Ep31 beginning The openness and vulnerability of the scene before the credits felt like actual real life to me!
It is a first time-see for me in a costume drama, or any Korean drama so far.
It isnt completely weird to see post-coital lovers in an asian drama where one is asleep and the other touches their hair and gazes fondly.
But the vulnerability that HYQ shows in the conversation afterwards is enormously ground-breaking, in the context of that half-real world of romantasy, at least it feels that way to me.
But then I havent watched much Cdrama modern, where so far it does seem to me that people mostly behave like RL lovers.
Cold call this morning before watching 29-30. Woke up with a realization (maybe).Over and over ML tells FL that…
I didnt mean that the lovely Zoey Meng was a better actor than He Yiqian, no, I was talking about the characters. Here I really need to put Gu Qing Yi first, she is the sneaky one, while Shen XiHe is not as complicated as Hua Yong. Hua Yong can hide everything from everyone except his love for her in front of Shen XiHe.
What a cool and neat request! I am going to come back with something short. My favorite kind or writing assignment!
The 3 sentence take: watch for the acting/roles of the ML by He YiQian and the various Princes. A character-driven drama with good blend of classic cdrama and kdrama tropes, most enjoyable for the diehard fans. Turn off the cheese-o-meter and enjoy some really special performances. He YiQian as the ML is a real stand-out.
The actors really tear into their roles, which are almost all interesting except for a bevy of malevolent princesses. The dialogue isnt great to begin with but it definitely improves in the many close personal relationships.
Basic couple: the utterly smitten terribly considerate ML who hides his skills under a frivolous and weak fake act, and a courageous, self-protective FL who resists romance but agrees to a fake marriage. He hides a scheming nature. She hides two souls which are in the process of merging through most of the show. One soul is a ruthless Empress-in-training who kills without flinching and the other loves kittens and cares for the vulnerable w/o thought of self.
Cdrama elements: poisonings, stabbings, suicides, tragic motivations, amazing architecture, gardens, interior decoration, embroidered robes, some good duels, some ridiculous ones.
Kdrama elements: a really funny second couple, an emphasis on family relationships which are 'grey', drunkenness, the aforesaid fake marriage which drags on for almost all the show before they express their love, and the usual wrapup of all the other plots after that,
I was so besotted with HY that I rewatched everything twice!
Ep27-29 my advice, IGNORE all those people who whine' oh it is so boring I watched at 1.5X' or 'oh the plot is full of holes'.
This is the best part of the show -- SAVOR IT!
The sweetest part of a long and difficult time they have had and will have. Here it is!
Here is the final parts of his careful planning, of the convoluted web of the palace betrayals. OF COURSE YOU FEEL ANXIETY. If you didnt feel nervous it would be a really crummy show!
I feel as if I went to sleep and woke up in an alternate reality where no one can handle pain, worry, anxiety in their entertainment, but most saliently, need to be in control of all it.
No authorial control of the narrative. No directorial control of how it is unfolded. Whatever the structure and pace of the theatrical experience, it has to be flattened out into a schematic or no one is happy.
I think the reading and creating of webnovels is astounding and wonderful, but why isnt that audience appreciation translated into dramas? There is a mystery here to think on.
Cold call this morning before watching 29-30. Woke up with a realization (maybe).
Over and over ML tells FL that he is preparing her path for when he is absent. We and she understand he means when he passes.
But what if he has been planning to temporarily fake his death even before he met her? The way he keeps saying he cant help himself, he knows he shouldnt have wanted her or fallen in love with her, suddenly makes more sense. To me.
He admired her. He fell in love. He found out he could work with her. He wanted to marry her in a limited way and began to fit her into his plans and create a supportive network for her too.
Then he wanted to have a child with her. and more of a real relationship. And here we are now with some kind of crisis which he has foreseen.
Will he tell her about the plan? Will we know if he has told her? It will be more heartwrenching if he doesnt, but would we know the difference? She is a very very good actor too. Better than he, in my opinion.
Re Lester Lin -- Tian Yuan is maybe an unusual character in cdrama. Normally the henchmen are same age or older. And the height difference is unusual too. However, HY is only 20-plus after all, if I havent got the coming-of-age ceremony wrongly parsed (it was greatly 'delayed'?).
