#xiwu probably:

[smittenskitten]

Your brother, Ye Qingyu was here.

#till the end of the moon #cdramaedit #长月烬明 #tteotm #luo yunxi #bai lu #tian jingfan #geng yeting #cdrama #tteotmedit #prangon gifs #xiwu probably: #what's with all the yelling #i just tied up MY husabnd #and had a good sleep on his lap #why is everyone bothering my beauty sleep #and look at my meow meow!!! #he sat still for me the entire night #who is a good kitty yes you are!

[crookedfandomquill]

#till the end of the moon #tteotm #tantai jin #ye xiwu #luo yunxi #bai lu #this is my interpretation but it can probably shuffle around #what’s your version?

[sarah-yyy]

what: period cdrama // 40 eps, roughly 55 mins each  where: youku (you can also dl the app) // youtube // coming up soon on viki (usual disclaimer that i do not use eng subs so i don’t speak to the quality of subs) why: do you love watching a poor little meow-meow get tortured in a variety of ways before he decides to go fuck it, i’ll be a demon lord and kill everyone who wronged me?? do you like enemies to fated to kill you lovers??? do you enjoy PAIN AND SUFFERING??? this is the show for you

meet tantai jin, the cdrama fandom’s newest obsession 

cursed prince of the Jing kingdom who was sent as a hostage to a neighbouring kingdom. he’s been unloved and bullied all his life - think, discarded and left to die by his own father, kicked around by servants, begging for scraps of food, abandoned and slowly betrayed by everyone around him... it’s NOT GOOD buddies, you will watch his life unfold and you will become attached and want to let him do whatever the fuck he wants 

surprise surprise this sad pathetic man will one day become

THE demon lord who destroys all of humanity etc etc. look at this wardrobe upgrade??? amazing. beautiful. bad for humanity but great for him. good job, bud, you did well.

ANYWAY this show opens with demon lord tantai jin (affectionate) going on his lil’ murder spree (understandable). the fate of humanity as we know it to be rests on the shoulders of one li susu

to defeat tantai jin, she will transmigrate to the past into the body of ye xiwu (tantai jin’s evil wife who whips him every night (not in the fun way sorry buds) and tortures/bullies him for because it pleases her) to try to kill him while he’s weak, before he turns evil and amasses power. this is for the good of humanity!!! but also he’s truly so pathetic in the past that she can’t quite seem to put her heart into it (there’s also this whole finding his evil bone and getting rid of that before she can kill him problem but HMMM) and decides that?? maybe if she shows him some care and love??? she’ll subvert his murdermurdermurder tendencies????

this is the gist of the show!! there are a few arcs that we go through like all good xianxia cdramas, so we get to see them live through a few different lives (think: ten miles of peach blossom, pillow book etc etc), and every single dynamic between them is SO GOOD!!!!! we have spicy enemies to lovers!! cutesy arranged marriage between strangers to lovers (who don’t communicate enough for them to be happy)!!! star-crossed lovers fated to kill one another!!! 

the show is so goddamn pretty!! the aesthetics!!! the cgi!!!! the costumes ohmygod, i have never wanted to buy so many headdresses before

LOOK AT THIS!!! HOW PRETTY WAS THIS!!!!

he’s got this whole demon look LOCKED IN who else does it as well as my boy tantai jin

this show is very PRETTY but make no mistake there will be a lot of angst!!! that’s part of what makes it so good!! luo yunxi does Tortured, Feral and Deranged™ SO WELL i weep every time i see him on screen, i have truly not been Okay since this show started airing, buddies please join me in till the end of the moon hell, you will not regret it, promise 😇✨

⚠❗ few post-finale thoughts so y’all go into it with full disclosure (and can’t yell at me for inflicting pain on y’all, just know what i am also Suffering™) - stop reading from here if you want no spoilers for the show at all. 

trigger warning: there is some dubcon in ep 14 (stretches between approx. the 25:00-27:25 min mark) between ming ye and sang jiu 

we were all hoping for a happy ending, but this ends on a bad-open scale, depending on how you look at it. @minmoyu​ has helpfully directed me to a happy audio-epilogue which was apparently shot but didn’t make its way into the episode?? we still dk if the footage will be released as an extra?? we can all form a prayer circle and HOPE i guess

the plot is HMM the further to the end we get, probably because they had to cut the eps down, so it’s a little choppy, esp the last few scenes??? idk idk. it’s a bit exhausting to watch towards the end, because you root for ttj so so much and he tries so so hard and SIGH. i need another few working days to digest this, i’m still a bit :/ about the ending

would i still rec the show, post-watch? yes! this show starts off really solid, and luo yunxi carried the show throughout. like. y’all thought lyx was good in ashes of love?? watch him in this. every single micro-expression was flawless. bai lu’s acting is always so dependable, and it’s the same with this show!  

this show has an a+++ ost (i mean it’s got the king and queen of cdrama osts liu yuning and zhang bichen, literally how could this be bad)!! and CERTAIN side characters are so so good (pian ran my baby girl, ye qingyu who grows on you, decidedly NOT bingchang/tian huan/mo nv although i will concede that chen duling’s acting in this show was Incredible). 

#tv rec #till the end of the moon #cdrama

[blackmoonlightexpress]

Fun Facts behind TTEOTM!

Creative Team

Till the End of the Moon is the second TV drama produced by newcomer Otters Studio (獭獭文化), which was originally set up for dangai/BL drama Immortality (皓衣行), also featuring Luo Yunxi.

