Just dropping by this lovely comment section to say I love Xiaoxi and Ying Tao. So much about the show gives me a sense of anxiety (because everyone is doing things that could/do hurt other people and themselves), but Xiaoxi and Ying Tao know and accept everything about each other. They're truly best friends, and I love that in the midst of all this romantic intrigue I can rely on them always being there for each other with open hearts and no judgement.
The other thing I'll say (I'm still in the middle of ep14, btw) is I don't actually think Bei is a "green flag" or boring. First, Xiaoxi's interest in him makes him interesting. Why did she fall in love with him? Why does she care what he thinks about her? She's so careful about who she allows into her life and who she surrounds herself with, and she's chosen him. Second, there are things about him that absolutely give me pause. Does he fall in love with a 'normal' woman? Nope! He falls in love with the hottest woman on earth (aka Wang Zi Wen). Not being interested in women who hit on him when his girlfriend is (played by) WZW doesn't make him special! 😂😂😂 Then there's his being a workaholic. IDK, but there's something there about how intent he is on being financially successful and stable. He not only values having money, but he also wants to make clear to everyone--including Xiaoxi--that he doesn't *need* anything from them. Like there's an aversion to that kind of vulnerability there--he doesn't even want to suggest dependence (see his turning down using her car).
The most damning thing about him, though, is that he's a straight up hypocrite. Years of his close friends cheating and he says nothing, but he has the audacity to confront Mingming--the most straightforward and honest person in this drama, btw--about how she treats Sen. The fact that his employee quits immediately after pulling her into his office to discuss her private life? Not a good look. He draws lines that allow him to treat people with different expectations of propriety--if he cares about you anything goes, if he doesn't, then he *really* doesn't gaf. I actually think he makes up rules and excuses about what he thinks is okay and not just like all the other characters on the show, it's just that his excuses aren't as apparent as everyone else's cause he's not lying/flirting with cheating.
And outside of his actual character is what the drama's doing with the idea of him being a "prince," and the romantic desire women (Xaioxi and An Miu both) have for that in their lives. He never presents himself as a prince, and yet they both cast him as one. It reminds me of how dramas (kdramas for me, since that's what I watched exclusively before 2020) used to be so interested in fairy tales and interrogating them even as they fulfilled their pop culture promises.
I very recently (with Love on the Turquoise Land) became a CXX fan, and one of my favorite things to do is imagine pairings for my favs. I've been daydreaming, and you know who I'd like to see him in a drama with? Jing Tian, Zhou Yu Tong, and Sun Qian. And I'd love to see him and Li Landi pair up again!
I'm over him playing repressed bosses in modern dramas (was never into it in the first place asdfghjkl), but I'd love to see him in a serious xianxia to contrast how fun and goofy The Starry Love was (until the ending; god, that show absolutely broke my heart, but it's my favorite from everything of his I've seen), and then a social melodrama where he plays a devoted husband like Light Beyond the Reed, and then a moody wuxia like My Journey to You. No matter what he does, though, I want it to be something where he gets to do some real character work like he's done in the past, and not just coast by on being tall and deep-voiced and good looking.
Thank god! I'm so ready for CXX to put being a boss in modern dramas behind him; those are not the romantic roles I like seeing him in. I hope this drama's as fun and memorable as The Starry Love <3.
So many people saying Nongyu is unreasonable and irritating and a pain to watch is making this comment section unreadable. Just say women annoy you and go.
Xinxu is manipulative--that's a core aspect of his characterization. He fabricated an entire persona at the beginning of the drama (scientist/doctor) and inserted himself into her life (her application to that science lab) so he could be close to her. He sent the video of Nongyu's brother torturing him and lied about who the sender was. He threatens her with the shards to keep her from leaving him. Maybe his objective was to drive a wedge between Nongyu and her brother, maybe it was just that he wanted her to know the truth; but the fact is he didn't straight up tell her and then show her the video. Even entering her dreams when she's in a coma to convince her to wake up is encroaching on her boundaries of selfhood.
This is not to judge or condemn him! I know what I'm watching and I'm here for it. But just as much as I'm here for Xinxu lying and scheming and being all up on Nongyu, I'm here for Nongyu's grief and guilt and reactionary actions--they serve as a great contrast to Xinxu's burgeoning/repressed emotions, and I love that her deeply felt emotions are in turn causing him to express more and more--when he broke down crying and holding her comatose body in the hospital? Looooooooooved ittttttt.
