when she comes back to him, he's so desperate for her love that he accepts her without reservation, making himself wholly vulnerable. Is there hatred between these two? Undoubtedly. But it's allied with an equally irresistible love and compassion. Like all the best enemies-to-lovers stories, and more than most, TILL THE END OF THE MOON gives the characters a choice between a hatred that will destroy them and a love that can heal them.

Remember that ETL is a fundamentally transformative relationship.

Normally what I mean by this is that enemies-to-lovers will usually involve a profound character arc for at least one of the characters, often from evil to good. TILL THE END OF THE MOON tackles this particular element with incredible complexity. When Li Susu gets to know Tantai Jin, he's cunning and manipulative, but just trying to survive. The two of them embark on a deeply transformative journey, but it is nothing so clear-cut as a journey from villainy to goodness or vice versa. Tantai Jin flirts with villainy before ultimately drawing away from it. By the time he actually does ascend to become the Devil God in the final quarter, it isn't because he's become evil - rather, he's playing the long game, positioning himself and Li Susu to destroy the Devil God once and for all. The important part of Tantai Jin's character arc is learning to accept love from himself and from people around him, to the point that he no longer responds to perceived rejection with vengeful rage. Similarly, the show also brings Susu to a point where she is able to let go of her deap-seated fear of the Devil God. By the end, she has become able to trust her beloved and make herself vulnerable to him even AFTER he's become the Devil God - a truly incredible arc.

I've heard a lot of people saying that the show TTEOTM differs from the book TTEOTM sharply in that Show!Tantai Jin is much less of a villain than Book!Tantai Jin. Normally, this would impair my enjoyment - I'm usually the one shouting at the screen to LET your baddie be a baddie, for heaven's sake. Not having read the book, I can't actually compare the two, but I CAN say that I'm so impressed by how the show revels in shades of grey. Instead of simplifying the male lead's morality, the story allows it to be messy and complex. Neither Li Susu nor Tantai Jin can fit easily into good and evil categories. I appreciate this immensely.

The characters should be a match for each other, especially when it comes to power and to morals.

Similarly, I'm fascinated by how TILL THE END OF THE MOON treats Li Susu, our token "good" half of the couple. She's the Lady of Light, but in the midst of her crusade she's stubborn. She's cruel. She's vengeful. She spends SO MUCH of the story refusing to believe that Tantai Jin can defy fate, and when she meets him again after undergoing 500 years of suffering to find her, she still refuses to acknowledge that she is the woman who loved him, because she fears it will give the Devil God a new foothold in the world. Throughout the story she lies to him, betrays him, and wields or withholds her affection like a weapon. (This, combined with the long stretches of the show in which she is far more powerful than Tantai Jin, reverses a lot of common gender tropes in some really fun ways). In fact Li Susu is kind of terrible, and I love that for her and for the show because now it's not about a pure and good person suffering for the love of a villain - it's about two dark and deeply flawed people hurting each other equally. Similarly, Tantai Jin just isn't a villain, despite the aesthetics.

There doesn't need to be a HEA.

I don't think that every romance needs a happy ending - look at WUTHERING HEIGHTS. While it's imperfect, I don't think that TTEOTM has an unhappy ending per se. I trust that our boy is going to cultivate himself right out of that Heart-Guarding Scale. Tantai Jin and Li Susu definitely deserve their happy ending if any couple does - they've worked through their differences and are now totally vulnerable with and accepting of each other. However, it's fascinating that they don't quite get a HEA - or need to wait a long time for it - for reasons that actually sit pretty well with me. Namely, it was Tantai Jin's fatal flaw all along that he pinned all his sense of self-worth to Li Susu and couldn't face the thought of a life without her. This is that oddest of all things: a love story which cannot end happily until the hero is able to find love and security in people who are NOT the heroine. His feelings for Li Susu are not enough to cure him, because on the deepest level Tantai Jin still doesn't consider himself worthy of love and is willing to settle for whatever crumbs he can pick up off the floor. It takes the love of his shifu and sect brothers showing him that he is worthy APART from Li Susu, before he can learn to be healthily in love WITH her. By the end, it is this acceptance of himself and all the love shown by people who are NOT Li Susu, which enables Tantai Jin to consume the Devil God rather than to be consumed BY him. It is this which gives him the strength to accept death at Li Susu's hands without seeking to avenge or defend himself, and Li Susu the ability to trust him enough to follow through with it. Again, this is an incredibly complex take on a standard romantic scenario.