The Hangzhou-based Otters Studio is a subsidiary of Nanpai Entertainment (南派泛娱), the company owned by Kenneth Xu (aka “Third Uncle" 南派三叔). Xu is best known as the novelist and screenwriter behind "Grave Robbers' Chronicles" (盗墓笔记).

A big part of TTEOTM's core creative team also worked on Immortality. And a lot of the Immortality team came from Ashes of Love (2018) with Luo Yunxi. This includes...

He Fang (Screenwriter) - Immortality

Luo Xuan (Screenwriter & Associate Producer) - Immortality

Huang Wei (Costume Designer) - Immortality

Guan Dazhou (Music Director) - Immortality

Wang Yirong (Lead Producer) - Immortality

Wang Haiqi (B Unit Director & Action Director) - Immortality & Ashes of Love

Tsang Mingfai (Makeup Designer) - Immortality & Ashes of Love

Shen Xufei (Special Effects Director) - Immortality & Ashes of Love

Hua Tian World Concept - Immortality & Ashes of Love

Wang Haiqi was the stunt coordinator who trained Luo Yunxi in Ashes of Love

Part of the creative team came from Huanyu (Bai Lu's management company, aka the production company of Yanxi Palace). This includes award-winning art director Luan Hexin, Huang Xinyao (Yue Fuya) and Liu Min (Nan'an).

This is the second time Luo Yunxi and Bai Lu have paired up in a drama. They previously played a couple in modern workplace romance Love is Sweet (2020). Bai Lu expressed interest publicly in pairing up with LYX again in a costume drama numerous times.

In addition, a number of Love is Sweet actors have minor roles or cameos in TTEOTM:

Zhao Yuanyuan (Qiao Na aka Yuan Shuai's colleague who has a crush on him) plays the Moon Goddess

Cheng Chang (Jiang Jun's father) plays Ye Xiwu's father

Deng Jinghong (Jiang Jun and Yuan Shuai's shady client) plays Ye Xiwu's brother Ye Zeyu

The popularity of TTEOTM has generated renewed interest in Love is Sweet on iQiyi. In the first half of 2023, Love is Sweet is ranked #5 on Yunhe's "old/classic drama" list, receiving 360M views (10M views/episode), equivalent to airing a new medium-budget drama.

Two actors in Ashes of Love also have minor roles in TTEOTM:

Wang Yifei (Shuihe aka peacock princess in Ashes of Love) plays the Devil God's lieutenant Siying

He Zhonghua (Heavenly Emperor aka Runyu's father) plays the King of Sheng, again terrorizing Luo Yunxi's childhood

In addition, a number of TTEOTM actors play minor roles in the unaired Immortality:

Huang Yunyun (Yue Yingxin) plays Song Qiutong

Zheng Guolin (Qu Xuanzi aka Susu's father) plays Jiangxi

Huang Haibing (Zhaoyou) plays Nangong Zhangying

He Zhonghua (King of Sheng) plays Nangong Liu

Geng Yeting (Ye Qingyu) plays an unknown role

Production

The source novel (黑月光拿稳BE剧本) was optioned by Otter before it was complete due to strong early hype around the IP and interesting characters & premise. It's one of the top 10 most-saved web novels of that genre on the Jinjiang platform. Its title literally translates to "black moonlight is guaranteed a bad ending screenplay".

The screenplay was written for 40 episodes, which was edited into 50 episodes of probably 45 mins each. The original plan (based on governmental records) was to air 34 episodes as part 1 and 16 episodes as part 2. However, the NRTA (Chinese government agency that regulates TV) closed the loophole around airing two seasons back to back early this year, which is why TTEOTM was edited back down to 40 episodes of 55 mins each so that it could air in one go.

TTEOTM changed its Chinese title twice. It was originally named 月照千峰为一人 (The moon shines for one person). It was then renamed to 长月无烬 (long moon without Jin/ember, also a pun for without limit or endless), which is the official publication name proposed by fans of the web novel. Right before the booting ceremony, it was renamed 长月烬明 likely for auspicious reasons (especially after the LYX accident and Immortality not airing)

Some keen netizens have noticed that if you break apart the characters of its Chinese title, 长月烬明, it becomes 长月火尽日月, which literally means....

长月 (long moon) - how people refer to the drama, in its short form

火 (fire) - Chinese internet lingo for explosive or popular

尽日月 (to the end of sun and moon)

(Gotta give one to Chinese people for coming up with auspicious names)

Luo Yunxi was injured right before production began when filming his final scene in Light Chaser Rescue. He got punched in the mouth by a costar which required emergency surgery and left a scar on the top left corner of his mouth. Production was delayed as a result. Bai Lu had to film her solo scenes first starting Oct 19, 2021. The booting ceremony took place on Nov 6, 2021 after Luo Yunxi joined the set.

Luo Yunxi was the first actor to be cast, according to an interview with the producer. It is rumored that he might have even picked which novel to adapt as Otter initially optioned both "Black Moonlight" and "Black Lotus Casebook". Bai Lu is also the "only choice" for Li Susu according to Yu Zheng.

Yin Tao (Who Rules The world, Love & Redemption, and Ancient Love Poetry) was originally considered for director, but he worked on the Blood of Youth instead. In the end they went with Kuk Kok Leung, an award-winning veteran TVB director who has adapted 7 out of 8 Jin Yong novels. One of the Cantonese songs Luo Yunxi kept singing on set is the OST of the 1983 Condor Heroes where Kuk served as Assistant Director.

