Immortal Samsara: Part 2 (2022)

One of the Best Xianxias

Finished watching part 2 earlier today and I am very pleased with this xianxia. I have to commend the production team for bringing such a great quality series to audiences. It was top notch in terms of CGI, acting and story, abeit repetitive. There were a few plot holes and some weak performances from the less experienced actors, but for the most part it was a solid xianxia.

Zi Yang is lovely and I have been watching her since Ashes of Love. She is truly a gifted performer and the carmera adores her. She can't take a bad shot. She is drop dead beautiful. Her ML also performed well. Cheng Yi may be young, but he delivered a heart-felt performance as the conflicted Heavenly Emperor who wants to love his woman, but has to put his duties above all else. I got lost in these great performances and when our leads are going through their greatest trials and hurting each other, my heart actually ached for them. Bravo to the cast for making me feel that pain and in the life and death situations they were living. I always enjoy a well directed drama and this one was well done.

I am equally impressed with Ray Chang's performance as the spunky Yu Mo, forthright, loyal, passionate, handsome and likable. He was so boss with that fan! I wanted him to get his happy ending as well. But, perhaps there could be a sequel with a storyline for him.

My only gripe is that as much as I love a happy ending, this one felt forced. I think the two special episodes are put together to satisfy those who would not have liked the ending, despite the fact that it made more sense to the storyline and our ML's sense of duty. Otherwise, this one will top the list of favorite xianxias.

Leia Mais

"When they carry out the punishment, look away, don't be afraid"

Karma waltz in and laughed HAHAHA Puny Mortal. BOW TO ME!
LITERALLY in my last review, for Ashes of Love, I had a whole damn rant being like, yeah, no, Xianxia and me aren't going to me friends, we dont jam, we're different elements, blah blah blah, unless Cheng Yi is involved I'm not interested.

Karma came for my ass so damn hard in this show, I'm going to be reborn bruised. I am speechless at how much I enjoyed this show and I can see from the reviews, that it's a show with a lot of criticism, especially with loss of plot and drag so of course me being me, my soul got sucked into this show and I binged it all weekend. My eyes are red, my head hurts but damn, what a ride LOL

I dropped this at episode 2 a few weeks back thinking, eh, I'll probably hate it but decided I had to be a good wife and watch Cheng Yi's parts. It was around episode 5 when I started to get interested so, yeah, it took a while to get going but I feel like that's very common with Xianxia. At ep 7, during a big battle, I knew stuff was going down. You don't introduce a big battle at episode 7 without it being a big plot device. From then, I was absolutely hooked.

Keeping this as short as I can, character wise, I loved most of the characters, and that rarely happens and that the fact that this is a xianxia, this was the Immortals sucker punching me into Monday with bloodshot eyes and getting drunk at my misery.

Cheng Yi - my man. This is why you are my bias. He has mastered how to speak with his eyes. Definitely prefer this to Love and Redemption, all though L&R is growing on me. He's a lot more 'fluid' in his acting here. I felt like perhaps it was just just how he was directed in L& R but he seems so much more comfortable here, so much so that he plays 3 different characters. Our 'original' ML, the Heavenly Emperor, Ying Yaun who is very tight lipped, straight collared and by the book. His mortal incarnation for his mortal realm trials, Tang Zhou who is much more playful and ambitious, and Ying Yaun's father, who pretty much starts everything with his ambition to rule all 3 realms, which by the way, Cheng Yi needs to play a villain. Like. I NEEED the man to play a villain because holy hell, I was not prepared for crazy eyed and silver wigged Cheng Yi.

Our FL, although played by the same actress, thankfully was not as dense as her Ashes of Love character. I actually fell in love with Yan Dan myself. She's pretty bright and playful and honest. And there were times when her reactions made me laugh or I said 'ohh cute' out verbally. So this is a first for me so far in all c-dramas I've watched, I usually never love the FL. Yan Dan I loved. I don't mind if the FL is a little weak. I prefer brains over brawn and as she's a lotus spirit who cuts out her own heart to save Ying Yaun, twice, it's perfectly reasonable that she's going to need some physical protection. And when you like the FL, I can walk her highs and lows with her rather than just watching for Cheng Yi.