Not only that, but her 'misplaced' (though to me I think it's perfectly placed--because one fantasy of romantic love is having your lover be able to take your anger and accusation and grief and everything without rejecting or abandoning you) anger parallels/is the flip side of how deeply empathetic she is, it's parallel to how she chose not to blame her father for essentially abusing her when she was a kid.
Like why does Xinxu get to be completely (and deliciously) batshit, but Nongyu has to be totally rational and reasonable in the face of losing her last family member? If he gets to hold her hostage and lie to her why can't she blame him for something that isn't is fault? Ultimately this show is not about fairness, it's about heightened emotions in the face of circumstances that are incredibly difficult to handle (murdered parents, a brother who committed suicide, etc.), and Nongyu and Xinxu playing off each other in noxious ways that also feed their desire for love and connection.
Anyway, I'm gonna miss them--his possessiveness, her sweetness and desire for happiness, and their love. I'm so sad there are only a few episodes left, but so glad the year started off with them!
I'm sorry everyone else had a bad time with this, I had a blast 😋🥳.
Wang Youshuo as Rong Yu is absolutely gorgeous, the conceit of a rowdy, mischievous woman warrior marrying a gentle soft spoken scholar (who's a foot taller than her lollllll) is exactly the kind of romantic fantasy I watch TV for, and He Jiuling first causing his disability and then protecting him and falling for him while he's disabled is reminding me of one of my favorite kdramas, The Innocent Man, and it's making me want to look up and list other shows where this particular dynamic takes place. Also He Jiuling and Rong Yu are so lovely together even throughout all the angst they face that the angst itself doesn't feel unbearable. It helped that I went in knowing this was a romantic drama and not a light romantic comedy, especially for the darkest moments, like when her entire family is executed.
Her sacrificing her own well-being, youth, strength--basically her life--to save him was a nice parallel to his willingly taking whatever poison she gave him. They're a couple who match both in their intensity of devotion to each other, and in what they're willing to do and suffer for each other. And then when He Jiuling was aged and pregnant! Truly a moment of narrative hysteria, but I took it in stride because it was so deliciously bonkers and as a lover of age gap romances with older women...well, it spoke to me 😂.
Anyway, I have to stress once again that Wang Youshuo's styling was ridiculously good in this, even with the wig that looked like it was attached with scotch tape at the front; I need him to be in a My Journey to You-esque Edward Guo drama asap.
I'm so sad to say this....but this show deserves the steadily declining rating.
If this is really a 120 episode show, that means we have less than 30 episodes for Gonghee and Dansoo to find out her dad is "responsible" for his dad's death, and for them to find a way to overcome that obstacle. That could be the plot of an entire drama! Like. Are Gonghee and Dansoo not getting together??? My head hurts...I enjoyed this show so much before Dansoo moved out and the stupid Mingi x Gonghee storyline took over.
The other thing I'll say (I'm still in the middle of ep14, btw) is I don't actually think Bei is a "green flag" or boring. First, Xiaoxi's interest in him makes him interesting. Why did she fall in love with him? Why does she care what he thinks about her? She's so careful about who she allows into her life and who she surrounds herself with, and she's chosen him. Second, there are things about him that absolutely give me pause. Does he fall in love with a 'normal' woman? Nope! He falls in love with the hottest woman on earth (aka Wang Zi Wen). Not being interested in women who hit on him when his girlfriend is (played by) WZW doesn't make him special! 😂😂😂 Then there's his being a workaholic. IDK, but there's something there about how intent he is on being financially successful and stable. He not only values having money, but he also wants to make clear to everyone--including Xiaoxi--that he doesn't *need* anything from them. Like there's an aversion to that kind of vulnerability there--he doesn't even want to suggest dependence (see his turning down using her car).
