Carla

No. New Joe is still older than Ming. Before the body transmigration they were 20-29 (Ming-Joe), now in the present they're 24-27 (Ming Joe). Should be around this age frame for series as well. In the present timeline, Joe calls Ming 'Khun' to show respect and keep it formal between them. They mostly use Khun-Pom right now (because the nature of their relationship is not close). but in general, at both timelines Joe is older than Ming.

Even him aggressively kissing Joe in EP.7 looks like a dog with rabies biting Joe like crazy

So really Ming, who's the real dog here? 🙄

most likely ep 8 will be chapters 75-85 of the novel.

Officially, My Stand-In only has one sponsor/product placement - Bentley (the car brand). You can see this at the final credits.

Yea it's really so sad. I hope the series becomes successful and iQIYI will decide to make a special episode with contents from the extra chapters because it's really only then that we can get happy MingJoe.

Oh yea I totally get what you mean. That's pretty much what happens in the novel so I'm prepared if they only fully get together at the end of ep 12. I don't know how the series will go but I would say the emotions progression makes sense because I feel like after Joe finds out he's dead, he's more resistant against Ming so it felt logical for him to be in doubt whether he could actually be together with Ming. I will say that there is a scene of Joe facing off Ming's father based on what YYDS posted so I'm guessing they're facing the conflicts together but Joe probably only fully accepts Ming by the end.

just my personal theory based mostly on the audiodrama and novel, take with grain of salt
Ep 7: Ming finds out the back he fell in love is actually Joe's
Ep 8: Wut and and Sol finds out about Joe's real identity + Joe learns of his 'death'
Ep 9: Ming learns of Joe's identity and spends the entire episode begging and crying.
Ep 10-12: Ming chasing Joe while encountering his own family conflict. There are hints of an additional plotline with Joe getting into an accident so it should fit in here somewhere.

All in all, I don't think 4 eps of Ming chasing Joe is too little, perhaps the series could benefit from a bit of longer runtime though. But I'd rather they keep it close to the novel than dragging it out by shoving in some random murder mystery, human/drugs trafficking/break up time skip plot. So far without any second lead couple, I think the series has benefited quite a lot on being concise and lead couple-centric.

As a novel reader, I think the pacing is honestly just right with the novel. The only thing is that each episodes should be a 5-10 minutes longer if they wanna be more detailed and closer to the novel. I can give some guesses on when the parts will show some based on my experience reading and listening to the audio drama.

SMYM team had their first meeting on June 1 (Sammon tweet). Tor recently said SMYM filming will take place in the next 2-3 months (so it's most likely will be filmed from July til September) source: https://twitter.com/nattypro/status/1796235206200017300?t=zSftLneL895cFoqvj5yx0w&s=19

Don't worry, what you describe is basically the plot for ep 9-12 arc I'm sure. I don't think there will be much substantive plot other than Ming begging for Joe's forgiveness in the last quarter of the series (purely guessing based on what I read and how the series has been structured so far). Although I'm sure the series will adapt it faithfully, if you're ever interested in the novel, the complex emotions of Joe are very well written and described in chapters 87-102 (especially MingJoe confrontations/talks in chapter 90 and 91 which address a lot of the issues many people seem to have with the series) https://rosyspell.wordpress.com/rebirth-the-unique-substitute/

Yes, if you think the two leads getting together at the end is happy. Ming proves his love to Joe and Joe accepts Ming.

https://rosyspell.wordpress.com/rebirth-the-unique-substitute/

completely forgot. i just edited tks

For extra reference: events of ep 6 is exactly from chapter 50-59.
So most likely they'll do it like this since MSI has 12 eps and there are 120 chapters in the novel.
Chapter 60-69: EP 7
Chapter 70-79: EP 8
Chapter 80-89: EP 9
Chapter 90-99: EP 10
Chapter 100-109: EP 11
Chapter 110-121 (might even include the 2 extra/epilogue chapters): EP 12

Most likely episode 9 (if they're following the exact same pace they're doing right now which is 10 chapters/ep) because the reveal/mingjoe confrontation happens around chapter 87/88

thank you for your permission to repost. i've share your comment here and i added some gifs i made to illustrate your excellent points
https://www.tumblr.com/clairedaring/751341100068962304/why-is-ming-such-an-interesting-character-a

wahhhhh have you posted this anywhere else? like on tumblr/reddit/wordpress? i'd love to share your long essay so it doesn't get lost in the mdl comments section forever. you put my exact thoughts into words so beautifully i completely agree op

Tor said his lakorn with Yaya is wrapping around mid year this year and will start filming SMYM right away after My Cherie Armour so I think filming will start around June/July depending mostly on MCA

Can you share the link of the special episode on Youku. I see everything else but not the special one?