#the action is also so draggy

[mgbbsnk]

im just ughhhhhh

it's a toga. it's a toga/robe and theyre calling it a dress.

i can chalk it up to them not being of the 'original earth' or whatever but if theyre so proficient and well read as they claimed wouldnt they say it's unisex! both men and women wore chitons/togas!

[florvaine]

tbh im losing my will to write bc all the cc's that i used to watch/did watch have been revealed to be terrible people that no part of me can support.

this is gonna be a bit of a rant of everything i stand on during this

support, send love and stand with shelby, alice, caiti, lexie, em, andi, moonzy and others taking a stand and finally showing the true colours of these 'men'. at the same time support, send love and stand with others that came out/were forced to talk about their experiences with this topic before such as cellbit, jack and niki. also show love for those standing up with the victims and supporting them no matter what - aimsy, billzo, max, ranboo, harry, etc. etc.

NOBODY who supports people like wilbur, illumina, george, sapnap, dream, punz, draggie and other 'influencers' who use their platforms for these horrific actions is welcome on my blog. i do not care if youre 'waiting for a response' - you have picked a side by doing that, whether you'd like to hear that or not, and it is not the victims. these 'men' are R4PISTS, ENABLERS, ABUS3RS, R4CISTS and GLORIFIED N0NC3S.

THIS ISNT DRAMA. the things these 'men' are saying theyve been revealed of doing - not accused, accused means 'claiming someone has done something wrong' - in this situation it is FACTUAL. the experiences these women have gone through do not deserve to be watered down to just 'internet drama' or 'twitter drama'. these 'men' have done ILLEGAL ACTS and deserve to rot behind bars for getting off on the manipulation, abuse and exploitation of these women, and i hope they get the justice they deserve for their actions.

a common thread between the majority of these cases is the theme of consent and alcohol. seems like the british attackers werent there for the tea video. the moment someone has alcohol in their bloodstream, they cannot consent. whether they have had one drink or 20, or if both parties are drunk, there is not consent. if there is not a clear, uncoerced, uninfulenced and solid 'yes' then there is not consent and it is assault/r4pe. this is not my opinion, this is THE LAW.

it is not your fault if you 'couldnt tell'. with wilbur, yes, he frequently used the 'tragic artist' role in his songs, but at the time it was said BY HIM to be a character, this is supported by his e-girl trilogy and the fact he said himself he was PLAYING an incel character. he is a manipulator, and the rest of the 'men' are liars too. they all sat behind screens showing a version of themselves best suited to gathering fame, and didnt feel bad about flipping completely when the streams or cameras turned off. HOWEVER, it is YOUR FAULT if you still support the 'men'. people saying 'he saved me' or 'he wouldnt do this' - MOTHERFUCKER HE JUST DID?? HELLO?? yes, it can be hard letting go of someone/something you loved, but it has to be done. i didnt want to get rid of a barbie when i was younger because playing with it made me happy, but i did anyways and guess what? i got over it. you do not know these 'men'. YOU ARE NOT LOSING A REAL LIFE FRIEND, YOU ARE LOSING A TOXIC, PARASOCIAL RELATIONSHIP.

for the (few) people who might see this and go 'whyre you so pressed' - i have experienced my own trauma in the past and that is all i will say, i do not owe it to you to go into full miniscule detail about what happened. hearing all the people i grew up watching doing the same things that i have and still am effected by today makes me feel sick, that isnt a metaphor either, it brings up bad memories and makes it even harder to detatch yourself from these situations. these 'men' have done irreversible actions. whilst it may have given them a sick minute of pleasure, it has haunted and traumatised these women for the rest of their lives. they are only 'apologising' or 'addressing' their actions because they do not want to lose their platforms. since the start their fans have only been a number, and the second that number drops they get all panicky and try do all the damage control they can. DO NOT SUPPORT THESE 'MEN'. SUPPORT THE VICTIMS. caiti shelby alice lexie em andi moonzy

i think im done with my rant. more might have to be added idk tho. bye bye

[gutsybitsies]

finished TSATS and hmm (slight spoilers below)

i'm gonna meet it where it's at and what it's trying to do, and say it was okay. well, meh to okay.

so my initial expectations were that as long as it's entertaining, then its fine by me. but the pacing and the dream/narration sequences was really off and made the story very draggy right up until nyx enters the picture.

the central conflict was strange and not too fleshed out, because usually the stories intertwine outer conflict (for example eros withholding staff of diocletian bc he just happened to have it and his nature dictates truth of love before giving it away) and internal conflict (nico's inner turmoil over his sexuality and feelings for percy clashing with the quest).

also another example: piper's repeating dreams about a cherokee creation myth linking her two heritages together and her saving the day with that by using the cornucopia to release fresh water in MOA.

but this time the conflict is....uh. meh? first or all, i fucking loved Nyx here. I think she's the coolest, the story became 100% more entertaining when she came in and started bitching at her kids. I understand why she chose to capture Bob the Titan. I don't get why she's obsessed with Nico. There is no satisfactory external conflict giving her a reason why she needs a demigod, nico specifically, to stay in Tartarus. And that makes the internal conflict that nico has feel weak.

i understand where the book was coming from, it wants to show nico accepting the "dark" parts of himself. personally i thought the personified cacaedemons were cool and cute as fuck. but i don't know why will was written the way he was? because narratively it doesnt feel like he was very conducive to helping nico accept the dark part of himself. at least not in a way that makes him sympathetic.

will's actions only serve to confirm nico's fears that hes unwanted and hard to love? his initial reaction to the underworld is that it's creepy, and he hates it. valid reactions! but this is paired with the view that the reason nico doesn't get along with others is that nico is the one who pushes people away, rather than other people being put off by who nico is. well, nico identifies strongly with the underworld, and will is very put off by the underworld, but still we're supposed to think that everything nico said about people's reaction to him is in his head?

i don't get why he's there, written the way he is, if what the book wanted to do was to write a story about nico seeing past his darkness and accepting it + accepting other people and letting them in. i get that they probably wanted to tell a story about two imperfect people getting together, but you can make will imperfect in ways other than confirming his boyfriend's biggest fears about himself.

will does end up apologizing for his reactions and tells nico that he's wrong for sometimes treating nico as something to "fix", but in NICO's pov he's still thinking that he himself is the biggest roadblock to acceptance with other people.

ALSO his last conversation with piper? was strange. i'm assuming that this meant that he and piper became super close right after the Giant war and before she left for school, but this was never hinted at throughout the book and then BOOM? if i was still in middle school and picked up this book having never read any of the other books i'd be very, very confused.

anyway. if you enjoy riordanverse i would still give this a read, because it does contain some cute moments, and i loved nyx and her army of monster children. narratively i think it could've done better, but nothing was a huge surprise.

[checkoutmybookshelf]

How is Faerie Smut Not Its Own Genre at This Point???

Ok, I've been on a faerie kick again lately, and I have just finished reading ACOTAR with a friend because he had started it and noped out, but agreed to try it again with me because he's the best. Like Fourth Wing, this book is a white girl BookTok darling, which means that the hype around this books peaks at "THIS IS THE BEST BOOK EVER WRITTEN AAAAAAAAAAAAAA" and "THIS BOOK IS THE WORST THING EVER WRITTEN AAAAAAAAAAAAA."

Y'all...this book is fine. It's aggressively fine. I think it has pacing and plotting issues, and it is absolutely oversold in terms of spice, but I didn't hate it, and there were bits that were fun. I would not kick this book out of bed. (I might kick it out of my classroom if I was teaching, but that's a separate issue.) Let's talk A Court of Thorns and Roses.

Spoiler warning here, because this book and series has been memed to hell and back, and I do not feel like avoiding spoilers is necessary. So SPPOILERS BELOW THE BREAK. Consider yourself warned.

Ok, so first thing's first: I like a good faerie story. I like a good scary faerie. And I am a wee bit of a sucker for a sappy love story once in a while. ACOTAR has all three of those, so objectively this book was fun. It hit some good beats for me, and I was not objectively opposed to faerie smut. Faeries are very flexible, they work in a surprising number of contexts--not to mention that the jump from "my boyfriend is a monster" to "my boyfriend is a high fae lord" is less of a jump and more of a sideways step. So just on paper, ACOTAR wasn't a hard sell for me.

