MadelineMaureen

oh to drop the show before YiFan's pursuit goes into full swing...
spoiler, she feels like he did so much for her & she wants to properly pursue him & try & court him. aka reverse the roles they previously had.

It's not so much a spinoff as it is a parallel story to Hidden Love. This is Sang Yan from the perspective of his love interest(and his own internal self) not his little sister. I would hope a little sister doesn't see their sibling the same way a lover would. 😆

I love that I can tell he read the source material & took notes. From the way he even just hangs out in the living room to be noticed by her to the aloof & playful sides of him. I love that in every episode you can see him trying not to look at her at certain points(im not talking about the Easter eggs at the end, but the way he holds himself back & can see the tension in his body to not turn & look at her.)

One is one of many daughters in a loving multi generational house hold. The other was tossed out, abandoned, & then abused by her family....it's to show how though they were similar when they were little & became best friends in elementary, how life & time can change a person drastically. Her bestie stuck by her even when YiFan pushed everyone away. It's because of that almost childlike innocence that YiFan finds as much comfort as she does with her. She works her ass off, but she's still just a baby in her family. She has the privilege of being juvenile. YiFan had to be an adult on her own at 17.

i was like huh? then I looked at the time. I'm still at work 😩

Destined, but that's probably a bad example as that's his actual girlfriend. 😆

I read the novel almost 2 years ago. The manhua wasn't available at that time with any English translations.
Again what works in a movie or other media doesn't always translate well for a longer formate live action show. From an artistic choice stand point I understand why they shot certain scenes the way they did, but there are other times where it was extremely unnecessary & took away the impact of the other scenes because of over saturating the work with the same camera choices. Again there was a better balance in the 4th episode, but as someone who understands lighting/camera etc....they over did certain styles/techniques in the first few episodes.

go to your browser for mydramalist & look at the photo section. They will release the schedule in a photo every week. im going to try & link this weeks. https://mydramalist.com/photos/Px8rjR_3
This is the schedule for vip regular. With the extra episodes it actually goes episode 1-4, 5-6, 7-8, 9-10, 11, 12.

Bai Jing Ting is a professional, & i have faith that he can lead her like LuSi lead Chen ZheYuan for the kiss scenes.

The only issue i really have right now is the cinematography/lighting choices. They work well in a movie, but it becomes repetitive in longer format media. (I have a photography background so I tend to notice this more) Episode 4 looks like that is getting balanced out a bit more. NEVER, & I mean NEVER judge an entire work on the first 3 episodes alone. Many artistic choices will change throughout a production.

I realize this story isn't going to be for everyone, but we(readers of the source material) did try & give a heads up to viewers that this was going to have a darker subject matter than Hidden Love or other romance shows. Too many people are judging early or had an idea of what it was going to be & it not meeting their expectations for a story connected to Hidden Love.(insert eye roll)

It's frustrating that there were a lot of ppl last night victim blaming this character. & is really true that victims of SA/Abuse are at a higher risk of repeated acts against them. Predators can sense it & exploit it. (not only do i watch/listen to a lot of true crime, but I'm a woman in her 30s so this experience is not foreign to me)

Our black cat is black cating so hard in episode 4.
Always in the same room when possible. He's all "show me affection....shadow shadow stalk...oh don't look over there...look at me...aren't I adorable...I'll even let you pet me if you ask nicely." 🐈‍⬛️🐈‍⬛️

to add to what Aries said she actually goes by 3 different names her birth name, her nickname with relation to her date of birth(first frost) & her nickname from elementary school.
If I remember correctly Sang Yan's name is related to a sort of tree. Mulberry maybe....I can't remember exactly. someone help me out

Yes, and no. He is rich in money but also family love & friendship. She came from a decent background, but after the death of her father was bounced around & abandoned by her mother in favor of her new husband's family. She has been on her own since she was 17/18. His family is "comfortable" & he has his own money from multiple jobs/investments. You'll notice it more as he starts to add things to the house that he knows she likes, but is unwilling to buy for herself. He isn't stuck up, nor does he flash his wealth. His family is also extremely chill & not snobbish in any way, shape or form.

