#largely because I haven't seen the show in forever tbh so I'd be lost

[dangermousie]

Finished.

God, what a glorious, glorious, glorious ride, a truly solid epic drama in a way I haven't seen in a very long time - there were two other flawless cdramas for me this year - Lost You Forever 1 and The Ingenuous One - but TIO was a smaller scale story and LYF ended in medias res. AJTL was the only complete, epic cdrama this year for me, but oh boy, was it beyond.

First, my two tiny niggles - this is a drama where the 40 episode limit fit badly, like tightly pinching shoes. You can tell how they had to speed and cram to get in the resolutions of dynastic struggles in An and Wu and the war with Beipan. This drama really needed to have been 50 eps. (The cramming also resulted in the sole plot arc that made me go huh - LTG random decision to try to marry Ruyi before he rides off to what he thinks is his last battle and his just as random decision to go "oh well" and agree to release NYZ and then when NYZ shows up before he can be released because he broke out and wreaks havoc, let them walk out. Maybe if they had more time, it would have made more sense, otherwise it felt like an aberration in a character arc that before and after was consistent and made sense.) Second niggle is not really one because it's clearly due to censorship - the last minute redemption of the Wu emperor etc - the writer made is as believable as she could but you could feel the censorship sticky hands all over it.

But those are minor complaints. Overall this was solid from beginning to end, very adult and with secondary characters who all felt real and complex and interesting. A few thoughts:

Our main OTP was incredible. So adult, so competent, so badass but still feeling human. I bought that those two were larger than life legends AND flesh and blood people. And that chemistry!

I loved that this drama allowed relationships to be messy. Yes, we have our epic main couple but I especially loved what happened with Chu Yue and Shisan and LTG and Ying. I loved that neither was an epic romance. With CY and Shisan, I loved that they didn't make him realize he loves her forever blah blah - he was an incredibly consistent character - charming, loyal and utterly clear he's incapable of permanent commitment to a single woman and she never could change that. And yet he died in large part to protect her, and it's in keeping with his character and it makes sense that this solidified her remembering him forever - he's not just the one who got away, but he DIED for her. It's very clear if they both lived, this would have gone nowhere and ended with him wandering off or her moving on wanting commitment from someone who is capable of it, but as it is, it froze the possibility of love in ember.

And I loved the narrative of LTG and Ying. They both come into marriage in love with someone they can never have (Ruyi and YL), they both have similar backgrounds (royals but neglected and looked down upon), they both share the same goals (power but to take care of people) and they really are friends. I love that when we last see them, they have what is a great period marriage - no love but respect and common goals. And she still mourns YL and he probably still thinks of Ruyi but the thing is, I love that the narrative leaves the possibility of them eventually falling in love with each other (or other people) because as she tells him - you think you will always love a particular person but life is long. (And it's so true - she will remember YL until she's old, once again in part because of the unfulfilled possibility of it - but it doesn't mean she won't be able to open her heart to someone again.) It's a surprisingly hopeful ending for them and I love it. I'd totally watch a show where they discover love with each other tbh.

I did love that no character (except possibly Prince Danyang) got everything they wanted even if they emerged alive. They got some and had to give up some.

I loved what it had to say about having to be worthy of your power and position - you are not owed fealty by birth but you have to earn it. It was a surprisingly anti-imperial show for a recent cdrama.

All the deaths of our faves gutted me, none as much as Yuan Lu's. Oooof.

As to the ending, I can tell people are gonna have fits but I like it. I love many an ending legendarily reviled in cdrama fandom (Princess Agents and Novoland Eagle Flag have perfect endings in my opinion; I realize that opinion, especially about PA is enough to get me throttled in certain quarters but it is what it is) and I came to cdramas back when pretty much every costume cdrama ended horrifically tragically - think of the endings of the Chinese Paladins, The Myth (for a long time my n1 drama even though it made me cry so hard I threw up, ending-wise), The Young Warriors, Little Fairy, even Lan Ling Wang, Glory of the Tang Dynasty and Bu Bu Jing Xin if we are going somewhat later. I mean, one of my favorite dramas ever is Royal Nirvana and that ending is like drinking a thermos full of depression. This is nothing.

Honestly, I would have been fine if the ending for our OTP really was them dying pretty much together, in their different battles. That hint that they are alive and living with their kids is lovely and welcome, but I'd have been fine without it and it raises a lot of questions (though if anyone could fake their deaths and survive that sort of thing, it would have been them so fair enough.)

Anyway, this is basically my love letter to this drama. It was amazing and I am so glad I watched it.

[buffyanon]

This is... uh... hatemail (?) about Riley. *shakes fist* (and totally not an excuse to write a dissertation about why you think he’s a good fella, nope definitely not that, not what I'm after at all)

pffffft thanks pal. Putting it under a read more cause it got stupidly long.

Alright so I’ve really only seen 3 arguments as to why he’s shit, but to be fair I follow not very many people, and I really do like Riley a lot so I unfollow people who regularly are mean about him because it bums me out, so there might be a whole section of discourse that I’m missing. But as it stands, I’m aware of 3 points. 