Love should be what the villain needs - but not what he wants.

What I mean by this is that if the villain is driven to villainy primarily in order to possess the heroine romantically or sexually, he ought not to get her. But TTEOTM is much more complex than, say, LOVE BETWEEN FAIRY AND DEVIL*, in which Orchid represents the moral growth the Evil Overlord needs rather than the world domination he wants. For one thing, Tantai Jin is not a villain when he first meets Li Susu, he never quite becomes one, and many of his most villainous actions are are direct response to her perceived enmity. They are self-preservation or revenge. Also, for much of the story, there is nothing Tantai Jin wants as much as Li Susu, and all his actions, good and bad, are either attempts to win her favour or retaliation for perceived or actual betrayal.

In retrospect, perhaps this was always an indication of how the story was going to end. Tantai Jin WANTS Li Susu to love him from very early on. But his need is quite different. He NEEDS to accept love and esteem from himself and from others, because so long as he pins all his sense of self-worth to the murder wifey he will never be stable or sane. One of the really beautiful things about the final quarter of the story, despite its messiness, is seeing Tantai Jin flower into someone who is finally able to accept his own worthiness. After so many episodes in which he's been suffering, paranoid and hurting, he's finally able to achieve an even keel - not through the Heartless Way, but through experiencing love. This time, when he feels threatened by the rejection of one person, he has the love of others to fall back on. Thus, the ending of this show was never going to be about whether Tantai Jin could love Li Susu: he has from the beginning. It was going to be about whether he could learn to see himself as worthy of love.

For Tantai Jin, additionally, getting what he needs doesn't mean that he can't also get what he wants. Tantai Jin has never been SO villainous - so cruel, selfish, and obdurate - that getting what he wants would be a grave injustice. And, getting what he needs - the love of others - is not incompatible with what he wants - the love of Li Susu. Indeed it's the only condition upon which he CAN have a healthy relationship with Li Susu. I think this is why the ending, as messy and flawed as it is, is not a dealbreaker and even makes a weird amount of sense. The fact that Tantai Jin clearly gets what he Needs prevents it all from feeling as utterly wasteful and stupid as, say, TROS did. And then the door is left just a crack ajar for him one to day to get what he Wants, too.

In conclusion, then, TTEOTM is an incredibly ambitious, complex story which goes harder than just about any other enemies-to-lovers story I can think of and sets itself up for an unconventional ending in making the core of its story about whether the hero can learn to love himself. While it's not perfect, I feel like it's an enemies-to-lovers masterclass which I'll be revisiting early and often.

* As a footnote, when I say that TTEOTM is less complex than LBFAD, this isn't meant as a ding. LBFAD is simpler and less ambitious, but also more successful. It's often the way.

[harocat]

So obviously Tantai Jin is going to give into being the devil god to save the world; he'll manage to keep his mind and destroy the devil god from within with Li Susu's help. She will be aware of what is going on and fully in on his plan (though she’ll hate the idea of him even trying this, she will believe in him like his master did). But then when Li Susu ascends to godhood, as we know appears to be in her future, he will as well, because of his actions, right? He has divine essence in him so he can do so! Happy Ending.

They come full circle and TTJ ends up the new god of war, and the gods return the same way they were first destroyed, by killing the devil god, this time for good though. This feels like the obvious progression of the story. It makes the inclusion of the dream arc more important too, and it brings it full circle with TTJ being in Ming Ye's role at the end (plus xianxia heroes are so often gods of war). It also makes them going back to the Shangqing more relevant. They do end up in the same roles as previous incarnations of themselves, but this time, it's through their own free will and also, this time they get a chance to be happy.

And remember Sang Jiu was originally supposed to ascend to godhood but lost her divine essence saving her village. Li Susu is also part of the phoenix clan which means I'm sure there will be some shit with that IDK I'm writing this show now.

