#my fav character is zhou xiang my fav character development is also zhou xiang's

[zhouxiangs]

i saw that you're currently reading my stand-in novel but you're not really spoiling anything. how are you finding it so far if i may ask? is it as angsty as people say it is?

(i waited until the end of the day to answer this because as i thought i've already finished the novel, so much for self-restraint lol also sorry this got a bit long... oops?)

i enjoyed it a lot! and it made me get over my reading slump, so i will even excuse it getting into some tropes i'm not particularly fond of at the end. it got cheesy…er, and not even in a way i like. amazingly, that didn't make me like it any less.

from the synopsis of the series and the tags in novel updates (and i only skimmed those because i didn't want to get spoiled) i had a pretty good idea of what the novel was going to be like, which is why i decided not to really liveblog since, transmigration aside, i'd say it's a pretty straightforward story. i could be persuaded to make a recap if there's interest though, since there's still over three weeks left until the series starts airing and i'm probably going to go over everything again and take notes anyway...

and oh, is it angsty! the whole thing hinges on zhou xiang (joe) being a sweet angel baby and yan mingxiu (ming) being a fucking idiot, and it's pretty much what you can expect from any dogblood/makjang with the scum ml, misunderstandings, heartbreak, regrets, etc. i have to say i'm not usually a fan of the misunderstanding trope bc i tend to find it annoying, but as with most tropes i don't particularly enjoy it's because of the way i often see it done. here it was painful for everyone involved, so i really liked it. also, please keep in mind that i'm a huge fan of big character development and characters redeeming themselves, so. there's that. wink wonk. (i've been reading some reviews and think for some people it may be best to know what kind of story this is before going in, other than because of triggers–which, very important if you need them, at least in the novel–because of the whole. scum ml more than anything lol even though yan mingxiu is not that scummy really!)

i love my stories character-driven, so having them being this well fleshed out and compelling was a joy, and being able to see so clearly what both zhou xiang and yan mingxiu were thinking and feeling, sometimes a lot earlier than they themselves could (please bl gods keep at least some of the internal monologue in the series, i am begging), was soooooo ugh. you're supposed to hate yan mingxiu allegedly but i just couldn't, not even in his scum era, because he was so obvious and so oblivious and so set in his own ideas he kept gaslighting himself into not noticing things. this could have gotten frustrating pretty easily, but again, everything feed into the delicious, delicious suffering. that being said, and because it doesn't seem to be a popular opinion... i think it's important to empathise with both of them, or at least sympathise, for maximum enjoyment of all that angst. you cannot cry over yan mingxiu's pain if you want him to get hit by a bus.

oh and the relationships (not only the cp's, though their progression is really good) are very important in this story, which is something i hope we get to see more of in the series because i ended up missing certain side characters in the later chapters. not tan yin though, i hope that fuck ass didn't make it into the series. how is a character so annoying while being in maybe six scenes total.

i can't say if it's good or not but it was extremely enjoyable, zhou xiang is my sweet darling angel baby, yan mingxiu is okay too (if you see me in the trenches defending him in about a month…), and i can't believe i am now, somehow, even more excited for my stand-in.

[neuronal]

so sorry about the [gestures to finishing shl] skdjdkshdakdh who would you say is your fav character? did you have a fav part? 💖💖🫶🫶🫶🍅💞

lexiiiiii, my life has been divided into two parts bc of this show: pre-shl and post-shl dhksajdf

also aaaaah that's such a hard question to answer, each and every character was written so well! but if i was forced to choose, it would be wen kexing simply because i love his character's arc and i love the subtle development that occurs over time to make him realize he is worthy of love and forgiveness and that he can let go of the past, that his mistakes don't define him and that there is always something to live for :(

BUT i would be doing incredible injustice if i don't mention gu xiang since her journey overlaps so heavily w wen kexing's and the relationship these two have has truly taken everything out of me (and is arguably the highlight of the show imo). i still do not agree with what happened in ep 35 (SHL SPOILERS just in case) like she was the light in the dark, a symbol of hope, the living proof that wen kexing could retain his compassion in such a dreadful environment and the fact that she was raised to be kind and innocent in spite of the hardships the both of them must have gone through... it does not make sense for wen kexing to get his happy ending when she doesn't!!! (and it's not even fair to call it a happy ending, we don't see it in the show, but it's not wrong to assume that her death also revived his trauma about letting the wrong person in (like it was with zhao jing back then) and regardless of everything, she was his family! she saved him just as much as he saved her! she deserved to live a long life!!!)

apart from zhou zishu, other characters i liked were tragicomic ghost and beauty ghost but again, they did not get the ending they deserved :( i was so happy about liu qianqiao finally moving on from yu qiufeng, and then THAT happened....like it completely defeated the entire purpose 😐

as for my fav part....hdkfsjd there are so many!!! i will not be able to answer this, the show is a perfect blend of comedy and found family and love and forgiving yourself. i love the whole theme about how 'redemption' is not sth that is given by others, it's what you choose for yourself when you let go of your past mistakes/grudges, and decide you are worthy of kindness

sorry, this is so long dskjf i'm currently head empty only shl, and i'm still reeling, so my thoughts are kind of all over the place, but thank u so much for letting me talk about it!!! 🌹🌺🌷🌸🪷