PeachBlossomGoddess

Yeah, established actors have a lot of leeway in how they wish to interpret their roles. Of course its with the approval of the director, producer etc... so am not at all saying it is all on him.

Retirement made her regress into a star struck fan-girl. Slaps forehead.

I loved parts of the book but didn't like it that much overall and dropped it 2/3rds of the way through. I like O&O 10x more than the novel. F&E I feel like is an entirely different drama with two characters that don't connect to the past. That really irritates me personally bc I don't watch this stuff normally, I just came for closure and I am not getting any. As a standalone romance it has some good moments but I wouldn't write home about it or remember it.

RJL is extremely popular and has had a lot of say in some (not all) of his projects. This is all stuff that is openly discussed in interviews on variety shows and on Weibo, Bili, YouTube etc, drama promotions. Of the dramas I have watched, I have heard HIM specifically claim credit for how the characters were written in both Love a Lifetime and Forever and Ever. Go watch the interviews for O&O and F&E - it is definitely in there. He is very pleased with himself and his ideas and he talks very enthusiastically about it. I have seen some of this personally and the rest of it well... my mom who is retired and has all the time in the world cyber stalks him and is a walking encyclopaedia on what he says. Yes, you could say his appeal straddles a wide spectrum in terms of age group... Actually believe it or not my mom is a much bigger fan of him than I am.

In shock. After putting it on hold, I just didn't expect this to be the show I am waiting for impatiently and that I am enjoying a lot more than everything else.

You make a great point about the plot and the lack thereof is indeed a big reason why there is so much focus on the dynamics between the couple. But the ZSC you describe falls far short of how he was written in the novel, which was a big hit (that I did not like). Nonetheless, the book fans are obviously dismayed, even angry. The ZSC we are watching was specifically written to fit how RJL wished to portray the character, something he brags about. If you love it, that's great but if you don't well...

You can google - I believe there are even articles in English. In some dramas, esp recent ones, he actually has a lot of input into how his characters are written and portrayed. There are also video interviews and variety shows where he talks about it but many are in Chinese idk if they are subbed. His wife has a lot of influence she was a wannabe actress that even had an extra role in UTP. She now actively manages him and she is the one that insists on the no kiss clause. It is not speculation, he is open about it and has been quoted on it - since they got involved in 2017 he doesn't do kiss scenes. As for blame/praise, well I guess the people who don't like his interpretation (including myself) think he is partly responsible but those who love it will of course appropriately praise him for it.

Yes that is definitely possible but I was always of the impression that he was not that into her.

I am sitting on the fence wrt whether step mom is Queen Dowager - I don't think she is evil, just misguided.
Idk Wen Chuan, he doesn't have to be anyone.

This is all just my/user speculation:
Wenxing is the princess that was in love with the Crown Prince/Mei Xing
Uncle Lin is Advisor Xie
XiaoYu is still Xiao Yu and Captain Ren could be Shiyi's cousin Cui Feng.

It is not much of a plot my friend - the usual rich family melodrama.. . basically a poor man's version of The Great Gatsby/Crazy Rich Asians.

Yes and he tried to matchmake them as well. I know in the book only 5 people were hinted at reincarnated but I think in the drama they all were.

We are getting some cosmic justice for Yao Yao.

This Zhou Sheng Ren obviously is not from the same gene pool as his bro because this kid is a total player... he is even low key flirting with his bros wife AND her sister at the same time. I like this boy's style and taste!

I find it surprisingly enjoyable I even prefer it to the Justice. It has frustrating moments and the story takes a WTF turn around ep 20 and then it recovers very strongly and so far so good.

I hope everyone keeps exercising their right to comment positive and negative and regardless of whether it’s been said before. And yes, the praises are every bit as repetitive as the negative comments. It’s cool bc otherwise this thread won’t be lively it would be as dead as the threads on at least 3 other currently airing dramas.

There is a great feature we have called scrolling that can help us all zip through all the comments we don’t like or find boring or repetitive. It’s great do try it - it is much preferable and effective than trying to censor or suppress discussion you don’t care for or don’t agree with.

Don't remember, I watched quite a few of their interviews.

It is one of the joint interviews with Bai Lu where they talk about the shows and the characters. I don't remember which one but it was while O&O was still airing.

Lol yes he is genuinely quite pleased with the change... even my mom saw it and mentioned it to me. He is a really nice person, he seems to like to play these kinds of nice guy roles. He also had a lot of input to how his character in Love a Lifetime was written.

Yes like you, I went back to revisit and actually it picked up very nicely indeed... hope it stays that way. ..