Sun Zhenni (Pianran) and Zhao Shiyi (Fuyu) won their roles through open casting call. Sun Zhenni was a big fan of Bai Lu, and the two became close friends during the shoot. She is 1/4 German Jewish through her paternal grandmother.

Chen Duling (Ye Bingchang / Tian Huan) briefly dated Xichao Wang (who plays Jing Mie, the demon god's other lieutenant). They were apparently introduced by Yu Zheng (boss of Bai Lu's studio).

Luo Yunxi and Sun Zhenni are the only actors who dubbed themselves in the drama. Bai Lu is dubbed by Duan Yixuan, who is also the voice behind Linglong in Love & Redemption.

This is the second time Luo Yunxi plays a dragon god (Runyu is the first). This is also the second time Bai Lu plays a character who leaps off the tower to her death in a costume drama.

Post-production was rumored to be delayed and then rushed due to a number of reasons, including covid which hit the special effects team hard and the last minute change of the 40-episode rule.

Promotion

During the premiere day, celebrities posted on Weibo to promote the drama in support of Luo Yunxi (usually actors only ask for this favor when it's a really important project to their career): Huang Xiaoming, Tan Songyun, Wu Jingyan, Chen Yuqi, Cheng Xiao, Victoria Song, Zhang Ruonan, Huang Xuan, Chen Yao. The most noteworthy ones were Chen Xiao (whose drama was also opening on the same day) and EDG (the esports team that LYX supports)

#till the end of the moon #luo yunxi #bai lu #black moonlight holds the be script #cdrama #chang yue jin ming #chinese drama #tantai jin #tteotm #ye xiwu #ashes of love #immortality #2ha #love is sweet #leo luo

[yiifu]

yes tantaijin and ye xiwu’s story is tragic and all but during those scenes i also can’t stop thinking about nian baiyu who’s always been watching and dealing with the fallout probably standing there like 👁👄👁 and maybe 🗿

like, poor dude has had to deal with so many instances of his master nearly dying - trying to kill himself, being poisoned, being assassinated, has had to handle tantaijin’s many tantrums, clean up after him, had to deal with shitty people like ye bingchang and lock them up over and over again, also has had to deal with pian ran and ye xiwu’s shenanigans and dragging unwanted people out of the emperor’s courtroom. 

i just wonder what goes on in his head every time he sees tantaijin breaking down over ye xiwu, or when he’s just standing by witnessing some main character or villain breaking out in theatrics and being melodramatic. is he like ... not this again. 

baiyu emits Only Sane Man energy. literally the only character in there with his head screwed on straight (or maybe not, if he’s willing to be tantaijin’s bodyguard). he’s so loyal though. really the best boy. 

#till the end of the moon #mine

[mejomonster]

Just watched till the end of the moon ep 9:

I'm so down bad for these 2

I cannot stress enough that skipping them to marriage so no stupid "innocence" or naivety stuff as is the usual situation is here

I cannot stress enough how much I LOVE that li susu seems adult, mature, seasoned in battle love etc, and just generally like a late 20s early 30s adult trying to save the world instead of a young adult Hero and how nice it is. Just for me, I'm happy for the variety

I LOVE tantai jin. He's a fucked up guy. He's the wet skinny pathetic man fangirls always say they want. He's genuinely a pretty cold bitch AND he gets to be lead (in a cdrama!). He is monstrous cause bitches have treated him monstrous so like susu said! He responded to a cruel world with cruelty back. It's not a lead I'm used to but I AM loving it. I also love how for him a kind gesture really is worth it's weight in gold like? For him. As awful as ye xiwu was in marriage pre susu, as much as susu literally said she wants to kill him more than anyone else in the world... she keeps saving him. Giving him food. Risking HER life for his. And for him those specific actions are worth more than anything anyone's ever given him. Maybe even more than what Lan gave him, since at least ye xiwu is upfront about wanting to imprison him and being mad at him so like she probably isn't going to "secretly" betray him since she's fairly honest (now). I love that he is JUST a fucked up guy with a fucked up destiny meant to be devil God, who the universe was probably intentionally shitty to cause its hoping (on like a cosmic scale) he will Suffer and Die and become devil God in revenge. I love that its not trying to make the bitch noble. He is who he is. For whatever that means, it's just a story about 2 people who'd never have met. But susu has changed the trajectory just by being herself around him and it's COMPELLING.

The transformative power of love (or simply being kind to another person) and all that. How the cursed jade said she's mostly just SO SURPRISED someone would help another person. I feel like that's probably the Theme of the show right there. Even susu is probably surprised by herself helping him. And in the jade transfer moment, I think she's surprised she genuinely does NOT think he only is comprised of bad traits. For all the cold bitch that he is, betraying her that he's done, cruel view he has of the world... actions speak louder than words to susu too. And for all the bad he's done... he has also done some good things. And she finds herself seeing him in shades of grey instead of a monster like she expected to.

I just love their bickering lets be real. Susu just SAYS shit on the top of her mind (to be fair tantai jin is a bitch and deserves to be bitched at). But she's like "from now on let's have NO CONNECTION" to 6 hours later being like "your life is in my hands and I say when you can die I'm imprisoning you forever ill see you nonstop bitch." And it's like... susu honey, that was LITERALLY tantai jins plan to do to you like 6 hours ago. Yall have the same plan. Just who's the prisoner is switched lmao. No wonder he's oddly attracted to you. You see him being a big manipulative bitch and like you're not stealthy, but you ARE like "WELL FINE ill say some SHIT and BREAK YOUR HEART then. Cry me a river! Oh you thought I was dead? You cried? GOOD. Now anyway fight is over as long as I'm winning!"