I remember him being someone on the same floor as her. Not in the same house. & it was supposed to be just banging at her locked door when he came home at like 2 in the morning or something like that. She gets him arrested after he breaks her door/coners her & she fights back. His friends blocked the hallway of her apartment & chased her down.

What should have happened early on to show why she keeps getting into messed up situations & stays closed off, is how her family treated her when she looked to them for help. It was only vaguely hinted at in like a 3 second scene. So a lot of ppl who haven't read the story are seeing her as really weak & a bad journalist who can't even speak up for herself. They sort of show that she tries to stand up for herself, but it's turning a lot of viewers toward hating on her & it's upsetting. I need them to show her recurring trauma/PTSD in a better way. (there are other ways to show what they have & other ways to start showing her sleep walking earlier in the episodes. She should look a bit more tired than she currently does in the show to show how she is different from the past & how she evolves once Sang Yan is back in her life.)

Honestly watch Hidden Love after finishing this one. As they only focus on the leads in Hidden Love you only get dialog from Sang Yan about what he's doing while she's in college...no one believes him and it will make it funnier with the context you will get from this story. Hidden Love is also much lighter than this story, so you might want a fluffy drama to chase it with.

Think of him like a black cat. He doesn't really care about being flashy or standing out. He doesn't put effort into things that aren't important to him...black is like a uniform to him. He also just likes black. He always gave protective grim reaper and lazy black cat vibes.
He also thinks that it makes him less noticeable...it doesn't.

As an aside, in college he let the rumors of him and his roommate persist because he didn't like being approached by women.

I see them teasing the phone game...I wonder if they'll adapt that part of the story. Also, Sang Yan is obviously fine financially. The bar is the most popular spot in the area, he has another high paying job for fun that we haven't seen, and he is spending money on her and lying about why all the new appliances are in the house. Yall, he has money money, not just family money.

The "laziness" you see of him, is him just being what he is, a black cat that wants affection. So he places himself in front of the person he wants affection from as much as possible, and waits, every once in a while reaching out to tap her to remind her that he is there.

There is a bit of a running joke with the ML, Sang Yan. He actually has a very high IQ and his business is doing very well. He jokes that it isn't, but it's the most popular bar in the area. In the novel it was more like a speak easy vibe. Plain on the outside on purpose.

He's playing on his phone so that he can be in the same room as her. He also actually does have a day job that they haven't shown yet. He likes numbers so much he works at a firm as a manger for fun. He has money money, not only from family, but because he knows how to invest.

Yi Fan, FL, downplays her beauty on purpose since she was in high school. No one wants to take her seriously because she is pretty. They assume that she uses her looks like others do...like the woman at her new job who she moves in with.
The reason she doesn't really speak up for herself has been hinted at but not fully shown. The first time she is assaulted it is by a relative. Her mother disregards her and brushes it off. Her own mother had kicked her out of her house because the new step sister doesn't like that the focus isn't on HER. We see her in episode 4 for the first time.

Because of the shame she feels about what happened in high school she kind of becomes an easy target for others. She has no one to back her and they know it. She is kind and quiet. Every time she does speak up for herself it is covered up by someone. Like at her old job at the news paper. The boss harassed her and nothing happened even though he had done it to others. She's good at standing up for others, but not herself. She gets better at it later on.

They haven't even hinted at the fact she suffers from sleep walking regularly because she was constantly in fight or flight mode as a teenager and she could barely sleep. She is dealing with a lot of unaddressed PTSD. The character is behaving like someone who has not dealt with their trauma...because she hasn't....dealt with it.

I think future episodes might right the ship, if you will. Even the difference in episode 3 to 4 was noticeable. Yes, there were a lot of reflective surfaces, reflected light, but not as much as the previous episodes.

For the first 4 episodes there were certain shots that were great, but there were an almost equal amount that I questioned the decision behind framing/lighting it in that way.