ShortCircuit

This drama (and the animation/donghua, and the manhwa) are all based on the novel. The novel is a danmei xianxia (which means yes it's BL, and yes it involves cultivation and some fantastic elements). The drama, however, is censored, which means there are no ACTUAL and direct BL elements (unless you choose to see them, because they're not really all the way hidden.)

So the question is - do you really see this drama as JUST a BL story? Because the main plot is not the romance. The main plot is a story of sacrifice, redemption, fated soulmates and keeping true to one's self. The novel implies a lot about romantic feelings but even so, the actual BL scenes are pretty few and far apart, until the very end of the novel, and that's one of it's strong points, TBH. The drama lets you choose if you want to see it as BL or just as bromance, and if you want to, you can ignore the source and just watch it for what it shows. You will see NO actual BL scenes in this drama, because - again - China doesn't allow that. So there's that.

To answer your first question - they had to go to the enemy clan because the enemy clan is more powerful than any of the other clans and chose to make a power move by changing some of the rules of the game. Said rules had the Lan Clan teaching wisdom, so the Wen Clan wanted to get a one-up and teach their own ideas to everyone else. The fact the heirs of the clans were made - willing or not - to come to the Wen Clan is showing everyone who the top dog is.

Not every drama is for everyone, though. If you're not really interested in the end (by ep 16-17 the tides will turn, so it might start to interest you once they go past the school and small plots adding details phase), or don't really like xianxia or wuxia or fantasy in general, then don't force yourself. You either like it or want to watch it regardless, or not, it's as simple as that :D

I see you liked very well BFTB and AoL (among other wuxia/xianxia). So maybe it's not the xianxia / fantasy that you don't like, but just the idea of bromance or BL content. If so, why force yourself? :D

So she will either move a very small piece of the present to change the future and go back, all progress is lost, then she manages to go back again, moves a very small piece of the present to change the future, goes back and so on and so forth .

I really don't think a cutesy rom-com really needs a serial killer type of subplot. Like, seriously? Couldn't her accident be just a normal accident that sadly happens? And couldn't his future death - if it happens - be just a frustrated someone from his band or his manager and that's it?

TBH this latest ep I did get very easily distracted by basically anything. It feels like things aren't really moving on at all.

We just got through 14 eps of her losing her memory and being shown how they keep misunderstanding each other (mostly because they don't express themselves the same way, based on their background and respective emotional packages,)

And TBH she's allowed to be afraid of losing herself completely - I mean, our memories and experiences make who we are presently. She's about to lose it all and get ~wiped~.

If it were me, no pleading and/or emotional blackmail from anyone at all would convince me to go through that. I'd rather be dead as myself than get a new chance but never be the old me again. She's basically committing suicide, only she's still breathing. So yeah - let him weep I don't care. That's how I know it's a drama, LOL.

Though probably, drama-like, she won't really forget everything. We'll see.

It uses HaeIn seeing HyunWoo's pain to motivate her to stay alive. I'd say it uses the power of love.

Try The Eighth Sense and Love for Love's Sake after this, for more awesome BL.

I kind of wish SooCheol's wife made up her mind already. She's coming, she's staying, what the heck, just pick a side and stick to it!

Going from the preview, I guess her memories aren't totally gone, and might even survive or come back exactly when needed.

Oh well, as long as it's a good ending...

We got the truck of doom AND the amnesia plot all at once, LOL, and not even directly related to each other. I quite liked that :D

We have about 3 hrs left, and I hope they tie everything up together well... Or else.

House of Ninjas, now House of Owl, what next, House of the Rising Dragon? :D

Here's hoping they make a good drama :D

I kind of like the novel this would be based on, I hope they don't completely destroy it...

I kind of want to watch this for Qin Hao... but I so, so hate Republican Era dramas :(

Why TF would it be embarassing to be sexual beings, and to whom? But that aside, people are a curious bunch, and fujoshi/fudanshi personalities are a bit like that, wanting to know all about a pair of cute guys getting it on together.

PS Yuan is gong, Qian is shou, there is not even a little hint of another possibility LOL. Except in Qian's dreams.

