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Hence such content get their 5 minutes of fame... and are forgotten! You're right, if people want a quick read, authors better give them characters with a strong protagonist-halo...or else, they'd be reading stories about their own sad lives, or worse, watching news :/
Also, there is this trend, where BFL = Mary Sue. I'd like to see a project where that isn't the case.
About the sexist bit, Male actors picking tropey stock-characters are wayyyy less criticized than Female actors picking tropey stock-characters. And heavens forgive, if she's also 30+, she'll get double the hate. (not age-shaming like she can't play the character---well, that's there too.... but 'aren't you old and wise enough to pick a better script?')

hmm, zhang xueying is a child actress with period-drama experience, so yeah she could have done a good job. you never know, the investors could have chucked the idea and wanted to have only ZZY appear as the FL....?
Puffy cheeked zhang xueying would have made more sense than puffy-cheeked ZZY, that's for sure! :P
Also, you cannot disagree, it is more heartbreaking to watch a 'real' 20/21 y/o being 'sold away' for a political marriage, being dragged down to the altar quite unwillingly, and having to give up on her young 'puppy-love' for the sake of greater good. There is something profoundly sad about watching a young woman shoulder so much responsibility and being forced to 'grow up overnight' T_T

Well, it's more like: 'the mind forgets but the body/ heart remembers'.. kinda like cell-memory. Anyhow, both souls don't co-exist. We don't know where the Queen's soul went. So far, it's the Chef's soul, and the Queen's memories that coexist! :)

This better be true... i'm keeping my fingers crossed... T_T
Childhood connection but mistaken identity. Secretary Kim did that too. Luckily they resolved it in favour of the ML. But not effing Start-up. 'Different' is not always 'good'. Or logical. Gaaah :/ :/

Ugh, yes. Hence my rant T_T that wound is STILL TOO RAW, sir!
Aha, yes, me neither. He hasn't had any 'gay-panic' yet. The Queen and the chef exist simultaneously, so he continues bitch-slapping herself/himself to get the Queen's raging hormones under control! Lmaooo! :D

I distinctly remember 'questioning the chemistry' between our leads, and also 'finding him not-so-good-looking', about 15 days back. Look at me now, thirsting everytime he appears onscreen for barely 2minutes. Ugh. Proves how character maketh a man.
Then I went back and watched snippets of his older works. Nope. Even in those villain-y, slimey and questionable characters, he's perfectly swoony.
It is HIM, guys. He makes Xiao Qi into a total dreamboat, and it isn't the other way around. :P

Not just that, but women, by default, are their emotional 'rehab'center. Ugh. Why?! Hence, I knew it could have gone a certain way, and they chose not to. And I am supremely grateful to them!
And ditto same reaction on Xiao Qi. I am sitting in a land of almost zero temperature, yet the room gets hotter by 10 degrees everytime he appears on screen! *fans self rapidly* :P

T_T

Lmaooo! Its more solidly proven true, when you try to think of names of young actors that could do the role justice (as younger versions) and come up with ZERO names. Such a shame, indeed :/

I'm currently running 2 weeks behind (4 eps).
So it seems, there is a mistaken identity regarding the childhood saviour. King thinks it was the Concubine, but turns out, it was the Queen who saved him instead. Both girls used to dress alike, look alike (they were confused for each other), and it was dark. The Queen came to save him from the well he was trapped in, but by the time he escaped, the Queen had to run away (chased by servants) and it was the Concubine standing in front of him (much like Start-up's scene where NDS comes and upstages HJP during the dinner, looking like a 'prince charming' who saved the day). In addition to that, there is a BOOK involved, which proved it was the Queen who saved him. But guess what, the Concubine's obsession with the QUEEN (she was slightly richer and had a more powerful family) made her suffer from 'identity crisis' plus their constant 'being mistaken' for each ither, and her thoughts 'why can't it be meeee?' (Sounds like NDS, heh?).... she ends up SCRATCHING the Queen's name off the book, and writing her name on it instead. (Again, a LOT like start-up...stealing credits). Ugh. I CANT.

