#Oh Min-Ae

[stuff-diary]

When Life Gives You Tangerines

TV Shows/Dramas watched in 2025

When Life Gives You Tangerines (2025, South Korea)

Director: Kim Won Seok

Writer: Lim Sang Choon

Mini-review:

With a dream team like this one, expectations were understandably sky-high. And yet, the show has somehow managed to surpass them. Throughout the past four weeks, it has given us a soaring story about love, loss, growing up and life in general, all of it centered around the incredible women of one specific family. That allows for a deeply insightful exploration of gender roles in South Korea, which writer Lim Sang Choon handles with both sensitivity and bite. The entire cast gives it their all too; I'm not exaggerating when I say this is career-best work from IU, Park Bo Gum, Moon So Ri and Park Hae Joon, and the supporting performers are equally brilliant. Also, kudos must be given to the art teams for the beautiful sets, costumes, make-up, CGI and cinematography. And of course, director Kim Won Seok shepherded the whole project towards brilliancy. All in all, When Life Gives You Tangerines is an unforgettable drama that will stay with you for a long time.

[fewwordsmanyriddles]

[erstwhile-punk-guerito]

[kulekrizpy]

ELAYNE AND BIRGITTE??

also elayne is such a good leader <3

[markantonys]

3x08 thoughts! full book spoilers

my reaction when the credits started rolling was "oh.........that's it?" which is not the best feeling for a season finale to leave you on! it was a good episode with some great moments, but as i'd feared, they left themselves with WAY too much to wrap up, with the result that it all felt rushed and cramped and not particularly satisfying. in the first 2 seasons, i said that the 8-episode model was just the right amount of time to tell the story, and i stand by that. with this season, it wasn't enough, and it's not just the fault of the model but just as much the fault of the writers who should have been more realistic about the limits of 8 episodes and not tried to cram in so much. obviously the main 4 plots of the waste, the two rivers, tanchico, and the tower all had to make it in, but within that i think there was some bloat and dragged-out stuff that could've been trimmed back. (especially considering that they planned for an entire episode dedicated to rhuidean and an entire episode dedicated to the two rivers battle: good choices that let those events shine, but it means that the tanchico-based characters, for example, only even APPEAR in 6 out of 8 episodes and in most of those 6 they're relegated to the B or C or D plot, so no wonder their plotline felt so underbaked; if they were going to devote 2 episodes to single events, they needed to be more merciless about trimming out bloat in the other 6 episodes.)

now for the episode itself. i'll start with the white tower. personally i don't mind siuan's death, but i understand why people are upset. now i can retroactively say that @butterflydm was 100% right on the money in speculating that the reason they jumped the gun on cramming elayne & avi together so fast was not for any story reason, but rather for the out-of-world reason of wanting to establish that there will still be a big canon wlw ship even after one half of moiraine/siuan exited the stage.

as for how this might affect the story going forward, i originally had a whole theory here of "what if salidar is cut and there's no schism & rebel breakoff faction, just bubbling discontentment with elaida's rule, and egwene just gets kidnapped straight into the tower and becomes amyrlin from there?" but then i saw that rafe confirmed there is a cut scene of leane, verin, and ryma heading off with a group of other aes sedai to found salidar, so scratch that whole theory haha we are indeed still getting salidar and the rebels. but he said that the scene had them planning to gather "on the shores of the river where siuan was born", which means the rebel base will likely be moved to tear in the show.

if this cut scene was planned for s3, that seems to imply there is not going to be a tower battle and it was simply some sisters voluntarily leaving. we'll see how it plays out in s4, but min's viewing about a battle in the tower could very well be the future seanchan attack rather than the coup battle. i wouldn't mind that since a coup battle could feel repetitive with the 3x01 tower battle, but it does make me curious how gawyn's arc might play out since the coup battle was a pivotal moment for him in the books (though the show hasn't set up for that at all, so we're probably looking at a pretty new arc for him regardless, at least in the short-term).

off to tanchico. nynaeve's block breaking scene was wonderful, but outside of that, it feels like this poor crew was just off on a sidequest all season and didn't accomplish much. mat's doorway trip was fun but felt like a random sidenote in a packed episode, and now that the season is over i can firmly say that mat did not get a satisfying season-long arc and it felt like he was just There most of the time. his memories were his driving trigger for the season but they weren't brought up basically at all between 3x03 and him asking to get rid of them in the doorway, which makes them feel more like a plot device than something that was actively impacting him season-long. there was big setup for the mat-nynaeve dynamic in the early episodes, but it fizzled out in the back half and nothing meaningful came of it and nynaeve didn't get to do anything to help mat like she'd promised. it absolutely feels like mat just got plot-deviced out of the waste storyline because they wanted rand to feel isolated, rather than because leaving that storyline actually contributed anything to MAT'S story. they say they like to vary up the relationship dynamics season to season, but once again it's a whole season of mat-min with each of them only getting brief interactions with elayne and nynaeve. i need mat and min to get separated next season oh my god i loved their vibe in s2 but i am tired of it now! please don't do a third season of it! let them hang out with other people for once! YES i am VERY bitter over min being the one to take over the cauthor cpr lmao (and of course the second mat's cpr-giver is switched to a woman you have several people going "wait are they setting up a romance here?" when none of them said so when rand was the one doing it in the book version! though thankfully the show itself continues to remain firm in the platonic nature of mat & min even if heteronormative viewers are constantly desperate to read romance there. oh how i mourn a vision of cauthor cpr with show!mat being like "wow rand if you wanted to kiss me you could've just asked" because you know show!mat would 100% say that to rand as well haha)

we'll see what they do with liandrin, but i wish she'd been killed off this season. she was a great early-series villain, but has now overstayed her welcome for me and i wish she'd gotten cleared off the stage. i don't mind ending this plotline on a loss with the collar & bracelets winding up in the bad guys' hands (i'd been expecting it), but if we'd at least vanquished liandrin and left moggy as the new big bad, that would have helped this plotline feel like it got more resolution and like it accomplished something. nynaeve breaking her block, while a wonderful scene, wasn't enough to carry the full narrative climax of this entire season-long plotline (especially since there wasn't REALLY that much setup for her breaking her block, just the one line from the seafolk about how her problem is not being able to let go and go with the flow, though i do like that they used that metaphor to set up for her water-based block breaking scene). then again, there literally wasn't TIME for liandrin to get vanquished because they had too much to do this episode.

as i'd speculated a while back, elayne casually mentioned gaebril to thom and he was like "um who the fuck?" and so now elayne knows that a forsaken is holding power in caemlyn. nice! this was a great way to justify thom's return to the story: he contributes something important that only he could contribute, because his history with the trakand family helps point our gang towards the whereabouts of a forsaken.

caemlyn is now teed up to be a big focus in s4, so i would expect that resolution to come next season, unless something happens to significantly delay elayne, but as of now, she's primed to have helping her mom & country as Priority #1. she also has a balefire rod in her possession, which could lead to her being the one to balefire rahvin instead of rand. i definitely want elayne to take part in defeating rahvin, but i hope rand can still be involved in some capacity! and as much as i like the idea of elayne doing the balefiring, i would be soooooo sad if yet another iconic cauthor (& avirand) moment (rand being so distraught over their deaths that he reverses time to save them) was taken from me haha i will have to hope that elayne, rand, avi, and mat can all be involved and i can get some kind of avimatrandlayne rights out of it, however the specifics might turn out.