For those of you who have been following my reviews--specifically the Artemis Fowl ones--you'll be happy to hear that Amarantha has been added to the Hall of Unnecessarily Extra Lady Villains with Opal Koboi and Semihrage. I am HERE for Amarantha girlbossing her way to absolute power while wearing the eye and finger bone of the dude she brutally murdered on the way up. I'm also a fan of her TRULY EPIC tantrum once Feyre has murdered two faeries, attempted murdered Tamlin and solved the goddamn riddle at the LAST POSSIBLE SECOND.

(And no, I'm still not over my John Oliver pitching a fit over the solution to the Da Vinci Code being apple levels of fury about THAT...but I digress.)

Amarantha fully leans into toxic girlbossing and just has FUN with it, and I'm never not here for that.

I also appreciated the little tweak of the Aos Si tradition of fairy hills and fairy mounds and fairy barrows into being under the mountain. Like, yes, that mountain is fae as HELL and I'm here for it. That was a nice little addition to the lore, and there's something about having an entire mountain above their heads that made Amarantha's court feel even more oppressive. I'm not sure how it managed not to feel like Khazad Dum, but it didn't, which was excellent.

The other thing I really liked was that the faeries in this series had a very clear sense of danger to them. No candy floss Disney Fairies here, the high fae are DANGEROUS and you can really and truly be fucked if you aren't fully on your game and know all the rules PLUS have a doctorate in rules-lawyering immortal beings. And even then, you could miss something and end up horribly murdered. Between Amarantha, the Night Court in general, the Attor, the Suriel, and the bogge, there was plenty of ambient danger around for our little human protagonist out of her depth.

The problems with this book for me were the aforementioned pacing and plotting problems, and also the romance. Let's take these one by one.

I think it's pretty well known that the last hundred-odd pages of Sarah J Maas books are where the action is, and while that can work for books (it worked beautifully for To Shape a Dragon's Breath), I wasn't buying it for ACOTAR. Feyre's time at the Spring Court draaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagged for me, and honestly I would have been happy with about a third of that timeframe. There was also some dragginess in the pacing under the mountain between the trials. A month between trials was just too long, and the time was not well-filled. A week. Just give it a week, you get the same bits between, and I'm not over here going "Why is this taking SO LONG??"

The pacing issues are at least a little exacerbated by the plotting issues. The first like...two-thirds of this book is a weird speedrun of a slow-burn Beauty and the Beast, except that Feyre isn't actually genre-savvy enough to KNOW that's what's happening, and the curse deadline actually passes (with everyone somehow blaming Feyre for this????) before anyone fills Feyre in on the fact that there was a curse in play at all. Then the last third of the book speedruns cursebreaking. Which was actually more interesting than "Feyre just kinda hangs out in a faerie castle for a few months," but very much felt like a completely different book.

Finally, we have the romance issues. And please, as y'all go into this, remember that I have a PhD in English and Film, and I have more life experience than your average 15-year-old who is inhaling this book. I am not the target demographic. Disclaimer out of the way...WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT???? Feyre spends more time with Lucien than Tamlin at the Spring Court, Lucien is the one who checks on her in her cell in under the mountain (yes, I know they explained it in the text, but it was a weak explanation and frankly, Tamlin could have TRIED), and then she spends a weird amount of time with Rhysand under the mountain, even if she doesn't remember most of it. She didn't have TIME to fall in love with Tamlin. I kind of hate to say this, but there was a huge sense of "You love the IDEA of him, sweetie" while I was reading. Not to mention that she kept flip-flopping on Tamlin while she was under the mountain. While he was physically in her line of sight she was all "I love this fae" but the second she's not looking at him, it's like he barely exists. Was this just an object permanence problem??? Like...Feyre, sweetie. I'm happy if you're happy, but you have not spent enough time with this man. You're just horny for the idea of him.

I also want to just...morally object to everyone BLAMING FEYRE for not knowing there was a curse? Like, even Belle knew that there was a curse in play, she was not expected to just...intuit that the Beast and castle were cursed. Like ten people told her about the curse. And I don't care that part of the curse was that nobody could tell Feyre, that did NOT serve the story.

The last weird thing I want to morally object to is everyone shaming Feyre for her illiteracy. Kids not having the opportunity to pursue education is a tragedy, but WE DO NOT SHAME THEM FOR IT. Feyre gets shit from EVERYONE about this, and the second trial hinging on an assumption that she can read just really hammered the "you are bad for not being able to read" home in the weirdest way. Just...What the hell???

All of that said, I want to reiterate that I would not kick this book out of bed. It has its problems, but I was indeed entertained--at least enough to finish the book. And full disclosure, my reading buddy and I are going to start ACOMAF next, so we're apparently hooked. And yes, you will eventually get a review of that one too!

[otome-corner-cafe]

After completing one character route per game (getting good and bad endings), here are my thoughts on the otomes that I’ve been playing.

These aren’t comprehensive reviews I’m giving but just quick rambles of my thoughts based on just the common route and a single character route per game.

Variable Barricade: Honestly the one that I didn’t put much thought into when I bought it. It was added to my purchase on a whim because the art looked cool and one reviewer’s description of the LIs was weird enough to stick with me. However, I was pleasantly surprised by how the game made me invest in Hibari and the whack job suitors. I think the story progression being cut up into scenes across the barricade boards was well done as it gave me varying chunks of story to read through without anything feeling like it was too short or overstayed it’s welcome. Ichiya as a first route was delightfully wild but I do worry that none of the other men will quite match the energy. But I still have faith that some fun hijinx will be delivered.

Collar x Malice: I ended up liking this game a lot more than expected. And that’s despite a lot of the translation hiccups and the weird name bug within Takeru’s route. The game balanced despair and hope quite well in my opinion. And I do love it when stories can indulge both my desire to see darkness and still lead towards a bright and happy ending. Now I reached Mineo’s tragic ending before resetting my game after encountering the name issue in Takeru’s route so I will touch on both of those. Both romances develop pretty suddenly (when you’ve got less than a month’s timeline to work with, it’s inevitable) but both still made my heart flutter. Though I believe Mineo’s route was done better. I’m also very fond of Ichika who has thus far consistently shown to have kind ideals but doesn’t quite have much experience to guide her but her desire to help gets her through it. I’m very interested to see how the other routes handle the discussion of justice and challenge the characters’ resolves.

Piofiore: Taisho Era Italy game had decently high expectations and lived up to them. I like how the game doesn’t shy away from the brutality of the mafia while still making the LIs seem good (at least for Nicola, Dante, and Gilbert. Jury is out on Yang and Orlok). While I prefer more action oriented girls like Cardia and Ichika, Liliana’s position as an innocent lady suddenly being caught up on the business of the mafia didn’t feel like she was merely a damsel surrounded by men doing all the action. She’s adapting the best she can, asking questions and putting her effort towards showing the people around her kindness. Even though she’s naive to the world, she doesn’t run from it and instead tries to understand it (to varying results in Nicola’s endings). I’m looking forward to the future routes and getting more insight on what the deal is with the church because something is up there.

Cafe Enchante: The game I looked forward to the most and, because of that, the disappointment feels stronger. The cafe setting and the magical LIs got me excited. But that common route… Oof. Granted, Code Realize also has a common route that’s eight chapters long but it didn’t feel nearly as draggy (and I am replaying Code Realize right now so I can very easily compare). And when it came time to actually do a route… the pacing for Kaoru’s was fumbled I feel. I think the route might’ve needed one more chapter to give a little more time for the romance to develop and to prevent some tonal whiplash between that and the… actual plot of the route. I think it’s a good game. The art is lovely, the themes of belonging and finding understanding despite differences resonated with me, and characters are all charming in their interactions. The pacing is the only real issue I’m having thankfully.

[marley-manson]

There are many scenes from War Bonds I'd lovvvvve to know your thinking on, but if I had to pick one...

