#i feel that the writers want flowers for writing this but they don't land scenes or moments its just poorly done with everyone's story

[swingsetindecember]

look, there aren’t that many female lead sports films. a league of their own means a lot to a lot of girls. i just wish they spent more time on the show about the actual baseball and how amazing it was for women. the show just uses it as backdrop and it’s a missed opportunity 

[youjustwaitsunshine]

tell us your favorite everything changes chapters please

so I'll write just the chapters here, in chronological order and then put a longer explanation under a cut so i don't spoil anything. anyways, here's my top 10 (that i can currently think of) everything changes chapters/chapter collections!

Chapters 27/28: Frozen/Melted

Chapter 69: Roll of the Dice (part 2)

Chapter 73: Recognition

Chapters 97-100: Land of the Free, Home of the Brave (parts 1-4)

Chapters 170-173: Reality Oh There Goes Gravity/You Only Get One Shot/White Lines/It's Like A Jungle Sometimes

Chapter 191-193: The warmth of your hand and a cold grey sky/Another New Year/Priorities

Chapter 224-227: Monaco Baby (parts 1-4)

Chapters 322-326: Avanti (Parte Prima - Cinque)

Chapters 434/435: Stars (parts 1&2)

Chapter 509: One

this took me rather long because i obviously read through all of those chapters again

Well, this one is rather obvious. The end of the slow burn. The kiss in the snow. Now that's a New Year. If (when) I print and bind everything changes, this would be where i end the first volume. The first year, the first arc, the first part done. I also deeply love the christmas chapters with sebs family right before, but this one is IT.

Spa in the rain, after the summer break where seb and mark got followed by paps, after so much shit in the press after they came out after monaco, and then that race. Dear god i said it before I'll say it again, georgia_k writes races like no other. I love the chapter before that one too, and i love sebs relationship with dan and lewis here

Honestly this one is just for that one scene in the restaurant, when the owner comes up to them and tells them he won't take their money because Seb will drive for ferrari one day and he can't let a ferrari driver pay. (due to the events after, seb won't remember this happening but i think georgia_k might, and i hope she calls back to it when ferrari seb comes back to monza in the new in-story year. will he remember? will it bring his memory of the accident back? I can't wait to find out but i trust georgia_k)

Sebs return to the track after Parabolica. This entire arc, starting with the crash, through the hospital (honorable mention chapter: La Bella Addormenata, another absolute favorite because damn the pain. reading through it for the first time with georgia pulling no punches. damn.) The part where Seb talks to Niki? goosebumps. I feel like the Parabolica arc starts with the crash and ends with Arabian Nights but this part (and the one where he drives again on track for the first time) is my favorite.

The return to Monza. again, the way lewis and dan are there for seb, again, the racing. Also points for the lyric titles.

Teddy. now these chapters make me ugly cry every time. i don't even want kids but damn. The way seb is finally, finally completely free of heikki, nothing in their way anymore and then kacey happens (please georgia_k how is she. can you give her a little cameo. put her in a flower shop. she deserves happiness.)(fr georgia named henry after the little town next to monaco as explained in the authors notes and then came back to it like 100 chapters later when she had seb smile at the road sign without even mentioning the name. tell me about kacey.) and seb is so dejected and then teddy is there and it's perfect. god i cried buckets.

theres a bit of a pattern of me loving georgia_ks wet races, this one isn't different. I'm just a sucker for the race chapters.

THE MOVE TO FERRARI i can not WAIT, sebs year of parental time is Over (almost, i expect a teddys birthday/new year chapter and then) WE RACE AGAIN honestly, horner at ferrari feels so cursed but if georgia_k gives seb a championship with ferrari all is forgiven. even if not, i know she's a good writer. Just dont forget about restaurant dude.

Sorry to matilda, but the chapters where they get her just don't have the same impact as teddys, they were preparing, seb left early and it hurt a lot but it was worth it. Stars though. I love them growing into their role as parents, I love Teddy as a character (you can tell georgia_k works with kids because she writes him PERFECTLY for his age), i love the domesticity.

