Leblank

Omo if that's what happened in the novel the Yi San I see in this drama is mostly a fictional character.
I agree there is no 'satisfying justification'. Tho I kinda cannot accept both of the speculations you have given, I wish they'll go with least damage at least.

I don't know why but the concubine issue is bothering me way more than it should. Why does Deok Ro's sister suddenly fall ill? Why does she die? What is its importance? Where exactly the story is leading us? I'm sorry I can't stay silent after 13th episode or think straight. My mind is full of unanswered questions and I can't stop being anxious about what's coming.
Pls The Redsleeve is so special for me, like I've fainally found my ideal historical romance I was looking for. I have watched plenty of them but no matter how beautifully they were written, happy endings of being a concubine rather left me feel cheated. But this drama is different. I can't respect a female character more than I do for Deok-im considering her self love and self righteousness. Her words and thoughts never fails me as a woman. On the other hand Yi San's character is unbelievable. Honestly I never even expected them to kiss, even that drunk scene, it wouldn't be like himfelf if Yi San kissed her when he clearly hasn't received the consent yet. He always suppressed himself in front of her and didn't dare to cross the line regardless of their tension and their power difference, she's a precious treasure that he wanted to protect not just to own. This drama has proven that such a romance can grow between the leads without needing the involvement of a third party. I know that's what is normal for Kdramas but it sucks for me. I'm saying because when Deok-im said that she is more afraid of losing herself than losing his love for her, Yi San's response left me offguard. What exaclty does Yi San mean? What is in his mind? Why does he think Deok-im will change her mind in the future? I think I already know the answer but pls hopefully the next episodes prove me wrong. As we all know, at the end Deok-im chooses her heart over her mind. I'm anxious to know to reason now. As the other comments say it has to be because her love for Yi San grows stronger than her love for herself and he deserves it. Pls hopefully there is not even a slight influence of a third party, 'the fear of losing' because when it happens the whole thing about the Deok-im's character will be meaningless. Everything she has said and done, her silent battles will all be a waste. Forgive me for my rant because I'm overly worried about a matter that nobody is concerned but idk this is the worst thing to happen to me considering the reasons I love this drama.

The moment the queen mentioned about a concubine my subconscious began to hint me that something bad is near. Pls I just don't want Deok-im to accept her heart because of another woman. I mean Yi San should be the only reason😭😭😭

I'm at 6th episode and the 7th episode preview is totally chaotic! Just wanna say that I'm gonna need a super healing drama after this. Why is it even called happiness lol

I like the drama but I'm reluctant to continue at the same time cz the thriller here hits a different nerve of me. I have some phobias for similar things and like being trapped in an apartment to hide from giant creepy creature often comes to my nightmares😅 The apartment people here make it worse.. like why do they always have to do the complete opposite from what is suitable for the situation. This is so annoying lol. That mask guy was suspicious since the first sight of him but Sae Bom still has to go in to his house and that dude was caught trying to get in to the apartment twice but they only cover the door with a cloth and close it with one lock oh pls this doesn't feel safe at all. Then they keep wandering in the apartment and the list goes on. I can write an essay about their stupidity lol I'm so done with them. Hope I can bear with them in next episodes because I can't stop now without seeing an end.

I just miss the time I was so into this drama, like upto 6th episode. This is just my personal opinion but Bbiyong's incident ruined most of my feelings for the drama just when I was preparing my mind to accept Elle's return and it was already too much to hang in after10th epiosde. So I have had enough now after 11th episode because Stella's story was too much for me to handle at this point. I was not interested at all and afterall even that director's apology doesn't make a sense. It feels too random. I'm not the type that be negative about dramas I watch but I'm really disappointed how the story has turned. It could have been much better if the story was focused more on the cotton candy as a group like in first few episodes.

Ikr, tbh I was not complaining either because that ending was not a mistake because the king said in the last episode something like "why do I feel like I've lost something?" when he see the queen's dictionary. Also Jung Bong Hwan always missed his life as a man and the king never knew that there was a man's soul inside the queen and it's not appropriate from the Cheol jong's aspect, so when consider everything that's how it is supposed to end. But still I want a justifiable reason for Bong Hwan's queen to be replaced by So Yong. Like I would have been satisfied if So Yong was his past life or something at least because the ending makes me feel like the main character was abandoned.

Well but the queen is not the same person without Jang Bong Hwan. I'm not alright

About the drama and the novel ratings, I don't think it will get any better but worse, and we can't do anything about it :(