“No!” He stepped in a tight, frustrated circle to gather his thoughts. “It’s not the war,” he said eventually, “it’s the army. It - it - it’s like they’re trying to seduce me, to make me forget that they’re the ones who kidnapped me.”

“Hawk,” BJ said sharply, reminding Hawkeye again that they were in public.

“Sorry, sorry,” he said, lowering his voice. “But you know,” he continued, mostly because BJ didn't care, “sometimes you’re part of the problem too.”

BJ put on his condescending this’ll-be-good smile, proving Hawkeye’s point. “Oh, am I?”

“Yeah - you’re too detached. How am I supposed to work up a good righteous anger when you’re always around acting like a cold shower?”

The smile only intensified. “Look, you’re exhausted, you’re rambling - go back to the Swamp, let me take over here.”

"And there's the patronization." He threw up his hands. "I don't need a sippy-cup and a nap, Beej, I - I - I need - I need an escape plan. This place is warping me."

"You're warped all right."

Hawkeye ignored that little comment. "You know, if I go to sleep, I'll be someone else when I wake up. Someone who - who doesn't see a problem with just going along with everything."

"Hawk," BJ tried again, but Hawkeye couldn't be interrupted.

"I was like that before too, did you know that? When I first got here - oh sure, I rebelled, I protested, I stomped my feet. But I didn't really care. The army had a job to do and I was mad that they'd dragged me into it but I didn't begrudge them their, their existence. It was just the way things were, right? And then one of my best friends was killed in action and everything changed. I couldn't be apathetic after that. But it's coming back, Beej, the apathy. It’s just easier, you know? It’s easier to make friends with the army, it’s easier to stand down, it’s easier to learn how to salute.”

BJ looked up at him for a long moment before finally speaking. “If it helps, you’re the least apathetic person I know, insomnia or no insomnia. I don’t think playing nice with the Colonel changes that.”

It was a nice sentiment, he’d give him that, but it didn’t help. “Thanks,” he said anyway, deciding to save his ranting for a while and focus on the patients.

He got through the next several hours somehow, his energy never quite letting up but joining hands and skipping down the lane with an increasing physical dragginess, like someone was slowly turning the dial for Earth’s gravity up. His limbs felt like iron beams and his head was stuffed with lead. Somewhere in there, between tests ordered and blood drawn and pulses timed, he told BJ the whole story about Tommy over a cup of coffee that BJ frowned upon, and received the requisite sympathy. And all the while his brain never stopped buzzing at the question he wasn’t even sure how to phrase, like a fly against a window

Thank you 💖💖💖

War Bonds

“No!” He stepped in a tight, frustrated circle to gather his thoughts. “It’s not the war,” he said eventually, “it’s the army. It - it - it’s like they’re trying to seduce me, to make me forget that they’re the ones who kidnapped me.”

Well first I wanna say it was a lot of fun writing Hawkeye on 2-3 days without sleep lol, his heightened feelings and mannerisms and verbal ticks were a lot of fun. I love his tendency to repeat connection words when he's on a dramatic roll and I utilized that a lot when he's also exhausted.

“Hawk,” BJ said sharply, reminding Hawkeye again that they were in public.

“Sorry, sorry,” he said, lowering his voice. “But you know,” he continued, mostly because BJ didn't care, “sometimes you’re part of the problem too.”

BJ put on his condescending this’ll-be-good smile, proving Hawkeye’s point. “Oh, am I?”

In this fic I wanted to portray BJ's flaws and virtues, so I feel like he's a reasonably good friend here. He stays with Hawkeye almost an entire post-op shift to cover his back, hangs out with him even while he's erratic as hell, etc. But he's also quite uncomfortable with Hawkeye's behavour, takes offense at Hawkeye talking about the old days, and doesn't want to involve himself with Hawkeye's problem, a la Blood and Guts or Back Pay or Depressing News. It was a fun balance to try to strike.

“Yeah - you’re too detached. How am I supposed to work up a good righteous anger when you’re always around acting like a cold shower?”

I mean it's basically their argument at the beginning of Give Em Hell Hawkeye lol, and I love this about their dynamic.

The smile only intensified. “Look, you’re exhausted, you’re rambling - go back to the Swamp, let me take over here.”

"And there's the patronization." He threw up his hands. "I don't need a sippy-cup and a nap, Beej, I - I - I need - I need an escape plan. This place is warping me."

"You're warped all right."

BJ mentally forcing himself to be the responsible one and not start bickering back, but he can't resist getting in his dig.

Hawkeye ignored that little comment. "You know, if I go to sleep, I'll be someone else when I wake up. Someone who - who doesn't see a problem with just going along with everything."

"Hawk," BJ tried again, but Hawkeye couldn't be interrupted.

"I was like that before too, did you know that? When I first got here - oh sure, I rebelled, I protested, I stomped my feet. But I didn't really care. The army had a job to do and I was mad that they'd dragged me into it but I didn't begrudge them their, their existence. It was just the way things were, right? And then one of my best friends was killed in action and everything changed. I couldn't be apathetic after that. But it's coming back, Beej, the apathy. It’s just easier, you know? It’s easier to make friends with the army, it’s easier to stand down, it’s easier to learn how to salute.”

This sprang from my hot take on Sometimes You Hear the Bullet, which reads to me like a dividing point for Hawkeye. It's not really, in terms of the entire season, since he's already shown his sensitivity in other episodes, but in the episode itself Hawkeye acts a little callous wrt the war initially. He makes a joke about the "commies" losing the war, he's miffed about Tommy joining up but when he leaves to go back to his unit he sees him off with a "tell [the north koreans] I sent you," and of course the subplot is Hawkeye looking the other way when an underaged kid enlists, thinking it's not his business and the kid can do what he wants.

Then Tommy dies and he immediately sends that kid home, signaling a paradigm shift for him, and the sentiment that if he can do something, he's going to do something. So yeah, this is a reference to that initial attitude in Sometimes You Hear the Bullet, and how it sometimes seems not too far off from his late-series attitude where he's happily friends with all the volunteers and doesn't call them out anymore.

BJ looked up at him for a long moment before finally speaking. “If it helps, you’re the least apathetic person I know, insomnia or no insomnia. I don’t think playing nice with the Colonel changes that.”

It was a nice sentiment, he’d give him that, but it didn’t help. “Thanks,” he said anyway, deciding to save his ranting for a while and focus on the patients.

This was before I'd finally figured out and stuck to 'the colonel' not getting a capital letter -_-

But also I like BJ trying to be encouraging, and not really helping. He doesn't really know how to deal with Hawkeye like this, but he gives it a shot, at least.

And as a microcosm of the rest of the fic I did this kind of thing a lot, with Hawkeye as a point and the people he's talking to as a counterpoint, basically to maintain a more fair and balanced vibe lol. I'm on Hawkeye's side, but there are contradictions to his points, in part because the show itself shifts politically and tonally from episode to episode, and in part because he's in a very hyperbolic state of mind, and here BJ's pointing one out. He's less of a rebel than he used to be, but he is still the most politically motivated and vocally anti-war character in the cast, even in the later seasons.

He got through the next several hours somehow, his energy never quite letting up but joining hands and skipping down the lane with an increasing physical dragginess, like someone was slowly turning the dial for Earth’s gravity up. His limbs felt like iron beams and his head was stuffed with lead. Somewhere in there, between tests ordered and blood drawn and pulses timed, he told BJ the whole story about Tommy over a cup of coffee that BJ frowned upon, and received the requisite sympathy. And all the while his brain never stopped buzzing at the question he wasn’t even sure how to phrase, like a fly against a window

This was a late addition iirc, to lead into the very last scene I added, the one with the kid upset about his dead friends, to hammer home the theme extra hard lol. But also just as a fun fact, I added Hawkeye telling BJ the whole story about Tommy in a casual aside because I dislike the headcanon I've seen here and there that he doesn't talk about it and keeps it private. I don't think that necessarily follows from the show never bringing it up again, and I love Hawkeye as a very open guy who has no problem talking about emotional subjects, so I like to imagine that if the subject comes up he's happy to tell people the story off-screen.

director's commentary meme

[seawherethesunsets]

It was a slowburn for sure.