We say goodbye to Rachel, who's been such a great character all throughout. Maybe we'll run into her again? This feels like the end of the adoption story era, and the beginning of the ferrari seb era (hopefully. georgia_k do you hear me?) i love how much teddy's grown up, how you can't really see it chapter by chapter but when you skip read through your favorites again, it's so obvious. The kods have gotten so big and I can't wait what happens with them next, I was so fucking scared for them when they were really little because Georgia_k does not hesitate, but now we're ready for the future and if anything happens to the kids i will fight georgia_k.

also, here my favorite quote (chapter 59; Swimming Against The Tide):

As he approached the first of the cars that had gone past him, the forefront of Seb's mind was concentrating on operating the car and calculating what was coming up, but a small part of Sebastian's mind drifted to recall a quote he knew only too well.

“If you no longer go for a gap that exists, you are no longer a racing driver.”

He even heard it in a Brazilian accent in his head.

Sebastian smiled inside his helmet. He could see a gap. He was still a racing driver.

[mejomonster]

Love to Hate You:

It's a romcom, so remember not my typical genre. So while I'm hit or miss about it, the fact I'm finishing it already means its pretty awesome to keep my attention even though its not even a genre I like

The guy with long hair is so hot, so lovely, I'm Suffering. He's from Flower of Evil (played one of the bad guys) and is an excellent actor at horror and, apparently, comedy. He plays a guy who can't act which is <3. Truly our flight attendant girl is living my dream. Id also be !!!! And like??? What OTHER dramas is he in??? Because I really do think he's an excellent actor, I want to see him in more

So the genre is romcom. But to sell it to my mutuals: it's got an action movie being filmed in it so the lead actor guy does practice fight training and movie stunts, and the lead lawyer likes to do vigilante fights and later trains the actor guy and does some stunt work. As a result, thankfully for me, there's a few cool fight scenes every so often to keep me engaged ToT. Now no one's life is in danger and it's not high stakes plot wise lol, so most of the fights don't keep Much of my attention... but hey I'm happy there's more than zero action scenes at least

I really REALLY like how this show handles tropes. Or rather, how in many ways it totally avoids them.

By that I mean: it occasionally calls attention to kdrama romance tropes like rich ceo/poor girl, older man oppa/younger woman, man paying for woman once they marry, dating a celebrity in secret. And then it intentionally (which I think shows very nice writing skill) does not use the trope in the way its usually done, or if the trope IS used then it's used very intentionally and for a plot purpose deeper than just using it to signal something with a cheap writing shortcut. Like... you might write a pretty girl into a "lawyer for rich man" role and then have the rich guy see her and find her cute, her swoon over him, and you the writer get to Skip explaining WHY the fuck these people would like each other (besides physically). Whereas in this show the writing intentionally does not make it easy for themselves by dropping into a preexisting trope Just to rely on it. The lawyer is hot to the rich actor, but she pissed him off by tripping him first meeting so he doesn't automatically think of her as cute or even a love option. She initially sees him saying rude things about women, so her first impression of him is NOT liking him and her further impressions are full of her making surface judgements and acting in a way she finds morally superior but then eats her bitter pie when she runs into reality eventually. The writing does the work itself of showing What these characters would ACTUALLY interact like if they run into each other, what it takes for them to grow and change, and what work it takes for them to actually grow crushes. It's the harder writing choice, but also (for me) a much more satisfying one. It means I can trust the writers to actually have reasons and character development for choices made, and for when tropes are used, instead of fearing anyone will be ooc or some shortcut in a romance will be made (whereas i find gradual believable builds more satisfying). Now that said, a trope can and is satisfying also when used just the way its intended when the characters are written To Work in that trope and match the trope used (crash landing on you had multiple "opposite sides argue fall in love" and the characters FIT that story type well). Just for me, I can also really appreciate when a show uses tropes that don't fit it by actually developing things until they naturally do fit it. Idk I hope I'm explaining well ToT

