Major my stand in spoilers ahead
this is just me rambling not a detailed analysis
ok i just finished reading my stand in's novel and i like the novel much better, more realistic when it comes to family dynamics, so far (ep 1-2) we see ming's sister being sweet and nice but in the novel she is a raging homophob and so so immature and selfish, the rest of the family is even worse, the meek mother the abusive father and the couldn't care less grandpa, i hate them all (maybe not the mother), except his older brother who truly loves ming and helps them both so much, they have shaved a lot of the novel but i really hope they don't flip on the brother, also wanna see the joe seeing his own corpse scene and ming sitting there listless like a widow but idk if they'd show that in all its written glory (it was much darker and surreal)
the novel is so painful i had to take lots of breaks and also cried a little at few dialogues (and I don't do that often) one thing i really loved in the novel is that once these people pull their heads out of their asses they start to TALK they actually have lengthy conversations about all their feelings and history and everything is revealed at a good pace, not all at once and not never, even ming falling for joe first and mistaking it for tong is something ming realises a lot earlier after the rebirth but only tells joe when he's really desperate,
joe and ming find their way back to each other through a lot of pain and suffering but mostly by PROCESSING, they process their feelings and emotions , sometimes togather sometimes on their own, so I really loved the open communication part not just between the couple between all the characters and their interpersonal dynamics, and it also gave me wangxian vibes albeit a little toxic and twisted as in once joe's rebirth is revealed to ming he's ready to move heaven and earth to keep him by his side this time, he goes against everything and everyone even sometimes joe but it's all very strategic yet open and honest between the couple, ming flips 180 and redeems himself good no matter what's thrown his way, joe forgives him and also stands firm by his side of his own volition
in the middle when joe is reborn and still get's entangled in the entertainment industry i wanted him to just take his (new) mom and run, run far away to some other city find any other work but by the end of the novel I'm convinced satisfactoryly👍 imho ming's mother can be easily forgiven, and the grandpa can live, the father (abusive bastard) im on the fence for but the sister and tong uff they're a hopeless case (and it's pretty realistic so i liked that too)
i just wanna reiterate how real theses characters are, no one is overly noble or easily redeemed just like that, they all have their flaws and accept them and try to make the best of an impossible situation
also the novel takes time to really explain the whys of the story as in why it had to happen that way so that you are convinced that yes it was always going to happen that way, each and every characters actions, reactions, motifs, are all so well explained and understandable 🤌 it's been a long time since i read such mature story and such well fleshed out and understandable characters
