timystic

She's not more complex though, she's just more of a victim (as opposed to a survivor). She's denied growth as a character. Basically to make her seem more pitiable, she loses her agency.

I think there is so much symbolism that is lost in this narrative change, and rather than opening the story up, it just flattens it.

That change made me shift from a 10/10 show to an 8/10 because I think it really did a disservice to both of the main leads and destroyed some of the symmetry of the plot.

"My dream is to create a world where people are not forced to speak English" - he says for an English language speaking competition. 😂

I agree with the dream, but just really enjoying the irony.

I think the ending is explained when Hwa Ri explains why she wrote the books in the first place. She wanted fair endings for the people in her life. You could view the author's note as a spell or wish that she wants to write into being - which is pretty true of all the stories we like to tell each other.

Almost all happy endings are wishful rather than real, this was just breaking the fourth wall to highlight that.

Subs are not great, but the actual show is brilliant.

Does the FL get better? Because I really hate obnoxious people who work for corporations who think they are better and more important than others.

I understand that, but people need to face consequences for their actions, regardless of their relationship. She protected him when he shouldn't have been protected. She showed compassion for his victims but didn't do anything that would prevent him doing the same thing again. She's righteous rather than just / fair.

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...

YouTube

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).