timystic

It's a shame that the main female characters in this show are written as love interests rather than given a depth of character themselves.

I think she knows sooner as she is not surprised at all. Maybe in the dream? I can't recall which episode.

Her brother was horrific. And her repeated claims of protecting him were just stopping him from actually facing consequences for his actions. I just don't understand why she pretends to be so righteous about his death when she wasn't to all his victims.

I don't believe that anyone is irredeemable, but making out her brother is affectionate when he s*xually harasses every working class woman he fancies is just incredibly uncomfortable.

6 episodes in and all I want is the drama to turn into a romantic relationship (or sismance, because censorship) between Ren Anle / Di Zuyuan and Princess Anning. imagining them achieving the revenge and then setting sail to travel the world in with a Robin Hood style Pirate Army...

For me, they aren't really fleshed out enough. Su Hao An in particular just comes out a little flat. Even the scenes where we found out his backstory, the way he tells Zhong Si Qiao just falls really flat for something that should be heartbreaking.

The main couple's back story is told through flashbacks but the secondary couple's backstories are explained in long monologues. I always prefer a "show, don't tell" approach to storytelling in dramas.

Honestly the wait is painful when watching it live. I wish I'd followed my instincts and did my usual binge watch. I'm definitely going to have to rewatch it to catch all the subtle interactions that connect the episodes together.

I love how they call themselves archaeologists when this is the furthest thing away from what archaeologists actually do...

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Everyone loves to tear down the women actors, but personally I think Zhang Rio Nan is doing a fabulous job as Wen Yifan. She's awkward and slow to respond which is exactly in line with her character in the novel. Her expressions are subtle and removed because she is detached because of her trauma, but also because that's how she navigates the world. ZRN depicts this really well.

The depiction of women in this is really bad. So dependent on men, and entirely shaped by their affections to men.

Gosh I hate the trope of "woman becomes evil over a mediocre man" - it's just weak scripting. I hope that character dies soon or her scenes are skippable.

And this is why I usually wait until it's all out and binge watch. The waiting is brutal 😫

And don't give me a lecture on cultural relativism when historical China literally produced Eunuchs as a governmenance form and when the mythology of the many cultures of China has a fair amount of trans allegories / figures (eg Guanyin).

I was enjoying this until the transmisogyny became central to the main villain. There's nothing evil or disgusting about trans femme folks, and making that evidence of "evil" is just poor and lazy scriptwriting.

*If you're looking for a smart, strong FL this is not the show for you. * The FL here is spoilt, entitled and needs the ML to constantly educate her about what's going on around her. The plot is illogical and badly scripted - it's a "tell not show" kind of show with all the explanations in the last few episodes.

I disagree. See comment under spoiler above. I'm on episode 32 and it hasn't improved, and the plot makes absolutely no sense.

I should point out that I am watching this after Nirvana in Fire so any of the political scheming here feels childish and nonsensical.

Ok, so I am just over halfway through, and it's pretty clear that Li Rong is incredibly selfish and entitled. She claims to not need anyone but literally relied on SRQ so much in her last life that the dude managed to kill her. And yet, she's still smitten by him. His so-called love for her is like loving an object - he loves the idea of taming her more than he loves her.

I really don't understand why PWX loves her at all because all she does is mistreat him - eg when he asks her why she didn't wait, she says he should have asked "why should she have waited"?

I do wish they stopped misinterpreting "entitled and spoilt" fls "smart and strong" fls. This isn't the first show that I've seen do this, and it seems to be a trend. I really don't mind spoilt fls IF they are constructed as flawed (eg fl in Will Love in Spring) but this drama seems to celebrate her self-absorbed behaviour as a sign of strength rather than a flaw.

We need more Ming Lan and less Li Rong.

(I do also have an issue with entitled mls, but that isn't the focus of this show)

Before I carry on watching this, can someone tell me if the FL will continue to be really spoilt? From ep 1 I get the feeling she will protect the rich and get easily misled by the SML and I just don't have the energy for that kind of angst.

I would enjoy this if it is a story about growth and actually working through misunderstandings (as it's clear both of them were not killed by each other) and then bringing some form of justice.

I think the main tension with the MLs in this show isn't that they are flawed but that they are flawed in an idol drama.

Idol dramas usually love to have an impossibly perfect ML, and this just doesn't. However the feel of this show - colour schemes, actors, etc - give off the idol drama vibe, which makes the flawed MLs in this stand out as problematic because they do not follow the normal /stereotypical narrative these shows are supposed to have.

I just don't get the appeal of the ML at all. Guy literally was happy watching his wife being literally bullied to DEATH and only started liking her when she stood up for herself (albeit as another person).