#adwad

Transmigration Hour 1.

WANG YILUN (王以綸 / 王以纶) / RILEY WANG as Shangguan He

I'm talking about when Nan Heng had to choose between saving his 'not-girlfriend who hates his guts but also is in love' with him or chopping off his own hand. AND THEN TRYING TO DO IT. Or pretty much all of the 2nd half of Shadow Love. And the bridge scene in LBFAD!

a. The FL, Son Yimeng, is relentless in what she wants to do. Sure, she is unbearable for a good part of the story lol (it was a test for me to sit through so much of what she does) BUT objectively speaking and in hindsight, her behavior and actions make sense. It reminds me of The Untamed in some ways, where everything wrong that happens in the world including global warming is Wei Ying's fault and people wouldn't believe otherwise. Song Yimeng is not dumb and she has her priorities set which I love (not doing anything at all and just chilling if she can help it), she is just so caught up in the script she refuses to question it or believe Nan Heng's motivations for more than half of the drama.

Even when they get together, she is more like the receiver in their relationship while the ML, Nan Heng, is like an unconditional giver. Like if she wanted she could trample on his limbs and heart and he'd be okay if she gave him a genuine smile. To her credit though, she does try her best to change their fate and even sacrifice herself for Nan Heng more than once. It's not a bad thing per se that there is a slight imbalance, that's just how their relationship dynamic is. Li Yitong did a very convincing job of playing that throughout.

b. The ML, Nan Heng, is hands down one of my mostesttt favorite MLs of all time. Gimme a well-written, strong, masculine, misunderstood, abused, wronged, abandoned, universally vilified, internally wounded, desperate for affection, ride or die male lead and see me fall to my knees. And the fact that Nan Heng is just the perfect amount of everything is all thanks to Liu Yuning. I have other favorites but tbf I don't think any other actor could've done a better job for this role. There's this vulnerability and sadness underneath the strong, fierce, cold demeanor of Nan Heng that imo only Liu Yuning could pull off. Whoever thinks he's not a good actor or not good looking can go touch some grass. There are very few actors in dramaland I find as mature and manly as him. Shoo.

c. Humor is very subjective and over the many years of watching I've learned to be okay with what we're generally shown. My most favorite thing about this drama's humor is that it's very very meta. I spent quite a good amount of time figuring out what tropes/popular dramas was ADWAD throwing shade at, it was like a fun puzzle lol. The comic timing of Yuning and Yitong (in addition to Xudan, Riley, Jiyang and other recurring characters) is actually quite on point in this drama too.

d. The ending is usually where most dramas fall flat for me. Especially given how transmigration cdramas have to follow a certain pattern of 'it was all fake lol jk' for reasons, I kind of expect that. However, this is perhaps my most favorite ending by far for a transmigration cdrama. Sure, it has room for interpretation what with the whole 'dream within a dream' concept--even with that snippet near the very end, I still feel they tried to keep it as real as they could without causing them any trouble. Are Nan Heng and Nan Feng the same person? Does he have the memories of Nan Heng prior to Yi Meng going into the script? I'd like to think yes for both, especially since they tried to drop hints, like how in epi 1 Nan Feng looks at her for a few seconds while he's leaving. I have no explanation wrt the background transition that happens when Nan Heng meets modern day FL again tho, don't come at me xD Anyhoo, this was a very very satisfying ending imo.

e. The costume, well, more like Nan Heng's costume. Man I love the wardrobe Yuning got in this drama, this has been the best he's gotten so far imo. There are scenes I replayed only to stare at his robes or eye makeup or his hair braids (as Li Sixteen). Once again, this man looks SO REGAL SO FINE in those outfits and makeup, complemented by his height and expressions. ART.

first, i personally hate when people start an opinion with “i cant believe people are saying (negative opinion)”—but in the limited fan content ive seen while trying NOT to spoil stuff for myself, a common thread amongst criticism is not liking the FL, or maybe not getting why nan heng would fall for her

simply couldn’t be me. song yimeng is my unhinged girlfailure FREAK, and i adore her. she is offputting and strange. she is beautiful and compassionate, even to people she truly believes are not real (and i mean, they don’t have NAMES). she is pigheaded and brave. she is intelligent but often without insight. she is good at manipulation but also simultaneously SO bad at manipulation. she is endearing and kinda ruthless.

and, she is such a fucking Hater that once she decided she hated a character (who, in her defense, killed her character AND tried to kill Actual her for a whole day), she Held onto that hate like a buoy in a storm to anchor her forever. my favorite weirdo HATERGIRL

i can’t even get into how much i adore nan heng, tbh—but thats the thing. song yimeng ALSO adores nan heng, just as his alter ego. she is operating on a flawed set of assumptions AND her limited personal experience, and this whole drama is all about tropes and miscommunication and pulling whatever bullshit has to happen for the plot to be sufficiently Dramatic.

unlike all you FAKE Lovers Of Men Suffering, i understand that nan heng’s happy ending will be soooo much better after he goes through every possible torture for it. i love him so bad and his actor is giving one of the most compelling performances ive ever seen, and i need to see him cry and yearn and Persist and cry some more.