His friend!! Meanwhile it's fun to see his smiley face because of discovering the tension btw these two, I'm a lil bit sad about what he said after selling his car. Hope it won't get any deeper. I like their friendship, I need them to stay as one.

Yeah... there is a spark in his life. I'm slowly wondering what Dong Jin would look like when he is happy. I'm so used to see them serious or sad.

"don't like me" thing wasn't annoying! She regrets about her previous actions and is stressed about her new positive feelings building up for him. I like that these are the factors of her mixed actions! She puts a distance as well as does things in his favor. I can't find a proper way to explain it now but like... the confusion in the episodes were understandable for me. And yes it was also fun to watch Dong Jin reactions. Idk maybe I'm convinced well that this time it didn't annoy me seeing a main couple avoiding each other. Kdrama writers have a shitty timing preference for this type of situations.

the number of side characters/plots and episodes concern me. I don't want this drama to end up like Cheer Up. I genuinely hated to see all potentials getting wasted. I'm praying hard for a possibility that the writer(s) thought thoroughly about the direction of the scenario.

Coming to my experience with this week's episodes...

His ex's past and (seems like our permanent villain) old boss took a bit of space in this week's episodes meanwhile the main characters were busy with putting a distance.

Ex's past wasn't a waste of time, surprisingly. I liked and understood the reason perfectly since the drama did a great job showing how annoying and tiring Dong Jin's mom is for everyone. Dong Jin wanting to give more time for his gf for her sake and Minyoung misunderstanding this as reluctance on taking a step further... understandable.

Ending of ep7: her realization of her feelings. PERFECT. For her part, I loved the confusion and the long talk. Additionally, I loved Sung Joon's eyes in that scene. He delivered well and it was shot well. Those eyes were pretty! (Alexa, play 예뻤어)

Ending of ep8: his acceptance of his feelings. PERFECT. one "어" and lots of feelings on that face. I also liked his talk before this moment.

And it is cute that both characters lived that moment while they were alone with their close friends.

Ms. Baek!! She keeps getting my attention. I liked her small scene with Dong Jin. (Also remember how she got soft towards Woo Joo at one point?)

There are small plots winking at us. Woo Joo's sister takes some pills?.. Dongjin promised to go to camping (and we all saw that picture but unfortunately didn't see the SCENE yet)... Woo Joo's mom getting mentioned pretty often... Jun's confusing acting performances?.. (does he really act? which statements are he actually serious about?) There are some uninteresting ones, too. Like the old boss's revenge. I thought and hoped he would stop at one point but he's racing for the main villain role... Aaand I don't think we would have a fun time with Woo Joo's dead father's will? The less I see that woman, the better.

Hope there would be many good/fun things to mention next week!

frienddddddd the way you go off with all the detailssss i could neverrrr!!!!!

like you said, I too feel the main couple "avoiding" each other is very apt in this storyline. It's the way they wanna put distance but keep doing things against it like how woojoo sewed his button and told him she want to do it so dont stop her or lock the door aasdjkjfd. It doesn't feel frustrating or draggy yet (I just dont want it leaning that way soon >.<).

Yesss I really want to see more of the other characters mainly her sister and jun. There's a lot to explore so I hope they dont make the side characters get drowned unnecessarily. and i also picked that up about haesung supposedly taking pills???? 👀👀

everytime they show flashbacks I get more intrigued. I would think dongjin already talked to minyoung about his mom and how he's brought up. From the flashbacks, dongjin seemed to be quite emotionally stable despite his own baggage when he was with minyoung. It's understandable that minyoung would feel that him delaying to meet the parents as reluctance for the next step but the fact that she cheated for a year still doesnt sit right with me. Although, there might be possibilities that she fake cheated cos she didnt get married anyways and stayed in US alone.

OMG yes ms baek seems to be such a sweet person and she was also very accepting of woojoo when she joined because she can do her job. I like that she's always supportive and professional in a very subtle way.

i hope the mum rot in jail or somewhere and never bother anyone again like goshhhhhh. and his ex boss...in the next ep teaser he seems to be wanting to assault minyoung w a rock? like bruhhhhhhhh

im looking forward to the revival of best fairs after all they went through!

Have a great week ahead! cant wait for wednesdayyyy

[ershisposts]

*sigh* Finally I finished Alchemy of souls season 2

After finishing this I honestly regret ever starting Season 1 because that made me obligated to finish this and oh what a glorious disappointment it was. Let me start first off by ticking off the few things I liked:

Go yoon jung seamlessly filling in for Jung so min. She impressed me a lot in the first episode and she has continued to do so. She just did not have much to go forth because of Hong sister's misogynistic handling of her character as well as the female characters in this show but I will come back to it later.

2 Acting of the cast was top-notch.

Crown prince's character development was done well. He left the most impact on me in this show overall.

Now, to the things I did not like and why it was a disappointment:

Naksu….ahh…the level of regret and pity I have for the absolute character assassination she had to go through to elevate the male characters, it's borderline disgusting. I just could not believe that in the year 2022-2023 two female writers would be this level of misogynistic. Unbelievable. The 2nd half of AOS showed us that they are never gonna raise her to the equal status any of the male characters possess but we still foolishly pressed on just to be dealt with utter disrespect of a character who could have been so much MORE. In part 2, both she and jin bu yeon, another badass character was reduced to nothing but 5 mins of mentionable screen time. Jin mu might be the cause of their deaths in the show but they were killed without kindness at the hands of Hong sisters. Hong sisters' misogyny was not only confined to those two characters but also reduced ALL of the female characters as conniving, mean, dumb, and spoiled one-dimensional idiots whose only job was to put up with orders and requests from the male characters. Maidservant kim who was the only exception is nothing more than a glorified mother figure whose identity starts and ends with her young master. It is downright criminal and blasphemous what these writers did to such talented actresses.

Other than the middle school romance disguised as a fated lovers' angle and the last-minute mythical creature/let's-show-how-cool-the-male-lead-is plot device, I guess they could not come up with anything that is actually creative. But at this point, that's to be expected. Jin mu's divination bell strategy stays largely forgotten to the point he also forgets about it and meets a demise that is so anti-climactic it's laughable.

I honestly can go on and on but at this point, I am so tired. I just finished it for the sake of finishing it but I like I said wish I never even started it because what a FUCKING DISAPPOINTMENT. Toward the finale I just wanted it to end. I did not feel anything for the supposed "deaths" that eventually meant nothing. The nonexistence of a plot, the utter 180 of an assassin whose only goal was to serve the man, and even after pulling off an astounding rebirth was more interested in finding a man than remembering who she is, the shoved-down romance that would make you literally CHOKE, the absurdity of lengthy draggy episodes filled with nothing but nonsense. I wish I never started it. I am never watching anything ever from the Hong sisters. The only reason I think anyone was interested was the CGI and action but even that was missing in part 2 so anyone who does not have a lot of time on your hands I URGE you to watch ANYTHING ELSE.

[lunathehungry]

Plot Structure Analysis for Love in the Air (ep 7)

I’m back!

I’m including a very brief description of the beats so that people can actually know what I’m talking about this time 😅 A full (and better) description can be found in Romancing the Beat by Gwen Hayes.

I realized I added stuff about character arcs last time that aren’t really part of the Romance Plot Structure, but my brain automatically puts it together. Some of the info about character transformation, internal needs vs external goals probably came from one of K.M. Weiland’s books, like Creating Character Arcs. (I have read too many writing craft books).

Link to Part One, which covers eps 1-6.

Last time we left off on the last beat of Phase 3. Often the rest of these beats occur very quickly, sometimes in the same scene.

I forgot to mention that each Phase typically equals approximately 20 to 25% in a novel. I have not done this to enough shows to know if it’s also true for dramas. I suspect it might not because of the emphasis placed on finale episodes.