And there's definitely like... outfit spoilers that look like they fit this ending, so it's not an asspull, but also, outfit spoilers could mean nothing with these shows because dream sequences exist and so do cut scenes and reshoots. I don't trust anything the actors say because I don't think they'd just drop the ending, whether good or bad end. I do not know what happens at the end of the novel except that it's an HE, but I do know it's diverged so much by now that might be irelevant.

Pian Ran is there too btw, just because she should be.

If it's a bad end though, the show ended with episode thirty-five.

[ershisposts]

TTEOM ENDING: NECESSARY BUT NOT A PROPER ENDING

i have read some posts about the ending which has been hugely misinterpreted to the extent that some people are saying they are not going to recommend this drama and I find that very disappointing and heartbreaking to see!

First of all, the ending is open ended. It's bittersweet and left us hanging for his return (which he will since in the book Tantai jin indeed reincarnates after 1000 years and in the show we saw that 500 years have already passed while he is cultivating inside the heart guarding scale). A few mins of extra footage to show that he returned (which is already confirmed in the book) would not have hurt. They should have given us that scene

I agree.

But what I don't agree with is how people are twisting it to mean that the drama conveys the message that one cannot defeat fate and all tantai jin suffered was for nothing which was absolutely not true! The original devil God controlled and planned tantai jin's whole life to the T starting from his birth so that he would give into him easily and fulfill his wishes of bringing the world to chaos. But Tantai jin reversed it ALL. He was a benevolent and kind ruler when he was Jing emperor instead of a tyrannical monster. Even his obsessive love for su su did not let him turn to the devil path.

From the person who wanted nothing but power to the person who wanted nothing but to spend the rest of his life with the woman he loves to the person who had it all he ever wanted but had to let it go to do what's right is a big fuck you to the devil god and to the destiny he was pushed towards. Many misinterpreted the ending thinking he did it for the world, or it's because the writers projected Ming ye onto him or solely for su su which is very disrespectful to the character arc and the growth he has experienced throughout.

The meaning of his sacrifice is twofold. Not only he claimed his agency back and made sure his body and soul would disappear so that there won't be any identity of him linked to the devil god, essentially dissolving the "made-up" life that he was led to live by the DG, but I see it as him also repaying his debt to su su and to the very few people who showed him kindness. In episode 39 when he absorbed the OG devil god, he finally showed that he is not willing to dwell on the negatives of his life but embrace the love he has received, however fleeting it was. He has learned to accept that he is worthy of love and now he will payback to the people who showed him that love to fulfill his debt (in taoism repaying debts is huge and is a recurring theme in xianxia genre). Yes, we can say he has nothing to payback for, those characters loved him unconditionally and he has suffered way too much. But this is tantai jin who has learned to give more than what he has received, and that right there is the significance of the chain of events in episode 40 that was necessary for us, the audience, to realize his immense character growth. This is a person who went from wanting to die to wanting to live but chose death, not for himself but to save the world which did not give him much. He went from someone who coveted power to someone who had all the power in the world and chose to give it all up because it's the right thing to do. And that's not to say he let go of his want to spend a life with his loved one because him leaving a part of his spirit in the heart guarding scale so that he can accompany the love of his life, and one day can come back to start anew, in a new life, that is "owned" by him and not by the DG shows finally how much he has come forth.

But yes, again, the REAL ending in the show should have been him reincarnating into that life that he wants and deserves. We also needed to see what happened to the secondary characters. The 40 episode limitation is one of the reason, also the writers could have given us an extra 5 mins of footage of his reincarnation and reunion with his loved ones (There is an audio recording but that's not enough ofc!) or do an epilogue. The possibility is endless but they did not and I understand that gripe but not recommending this solely for that reason is just too cruel.

This is one of a kind drama even for xianxia genre. Missing this is just missing a wonderful thought evoking story that makes you not only feel but also to think.

[sschmendrick]

Remember what I said about Nian Baiyu ? Turns out it's the whole Moon Shadow Guards that are supportive of Tantai Jin and Ye Xiwu and will scorn at him treating her badly this is amazing.