 I also don't agree with wrongly accusing anyone without a solid proof. I've noticed many suspicious accounts and comments (some are obvious) but didn't mention out loud for that reason. But in your case(a fan of novel who was disappointed about the adaptation) I don't think anyone has regarded you as a 'hater' or someone related to conflicts in China. Also that comment about the 5th episode, it's exaggerated but I also think it's an honest opinion unrelated to issues in China. I think even though it's wrong to mention that comment as suspicious, no one(MDL viewers) will buy it as logical unless some fans~they are already fans, some of them just don't want to see anything bad about the drama so it's understandable. But in case of real suspicious accounts, they don't appear with a label as they are a hater or someone linked to China's conflicts, what I noticed was their opinions gradually turned everything upside down in this page and it spread like a wild fire. It's even disgusting to talk about this topic for me now. I was here because I had no one to share my thoughts and in case of FLYS it was impossible to keep things to myself and MDL was the option and surprisingly there were friendly faces and relatable comments. Then everything changed at once and I just couln't accept it. Now when I think about it, nothing good happened whenever I opened MDL discussions, it was a mistake to come here in the first place. Some people seem to enjoy these conflicts too. Anyway it's the nature of MDL discussions. Now here I don't see anything right for me anymore. The deeper I look, the worse it gets. I think it's the best to leave the page now.
Don't worry about that comment, I don't think they are targeting you as one them😊

Mmm I was talking about the international E- sport drama fans. There were really bad comments about the gaming component of FIYS in MDL. I'm not really interested in anything outside the drama(like the issues in China)..I also think that it's court's matter. My knowledge about it is only from what I accidentally picked up in this page lol. If I was worried, it was about the people in this page who were trying to downgrade the international drama ratings using the matters in China, I don't think it's justifiable.

Actually I watch any kind of drama haha. Maybe my favourites are mostly from the mature ones.

Thank you sm^^... haha I changed my user ID in to 'Leblank' just because of FIYS and the novel. Honestly I'm not into gaming. I was not watching FIYS for E-spots either. After Arsenal Military Academy I was so in love with Xu Kai's character Gu Yan Zhenl(not his fan, just liked his character..) and while I was searching his other dramas I found FIYS. This is my first Chinese E-sports drama too. (I'm just curious, what do you think about the adaptation of the game in to the drama? Is it very bad? Bcs there were comments of E-sports fans or E-sports drama fans like it was all trash. I was thinking I didn't understand everything in the gaming screen bcs I didn't know the game, and the animations helped for a basic understanding that was sufficient to keep it exciting...) I also have that 'girly heart longing more for a balance between romantic-ness and exciting adventure' haha. I mean, not only for sports, other genres too. I asked for recs from you because your preferences and disappointments in general were relatable to mine. It's just I'm not too picky. I focus on the bigger picture and I don't let things easily affect the feeling. In my drama history I have dropped only two dramas because of acting as it was too bad to the point I couldn't tolerate. But I'm also picky when it comes to main leads' characters and romance if present.
Again thank you for sharing your 'top 5' with me. I'll surely go with them. Is Love O2O also as good as the novel? I didn't watch it bcs of a friend's review.

I also liked FL being a professional player. Even though I'm not into gaming it must be the perfection for an E-sports related drama or a novel. I realized it bcs I'm also currently watching You Are My Glory.

Actually I don't think you need to force yourself to accept things you dislike in FIYS. It's a blessing if everyone was open minded like you in these public platforms. What I can't tolerate is when some people think if they dislike it, everyone should dislike it. Such negative comments can do more harm than good. Now I'm somebody who don't read MDL comments to choose a drama lol. I still trust the ratings and other statistics bdw.

I've watched many dramas maybe not as much as you. (Actually I'm not supposed to watch dramas often, I'm still in college and I have a very very heavy course dragging for years still. Yet I spare some time for dramas since I become a Kdrama addict after high school. I shouldn't be in this comment section either, again I was involved after FIYS😅)
 As I'm not into gaming and our perspectives on other drama genres can be very different idk whether my recs will help. And I'm not a very old fan of Cdramas. So most of my favorites are from Kdramas. I usually watch dramas from any genre with some exceptions like B romance, Chinese historical fantacy etc. My favorites do not mean perfection it's just "my" 100% satisfaction. I will just tell you some of my favourites(with some spoilers).. From modern Cdramas my favourite is FIYS with compared to the dramas I've watched and tried to watch so far. I don't have many Cdramas to recommend as even I was rarely satisfied and couldn't watch many historical Cdramas because of the common fantacy component. The Brightest Star in the Sky (loved the storyline and romance), Hot Blooded Youth (sad ending~not perfect but fair)... If you watch Kdramas I highly recommend Memories of the Alhambra (has a very exciting gaming component. Still the ending is not perfect, but a happy ending), Chicago Typewriter(a masterpiece without a doubt), Criminal Minds, Healer, It's Okay to Not Be Okay, Itaewon Class(not a fan of revenge dramas but this was an exception), Dr. Romantic 1, Mr Sunshine(sad ending), Hotel Del Luna(sad ending)..You may think I have low standards and like 100% all the dramas I watch. It's not like that. I just try to get the best out of the drama. My satisfaction is complicated to explain. It's about the bigger picture. Just ignore my quiestions if you don't want to reply haha, I don't mind.