...continuing PHASE 3

Break Up

This beat is a dark moment where they let their fear overtake them and dictate their choices. This is the beginning of the episode when Payu finds Rain missing. As we established in episode 5 during the Inkling of Doubt beat, Payu’s fear is Rain disappearing. Because of this, they’re in constant contact with each other, they're shown texting each other throughout the day, Payu gives a sincere apology when he lets his phone die, etc. So when Rain can’t be contacted, he allows fear to dictate his actions, speeding down the road, panicking, and yelling at Saifah.

PHASE 4

Dark Night of the Soul

This is basically rock bottom, where the character feels the lowest. This is when Payu gets the phone call from Stop, finds out what happens to Rain, and blames himself. He raced Stop just because of his pride and now Rain has to face the consequences. (I mean, it’s Stop’s fault, but this is what Payu’s thinking).

Wake Up

🚧This beat has been moved! It will return soon.🚧

Grand Gesture

This is pretty obvious. The character puts it all on the line for love. Payu lets himself be humiliated and beaten up to protect Rain.

(The Return Of) Wake Up

This is the moment your character pushes down their fear and chooses love. It normally appears BEFORE the Grand Gesture, but in LITA they’ve moved it after to give extra tension to the kidnapping and a surprise reveal. Payu realizes someone is watching, gets a handle on himself and gives the phone to Saifah, deciding to stall until help arrives.

Note: It is not unusual to move beats around or to add double beats, but the more you mess with the beats, the more it can affect the pacing of the story. Put them too far apart and that section will feel ‘draggy’ or like ‘filler’, drop beats and that part will feel rushed. I suspect there’s a group of people that felt incredibly frustrated with Payu for running off without getting help - this is the cost of moving this beat.

Chai’s arrival is an external plot point that doesn’t have anything to do with the romantic plot. I’ve just included his pic for thirsty Chai ☕ fans. Both Pakin’s and Chai’s novels shot up to the top of the Y category after his appearance, lol. I’ve seen that actor as a side character in several lakorns, but he made an awesome Chai. I hope he gets a series.

(The Return Of) Grand Gesture

A second Grand Gesture beat, how fun! Most of the time, the second character is just accepting the first character’s Grand Gesture, but Rain’s a guy who’s not going to leave without showing off his love for Payu too. Yes, it’s when Rain goes over and kicks Stop.

What Hole-hearted Looks Like

This is the beat where we get to see the happy ending our couple deserves. Payu and Rain say "I love you" out loud, come out to Rain’s friends, and get cute in the car.

Here we get a mirror of a scene in episode one. Rain is hanging out with his friends as one of them tells Rain he's too annoying to attract a romantic partner. The show has already established this as Rain’s character wound. It doesn’t seem to bother him though, since he now has a boyfriend who happens to like his type of annoying.

Generally, writer’s like to mirror stuff in happy endings, to give the audience a feeling of how things have come full circle or changed.

Epilogue

This is a glimpse into their future, plus a hint at the next couple in a series. This is Prapai asking for Sky’s number from Rain, Payu revealing that he sabotaged Rain’s car, and it’s where we are now, as we’ll be seeing bits of them for the rest of the eps.

Different Endings

As I mentioned before, this is an example of a 'weaker', less angsty ending in a Romantic Plot Structure because the conflict is external. Stop is the person keeping our couple apart, not their own feelings.

An example of a show that uses ONLY internal conflict instead. Spoilers for Cutie Pie.

-Keua fears that Lian won’t love him if he finds out about his real personality and interests which prevents him from accepting Lian’s proposal

An example of a show that uses both external AND internal conflict. Spoilers for Bad Buddy.

-External conflict: Pat and Pran’s families do their best to keep them apart.

-Internal conflict: The love they have for their families and the fear of losing them prevents Pat and Pran from just running away to be together permanently. Pat and Pran's own feelings are also keeping them apart.

Something I don’t think I explained well in the last post is that the Romance Plot is the structure of the story itself. While it is a very character driven plot, it doesn’t necessarily match up with a character’s arc or actions. After all, there are 2 main characters in this romance and they might not be developing at the same pace.

For example, Payu showing up and getting hit by Stop is the Grand Gesture beat for the Romantic Plot. If Payu had his own Grand Gesture beat it would also be here. But this doesn’t match for Rain. If he had his own beat at this moment, it would actually be the Break Up and Dark Night of the Soul because he’s being overcome with his own fear of Payu getting hurt.

A second example would be the Adhesion beat in episode 2. This is where the story introduces a reason the couple needs to be around each other. Payu insists Rain owes him a debt for fixing his car. If Rain had his own beat, placement would match up with the Romantic Plot Structure. This is not the case for Payu, since we know he experienced his own Adhesion beat earlier, the moment he decided to pursue Rain.

Also, this means that their first meeting in the rain is Payu’s personal Meet Cute beat, not their second meeting at the party, which, for some reason, I find adorable since it's the beat that (romantically) rocks their world.

Hopefully, this makes sense. You have 2 main characters, each experiencing their individual character arcs that happen to revolve around each other and the Romance Plot Structure - plus whatever external plot you put in.

Brandon Sanderson (Author of Mistborn and a whole lot of other stuff) describes the romance plot as a braid, Gwen Hayes uses the image of a caduceus.

The beats in a Romance Plot represent the story structure as presented to the audience. The beginning of the story revolves around Rain’s perspective, so many of those beats will match up with Rain as Payu is hiding his intentions. A lot of this last ep is more from Payu’s perspective, so it’s his actions that match the Romance Plot.

I mentioned last time that one of the difficulties of a very romance focused plot is that it heavily relies on chemistry and interactions between the leads to maintain tension, but that’s also one of its best features. If the couple has good chemistry, it really gives them a chance to show it off. The audience gets to see both big and little moments of their relationship and explore the connection between them in a short amount of time.

That’s it! It was super fun to do and breaking a story apart also gave me a creative boost. I wrote so many ideas down while working on this, lol.

While there’s a lot of things I would do differently if it was my own writing, there is only one thing I wish they had done different in the show. After the bathroom stall incident in episode 2, Rain’s anger has him push Som and then Sky to find out where Payu is racing so he can get back at him. The same thing happens in the novel, but it also includes a line where Sky wants to know why he’s so angry and Rain admits that he actually feels hurt.

Specifically, his feelings were hurt when Payu said “I may not look it, but I’m very particular.” Thus implying he wouldn’t choose Rain as a romantic partner and was just messing with him in the bathroom stall. The rest plays out like the show. His hurt expresses itself as anger, he impulsively goes to the race, and, as usual, decides to directly challenge whoever looks down on him - by making Payu fall for him instead.

I really liked that line because it showed just how much Rain was open and attracted to Payu very early on, and maybe, it would have connected some dots for people confused as to why Rain suddenly kissed him.

…ok, there’s also a particular scene they skipped that i still have hopes will appear, but that’s just, like, for fun…

Feel free to ask for clarification. I’m sure I forgot a lot of stuff.

[oraclekleo]

"I never understand that. | would start to feel like I'm missing the daytime."

Omg TRUE. | feel the same way, when I woke up late I feel like the day pass by really fast and I'm not as productive. Personally I don't like waking up late 😅

Ooh blue vintage sounds fancy! And when I'm free I like reading manhwas (korean manga) and i look for stories for adults. The one I was reading is called Only Hope, it was soo good at the beginning but as the story progress it got draggy, so | might not continue. | would still recommend the first 5 chapters tho!

Girlie that hashtag has my heart 🥺 thank youu, I'm glad my feelings are reciprocated cause | loovee talking to you too! 💛💛

I must admit I don't read manga, manhwa... I don't like the style of imagery. It just isn't my taste. I'm more into Disney type of cartoon. 😂

Also I think I wouldn't like the story either. I can't watch Korean, Japanese or Chinese dramas because they just feel so dumb to me. They lack logic. The people always act so weird and rarely ever thing their actions through and the possible consequences. It just gets on my nerves. No offence. This is just how I perceive it.

