NOYBA

While I still like the show, it is pretty disappointing that one of the most prominent BL series doesn't promote healthy gay relationships and accurate representations of a same-sex relationships. True, based on the past seasons honestly they were mostly for entertainment value. But this trifecta of problematic BL devices are a bit much: step-brother love, rape being used as a casual plot device, and top/bottom discussions still being a thing to joke about.

I honestly wasn't feeling this at all when I saw the trailer and read about it. But started watching it when I was bored and was totally hooked! Hella good, and really original characters. Both Si Teng's badassness while still being very feminine, and QF's subservience while still being very masculine. Cannot wait for more eps with subs :D

I agree with your comment a lot, the drama is interesting but not wow so far. I also think the language mix isn't problematic at all. It is used very dynamically and realistically. Also, I think that its good to practice hearing imperfect English. For me a language annoyance is when the English is straight up terrible and just used as a "coolness" factor. Here, it isn't bad and used in a realistic way so I kind of like it.

Great news for me then :D sometimes it is tricky to know what will happen next, and I can't understand mandarin basically at all so I don't get the nuances when I watch ahead. Will look at ep.12 thoroughly

Haha, well said - there really are dumb FL and then there are dumb dumb FL xD I also cannot handle the dumb dumb ones

Please mark this as a spoiler :)

When I first started watching this one of the draws was that neither ML were do gooders but instead basically murderers for their objectives. So this latest ep 11 really bums me out when it seems like ZZS is going to be a "good" character who "rehabilitates" WKX...

1) Boring, 2) Done a lot before, 3) Out of character - I mean, why does ZZS feel entitled to judging WKX's actions? He has no idea of the backstory behind WKX actions and I mean.... In the first episode ZZS slaughtered a whole family just to help his power crazy master. So his moral outrage towards WKX's actions are kind of hypocritical. 4) While I didn't love the novel it was pretty good so far, and a part of that was due to ZZS's apathy and their relationship being of two sympathetic souls who understood and accepted each other. The route the show is going is really undermining their relationship.

Honestly, if this turns into ZZS having a boss-fight with WKX to stop his "evil actions for the good of the world" I'm gonna stop watching.

So as expected the husband cheated and they divorced. But I honestly think it wasn't cheating as much as he was actually raped. I mean, he was 100% knocked out from drinking and nothing in his actions indicated he had any intentions of sleeping with the woman, his reaction the morning after indicated he remembered nothing.

Usually when they portray a husband cheating due to alcohol its portrayed as him loosing his mind from drinking but at least making a decision to do it due to being swept up in the moment. But Yao Ping's character has been built up really well as a very nice and loyal guy - so it really hurt my heart that his entire life (wife and his family) was ruined because someone took advantage of him. I hope they get back together in the end - at first I wasn't rooting for them but now I feel like he deserves a happy ending.

Its weird how 6 years is such an issue for the family when it comes to the younger brothers relationship. Their like: "Oh, yes now its ok but what about in 10 years!". But... I mean come on, he's like 30 (?) now and she's 36 then. So in 10 years he's 40 and she's... 46. Wow what a big problem.... not.

The whole forcing couples apart for superficial reasons really rubs me the wrong way in a lot of asian dramas. I get that its for drama (and sometimes realistic) but just let people love who they wanna love and live the life they wanna live.

Often when they say "just thinking for your sake" there is a definite ambiguity there. Maybe they are thinking for the other persons sake, but not from their perspective. If you don't look at the issue in the other person's shoes and from their perspective your thinking is pointless. Happiness and success is very subjective so just pushing someone onto a generic "success path" might be well intended but lead to horrible consequences. For some success is a great family living in the countryside with little extra money but great happiness. For some success is being the CEO of a great company. For some it is having a fantastic career AND a great family. So if you really want to think for someone else's sake first you need to figure out where they are coming from.

Fantastic review! I haven't watched the movie yet but I feel like you are spot on!

Nubsib being a rentboy would be a kind of brave step for the writers to take given the feel of this show. My assumption was based on the plot summary and the feel of the characters and plot definitely that Nubsib convinced Tum help him stay with Gene. Tum's and Nubsib's interactions while trying to convince Gene weren't exactly subtle.

I find it kind of sweet how Nubsib is basically Gene's muse. The muse is such a prevalent feature in art over history, so although they don't quite frame it that way in the series that's how I see their relationship.

I kind of feel sorry for the youngest daughter for feeling so bad about causing her brother trouble. Yet I have a hard time empathizing fully with her - why the hell did she think it was a good idea to use her brother's name to get into the conference at his workplace and then cause a fuss? Even if the brother hadn't hit the guy he would have gotten in trouble for letting her in to cause trouble. If my sibling did that at my workplace I'd friggin kill them.

Otherwise looking forward to what will happen next - and find out the cause of the eldest daughter's divorce.

Well, that's a relief - I'm probably gonna skip but if I ever get the idea to try it again maybe I'll just flash forward until she gets some smarts.

Yeah, her moral character isn't that great and she really made a mistake in allowing herself to be the concubine. ML's first wife who schemed so that happened was wise to make such a move even if it angered the ML.

Spot on, she really isn't seeing clearly at all. Doesn't understand the ML, and doesn't understand that tactics needs to be modified depending on you goal. Perhaps if she just wants power her current tactics is passable but she want the ML and the means she is using right now is just driving him further away.

I agree, the actress is good, I think she plays the "evil concubine" character very well.

Haha, yes she is totally delusional overall - it is so clear the ML has 0 interest in her yet she talks a big game about making him fall in love. Good luck with that when you're that shallwow. Its like the ML's first wife who died said: sincerity is no guarantee for a good ending. I'm looking for ward to the next episodes as well, this show turned out better than I expected.

For me it was actually episode 10 (?) which made me pity her finally. The way she was so happy about that fabric and then her husband totally shot her down. I mean, she absolutely deserved it but it was just so pitiful the way she just did not understand what was happening. Her reality and his just did not match at all, and I feel like she was a sad person. I think I just feel strongly for people when they get wounded by failed expectations. Though... probably not going to pity her for much longer considering that she'll probably get way worse from now on.

I kind of pity concubine Qiao, I mean she is definitely a scheming character who will do a lot of bad things. However, I pity her for being so wrong from the start in liking the ML. They are just very incompatible people with different point of views, so her struggle is doomed to fail from the get go. So she sacrificed her whole life for nothing. Additionally her maid is really giving her horrible advice and egging her on in going on the wrong path. I think given the ML's character he is at least fair, so if she just behaved herself and "knew her place" (hate that expression) he would have eventually softened and felt bad for her so at least given her a chance for a child. Now she's just driving herself into a corner.

I don't think the sound is weird however I agree that sometimes it seems like it isn't synced that well. For me it got better after a few episodes, maybe I was wrong, they fixed it or I got used to it.