Their emotional fights are both ridiculously huge (like rumor of the Kingdoms wild) but also so shallow cause these bitches will be like "I DECIDE when you DIE" then you find them clutching each other in the woods BOTH unwilling to abandon the other and BOTH taking life threatening damage trying to protect the other and BOTH trying to then heal said damage of each others! Like. That's just so fucking funny??!! And fun. Xiao Lin is going to be like "what in the world??" But move on

Anyway speaking of Xiao Lin: I love how he genuinely seems to care for tantai jin! Probably only person in the world who does! I hope one day tantai jin finds out its genuine heartfelt care for him. Buy knowing tantai jins life... he's going to do some awful shit to Xiao lin that ruins his life or kills his wife or kills thousands of innocents in front of him, THEN Xiao lin will be breaking down crying how he never thought tantai jin would do this and he thought tantai jin was a good person who wanted to avoid seeing the ppl in harm and he always wished tantai jin could have a better life. And then tantai jin, probably newly learning compassion from enough bullshit attempts with susu, that his own heart will be breaking BECAUSE of the consequences of his own actions. So. Thrilled to cry later I guess

Speaking of susu and tantai jin. tantai jin LAYING ON HER SHOULDER THINKING ABOUT WHAT SHE BULLSHITTINGLY SAID LOVE WAS AND HOW HE THINKS SHE LOVES HIM AND HOW HE THINKS HE MIGHT LOVE HER AND CUDDLING

that is what watchers want!! (At least me!!) Men lying heads on their lovers shoulders and thinking dreamy about them

Bai Lu gives off such bisexual lead energy tho even without a woman to flirt with I'm sure thats part of the appeal for me. Bottom line is I like in my b/g romances on occasion (who am I kidding more of the time than not) to have a dominant kind of woman. And bai lu delivers. Her man leans on HER shoulder. Is carried around her shoulder with HER arms.

Speaking of, people who cast this were 1. Fulfilling so many wishes letting Luo yunxi just play PURE FUCKED UP and I love it. 2. By casting him as this suffering Weak physically nearly always dying willfully little skinny twink of a man, who's also God tier powerful especially with rage, who's costume entails constant bloody whump, collars, choking and ropes, like. There's a HELLA SPECIFIC NICHE Luo yunxis character resides inside this show and it sure is feeding That Demographic. I'm up for it. It's like if mo ran and chu wanning had a fucked up mashup

I'm fearing the jade maker witch was somehow susu in a past life and now I'm wondering if time travel is gonna be in this bitch

If there IS time travel? I really like the idea of tantai jin specifically time traveling the 2nd time around, once he and susu fell in love, once he knows what susu knew from the beginning. I think that could open a lot of new avenues that he is not currently able to go into given his current personality and knowledge

It's still funny as hell to me tantai jin is kind of angling for death cause he KNOWS he gets super-powered once he dies. But his wife keeps being like NO BITCH YOU GOTTA LIVE WELL. And I'm hoping eventually he's like: maybe she's right... maybe the revenge means more if I'm alive for it and not dissassociated. Maybe I SHOULD try to become a God tier monster without dying. Which would still lead to oh no devil tantai jin lol, but a version of it that is fully Himself which I would like

You know I'm liking a show when I'm contemplating binging beyond what's on youtube rn

#tteotm #till the end of the moon #lb #anyway the main couple GOT ME their scenes are SO enjoyable to watch #i loved every second

[mifeng-xiaojie]

So I got back to watching TTEOTM, and I just want to shake the main characters until their brains work. I could write a whole ass essay about Li Susu, but let me yell at my boy Tantai Jin for a minute.

Because this man seriously keeps saying that no one is kind to him and no one loves him and blah blah. Meanwhile, this man exists by his side

No one loves you?! This man was about to have a whole ass breakdown because he thought you would die in three years. I’ll have to go back and look, but I’m pretty sure that was the only time he even came close to crying.

Nian Baiyu was one of the only people who refused to abandon TTJ. I want to count Pian Ran because I mean dying doesn’t count as abandonment, but she did want to leave before Ye Qingyu stopped her. If we’re talking in terms of people who were solely devoted to TTJ, the only one who stayed loyal until the end was Nian Baiyu. He didn’t get married. Didn’t take a lover. His love was TTJ. His purpose in life was to serve him, and even though TTJ could thank him for sticking with him, it pisses me off that he keeps saying that Ye Xiwu was the only one to protect him and show him kindness and blah blah.

But…

I get it. At least I get why he’s so obsessed with her. He went from being unable to feel any emotions to having to experience the most powerful emotions in the humans experience: love, fear, jealousy, hate, and grief. Even though he grew very much as the emperor, he was still like a child. When it came to matters of love, he needed Pian Ran’s guidance, but she’s no longer with us, so of course he went off the rails. It just kills me watching Nian Baiyu asking his mom and sister over and over again do they think TTJ will be back soon, and him going to the shores to look for him probably until the end of his life.

Tantai Jin, at least one other person loved you. I wish you could see that.

#till the end of the moon #till the end of the moon spoilers #tantai jin #nian baiyu

[dreamingsnowflake2013]

“Will you still love me when I'm no longer young and beautiful dead and rotting?”  - Li Susu, probably.

Some male leads shield their lovers with their bodies to protect their life, but only Tantai Jin is bonkers enough to shield with his her decaying corpse, even protecting her from his own blood falling on her and sullying her. He treasures the little that he has left of her more than anything in the world, including himself and his own life.