I always feel that chemistry between leads is up to the viewer and personally, I felt the love and the heartache. Xianxia strikes me as a genre that you either love or hate and one of the most common criticisms is jumping between worlds. I understand that can break the flow for the viewer but this didn't for me. I followed the whole way. It is a little slow to start, the plot hits us in episode 7 and then the love actually starts to build afterwards. When everything reaches a pressure cooker pain, I was jumping off the cliff with Yan Dan. It's around episode 16 when we go to the mortal realm and we stay there for a good 30 episodes but I didn't feel disjointed. It felt very natural. Yan Dan was turned into a demon and just drops out of the sky having had her memories erased by a traumatised Ying Yaun and returns to her playful and spirited self. Ying Yaun inflicts the mortal trials on himself and as his childhood is mentioned, I believe he was actually reborn as human.
The relationship then repeats it's self but only this time, there's lessons learned. Yan Dan learns more about what it means to be in love and Ying Yaun, as Zhou, chooses his heart over his responsibilities. So when we get back to the Immortals, those lessons are pretty engraved in the characters as their love cements in the middle of the actual plot.

I understand how a lot of people can find this boring or draggy as the mortal realm and most of it's characters have very little do with the actual plot. There are villains but only temporary. They are easily dealt with and yet I was never bored. I was invested the whole way through and I have no idea why. I liked the little side quests and characters. I liked the relationship building between the leads. My only defence is Cheng Yi's eyes hypnotised me through the screen and I plead innocence because, I should have lost interest but I didnt. I couldn't stop watching.

Yumo was a very a satisfactory character to watch. He started off almost like a teenage boy who develops feelings for Yan Dan but it never embitters him. It's this love that pushes him to the mortal realm where he travels for 800 years looking for Yan Dan, unaware that she's stuck in the limbo river because she can't let go of her memories. So he has all that time to travel and cultivate so when we see him again, he's a very experienced and mature man and honestly, he was a little sexy to me. What was really lovely was although his feelings for Yan Dan were strong, and there was a little back and forth with Zhou, he never left Yan Dan's side. He was never cunning or deceitful. He was a true friend. And accepted in the end that he wasn't for her but chose to protect her nonetheless. That was very mature and sweet and appreciated the groundedness of the character.

Another character I want to add briefly is Fairy Ying Deng. She was set up to be the usual, obsessed with the ML bully but she gets shot down very early. Beautifully might I add, by YY, and instead of lashing out in the ridiculous way that these characters always do, by blaming it all on Yan Dan, she lashed out at Yan Dan and Ying Yaun equally. There's a nice cathartic downfall before she returns in the mortal realm and I'll be damned, I felt sorry for the girl. Again. I shouldn't have but I did. She just seemed so pathetic, I couldn't help it. She also made a gorgeous demon and I wish she had always been a demon. She looked way better with messy hair and red eyes than in all the pearled garbed of the heavenly realm.

Part one is 38 eps. Part two is 21 - 59 eps. Thankfully, I watched it on viki, so I seen early that there were 2 specials. If I had felt that 59 was the end, I might have been physically sick. How dare they. But I'm learning how common this seems to be with c dramas. Almost like a sneaky way of keeping people paying for a subscription. But keeping the 2 specials in mind, I found the true ending to be very fulfilling and satisfactory. Both YD and YY get the life they wanted together, the son they had dreamed off and YD gets to be a writer. Meeting up with her friends, taking in demons to build a theatre group and getting to see the reborn friend she lost earlier in the mortal realm arc. Whether or not they are mortal isn't answered but it doesnt seem like they were physically reborn as they live in the house they meet up in after their deaths but I honestly dont mind it so much, I was just happy to see them together and getting to live out the dreams they wanted.

One massive plot hole though was Lu Ming not recognising Ying Deng in the mortal realm, and felt that he was kind of brushed aside a little too easily having been killed off screen. I honestly didnt believe he was dead. But as he didn't play a huge role, I can forgive this and appreciate that it's mentioned at the end that he's in the mortal realm growing his favourite watermelon.

As for the music. That flute did not have to come for my heart the way it did every time it started to play. The instrumental music in this show for me was a 'where can I buy this' kind of background music.

Overall, I'd give this show a very solid 8.5 but I boosted it to 9 because the sister's death pulled a tear out of me. I can be critical but I always give credit where it's due. Watching the sister be defeated by her pride, get revenge for YD, redeem herself and then give her heart, and then her life for the love of her sister, really pulled on my heart strings.