Basically, it's relying on its own writing vision. I don't feel I'm being dragged through a narrative that relies on tropes, instead I feel I'm having a fun story journey that sometimes features tropes either when they actually fit or as an intentional subversion (such as the main actor disliking younger women/older men dynamics and oppa, the lawyer hating relying on a man financially, and the ceo/flight girl matching a dynamic but the flight attendant girl aware and Trying Not To be that way, the bitter ex at yeos work being both a jerk but also... not sabotaging her or clinging so ridiculously he becomes a huge obstacle, that would've been the easier conflict writing choice but the more interesting choice I think is what they did... to not make him as big a deal as other conflicts, the intentional way women actresses are written in this almost comically annoying says something too... and while I think it misses the mark somewhat in that it feels like it shallows the actress characters, I think it does succeed at showing them as like "how romcoms paint women in fiction sometimes" versus the flight attendant and lawyer and older actress who act more like women you meet in real life which is an interesting contrast Within a kdrama itself)

I'm really into long haired guy please what other kdramas was he in... ;-;

It's actually funny af at times. Now if the humor lands is really gonna depend on you. I personally love when comedy in a genre is self aware, and subverts sometimes or does realism over genre norms, and this show is Aware it's a romcom and uses romcom norms to make some of its jokes. So they Really land with me lmao.

I actually really love the actor guy. I love that 1 he has such a close friendship he gets read as gay by strangers, cayse let's be real having a friend that close is Nice (and in my experience platonic love is far more obtainable and reliable at times than romantic love so it's nice to see BOTH leads have such good platonic friendships with people who basically partner them in life). Actually all friendships in this show come off as important, which I value a lot in a romance story. But back to actor guy: I love that he's 36 and single. I love that his first ex hurt him so bad he feels repulsed kissing. I remember after my first big heartbreak, I'd cry when trying to get intimate with new ppl. It's nice to see not everyone reacts the same, sometimes people take pain hard and take years to process, that it is an ongoing process. I like that he's slow to date and is mindful about slowly opening up. I like seeing that kind of character on screen in general, and especially in a romance where I feel like it's not as often. I like that he isn't the only character with some baggage and mindfulness about falling in love (or even just dating) a new person. Adults have baggage, people in their 30s have had failed relationships sometimes and scars from old messes. Seeing every character have their own way of coping with their scars and either embracing being open to xonnection again like the old actress, or fearful (in some ways both leads), or interested in dating but unsure if it's time or who it should be with (ceo and flight attendant) is nice. It's realistic. Real romance isn't absolutely perfect and quick, it's a process with yourself of risking being vulnerable and trusting and attempting to connect to another, and them doing it too. And I like that this show feels realistic in That way.

It is rather nice, I'll admit, to watch a show where the only big stake is heartbreak (and a lost paycheck). I like high action/suspense More. But I get the appeal. If anyone has other romance recs that have Realistic romances (as in like this show the tropes are at most a bit wild but portrayed in a realistic mostly grounded way and Most Importantly the characters feel like real flawed adults just trying as people do), I'd be open to checking them out. (I guess if it helps? I liked the romances in Crash Landing on You and Flower of Evil, but they're more suspense than Just Romance lol)

I like the way this show Balances some Outlandish tropes with realism, so it's like a middle ground? You DO get to enjoy the fantasy of a person dating an actor, but with an imperfect portrayal of an actor with regular flaws, you DO get a rich CEO but hes also got a lot of ppl depending on him and emotionally doesn't think about himself as much as everyone, you do get a capable woman as a lead but her heart doesn't give much of a fuck about actual love so it's a struggle to Get to possibly loving).

Anyway if some romcoms are your thing, this is a fun show so far

[portalaway]

@vldldarkwood

Replying in a post just bc a reply is not enough room. sorry late reply also because this is...long. you dont have to read it or reply lol

I feel ya on that, sometimes i can get caught up with describing when i realize that it just goes on for too long. or nothing seems to happen and it just reads dull. Heres some tips you didnt ask for!! sorry i just like talking

So one thing i do, is i go through the paragraphs and look at the sentences. You dont have to count the words, but look at the length of the sentences. Sometimes ill find ones that mess up the voice/tone/flow of the paragraph by being too long, too short, or repeat a word said 1 or 2 sentences ago.

I go through those sentences and try and figure out how else i can word it. This is where a thesaurus comes in handy.

You could say bland short sentence like:

The hot sun burned his arm, making him yell in pain. As he looked outside, the sun blinded him, making him rub his eyes. "This is why i only go out at night" he said annoyed. He shuts the door and locks it for the day.

