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major events are still there but the order might be jumbled up or events are combined. Characterization changed quite drastically for some characters. I'd just treat it as its own thing, separate from the novel

It's not at all explained, pretty sure they will hold back this info for suspense.

Yeah totally agree!

Also the info about the caliber of the crew was informative, and her view on ZZY being an arrow-type of actress resonated with me, having seen her other works. I think it's fair if you disagree with her (I do, many times) but calling it pointless seems like a really strong blanket statement?

I thought she listed out the mary sue quality quite clearly though? And I don't think what she said about English reviewer (I don't remember that part but I'll take your word for it) is that deep, let's not assume bad intents if it wasn't explicitly stated.

This! Our enjoyment is greatly affected by our expectations. Historical "serious" dramas have a different level of expectations from idol dramas. High value production and talented crew also set up different expectations. She did give the drama one gold mind so I don't know why people reacted so negatively to her very smart and we'll articulated (and subjective) review :/ I too am disappointed by the drama for certain reasons but I am enjoying and watching it - those are not mutually exclusive (and Avenuex said she would continue as well!)

Great explanation! I don't think people who point out the Mary-Sueness of the characters necessarily hate them (I don't!) It just seems like these immensely talented cast could do a whole lot more - more complexity. So rather than hate, it's a feeling of "if only". And modern fiction sensibilities have turned to more morally gray and complex characters, even in period drama (Yingluo in Yanxi, Ming Lan - she's not morally gray but she's definitely complex). I think as viewers we are entitled to hoping for more, and some viewers like myself like to consider what they watch a bit more critically. All in all, I think they're still enjoyable characters, with a lost opportunity to be great characters.

This! This is what I meant by being eager to see them (our leads) fail a little bit. She totally got plot armour in that arc, and many others. Sure, they lost a lot of people during the war but at no point did we feel that she was in real danger.

I think she proved herself enough as a strategist in the Huizhou 2nd arc (ep 15-17) that she could just stay behind and help with strategizing - that would be super fun to see!

Yup exactly! That's what I meant by circumstances. A flaw in characters or a quirk or a trait that's neither good or bad when standalone but can be bad certain situations- those are the things that can create drama, and it's not always the character's fault that they have these flaws. We as people are very much born out of our circumstances as much as we were born from our parents.

Loool hero syndrome! Love it!

True! I would love to see AW having to face difficult decisions from now on living with a hero like that, and how this trait - in and of itself not a flaw but could be a flaw when it comes to relationships- affects their marriage!

I love quirks, but I'd argue that GTY's core character flaw (that makes him very interesting) is he has trust issues - which is why he always wanted Ming Lan to show more affection. It's a lot clearer in the novel but essentially in the end, n the novel, he apologized to her, he knew she had trouble expressing her love because she too had trust issues (due to her dad), but he kept pressuring her to express and affirm her love for him. So his "wanting her to be jealous" while cute on surface, has deep-rooted cause in his personality formed by circumstances, and that's what makes him super interesting.

haha I think there's total value in watching raws! You can pay more attention to the actors without having to read subs lol

I'm off by one episode in the previous post too haha - edited! hope that helps :)

oh yeah you're right I'll edit! thank you!

speaking of accidental one night stands, there's one too many in this drama lol I'm not bothered by it, it's just funny.

np! I was doing this for a friend and thought might as well post here. And it gave me the perfect excuse to rewatch these scenes hahahaha

haha sure! So the army is running dangerously low on food, they can only last a few more days. This is because other nobles that have lands/castles in provinces that they need to pass through to get to the South (to battle the King's brother who's trying to overthrow the throne) are not letting them through and not providing food. His subordinates were debating - some of them thought that these nobles hated XQ since he became the Duke/Prime Minister's son-in-law (that means XQ has both army - the physical power - and status - the soft power; plus in cahoots with the PM family who's currently seen to be controlling the King, which is considered unsavory), so the female subordinate said it was AW's fault, but her brother said it is not her fault, and she is XQ's wife, our Wang Fei (Prince Wife), has great contributions to our victories, so he warned her not to say silly things.

That's a good question - it's hard to define character flaw because it doesn't mean much outside of context; flaw is meant to make a character realistic, relatable, or multidimensional. Flaws give characters a chance to face an internal - not external- struggle, and make them more interesting as people to watch. Would an eating disorder do that? Maybe, maybe not. Also I did not finish any of the dramas you listed so apologies for not being able to compare, but I did finish most of Yanxi Palace so let's use that: YingLuo almost *always* wins in her schemes, but to me what made her human was that she sometimes had regrets, she many times made calculating choices to serve her (revenge) goals. She's also rather ruthless emotionally. Or the princess Zhao Min in Heavenly Sword & Dragon Saber: also supremely capable as a strategist, but has a cunning streak in her decision making (not afraid to hurt a person or two), and can be really impulsive despite being most of the time very calculating/cautious.

Outside of costume drama, a recent example that came to mind is Tong Yao's character in "Nothing but Thirty". I had a debate with someone about whether she was a Mary Sue or not - that viewer thought she was a Mary Sue because she was so perfect: a good wife, a good mother, and a good businesswoman. To me, her character flaw was exactly that she single-mindedly focuses on her goals, and does not realize some key changes around her in her family; her intense focus also costs her emotionally. So, is "trying really hard to be perfect" a flaw in and of itself? No. Is it a flaw in the context of this character and thus making her much more human? Yes!