I am in actual shock that I enjoyed this as much as I did and it has to go on my favourites list now. It's a long one but I do feel I could rewatch it again and still enjoy the romance as much.

Leia Mais

Disappointing !

Part one started off okay, the usual xianxia drama but it started dragging half way through the story and became repetitive and full of tropes. Part two had too many flashbacks of the same scenes and honestly does the fighting stop in the middle for a touching love scene ??? Instead of just standing there and watching, the opposition should take action. I wanted to slap the ML character so often and it didn't help that Cheng Yi always seem to have an underlying smirk while he is delivering his lines whether he is supposedly emotional or not. His expressions are the same whether he is portraying both father and son characters, I expect better from a ML actor. Poorly written story and script, worse than the usual xianxia dramas and the last 5 episodes were so drawn out that I had to skip through them. Acting by Yang Zi and Shang Rui was great, as well as the supporting actors and actresses.

Leia Mais

The worldbuilding is a mess. The action scenes are lame.

This drama is such a disappointment because the quality is below expectation. Usually, viewers are able to overlook imperfection regarding CGI, editing, dubbing, and other technical aspects if the story has quality. But, the story is this drama greatest weakness.

Setting/ Worldbuilding
Xianxia typically revolves the story around three realms: the Heaven of immortals and deities, the Earth of the mortals/ human-being, and the Underworld of the demons, spirits, and devils. Each realm has its own creatures, rules, limitations, and boundaries.

The immortals and deities can live for thousands years, They are born asexually from the ascension of lower beings as the results of their good deeds in previous life. They have superhuman ability and not usually died so easy (the only method is through the destruction of their primordial spirit so they cannot reincarnate). They live in the vast and unlimited heaven so usually, they are flying and teleporting. Immortals cannot intervene with lower realm affairs or use their ability in mortal realm. They can go to mortal world for tribulation or penance, and during this trip, they will forget their past.

Human being, animal, and plant are earthly creatures, have short life-span. They are relatively weaker, but can learn cultivation and martial arts. They live with family, in a sect, or a city. They have political entity to govern their affairs. They are crawling in the Earth on foot, horse, or carriage. Their culture and ways of living are richer. Their lives are bound to reincarnation circle. If they are good, they can ascend to godhood. If they are evil, they descend to be lower being.

Meanwhile, the demons, spirits, and devils are usually bad and on the lowest hierarchy of beings. After cultivating for years, they can have human form. They usually live as a nuisance to human, sometimes they eat human to get stronger. That is why they are hunted and killed. However, some of them are kind and not disturb human. They live in clan, so we have bird demon clan, fox spirit clan, etc. in the forest, river, lake, or sea.

Basic rules above are among common characteristics of xianxia worldbuilding. But, this drama breaks some important "rule". For example: Immortals are still immortals even when they go to mortal worlds (2 ML, 2 FL). They are very intervening, and without consequences. Human-being can have superhuman ability that makes them immune to injury and death even after severely wounded (ML). The spirit is not different to immortals as they can go anywhere i.e. the heaven without limitation (FL, the little flower spirit). What is more, the immortals act like human. They bleed when injured, they walk and run to reach certain place, and they are weak in fighting. They love and are jealous to each other. They are full of revenge and ill intention. Their living places are just like human palaces. Nothing wonderful and otherworldly. And, they can live, die, and revive as their wishes, not following the cycle of samsara/ reincarnation (just use a certain artifact to live again). Therefore, the time sequence of the story is messy. Everything seems happen in the present time. The past, present, and future are blurry. No good working timeframe.

I think, this mess is the risk for a too grand story (involving three realms), but no attention to details of each realm. This drama is weaker in the worldbuilding in comparison to xianxia like Love and Redemption (2020) which focus most of its story on the mortal realm. When they abuse the rules of the realms, the conflicts is resolved in lame manner. This drama uses deus ex machina, like when ML suddenly kills himself with unknown swords to stop himself going berserk, or when FL's heart weirdly has so much magical power, or when ML suddenly have magical pool to cure him, or when ML revives the Heavenly Emperor. There is not internal mechanism to solve their problems, like the use brain, analytical thinking, strategic talks, hard works, logical sacrifices, and risk taking for benefit. All depends on external power, weapon and artifact.