Yes please and thank you! Is Greg Hsu confirmed as cast?

Not precisely a BL, but feat. gay characters, the movie Marry My Dead Body (with Greg Hsu and Austin Lin.)

And for a drama, again, not BL, but with some very strong (non-sexual) bromance - Oh No! Here Comes Trouble is a winner!

Actual BL Taiwanese dramas - About Youth, We Best Love, Plus & Minus, You Are Mine, Innocent. But don't expect the same depth of characters and plot as in Unknown :D

Because he was afraid.

He was afraid that admitting his own feelings for Yuan are not fatherly/brotherly would mean he must've had an interest in Yuan's being that was somewhat more selfish (as in, he was always somewhat infatuated with Yuan, and that WOULD colour every interaction they ever had). He was afraid that optics would completely change his relationship with basically everyone (because his altruism would've been motivated by his not-so-pure love for Yuan, and then who is he - Qian - after all?) And then, he was afraid that Yuan MUST've been somehow influenced by that, if it was true (feeling grateful and deciding to pick Qian out of gratitude, after all).

I can see where he's coming from - he couldn't be sure what's motivating Yuan's love for him (because it could be a part of a misplaced feeling of gratitude to the man who raised him), and even if the love was totally unrelated... his own feelings are a bit blurry about that. After all, closeness brings deeper feelings than just having met somehow and never having lived together. He can't know if Yuan is not somehow settling for him for the wrong reasons. And he does want Yuan to be happy, so he - Yuan - should keep all options open. (Yes, Qian seems to be a bit stupid about love).

And the Russian roulette is what scared him the most - because 1. Yuan is offering to sacrifice himself FOR Qian's life which means that Yuan might die and also, Yuan might die FOR Qian, which is even worse, and 2. If Yuan died (for any/all reasons) it means Qian might never get to have him again, in any manner (as a brother, lover, or just as a friend). And Qian is not ready for that. It forced him to face his feelings and make a decision.

Then the whole blood clot thing happened and even THAT momentous decision got swept away and became settled history, LOL. Because life... finds a way :D

Depression and continuous stress are not conducive to mental health and clarity. Even if he did make the choice, his mind was not in the right place to make a sound choice, and that's all on those who hounded him in the "press" and in the social media. This man did not have to die to satisfy the mob, but he did, because they took away his dignity and self-esteem and sense of worth, and he was never going to get them back, even if proven innocent. And for what? In the end, it's just because they could, and were allowed to drag him through the mud for the sake of a cheap thrill for a few days or weeks. It is disheartening.

Nah, seriously, no gong is ever THAT scared (maybe MookYul is afraid of Ewon's reactions when Ewon gets stone-cold-mad, but he's an exception* LOL).

Qian was always more of a mother rather than a father to the both of them, IMHO, and his personality really goes all soft whenever Yuan is around (just compare it to his reactions towards San Pang or Lili, LOL). He's the shou, no doubt about it. Though now I wonder if Priest actually tries to keep us guessing and having them reversible, LOL. She usually doesn't really get in sexy times for her heroes in the main text, there's just something in the extras, if anything.

*they're from Totally Captivated, a manhwa.

Every time I read his name it still hits me. I still can't believe they made him do that. Instant downer memory.

I mean, San Pang's fearing Qian's reactions, and nothing he says can convince Qian to go to the hospital, but the second he mentions telling Yuan... Qian's immediately changing his mind, LOL.

He's totally whipped and doesn't even know it :D And no gong is so submissive, LOL.

Might not be for everybody, though. I watched about half of the first episode and couldn't go on - there's basically slapstick comedy (seriously, falling in manure?) that's very possibly similar to the original 18-years stretch of the original (omg... dramas were long in those times) and not that interesting an intro "case".

It will probably develop the characters in the future eps and there'll be something more of modern plot (hopefully) but for me, the only thing that WAS interesting was the long scene of the old grandpa (the actor who played the original character, if I'm not wrong) - who did feel pretty authentic. The rest... not so much.

I might look again after it's done airing, but so far, I am not hooked at all.