grapejuice

Did I understand the whole thing wrong? It's been a while since I saw it but I thought he had changed destiny. He grasped the situation. He became self aware and changed himself for love. And in the end he saw and pursued the only possible solution so that he could save everyone even though the overall situation was impossible. He sacrificed himself so that everyone else would live. So, he couldn't change peoples expectations of him. They thoroughly believed that he was evil. He couldn't change what they did to him and the position that put him into. But he could change where he took it and that's what he ended up doing for love. The tragedy is that, in the end, he had to die in order to prevent the 'apparently' inevitable outcome that people had pushed him to. So he definitely changes his destiny and as a kind of linchpin player, he changes everyone else's destiny too. Which meant, for me, that the story was about the way that people's treatment of others ... their prejudices ... their low expectations ... their cruelty ... create terrible situations where someone will end up doing bad stuff in response, even though that need not have happened. We can help others to become villains or heroes depending on the situations we make for them. The person they all expected to be a villain could end up being one ... or not ... depending on whether just one person showed him love. Love redeemed him. It changed him. But it didn't save him because he couldn't change the beliefs that other people had about him. Even the FL, who loved him, couldn't get beyond what she expected him to become. She didn't fully see that the perception was wrong and the end result was not inevitable. She didn't fully see that he was essentially good until he was sacrificing himself at the end. At least that's how I remember it. Now I'm going to have to do a rewatch and spill all those tears again. LoL. See what you've done to me? omg :-)

LoL. Shakespeare seemed to get the balance right in his day I guess. But isn't it the basic problem of all creatives? To suit themselves and/or do original things that don't make money and may even alienate the audience or make money by giving the people exactly what they want even though it's already been done to death by others? Or put a different way ... be a free but starving artist or be a sell out with money? I'm afraid I've gotten to the point where I'm leaning more towards favoring things I may not like but haven't seen before.

Haha. I can root for the FL getting what she wants and not getting hurt. And if the writers change her feelings I can root for that too. It's not you writing the story. So you can go write fan fic to make the story exactly the way that you want it to be or you can sit back to see what happens. Not every audience member wants to see exactly what you want to see. There is no one right way to write it. So, I'm content to root for the FL as well as the ML and recognize that the characters wishes may not always align with each other. That might end up being more interesting or at least more unique. So, in the end, if only the FL gets what she thinks she wants, I'm ok with that. Chances are that, if you're patient, the story will change her motivations and desires. Just relax and see what happens or how it happens or switch to another drama that moves faster. I never understand why viewers don't get the reality of dramas ... that we aren't writing them ... we're watching ... and we aren't the only one. You may not end up liking it. Like I said, there is no one way. So, watch another where the writer is writing exactly what you want to see.

Why not marry him for her own reasons? He agreed with full knowledge.

So I get that this is your opinion and you have a right to it ...but you know its not the only one right? People in real life don't have to conform to your wishes and values and the writers don't either. The writer is telling their story and it doesn't have to be the one that you want to see.

She married him because the marriage wouldn't last long but you're expecting her to change the deal and fully invest herself in a love that will end. Why would she change? And why would she decide to take on the hurt that would come with his death if she stopped putting distance between them. She's maintaining the deal and her promises. And it's self preservation too. It would be just as fair to ask why he would want it to change and why we would want her to change? He wants love. We want it for him. But if he and we really loved her, we wouldn't want her to suffer more than she already will. No?

I don't think coldness and a business attitude or warmth and love should be a gender thing in marriage. If someone makes you an offer or a promise and you accept it, you then have a deal and you shouldn't expect more. So many people in the comments are expecting more from the FL than she promised. Hoping for more is a human failing but it's not fair to ask of people more than they promised to deliver. Marriage is a deal between two people and every couple's balance is their own. That's life. The two leads made a deal that may change over time. It might change to include more demonstrable love. But it might not. If it does, then it's a new deal. Real life works this way too. We may judge other people's marriage deals but we don't have enough information to really understand them and we ultimately don't have the right to pass judgement on them if they're different than what we expect to see. So, I don't think we should be so hard on the FL in this drama. Expecting women to always be the warm and more loving partner isn't fair or realistic. This FL knows what she needs and wants and has been fully honest about it from the beginning.

I think you aren't somebody who can get past sloppy, absolutist, immature thinking so I'm not going to spend any more time trying to help you understand that the world in your imagination isn't what we call reality. Good luck with your life's learning curve. Maybe you'll even get a job, understand the work world and make it to the ripe old age of 28 some day.