Story/ Plot
Immortal Samsara doesn't follow its premise. From the title, viewers may keep asking, what is samsara here? I don't know its meaning until the last episodes when ML confronts his father and learns about his parents story. His father is the demon king who loves and marries a goddess (his enemy), but ends up killing her in the end. So, he turns the time back from the beginning again for a different story and ending. Alas, the ending is repeatedly still the same, because his ambition never change and he never regret doing sins. It is the "immortal samsara". This is the more suitable back story (and the birth of an exquisite god as the result of their love), IMO, rather than the story of twin lotuses which has no significance for the realm, making this like the story of the prince and pauper. The story should use the ML's point of view.

Storywise, this drama lacks good story structuring. It can be more interesting and suspenseful, if the story progresses back and forth to reveal the mystery of the past and hidden identity of ML, and the reason behind why love is forbidden in Heavenly Realm sooner. Alas, this drama put too much emphasize on the ill fated relationship and the romance between ML and FL which is not important to the overall story and conflict. It will be a better story if in the end he becomes the Heavenly Emperor and takes the FL (a mere spirit) as his queen to reward her love, loyalty, and sacrifice, as the result of him learning about his parents, his identity, his enemy, the long conflict between immortals and demon, and the mistakes of the strict rule. This drama wastes an interesting plot where the enemy successfully kills the former Heavenly Emperor and impersonate him. It is never seen in previous xianxia. This drama could have interesting revenge and justice story rather than a mere romance and stupid double suicide in the end.

Characterization
Cheng Yi and Yang Zi are very good actor and actress. But, their potential are wasted because of the problematic story. ML and FL are very two dimensional. Their personalities are predictable, their behaviors are predictable. The writer should dig more on the psychology of a lowly ang young little fairy in the front of the greatest deity. They fall in love too easily, which is illogical considering their statuses. FL should be more selfish (think more about her self) because she is still too young, weak, and needs protection, and wishing for a future and pride. She shouldn't prefer death than life so easily and work harder to maintain her position in the heaven. But, they write her to be a lazy woman and have no aspiration better than a play writer. They can create her to be more interesting with describing what kind of story she would like to write and it will show us her life values, idealism, and personal difficulties as a person, and how it connects to the ML's aspirations and values. The way they introduce ML to FL is so not romantic (as a turtle flipper), downgrade him to a level of child, while he should maintain his dignity as a responsible and wise thousand years old deity. How could he fall in love so easily to a "baby"?

Other supporting characters are generally useless, like a decoration in the background when they are just standing and watching. Supporting deities do more talking than doing something to help, going here and there in a crowd, screaming, and being angry/ sad. They act like ministers in the mortal court rather than deity with specific duty and certain ability. They solve problem through debating, rather than doing something magical. The demons in the valley are also just cute, but useless. The heavenly soldiers are so small in number, like 20s. They should use CGI to multiply them and create a majestic war battalion with good fighting skills to counter demons.

Music
Nothing memorable. No banger. No heart punching beats. Too flat. Too cheesy.

I hope future xianxia learns something from this failure.

Leia Mais

Disappointing at its best

The story went downhill at the end season 1. I continued watching as 1) I want to support Yang Zi and Cheng Yi, and 2) I was hoping the storyline will pick up.

Season 2 started at a higher note. It was very promising and I was happy. However, midway, it turned worse than I could ever imagined, especially from Cheng Yi and Yang Zi. What happened?? I want to love this drama, I really do! Not sure it was the storyline, bad CGI, bad acting, everything was just so cringey.

I am still planning to watch it till the end, despite lots and lots of fast forward and skipping (it was so cringey I couldn't bring myself to watch them).

One of the OST is so nice I've been listening to it on repeat, so I guess it's not all very bad.

Leia Mais

It took six months to get through this series.

Xianxia is quintessentially a contrast of light and dark, good and bad, gods and demons, and it is stylistically depicted by monochromatic character and color themes with slight differences in plotlines. If I'm being honest, this genre is my least favorite; notwithstanding, I have seen a couple that are slightly less ridiculous than most with my fave being Love Between Fairy and Devil (LBFAD) and my least fave being this tedious and pretentious Immortal Samasara.