Seeing the Guards and Pian Ran stand with Ye Xiwu (while still being loyal to Tantai Jin) is so cool. (Doesn't help that this couple plus the Generals couple keep flirting in front of all the guards all the time) It really give the impression that it's a living environment; they warmed up to her, to her presence, I don't know how to explain it in english very well but it's like Jin and Xiwu as a thing has an impact on the rest of the group even if most of them are nameless characters and extras. It kind of establishes how it affects people around them because they interact with the rest of the guards, and it does that without having to add extra scenes in or say it out loud, you can understand it from how they behave. (it also shows the progress and how time passes)

[mejomonster]

Yall weren't lying about Tantai Jun being a Disney princess type

He reminds me more of Regina Mills from Once Upon a Time though like

1. Disney princess but not planned for a happy ending but instead to become like or crueler than those who hurt him

2. He's already past Regina at that age, he killed a dude with a wasp! (Phenomenal btw)

3. The crow is basically conditioning him to give up his body and soul to the devil inside when hes at his worst life moment???

4. I hope we get to see SOME earlier flashback where it shows when he started talking to the devil thing smoke face guy about giving it himself when he's ready to die and gain power. Like was a 2 year old him oddly comforted by that once upon a time? Or a 4 year old him afraid, but over the years he realized the "devil he knew" who said exactly what it'd do to him and how he would benefit would be WAY better than the current people hurting him? Was he gently coaxed a little more every year until the face finally put death on the table? I want to know how he got to the point of being convinced to give himself to it when he dies. Also! Maybe it wasn't even there as a child, it's not part of his devil bone, and it's actually an outside entity enticed by his Very Compatible Devil Body to want to possess him. In which case how did he get convinced to trust it. Also HOW is rhe crow involved. I love the crow! It's like 1 part Disney princess companion but the evil henchman ones instead, and 1 part the crow from Sandman.

5. I love that he is actually already with a plan. It's not actually take it until dead. It's "die on my own terms and gain magic power and emotional numbness and get worldwide revenge" if he DOES wither away, and in the meanwhile figure out what to do next while alive. (Which I mean yes ouat went Wild with the writing but in season 1 some old notable things I remember was a Snow White who had her own plan, just in general the vibe of even if a damsel imprisoned people were generally thinking about what to do) I appreciate that Tantai Jin is smarter than just waiting to die as plan A.

6. Love Susu? I love? I love that she's fulfilling this typical Heroic Good Xianxia Heroine role but like. Idk the role feels written FOR AN ADULT. I don't know how to explain just.. often xianxia will start with a teen girl heroine. An innocent one who doesn't know about sex and crushes much yet, or the idea of actual political marriage and dynamics is irritating to her even if her parents had one etc. Susu immediately sees her clan (and the world?) die so she's not innocent in the sense of no destruction yet, she is aware of the outcome and the stakes and a heroine with total awareness of WHY she must succeed. She's already a skilled fighter, and though she loses her powers as a mortal, her knowledge means she's still more competent then the cultivators in the human realm she runs into, aware of how to handle demons, aware of how to judge people's strengths and weak points, she's more like watching a sect shi-jie save the world than the usual younger disciple setting out. Not quite a sect elder, but someone already established with skills and years of practice and competence and awareness of the stakes she faces. I love that while we don't know her personal romantic past yet, that adult feel of her carries into her treatment of marriage and family. She can judge the family she transmigrated into logically instead of taking it personal like she's really the human now... instead of making enemies with the sister or being apologetic she can try and be level headed, she can use the cruel reputation of the human to help her when needed, or shift her political weight for positive change. She is aware to get background info on people instead of floundering trying to adapt. She is not shy around a supposed husband and her only awkwardness with Tantai Jin IS REMEMBERING WHAT AWFUL STUFF HE DID TO HER LOVED ONES which is fair and a response that's expected. She's not worried to be flirtatious or blush, she can jump into "this human spouse ordered him around and hurt or was solely able to protect him" role and not be bogged down by a shy or awkwardness of like "Oh how could i/I don't love him/I shouldn't see him so intimately blah blah" (which is probably partly why she was cast, bai lu plays very straightforward and not shy or hesitant in The Legends even when she is playing basically a young somewhat naive xianxia hero). It's just like. Refreshing (for my tastes in a show anyway lol) that our heroine feels like an adult with experience trying to save the world. I didn't realize how much I enjoy when lead characters don't blush and act all shy and worried about politeness until I get lucky with finding them (xuanji was innocent xianxia hero girl but honestly her lack of Care for such usual behavior was also nice)