I prefer Scandinavian thrillers, Australian horrors and crime, history and romance from English speaking nations. They feel somewhat more aligned with my soul. 🤭

[dream-thief-forever-amen]

Ridiculously romantic? Epically complicated, awe inspiring, totally unique plot line? Mystery! Suspense! Multiple dimensions!

W! I love it. Still one of the coolest, craziest k-dramas of all time.

I love the concept of an authored character becoming self aware. I remember reading The Dark Half by Stephen King when I was a kid and being thrilled by the idea of an author having to face his own creation. Whether it’s algorithms and AI’s dictating the world, like in The Matrix, or an unknown creative force like in Extra-Ordinary You….

The stories of people realizing they are trapped within stories or are stories themselves is fascinating subject matter. You can take this idea in so many directions, too.

W still remains in a class of its own - really pulling at multiple angles yet keeping the story consistently tied to the two leads. This show has action and intrigue galore but never forgets it’s a romance.

I will be the first to admit it that it gets a bit draggy towards the end - your brain can only enjoy so many plot twists before the fatigue sets in.

But still… it’s such a fun show. I rewatch the first six or so episodes repeatedly.

I’m especially fond of the transition scenes - with “to be continued” showing up in white lights…

Or the insane floating text of the unknown character… whether attached to him or floating independently. Visual crack, I tell you! I’m addicted.

The leads have great chemistry together, too. The leading female’s got stars in her eyes every time she looks at her man. Han Hyo-Joo clearly had no problem staring longing up at her costar every day. It’s charming.

Lee Jong-Suk captures the surreal confidence and confusion of a man who discovers his entire world is built around him… but it’s also fake.

Anyways, if you haven’t seen it… check it out. Break it up into two or three viewing sessions though - as it’s a lot to take in as a binge.

I’d love to see an American remake of this but undoubtedly Hollywood would ruin it as they forgot how to make love stories.

[juneviews]

axelle judges non bl shows > The Crown Princess

shitty summary: After an attempt on her life in the kingdom of Hrysos, Princess Alice takes refuge in Thailand as the wife of a navy officer, Commander Davin.

grade: 7/10

where to watch: dramacool

pros:

- I really liked the plot twist towards the end. it should’ve been obvious, but they really did everything in their power to hide it, and it worked!!! my jaw dropped & it was definitely my favorite aspect of the show.

- for a lakorn it definitely had way more budget than usual, which made the decors & places better and more varied & definitely made it stand out more.

- on a similar note, I really appreciate this lakorn for having such a different story from usual ones, and it was pretty entertaining.

cons:

- WAY too long. you’d think bc it’s only 12 eps, which is ridiculously short for a lakorn, it’d be really easy to watch, but bc every ep is almost 2 hours long... this was definitely too much for me. it took me 2 to 3 WEEKS to finish this show, bc going through one ep would already take me the whole day. it was definitely too long & draggy imo.

- the acting... was okay. sara legge who played kate did a good job imo, but sadly I didn’t vibe with yaya’s acting, whoops.

- kinda mean but since I had seen crash landing on you a few months prior, I felt like the crown princess was just a worse version of that. which is kinda unfair bc this came out first, but... it did kinda make my viewing experience worse bc both shows are so similar.

- didn’t like the ending... her quitting her spot as queen for a relationship & giving it to a MAN... didn’t sit right with me lol. also all the other elements didn’t make it a really satisfying ending imo.

would I rewatch it: nope

This is one of the most popular lakorns ever, but... I sadly wouldn’t recommend it that much. Unless you’re into more action and political dramas than me, then sure!

[netflix-entertainment]

Lie to Me: A Hilarious and Heartwarming Rom-Com with a Twist

Author - NETFLIX

December 08, 20233 minute read

PLAY ALL

| LIE TO💘 ME | SESSION 1💕 | PA DRAMA EXPLAIN |

Korean drama Lie to Me:

Lie to Me: A Hilarious and Heartwarming Rom-Com with a Twist

Lie to Me (also known as Try Lying to Me, Sweet Scandal, or Naege Geotjitmaleul Haebwa) is a 2011 Korean drama that tells the story of a government official who lies about being married to a hotel CEO to save face in front of her friend. The drama stars Yoon Eun-hye, Kang Ji-hwan, Sung Joon, and Jo Yoon-hee in the main roles. It aired on MBC from May 9 to June 28, 2011, for 16 episodes1

Synopsis

Gong Ah-jung (Yoon Eun-hye) is a level 5 Ministry of Culture official who is single and in her thirties. She has a hard time finding love and is often compared to her successful and married friend, Yoo So-ran (Hong Soo-hyun). One day, she runs into So-ran and her husband, Chun Jae-bum (Ryu Seung-soo), who happens to be Ah-jung’s first love. To avoid humiliation, Ah-jung lies that she is also married to a handsome and rich man.

However, her lie soon backfires when she becomes entangled with Hyun Ki-joon (Kang Ji-hwan), the CEO of World Hotel and a well-known bachelor. Due to a series of misunderstandings, everyone starts to believe that Ah-jung and Ki-joon are a married couple. Ki-joon, who is annoyed by the rumors, confronts Ah-jung and demands her to tell the truth. However, Ah-jung is too embarrassed to admit her lie and asks Ki-joon to play along for a while.

As they pretend to be a married couple, they start to develop feelings for each other. But their relationship is complicated by the arrival of Ki-joon’s ex-fiancée, Oh Yoon-joo (Jo Yoon-hee), and his rebellious younger brother, Hyun Sang-hee (Sung Joon), who both have a history with Ah-jung. Will Ah-jung and Ki-joon be able to overcome the obstacles and confess their true feelings?

Review

Lie to Me is a drama that will make you laugh and swoon with its witty and romantic scenes. The drama has a lot of charm and humor that will keep you entertained and engaged. The drama also has a lot of chemistry and tension between the main leads, who are both adorable and charismatic. The drama has some memorable moments, such as the cola kiss, the ice cream kiss, the handcuff scene, and the proposal scene.

The drama’s strength lies in its cast, especially Yoon Eun-hye and Kang Ji-hwan, who deliver a fantastic performance as Gong Ah-jung and Hyun Ki-joon. They portray the characters’ personalities and emotions with skill and flair. They make you root for them and their love story. They also have a great rapport and compatibility with each other, making their scenes believable and enjoyable. The supporting cast, especially Sung Joon and Jo Yoon-hee, also do a good job of adding conflict and interest to the plot.

The drama’s weakness, however, lies in its script, which has some flaws and inconsistencies. Some of the plot developments and character actions are illogical and unreasonable. Some of the conflicts and resolutions are rushed and unsatisfying. Some of the dialogues and scenes are repetitive and draggy. The drama also suffers from a change of writers midway, which affects the tone and direction of the story. The drama’s ending, in particular, is ambiguous and anticlimactic, leaving many questions unanswered and many issues unresolved.

Overall, Lie to Me is a drama that will appeal to fans of rom-coms and fake marriages. It is a drama that will make you experience a roller coaster of emotions. It is a drama that will make you love and hate the characters at the same time. It is a drama that will make you think and feel deeply. It is a drama that is not perfect, but still worth watching. If you are looking for a drama that will entertain you and challenge you, you may want to give Lie to Me a try.

I hope you enjoyed reading my blog article. If you have any comments or questions, please feel free to leave them below. Thank you for your time and attention. 😊.

Lie To Me

Korean Drama Review

Movies

[complexhaystack]

OK I'm done w S5 of THT!!!

Admittedly S5 was a little draggy at first but the last few eps were good.

Here are some lengthy thoughts!

Luke

Some folks had warned me on my last post about Luke Bankole that he continues being as bad or worsens... OK I have two sides of thoughts to this.

In some ways he really stays the same - he has very little character development to be frank. There are times when he is still chauvinistic where I think besides indeed wanting to protect June, there's this fragile ego that wants to feel more like "the protector", or possibly more "manly" (since his wife is kickass). He also has this bad habit of posturing to try to be "cool" of sorts, like trying to play punk in the cages or trying to be nonchalant after he hears he might be caught for murder. Or the way he was threatening Serena, man that was just sad.