Firstly, Yang Zi, the lead actress, is such a one-trick pony who seems content to play different variations of the same "dim and somewhat smart" character which she played not only in IS (Immortal Samsara) but also in Ashes of Love and Legend of the Dragon Pearl. If someone edits clips of her performances in these dramas, I bet you wouldn't know they were three different series.
And therein lies the problem not only with Yang Zi but also with Xianxia as a genre. It's too stylized with little to no room for maneuvering of plots or themes. There's the demons are bad and heavenly beings (HB) are good trope where the heavenly beings fight endlessly for dominance with a side plot of some HB prince who happens to fall in love with some lower HB twig or leaf spirit. Like clockwork, the writer never misses to give us the useless fairy with the baby voice (one of the worst aspects of LBFAD) who later comes into her power after being tossed around and abused by the higher HBs. Toss in a love quadrangle, some men in bad wigs, and the most watered-down set props which, given this is all CGI, seems like a wasted opportunity to liven up an otherwise bleary set of white clouds and grayscale.

Did I mention how much I hate the color and style? Sigh.

Anyway, IS is about a HB prince who falls for a flower; sadly, love is forbidden in heaven and they have to go through three different time periods of heartbreaks and forgotten memories whilst fighting some obscure bad guys who did some bad things. That's all.

Leia Mais

Immortal samsara part 2

Menurut ku si yang zi sangat" cocok memerankan tokoh Yan dan Aura Dewi nya kelihatan banget udah cantik pinter apa lagi kalo akting nangis nya dapet banget apalagi di pasang kan bareng Cheng yi chemistry dapet banget buat mereka berdua apa lagi di tambah kita di sungguh kan sama pemandangan" yang menurut aku wow banget dari awal lihat trailer nya udah jatuh cinta banget sama pasang satu ini , selain itu dari kostum ost nya apa lagi bikin aku yang nonton ketagihan sukses selalu buat para pemain nya semoga nanti bisa pada 1 projek bareng lagi sih, Karana aku sudah jatuh cinta bangetttt sama akting kalian

Leia Mais

A Tale of Love, Duty, and Sacrifice

this is a love story between the supreme lord of the Nine Heavens, Ying Yuan, and the carefree and witty Four-Leaf Lotus, Yan Dan. Despite being one of the most powerful beings in the heavens, Ying Yuan's life is monotonous until he encounters Yan Dan, who brings light and happiness into his existence.

Ying Yuan's life has always been dedicated to the well-being of the Six Realms, adhering strictly to rules, especially the one forbidding love. Guilt-ridden for millennia due to his bloodline and influenced by his uncle's warnings, Ying Yuan feels compelled to sacrifice his own desires for the greater good. However, living as Tangzhou has taught Ying Yuan what it feels like to have a choice and live for yourself.

Ying Yuan prioritizes Yan Dan's safety above his own feelings, often leading to misunderstandings. Yet, living as Tang Zhou teaches him the delicate balance between duty and affection, proving that he can safeguard Yan Dan while acknowledging his love for her.

Yan Dan emerges as a standout character with remarkable growth. Fearless in expressing her emotions and unwavering in her love. Though initially appearing selfish in her pursuit of love, Yan Dan gradually comprehends the gravity of her actions amidst the strictures of heavenly law. Her evolution is marked by the trials endured alongside Ying Yuan in the mortal realm, fostering growth both individually and as a couple.

Yan Dan and Ying Yuan's relationship may appear to be a series of back-and-forths, and they never formally confess their feelings to each other until the final episode. However, deep down, they are both certain of their love for one another. Yan Dan sacrifices her whole heart to save Ying Yuan while Ying Yuan is willing to defy heavenly rules and silently guard her at all times.

Their complexity and depth in the relationship is the of the best things to appreciate in this drama.

Initially, Yan Dan harbors resentment towards Ying Yuan for prioritizing the world over her. However, she gradually realizes that love goes beyond mere companionship, it involves fulfilling each other's desires. She comes to understand the weight of Ying Yuan's responsibilities and willingly prepares to set aside her own feelings and even her life if it means he can fulfill his duty.

Her most significant character development occurs when she wholeheartedly accepts Ying Yuan's entirety —a man tethered by duty yet capable of loving her despite his obligations. She refuses to force him to choose between her and the world. Ying Yuan ultimately doesn't select either the world or her; he embraces both.