7. I love enemies to loverssss

[coffeeandritalin]

Questions and intrusive thoughts as I watch episode two of Cang Yue Jin Ming/Till the End of the Moon. (Possible spoilers ahead.)

"Let him suffer a little for now." - Like... no... like... my pal... this is how you create demon gods -_-

Oh she's going to let him get up

WHAT!? SHe actually let him kneel all night? WTF!?

How do you sleep with that huge hair accessory on? Why aren't you sleeping under the covers!? Why aren't you sleeping on the pillow!? What is happening here!? Is this some cultivation thing I'm not aware of?

Her over-determination to be prejudiced against him in order to create tension and misunderstanding between them is a little bit too much for me. (But to be fair, I also did not have to go through witnessing everyone I care about get murdered by him so *shrug*. I think it's just hard for me to be on her side because I know (or think I know) that the story is about how he does have the possibility for good in him... idk.)

Ooooh here's the elder sister. LOL of course she's an absolute angel and handing out food to the poor compared to the vicious Ye Xiwu who pays people to "abduct" her and makes her husband kneel outside in the snow for 3 days X-D

Lol the maid and master aren't even trying to talk about this in hushed voices. The people are definitely here for the congee AND the gossip. I bet they're all huddling together after they get their bowl of food so they can all string together everything that's been said.

Okay, yeah. The older sister looks interested in the Sixth Prince. Why don't they just get married then?

Ooooooh hand touching

Huh magical telepathic evil crow

Wait why would Tantai Jin also not appearing in front of Sixth Prince mean Sixth Prince will fall for Ye Xiwu? Is this implying that Sixth Prince is bi?????

You didn't close your door before going to spy on him? Like... this is how ... YOU'RE LETTING ALL THE HEAT/AC OUT!!!

Yes, please have just a tiny bit of sympathy for him. (I totally get where she's coming from with her prejudice. I just... want them to.... kith. Is that so much to ask for? *hides face behind hands*)

Ok... real talk though. He's been ostracized and bullied and tortured all his life. The fact that he's not out and about just kicking people already - I feel like this says something about his actual (not devil-influenced) nature. But also, like his level of apathy and disregard for himself just hurts T.T. (Like, I get part of his deal is that he can't display/have emotions or something like that.... but this apathy feels different from that. Like, I didn't expect them to hit this real this early. Geez.)

Why... why would you tell someone that? Like... that doesn't seem like much motivation for him to be patient and keep holding on...

It's the dead of winter! It's cold as f*** outside. Why do you have the window open!? You're letting all the heat out!

Where is this bone located? .... >.> ... >.> don't think it don't think it don't think it penis don't think it don't think it

So is he just going to continue wearing his wet inner clothes? Is this not how one catches colds and fevers and die in ancient dramas?

Or did they prepare inner clothes for him? Because they seem magically dry now.

Is she... sleeping fully clothed? And with the headpiece still on? (Like I'll give a pass for before since she unintentionally fell asleep, but...) *pinches nose bridge* Like this might be the most unrealistic and nonsensical part of the whole drama for me.

There's only one pillow on the bed. Why would you think that he sleeps with you?

X-D Chuntao is like her baidu X-D I love it

OH Thank you! You're having a revelation.

Okay... but like... how does the whip not create a princess and the pea situation? The whip is just placed under the one-inch thick mattress. How does it not create a bump in the mattress surface? Did they carve out a little whip-shaped hole for storing the whip so that it doesn't create a bump?

He's just going to sleep with bloody clothes on. Actually no. Bigger issue. He's also sleeping fully clothed. This is ridiculous. Like how does the hairpin thing not accidentally poke a hole into his head?

