Adnana

Was the FL/ML's relationship the same in the novel? Him always chasing her, she always pushing him away, then deigning to save him when he was in absolute mortal danger, but otherwise always choosing the six sects over him?
I particularly can't understand the FL's characterization in the past few episodes? If she loves the ML this much, then why did she break up irrevocably with him instead of trying to figure out a solution? And why act so hostile towards him when they met again 1 year later?

I think the FL 100% meant it as a break-up, the irrevocable kind (her flashback w/ her aunt as she's being whipped even implies she thinks she's loved the wrong person, but at the very least the disappearance of ML in her hallucination implies she's letting go of him). Which would explain why she's acting so distant and hostile towards him 1 year later.
Also, the ML seemed to have accepted the FL's decision to break up, that's why he didn't stop her 1 year before and asked that her name not be mentioned in the sect.

Was the FL's attitude the same in the novel? Always choosing the six sects over the ML, even after seeing so many examples of their bias and badness? I really can't understand her characterization these past few episodes. She confesses her love to the ML, then breaks up with him--not even in a "for now" manner, but irrevocably--and then acts downright hostile when meeting him again 1 year later? What is going on in her head?

In what teaser did the FL become involved in another arranged marriage?
And if what you think is true, i.e. that she didn't intend the break-up with ML as final and the end of their love, then why is she acting so mistrustful and downright hostile towards him after reuniting 1 year later? I genuinely can't understand the characterization in these past few episodes.

Is the FL/ML relationship different in the novel? Or is he just as scheming and she just as mistrustful of his motives, and always choosing her six sects over him?

I think they were together for 6+ years, then FL left him (not knowing he had just decided to marry her, because he loved her), then they reunited 3+ years later. So, while all of this spans a period of 10 years, the FL actually ended their situationship after 6 years (and she seriously tried to once before, but the ML sabotaged that).

Fan Bingbing's younger brother. She was probably the most famous C-actress (very well known internationally as well, for her red carpet looks) before her tax evasion scandal.

Thank you so much; yes, I want more spoilers. Namely, how long until ML/FL and SML/SFL officially start dating (episode-wise and age-wise--I suppose it's after they graduate from highschool?). Does the drama end with their wedding?

Off-topic, but can you please tell me about the romance in "Always Home"? I have this drama on my watchlist, but I hope it has at least as much romance as "When I Fly Towards You".

Since we're talking spoilers, please don't hold back. I'm confused after reading another comment--the main couple can't properly get married and have a HE in Joseon, and that's why there is an epilogue of them meeting again in modern times?

K-dramas in which the leads had no significant entanglement (one-sided or mutual) prior to the story's main/present timeline*:
1% of Anything
Business Proposal
Descendants of the Sun
I'm Not a Robot
My Girlfriend is a Gumiho
My Princess
Queen In-hyun's Man
The King 2 Hearts
The Princess' Man
And there are more.

*this rule leads to surprising disqualifications for dramas like City Hunter, Crash Landing On You, Healer, Marry My Husband, Secret Garden, The Beauty Inside, What's Wrong with Secretary Kim? (prior encounter); Legend of the Blue Sea, My Demon (past life entanglement)

In both dramas you mentioned, the leads had a super significant prior encounter (in childhood and teen age, respectively), and it completely colors the ML's attitude towards the FL as adults (the FL doesn't remember, though)

"40 episodes for our generation is for documentation purposes only, other drama always do this." [sic]
Isn't that, literally, what I said? "they just announce 40 episodes at first (since that was the upper episode cap permitted), and then adjust downwards as needed based on how many episodes they end up with after filming and editing"

"You're comment about NRTA approval is also inaccurate." [sic]
I apologize for any inaccuracies re:NRTA approval process. Please consider my comments "for reference purposes only" as I truly am not an expert in the inner workings of the NRTA.
It would be helpful, however, if you'd like to point out where exactly my comment was inaccurate, whether re:the preliminary review before filming permit or the final review before airing permit. Thank you.

I obviously can't vouch for the accuracy of the melons I read at the time, but I definitely saw some chatter, in the early-to-mid stages of the production, sourced from Chinese entertainment accounts, about "Our Generation" having 40 episodes.
An example here: https://x.com/ForCdrama/status/1930948545739210986
(the final line in the third table in the screenshot refers to 樱桃琥珀 aka "Our Generation").
It might simply be that you have more accurate sources, if you knew from the very start that the show would have 24 episodes, and that's great.

8 years? Wow. Thank you, I definitely won't waste my time w/ this novel.

Unless one can access insider knowledge from well informed C-netizens (and even then, the information accuracy can't be guaranteed!), it's impossible to speculate what may have been cut from a drama strictly because of the censors' final review. Since the preliminary script must already be approved by the censorship office before filming starts, it's unlikely that core story elements will need to be cut this late in the game (to the point of lowering the number of episodes), but if there's too much sexyness in the romantic scenes, that might still need to be toned down for the final edit (with a minimal impact on the runtime).
However, it needs to be said that many dramas start filming without firmly knowing how many episodes worth of material they will end up producing, so they just announce 40 episodes at first (since that was the upper episode cap permitted), and then adjust downwards as needed based on how many episodes they end up with after filming and editing. I think that's what they did, for example, with "Our Generation", where they initially announced 40 episodes but ended up with 24, and it was not because of cuts imposed by censorship as the story was just your run-of-the-mill youth romance, nothing offensive or controversial about it.