over to the waste. rand picking the squashes to meet his toh to alsera!!!! but i think i groaned out loud when it was egwene who came to see him in that moment instead of aviendha lmao i am SO disappointed that we didn't get any avirand interaction this episode! they were completely shafted in favor of randgwene & randfear during their own Main Storyline and i don't think i'll ever get over it, though i hope s4 can bring them some good stuff to semi make up for it (like, i wasn't expecting any out-and-out romance between them for s3 once it became clear that randgwene was lingering, but at least stronger relationship development and a deeper emotional connection by the end of the season than what we got). i'd hoped we would get a nice moment this episode to tie off their arc of rand proving himself to avi*, but instead all we get is avi telling egwene about what a terrible partner rand would make for anyone. okay. cool. We Who Know can interpret this as avi trying to dissuade herself from rand as much as trying to dissuade egwene, but to the show-only audience, it accomplishes nothing but throwing them even further off the scent of avirand (which they were never on to begin with because nothing in this season sets up for it unless you already know it's coming) and therefore making it so that they'll be even more bewildered when avirand starts becoming a thing.

(*we DID see avi willingly kneeling to him as car'a'carn, so we can conclude that she accepts him now, but i would've liked a more personal acceptance moment between them one-on-one too. maybe next season. also, her wonder when he made it rain was very sweet <3)

this season has really been hammering on how rand probably isn't in a place where he should date anyone thanks to his destiny etc, so idk how they're going to swerve into him joining a polycule (and a polycule with his messy-breakup-ex's BFF + a woman who knows all about the messy breakup and disparaged rand to egwene about it). so far, they're making it a lot harder for themselves than it needed to be, and my impression that avirandlayne development/seed-planting is getting sacrificed in favor of beating the randgwene dead horse and that it feels like the show cares a lot more about randgwene than about avirandlayne still remains strong after having seen the whole season.

but now time to link this wonderful josha interview! it contains full season spoilers and full book spoilers, because he is a spoiler-loving king who never makes any attempt to censor himself. one of the things he says here in response to whether rand has closed himself off from love after randfear and randgwene is along the lines of "i think he doesn't trust himself to love again, but i know he will do so anyway because it's just who he is" and then he talks about how in the books it's rand's capacity for love that ultimately helps him win. josha's answer is talking about love in general and not necessarily romantic love, but regardless, very very sweet answer that shows his deep understanding of the character and gives me hope for getting well-done avirandlayne in the future! my other two favorite parts of the interview were 1) the reveal that all the "what does the prophecy say?" dialogue in the alsera scene was not scripted and josha came up with it himself and 2) he says Definitely Mat as the ta'veren boy who's the best at talking to girls jdkfjgh extremely randcore to always think mat is The Best Ever and go "well of course mat is the best at talking to girls!" when mat has spent the entire show trying and failing to get laid. i'm going to take my crumb of a cauthor right wherever i can find it since i barely got any in the season!

okay, back to the episode. i loved all of rand's stuff! his confrontation with lanfear where he finally gets to push back on her narrative was A+, i loved his conversation with moiraine, and of course his alcair dal moments were wonderful and he looked very sexy in that sleeveless shirt with the tattoos out. his rain channeling was so beautiful!! again, i do feel like we might be hammering on the "soul of fire, heart of stone" stuff and whatnot a little too much too soon considering that rand still has to be in a good enough headspace to form two whole new romantic relationships, but we DO see a contrast with him very calm and in control of himself, despite egwene's worry, compared to the more unhinged moments he'd had earlier in the season, so hopefully going into s4 he'll be in a place where he's more emotionally stable yet also not so Cold And Hard yet that he's not open to new love. (though ending randgwene on such an ominous and mistrustful note is going to make it a haaaaard sell to the audience that elayne & avi can wind up dating rand and that won't be doing egwene wrong or anything. but if there's a timeskip, maybe we can pick up with rand & egwene getting along better and being friendly, even if there's still a distance between them. still, i wish they'd gotten to clear the air a LITTLE bit during the squash scene while they had a chance to talk one-on-one.)

egwene didn't really have anything in the finale. not mad about it since she had such a big time to shine in s2 and was naturally going to take a backseat in s3, but it does feel like her s3 story was exclusively rand-centric and like she could have gotten more For Herself if they'd just broken up in 3x01.

not much for avi either, very sad about that since i'd hoped the show would give me more on her TSR character arc than the books did, not less. but they are unfortunately hampered by TV's stricter (compared to books) Cast Tiers, i think; story-wise, i'd say avi should be the third most important character in the TSR waste story after rand and moiraine, or even arguably above moiraine for #2, but in the show, rand, moiraine, lan, and egwene are all a Character Tier above avi and so they have to have a bigger role than her even if the story of returning to her homeland and people naturally calls for her more than it calls for some of them.

lan got his conclusion with melindhra as expected, not much to say on that. i like that they made it so that melindhra genuinely IS loyal to him and malkier and feels bad enough about it to betray her dark oaths, rather than keeping it as a full betrayal.

and finally, the moiraine vs. lanfear fight, which got hyped up big time but then ended in a draw, so i did feel pretty edged! like liandrin, this is a place where i raise my eyebrow over characters seeming to overstay their narrative welcome. are they setting up for the doorway confrontation to happen next season, or are they planning to alter the story and keep moiraine and/or lanfear around longer than they were in the books? i don't care for either option as much as i would have for them simply doorway-ing each other or otherwise finishing each other off in this episode. because if it's option #1, then we spent a whole season building up a conflict that we're just going to have to repeat the buildup for again next season (though if lanfear is now fully at odds with our gang rather than precarious allies with both moiraine & lanfear, that might help it feel different enough). if it's option #2, moiraine is going to continue eating up screentime and narrative importance that needs to be going to rand and the other kids at this stage in the story. she was a great character to center the early story around, but i'm sorry, she has to go in order to create space for the kids to leave the nest and come into their own. although, i wouldn't be mad if she stayed on as rand's permanent advisor and cadsuane was cut (but that doesn't feel likely given all the cadsuane namedropping; but maybe cadsuane could appear but in a different role/storyline) since cadsuane basically does nothing but be a walmart knockoff moiraine, so i suppose we could just keep moiraine - but only if they let her step fully back into the role of a secondary character, which is unlikely since rosamund is the biggest name in the cast and they'd probably want to give her a primary role as long as she's in the show. so i don't know, i feel like we do need to fully exit moiraine at some point, but we shall see.

oh also, sammael died! i completely forgot lmao rip my dude! it feels kinda wasteful to introduce a whole forsaken only to kill him immediately when there's only 8 of them to go around in the first place (now down to 6), but moggy offing him IS a great way of showing just how divided the forsaken are, so if sammael's death can help bulk up the surviving forsaken into even bigger threats, then no harm no foul.