Good luck to him. Hopefully he can get on with his life, the dead can rest in peace and the guilty will be punished. These kinds of accusations belong in courts of law where victims can properly allege real crimes. Onlookers can then wait and watch while evidence is shared and the accused can get a fair trial with a real opportunity to defend themselves. Once that's done the way it's supposed to be done ... we should all move on. He's proven that he was targeted unfairly by people who made serious money attacking him. The party who was certainly guilty of a crime is being dealt with. Now the victims can move on. And, hopefully, some netizens will learn to hold judgement rather than ruin someones' life without due process and examined evidence. You don't do any real victim any good in this world by rushing to convict everyone who has been accused. Hear both sides. Honour and defend real victims. Don't make them look questionable by automatically believing every story and rumour that goes viral. Let them speak, be heard, prove their truth and see real justice being done.

So far it's a marriage in name only. They're actually friends who are looking out for each other at this point. Very platonic. Very supportive, green flag stuff from a ML who wants for the FL whatever she wants for herself.

Get your terms right. pedophilia involves adults who have sexual fantasies, or worse, about prepubescent children; 11 years and younger. This, on the other hand, was a highly monitored workplace situation where a professional actor who has been working for many years landed what is the best role of her career to date. The story being acted out is fiction; not real. She looks exactly right for the part; a young bride but nothing out of the ordinary for the kind of time period being depicted. And the ML was apparently cast and contracted before the FL was chosen so he didn't choose the situation. There's nothing predatory there. He should be suing people like yourself for defamation. Why? The FL is not a child. She is now 18. The ML is not an old man. He is now 28. The only relationship they have is a professional one between two actors. So, please try to grow yourself up to see that there isn't anything disgusting going on. There are actual problem situations out there for actual children. How about you don't confuse the two and put your outrage where it honestly belongs.

It deserves more imho :-)

It's excellent so far. In every way ... characters ... story premise ... plotting ... cinematography. It moves very quickly and has some twists so I found it a bit disorienting at the start. But everything quickly became clear and it's just getting even better and better with each new episode. I don't think you can go wrong if you at least give it a try..

Hmmmm. You don't remember the scene where he describes how he used the people he hunted and captured as slaves. He would make them try to kill each other in order to survive. Then he would take the survivors, turn them into his own soldiers but make them act as the cannon fodder kind who would be seen as traitors and end up getting shot by their own families and countrymen. I think that little speech was meant to prove that he was a far worse kind of dude than our ML. Would WuYi do such things or play as dirty as the Eagle King did in the mounted archery tournament? I mean maybe he will turn out to be another plot twist but ... shall we bet on it? :-)

In Prisoner of Beauty he was (and he caused) comic relief ... in part because of the muscles :-)

I wondered this too. We find out, from the mom, that Mao is the tutor's son ... but then we also find out from her, a few episodes later, that LeJun is not his daughter. Mum and dad's conversations are pretty important up front there. She just says these things though ... so I hope we'll get enough information later to really understand what she said.

I have a problem with your comments. She's open and energetic and warm, friendly with everyone ... not just men ... not just some men or particular women. She's the same with everyone. She's not afraid to be nice and supportive of others. She's genuinely herself and people take that as being flirty and a negative thing that she shouldn't be. This is why women have to shut themselves down and fit themselves into a box made by others. You know, I live in a FIFA town and I'm a lot like the FL so when I got into an elevator on Friday and began talking to some football fans who were also getting in, I was just being myself and the guy closest to me looked me straight in the eye and explained that he and his friends had girlfriends thanks very much. One of his friends apologized but the other two had just smirked. I mean seriously? Instead of being friendly back or just smiling and turning away, he decided to read me wrong and humiliate me? This is just one example that I don't get. Why are people so quick to think she's flirty? Why do women have to be too afraid to be friendly or enthusiastic?

They had a memorable experience together in the past. She's suddenly having to deal with her most important person's imminent death ... but he's managed to get her grandma into a cancer treatment study for patients in stage 4. Wow! That's huge. So, are there people who wouldn't hug him under those circumstances? Even the jealous ML seemed to think that the clinical trial put the hug into an understandable perspective. Although I did think that they shot it to look pretty ambiguous for the ML to get deflated.

superior. arrogant. condescending. close minded. self absorbed. why would i want to waste my time on you now that you've proven all that?

The ML is slightly unhinged and off the cuff on his good days. He's always reckless and doesn't think in the heat of the moment the way that you would want him too. I suspect that you are putting your own way of doing things onto the character when calculating a revenge would be ooc for him. At least in those first moments, his anger will take over.

She's having nose bleeds well into the drama. The happy days you're describing are at the end in the last two episodes. Also ... as a really pale person myself ... who looks stupid with too much coloring makeup on ... I object to your point. But also, Korean beauty standards are Korean. They don't exist to sell Koreans to Westerners. That's just Western arrogance talking. Of course you're entitled to your preferences. It's just not reasonable for you to expect that whole other nations share them alongside you or share them for your sake.