thequeenofhopes

Do you have a link to the English translation of the novel? If so, could you please share it?

It's *so* worth it!! :)

No worries! Trigger Warning: Sexual Assault by a side character in an episode in the latter half of The Autumn Ballad

TW for the Autumn Ballad: SA by a side character in an episode in the latter half of the drama

A Dream of Splendor - historical; one of my absolute faves! Couple of smart and strong FLs, plus a third who learns from them how to grow into her own version of strength.

Jun Jiu Ling - historical; FL is not martial arts strong, but she's a clever and resilient princess in hiding who rebuilds her own life from nothing

Legendary Life of Queen Lau - historical; not strong like bad-ass, but strong like resilient and no-nonsense: the woman knows what she wants and GOES FOR IT

The Killer Is Also Romantic - historical/martial arts; for a mini drama (12-min eps), this is delightful. A CP truly in love, but also each with their own secrets to hide. The FL has bad-ass assassin skills.

This is my favorite—I'd greenlight the script based on this scene alone. 😂

Sure, no worries—to each their own. :)

Hidden Love!!!!! It is not only my favorite of 2023, but may be my new all-time favorite C-drama. Highly, *highly* recommend!

The second drama you mention is Y-Destiny (2021)—eps 13-14 is that story! :)

That's defo NOT the case in the webtoon!! So sad they're adding this bs extra that only makes things worse.

It's a remake of Rich Man/Rich Man, Poor Woman. Secret Life of My Secretary has a similar plot device and set-up, but in that one the secretary is a longer-term employee, not a new employee, and she also tricks her boss by pretending to be someone else for a while. Also, the best friend dude conflict isn't the same in SLoMS.

It *is* a remake of Rich Man/Rich Man, Poor Woman. Secret Life of My Secretary has a similar plot device and set-up, but in that one the secretary is a longer-term employee, not a new employee, and she also tricks her boss by pretending to be someone else for a while.

Lovely Writer The Series

The ending of the Korean version is far and away superior. This ending is...no. No, thank you. Just NO.

I cannot remark on this without comparison to the Korean original, which remains one of my all-time faves, so: This drama is surprisingly faithful to its source material. The plot, dialogue, and flow are like a pared-down, sped-up version of all the key moments in the K-drama. Acting is pretty good, and the leads actually look similar to the Korean leads they're based on, even taking on some of the same mannerisms. Is it perfect? No. This is a mini drama, so sometimes things feel a little rushed. Regardless, I thoroughly enjoyed this version of the drama, all the way up until—as many others have stated—that last danged episode.

Ending of the Korean version is SO MUCH BETTER!!!

Unfortunately, for every excellent drama, the bottom level of the standards chart keeps falling ever-lower with new dramas that are somehow increasingly terrible. (Looking at you, "Unforgotten Night.") Which means that even a mediocre drama—such as this one—looks "cute" in comparison, rather than "cringe beyond what we can stand." It's not that "Future" is decent—it's that our bar for "acceptable" keeps dropping. 😅🫣🫠

If you like Peng Xiao Ran, check out the drama "Jun Jiu Ling" - it became a surprise favorite of mine when I started it out of boredom a few months back, and she's phenomenal in it!

According to the top reviews, no. (I'm only halfway through now. :)

No, the romance is much secondary to the criminal profiling and catching. It's nicely built-in, but not primary. :)