I live-watched "Amidst a Snowstorm", which I think enhanced my excitement during the watching experience, but I wasn't wowed in the least by "The Best Thing"--and it's rare to find someone who shares that feeling. I mean, it was fine as a slice-of-life or maybe a FL development drama, but as a romance, I honestly didn't find it satisfying at all. The FL spent the entire first half of the drama or more still in the shadow of her past relationship, even at one point (inadvertently) messing w/ the ML's head (kissed him, then rejected his love confession the next day); and the other half had FL's mom's cancer storyline and FL's study abroad storyline--the former a dose too much of realism, the latter a killjoy and ultimately pointless, because what was even the point of the FL furthering her studies in her field abroad when she just ended up switching to a different field after returning home?

Express episodes or express package is when the platform releases the final 4-5 episodes all at once, in advance, for VIP users or for users who paid extra for the express (depending on the platform).

Regarding your question about Ye Rong... I can't say for sure what will happen in the drama, as they made some changes from the novel. And I almost never say this, but they were good changes. For example, whether we agree with the FL on this or not, it was made explicit that she hadn't moved on from liking SML when the ML confessed to her, thus she rejected him. Well, in the novel, she then moved on at a pace so fast it seemed a bit out-of-character for her, without there being the more gradual, steady process shown in the drama of her consciously choosing to let the ML in while consciously working to erase all traces of SML in her life (note her decision to leave everything except her contact list on her old phone). The culmination of this was that, in the novel, the FL's decision to be with the ML really was on impulse, whereas in the drama it was a true commitment already--because it was made blindingly clear that, by the end of the Changbai Mnt trip (which didn't exist in the novel), she had fallen in love with the ML.
All in all, what I'm trying to say is that there are some changes from the novel, not in the overall frame but in the details, and with the FL/ML's relationship having developed in a slightly different way than in the novel, I don't think the drama needs Ye Rong to show up again. What happened in the novel, though, is that, after seeing she stood no chance with Zhuang Xu, she accepted her boss Sheng Xingjie's pursuit. She took their relationship seriously and wasn't mercenary in the sense of trying to guide him to buy her expensive things (she was always a proud girl, after all), but of course he was scum through and through and didn't take her seriously in return. The FL heard from the ML that Sheng Xingjie was also pursuing a rich girl for a well-matched marriage, and decided to warn Ye Rong, albeit anonymously. Ye Rong figured out that it was FL who warned her, and instead of being grateful, she took revenge on Sheng Xingjie in a manner designed so she'd screw him over without suffering any consequences herself, by passing the blame onto the FL. And she also told the FL that Zhuang Xu was the one who came up with the idea (this seemed to be a lie). Anyway, the FL was disgusted with them both, but at the same time took her own revenge on Ye Rong by making it clear that such petty tactics couldn't really hurt her, as she was backed by her high social class (which Ye Rong always envied the FL for).

ETA: Well, never mind that. I only just watched the preview for E31, and it seems Ye Rong is coming back, after all. That scene didn't happen in the novel, but I'm so excited drama viewers will get a chance to see such a cool "ML+FL" vs "Ye Rong+incompentent" showdown.

@Letsgochingu
I agree with you both that the drama didn't build the FL+SML's CP potential even half as well as the novel. Basically, the novel had a good third of the first volume dedicated to their ambiguous interactions in college, whereas the producers couldn't replicate this in the drama, where they got Song Weilong to star as the ML. As it was, many drama watchers complained that the ML only had a couple of scenes in the entirety of the first four episodes (and those scenes were created especially for the drama and didn't appear in the novel). This is a fun bit of trivia that you guys might not know, but back when the author wrote Volume 1, in the long decade before she finally wrote Volume 2 and finished the story, the readers were left to speculate who would actually be the FL's final OTP. It really wasn't clear-cut that Lin Yusen would be it, though I do think that a greater part of the readers preferred him for the FL. But no matter who we shipped the FL with, all of us novel fans wanted to understand what was going on in the SML's mind, and what misunderstandings could have been between them for things to turn out that way in their final year of college. It was so clear to me that the SML liked her back then and even planned for a future with her, and I knew that the author had used this character archetype in another novel of hers (Silent Separation/My Sunshine) as the ML who was the college sweetheart from a poor background, whom the wealthier FL liked first and pursued dauntlessly. But I was only able to see through Zhuang Xu's full complexity and struggle with himself after reading the additional story at the end of Volume 2.
Anyway, without all that background that the novel fleshed out but the drama did not, the SML in the drama became someone difficult to understand and nearly impossible to root for as the FL's romantic partner. As for the FL being hung up on the SML for so long--novel readers filled in lots of blanks to fully empathize with this, while pure drama watchers will have to chalk it up to FL's steadfast character and loyal attitude toward love (both familial and romantic). She is someone who doesn't change easily, and once she developed true feelings for someone (no matter whether her reasons for doing so were sound or not), those feelings would be very hard to let go of. Lin Yusen got really lucky that the SML never extracted a true promise or commitment from the FL (by being upfront about his feelings, or at least making it clear he was never in a relationship with Ye Rong), otherwise the FL would have stayed loyal to him for far longer than 1 year, no matter how badly he treated her.