L13

Wait, LWJ was supposed to be the MC? lol that would have been such a mistake!

I did think to myself at the beginning of the drama that LWJ had the background of the typical wuxia MC (talented yet naive young martial artist leaves their sect for the first time to get stronger and be acknowledged in the jianghu and stumbles upon political intrigues/old family secrets/new friends/enemies on their journey), so I was very glad that this time around he would be the MC's friend only and the actual protagonist was much smarter, cooler and more interesting.

This drama would be 10x less interesting if it was about LWJ... and I actually like him! It's just that the same qualities that make him a fun supporting character (his obliviousness to what's going on around him, his pure heart, his silly crush, his directness, etc.) would make him a tedious and frustrating main character. The story that can be told about XS (and through XS's more critical and observant eyes) is much more interesting.

There are male friendships if that's what you mean by bromance. Also several romantic subplots between men and women.

I can't believe that fucking turtle is going to be the key to the whole plot lmao

The post here introduces the character of Mo Yi, supposedly the strongest martial artist in the jianghu:

https://kisskh.at/discussions/shao-nian-ge-xing/83611-airing-calendar

This isn't a character we've met yet, but the description says he's the person who will cure Xiao Se/Xiao Chuhe. So the martial art Xie Xuan left him that would take three years to complete and restore only part of his previous power isn't how XS is going to recover his martial arts.

My theory is that he'll do the thing his master warned him not to do, which is access his peak power briefly and put his life in danger, and Mo Yi, who happens to be around at that time, will save XS's life and fix his meridians.

Oh, thank you very much! In that case, I have a spoiler-y theory that I'll leave as a reply to this comment:

Wait, what was the name of the scholar swordsman who gave them the books at the end of the festival? I’m trying to check something, but I can’t find it anywhere.

If you look at pictures of her from 10 years ago, she looked like a student then. She looks like an adult woman now. The difference is obvious.

I know Prince Rong's death is very sad and it's inappropriate of me to laugh at it, but the way it was presented was so darkly funny. With the bumbling, cowardly Prince Fu dwelling on his childhood fears and jumping at the shadows in his memory to the point of responding to an actual child's innocent play by lashing out physically... and then actually killing him by accident and making everything so much worse for himself.

There are no officials in the Chinese imperial state model who AREN'T corrupt by modern standards. And they're all assholes who torture people, perpetrate social injustice and enrich themselves off the backs of peasants through trade monopolies, bribes and land tenure. If I have to watch stories about people like that, I don't want them to be ruthless murderers on top of everything else.

Do you people never get tired of hating women

I don't think murder is likeable.

She looks her age, not 20. She looked 20 when she was 20; look up older pictures of her to see the difference.

I’m not calling her ugly or a hag. She’s a beautiful young woman. She’s just not the right age for this role.

lol exactly, it's so textbook!

I'm loving all the babies raging that Uk and Buyeon are falling in love before they know she's Naksu after those people all claimed the drama would resolve the amnesia plot immediately lmao. Like, it was obvious from THE FIRST EPISODE that what the Hong sisters are going for in this season is the idea of fated lovers ending up together even when they can't recognise each other and the whole world is conspiring to keep them apart. OF COURSE they're gonna confirm each other's feelings before they confirm Buyeon's real identity because their love is the more important of the two. In other words, they're not gonna reveal Buyeon's identity as Naksu until Uk chooses Buyeon over Naksu, sorry.

Also the amnesia device is a vehicle for Uk's angst and resistance to the pull of true love, which is, again, pretty much a staple romantic trope in this kind of story.

I'm not even gonna address all the nonsense about him cheating on a dead woman because that's crazy talk.

I thought it was insane to have a 31yo play a high schooler too, but I don’t really care because I dropped 2521 after the first episode.

> He doesn't feel anything for her yet, except for sympathy and the fact that they share a similar fate; both should not exist in this world.

Yes, he clearly does lol. You're writing fanfiction in your head.

I think it's pretty obvious they're setting up Uk and Buyeon/Naksu's relationship BEFORE revealing her identity. So we'll probably see some of what you're talking about. The issue is that this season is only 10 episodes long and there's politics and stuff to cover, so they'll have to rush through the romantic storyline.

7-8 IMO.

I also found her intervention really annoying (and yes, they made her that way for the plot; although I never liked her in S1, she was more respectful of Uk's boundaries) and can't wait to see her put in her place, but I can also see why she would be more hostile to Buyeon than to Mudeok. After all, Uk and Mudeok liked each other first, so she felt like an intruder in their relationship, but from her perspective Buyeon is a random hanger-on and she 'deserves' Uk more because she's liked him longer. (She almost says this word for word.)

A very immature contribution to today's episode and I hope she won't take up too much screen time with this nonsense.

For the drama, of course!