Sol1056

Because he's absolutely obsessed with the thought of her. I mean, he's carving dolls for her in a very movie-serial-killer way. That's not normal, especially when to all evidence, she died falling from that cliff. (Or the "she can cut paper -- a rather common hobby -- so of course she's Meimei back from the grave!" wierdness.)

In the specifics, the 'protect Daoyan' plot movement in ep 24. So when it turns out LJX arranged for his own men to 'attack and kidnap' Daoyan, LSY's men send up a flare. (With the smart move of alerting Duke Ying.) But then LSY and his men don't just shoot down the 'attackers' and pull back... Instead they leap down, attack the attackers... and then turn around and also attack LZX's parade? All they needed to do is stymie any of LJX's attempts to create a cover for murdering Daoyan. The stupidity lies in turning around and walking right into the trap.

I'm sure the story will eventually give us a good reason (something other than 'but it made for great drama!'), but man. I really do get irked when plot requires characters forget something, won't say something, don't mention other relevant details, or suddenly throw out good plans. Bad things can happen to smart characters, but it's a fail to turn a character stupid for that to happen. Instead, let them remain smart... but outwitted thanks to their opponents being smarter.

So much I like, I guess it's no surprise that we must have a character -- for the sake of a More Dramatic Plot -- suddenly turn stupid. Or just a random moment of being short-sighted that contradicts the previous characterization of being long-sighted. Durnitall.

This is positively light-speed compared to Snowy Night's molasses-in-january plot the show's viewers are suffering through!

They were never lovers, that seems a far stretch. More like she was a neighbor that he fell for, but no sign yet that she fell for him in return.

Regardless, his behaviors since then are more than reason enough to want nothing to do with him. He threatens to take her hostage, threatens to not let her go home, repeatedly moves into her space and looms over her, basically barges into her home with no regard and no intention of any courtesy and every intention of abusing his power as he likes, and follows that by showing up at any event uninvited and making an ass of himself, he grabs her and hurts her, ignores every request she ever makes, has zero respect for her space, her privacy, her position, or for her as a person. In every way, he's acted like the kind of man that -- if not already imprisoned for assault, battery, abuse of power, etc -- you don't want to be within 10 miles of.

And meanwhile he continues to obsess to a truly pathological degree over some girl he knows full well was thrown off a cliff several years before. Yes, he thinks of 'Mei-mei' and gets all soft, but when he treats everyone else with such disrespect, it'd take someone of his own stripes to enjoy being his one exception.

Short version: if she changed her mind about him thanks to being thrown off a cliff, he's done and said nothing since to make any sane woman want to change her mind back.

If you mean anything where the average person would recognize it, zero chance. If you mean something with bromance tones but anything more requires you tilt your head and squint really hard, then possibly. It all depends on whether the censorship board knows about the tilting-and-squinting part.

Way I see it: these two have had years of separation, and meeting as young adults changes the relationship. In either of their places, I'd probably be thrilled to have a sibling, after so long as an 'only' (unwanted) child -- but I'd also probably be clueless as to how 'real' siblings are together (especially the 'don't touch me with your gross cooties' part). Also, they've both waited nearly their entire lives to have someone who'd shower affection on them, and who they could do the same in return. So even if they *were* related, the physical intimacy is because they do adore each other, and lacking those formative years of hair-pulling and door-slamming, they see no reason not to express that openly. (Of course, his knowledge complicates things!)

Is the general verdict that this will air in Q4, but only after KMLM finishes airing?

I think I must've missed the part where it was explicitly stated what FL served was not the actual/original tea, but a newer batch of the same kind. And since I missed that, I was baffled as to why she'd serve it to her grandmother! That felt like a massive gamble.

mark that as a spoiler, please?

So, FL's father gave poisoned tea to FL's mother, and the tea itself is super-super hard to come by. FL either gives all the tea or some of it to the doctor, so he can figure out the poison. Then she uses that same tea to make it for her grandmother and father. I get she wanted to test her father (he'd spit out the tea if he knew it was poisoned), but when did this super-super hard to get tea suddenly become non-poisonous? And when did she figure out it was fine, such that she'd serve it to her own grandmother?

Okay, I am really confused about some of the events in ep16. Actual question is under spoiler.

For some reason, I've developed a critical eye for robes, headdresses, and water. In this drama, it's ML's long flowing robe, which is a style none of the other male characters wear. I'm wondering if it's the male version of a fancy headdress on the FL. I mean, obviously it's done on purpose (getting some serious Byronic vibes from the guy), but I keep waiting for someone to tell him to get some clothes that aren't so large on him they drag behind him.

But definite thumbs up to the FL's headdresses. They reflect her position at the time, ranging from fancy to simple to nonexistent -- and unlike so many shows (TTEOM, looking at you), if she's in a group of other women, she wears the same as them, including her various hair decorations.

I'm drawing a blank on the water. Did we have a fall-in-the-water scene already? Either way, the test there is whether they're suddenly completely dry (fail), their clothes are dry but their hair/face is wet (squeaker), they're soaked to the bone (win).

Am I the only one who notices these things? Yes? That's fine, carry on!

Extra points for being one of the VERY rare shows to actually have someone stop, turn in a tired horse, and get on a fresh one. It's like the rest of the cdramas think you could do the horse version of a long-distance road trip where you never need to stop for gas.

Oh, man, Baron Chen is another one with such a young face. Halfway through his forties and only now starting to look like he's just hit 30! Also, kind of strange to see him in such a strait-laced role. (My guess/hope is he'll have some serious fight scenes, b/c you don't hire Baron Chen only for his sly humor.)

Hah, I hadn't noticed that. Seems like this is a cast list that's being figured out after the fact, instead of just translating the credits at the end? Who knows.

yeah, but in kdramas it was usually flipped: they think they're strangers, only to find out they're long-lost siblings (usually thanks to a leukemia sub-plot) cue the melodrama!

basically, cdrama likes to frontload its angst and then resolve it in a few final rushed episodes. kdrama lulls you into thinking it's a happy story and then sideswipes you with angst that's exponentially far worse thanks to simmering for so long in the background.

End of ep10, I'm a little surprised the father stuck to his guns (well, so far). I was half-expecting him to say, "Well, you didn't actually kill my first wife, so no one was really all that hurt (since Yining survived so it wasn't that bad, amirite), and the rest of your plans we managed to stop in time, so kneel for a few days and we can call it even." I certainly could've seen it coming out of the father's mouth in Story of Minglan...

I'm not concerned about her age in terms of criticizing her, and I didn't say I expected her to look elderly. She's not even in her late 60s. But even so, by our late 30s, our skin's matured along with our bodies, especially in losing that dewy aspect of our late adolescent facial features. So most of us normal humans can't pass so easily for being twenty years younger, and I wish I knew her secret!

Best story conflict ideas are ones with heapings of angst, some misunderstandings, dramatic declarations of luuurve, etc. So ofc creative teams look for a setup that'll give us that. Which means it's hard to tell whether "siblings but actually not!" is just the latest popular approach, or because it's one of the few drama plots left after all the rest have been mostly outlawed.