a female gazing

it's a whole thing but after TTJ is betrayed by LSS in the worst way possible (after they have fallen for each other, no less) he basically uses YBC as a vehicle to hurt LSS. it's gonna be awful to watch lmao

there's a lot more context in the novel, but later on TTJ starts falling in love with LSS—remember, she is manipulating him to cause him to feel emotions. she falls for him too, but in the end she betrays him. so he tortures her for a while, and later he faces a foe who asks which woman to choose to "save" and he chooses YBC in order to punish LSS even further. he fully intends (and believes he can) save both of them, but LSS doesn't survive. and he ends up full of regret and longing, since he does end up losing his evil bone.

fucking dying at you calling SJ's tribe the clammies

tower scene isn't for a little while yet; it's after they return from the dreamworld and a bunch of other nonsense occurs too. i forget all the specifics but they fall in love after returning from the mingye/sangju plotline. FL betrays ML horribly right before their wedding and in return he spends quite a while torturing her for revenge. then he ends up marrying the SFL i believe, and FL kills herself after destroying his evil bone. it's only after her death that he realizes he misunderstood her and everything that happened, so he spends the next 500 years searching for her reincarnation / trying to bring her back to life. it's a whole fricken thing bro

if i had a time machine i wouldn't go back and prevent WWII or something noble, no, i would go back and NOT watch this incredible drama until all the episodes were released, because not being able to binge this is literal f*cking agony

he's absolutely gorgeous and i adore his acting but now that i've clocked the visual similarity i CANNOT STOP THINKING about the monsters inc guy and it keeps taking me out when i'm watching his dramas lmfao

i'm so attracted to him but why does he look like a sexy version of that evil salamander from monsters inc

i'm not sure what you've seen already, but here are some fantastic ones:

- reset **
- someday or one day **
- romance between fairy and devil **
- the legends **
- the day of becoming you
- who rules the world
- unchained love
- arsenal military academy
- young blood
- ever night **
- love is sweet
- miss the dragon **
- sweet teeth
- the silence of the monster

i think you will especially enjoy the ones i starred ** as they have more exciting plots alongside romance :) hope this helps!!

i can definitely recommend some!!! can you tell me a little about what genres you like? do you prefer modern romcoms or historical wuxia/xianxia shows?

yes! i was having a look at the airing schedule and was a little confused by it. is this a normal type of airing schedule for cdramas? or do they do it this way just to torture us?

why did we do this to us

here's hoping!! we'll see what the episodes contain....i never trust OST videos or BTS content because so much usually ends up being cut in the editing room due to censorship and time constraints. i'm having war flashbacks to Unchained Love lmao. this is the worst part of cdrama productions. it's SUCH a tease.

it's extremely rare to get "steamy" scenes in xianxia dramas tbh. i doubt we'll get any truly risqué content (such as the elevator kiss in love is sweet) here. they'll show crazy violence and blood, but not sexy make-outs.

man this show DEFINES "life is just a dream within a dream." i'm having so much fun. i cannot wait to see them fall in love in this new little timeline! also, waiting for the episodes to release is a nightmare. i almost NEVER watch cdramas as they air but i couldn't resist checking this one out after the long wait. i'm now desperate for tomorrow to come.....this is torture!

i loooooove romance but wow, i so agree! very cute, but still so boring. expected at least SOME real emotional discussion or fights or disagreements, or just general angst, or like...actual stakes, at all, EVER, and received none lmao. i still enjoyed it but i skipped through quite a bit of this drama, because there was never any real tension beyond long camera shots of them looking at each other 'meaningfully' 😭

this is probably the most excited i've ever been for a cdrama. bai lu never disappoints and zhang linghe is proving over and over that his chops are no joke and he can stand tall next to the best of them. he has a natural, effortless presence onscreen—i'm very excited to see him expand his playbook and take on a more villainous role.

the trailer just looks so dark and brooding and sexy. it's hard to find cdramas with this specific vibe...though mainland china does have an annoying tendency to drop extremely misleading trailers. i was expecting a similar narrative aesthetic from 'unchained love' and that basically ended up being a goofy romcom lmao

Seeing these photos of Zhang Ling He looking like the finest of all snacks and suddenly developing a late-onset case of SML syndrome for LBFAD because oh my lord, LOOK at this man. A human all-you-can-eat buffet. Rude

i wrote a bit of a novel above with how i came to that conclusion if you have any interest 🤣

1) true ML will be ryeoun's character kang san

> he is the gruff martial artist guy who wants to protect his family; he is a little cold and tsundere, slightly antagonistic, leading to the classic 'begrudgingly falls in love with FL and protects her constantly' which we all know and love
> in the official promo image where FL is being held by man in maroon uniform, the man's hands closely resemble ryeoun's, not just in finger shape but in skin tone (he is more tanned/olive-toned than the other two ML actors). additionally, this uniform features fabric ties around the wrists which are also present in ryeoun's other uniform—they are the same ties as his other martial arts outfit, where tightened sleeves would help prevent loose fabric from interfering with the use of weapons
> official promo stills featuring FL and all ML's individually show FL in shy/potentially platonic poses with both kang hoon and jung gun joo, whereas with ryeoun they are holding hands. the taglines for each poster also support my theory if you read the translations
> all released trailers feature her in the most explicitly romantic-tension filled scenes with ryeoun (i.e. he is protecting her physically from danger, puts his hand over her eyes to shield her line of sight when someone is executed in the street, pulls her onto his chest as they gaze into each other's eyes, etc), as opposed to the other 2 ML's where the relationship is portrayed as comical and/or shy 'tension' that is usually associated with SML status

2) kim shi yeol (kang hoon) is FL's best friend from childhood and is apparently playful, immature, and silly, and doesn't take responsibility for anything. i'm sure he will go through a lot of growth in the show by the end. trailers imply he will start to have feelings for FL first (heart starts suddenly pounding one day with her). if this drama is formulaic like others in the genre, he'll probably develop those feelings, but it will be too little too late. i.e. he doesn't tell her how he feels, and by the time he figures out his feelings and builds up the courage to confess, she will already be too far gone with real ML (ryeoun) and will reject 2ML

3) jung yoo ha (jung gun joo) is 3ML, and is probably the missing prince lee seol. there is a scene in the long trailer of someone deeply bowing to him on their knees while he looks on uncomfortably. he is the mystery addition, the very educated, well-mannered, seductively smooth guy whose ease of interaction comes from inherent nobility and high status. he'll probably be the most open about chasing FL (who is apparently technically of noble birth, but is poor and in debt, so is thus theoretically able to actually marry her i think), but the romcom saeguk formula generally makes this type of ML character a close friend and ally to FL and not Final Boy™️ material

ANYWAY!!! i have clearly thought WAY too much about this lmao, so congrats if you read all that.

* MY THEORIES ABOUT MALE LEADS BELOW UNDER SPOILER TAG *