Ah yes... the classic one-person-has-a-fever-so-the-other-person-has-to-cuddle-them-scene

or maybe not

Poor Chuntao. The poor maid just wants to sleep.

Ok. At this moment. I can totally understand Chuntao needing to stay fully clothed when going to sleep. But she's the only one who gets a pass at the moment.

I love how in ancient dramas, passed out/comatose patients are always so cooperative and manage to drink their medicine.

Why is the fever still so high? Like, d***, how effective was Chinese herbal medicine back then? It's been less than 2 minutes since you've feed him those meds. (Although, tbf I guess she also doesn't know how the medicine from the mortal realm works.)

Immortals get fevers.

So she makes it seem like she has no experience being a mortal. Does that mean that immortals don't come from mortals cultivating into immortality? Or do they get their memories wiped when they do become immortals?

You're going to make him sleep sitting up? Also, do really only have two blankets? Isn't this supposed to be some very powerful military family? Everyone is allotted one blanket and that's it? I guess they gotta stay frugal in case war randomly breaks out.

X-D X-D X-D actually she is possessed

Why... why does her family spoil her like this? Is it just because she's the youngest? They spoil her... but apparently only with food and attention but not with blankets.

Ah... I feel like they're setting things up to pit Ye BingChang against Ye XiWu with how much they dismiss YBC and spoil YXW. I would be hella resentful if I was YBC.

Also, like why does everyone in this family randomly dislike (or at least not think highly of) YBC? She seems like the standard definition of a well-behaved daughter.

Who wouldn't like her? Apparently the rest of your family...

What's in the dish wash tub? Are those blocks of ice? Oh. Yes. They're blocks of ice to torture him.

He can control flies? Is this like Gandalf talking to moths?

Ok but then how did you know it was her who drugged the pastry?

Oooooh that's why she got married to him and before her older sister.

Also, guess this is why she needs Tantai Jin to not appear in front of Xiao Lin too. Cancel the bi-Xiao Lin theory.

Also, how serendipitous that drugged-her just happened to run into drugged-him. Did that aphrodisiac also have a homing device built into it?

Why would she tell him the truth though? Just want to make sure her hubby has blackmail material against her?

[deng-yi-deng]

https://m.weibo.cn/status/4894177790529120

Weibo user with praise for Xixi's acting (#1 trending hashtag right now is #LuoYunxiActingSkilll#)

(Gtranslate, with a little correction/edits from me)

#罗云熙演技 # Luo Yunxi is a handsome man, I have known for a long time, but I have never looked at him much before. After all, what beauty hasn't my sister seen? Ten days ago, I casually opened a drama "Till the End of the Moon". In the first episode I complained: What garbage! But I watched three episodes in a row while complaining, and I continued to follow the drama, never thinking of giving up.

You know, I rarely watch xianxia dramas, it's not that I don't want to, It is a 99% probability of abandoning at episode 1, including the classic xianxia that many people talk about. I can endure anything, but I can't bear if the actor can't hold (hook) me. (Changyue Jin Ming is the second fairy tale drama I watched in its entirety) So picky, why can you watch now? Because of Jinjin! Yes, I write about Tantai Jin, not Luo Yunxi. Tantai Jin's morbid beauty, excellent deportment, ruthlessness, intelligence - demonic, bewitching, perverted, pure, lustful. And that deadly love... Hooking me all the time, as if he was saying: Look at me, only look at me...

He's still a bundle of tears. Ye Xiwu can easily make him cry, betray, distrust, and even when she moves to kill him, he will not give up, and he will always just want to look at her. Does it feel pointless to say this? In fact, he is a wise king, intelligent and studious, and flexible, Never hypocritical, never failing others, and never killing innocents, whether he has 'strings of affection' or not. Even his clingy way is so likable. (I hate clingyness the most, but if it's Jin, I can [stomach it].)

He is not [the Virgin Mary] Those who lost to him were all killed by him, even the successful second ML! The exception is only Ye Xiwu, I really did my wife abuse me thousands of times, and I treated my wife like my first love, Can you give me a dozen such Jins? 12 months a year, a kind of Jin a month?