At the same time, besides all the stuff I've faulted him for in a previous post, I think he doesn't really deteriorate from there - just kind of remains in that same passive but still toxic subtle kinds of masculinity that makes him unable to trust that June has evolved.

On the grand scale of nutso things happening in THT, there prob isn't much to be done for subtle character developments of a more "normal" character anyway (normal in the sense that the rest of the characters often have very complex deep developments... Luke is kind of just there and wouldn't be out of place in some kind of slice of life show).

He does try to make up for his passiveness over the years June was in Gilead by very by-the-book methods. Considering the sociopolitical context they are in while in Canada as refugees, okay I guess. It feels a little like he's trying to assuage his guilt while I guess trying to protect June... Like, these methods are still more "active" than we've seen him do in S1-3 at least.

I then have to give him credit for the large amount of patience that he has for June - who, newly out of her traumatic environment but finding her safe environment growing increasingly hostile, reacts in ways that can seem impulsive or aggressive many times. Her reactions are understandable when thought of how her traumatic reactions are now coming to the fore, and all that suppressed rage is just barely finding a voice forward in an initially peaceful otherland (more on this later). To a caregiver - Luke - someone with such reactions may seem very unpredictable and violent, but to his credit he shows alot of grace and compassion with dealing with her reactions. So in a sense, June did need someone like that with her while she was starting to heal.

Luke letting June go on the train is his most heroic action.

I can leave off being super annoyed with him for now, even though he's a character I prob will still find hard to like. Let's see if he grows further in S6.

Nick

Aww man. I have seen criticisms of him as head of the Gilead Gestapo and thus not being worthy of June etc.

Nick strikes me as a really tragic character. From the beginning, when he was roped into Gilead'a crazy schemes, he was already trying to support a family member (if I recall correctly) while between jobs. He was recruited when he was down and out, by someone who seemingly was kind (and turned out a bastard).

It could be argued that he had a choice to not be an Eye in the first place. We don't really know how much this choice was present, especially considering he was privy to some very dangerous conversations by the early Gilead founders. As the show often points out, people in Gilead do what they have to to survive.

We see consistently throughout the show that after he falls for June, he always puts her first. Staying in Gilead when she gets out was I believe to keep an eye on Hannah, because otherwise there would be no one (at the time Lawrence and he were still climbing ranks). Climbing to the top was to make sure things will be safe for Hannah. I think.

And the reason I think this is because we never see Nick enjoy his position of power for the sake of it. He doesn't indulge.

He also never expects anything from the relationship w June despite loving her deeply - as he says in S5E10, when Tuello asks him why he didn't run with her, he said she didn't need him and "I'm nothing" (T_T). We see this again and again and again - he puts himself at risk so many times, he tells her he loves her so often, but he does not expect her to say it back or stay with him.

Also, he was upfront with his wife Rose about June - that's a man who knows how to show respect for his wife as well (which probably he also learnt from the tragedy of his first wife). And was physically respectful with June after he has married, mindful of his own family. (But... Still prob shouldn't have married, though I guess in part for survival)

Really wish June and Nick could have been together - I think he is one who genuinely understands her light and darkness, and can hold space for all that. And she can be vulnerable and petulant with him, in a world that demands her to be reasonable and suppressed. In fact OK I would say he's a bit too self sacrificial at times (like nullifying his own needs) which probably won't be healthy for a relationship in a stable world haha. But I think there's really no chance for their relationship. They're too torn between their families and the politics and violence T_T

Btw it seemed v OOC for him to punch Lawrence in front of everyone else. He's been able to keep his cool and survive for a long time... Wondering if we'll find out this is part of what Tuello needs him to do?

Tuello

Dude was a true star from day 1 man. Did all he could for everyone whenever and however.

Serena

It's frustrating cos now that there's an even more extreme Wife (Mrs Wheeler) out there, part of me hopes Serena and her kiddo are safe. But Serena has had so many chances for redemption of her character and ultimately ends up self serving. So unless she takes an active role in the destruction of Gilead for actually a greater purpose instead of her own interests (which... I doubt she would), imho she doesn't really need a redemption arc.

Her restrictions of freedom w the Wheelers are a tiny fraction of what she did to others in Gilead. No sympathy for her man.

That said, Serena in S1-4 had a great deal of amazingly complex character development and the actress who plays her is superb. The intensity of each scene is incredible where her character comes to fore. She plays Serena at times with fearful fury, at times with subtle control, and sometimes such fragile emotional vulnerability.

June

The above compliment of Serena's actress is more than I can say for June in S1-3 cos sometimes I have difficulty interpreting her long shots of vapid staring hahaha.

I think June has really evolved though, as a character, from a generally quite docile person (compared to her stronger-willed friends like Emily) to someone who is now able to tolerate terrible, terrible pain and still survive. She's slowly grown into someone who can make very difficult decisions and I suppose at the end of S5 Gilead has pushed a reluctant her to become more revolutionary. Should have stopped while you could, Gilead.

I did think at times in S2-4 that June does have a little bit of a "I can have my way" mentality, which I think not everybody was lucky enough to have her plot armour to survive her plans. But I appreciate the now older June who is a bit wiser and more battle worn, a bit more cautious. I hope her remaining friends survive.

Janine, Emily, Alma, Brianna, Rita, Moira

I'm sad with how Janine and the other gals have either been sidelined or killed off. I hope Janine comes back as a revolutionary force next season.

Where the heck is Emily!!! (OK I know the actress had to leave the show, but wish her character could have gotten more justice - I think the wrap up for Emily was kind of forced fed by June's need for wanting vengeance at the time and less about helping her friend heal)

I wish we had gotten to see Alma and Brianna free.

I wish we got to see more Rita (love the sushi scene) finding peace and doing nice stuff. I wish Moira had more development this season rather than just being The Friend.

Lawrence

I really enjoyed his complex development since S2... But I feel like he's regressing as a character in S5?? He says that he's improving things in Gilead but he has now returned to viewing lives as numbers and sums. He was endearing as a morally grey character in S2-4 because he was growing aware of his own fallacies and then took an interest in saving individual lives. But it looks like he's now more interested in retaining power and keeping Gilead alive. Eleanor would be turning in her grave.

Which is a real waste of his character development honestly.

Oh and I think his New Bethlehem plan is dumb haha. He was initially almost extinguished by the "backwater" Commanders of Boston side Gilead, what makes him think that other power hungry men who are even more draconian in their control of women say in the DC part of Gilead are gonna change?

In a separate note it was initially very hard for me to see him anything other than Jake Peralta's flakey dad HAHA.

All in All

I think S5 is the weakest season so far. It had some good moments near the end, but some intense character developments and plots went a bit down the drain sadly. Really hope S6 picks the pace back up and make it a good fight.

[fortune-maiden]

Welp that was Season 5 and clearly it felt the need to one up Season 4′s finale!

I definitely enjoyed this one more than Season 4 which felt kind of draggy and the characters were at their worst. Now they are... still pretty terrible but PROGRESS!

Thank god Amelia/Marcos is finally deader than dead.

But Amelia herself........ her life is really a whole out of control tragedy. Dead (evil) father, unknown mother, dying brother, forced into evil to prolong the life of said brother... She was my favorite character in Season 1 and if they hadn’t put her into a relationship with Marcos she would be my favorite character period. I’m very weak to tragic siblings throwing away all morality to save a loved one. (though to the show’s credit it was never portrayed as a good relationship even before we learn the truth about her)

And then there’s Fernando who manages to be EVEN MORE TRAGIC. Dying brother who wants to help his sister but literally every action he takes makes her situation worse - he tries to kill himself, the bosses save him and make it clear that if he dies they’ll kill her next. Then they move him closer to her for better control and now he gets a front row seat to her suffering. And no one signs up for his art class.

And sadly I don’t think his sacrifice is going to help Amelia that way he thinks it does.

And speaking of people who are dead....

I am still sad about Nora so very rude of this show to give us another Nora who may or may not be dead now too. (she has an unresolved plotline with Martin though so she’s probably fine?)

I am also worried for Saul.