ann ogbomo never appeared, so either she had a scene that ended up getting cut, or wotseries was wrong on her being part of the show (which would be mildly surprising since i don't think they've ever wrongly said that an actor was part of the show before, but when it comes to leaks there's always risk of course). so much for the theory of a semirhage finale stinger scene! we'll have to keep waiting to see when she and the seanchan might enter the stage.

i do have solid hopes for a cauthor reunion in s4! i'd thought they could begin a seanchan invasion of tanchico and leave it open-ended if mat escapes or not and then make that decision in 4x01 according to whether they need to follow the long or short model for the show, but now mat is firmly on a ship with the others headed off to their next destination. there could always be time for the ship to get intercepted or mat otherwise separated from the group, but for now it feels safe to assume that mat is sticking with them, and i find it the most likely that they will meet up with rand's group in tear (to warn rand about the collar and/or to hunt moggy & liandrin who are hunting rand). caemlyn is also a Desired Destination for them of course, but i'd think elayne would want to lie low, gather information, and come up with a plan first, and tear would be a good place to do that since she has a trusted family friend there (per 3x01).

in addition, if the location of the rebel base is moved over to tear, then that puts another Character Group in that area and is all the more reason (out-of-world) for nynaeve & co to definitely be headed there (since whether they follow their book plot of linking up with the rebels or a show-only plot of linking up with rand & co, it's in the same general area and so they could probably hang out with both groups if desired).

this seems to leave us with 3 major locations for s4: tear (rand & co, nynaeve & co, rebels); caemlyn (morgase & rahvin, elayne eventually, maybe perrin & co for his trial plotline?); the white tower (elaida & co)

hopefully, if we get more condensation of Story Groups, then s4 won't feel stretched as thin as s3 did. 3 main groups would be more manageable than 4, even if it's still a lot of characters within each group.

random mat notes since he's apparently the character whose s4 story i'm most concerned with haha (and s4 should be his time to get his Focal Episode anyway!):

rafe confirmed on instagram that they have plans for the band of the red hand. couladin escaped alive (rather than being killed by rand at alcair dal as a couple people had speculated). hopefully, this will lead to mat rejoining rand's plotline, taking part in the battle against the shaido, and forming the band. this would be a wonderful choice of event to center a Focal Mat Episode around, if you ask me!

mat got his medallion for sure, and i missed it but eagle-eyed viewers pointed out that he got the ashandarei too and that's what he's hanging off of. however, he has not gotten his prophecies - will there be a second doorway trip in store for him, or will his prophecies simply not be in the show? i wouldn't mind either way. they did show a good number of doorways in the finn realm that i'm guessing each correspond to one in the real world, so they've given themselves freedom to stick another IRL doorway anywhere they want in addition to the tanchico & white tower ones we've already seen.

then there's the question of mat's memories. he starts with too many memories and ends up with not enough, which is the opposite of his book progression, so i'm puzzled for now, but will wait and see what they're planning to do with this. but i'd been so glad the show had avoided mat losing some of his own memories because that makes me too sad, so i'm heartbroken that that's now the case after all and even more heartbroken because i'm guessing the show might make him forget important things that will make me sad! vs. the books just telling us that mat has holes in his memory but he never actually seems to be missing anything important. at least he clearly remembers min and their relationship even if he forgets how he got where he is, so hopefully that means his memories of his friends and loved ones will be more or less intact and it'll just be little snippets missing here and there. if he forgets his sisters i swear-

update: i just saw a good theory that the finn interpreted mat's problem as having too many memories for one person and "fixed" him by taking away enough memories to leave him with a normal amount of memories, but said normal amount is just a mix between horn & his own memories, and the amount they took away was likewise an indiscriminate mix. i buy that! if so, that means we don't need to do any more Mat Memory Fuckery, just adjust to the fact that he's lost some memories from his own life in addition to some of the unwanted horn memories.

okay, that's all the initial thoughts off the top of my head. this episode was fine, but in my eyes, 2x08 was unquestionably a better season finale and a better hour of television and i'm baffled by all the readers who hated on 2x08 so hard and are now saying 3x08 is the best finale episode by far. what standards are you using to judge that? definitely not the same ones i'm using! heck, i'd even heretically say that 1x08 is in some ways a better season finale than 3x08 since every main character (well, bar mat and lan for real-world production issue reasons) got a moment to shine and a meaningful conclusion to their season-long character arc, everything had enough time to breathe, and no character or storyline felt like an afterthought. but, of course, it's just inherently easier to construct a Season Finale when all the characters are in one location participating in different aspects of one big event together, and maybe that's the very thing i'm subconsciously picking up on when i say that 3x08 didn't feel as cohesive or as well-paced as other finales.

the good news is that TSR is one if not THE densest book in the series, so hopefully future seasons will have an easier time managing to fit everything they want to include inside the 8-episode structure.

[near-dareis-mai]

"robert jordan didn't believe in torturing female characters onscreen" ??????????????? Egwene as a damane?? Does that not count for some reason?? Come on man until the Last Battle, Siuan does nothing but clean Gareth's shirts and make big gooey eyes at him from book 5 on. Oh I guess eventually she also has to cowtow to a bunch of Sisters after she's healed from stilling. She never has true power again and the books revel in it. Every scene with her in it reads like some sort of forcesub fantasy. I wish wotprime found a way out of her storyline that didn't involve death, but man I'm glad we won't have to watch Sophie Okonedo cowtow to some mediocre man who DEFINTELY spanks her

Now I know damn well that you haven't read the books because Egwene's damane time is mostly off-screen in the books. Aside from the time when the collar is actually put on her (which is about 1 page out of a 600 page book), the rest is Egwene's recollections talking to Min when Min visits her, or Nynaeve when Nynaeve finally rescues her. All wrapped up in 3 chapters out of a 50-chapter book btw.

"Siuan does nothing but clean Gareth's shirts and make big gooey eyes at him from book 5 on."

Again, you haven't read the books. Let's see some of the things Siuan does from Book 5 onward:

Siuan's rescues Egwene from an unrescuable tower. The fucking White Tower, whom even the False Dragons couldn't breach and fucking Siuan Sanche breaches it to save Egwene and gets dust in thanks for it.

The Salidar Aes Sedai are basically squabbling between themselves until Siuan puts the idea into their head to raise a rebel Amyrlin.

The Blue Ajah has an exponentially larger spy network than all the other Ajahs, and Siuan knows all the contacts because she was once the Blue Ajah spymaster. Her acting as Salidar's spymaster is the only reason the whole operation doesn't go tits up. Without her contacts, the Salidar Aes Sedai would have been rounded up and executed within days.

Whether you like the reason behind it or not, she's the reason Egwene gets one of the 5 Great Generals as her Salidar battle general. Without Siuan, that's a no go.

And then she's the one who coaches the rebel Amyrlin and teaches her everything she knows despite knowing that her legacy will be dust.

"Every scene with her in it reads like some sort of forcesub fantasy."

What are you talking about, there are literally NO sexual scenes with Siuan. There is ONE kissing scene and even that is a chaste one viewed from Egwene's PoV. YOU HAVE NOT READ THE BOOKS.

