Naomi Necro

Not sure I understand. As in, he used the soldiers to keep other people safe? I'm sure that's inferred since he's keeping everyone away from the manor that isn't a Ling, and he wouldn't want to hurt anyone innocent. Still, he used them as a blockade to prevent interference from his revenge (and to get CP in trouble). He admitted as much when he spoke to the Emperor about it

Viki had a context note that said its a blood oath/blood promise. Something that cannot be broken. The deepest vow you can make with another person. That was how I read it in the novel too, although it was Zisheng who initiated it in the book. I liked the softer drama adaptation with CSS initiating. Especially when he was in that lonely and broken mind-state during that scene. I wanted to see her extend herself emotionally for him since he's always the one there for her, so it was nice for me to see such a strong vow of love.

They did follow thru- I don't remember who said it in the drama, but HBY retrieved the original seal (that scene was either edited out or just happened "off camera") and it was the original seal that was used to deploy the troops under false order by CP. CSS has the Huo family seal and returned it to HBY when she left him as he was leaving for the border. That was what was returned to him via her twin brother.

same. It's a beautiful OST.

He used the real tiger tally (the one he'd recovered when the crown prince lost it) to deploy the troops to keep everyone away from Ling Yi's house. The soldiers CSS and her family ran into on their way to the manor were the troops HBY had deployed (falsely under the CP's name). It served 2 purposes - to keep anyone from interfering with his plan to massacre the Ling family, and to taint CP's name so he gets deposed from his position as CP.

Amen to this. I lovvveee ZBB. He's a fantastic actor and deserves tons of love. I also love WHD and ship DiXin, but can keep them seperated

It was ultra strange for me to see her in this after just coming off her role in Tell Me What You Saw (a murderer suffering from deranged, trauma-based illusions).

Yess. That would be fantastic.

LOL It was a 10/10 but you didn't finish it?

I liked Ye Guang a lot more in Ep 6. His conflict with his parents and his confrontation with Xu Qi Zhang felt real to me. I haven't felt like he's been "flat" per se, just.. not as strong as the other actors (especially Qi Zhang), but he did better in those emotional scenes this episode.

Dong Yeon is wonderful in Vincenzo! I also hear he's great in Big Mouth too

I'm on ep 1, and I loveeee how easily frazzled Ji Chang Wook gets. He's so relatable (and we're the same age). Surprised by how funny and quick-witted Kwak Dong Yeon is (the quiz and the car conversation about weighing people's heads, lmao).

You know how flipping difficult it is to watch this drama? I have to pause like EVERY 2 SECONDS to get a glimpse of everyone's expressions in every frame. THERE'S SO MUCH TO LOOK AT. Only most of my favorite Korean actors in 1 show, NBD.

I think it adds to how completely out of touch she is from parenting. She has no clue what she's even talking about but says it in such a confident way.

Oooo ive loved him since You Make Me Dance. Hes got natural talent and an incredible presence. SO happy to see his rising success. How neat it was, to see his new drama on my Netflix homepage. Its so cute so far, too! He really is a scene stealer. Able to emote serious emotions and great physical comedy in quick change.

This is the cutest drama so far. What sweet angels. They're all so talented.

I disagreed with your statements about "people" moving on/past these types of dramas and it "not getting attention or discourse" because I don't think one outdated article is enough to fairly make assumptions about millions of viewers. It's got an 8.5 on MDL, and the article you shared is from 8/22 when there were only 4 episodes, out of which there are now 10. As I said, it's not for everyone, and some people avoid these types of more healing/melancholic tones, and that's fine, but I think it's a very strong drama for JCW. I hope it doesn't hurt his popularity, but we'll see how it fares.

YESS! I've been so surprised this drama went there and I'm so thankful. It's not discussed enough.

Yeah, i thought this was an incredible episode. The spotlight on male victims of domestic abuse is so rare in dramas (especially kdramas), and I think it was handled so well.

Strongly disagree. I greatly appreciate how much attention and discourse this drama is bringing to male victims of emotional and physical domestic abuse. I also think this drama has been very healing with its individual stories revolving around death/end-of-life care. Neither subject is talked about nearly enough. While I agree that JCW has had a few lackluster dramas (nothing to do with his talent, IMO, and everything to do with the script or execution), this has been one of my all-time favorite Ji Chang Wook dramas. I also thought the Sound of Magic was wonderful (excluding the actual singing scenes I skipped through since I'm not a fan of musicals). To each their own.