SD1D Enthusiast

Exactly, like he was leagues beyond everyone else both as a well developed character and as a love interest; he was basically writing his own fantasy epic. it wasn't even a competition because he had taken himself out of the race for her hand in the first place. If he'd ever actually tried to go for her heart instead of focusing on his revenge, none of the others would have stood a chance.

oh, nah, LYF was way more heated and crazy, partially because Xiang Liu just outclassed every other ML by miles and miles. Meanwhile, here, the male leads are pretty well developed equally, so people would rather root for a harem lol.

I will always maintain them giving up on each other was hamfisted to the extreme lol. All it would take was a little courage and communication, it was by no means impossible even though the author framed it that way last minute once the readers voted on changing the ML.

It just leaves a bad taste in my mouth, u kno? Because it's a common pattern I see in many stories nowadays, not just in the c-industry. Male leads who treat the FL like absolute shit and yet when FL is reborn, she has selective amnesia or ignores everything they did to her and cares for them anyway. Obviously, others don't think the same way I do since this is a very popular trope, but that's how it is for me. I think most women would never be able to look at their rapist or their jailer with anything even closely resembling love, unless they had stokholme syndrome, even if it was in a "second chance" lifetime where those crimes hadn't happened yet, because just because it didn't happen in this universe, doesn't mean the FL doesn't have memories of it happening to her.

I understand why others don't find it troubling, it's just a story, after all. However, whenever authors handwave that away and still present those MLs in a romantic light, it just feels like they're reducing the gravity of those actions and it doesn't sit right with me personally.

you are right and there's def a layer of internalized misogyny at play in those kind of comments here

I disagree. If someone, even in times of hardship, ends up raping and torturing others, then that means they were capable of that all along. Many people go through horrible things, and not all of them become sadistic rapists. Raping someone is a choice, not a need. Hence, why I have a lot of misgivings with this author and how she handled the matter of rape (both the rapist Yan Lin and the enabler XW) and whitewashed their responsibility in the matter during the 2nd life. It's extremely unrealistic, too, that JXN doesn't display trauma over it. The author lacks understanding towards female victims of abuse. I'm not the only one who thinks this; many chinese readers have mentioned it as well.

Also, I think the idea that Yan Lin raped JXN because she pushed him to become like that is an extremely dangerous message.

It's Peeta...not Peter lol XD

And that's the thing though, he DID do something dishonourable in his last life, and he took all the punishment for it on to himself. He ZZ is a survivalist too; his father left them, his mother and him starved and were in poverty, he fought his way into becoming what he is now. Also, JXN did not grow up with no love. She was raised by someone who did love her, even though she turned out not to be her real mother.

Could JXN be herself with ZZ? The answer is yes, but of course, she has to first let go of the idea that she is unworthy of him. ZZ himself says in the novel that witnessed and saw all of her misdeeds, but he fell in love with all parts of her anyway. Because her flaws were part of what made her shine so brightly, he called her a "vibrant flame." He says, "there are many women in this world with good intentions, intentions better than you, but I have not fallen for any of them." He instead chose to fall for her, and accepted her with her flaws.

The problem here is just a lack of communication because they never had a chance to actually talk about this openly and so JXN mistakenly believes that ZZ wouldn't like those parts of hers, when the opposite is probably true, as it is what attracted him to her in the first place.

When you say they are cut from the same cloth and that's why they should be together, I always think of Katniss in the hunger games because I feel like the love triangle there has parallels to this story.

"That what I need to survive is not Gale's fire, kindled with rage and hatred. I have plenty of fire myself. What I need is the dandelion in the spring. The bright yellow that means rebirth instead of destruction."

I think JXN already has plenty of ruthlessness inside of her, but what she yearned for was the "warmth in the snow" and "lamp in the dark room," all phrases she used to describe ZZ. So I have to disagree with that line of thinking, I think two people cut from different cloths can give each other what they are lacking. Just my opinion :)

I don't think he should do things for heinous reasons; he's a principled man. But he is also very stubborn and that stubborness cost him his life. Learning to be a little flexible and shrewd in doing things while still maintaining his character would be an asset. I think in his second life, he had already started along that path with the way he manipulated the dowager's case.

I gotta disagree with this lol bc ZZ got his hands willingly dirty for JXN in his past life. if they were together, we would get the corrupting of ZZ even further, because he can be quite sly when he has to be.

I can't w yall trying to make the biggest green flag of this drama seem sus when ppl who actually participated in torturing FL repeatedly (Yan Lin and XW both) exist

omg i loved Di Mou and i checked the dramalist page to see the cast, but it looks too good to be true !

rebirth of a star general!

The Grand Princess is one of my all time faves and I'm very nervous over how they'll adapt it

I think if ZZ has a flaw it's that he is too stubborn and takes all the responsibility on to himself. If he learned to bend a little and not be so harsh on himself, give himself grace, then a lot of things would have been different. His stubborness makes him enemies and ultimately costs him what he loved the most

this is one point im glad you brought up bc I really do feel like zhang zhe and JXN may have been different, but they complemented each other well and gave each other's lives something that they were lacking. Kind of like, they completed each other?

he stays forever alone and XW continues to think of him as a rival even when they have kids LOL. XW's son really likes ZZ and XW gets jealous of even that.

I think it's so dumb tho, like hasn't the man suffered enough? let him find love in his reborn life, author. Now I understand all those transmigration novels where FL is a reader who gets pissed off that the 2nd male lead gets the fate of forever loneliness no matter how much they do for the FL because they weren't assigned the ML role, and ends up transmigrating to the book to fix it.

It's common consensus among cnetz that if zhang zhe had not let it be known that he had his memories of the past life and by doing so basically reject her (to protect her from guilt), then FL would not have looked at anyone else in her life. she believes that her heart is full of dust and cold, but that zhang zhe is the last bit of sincerity and warmth left in her. before she knew, she was wholly committed to being with him and chasing after him.

that is not to say she doesn't grow to love xie wei in the end. after all, they get married and have kids, they have their own special dynamic and spend a life together. but xie wei is not the person who she calls "her warmth on a snowy day" or "her light in a dark room," or who she thinks that she would go through a "sea of fire" for. so like, it's up to your own interpretation, but reading her thoughts and feelings, it's pretty clear to me what the answer to that is.

oh you GET me, the evil empress v the righteous minister dynamic is so hot idk i just love it.

also omg I need you to please make that art!! please the world needs it!

If I write anything or find any fanfics for you to MTL, I'll send it your way :)

I responded w my ideas to sakie up above in the same thread chain, lemme kno what you think and if you have any of your own :)