[dangermousie]

What kdramas or cdramas do you have your eyes open for in 2025?

Ooooh, I love this ask!

Cdramas: I did this post recently which should sum it up

KDRAMAS

Can This Love Be Translated? - love the cast, love the set up!

Dear Bandit - sageuk about lady bandit and prince who swap souls. Nam Ji Hyun and Moon Sang Min. I am indifferent to the cast but the premise could be great (or terrible, but let's be optimistic.)

The First Night with the Duke - manhua soapy deliciousness

The Good Man - Lee Dong Wook as a mobster in love? Gimme.

Haesi's Shinru - not sure if it's still on but it's a sageuk with Ahn Bo Hyun.

The Haunted Palace - this sound kinda insane but I am so desperate for a period kdrama.

Hong Rang - sageuk, fakecest, angstttttt

Human from Today - gumihos for the win

Kiss Me For No Reason - adore both Ahn Eun Jin and Jang Ki Yong and the romance sounds choice.

Last Summer - romance with Lee Jae Wook. He's picked some awful projects but he's a great actor so here is hoping.

The Moon Flows in This River - "he is a mysterious person with a dark past but a strong will even in loneliness. His life is in solitude, but one day, he meets his heroine fatefully, and light begins to shine on his life. She has a bright and pure charm, and they seep into each other's lives and discover true love and hope."

Our Movie - aaaaangsty romantic melo with Namgoong Min? OH YES PLS

The Remarried Empress - sometimes I just want trashy makjang with A-list actors.

The Scandal of Chun Hwa - sexy sageuk romance, bring it on!

The Scent of Plum Flower - sageuk! I am desperate for a decent sageuk.

Serenade - not sure if it's still on but Yeo Jin Goo in a sageuk OH GOD PLSSSSS

Soulmate - Taecyeon in a Japanese x Korean BL coproduction? Yes pls.

The Tyrant's Chef - sageuk AND Park Sung Hoon as ML. Not a fan of Yoona but one of the few times I liked her in was in a sageuk (TKL) so here is hoping.

When Life Gives You Tangerines - Park Bo Gum and IU and this one sentence from the synopsis: "he doesn’t know how to act if Ae Sun cries or laughs, but he is a silent warrior who only loves Ae Sun from the very beginning and pours his all into loving her." AAAAAAAAA

When the Stars Gossip - If liking Lee Min Ho and Gong Hyo Jin in old school romance is basic, I will gladly be basic.

Wife of a 21st Century Prince - IU and Byeon Woo Seok in something that sounds like a Goong AU? Yes pls.

[theuncannybookdragon]

WoT s3 ep 1-3 reactionssss:

Episode 1-

Yyyyep, RIP Ihvon 😔

Moirane saving Siuan?? Awwwe 😊

MAT SPEAKING HIS FIRST LINE OF THE SEASON IN THE OLD TONGUE!?! Iconic

Mat and Perrin teasing Rand about Selene is everything

SNAKES AND FOXES!!! THIS IS NOT A DRILL WE'VE GOT SNAKES AND FOXES!!!

Egwene being still traumatized from Renna but also being rebellious af and slaying the arches???? Then telling off Siuan?? Iconicccc

MAIDEN'S KISS!?!?! HELLO?!?! AHHHHHHHHHH

After when Mat has cuts on his neck from the spears?!?!? OHOHOHOOO FORESHADOWINGG

AVILAYNE REAL!?!? LIKE- REAALLLLL?!?! THIS IS SO BIGGGG GOOD FOR THEM

The bubble of evil shit being specifically orchestrated by Lanfear is SUCH an interesting choice

A GREY MAN??? IN MY TAR VALON???? ITS MORE LIKELY THAN YOU'D THINK

The party being split but Mat making a dick joke about the White Tower is SOOOO in character

Also- Elayne and Rand talking politics is incredible, AND Rand and Moiraine power games starting??? We love to see it!

Episode 2-

HOLY SHIT MORGASE! Was not expecting that in the cold open god damn

The pettiness between Morgase-Siuan and Siuan-Elaida is INCREDIBLE

Gaebril already being a part of the family is SO INTERESTING

Honestly, incredible casting choices for Galad and Gawyn

Mat letting the Aes Sedai channel on him??? Book Mat would never but it's an interesting change and shows his desperation/character development for sure

PARTING THE SILK MENTION

Also the soundtrack is going SO HARD this season

MINNNN BACK AT THE WHITE TOWEEER! THE VIEWINGSSS!

MAT BEING A MANWHORE, NO SURPRISE THERE (assfsjsgsgsgsk I'm so gayyyyyyyy aggh)

Gawyn being showy and getting swept onto his ass by Galad is HYSTERICAL

Mat being upset that he got upstaged LMAO

TEL'ARAN'RHIOD BABEYYY

Mat opening his robe and everything before opening the door and Min being there and then telling him to cover up is PEAK COMEDY

Galad and Gawyn getting action but Mat not- PPFFFFFT

Gaebril and Elayne having a father-daugther relationship is very INTERESTING

"Normally, I would never be one to brag" LMAOO Mat ur so full of shit

MAT GETTING CALLED OUT BY SIUAN AHAHHAHHHH

Daaaam, we got the uncle comparison straight from the books!!!

"I'm no hero" HE SAID IT HE SAID THE THING

Oop- Tigraine reference!

Episode 3-

THE FORSAKEN ARE BEING PETTY! I REPEAT, THE FORSAKEN ARE BEING PETTY!

Oooohohohoooo Mazrim Taim namedrop!!

"That is Wise Ones' business" we love to hear it Rhuarc!

"No one would do this", "The Shaido might" TRUE

FAIIIIILE!!! SHE'S HERE!

The girls are investigatinggggggggg

WORLD OF DREAMS TER'ANGRIAL SPOTTED

Elaida giving seer advice to Min was NOT on my bingo card

SWEAT TENT SCENE!! WE HAVE A SWEAT TENT SCENE!!!

Oooohhhhh Melindhra is Malkieri?!?!

Cenn Buie getting told off is HILARIOUS

HANGSHADOWNG COURTESY OF MIN LETS GOOO

MAT BEATING GALAD AND GAWYN'S ASSES LETSGO I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS ONE!

But seriously, Nynaeve's exasperated "Oh, Mat", the "Dovie'andi se tovya sagain"!!! HIS THEME KICKING IN THE MINUTE THE FIGHT STARTS!! Nynaeve THEN LOOKING IMPRESSED/PROUD!! Mat KNOCKING OUT GAWYN!? INCREDIBLE!!

All in all, an amazing start to the season!! I'm a big fan of how they're incorporating more things directly from the books

[stuff-diary]

Final week of When Life Gives You Tangerines: that was pretty much perfect. The show stayed both life-affirming and heart-wrenching until the very end. I feel like I spent the entirety of these last four hours crying tears of joy, sadness and everything in between. I'd go into more detail, but I think I need some time to take it all in properly. I'll try to post a review tomorrow.

[clearancecreedwatersurvival]

3.5 tel’aran’rhiod liveblog!!!

