In the novel Weilan relationship, Zhao Yunlan doesn't really have those moments of deferring to the Envoy/Emissary that we see in the drama, eg, when Zheng Yi is taken away. He's more arrogant and manipulative (not that drama!Zhao Yunlan isn't also manipulative).
Yeah, and all of that is part of why I bounced off the novel when I first tried to read the it - I just couldn't like novel!ZYL the way I like drama!ZYL. Alas.
The Crow elder isn't named in the novel, and we don't know anything about her actions or agenda.
Ya Qing is such a great invention for the drama! It's always great when minor novel characters get fleshed out or reinvented for a drama. :D
Anyway, in the novel, when Shen Wei struggles in Zhao Yunlan's arms, Zhao Yunlan tries calling him "Xiao-Wei!" since he has a pretty good idea by then that Shen Wei is 10,000% into him, but Zhao Yunlan has mostly been the more active partner/pursuer. In the drama, the "Xiao-Wei!" cry is more out of the blue -- more an artefact of the novel than an obvious progression from their fairly equal dynamic.
In the drama, it doesn't feel premeditated/deliberate - it just seems to burst out, and I like that a lot, that an endearment is what comes out when he really wants/needs to reach Shen Wei.
but also makes it really powerful because it's so out of context: even the Envoy in full flight can be derailed by this unexpected endearment from his one true love
Yes, and this!
(Of course, it also meant that I spent the entirety of the YOHE sequence expecting it to come up again. ;-p)
They really should have had a Xiao-Wei moment in YOHE - I always wondered if they perhaps had that in the original script but had to cut it.
How do you feel about the drama adaptation of this scene? (Does it come down to "prefers politics" vs "prefers violently protective relationships"? *g*)
LOL! I prefer the drama version because I prefer drama!ZYL, but I do like violently protective relationships as well as politics. *g*
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Yeah, and all of that is part of why I bounced off the novel when I first tried to read the it - I just couldn't like novel!ZYL the way I like drama!ZYL. Alas.
The Crow elder isn't named in the novel, and we don't know anything about her actions or agenda.
Ya Qing is such a great invention for the drama! It's always great when minor novel characters get fleshed out or reinvented for a drama. :D
Anyway, in the novel, when Shen Wei struggles in Zhao Yunlan's arms, Zhao Yunlan tries calling him "Xiao-Wei!" since he has a pretty good idea by then that Shen Wei is 10,000% into him, but Zhao Yunlan has mostly been the more active partner/pursuer. In the drama, the "Xiao-Wei!" cry is more out of the blue -- more an artefact of the novel than an obvious progression from their fairly equal dynamic.
In the drama, it doesn't feel premeditated/deliberate - it just seems to burst out, and I like that a lot, that an endearment is what comes out when he really wants/needs to reach Shen Wei.
but also makes it really powerful because it's so out of context: even the Envoy in full flight can be derailed by this unexpected endearment from his one true love
Yes, and this!
(Of course, it also meant that I spent the entirety of the YOHE sequence expecting it to come up again. ;-p)
They really should have had a Xiao-Wei moment in YOHE - I always wondered if they perhaps had that in the original script but had to cut it.
How do you feel about the drama adaptation of this scene? (Does it come down to "prefers politics" vs "prefers violently protective relationships"? *g*)
LOL! I prefer the drama version because I prefer drama!ZYL, but I do like violently protective relationships as well as politics. *g*