Xuan Ye and Ran Qing love story is one of the best part of the drama . both of them choose world over there affection . But they never regretted their love. Ran Qing never hated him and still wished to meet him if given another chance. Xuan Ye understood he had already attained longevity because he always lived in her heart.

Yan Dan: "You protect the Three Realms and I will protect you."
Ying Yuan: "I must protect this world because when the Three Realms remain, you remain"

Yan Dan and Ying yuan : not even death can separate us a part.

Negative elements of the drama are filler content and pacing issues, common to the xianxia genre. I found my self skipping lot of side character stories.

This drama has wonderful OST

story 9.5/10

This is one of the best Xianxia drama for me

Leia Mais

Excellent couple, weak world

The main couple is really good. Their arcs are good, their relationship is touching, and the actors are excellent.
It's very easy to get immersed in the actors performance. When they're sweet together they're adorable and when they're suffering you really feel both their pain. They're both able to do both micro-expressions and explosive emotion very well. The female lead in particular does a great job with the heart-wrenching scenes and doesn't hold back in the name of looking pretty.

If you're mainly looking for a touching romance with a good couple, this is your drama.
And since it is a romance drama, if you're feeling interested from the synopsis you probably WILL enjoy it. The romance is very good.

The following are just my feelings about supporting factors that I felt weakened it overall and may not bother you at all. Also contains vague spoilers, though I've tried to avoid giving details.

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The background plot turns out pretty weak. In the first season it was actually a lot better. You could follow along pretty well, and while things were still pretty vague and shadowy at that point you could get a good sense of who the primary villain was, what they were probably up to, and why.
Except no you couldn't because the second season throws in a twist that retroactively blows all that to hell and leaves you wondering why the villain even did half of that.

You can sort of understand the goal in the general sense of 'villains be power-hungry, amiright?' , but beyond that it's just confusing.
Why did he focus on the things he was focused on? Why did quietly kill off this character but leave that one alive? Why did he focus so hard on certain things? Even if the goal seems to have stayed the same as you assumed it was before the methods suddenly make a lot less sense. the methods and mannerisms that have been driving the story become muddled. The true villain displays a hyper focus on certain things that in retrospect I can't figure out why he would have ever cared about, not to mention spending a lot of the first season making allusions to a secret he doesn't actually know and is surprised to learn in the second season. He's retroactively revealed to have done things that aren't mentioned at all in the first season and just seem to come out of nowhere in the final stretch. Overall the twist seemed to weaken the background plot quite a bit.

Finally most of the supporting cast didn't get much in the way of finishing out character arcs. If they were struggling with love, they ended up alone. Most of the platonic support characters just got killed off. And the minor female villain, despite having spent the drama ruining lives and weaseling out of death two or three times essentially gets a mook death. It felt like it would have been better to let the petrification death have been her true end, since that at least involved her being held accountable by some of the people she'd wronged before the end and then suffering a fate she'd inflicted on someone else.

Leia Mais

I AM BEWITCHED BY HOW GOOD THIS IS!!

i am someone who have short attention span, and i do get easily bored with dramas, i love costume dramas but i am very picky. but this one? OH MY GOD. this saved me!

i am very simple. i see chemistry. i stay. but if it is combined with badass plot, acting and swordmanship choreo? i camp the hell out. and i might as well be torn now that i finished this. can they both work again together? i cannot imagine my life after this without them on screen together, that's their impact. i am crying. literally. i love them so much it hurts.

CHENGYI YANGZI!! I WISH FOR ANOTHER DRAMA SOON PLEASE OR ELSE I'LL MIGRATE TO ANOTHER PLANET

Leia Mais

Lost Interest

I really wanted to enjoy this drama, but after they killed of Zhi Xi, I lost complete interest. I've watched many dramas that have killed of my favorite characters, but after speeding through the final episodes I still found no reason for them to kill her off. The so-called "sad scene" was uncalled for in so many ways. They literally sat in that little boat and watched her slowly die for a good 2 minutes so Yang Zi could get a few crying scenes in. This was definitely a huge disappointment for me, and I don't regret skipping the final 10ish episodes because of how sick I got of it. I usually hate when dramas end because it's like I was saying goodbye to a good story, but I couldn't wait to finish this one.

[this is my little rant to let out my anger, if you enjoyed this drama and feel hurt by it just move along].

Leia Mais