The lack of revenge murder spree 😔

I am not against adaptational changes, I loved Pinocchio, but all the changes here were either pointless (Harlander), clichéd (abusive dad, falling for quirky girl with "different" opinions who is also the creator mouthpiece), or strips the og of complexity in favour of black and white victimhood

and it also feels like even though Dieyi can be cunning in his methods, he is unquestionably the victim in every scenario and often represents the authorial viewpoint. Whereas the students feel a lot more morally grey?

Firstly, the "abused character experiences freedom" character arc has been done to death and even Towei herself has written this archetype before with much more nuance and complex emotions (Li Zhizhi)

I've been reading a lot of marriage-themed BL lately for some reason lol. Idk why but I find them cute even though I'm so anti marriage irl 😆

-The premise is nothing unique but the main couple have a very sweet romance. Nice bits of tension and whump keep the story engaging. The plot and writing flow well too.
-Overall this is the kind of novel that uses the usual tropes to build a coherent storyline and executes them nicely. A solid read

I didn't know there was a 4k rerelease until recently either so I have to rewatch it too!

-I like that their love is built on their own effort rather than involuntarily falling in love
-MC isn't particularly distinguished and is quite passive but the more you read the more you see that he's a good match for the celeb love interest

-I liked the writing and atmosphere in the author's prev work (如煙如火) and this one has a similar style too, with minimalist prose, subtle characterisation, and a web of supporting characters surrounding the MCs. But the leads in this have a much sweeter, mutual relationship