But good on Sandra for taking initiative to escape and succeeding! It was a very stupid decision overall but good for her! (her meeting with Elsa, Queen of Bad Decisions, is going to go over well, I can tell)

No Elsa, one good decision does not erase 5 seasons of bad decisions. No matter how epic it was!

Extremely worried for Hector especially how good his life was for maybe 20 minutes of the finale. Now he is MIA and I am scared D:

Maria has nothing but bad things happen to her all season and I want to have Words with the writers. But at least she gets the biggest hope spot in all the entire show in the finale.

Meanwhile the kids are.... not alright.

[asianhappinesss]

Sweet and Sour

Summary

Faced with real-world opportunities and challenges, a couple endures the highs and lows of trying to make a long-distance relationship work.

Review

It’s been 2 hours since I finished watching the film Sweet and Sour on Netlfix, and my brain keeps asking me, “what just happened?” on repeat. So here I am, trying to make myself understand if I liked the movie or not. The first half of this review is spoiler-free so if you are here to know if you should watch this movie, don’t worry I will give a spoiler warning for the ending explained.

If you happen across people talking about this movie online, you might notice how people either hate it or love it. I am somewhere in between. I don’t think that this movie was a waste of my time, I also don’t think that this movie was poetic cinema. For me, it was somewhere in the middle. There were parts of the movie that I really enjoyed and some parts that felt very draggy.

As the title suggests, the movie was sweet at times and sour at other times. It sought to portray a realistic side of couples struggling to find a balance between their work-life and love life. For the most part, it worked. But sadly, the movie attempted to be more than what it was intended to be. The story was a mix of melodrama, comedy and romance genre.

In an attempt to bend the genre, the story lost its depth.It never tackled the hard themes introduced in the story and moved on like nothing happened. If the first scene was melodrama, the next was comedy. So even when the couples were dealing with hard times, they didn’t focus on an issue or even discussed it.

There was no point where they thought about their actions and how much they might affect the other person in the relationship. Even worse, there was no consequence to their actions at all. Both of them were like robots moving from one day to another.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not calling the actors robots. They were completely amazing. Jang Ki Yong, Chae Soo Bin and Krystal were the lifelines of this movie. They did a great job portraying their flawed characters. The problem was the script of this movie that added a lot of complexities to a simple story by bending genres and making these characters look shallow.

That said, I will still recommend this movie if you are looking for a light movie to watch. Even though Sweet and Sour was melodrama it most certainly felt light since the difficult subjects were sidelined as quickly as they arrived.

Speaking from a critical point of view, if you are going to talk about these issues you need to at the very least address them. However, it still made a decent watch. It had some highs and some lows.

Conclusion

Whenever I write a review I know if I liked it or not but it is hard for me to say with certainty if I liked this movie or not. So please watch it and judge it for yourself, at the very least this movie was a good one time watch. Don’t go into this movie expecting romance.

If you have some free time and a Netflix subscription I will recommend Sweet and Sour to you. Please come back to let me know if you liked it or not. Also, to talk about the ending with me.

Spoilers - (CW: Mentions of cheating and abortion)

If you are a little confused about the ending, this is where I will try to explain what happened at the end of Sweet and Sour.

There were two Hyuk in the movie – Jang Hyuk (Jang Ki Yong) and Lee Jang Hyeok (Played by Lee Woo Je). For simplicity, I will call them Hottie Hyuk (Jang Ki Yong) and Cutie Hyeok (Lee Woo Je).

When the movie starts we are instantly jumped into the story of Cutie Hyeok falling in love with the nurse Da Eun. Even though Cutie Hyeok is a patient and Da Eun is the nurse, Cutie Hyeok takes care of her more than she takes care of him. Within the first 20 minutes, we see them go from strangers to going on a trip to Jeju.

She gifts Cutie Hyeok a pair of sneakers before their trip to Jeju as a couple’s gift. Cutie Hyeok wears the sneakers and runs around at the airport in excitement while she waits for him to come back. The camera shows him start running with determination to lose weight and then cuts from Cutie Hyeok running to Hottie Hyuk running in the same couple’s sneakers. The intention here is to say that they are the same people and the Cutie Hyeok lost weight and became this Hottie Hyuk.

The director very smartly diverted all our attention throughout the movie by adding hints that both Cutie Hyeok and Hottie Hyuk are the same by giving them exact same personality traits and background story. Both are pushovers and let Da Eun order them around. Both took a car from their parents to drive Da Eun around. Both are Engineers. Both met Da Eun at the hospital as patients. Both hate the Doctor guy that keeps hitting on her.

In the first part, we see Cutie Hyeok refuse macaron on their date and then later in the movie Hottie Hyuk says that he hates sweets – further confirming the audience that he is the same person. There are several other instances where we think that it is the same person, like the nurse trying to remember if she has seen Hottie Hyuk somewhere. We think that she realised that it is the same guy and he lost weight. However, in reality, they are not the same people.

The movie is not chronological. It jumps back in time when we are introduced with Hottie Hyuk.

Da Eun is dating Hottie Hyuk for a while when we meet him for the first time. When her relationship with Hottie Hyuk starts getting bad, she meets Cutie Hyuk at the hospital. The night she is going through a very hard time with her abortion and Hottie Hyuk leaves her to go to work, the same night Cutie Hyuk finds her number and calls her. She tells him that she is alone at home and he should come over.

Cutie Hyuks changes the light bulb and throws the trash that Hottie Hyuk didn’t. Their relationship starts getting worse as time progresses. Da Eun starts dating Cutie Hyuk while Hottie Hyuk is busy at work and unable to go home. They still try to keep the relationship working but after a particularly nasty fight where Hyuk accidentally calls Da Eun Bo Yeon (Krystal), they break up with no discussion that they are breaking up.

Later, Hottie Hyuk cheats on her with Bo Yeon (Krystal) and doesn’t go home for some time. He tells Da Eun to take anyone she wants to Jeju which she does.

Both the first airport scene and the last airport scene are the same scenes. Da Eun gifts Cutie Hyuk the sneakers and Cutie Hyeok starts running in excitement. This is when Hottie Hyuk finds her at the airport and then both Hyuk and Hyeok crash and fall down.

I hope this explains the ending.

Thoughts

Even though the ending had me scream at my tv and then start laughing hysterically, I still think that this ending was the weakest and the strongest part of the movie depending on the way you see it. On one hand, it gives a fun, unexpected twist to the melodrama but on the other hand, it makes the entire relationship meaningless.

At the start when the camera cuts from one to another, we don’t want to believe that Cutie Hyeok lost so much weight that he turned into Hottie Hyuk. But as the movie goes on they kept adding hints in the movie that just makes us convinced that both are really the same person. It was brilliantly done and we need to give the credit where the credit is due.

That said, cheating is not cool.

If you are watching the movie from a critical point of view, the movie loses its charm. Throughout the movie, the couples did nothing to show that they should be together. Both were terrible to each other.

Da Eun takes advantage of Hottie Hyuk the entire time she was with him (much like what we see her do with Cutie Hyuk in the beginning). Hottie Hyuk gets a car and commutes for hours just to spend the night with her. He does house chores and drives her around. She is never considerate of his hard work and his exhaustion.

Hottie Hyuk (side note: I think I have probably called Jang Ki Yong hottie over 100 times by now but did I lie? lol) was also a terrible boyfriend. He never listens to her and only talks about his problems with her. He doesn’t tell her about his girl colleague and keeps lying to her about it even when he was not cheating on her. He is also doing the bare minimum for her. Especially, when she needs him the most.

Had the writers not tried to make the story realistic and melodrama, the rest of the story would have made much more sense, and the ending twist would have even been funny.

The entire time the couples were not honest with each other, they had no emotions towards one another. Even after going through such a hard time, they barely communicate or even fight for that matter. Da Eun goes through abortion, she gets cheated on, her boyfriend is never there for her but when the movie ends we forget it all and she becomes a con artist that takes advantage of men.

“Where did it all go wrong?”

I would like to argue that the entire relationship was wrong. He was a pushover and a liar. She was selfish and a liar.