snowfallsslowly

The Emperor is a monster but let's not pretend that it doesn't make complete sense that YX didn't let him die at this point, aside from the emotional aspect and how he's essentially his father who raised him lovingly. Even from a practical/logical standpoint for YX it would be a mistake right now, first of all when it comes to lord Xian while I understand his grievances against his father, he wouldn't have been a better ruler, the man was ready to murder his 9 yo brother and kidnapped multiple children in the process who are probably dead, he also most likely would've wiped out the entire Hua family for fear they were told something by 6th prince. There's also the fact that during a change like this, the country is weakened and could be subject to invasion attempts from their enemies which would cause a lot of suffering for the people. He also would've instantly killed Yan Xi and his entire family because despite their "civil" conversations, his hatred towards him coupled with YX's ability to command the biggest army this country possibly has makes him an incredibly dangerous threat.

I think he already knows, that conversation he had with lord Xian when he said who do you think was the mastermind behind the accusations against me and forced me to scar my face so couldn't vie for the throne and Lord Xian said I thought I was the only one miserable but it's both of us. But I understand where you're coming from , there really should have been a conversation about this where he explains his train of thought more clearly.

I think it's not about his moral compass, because what other option does he have? He's the emperor, at first he was away from all of it and once he was forced to come back his best option not only for his safety and his family's but also to do less damage to other people is to serve the emperor. He knows he's a horrible person, but what is he gonna do? Plot rebellion?

Novel readers, can someone tell me why they break up in the upcoming episodes ?

I agree they blew past that way too quickly but I also think the difference is he was raised by the emperor and it seems he really loved him and took care of him, basically taught him everything. His father has never treated him well even before he found out he murdered his mother and almost killed his sister to protect himself from the consequences of a rebellion he instigated and then had the gall to treat SY horribly.

Is that perhaps the reason she breaks up with him? I hope it's not, they've been such a mature couple so far, I hope the reason for the breakup is some misguided attempt at protecting him. And then later they come back to face everything together like they always have.

I understand your pov, to me in terms of writing we got an entire arc about XZ losing it after her "death" doing anything he can to find her, freezing the sea, the lightning bolts, bleeding and screaming her name, it's also been years for him, taking care of her constantly in so many ways and saying the most romantic things and unless we're getting something similar to that from SL's pov in the next episodes (judging by the novel we won't) then it doesn't really feel equal because there has to be opportunities in the storytelling that showcase both of their feelings on the same level and we haven't gotten even 10% of the same emotions and actions from SL...

The comment below about XZ being more in love with SL than she is with him has gotten me thinking again about why is it that cdramas are so obsessed with relationships where the ML is the one who is more in love? It's so weird because it's not just this drama or that drama, it's most of them. Why is it so rare to get equally devoted couples where the FLs are portraying the same amount of care, sacrifice and devotion. Isn't that the beauty of watching a love story? Two people willing to do anything for each other? (This is not an insult to this drama or its writing btw just an observation regarding cdramas in general).

You really can't be both that stupid and that vile, Hae In's family should really pick a struggle.

That idiotic family better get on their knees and apologize to Hyun woo. The audacity to ask him to save them and go live with his family after they spent years humiliating him and treating him like a slave, if it wasn't for Hae In I would've wanted him to let them fend for themselves on the street.

I'm gonna need s2 to give me all the happiness for Yi Soo, after all the horrible things they've put him through it's a miracle he hasn't lost his mind. Just focus on other cases and character development we don't need a big mystery related to him this time. American procedurals do it successfully all the time.

Yes, I don't mind big spoilers.

ooh could you spoil me as to what happens?

I haven't seen the legends but Yan Hui's growth was amazing and like you said she was ready to do anything for the person she loves, if it's the same for Shen Li then I'm excited to see it happen in the second half of the drama.

I was reading some reviews of the novel and these two have got me very excited;
-It was absolutely heart-wrenching watching them struggle to suppress and deny themselves.... and then to see them overcome these restraints and choose each other, even at the cost of losing their life/opportunity to reincarnate.
-Rather than being a Mary Sue, Shen Li is a female lead that I am very fond of, particularly because of her willingness to sacrifice and want the best for the person she loves.
I love an OTP that's ready to sacrifice everything for each other, it's part of why LBFAD is one of my favorite romances.

I would think even if it's her pov there should be moments where she says and does romantic things for him on the same level as he does? Otherwise it's strange since this is a love story and there are these memorable lines/actions from XZ but not from SL. It comes off as if she's not as devoted to him as he is to her if she's not showing it with words or actions but I haven't read it so I guess we'll see.

Do we get any romantic lines and moments like this from Shen Li? Everything I've seen people who read the novels mention has been from XZ's side.

I love Hae In and I understand her sense of betrayal but wanting Hyun Woo to beg for forgiveness is baffling to me. His wanting a divorce at that point in time is completely valid. What did you expect when he spent the last two years being treated as a slave by her family and as a pest she couldn't care less about by her? Saying oh she still loved him is just air because it's the way she treated him that matters, they're both flawed and should apologize for their mistakes and forgive each other, that's what marriage is supposed to be, there are no sides, only a team.

This is a great list, unfortunately I think a lot of these dramas are never coming out, there was an article that stated that there are 80-100 dramas that can't find a network and most of them will be shelved forever.

I've been watching kdramas for a long time and always felt in most cases they've done a good job of portraying equally loving couples but lately there has been a strange shift where a lot of otps have a really unbalanced dynamic where it falls onto the ML to do most of the emotional/physical labor in the relationship. Hopefully that won't happen here.