Oh this opening scene with sakarnen is interesting. Showing how a channeler feels the ecstasy of the power and the need to draw more, and also how using such a dangerous and powerful sa’angreal is walking a knife’s edge

LOVE this bit of aviendha being catty about rand and Melaine firing back at her, aviendha you’re really in it now

oh that was not how I thought alcair was pronounced

AIEL POLYAMORY TIME

OH MY GOD OH MY GOD FIRST SISTER MARRIAGE REAL CONFIRMED????

RAND CLAIMING THE TITLE OF CAR’A’CARN AND HAVING A CUTE MOMENT WITH A AIEL KID IM GONNA DIE

siuan having a moment with Moiraine’s letter ashcksafbka

OH SHIT ELAIDA SIUAN CONVO

FUCK THIS IS TENSE

Oh my god this verin siuan leane scene………

AH YIS BAIN AND CHIAD SPRINTING AHEAD OF A HORSE I LOVE TO SEE IT

the avirand vibes……..polyamory discussions……..oh yes

OBSESSED WITH THEM AVIENDHA IS SO FUNNY THIS EPISODE

Ohhhh lan and Moiraine having more tensions

EGWENE PUTTING ON HER AMYRLIN REGALIA FROM THE ARCHES AS INSTINCTUAL ARMOR I’M GONNA LOSE IT

ooooh I like how they’re doing the people briefly touching TAR

OH FUCK LANFEAR OH FUCK

Alviariiiiiiiiiin

omg Elaida telling that accepted off

WHAT THE FUCK VERIN ‘my sister can do anything’

Nynaeve being seasick, exactly as she should be

Can’t wait to add min to this tense little dynamic

‘That’s only because she didn’t want Nynaeve to throw herself overboard’ *nynaeve clearly considering it* ‘is that an option?’

Elayne having to wrangle mat by herself cause Nynaeve is out of commission, rip

Sea folk tiiiiiiime!!!

Mat: Min pleaaaaase rescue me from elayne and Nynaeve

Dain Bornhold still trying to be a decent person and keeping Velda from torturing the girls

CAUTHON SISTER CHANNELING MOMENT

oh Jesus Christ natti

I take it back Dain you rat bastard

FAILE I LOVE YOUUUUU

Bain and Chiad love her too

Alanna girlie are you being a bit reckless perhaps??

Oooh Alanna Maksim drama OH SHIT HARSH

Alanna on a hunt for more warders hmmm??? Oh and for channelers too.

Maksim sweetie you are such a sadsack rn. Like I get it but. I think you’re missing the point of the whole warder bond thing my guy.

If Maksim does leave now he can’t make it through the ways alone so he’s just gonna spend like 3 months riding slowly across the continent towards…where exactly. He doesn’t know she went to tanchico.

Lan getting to reconnect to malkier again!!!! We haven’t had much of this since s1 I’m delighted.

Oh now it’s Rand Egwene angst time I see

Moiraine honey put the orb away that is so dangerous!!!!

“I won’t be at the last battle” come again???????

If Ian starts crying I am also going to cry

OOSQUAI MENTION

Ooh they’re getting to laugh together :))))) I’m sure this isn’t setting up for emotional devastation later :))))))))))))))

I love mat and min SO much

OH GOD MAT ANGST

NOOOOOO STOP WITH THE SUICIDE JOKES MATRIM

Elayne windfinder moment??????

I love including Nynaeve the former wisdom in this conversation about alternative ways to be a channeler than through the aes sedai

ELAYNE MEETING MIN!!!!!!

Min part of the gang finally :’)

lmaooooo they’re giving the port of Tanchico full on pirate movie vibes

OH MY GOD THIS ELAIDA SCENE WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK

Is she bypassing the oaths with the bracelet?????? Or does a black ajah member count under the accepted use of the power against shadowspawn??????

Siuan healing elaida is a fun choice here

NOOOOO DEAD WOLVES!!!!!

oh Jesus Christ Alanna is in DANGER

Faile backing up Perrin immediately it’s battle couple tiiiiiiime

DID THEY KILL NATTI CAUTHON HOLY FUCKING SHIT

ALANNAAAAAAAAAAA

oh my god that’s a lot of arrows

OH SHIT I KNOW THIS MUSICAL CUE LET’S FUCKING GOOOOOOOOO GET HIS ASS PERRIN

Faile 1v2ing whitecloaks while Perrin gets stabbed by a single guy doncowdfhsdofnsdofdsv

JK 1v3 Faile my beloved <3333333333

THANK YOU MAKSIM FINALLY

Rand sweetheart she is playing youuuuuuu

Starting the episode with aviendha explaining ethical polyamory, and now rand cheating on egwene in tar with Lanfear. My guy.

Bair and Melaine: egwene don’t go in tar again without permission. Egwene twenty minutes later: about that

Angsty fishwives reunion scene….i love it……

Oh damn I’m about to cry about this actually shit

CAN’T BE MENDED NOT IN THIS LIFE YELLING ABOUT ITTTTTTTTT

Csdbvksdvbdskvbadkcadkvdabvdavda

Egwene outside the hut like maybe I’ll give them some privacy and wander off to endanger myself some more.

Nynaeve dreaming about her arches vision daughter AH

ELAYNE WINDFINDER AVILAYNE FANTASY I LOVE ITTTTTTT AHHHHHHHHHHHH

Mat dreaming about his sisters and mom in the episode where their mom just died I’m gonna throw up!!!!!!!!!!

Hi this dream sequence is fucking killing meeeeeeeeeee

PERRIN AND HOPPER FUCK

Egwene sees Faile and she’s like: ‘Perrin got a new girlfriend???? Good for him!’

EGWENE CATCHING HIM CHEATING IN DREAMS HOLY SHIT

oh my god what a fucking cliffhanger!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[anemoiawithatouchofobsession]

When you want to post good pictures and fawn over your fave male celebrities like your moots do (@papaya2000s and SVT hehe) but all of them are (extremely happily) married and I lowkey have more respect, appreciation and love for their wives than for them

[junkobato]

Upcoming Kdrama June 2024 🧡

3/6: Player 2: Master of Swindlers with Song Seung Heon, Oh Yeon Seo, Lee Si On. 12 episodes; action, thriller, comedy.

7/6: Hierarchy with Roh Jeong Hui, Lee Chae Min, Kim Jae Won. 7 episodes; thriller, mystery, romance.

12/6: My Sweet Mobster with Uhm Tae Goo, Han Sun Hwa, Kwon Yool. 16 episodes; rom-com.

15/6: Miss Night and Day with Jung Eun Ji, Choi Jin Hyuk, Lee Jung Eun. 16 episodes; rom-com, fantasy.

22/6: DNA lover with Choi Si Won, Jung In Sun, Lee Tae Hwan. 16 episodes; rom-com, melodrama.

28/6: the Whirlwind with Kim Soo Ae, Sol Gyung Gu. 12 episodes; political.