No I think it's natural because you have read the novel first. I read it because I couldn't wait for new episodes so I read the chapters of aired episodes. Somehow it didn't make me disappointed in drama, it was like an explained version of what happened and it satisfied my anticipation. When I think of it now, there were scenes I thought they shouln't have changed. Removed parts were a different experience, it was interesting to read them. Now I wish if they hadn't removed anything haha. I was like 'why it's only 31 episodes?' since the very beginning to the end. I waited for it since a long time. How about u? Did u read the novel knowing there will be a drama? I didn't read the novel because I didn't want to be spoiled. Anyway now I'm interested after reading your comments. I appreciate if u can give me some recommendations ^^ about good novels like this.

I knew you were not personally against the actress, otherwise I would have mentioned it in that way. As I said I understand why you stress on TY as in the novel she was very expressive and you must have had a picture of a very lively girl already. We have different experiences, what I felt is TY(in novel) is very small and cute even more than CX was, literally she was likely to be called a 'kindergartener' than in drama and always had lot of expressions on her face. So I also loved her more in the novel.. It was my first time to see CX's acting too. I was not saying that CX was perfect, after interacting with many comments I know that really some people can't accept her because they are very sensitive to facial expressions. I was saying that she already had lot of good things with her to compensate, so most of us could be ignorant about her lack of expressions, some never realized it. It was just my opinion, not to argue with you or convince you to accept her character.

I read the novel while watching the drama but I can understand what you've said. I agree on this, the drama could have been a masterpiece if they followed the novel entirely. It's flawless for me. I liked some changes like highlighting Jin Yang and Ai
Jia's relationship tho. Still I can't deny that they've done a great job to the point I don't expect more than this from a novel adaptation. I loved even the smallest things like their costumes (mostly TY's), how they decorated ZGDX base, gaming competitions organization likewise..Idk why nobody is talking about OST!
I also loved their characters more in the novel mostly Lu Sicheng, Tong Yao too. Even Lu Yue. Idk however still I'm like I can't imagine those characters in the drama without the same cast. I do understand why you stress on TY... still I can't imagine someone better than CX for her. I can only think of someone like Zhao Lusi with a close appearance and talent but still I prefer CX. What I want to say is I think other things are equally as important as acting. I have dropped many dramas with great actors when they don't fit with the characters or when their chemistry was lacking. CX naturally had everything that suits with TY even a great chemistry with the ML, unfortunately people who are very sensitive to expressions can't seem to accept her. It's just so sad,

Best chapters started around 50, their relationship started around 90. I think it's good to read from the beginning bdw, you can skip if you get bored. I was thinking so but I ended up reading everything haha

Ikr, sometimes it feels like all the perfect actors, directors and script writers are in this comment section lol. Some people watch it just to collect all the negative points. I mean I also can talk about negative things if I want, no drama is perfect. But It's funny if I say such smallest things could ruin the feeling. There are so many good things to notice.

Another familiar face^^. Believe me there were people who joined MDL just to give it a bad rating and a negative comment. I don't know what's happening here. Why nobody is talking about it? I can't accept all the hate here, there are negative things to talk but how everyone is attacking the FL is funny. Even the positive comments don't give the feeling we used to have.

Yeah I know always there are people who love this drama. I knew how 'Smiling' came because I read the novel that's why I find it funny how people find reasons to criticise. And they are obviously doing it on purpose maybe influenced by 'haters'. I didn't go and attack anyone who comment just negative points. But everything shouldn't be ignored. Not because of my personal feelings, some people seem to use these platforms for ill intentions. I was being very reasonable. In China, E-sport fans started to attack it first about that issue you must know, and then they turned to attack the actress. I saw the same thing happen in international platforms too. There were no such criticisms here by the time I was watching it.

Yes I feel ya on this. it's sad but still good for them, at least they don't need to torment themselves,

I'm grateful to see one of those nice faces here.😉 I usually don't get involved with MDL comments but after FIYS I find myself too involved because there were really nice people and relatable comments instead of usual hate, and yes!! So many things have happened right😭 I'm like I want to go back in time and watch it again lol. Only somebody who has witnessed everything happened here can relate to this. I know what everyone of us is doing here,

The hate here seems to be infective, some people come here just to badmouth about the actress even before watching it!?  And it's all about the character name 'smiling' and the FL's smile LMAOO. I warn if there's somebody who hasn't been infected yet, before reading these comments. Because once you are exposed/infected you'll never be able to enjoy the drama like we did. All I can say is I'm glad I watched the drama in a less chaotic period. Because nobody was talking about such cheesy things like FL's smile and spreading hate but there were so many interesting things to talk about it. I really miss those conversations, how everyone was obsessed with it as much as me. Everyone was sharing the same thoughts in peace eagerly waiting for new episodes. I still couldn't move on from it so I find myself back in this page and hurt myself to see all the hate. Now it feels like a nightmare. Literally all the hate is about actress. Idk whether this is related to the issue in China or not¿ However this drama is a real proof inside and outside about what haters can actually do and how scary they really can be. One last thing: this drama is always going to receive exactly what it deserve, no matter what there will always be people who love this drama just like me. Even haters from China couldn't stop it.

Edit: everybody has the right to comment their openions even the criticisms, I never wanted to stop anyone from doing that. BUT YOU CAN'T EXPECT THE VIEWERS TO BE STUPID. When their is a controversy anyone has the right to point it out.