You drive me crazy is pretty high up on my list of rated dramas, I loved it for more reasons than *just* KSH. Planning to clear my currently airing watchlist before I start going down KSH-rabbithole again, hehe! But yeah, strongest deliveryman would be my next!
Aha, no problem, cya around :3

Hahah! I relate!! T_T

We don't know yet. By the trajectory it's going, the 'real-saviour' will get their true-credit by the end (unlike start-up, lmao). The 'mistaken identity' should get resolved in *favour* of our main protagonist. I'll let you know, incase the second-lead comes and hijacks the plot like NDS... maybe then you can truly give Mr. Queen a skip, lmao! :P

Goes onto show how much of a bad after-taste this show has left me with, that I feel scarred and traumatized, and it's giving me not-so-good flashbacks, and is hampering with my enjoyment of a completely unrelated show.
Yes, I split the comment....
Doing my share of 30,000 + comments :)

I am still not done with ep 16 of start-up.... and they started doing this whole 'mistaken identity of childhood savior/ first-love' trope in Mr. Queen TOO?
This is TOO MUCH, I say! T_T

Fun facts:
(sorry if it has been posted before... but I did some research around Cheoljong and the history around him)
>> Turns out, Grand Queen Dowager (granny from Kim-clan who is picky about food) is the Mother-in-Law of Queen Dowager (the cult-practicing widow from the Jo clan)
>> Queen Dowager's character is played by Chae Soo-bin in 'Love in Moonlight'.
>> Her husband, who is not shown here (only via flashbacks) is none other than Park BoGum's character in LIM.
>> Park Bogum's character was the crown prince, and also the only son of Granny 'picky about food'
>> Park Bogum's character dies at age 20, leaving his wife (cult-lady) a widow. T_T
>> Their son eventually takes up throne, as he is the grandson of Picky Granny and her husband, the previous King.... after Picky Granny's husband dies.
>> This son eventually dies as well, leaving cult-lady as the Queen Mother (note, she herself was never the Queen, unlike Picky Granny.... she was the wife of the prev King)
>> The universe of 'Love in Moonlight' is basically a younger version of Mr. Queen (by a generation and half)
>> Also, Cheoljong is not related directly to any of these dowager ladies.

Correct, and correct!

'Adolescent twigs' is what I call the breed you're describing! :P

He's Tibetan ^^
(and if I'm not mistaken, he's Liang Jie's fiance... the leading lady from Eternal Love 1,2 & 3)

Okay, wow, that was a long read! :P
What I got from your references, is that when the plot revolves solely around our leads, and it is not for the purpose of story-telling, but to amp up the Mary Sue-ness of the characters... that's when it's a problem.
I casually watch 'Hollywood' content, and don't superanalyze, so I wont comment on that.
It isn't just Yanxi Palace, that was 'written as anti Mary-Sue' and ended up becoming one. I distinctly remember Quippe Quest's video on Bai Qian (the apparently non-Mary Sue, but completely a Mary-Sue FL) from Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms. She is given these 'negative qualities' to justify that she isn't a Mary Sue (like she's evasive, non-confrontational, petty, bratty and loud-mouthed, slightly spiteful, jealous, and wouldn't mind showing others their true place, she's haughty and has a drinking problem).... so all of that are genuine 'character weaknesses' she suffers from. However, instead of being a challenge to her character growth, she is 'praised' for them, has a 'mad cult following', and somehow 'every guy who meets her, is smitten because of this "rebellious" streak in her'. Character weaknesses that seek to 'endear you more' to the viewers/ others in the story, aren't weaknesses at all, and she very much IS a Mary Sue.
TRP suffers from something similar. While our leads in the novel are supposedly more 'morally grey', and jump in willingly at a point into the 'game of thrones', I heard they did away with this aspect (because of the country's policy on content that 'glorified overthrowing a dynasty/ government') and they will instead 'unwillingly get dragged into it'. Ah, there we go, that's the first amp-ing up of the Mary Sue-ness; getting rid of their 'grey side'. Secondly, dumbing down all other characters to show the leads in a more favorable light.... I think they are guilty of this too. Next is the heavy 'plot-armour' on them: they are 'good', thus the 'universe intervenes to always save them'... is also very lazy writing.
You're right. It isn't the problem with Mary-Sue as a stock character per se. Rather it's how the story and other characters are done AROUND them, that makes it annoying. :P :P
However, I still hope the trend of 'overbearing CEO' and 'Tsundere ML' dies first xD xD