Uhm Tae Goo in a rom-com?! It was about time! 😍

[star-dust-and-stories]

WOT s3 e5 thoughts

this episode already had an uphill battle coming off of the work of art that was last week's, but it was a very solid one nonetheless! a handful of surprising developments and some strong character moments made for a very moving watch. more specific thoughts below, spoilers under the cut!

moiraine using sakarnen was absolutely ethereal.

the music when rand and co entered cold rocks hold was stunning?

rand with rhuarc's granddaughter, all this man wants is to be a dad!

you know, i haven't had long enough to form an opinion on elaida, so this is certainly an impression!

this sequence in the dream world was lowkey terrifying.

i'm sorry when lanfear said her line all i could think of was "we've been waiting for you all summer and we're so glad you're finally here!"

mat and elayne, i just know they're sick of being on a boat together. unfortunately i am on elayne's side since i am always the trip planner, sorry to my king matrim cauthon.

egwene, elayne, AND nynaeve all pretending to be aes sedai and hoping the tower does not find out LMFAO.

1) mat must be absolutely baffled at how he keeps running into min and 2) him ditching elayne and nynaeve once his bestie shows up is gold.

it is absolutely evil how this show keeps cutting from mat to his family or vice versa!

OH SHIT one of the twins channeled! and natti...

alanna and maskim divorce era, i think i've seen this play before...

the malkieri continue to get to me. a culture, forever exiled from their home, and lan, their last king, not even knowing his own people, OH MY LORD.

i did laugh a little when moiraine confessed what she saw in the rings and lan decided to have them drink themselves into a stupor. but on a serious note, their relationship is really one of the cornerstones of the show, and i continue to love it.

rand and egwene on the other hand, PLEASE BREAK UP.

"and, i'm not gonna kill myself. well, probably not..." realest thing mat cauthon has said /j

seafolk channeling is so beautiful!

min, mat, elayne, and nynaeve forming the liandrin guirale hate club.

elaida just KILLED AMICO?

WHY DOES EVERYONE KEEP GETTING STABBED?

earlier in the season i was wondering where the writers would take natti cauthon's character considering the background they gave her in season 1, but i wasn't expecting her to just DIE.

dain and perrin as a ship is unexpectedly compelling me now.

also, if i had nickel for everytime the two of them went at it while perrin's girl bestie of the week beat the shit out of five whitecloaks, i'd have two nickels!

alanna and maskim having a couple's fight, 10 dead 2 injured.

not rand "i can fix her"-ing lanfear, i fear this may be a lost cause!

the siuanraine reunion was devastating as expected, OH MY GOD.

the dream sequence at the end was so beautiful! nynaeve with elnore, elayne with aviendha(!), mat with his family, perrin in his forge, each moment was so emotional. and then rand...

anyways, the theatre kid in my heart is VERY excited for next week's episode, so tune back in on thursday!

[taekookielove0130]

Slowly, Unintentionally.

Part 3 Pairing: Idol!Min Yoongi x Nerd!Reader

Summary:

          Y/N and Yoongi are two individuals in completely different worlds who collide due to an arranged marriage. What happens when there’s somebody else living with them too?

⚠️ Warnings: Smut, fluff, angst, heartbreak, and crying. Tissues are highly recommended!

Part 1 :

Part 2:

One week later...

 Y/N's POV

It’s been a week since a beautiful angel stepped into our lives and we’ve already grown so close. I can say I truly love Ae-cha with all my heart. We spend so much time together. She helps me out in the kitchen (even though it just means she’s going to rummage through the cupboards and find a good snack) and even slips into my bed late at night. She’s sneaky and cute and just downright lovely to me. Despite the way Yoongi despises me with every fibre of his being, I can say that he’s at least able to tolerate my presence now. Barely, but still.

I’m broken out of my thoughts as I feel a pair of small hands sneak around my waist.

“Oh, you’re back!” I say and turn to look at Ae-cha who beams at me, nodding eagerly. Today, I took a leave from my office just to make sure I was there for Ae-cha as she came back from her first guitar lesson. I hoped I'd be at least a little helpful for her and was definitely not disappointed as my little girl came back home and immediately sought me out. She starts talking animatedly about how wonderful her teacher had been and how patient he was to make sure she got all the basics right before beginning their lesson.

Knowing that she probably already knew all those basics but still liked appreciating the teacher for her thoughtfulness, I smile at her and then realize there’s another person in the kitchen at the sound of someone clearing their throat. I realize it’s Yoongi by the sound and turn around returning to my work as I know he wants to talk to Ae-cha. Hence, you can see I’m surprised when he softly calls out,

“Y/N.”

Hiding the fact that my heart just skipped a goddamn beat hearing him speak my name in such a soft tone, I slowly turn to face him. He’s standing there. Leaning against the top of the kitchen counter, looking impeccably handsome as ever.

“Can we talk?”

The softly posed question both confuses and scares me to an equal level though I just gulp, trying to wet my suddenly dry throat and manage to muster a believable smile.

“Yeah, sure.” I say and find myself even more confused as he instructs Ae-cha to go to her room and complete her homework. The little girl turns to send a secretive smile at me and runs outside, giggling after I dazedly smile back at her.

Yoongi stays there for a while, watching her go before he directs his attention at me. Being the centre of attention has always made me nervous and anxious but I don’t understand why being the centre of Yoongi’s attention has me feeling happy and powerful. It feels as if l my life I was used to being invisible, made peace with the fact but If Yoongi looks at me, I never want him to look away. He walks towards me and stops at an arm’s distance.

“I spoke to Ae-cha’s guardian yesterday and he told me that adoption would be a good option if we want to keep her with us. Otherwise, according to the law she’ll have to be sent to an orphanage. My legal team has told me that adoption can only be possible if there’s a functioning relationship between the couple. It’s said that the officers are hard to convince unless the pair have and understanding with each other. I know that we haven’t exactly been a proper couple but do you think we can at least try to pretend?

The fact that he wanted to talk to me only because it was about Ae-cha breaks my heart again. Even worse, he’s just giving that to me as a piece of information, not even slightly caring about my opinion. I struggle to gather the broken pieces before I say,

“Yeah, I think we can.”

He doesn’t make my struggle easier when he speaks again,

“Thanks. But you know that I’m only asking you this for Ae-cha, right? It has nothing to do with us.”

I feel tears prick my eyes but I hold on, deciding not to break down in front of him. I offer my best smile to him and nod.

He replies with an,

“Oh good. See you later then.” and walks out.

I run to my room and lock the door before crying my hearts out. Within a few minutes, I hear a soft knock on my door. Groaning, I'm about to tell whoever it is to go away when

"Y/n, Are you in there?" Ae-cha's voice sounds from the other side of the door. Panicking slightly, I sniff a few times, hurriedly running to the restroom and splashing my face with water.

"Yeah, what's up?" I ask, smiling brightly at her after opening the door to my room.

The little girl eyes me up and down suspiciously as if she isn't convinced everything's fine.

"hm, I was going to watch a movie. Wanna join?"

I frown, trying to find out why exactly she's behaving as if she knows everything before shrugging as to say,

"Sure, why not."

Ae-cha settles down on the couch, flipping through the programs to find a good movie while I make some popcorn for us.

