u10146071

Yeah ML's mom pretty much sucks lol. But since the novel really has a strong variety of women and female strength and resliance of different kinds is highlighted, it didn't bother me at all in that context. Men of weak character are also featured. But truly it tears at our hearts to think of the ML's youth. 😭

in the novel, they're able to share his thoughts so it makes a bit more sense.--- [ He had been in the darkness for many years. But when the first ray of light appeared, even knowing it didn’t belong to him, he still wanted to greedily hold it in his palm.] -- It's made more clear in the novel that at first he just wants to manipulate her and doesn't have clean motives towards He Yan but then he's drawn to her sincerity, heroic spirit, and protectiveness towards the weak and vulnerable. She basically stands for the hero he wishes had come for him as a child. And she makes him want to be a better person. Like putting himself at risk in Rundu for no reason. His maid is like wtf bro? She doesn't need YOUR help with her abilities. And he thinks,--- [ One person protecting another, without selfishness, blood ties, or even any intimate relationship, just because she thought it should be done, so she did it. Her boldness was enviable, her openness making others jealous, like a beam of light that even those who approached couldn’t help but be illuminated. So when he stood up that moment, he thought he was also an upright and brave hero.But… He was ultimately not light, just a shadow. ] ---So on one hand he knows they're on different paths, they're never gonna happen, and she doesn't need him. But on the other hand, he mentally can't let go. imo the Chu Zhao thing with He Yan is like the obsessive parasocial relationship that some people have with their idols, more than normal romantic love.

yeah we can't blame the drama for that. there's no problem in the original language. it's a translator mistake 🤷‍♀️

all I know is there are a dozen short vertical dramas based around this same general storyline (clearly adapted from the same novel but applying different twists to it) and all of them are HE. so likely this one too.

It's indeed really similar to the 15 other sister swap vertical dramas 🤣 but oddly 9 episodes in, I find that I've enjoyed a lot of them more, despite the lower budget, bad lighting, and uneven acting. I think it's that the FL is TOO under constant attack here and doesn't get enough breathing room and winning moments. I guess I like watching the evil sister lose more lol.

???? Do you mean, why would He Yan going Xiao Jue's army when his family was almost crushed? At start of the story, Xiao Jue has already pulled the family out and retained the military power by winning that huge battle where he drowned the enemy. He's still quite powerful and has left the capital only in an "advance by retreating" mode. He still has the emperor's ear and some trust at this point. The soliders don't think they're losing by following him. Once he wins a couple battles, he'll be on top again. and there are border nations actively doing incursions.

Yeah, he wasn't just stronger than her. He was THE BEST of the academy and all his peers idolized or resented him for it. She was at the bottom in their youth and the amount of progress she made is impressive.

no one knows, it's different from the novel

She reclaims the General Feihong identity (the world knows it was truly the female daughter He Yan who was replaced) but that's now a legendary dead general, slain unjustly by villians. In the novel her spirit is in another body. If that was widely known, they'd just lock her up and do exorcisms 🤣🤣

she's always thinking that she's taking advantage of him 🤣🤣 she truly thinks he's so pretty and clean, considering herself rough in comparison.

Father dies in a failed battle THEN denounced and blamed THEN xiao jue allies rally to save his sons from being executed or exiled THEN xiao kneeling in rain THEN xiao jue gets 3,000 soliders to win a huge battle against 100,000 enemies (if he wins he preserves the military power) THEN wins by flooding and horrifies the world.

He preserved the generalship and military power by winning that controversial battle where he won by drowning the army and a town. His older brother holds the title.
No he never knew about HY having a martial arts master. But he doesn't find it super odd or push for answers because he has one himself.

written very tragically in the novel

the novel has SO MANY funny bits about the spring paintings. it comes up repeatedly. she's coming at this from the POV of a long time soldier and is thinking, spring paintings are BONDING!!! this is VALUABLE CURRENCY!!! Commander, sharing spring paintings MAKE US CLOSER :D :D while he is all too proper and embarrassed. there is this one moment she's trying to pitch to him that they're friends now. and he's like, no! her: we looked at spring paintings together! we are bros! 🤗 Him: we didn't !! 😠 Her: we did! 😄 Him: Didn't!!! 😡

no he definitely had no idea during academy days. it's only near the end when it's revealed to him that his old schoolmate was actually a girl that he finally starts putting the pieces together and suspecting He Yan could somehow be the flying phonenix general

Yeah I knew what you were talking about with Lost Track of Time, just a typo on my part. :) I started that one but didn't finish it. I hated her scum original love interest and he got too much screen time for me so I dropped it. I can't recall it clear enough to remember what devices they used to excuse the time travel. but whatever, it clearly passed the review board so everything worked out!

hmmm?? not mad, my mdl friend! I was just explaining the situation. Certainly I agree it seems the guidlines are shifting, perhaps the review board has become more lax in this area. But the main thing I was trying to communicate is that you and I have no way to know what they are thinking and we also don't really need to know either. We see this variance in how drama producers address the rebirth and time travel themes because of personal taste in the type of stories they want to tell and also their own interpretation of the guidelines and their risk tolerance. It's just something I accept and don't feel the need to overthink :)

Blossom didn't have a special opener but there was ambiguity they added with a storybook. I'll be honest, I watched Lost in Time but can't recall. But basically the bottom line is that it isn't important if you or I agree! It's not up to us and they can't care about our opinions. For whatever complicated reason, these dramas passed the review board. We must simply accept that there is a review process, some story elements are allowed and disallowed. And dramas MUST pass review to obtain a distribution license (not mini dramas on random websites but the major entertainment companies). The review board isn't unchanging. Guidelines shift and evolve. Also, what you should expect to observe is that entertainment companies want to do less editing and get approval quickly. This means they will self-censor. They will create dramas and edit them in a way that they expect it to pass. This means different drama producers will have different risk tolerance. Some will push boundaries and try to wiggle around the rules. Some would rather play it safe and make complete 100% changes to be SURE the drama can release with little extra editing. The result is some dramas totally skip the rebirth concept all together and some add big obvious wrappers, while others try to add very subtle elements and hope the review board let it go through.

If you do inspect them carefully, then all have some sort of excuse built in. Though sometimes it is subtle. Blossom does use the dream/story device. Story of Kunning Palace has a wrapper around it where it's a story being written on her computer - same trick they use for Joy of Life.

It truly is very different than her other revenge novels but I personally found it refreshing and enjoyed the full cast of characters. It felt like the author was investing more in character studies in this tale and less on plots, schemes, and soap opera fun. (nothing wrong with any of that stuff, she just decided to try a different flavor). Novels thay are more internal-focused and about character growth and relationships tend to struggle to be adapted to live action. And admittedly I think LOTFG is a mixed bag. But I'm still enjoying seeing it on the screen and I'm really happy it was released!