1. Riley was an eager member of the Initiative, who put away demons and creatures without a trail and kill them or jail them for however long they want, and Riley never seemed to have a problem with this. To which I would respond with... I mean, that’s true I guess. But what other options are presented? Ethan is the human that they put away. Could they take him to court? That’d expose magic. Should they let him go? No, because he’ll keep causing a ruckus. It’s not a great system, but that’s kinda the price of admission with this show, because it’s what the scoobies do, too. They don’t lock people up, but they do kill without trial, or hearing the full story, cause it’s what they have to do. And I get that most of who they kill aren’t people, but a lot of the demons in the buffyverse have been shown as being human like, and have shown morality. (But also Buffy definitely killed two baddies who I’m pretty sure are humans, in Homecoming, the Germans.) It’s kinda just what needs to be done until there’s a better system in place, at least the way the show frames it. 

2. Riley was manipulative (and abusive, by some accounts) because he gave Buffy an ultimatum.This one I get, because we see it from Buffy’s perspective, and that’s what it seems like. But I’m gonna present a different sequence of events that I think is very cannon supported, and frames how Riley left in a really different way. So, Riley is half a country away from home, but he finds family and purpose with the Initiative. And he gets a mother figure, someone he really connects with and looks up to. He’s happy. He believes he’s doing the right thing and he has a real sense of belonging. Then, a girl steals his heart, they start dating, he finds out she’s also fighting against demons, and that’s awesome! Life is good! Then, something happens that completely shakes his worldview; this parental figure who he admires so much tries to kill his girlfriend. It’d be easier to side with Maggie, to deny what she did or make excuses for it, but he doesn’t. He doesn’t even give her a chance to explain. Then, she dies. There’s no closure for Riley there, there never can be. He discovered something awful and evil about her, and then she died. I don’t think I need to explain the kind of awful, empty, guilty, confusion that had to come with that. That all comes along with finding out he’s been being drugged, not only bringing a sense of violation to his body that it was happening without his consent or knowledge, but also a hit to his self esteem. He was never as strong or capable as he thought that he was. Ouch. Then, Faith happened. I’ve talked before, probably excessively, about That Scene but it’s really important here. It’s important, in Riley’s story, that we talk about him being raped. He and Buffy were both raped by Faith, but neither one understood that that was what had happened. Riley feels guilty over this encounter, like he should’ve known better, and Buffy’s mad at him about it. (To be clear, I don’t blame either of them, it’s misplaced and bad writing but that’s another essay.)He has to kill his already dead best friend. The point has already been hammered home but fuck that’s gotta be so isolating. At this point, the scoobies are kind of all he has, and he’s not really close to any of them except Buffy. (It would have been healthy for everyone involved if he tried to get closer to everyone else, but I can understand why he didn’t. This entire explanation thus far, that’s why he didn’t.)Now it’s season 5 and he’s feeling weak and shitty. He doesn’t have a place anymore. He’s not as strong as he used to be and he doesn’t have a real hand, most of the time, in saving the day. He doesn’t think his girlfriend needs him, and that hurts, because he loves her so much and she’s the only thing he has. He needs a release, so he goes and gets sucked on. He probably justifies it to himself, saying he’s not hurting anyone, and maybe he’s even helping because if they take his blood, they won’t need to hunt. Right?And Buffy finds out, and they fight, and then he gets an offer to leave. Riley didn’t decide that this offer was time sensitive, but he needs to make a choice. He has no idea if Buffy, his only reason for staying in Sunnydale, will ever forgive him. He doesn’t want to leave- he’d choose her over his job and his sense of meaning- but how could he doom himself to staying in this place that’s sucked everything from him if there was no chance of her ever talking to him again? This wasn’t “take me back or I’m leaving to punish you,” this was “I love you, but I need to take this opportunity if there’s no way you can see yourself forgiving me.”That’s sad, but it’s not mean. It’s a horrible situation for both of them, I think that’s what it comes down to. Especially because of how he is when he comes back. He’s kind, and understanding, and he respects her. He’s moved on with his life and he’s happy, Sam seems happy, and he’s not rubbing it in Buffy’s face or saying “look what you missed out on.” 

(There are so many points in that where he could’ve made different, healthier choices, but I don’t think any of them are out of malice or manipulation, which is my point. And there are points were he could’ve been a better boyfriend, especially when Joyce died, but again, this is just what I see as his perspective and why he made the choices he did.)

3. He’s boring. That’s subjective so I can’t really argue against it, but if I was writing a secondary character and in less than two seasons his mom figure was killed, he was drugged a lot and went through withdrawal, he had to kill his best friend, and he was raped, I would be thinking “jesus christ I need to make this guy less tragic and more boring.” But I guess if your definition of “boring” is “never tried to murder his girlfriend” then yeah, you got me there. 

This was too long for anyone to read which is good because I didn’t proofread it and it’s probably messy and leaves some stuff out but anyway! Riley Finn is a good fella!