He and HY ARE much more Patroclos and Achilles than is usual in romance. I think mixing in a little bromance is a good thing -- it isnt a love triangle but it lets a bigger portion of the audience have fun (guys? talking to you). In another aspect the relationship also gives HY a few moments to show he is a 'good commander' with some of those usual deathless tropes.
Anyhow, all this just to say I think Lester Lin is portraying the character just right -- he isnt pretending to be older, but playing the younger man (possibly 17-yr-old?) as mature for his age, and a devoted ally to his prince.
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The openness and vulnerability of the scene before the credits felt like actual real life to me!
It is a first time-see for me in a costume drama, or any Korean drama so far.
It isnt completely weird to see post-coital lovers in an asian drama where one is asleep and the other touches their hair and gazes fondly.
But the vulnerability that HYQ shows in the conversation afterwards is enormously ground-breaking, in the context of that half-real world of romantasy, at least it feels that way to me.
But then I havent watched much Cdrama modern, where so far it does seem to me that people mostly behave like RL lovers.
The actors really tear into their roles, which are almost all interesting except for a bevy of malevolent princesses. The dialogue isnt great to begin with but it definitely improves in the many close personal relationships.
Basic couple: the utterly smitten terribly considerate ML who hides his skills under a frivolous and weak fake act, and a courageous, self-protective FL who resists romance but agrees to a fake marriage. He hides a scheming nature. She hides two souls which are in the process of merging through most of the show. One soul is a ruthless Empress-in-training who kills without flinching and the other loves kittens and cares for the vulnerable w/o thought of self.
Cdrama elements: poisonings, stabbings, suicides, tragic motivations, amazing architecture, gardens, interior decoration, embroidered robes, some good duels, some ridiculous ones.
Kdrama elements: a really funny second couple, an emphasis on family relationships which are 'grey', drunkenness, the aforesaid fake marriage which drags on for almost all the show before they express their love, and the usual wrapup of all the other plots after that,
I was so besotted with HY that I rewatched everything twice!
my advice, IGNORE all those people who whine' oh it is so boring I watched at 1.5X' or 'oh the plot is full of holes'.
This is the best part of the show -- SAVOR IT!
The sweetest part of a long and difficult time they have had and will have. Here it is!
Here is the final parts of his careful planning, of the convoluted web of the palace betrayals.
OF COURSE YOU FEEL ANXIETY.
If you didnt feel nervous it would be a really crummy show!
I feel as if I went to sleep and woke up in an alternate reality where no one can handle pain, worry, anxiety in their entertainment, but most saliently, need to be in control of all it.
No authorial control of the narrative. No directorial control of how it is unfolded. Whatever the structure and pace of the theatrical experience, it has to be flattened out into a schematic or no one is happy.
I think the reading and creating of webnovels is astounding and wonderful, but why isnt that audience appreciation translated into dramas? There is a mystery here to think on.
Over and over ML tells FL that he is preparing her path for when he is absent. We and she understand he means when he passes.
But what if he has been planning to temporarily fake his death even before he met her?
The way he keeps saying he cant help himself, he knows he shouldnt have wanted her or fallen in love with her, suddenly makes more sense.
To me.
He admired her. He fell in love. He found out he could work with her. He wanted to marry her in a limited way and began to fit her into his plans and create a supportive network for her too.
Then he wanted to have a child with her. and more of a real relationship. And here we are now with some kind of crisis which he has foreseen.
Will he tell her about the plan? Will we know if he has told her? It will be more heartwrenching if he doesnt, but would we know the difference? She is a very very good actor too. Better than he, in my opinion.
I just cant bring myself to trust Prince Xin after all this time.
Tian Yuan is maybe an unusual character in cdrama. Normally the henchmen are same age or older. And the height difference is unusual too. However, HY is only 20-plus after all, if I havent got the coming-of-age ceremony wrongly parsed (it was greatly 'delayed'?).
He and HY ARE much more Patroclos and Achilles than is usual in romance. I think mixing in a little bromance is a good thing -- it isnt a love triangle but it lets a bigger portion of the audience have fun (guys? talking to you). In another aspect the relationship also gives HY a few moments to show he is a 'good commander' with some of those usual deathless tropes.
Anyhow, all this just to say I think Lester Lin is portraying the character just right -- he isnt pretending to be older, but playing the younger man (possibly 17-yr-old?) as mature for his age, and a devoted ally to his prince.