Sharlotka

No, I started when it came out but this week was a bit busy for me and between two airing dramas, I fell behind.

Cliff diving - good one!

Haha, good to know! I'm about to sleep but it means something for me to look forward to tomorrow <3

Well, I am trying to catch up with the episodes so a little binge is required lol

Episode 15

Oh my, Zhan Zhao fell from the cliff, oh no! What a tragedy! What's going to happen to him? After all, it only has 100% survival rate in C-dramas. At least some people are sensible enough to realise that no body = no certainty he's actually dead.

Zuo Ye spotted, yay! I'm not expecting him to have a big role here but I can't help hoping we may get to see him again if his character apparently is connected to Bai Yu Tang's past... I want to know what happened 15 years ago, too.

At least they answered my wondering about Zhan Zhao recognising Ding Yue Hua. It was nice to see.

I'm a little behind, only on episode 13 right now, but I wonder if Zhan Zhao isn't actually aware that he's interacting with Ding Yue Hua, and just acting as if he is oblivious... Her face is not even hidden all that well, and she's not trying to change her voice or anything. I just can't help finding it a bit of a stretch if he was to actually not recognise her at all just because of that little veil.

Not in that one, actually, at least not for the usual reasons (rival of ML, not getting the girl etc). If they do it well, it should actually be a pretty fun role because I've read the novel but I don't really want to go into details here for spoiler reasons and all :)

I would really love to see that, preferably in a regular-length drama. He got SML in a modern one that has finished filming not that long ago, so maybe, baby steps, there is some hope :)

I came to this drama just because of Zuo Ye, and I'm loving him here. I always love him, in any drama really, but Chen Xuanqing shows some of his best acting.

Also, I may be a bit biased obviously, but love your icon! :)

He's the only reason why this drama even landed on my list. I think my favourite role of his so far, outside of MJTY because I don't think anyone is going to beat Young Master Yue anytime soon, is in "Fated Hearts". And while not the best, I liked that "Back from the Brink" had him in a more comic relief role because it's so different than what he usually seems to do.

"Humans are blind" - well, you're clearly the best example of that. Noone here cares about your bs and somehow, you're still here, spamming the same thing over and over and over again as if that was going to achieve a different result than any time before.

Episode 8

With every episode, I'm loving Bai Yu Tang more and more. His smugness when he was asked if he just broke into the palace for the token made the answer very clear, although the actual reveal was surprising. The carving made me laugh so much. It was cute, though, I have to agree with that!

At first, I thought that Shao Ji Zu was just following orders, so it was interesting to see that he actually, 100% genuinely follows the guy with the full awareness of his plans. It's funny how they all still speak of Huo Linglong as his fiancee - just how do they imagine the marriage to work? Her being cuffed, chained and gagged to actually go through with it and not try to escape? Especially when she finds out the full truth about him.

Poor Zhan Zhao can't get a break from getting injured in all kinds of ways. But at least the trio has finally assembled, and I'm so excited for the next episodes.

Gu Lian is really something. She should hurry up and marry that guy she's engaged to, and be all sad and miserable for the rest of her life, getting her share of karma. The whole family is annoying, and one outdoes the other at that but I think she wins among them all.

It's always so amusing to me that the characters never recognise someone if they wear a veil, when it is the eyes that are usually the easiest way to recognise someone, or can't tell someone is a woman if they are pretending to be men even though their whole appearance is not masculine in the slightest. I'll choose to blame it on the ML being rather badly poisoned, and having other things on his mind at the time, but it's just always so funny to me.

Bai Yu Tang is very quickly becoming my favourite character in this one. He's so much fun, and Fang Yilun is so enjoyable to watch. I love how expressive this guy is. "You didn't ask?" just absolutely killed me lol

100% agreed. Personally, the lack of romance is actually making me more excited for this drama because it means it should focus more on friendship, etc.

I was waiting for Fang Yilun to show up, and so far I am not disappointed and loving his character, as well as the way he teases Zhan Zhao. A cat and a rat, that's quite funny, too. I am hoping they will have this friendly bantery-like relationship throughout the whole drama, it should be very enjoyable.

If you are not enjoying something, noone is chaining you down and forcing you to watch. Just put the drama in "Dropped" and move on, while the rest of us are going to enjoy the show.

A very interesting start. Definitely didn't expect the arm getting cut off in the opening scene. And the scene when she shows him the poster, claiming they're after her, only to herself see that it's actually his portrait was so funny. The plot so far definitely got my interest, too and the fighting scenes are enjoyable. The only question I have is - Fang Yilun, where are you?

After episode 13, I am getting so, so, so exhausted by the Gu family dynamics and drama. It's starting to get a bit boring. I'm so ready for this arc to be over, and for other plots to come in.

Episode 9

I have to admit, I am somewhat impressed by Chen Xuanqing, and how they – so far at least – appear to be avoiding the typical trope for a character in this kind of situation. It’s nice that they finally gave some explanation for the comment that was made about his father and how it could have an impact on him.

Pushing my shameless bias aside, I really like the fact that his whole interaction with Chen Yanyun about the arranged marriage wasn’t turned into a huge argument and a big scene. Perhaps it is my bad luck but it feels like whenever there is a situation like this, where a character has to consider their future and weigh feelings against reason, career and their position, they just announce that they don’t care about the latter and pursue love over anything. It might be the fact that I’m not a very romantic person, as well as the fact that as a viewer I know that he is doomed not to “get the girl”, I really like the fact that he actually seems to realise the position he is in and the impact it might have on his prospects for the future if he was to pursue love over everything. It might hurt but it is better in the long run. Big points for the screenwriters for going in that direction with this character, and I really hope there’s not going to be any sudden reverse courses.

Also, if anyone sees a pair of eyebrows floating somewhere in the sky, they are probably mine – unless they have already left the orbit. Dear Chen Yanyun, your idea for how to celebrate the success of collecting more money is very interesting, and certainly has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that it is exactly the kind of thing that Gu Jinzhao described she missed about Tongzhou. Very smooth my man, very smooth. Already a complete goner for her.

I’ve had a feeling for a while that the mother’s coughing and whole illness is no illness at all, but she is actually being poisoned by the Concubine and the maid. With the reaction the Concubine had to finding out the medicine being tampered with, I’m now leaning towards the maid working on her own but honestly… She’s got quite the nerve for a servant to be doing things like this on her own.

The scene in the water, though… They could have at least have her try to pretend that she was drowning. I just couldn’t help laughing.

You are raising my hopes for Gu Lan again. So far, I have been asking myself time and time again how she managed to grow up to be the only sensible person in the whole house, especially with the mother she has and I really, really, really wish they don't turn her unlikeable.

Chen Heyi doesn't compare to Winwin. Xia Jingshi is one thing but even in "Perfect Match", he somehow managed to be unlikeable and in my eyes, was the weakest of all MLs there. Ye Xian reminds me a lot about Yang Xian so far, I honestly can't decide which one of them is more annoying (at the beginning of their character arc, obviously). I am expecting a bit of redemption and growing up here, and I'm very curious where they are going to take his character. They can't suddenly, miraculously cure his heart condition (honestly, if they somehow did, it would be so weak unless there really was a good and elaborate plot behind it) so I am wondering how he might want to prove his worth.