Since the moment Xiwu died, he’s been going through a vicious circle of disbelief, anguish, denial of reality, and finally acceptance and grief, but instead of going through it all at once, he does it in stages to cope because he can’t bear to accept the whole harsh “truth” all at once - that not only did his lover leave him, but that she would rather die than stay with him, suggesting she might have never loved him. 

First, he struggles to accept she died, after he does, she convinces himself she loved him and cared for him, selectively forgetting the terrible reality of her praying to heavens above to never meet him again in any lifetime. It’s a copying mechanism not to come completely apart at the seams due to the pain such revelation would cause him, but it’s also his way of comforting himself with the notion she loved him, that he was wedged inside her heart and thus, a part of her truly belonged to him.

It’s only Ye Quinyu’s tough love which makes Tantai Jin face all of it and cure his copying selective amnesia. When he finally recalls Xiwu’s final words to him, it causes him excruciating torment, as his brain, body, heart and soul exploded with pain at the onslaught of terrible “truth”.

Despite the fact that he’s given everything of himself to Xiwu, sharing his whole being, including his deepest darkest secrets, insecurities and vulnerabilities, Tantai Jin still feels the eternal regret of not loving her enough and not treating her right because he misunderstood her her and judged her unfairly. He wants to repay her kindness forever and protect her in death when he failed in life. 

Qingyu and Tantai Jin have both lost all their loved once but what sets the two men and their reactions apart is their past. Qingyu has spent more than 20 years of his life being loved with a strong support system of people who constantly taught him sense of duty and sacrifice for others. On the other hand, Tantai Jin had never experienced any of that. For those same 20+ years, he had been love-starved, actually starved, physically and emotionally abused, demeaned and feared by everyone, and betrayed by those few he cared about. No one ever taught him how to love the world, they only showed him how to hate it through the constant abuse he received from it. Until Xiwu barged into his life like a bright star, bringing light to his dark world, blinding him with her kindness and beauty. 

She’s become the center of his universe, she anchored him, comforted him and offered him solace when no one else did, taught him how to love her and himself, and care for others. However, she has perished. And what does a universe do when it loses its center? It collapses on itself, just like Tantai Jin is falling apart now. He has lost her, and with her, he has lost himself.

The most heartwrenching acceptance and resignation in the history of dramaland.

The way he is touching her and looking at her so reverently, as if she’s a goddess on a pedestal (which he made for her and on which he actually placed her) and he was worshipping her, clinging to her in death as he used to cling to her in life. His eyes always search for her, he wants her to be the first thing when he opens his eyes and when he closes them. 

Give Luo Yunxi all the awards because he slays every single scene. The emotional range he exhibits in a single minute is out of this world.

#till the end of the moon #luo yunxi #bai lu #cdrama

[mirageofadesert]

Till The End Of The Moon and the issue of audience identification

Who do you think is the main character in TTEOTM? Who do you like the most? Who do you identify with?

One of the things I loved the about this show is its approach to story telling. TTEOTM centers on two main characters with unique perspectives, who's goals are at odds with each other. This pattern is continued with the other characters as well, each of them having a perspective based on their experience and limited knowledge of the overarching story-line.

Reading some comments (mostly on reddit), this approach to story-telling seems to have gotten mixed responses. Among the fair criticism, however, are some comments that at times made me doubt, that we even watched the same show. And while a lot of it could be explained by difference in cultural background, age and media literacy, I think there is a potential problem in whom the audience identifies with, and what they consequently project onto the character.

Who is the main character?

The Main Character is the character with whom the readers most identify and around whom the passion of the story seems to revolve. In theory TTEOTM has two main character, however, these two are not equally fleshed out in the course of the show.

While we first get introduced to Devil God 2.0, it's Li Susu through who's eyes we experience the world. She is the main character for the first part, meanwhile Tantai Jin gets introduced later, but he quickly takes up more and more space. Most of the plot, action and emotional moments are soon linked to his character. The show succeeds in making us pity Tantai Jin and root for him - even through Li Susu is still the heroine of the story.

After Ye Xiwu's death, the story switches and from this point own, we get to know a new world, the sects of Buzhao Mountain, through Tantai Jin's eyes. Both emotional scenes and plot are still mostly linked to his character. Li Susu becomes more and more quiet - and I think some of it is due to the editing. In the last few episodes there are a couple of scenes of the camera just silently circling her. Going by the pattern of cinematography establish so far, these scenes probably had Li Susu's internal dialogue, which was later cut; same as some central moments of personal growth for her character (e.g. most of the demon arc in the Jing capital).

Who does the audience relate to?

Another common criticism is that Li Susu's action "don't make sense" or that she isn't well written. I have already dedicated a long post to this topic (and why I disagree). I believe, the main problem is that parts of the audience can't relate to her.

Some of it might come down to our media consumption habits and even expectations when it comes to Chinese dramas. In my personal experience and following the discourse on different platforms, some c-drama viewers seem to struggle with self-inserting into Li Susu. She doesn't have your usual relatable c-drama problems: parents, marriage, self-esteem, controlling family, social status, popularity etc. Instead, her problems are of the world saving kind. While there are relatable subplots later on (e.g. conflict between siblings, struggling with falling for the "bad boy"), it makes sense that not everyone will feel the same way about her.

Tantai Jin on the other hand is portrayed quite relatable. In an attempt to humanize him, the audience does not only empathise with his situation, his struggles evoke the majority of emotions. While none of us can relate to the pressure of potentially becoming an evil God, motives like marginalization, being ostracized and bullied, abandoned by a parent, fearing both commitment and loss, experiencing a more or less one-sided love or one's life being controlled by forces outside one's control, are human problems and therefore relatable to a broader audience.