After we settle comfortably on the couch and the movie is playing, I space out. Not that I mean to, but the recent events all awaken my overthinking abilities. I had a pretty good day from the morning, what with Ae-cha's guitar lessons and all but once again, Yoongi had to ruin it. But even with how badly he treats me, I cannot bring myself to hate this man. I'm more annoyed than angry actually. If he wanted to go about the adoption process, I'm pretty sure he'll be able to surpass all the legal procedures with his societal standing and popularity. But he was deciding to do it the legal way. And I respect that, truly. But the least he could do for me, was to treat me like an actual human being and consider my feelings about the whole things. At least for the sake of pretending, we had to get to know each other. He just...

As the million wild thoughts race through my mind, I feel a soft warm body slowly move towards me on the couch. Turning, I see e-cha snuggling under my arm, cuddling closer and laying her head on my shoulder. at least, she tries to but with her height, she's only successful at lading on my chest. Laughing softly, I pull her closer, creating a comfortable space for her to lie down on the couch.

Smiling up at me, she leans closer and for a second I'm almost afraid. But then, her soft lips gently graze my cheek and I sit, frozen at what just happened. Then, she gets back to her previous position. Pleasantly surprised, I'm only able to wrap her up in my arms and almost miss it when she whispers softly,

"I'm there for you."

The burn of my eyes and the sudden tightness in my throat are all to familiar but i stubbornly blink them back, only nodding and pressing a kiss to her temple. She looks up at me and we smile at each other.

This wonderful creature, so small. But filled with so much knowledge. I sit there in awe trying to comprehend how she can be so understanding in spite of not understanding!?!?

I finally decide, I can tackle whatever Yoongi throws t me, no matter how hard as long as I have my dear Ae-cha by my side. I love her. And I love him. In different ways. Yet at the same time, soo similar.

_______________________________________________________

That was quite a long break. I apologize for it. But as you can see, I'm back. I'm working on this fic and a small one-shot based on Jimin. SO, stay tuned. Do tell me what you think.

Does Ae-cha KNOW what happened between them? Is Yoongi doing this the legal way just for formality's sake or for something else? Ae-cha is actually and angel, isn't she?

[markantonys]

My Mom Reacts To: wheel of time season 2 episodes 1-4 (season 1)

episode 1

"if i had to carry water all that way for a bath, i'd get a smaller bathtub" you know what? that is a very fair point. just get a smaller tub, moiraine!

mom, #1 Lan Stan: so, he doesn't have any powers, right? except cunning and strength and loyalty of course me: of course

mom: so liandrin wants nynaeve to become red because she........doesn't want her to have a warder? me doing a great aes sedai truth-telling: nynaeve is really powerful so liandrin wants to recruit her for her own team

my dad predicted moiraine was scamming bayle domon and loved it when it was revealed that she was. as always, not too much commentary from him because he remains silent and seems to not be paying attention for most of the time, only to randomly come out with a completely correct prediction or read on a scene.

"i don't think it's true that neat and tidy things can't be worthwhile 🙄" clearly my mom subscribes more to the Egwene School Of Thought than to the Alanna School Of Thought

lan to moiraine after she is Mean to him: make dinner yourself mom: GOOD FOR YOU

when lan brings her the plate later and puts it on top of the maps: "what if he gets greasy food all over her maps?"

"ugh i hate dark scenes where i can't see anything" [scary fade appears] "okay maybe it's good that i can't see"

episode 2

my mom got all confused about rand's dream of him killing his friends and wondered at first if it was real, please pray for her when tel'aran'rhiod is introduced later

"HE'S BALD??????" all of us when we first saw s2 rand's new look djkfgjh

"they must like him here if he gets free food" my boy, beloved wherever he goes :')

she wasn't particularly fond of mat last season, but he's gotten quite a few laughs so far this season! (notably the moment when we ALL fell in love with New Mat, when he was miming liandrin locking the door)

she gave an annoyed TUH! at elayne dissing egwene's room, but didn't comment further, possibly because i'd just told her 20 seconds earlier that elayne was my favorite character and she didn't want to offend me jdkfgh

she was like "wait, is she blue or green???" during a scene where alanna was wearing a slightly-darker-than-normal green outfit, so i think it was definitely a good call by the show to dress aes sedai in their ajah colors always. hard to keep track otherwise!

after moiraine had her hand on her knife when verin revealed she knew about the dragon: "what was she gonna do?? just stab her right in front of all the others??? that's ridiculous!" djkfjg points were made! poor moiraine just kinda panicked and lost all her braincells for a moment there.

my mom was a randgwene shipper last season so i thought she was gonna be pissed about rand hooking up with a strange new woman whilst egwene mourns his death, but she has not said a single word about that situation yet! i did once catch her reading lanfear's wiki article which she'd gotten onto after reading lan's because "i just want to know what happens to him and i'm not going to read all those books" so maybe she retained some info from lanfear's article that made her suspect something fishy with selene?

she recognized min from s1 right away and hastened to add her to her handwritten character list, when other characters needed a couple scenes to get that honor, and i remember she laughed a lot at min's lines last season and she did again today. guys, if my mom becomes a min stan, i may never recover lmao (i'm mostly kidding, show!min has done nothing wrong and is cool. MOSTLY kidding.)

re: the list, i told her she wasn't allowed to google and print out a list of characters because she would see spoilers, only to accidentally spoil her myself last season by instinctively writing liandrin's name down in the "bad guys" column and making her ask "wait, so she's ACTUALLY a villain, not just mean??", rip (but i played it off as "oh she's just unfriendly to moiraine so that's why i put her there" so we shall see whether or not she ends up being surprised by the black ajah reveal)

when min was saying how she sees glimpses of the pattern, my mom made a connection to perrin seeing the past earlier, which i thought was very interesting! (since we hadn't yet learned that what he saw was actually a sending from the wolves.) min's viewings and wolfbrothers are the two major magical powers that have nothing to do with the one power, and it always minorly bugged me that they don't Fit In to the rest of the magic system (despite my apparently-hypocritical mocking of people who get hung up on lore rules etc haha), so i just thought it was neat to think of them in conjunction with each other.

mom, shocked and dismayed: MAT'S GOING TO KILL RAND???????? me: [vibrating with glee over The Great Cauthor Stabbening]

when nynaeve is taken to the arches: "so is she getting a promotion?"

there was some line during the moiraine-lan divorce that got a big offended gasp from our #1 Lan Stan, but i forget which one it was (it wasn't "we were never equals" it was an earlier one)

my dad just laughed when they first showed suroth and her redonkulus getup jkjfg the correct reaction to the pomp and ceremony of seanchan high blood

episode 3

when the aes sedai were saying nynaeve was ready to take the test my mom was like "NO SHE ISN'T!!!!" and was pressed about them rushing her into it

during the bandit attack in the test: "boy, i wouldn't want to live in this world!"

when nynaeve left the tower my mom was like "is this what happens in the books?!" and i couldn't reveal yet that it was still part of the test so i just instinctively said "you'll see" which is my response to everything, and she was like "no i won't, i'm not reading all these books" lmao

my dad during the version of mashiara playing during the lanaeve reunion: why is "somewhere over the rainbow" playing

sheriam: she wasn't ready mom: THAT'S WHAT I SAID!!!!!!!!!!!