The most damning thing about him, though, is that he's a straight up hypocrite. Years of his close friends cheating and he says nothing, but he has the audacity to confront Mingming--the most straightforward and honest person in this drama, btw--about how she treats Sen. The fact that his employee quits immediately after pulling her into his office to discuss her private life? Not a good look. He draws lines that allow him to treat people with different expectations of propriety--if he cares about you anything goes, if he doesn't, then he *really* doesn't gaf. I actually think he makes up rules and excuses about what he thinks is okay and not just like all the other characters on the show, it's just that his excuses aren't as apparent as everyone else's cause he's not lying/flirting with cheating.
And outside of his actual character is what the drama's doing with the idea of him being a "prince," and the romantic desire women (Xaioxi and An Miu both) have for that in their lives. He never presents himself as a prince, and yet they both cast him as one. It reminds me of how dramas (kdramas for me, since that's what I watched exclusively before 2020) used to be so interested in fairy tales and interrogating them even as they fulfilled their pop culture promises.
I'm over him playing repressed bosses in modern dramas (was never into it in the first place asdfghjkl), but I'd love to see him in a serious xianxia to contrast how fun and goofy The Starry Love was (until the ending; god, that show absolutely broke my heart, but it's my favorite from everything of his I've seen), and then a social melodrama where he plays a devoted husband like Light Beyond the Reed, and then a moody wuxia like My Journey to You. No matter what he does, though, I want it to be something where he gets to do some real character work like he's done in the past, and not just coast by on being tall and deep-voiced and good looking.
Xinxu is manipulative--that's a core aspect of his characterization. He fabricated an entire persona at the beginning of the drama (scientist/doctor) and inserted himself into her life (her application to that science lab) so he could be close to her. He sent the video of Nongyu's brother torturing him and lied about who the sender was. He threatens her with the shards to keep her from leaving him. Maybe his objective was to drive a wedge between Nongyu and her brother, maybe it was just that he wanted her to know the truth; but the fact is he didn't straight up tell her and then show her the video. Even entering her dreams when she's in a coma to convince her to wake up is encroaching on her boundaries of selfhood.
This is not to judge or condemn him! I know what I'm watching and I'm here for it. But just as much as I'm here for Xinxu lying and scheming and being all up on Nongyu, I'm here for Nongyu's grief and guilt and reactionary actions--they serve as a great contrast to Xinxu's burgeoning/repressed emotions, and I love that her deeply felt emotions are in turn causing him to express more and more--when he broke down crying and holding her comatose body in the hospital? Looooooooooved ittttttt.
Not only that, but her 'misplaced' (though to me I think it's perfectly placed--because one fantasy of romantic love is having your lover be able to take your anger and accusation and grief and everything without rejecting or abandoning you) anger parallels/is the flip side of how deeply empathetic she is, it's parallel to how she chose not to blame her father for essentially abusing her when she was a kid.
Like why does Xinxu get to be completely (and deliciously) batshit, but Nongyu has to be totally rational and reasonable in the face of losing her last family member? If he gets to hold her hostage and lie to her why can't she blame him for something that isn't is fault? Ultimately this show is not about fairness, it's about heightened emotions in the face of circumstances that are incredibly difficult to handle (murdered parents, a brother who committed suicide, etc.), and Nongyu and Xinxu playing off each other in noxious ways that also feed their desire for love and connection.
Anyway, I'm gonna miss them--his possessiveness, her sweetness and desire for happiness, and their love. I'm so sad there are only a few episodes left, but so glad the year started off with them!
Her sacrificing her own well-being, youth, strength--basically her life--to save him was a nice parallel to his willingly taking whatever poison she gave him. They're a couple who match both in their intensity of devotion to each other, and in what they're willing to do and suffer for each other. And then when He Jiuling was aged and pregnant! Truly a moment of narrative hysteria, but I took it in stride because it was so deliciously bonkers and as a lover of age gap romances with older women...well, it spoke to me 😂.
Anyway, I have to stress once again that Wang Youshuo's styling was ridiculously good in this, even with the wig that looked like it was attached with scotch tape at the front; I need him to be in a My Journey to You-esque Edward Guo drama asap.
If this is really a 120 episode show, that means we have less than 30 episodes for Gonghee and Dansoo to find out her dad is "responsible" for his dad's death, and for them to find a way to overcome that obstacle. That could be the plot of an entire drama! Like. Are Gonghee and Dansoo not getting together??? My head hurts...I enjoyed this show so much before Dansoo moved out and the stupid Mingi x Gonghee storyline took over.