You see, what attracted me was never Luo Yunxi's beauty, but the charm of Tantai Jin. I didn't even write a review of the drama for two days because I didn't think about how to praise him. But perhaps, there is a sentence that can be written first:

A beauty, what attracts me is not his beauty, but his acting skills, which is my highest praise for an actor!

[qoomakuma]

it's been a while....again, lmao. anyway, i'm currently watching till the end of the moon, which is a xianxia drama led by luo yunxi as tantai jin and bai lu as li susu. the drama tells the story of li susu who goes back to 500 years ago to stop the devil god (or devil king?) from coming into the world. 500 years ago, the devil god goes by the name tantai jin and he's just a regular mortal.

so far, even with its pacing problem and world-building that leaves a lot to be desired, i'm enjoying the story (i've only seen up until episode 9 but i saw some spoilers that made me go !!!!!! and hmmm, plus i'm also reading the original source, the novel, on the side). it probably has a lot to do with the fact that i really enjoy bai lu and luo yunxi's performance in their roles. aside from that, i also like the enemies-to-lovers tropes and tteotm is giving us a lot of that with how unhinged tantai jin is and determined li susu is to fulfill her mission. oh oh oh not to mention the pretty costumes and pretty cgi!

i've seen mixed reviews on this drama and i think that both the praises and criticisms are valid. coming from someone with no background in drama or film production or anything that's remotely related to that, many things in the drama appeal to me and i find them pleasant. however, the knowledgeable ones are most likely able to point out some aspects that this drama could improve on. both perspectives are valuable imo bcs majority of drama viewers, like me, do not have the technical knowledge to be used to evaluate the drama. to us it's either "enjoyable" or "not enjoyable".

anyway, since i've only finished 9 episodes and read a bit of the novel i won't make this post too long. maybe i'm gonna talk about this drama (and the novel) once i finish them both. well... if i ever finish anything bcs i don't exactly have a good track record when it comes to finishing a drama 😵‍💫

[mirageofadesert]

And the award for the best villain goes to ... Ye Bingchang. Let me explain!

You might say "Random person on Tumblr, the Devil God is so hot and Ye Bingchang is so annoying, how can she be the best villain on Till the End of the Moon?" Well I'm glad you asked ...

TTEOTM has many great villains. There are the ones we love, like the Devil God and his henchmen (and woman) Siying and Jingmie. Then there are the ones that were easy to hate, like Dimian, Tantai Minglang, and the King and 5th Prince of Sheng. And then there is Ye Bingchang (and Tian Huan), who I hated so much that I wanted to see her suffer in every incarnation - but who is also one of the most complex villains I have seen in cdramas.

A Heroine in a different story

Our heroine is born the daughter of a concubine. She is kind and sweet. Her low status leads her to be bullied and neglected by her family, who openly favour her abusive younger sister. An accident gives her special powers ("love threads") that allow her to escape her unfortunate situation. She falls in love with a prince who returns her feelings and stands up for her. Meanwhile, she is harassed by a social outcast (Tantai Jin) who repeatedly makes her uncomfortable, but she is too kind (and limited in her status as a woman) to set clear boundaries. She is finally able to marry her prince, only to be degraded to his consort. Her psychotic sister finds her perfect match in the equally psychotic hostage prince, who ruins her wedding by maiming her guests. She finally escapes her family situation, only for her younger brother to betray their country, making her the scapegoat for the people's anger. Her beloved husband has to go to war, leaving her behind.

Ye Bingchang's story revolves around escaping her unfortunate situation - it's in many ways the beginning of the classic hero's journey. However, at the critical point of understanding that she is her own woman and more than an instrument of powerful men, she learns the wrong lesson. Her need to survive is overtaken by her resentment, which now drives her actions.

TTEOTM challenges the viewer to keep up with many perspectives. From Ye Bingchang's point of view, her actions make sense, while Ye Xiwu and Tantai Jin are the villains of her story.

What makes a good villain?

For me, a great villain fits the story. In many ways they resemble the hero, while in others they are the opposite - the antithesis. Even though she's Ye Xiwu's sister, it's Tantai Jin she mirrors.

