ShortCircuit

Without the "good friend" shield though - Tai isn't putting him down. He's providing the other party's POV in a safe environment, where Wayu is able to come up swinging if he needs to. He's well aware of how society works - let's not pretend love conquers all - and is practically giving Wayu a vaccine against hearing the same things from someone he's hoping NOT to hear them from.

Each of them comes with family baggage - now imagine the distinguished over-straight-laced family sitting at family reunions with Wayu's gambling-addicted mother. And neither wants to give up their family, rightfully so - you take love where you can get it. There ARE things that will come between them if they're not strong enough or willing to fight for it. (And Krit made unilateral decisions that he's not going to fight his father over keeping their relationship, so it's not even in the word-preparation stage anymore, Krit took actual action about it).

I don't like over-idealistic lost stories between Cinderellas and princes. I think the writing is good enough on that part. The fighting scenes and how they came about, though... I could have words about those, LOL.

Puss-in-Boots making those big eyes :D

Bullets do bounce around if they hit the body at some funny entry point, so his spine could have been affected, not a lot. That's how I think they imagined it could go. Though - against that explanation - that was a ridiculously low caliber (toy) pistol, it's a mystery the bullet didn't expire on the 3-meter journey to Krit's side, LOL, more even less chance it wouldn't just die on impact and never scratch his skin hahaha~

Anyway, that's what suspension of disbelief is for.

Watch the Special Edition - the ending of the last ep is the originally intended ending sequence. Then they decided some mind-f!ck was in order and made it a bit more ambiguous (though I think it's pretty clear anyway).

For the drama, I like the original drama's ending, twist and all, but yeah, the novel's ending is the canon and it's never going to be anything else for the two of them.

Only 15 eps left, I am not ready to let go yet.

This was such a throwback to the final eps of MSI, LOL. Gangster armed shooting ML - check, hospital stay until dad mellows a bit about the relationship - check, whole family pitching in so that the ML and MC find love - check.

I didn't get how a side-wound would lead to him needing to learn to walk again, but we'll pretend the bullet bounced around inside as they do sometimes and did some damage.

The balcony scene would've made a whole different impact if there was an orange cat there, too LOL. Such a Romeow+Juliet show-stealer hahaha~

(For anyone not knowing, look up Izmir Romeo and Juliet ballet cat :D ETA nevermind, here it is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3oK7w8Mw3I )

Let's promote Tai as Dr. Love. He has all the insights and the answers LOL.

I've grown really tired of ambiguous or unexplained endings.

The thing I appreciated most is the ED song.

If they have the general set of rules for palace women as most all costume dramas, a palace lady wouldn't have had the right to marry right off anyway. And if he did respect her, he wouldn't have had a son with her outside of marriage. This guy is simply a snake.

That part, at least he was fighting for his life, so it made sense. But I wonder at lil' bro's reaction. He seems to have actually liked his older step-bro.

But the Dowager is three steps ahead of him, she obviously would have known QC was a son of the house, even if illegitimate. What would the Marquis win by stating it? Like... she already KNOWS he had his own son killed.

Is he actually that stupid?!

Wait, don't answer. If he really is that stupid, then the Ding Mansion tragedy is even more tragic - like, seriously, to be brought down by an idiot HAS to hurt more than being defeated by someone who actually knows what they're doing...

Four. One from the prison guards, three at close range from his father's assassin. Last three in the vicinity of his sternum. Let's hope that guy is also incompetent and missed all vital organs.

I'd LOVE to see little legitimate brother go all up in arms against his father because he thinks he had his bro killed. I really think Qin Cang isn't dead - maybe Miss Lin is treating him to save his life. I want to believe, LOL.

SOOOO! Mawwage. Mawwage is wot bwings us togeder... tooday

It totally happened. Let's see a new heir in this mansion, shall we.

I like how the Senior Bro stopped taking her word for it and went to check on Lishan. Who's with me in that they were all probably killed 8 years ago in that place and that the Dowager put the guard on it so nobody ever learned that? So Ye Li might've been alone for 8 years in that place, having to do everything by herself, all alone with the owls and monkeys and the darkness and the rest of it all.

I didn't quite get what Marquis Muyang implied about Qin Cang being actually Zhou Lang. Is he a princely lost relative or what? So is he NOT Muyang's actual son?!

LOL, "you're an assassin, where's your ambition??"

That's precisely the kind of pep-talk she'd give hahaha~

100 gold taels that I don't have that Qin Cang isn't done yet. No body, no death is the rule.

It's based on the same novel series. It's even in the drama description (and it's title in Chinese).

I don't think 36 eps are enough for Saiunkoku Monogatari...

Agree on Smeagol LOL, he even has the colouring for it :D

I did tear up myself because I can put myself in Pete's place a few times in the episode.

Anyway - the most important part for me was that they stayed true to the characters they set up in the eps before. Pete is clueless but all heart and will try and try again and when he fails, he'll get up and try yet again to do something. Niran is (or maybe was, we'll see) a cynical observer, uninvolved in the world around him and with no set goal for his life other than existing. He IS the butterfly for most of his life.

So to see them bond even closer, close enough to save the both of them from the void, is emotional. Or it is to me anyway.

I mean, it doesn't need to induce tears in every watcher, LOL. But it does have depth. Particularly for these two characters. Both are stubborn, but while one is stubborn to do something, the other is stubborn NOT to do anything. And yet they manage to communicate and share a hope for the future.

It's truly poetic to me, particularly given the parable they used. ZhuangZi's parable of the butterfly is truly bothersome, just as much as Plato's allegory of the cave. Both deal with the nature of reality and our perception of it and if you try thinking too long about what's implied there, they're both kind of disturbing for one's peace of mind, LOL. And kind of different, though using some similar imagination twists - Plato argues that there are true and false states, and that one should strive for the absolute truth of reality and ZhuangZi aims to show that both sides of the same reality can be true in their own right - well, I hope I'm not twisting it too much and that this still makes sense, LOL. And THEN you throw in the Cartesian Doubt, and you get really mind-boggling results. (And THEN you get Descartes' Cogito Ergo Sum philosophy base hahaha~) okay enough philosophy for now.

Anyway, most of us get philosophical from time to time and go from (what am I doing in this world/life/time) through (who am I really, deep inside my own true self), (am I good, am I bad, am I virtuous or am I evil *according to one's own moral rules*), to (what do I want to do with my life) etc - and Niran's at a crossroads where he doesn't want to do anything anymore, had no goals and doesn't even want to survive any more. (Another dark place I suspect most of us went through at least once in our lifetimes.) So Pete goes to GIVE him a goal - Niran doesn't have to live for himself, if he doesn't have it in him for now, but he COULD live on for Pete's sake. Because Pete CARES.

So yeah. Everybody would love to see that kind of care in their dark time. Even if it's annoying, to actually realise someone else other than yourself does care and wants you in their lives, even if you're lost and despairing - that's an amazing setting and they did do it well.

But again, it's not an automatic reply-asking part, LOL. If it works, it works. If not... well, that's just how it is.

So I was right :D