Or better ways to say it:

The sun raged on as it heated the air and dried the land. The rays singed the skin it touched, creating a growing red hue on his forearms. Yelping in pain, he quickly brings his arms back into the shadows and gently places his palm on the seething wound. As he peeked outside, he found himself instantly blinded. He groaned, rubbing his eyes. "This is why I only go out at night" he grumbled to himself. Sarcastically and with theatrics, he smacked the door closed and pushed down the flimsly lock. The door WILL NOT BE USED for the rest of the day

(I wrote these segments out of order, the one below should have been first)

Now every writer has their own voice, so i cant tell you what it SHOULD sound like. BUT, the typical writing style will have a mix of long sentences, short sentences, etc.

So a paragraph like this:

This is a paragraph written to show an example. Is this example helpful? I don't know. But thinking of an example to write is actually kind of hard. And now this paragraph is finished.

is better than

This is a second paragraph. Its worse than the first. Not varied at all. I don't like this paragraph. It's just too boring.

Both have 5 sentences, but each have different flow. First one is like a river, the second is like...squirting a spray bottle.

--

Ok so theres the rough draft, getting the idea out there, throwing all the info on the table and arranging it where you want it

Then you go in and tweak some sentences and paragraphs. And gotta fix things like a blooming flower

So you go to the first paragraph, a chunk out of the story. You break up the sentences to look at their lengths and the flow. Is it choppy or is there a rhythm of sorts. Then open up the sentences and inspect the words. are they repeated? are you using a good combination of thesaurus words and ghost words (idk the name, but thesaurus words as in not extremely common, and ghost words kind of blend in the sentence. Like the word 'said').

What purpose does your paragraph have? Is the whole paragraph there to describe a scene? Is it a lead in to a scene?

The only time a paragraph can stay stagnant and not move the story forward is if you are describing something important.

A paragraph describing JUST how hot the sun is? not great. Because you can get your point across in 1-2 sentences. Is it describing how hot and bright it is? Better, because theres more depth to your sun now.

Is the paragraph describing the affect your sun has on its enviroment? Or on a character? Even better, because you can get a lot of info from that and a better picture. And your paragraph is richer.

Paragraphs can have a beginning middle and end, and they can be part of a beginning middle and end (BME)with the next few paragraphs.

Paragraph with BME:

This first paragraph introduces an object, like a rat that is sniffing around a dusty bookshelf. This second paragraph expands on the rat, telling us that suddenly the rat stops. The room is quiet. This sentence breaks the silence by informing us that a fork is now stuck in the wood of the bookcase, having nearly impaled the rat dead if he were not as nimble. The conclusion of this paragraph wraps up with the rat scurring off into one of the many holes in the walls. Lastly, we end it with a transition into the next paragraph by mentioning that a dark figure snaps their fingers and the fork flies right back into their hand, as they then use it to continue eating.

3 Paragraphs; Beginning Middle End:

This is the beginning paragraph. It can have the same structure as a regular paragraph, like the one above. But this takes more time to set up the beginning, and to set up a transition into the middle paragraph. So focus on the echos of the rats nails scratching against old wood. The worn books smelling like mildew. And even seeing slivers of light shine in through the shuttered windows, illuminating the dust in the air. The rats ear twitches towards the middle of the room.

Suddenly we are in the middle paragraph, which should be seen as the climax. But that doesnt mean it has to be exciting. You can drive in how silent the room is. Its deafining. But the sound of splitting wood was louder. For in front of the rat, a fork stood sideways stuck into the rotting wood. The rat took this as a sign to hide, and disappeared into one of the many holes in the walls. This is now settling into a transition into the ending paragraph.

Once again the room was quiet, save for the sound of snapped fingers and an old fork once again flying through the air. The shrouded figure, whom is sitting in a chair far too big, gracefully catches the utensil between their fingers. Now we end this scene with the figure continueing to eat. These 3 paragraphs set up a mystery figure, a location, emotions.

While the first single BME paragraph, sets up a mystery figure, a location, and emotions, but it paints a different feeling when reading it.

---

Theres so many other ways to spice up your writing, these are just things i do.

And always remember that you should be enjoying yourself. And to not be hard on yourself. Look at your creativity and be a parent who puts it up on the fridge. Find your art (writing is art) endearing.

Be proud of your stuff, even if youre faking the pride.