she was genuinely very upset for a moment because she thought nynaeve was dead, but i think she then guessed pretty quickly that It Ain't Over Yet

scene transition from nynaeve being left in the arches over to the seanchan: "we're going from bad to worse!"

i was dithering over uno's impending death because i didn't want to spoil them but i thought my mom might want a trigger warning, and thankfully my dad went "that horn looks like it's in a dangerous spot" when they first made uno kneel, so i was all clear to say "yeah this is about to get gory" lmao

my dad wondered if suroth was the dark one which fascinated me! i think everyday negroes had the same thought, iirc. i guess it IS the logical conclusion when you know that ishy is the dark one's right-hand man and in this scene we see him being suroth's right-hand man!

my mom thought elayne might be evil or a spy! how could she! i guess she isn't accustomed to wheel of time strangers just being friendly without an ulterior motive djkfg i didn't outright say her theory was wrong because i'm not about to be a booksplainer, but i'm sure i was so visibly baffled at the idea of elayne being evil that i shot down the theory nonetheless haha

when liandrin goes to visit mat again: "how does she have time for all this? she has her sick son, she has mat, and she has whatever else she does at the tower"

when liandrin blames mat for nynaeve's death: "this lady is CRAZY!!"

mat's "is that an 'i'm here to murder you' stare or a 'light i never realized how handsome you are' stare" line was a big hit! love to see my boy getting some appreciation in this house

...............which he promptly squandered when he a) initially left his cell without freeing min too, and b) did not go comfort egwene. but i pointed out that liandrin's been psychologically tormenting him for months into thinking his friends are better off without him, because i couldn't bear to see them judge my boy!

"it's like we're in 18th century france!" was the first thing out of my mom's mouth when they went to the cairhienin party, i'm sure the costume designers would be thrilled!

mom: how did this lady from the poor district get them into a fancy party? and how could she afford these clothes? 🤨 me: 🤷👀

when logain pours out the wine: "AFTER ALL RAND'S HARD WORK TO GET IT!!"

why did my dad laugh when the inn was on fire jdkfg maybe he just likes to see rand have a bad time

mom: jeez, maybe rand shouldn't stay in other people's houses anymore me: i'm sure rand's thinking the same thing

mom at the end of the test: it's so sad that they keep getting glimpses of the nice lives they could've had 😔

episode 4

mom 2 seconds before the camera reveals who the visitor is: is her little sister moiraine? [camera shows moiraine] mom: I GUESSED SOMETHING FOR ONCE

"it's pretty rude to show up to someone's house and then say 'i don't have time to hang out with you'!"

selene: the fire wasn't your fault rand mom: well it kinda was actually

there was some moment where my dad referred to "sneezing and burning down an inn, or whatever he did" and it killed me, i wish i could remember the context bc it was even funnier in context

"i speak with the amyrlin every time i open my mouth" was also a hit! as was perrin asking if he would turn into a wolf and elyas saying "don't be stupid"

mom when moiraine waltzes into the foregate dressed to the nines: i thought she wanted to keep a low profile

just earlier that day we'd been bemoaning the lack of pockets in women's clothing, as one does, so my mom was like "[delighted] now THAT'S a pocket!" when moiraine fit a whole-ass knife into the pocket of her fancy dress. WOT costumers understand the importance of giving girls pockets! lanfear's outfits have a lot too

my dad said "she seems like a bad guy" about selene during the mountaintop scene, he been knew! but he ended up falling asleep and missing the reveal that he was right

meanwhile, mom: "i'm just waiting for a monster to crawl up that cliff and get them"

when alanna & co go through lan's bags to get the poem: "aww, i thought they were his friends! 😔"

mom: too bad moiraine won't just ask her sister about rand, she talked to him at the party! anvaere: so if you want to know where that redheaded boy is, you'll have to ask me very nicely over tea mom: [just as smug as anvaere]

when ishy shows up at min's room: "how is he EVERYWHERE????"

she didn't seem TOO surprised when liandrin attacked the girls, and she clocked that liandrin was working for ishy after this scene with min (or rather, she asked me if that was the case and i said "you'll see")

she let out the fondest chuckle when rand was like "[choking back tears] i'm going to leave now, thank you" he is BABY YOUR HONOR!!!

as the Lanfear Reveal started my mom said "i just knew she was evil" so that must be why she was so silent on the relationship and so un-judgmental of rand, she must've clocked selene's Bad Vibes from the start! or else she retained something from reading lanfear's wiki article a while back lmao

even so, she went "OH MY GOSH!!!!" and clapped her hands over her mouth in shock when moiraine slit lanfear's throat, which i think is one of her biggest reactions to anything in either season so far! the initial stabbing, zero reaction, but the followup throat-slitting, freakout.

the "i'm a monster too" line + Undead Lanfear Moment has her CONVINCED that forsaken are some kind of creatures or zombies, i'm trying to explain they're just humans who are really powerful and evil haha

at the final shot of lanfear: "i'm going to have nightmares! i'll have to go read my murder mystery to calm down before bed." duality of woman

[romchat]

Love Scout: Final Thoughts

What's the German word for losing out on something that never existed?

Oh, Love Scout. On a technical level, there were so many things I enjoyed about this Kdrama. The cinematography choices were smart and impactful, working harmoniously with the production design to deliver insight into its characters' lives. Han Ji-min's performance as the complicated FL, Kang Ji-yun, felt nuanced and lived-in. The supporting characters and their interactions were charming. (Mi-ae's exasperated loyalty, Jung-hoon and Su-hyeon's refreshingly mature reactions to being rejected, Ji-yun and Byeol's deep connection 💙 were the standouts for me). Oh, and the show gave us quite a few sexy moments made even sexier by the fact that they played with popular gendered tropes. Taken all together, there was a lovely grounded quality to the show without it getting bogged down with the messiness of real life.

And yet...

Ultimately, Love Scout didn't work for me as a whole because it is the perfect example of a show that has a great concept but doesn't do anything with it.

There are so many themes the show could have explored with the unusual set-up of a female boss/male assistant (who also happens to be a single father). For example, it could have touched on:

Workplace taboos and gender-mediated power dynamics

Gender norms and the pressures of care work

Fatherhood and the loss of one's sense of self

Etc.

So when the show didn't surface any of these as natural sources of conflict between the two main characters, it felt like the show both didn't have a true sense of emotional stakes and that it was sweeping its ethical questions under the rug. (Side Note: It didn't help that as hot as the ML's character was, the script didn't really give Eun-ho a sense of interiority until after the couple gets together. He was like a reversed heterosexual fantasy of a man who completely devotes himself to his partner and child with no character needs or wants of his own. Even in the last episode, it's Ji-yun that sets Eun-ho up for the next stage in his career--it's a sweet moment yes but it would have had more resonance if the drama had shown Eun-ho trying to balance his concern about taking care of his daughter, advancing his career, and being loyal to Ji-yun with any depth.)

Final Verdict: I could have been so feral about this show but the writing kept denying me what I need to see in a romance: equally fleshed out characters whose attraction to and love for one another pushes them to undergo friction, self-reflection, and transformation.

Maybe next time, Kdramaland.