Tantai Jin and Ye Bingchang start out as polar opposites in some ways, but are quite similar in many others. Both struggle with their low status and being ostracised. Both don't openly fight their situation, but rather surrender to it. However, while Tantai Jin's story teaches him to love and care for the people around him, as well as an entire nation (or two), Ye Bingchang grows bitter and resentful.

Many of her actions are - to a certain extent - understandable from her point of view. The line is crossed when she murders her grandmother. Although the old woman did not treat her as well as her siblings, she always cared for her eldest granddaughter. Moreover, it's the mention and praise of Ye Xiwu that seems to flick a switch in Ye Bingchang during her grandmother's visit. (Link: The symbolism of food in TTEOTM)

Ye Bingchang is not evil suis generis. She is not misguided or misjudged. She is not driven to the brink of sanity by fate. She is not controlled by an evil force. She is a product of her social circumstances and her personal decisions.

Gender inequality

Tantai Jin has privileges that she is deprived of: His royal birthright and his gender - and then there is the whole devil fetus thing. Ye Bingchang's options in life are limited by her gender. As a woman, her destiny is to be married, thus shifting her dependency from her family to her husband. Li Susu is in some ways an exception to this rule, because even in the body of Ye Xiwu, she is socialised as a high-ranking immortal who follows different rules when it comes to gender roles.

Ye Bingchang's encounter with Tian Huan (and the Devil God's subsequent intervention) seems to be the turning point. While she has been shown to sacrifice others for her own survival, in the later arc she does so out of hatred, jealousy and vengeance.

After the dream, she sees her own role in the world differently. She has seen how Tian Huan - despite having all the power of a Goodess - fell because of her feelings and her dependence on a man. This is the moment when she decides never to make the same mistake again and to look out for herself. I find it interesting that this doesn't stop her from using the men around her in her pursuit of safety - following Tantai Jin to Jing, or later pitting him and Xiao Lin against each other. The difference now is that she doesn't really depend on these men emotionally. She is ready to discard them as soon as they are no longer useful.

And the winner is love

What makes her a good villain is not her egomaniacal approach to survival, it's the tragedy that it's born out of the belief that she's never experienced real love from the people around her. Not from her family, not from her husband, who she believes is influenced by the love threads. She is similar to Tantai Jin, who never experienced love and kindness in his previous life. However, they diverge in this regard, as Tantai Jin later realises that there were indeed people around him who loved him in their own way, while Ye Bingchang, even when confronted with acts of kindness and care, is unable to believe them.

It's only in her final moments that she realises that Xiao Lin's love for her was real. This realisation drives her to take her own life - and end her suffering as Mo Nv.

An incompletely redemption

There is nothing more satisfying for an audience than seeing the villain get the punishment he deserves. We got several such resolutions - even though Ye Bingchang proved resilient and kept coming back.

The late editing of the final arc of TTEOTM has led to numerous problems. Among them is the jumbled redemption arc of Mo Nv. Reborn and reunited with her beloved younger sister, she still lingers in her mortal life. She sets up a silk shop (because threads and stuff) and is fatefully reunited with her husband in his next life. In the end, it's hinted that she'll save him and possibly stay by his side.

As a demon, Mo Nv isn't evil. She still interferes in Tantai Jin's affairs because she doesn't trust him. Her repeated warnings about his scheming nature illustrate once again how much he was the villain of her story.

Some remaining thoughts

Mo Nv was the least annoying incarnation, and I would have liked to see her last arc to be more nuanced. Chen Duling did a good job portraying her - she made it so easy for the audience to hate Ye Bingchang. This makes me appreciate the eldest daughter of the Ye family as one of the best villains in TTEOTM. Since we already had the unimaginably evil Devil God, the show needed a human evil to mirror Tantai Jin's hero's journey. In a way, they also share the prophecy of a dream, a tear (which brought back Xiao Lin) and a thread (the love thread) that would change their fates. Tantai Jin's and Ye Bingchang's stories share the same motive: The desire to determine one's own fate.

And isn't it ironic, that even the Devil God was trying to free himself from his own fate, by ending the fate of all?