I do relate to both differently, and it has elevated my experience of the show. However, Li Susu's character deserves a more flashed out character development, which might have made her accessible to more people.

The be him and to be with him

Like probably many of you, I tend to relate more often to male characters than females. A reason for this is, that female characters in media are often not written well or portrayed from the male gaze. You don't identify with the eye candy, you relate to the hero. Fortunately, Li Susu is not written from the male gaze!

From the glimpses I have seen of the international fandom, fans want to be Tantai Jin (because they identify with him), but they also want to be with him (duh). This is - to no small extent - because of Luo Yunxi's acting skills and popularity. Tantai Jin is not only most people's favorite character, he is "poor little meow mew", "babygirl" and a badass anti-hero. He is both romanticized in his relationship with Li Susu and sexualized on his own.

Identification can - and this is by no means a problem - lead to female-coding male characters in head-canon. Seeing them as a desirable character at the same time, however, can bring a different dynamic to the sexualization. Please, don't understand me wrong - I'm not saying this is something I'm criticizing, nor are these the only factors are at play in this.

I think, it's rather interesting to see the different reaction to male and female leads, and how e.g. cultural bias and gender socialization plays a role here.

With this in mind, the criticism of the characters in TTEOTM becomes understandable - not agreeable, but I'm beginning to understand why people have come to these conclusions. To say that Li Susu is heartless and unfaithful, that honest communication from the beginning would have solved all problems, or that Tantai Jin's sacrifice is a blasphemous appropriation of Jesus' death on the cross (not kidding), always tell more about the person making the interpretation, than about the medium itself.

Thank you for bearing with my rambling on why Tantai Jin is the best boy, and why I think Li Susu deserves better!

#till the end of the moon #tantai jin #ye xiwu #cdrama #tteotm #cdrama meta

[icouldhyperfixatehim]

tagged by @becomingabeing to answer these questions and then to tag nine people to get to know better. as always, delighted to be considered anything close to interesting enough for these sorts of larks and japes etc

last song: sorry, you've caught me after one of my Moods™

currently watching: less now lmao everything's finishing up and the GLs are fucking nowhere to be found god help us. current rotation is; [technically] the sign [bc i'm waiting for the finale], chaser game w, yellowjackets, guillermo del toro's cabinet of curiosities, till the end of the moon [nearly finished now agh!!], we bare bears. honestly i have room for something, i might take a dip in something quick and bingeable soon. or figure out how i can get at tsukutabe s2

three ships: currently on my mind are tae myung ha and cha yeowoon (love for love's sake), tantai jin and ye xiwu/li susu (till the end of the moon), and kasuga and nomoto (from what i have seen of tsukutabe)

favourite colour: green. as barney taught me; it's the colour of trees and lots. of. things. that. grow.

currently consuming: decaf tea like a good little insomniac

first ship: i can't even begin to conceptualise this. this brain runs on love and always did. probably something from cartoons i watched as a wee cabbage. like joey wheeler and mai valentine from yugioh, or shego and kim possible. basil the great mouse detective and watson lmao

relationship status: single

last movie: the red turtle. just 80 minutes of quiet time to contemplate what it means to be the human animal. my insides are ringing.

currently working on: painting my way through species of penguins atm. this is the only one i've done the digital part on yet

tagging: @dimplesandfierceeyes @dudeyuri @bismoaking @chickenstrangers @twig-tea @forcebook

#tag games #liomsa #thanks for tagging me 🥰🥰🤍

[jiaoliqiao]

Every month of 2023 ✨

i was tagged by @sandushengshou to link my favorite or/and most popular creations from each month of 2023 & then tag some ccs! thank you ❤️

i've been bad with tag games this year but this is one of my favorites so i have to!!

January most popular: soggy wang zhuocheng in lltg (can't blame you guys tbh) my favorite: hanwenzhou ot3 for soph

February most popular & my favorite: wenzhou & love for userdramas (i miss wenzhou!! looking back at this makes me all warm and fuzzy)

March most popular: word of honor every episode ep4 my favorite: han ying + yearning

April most popular: hanzhou parallels my favorite: xiyuan + whenever wherever (i struggled working on this but it was so worth it, i still love it)

May most popular: gu xiang in ep2 my favorite: ye xiwu and pian ran (??? girlies what was going on)

June most popular & my favorite: wenzhou + cute girl gu xiang

July most popular & my favorite: OUR wife mu nihuang

(it's probably only obvious to me but i can really tell how burnt out i was in summer lmao :/ stepping away for a bit did wonders)

September most popular: a-fei compilation my favorite: llh + his past (i'm incredibly proud of how this turned out but i feel like my thought process behind it might be incomprehensible to everyone else asjfhasf)

October most popular: chibi shi qingxuan my favorite: juwon + eggs (EGG HIM!!!!!!!!!! HE DESERVES IT)

November most popular: e-ming being baby my favorite: difanghua + loss (i love pain and suffering therefore i love this)

December most popular: sad e-ming :(( my favorite: jeff satur secret santa gift (this is probably my favorite edit of the entire year. fitting to end the post with)

tagging @baek1nho @dengswei @xiaolanhua @khaotunqs no pressure of course!! ❤️❤️❤️

#tag game

[the-littlewonders]

i’m at ep 32 and i feel quite frustrated for TTJ. this is probably going to be my most incoherent rant but here it is anyway:

- throughout his life up till meeting li susu as ye xiwu he has been labeled as essentially an abomination

- right out of his mother’s womb, he is a “murderer”

- when was revived after taking his caregiver’s blood, he is a devil baby

- his caregivers just saw him as a promise they made to their late queen, a duty they had to carry out, to just keep him alive. at the opportunity for a better life they would kill him

- when he was sent to the other kingdom, he was a hostage prince

- he was never seen as an individual or his own person deserving basic respect

- when he emulated xiao lin’s behaviour, he was still scorned and called a dog, people have already made up their minds about him regardless of his actions

- he ended up riding the currents of life wherever it took him and excepted any form of hardship as the life just is

- then li susu as ye xiwu comes into his life and looks at him. really looks at him for who he is. took an interest in what he is eating, if he is warm enough, if he was happy

- ye xiwu didn’t just keep him alive, she made sure that he was living well. the charms that she taught him had no other purpose to TTJ other than to bring joy

- even in the phase when they took turns capturing each other when TTJ was escaping to the jing kingdom, she was selfless in her attempts to save TTJ

- of course as the viewer we knew she did that to prevent the devil god from coming to life before the devil bone was extracted but from TTJ’s perspective, his wife genuinely wanted him to lead a good life

- when he became emperor, he was on cloud nine. he was being Good and that clearly made his wife happy, so then he was happy

- fast forward to her betrayal to go over to xiao lin, it was a grim reminder of his life as a hostage prince that it did not matter what he did, he was second class and clearly nature trumps nurture

- jumping all the way to the bone extraction, his entire world crumbles because all of a sudden he learns his experiences were a product of forces completely outside of his mortal life

- it’s not even twisted account of events like being labeled as murderer just because his mother passed from giving birth. it’s literally being charged for crimes he did not do. to TTJ that devil god is a totally different person! it’s not him!

- he loses the love of his life like that and when he survives the 500 years, he’s given a new name

- new name new chance at life correct? no.

- again he’s been reminded time and again that the devil god is inevitable. he is inevitable and he only exists to become the devil god.

- who the hell is tan tai jin or chang jiu min? clearly no one seems to care except for the fact he is a stepping stone for the resurrection of the devil god.

- who cares if he suffered all those years, choosing to do good and not succumb to the evil voice in his head

- who cares if he chose love and life over destruction

- because no matter what he chose at the crossroads of his life, the love of his life no longer sees him for who he is right now but obsess over who he was expected to turn into

at this point if i were TTJ, if everyone claims i’m the devil god well fuck it might as well turn into him. if 500 years of sacrifice can’t convince you then might as well turn into the person you think i would be and maybe then you’ll really look at me again

i don’t really know where i wanted to go with this. just really frustrated on behalf of TTJ

#till the end of the moon #tteotm #tan tai jin #ep 32

[sqewed0722]

Till The End of The Moon

Currently watching this CDrama starring Luo Yunxi and Bai Lu and I must say I have found my latest crack drama.

I don’t really know what makes this different from other CDrama/wuxias I’ve attempted to watch in the past. All I know is that I’ve been watching at least 3 episodes everyday since I started it.

Briefly, Luo Yunxi is the Devil God who intends to destroy all immortals in all the three realms (which I would presume refers to the immortals, the demons and the mortal humans) and four continents and become the most powerful being in the universe. The immortal sects try to stop him but are unable to. Their last hope is to send Li SuSu (played by Bai Lu), the daughter of one of the sect leaders, 500 years back in time to confront the Devil God when he was just a mortal prince named Tantai Jin, whose “demon bone” (at least that’s what they call it) has not yet awakened, and stop him from turning evil.

Yet it turns out to be more complex than that, as Li SuSu finds herself confronting the Devil God across time and space, in all their different incarnations. Only by going through their previous lives and encounters can she understand and find the way to defeat him.

The drama’s plot is as complex and convoluted as CDramas go, and there are so many minor characters that pop out seemingly without any purpose, only for you to find their characters reappear within another sub-arc, which eventually ties them to the main arc. It’s a bit of a challenge to keep up with all of them. And then there are those illogical or contradictory scenes and plot devices that make you scratch your head and ask yourself how that would work out. A good example would be those instances that Li SuSu, in her mortal guise as Ye Xiwu, is able to summon the power of the Chongyu Harp that she wielded as an immortal, when she clearly stated early on after she went back in time that she can’t use its power as a mortal woman. And then there are many times that, as Ye Xiwu, she travels on foot alone for long distances and she doesn’t seem to get tired at all, even though she has no provisions. There was that scene too when she was trying to treat the poison that Tantai Jin had been shot with in his eye. They were running from his brother’s soldiers and hiding in the forest, with only the clothes they’re wearing. Tantai Jin passes out and Ye Xiwu decides to treat him with some herbs. When he regains consciousness, he sees Ye Xiwu pounding on herb leaves using a mortar and pestle which, for the life of me, I don’t know how she managed to obtain in the middle of a forest. And don’t get me started on how she forced a female demon named Pianran to lead her to the Barren Abyss and how she managed to travel great distances with a demon to get there, and then going down into it as a mortal without getting killed.

Dramas like these require a lot of patience and suspended disbelief. One has to go into it expecting to just sit back and enjoy, and not to apply critical thinking. It’s not a mathematical problem to be solved anyway.

In any case, I’m enjoying it so far and look forward to each episode. I’ve become very curious as to why Tantai Jin had the demon bone when he was born and the ultimate reason why he and Li SuSu seem destined to meet in all their different lifetimes. I also love the lavish costumes and the intricate details that go into each attire.

Bai Lu is so beautiful dressed in her flowing diaphanous silks, with all those hair ornaments on top of her head, and her dark hair made to look really long and falling down past her waist. (To be honest, I didn’t quite find her pretty when I first saw her in ep 1. I even thought she looked a bit mature, but as the drama progressed she became very beautiful in my eyes.) She has an impish and childlike quality about her, yet you can sense her earnestness and grim determination as Li SuSu.

Luo Yunxi seems a tad thin, which makes his face look long and his cheeks hollow. But this was probably required of the role, since the Devil God is supposed to have a cold, cunning and ruthless look to him. And as the mortal prince Tantai Jin, he was supposed to look undernourished and unhealthy and suspicious, as he was a hostage of the Crown and treated little better than a slave. But his eyes are compelling when they look at you and as you look at him longer, you start to see a haunting sort of beauty in his features.

I’m already on Episode 12 and I think this drama has 40 episodes. It’s getting more interesting as the story progresses so I’ll just enjoy it. Doesn’t hurt that Luo Yunxi and Bai Lu have great chemistry together. 🙂

#cdrama #till the end of the moon #luo yunxi #bai lu #tantai jin #ye xiwu

[myechoecho]

Till the End of the Moon, ep 27

We already knew that he was over the edge because there is no way Tantai Jin would have agreed to give his heart’s blood without knowing what it is for. But the chance to save Ye Xiwu, keep her alive and further tie her to him forever is the only thing that he wants. He’s going to regret not caring what the blood is for.

Also, why does the guy need/want his blood and what divination did he see??

Li Susu wakes up in the Barren Abyss and finally admits that she feels guilty but learns from Ji Ze that she and Tantai Jin were always forever doomed. That nothing she did was going to change what was meant to be. The dream life was also more important than she realized.

Like Min Ye, Susu will have to replace Tantai Jin’s Evil Bone™ with Divine Essence. However, she have to use the World Overturning Jade to do so, which will punish her for using it.

Which makes me wonder - if this is something she could have done in the first place instead of the spikes? Probably not.

Tantai Jin and Susu - both them just in pain, spitting up blood. They are not going to last long, regardless of the bracelets.

The advisors even notice Tantai Jin’s health, which is not good for him as the Emperor.

Now he’s going off to fight a war against 10,000 puppet soldiers, poison miasma and Tanani Minglang which he is in no condition to do.

The punishment thunder, puppet soldiers, Tanai Minglang and Susu and Tantai Jin are all coming together at the same time so I’m guessing the next couple of episodes will be big.

I loved the fight between Fu Yu and Pian Ran, in particular because Fu Yu basically disregarded her and Pian Ran destroyed her.

Not Pian Ran losing her loved one again. That broke my heart for her. She just got her love threads back only to have Ye Qingyu jump in front of an arrow to save her. Then she sacrificed her essence and life to save him. OMG they are almost as tragic as Tantai Jin and Susu but in a less dysfunctional, unhinged way.

#till the end of the moon #my thoughts #cdrama

[asoundofdrop]

Space cowboy and his (future) girlfriend who has no idea when to be serious—

Xiwu would probably struggle to keep a straight face when Boothill's automatic censoring kicks in

#honkai star rail oc #drop art dump #hsr oc

[utterlyhooked]

On the day of it’s release, I more or less watched 6 episodes in one sitting! Anyway, after watching episode 8, and making some GIF’s, I watched the first episode again to check the narration on the “Devil God” then continued on and found this!!! He said “Interesting” after Li Susu took off with the mirror of the past artifact. 

And while he was following her before reaching the cliff top he also thought this... 

soooo, he knows her! He knows who she is! (I think?! we will see how it goes)

For someone who doesn’t know much about this series* until I actually started watching (by the way, I decided to watch because it had LBFAD vibes), this all feels like him doing a “My plans are coming along nicely.” kind of situation.

He tried to strangle her but it seems like a plan to set in motion of going back in time, because Ye Xiwu did not become the Ye Xiwu he loved until Li Susu came into her consciousness.

The more I watch, the more this scenario makes sense.

And just as I am making this post after watching the latest episodes hours ago, I realise that the Bo’re Life - Ming Ye / dragon’s lucid dream arc is not merely entering into someones dream. FYI, this dream has been going on on repeat for the last 10,000 years. It seemed that the dragon was luring Tantai Jin in to the dream!? So, it looks to me that after 10,000 years

Tantai Jin is the reincarnation of Ming Ye ETA: maybe the ancient Devil God instead of Ming Ye?

Ye Xiwu  is the reincarnation of   Sang Jiu

Xiao Lin  is the reincarnation of   Sang You

Ye Bingchang  is the reincarnation of   Tian Huan

and they are experiencing their past lives in the dream. Sounds confusing but if you are watching, it’s easy enough although I could be absolutely off base here!!!

I might start reading the novel! I don’t know where I’m going to find the time, I’m so busy... I wanna cry!!!

* I also have no idea who the cast are, never seen them before. To be fair, I could probably watch numerous cdramas and there will be different actors each time.

- I have been trying to post this since yesterday night!!! Did not  show up on tags. I have already contacted tumblr support 2 hours after.  Gonna reblog and delete. *cross fingers*  

#长月烬明 #Till The End Of The Moon #TTEOTM #cdrama #cdramaedit #myedit #Interesting! #It's you #I was pretty much hooked from the very first episode #Even LBFAD took me nearly 20 episodes to really get me hooked #it's fast paced!!! we are already in 2 different timelines/arcs in 11 episodes!!! #TAGS please work this time!!!