#despite being portrayed as an antagonist i can't really see him completely fitting into that role / ruthven's actions are ambiguous

[shizukais]

[hoyaanae]

My thoughts and all the things I love about Lovely Us (2020)

This drama really surprised me with how good it was written and made despite already knowing that this is highly rated by my cdrama mutuals. First ep right off the bat made me laugh and cry. The following eps kept the flow really well and established the characters and their relations. Before I know it, I'm already in love and attached to the characters and everything about this drama. It's very charming, calming and heartwarming to watch. The acting, writing, execution, ost, and production are well-done.

Set in 2007, this is another drama with nostalgic vibe that will remind you of your childhood and probably teenage years as well of your old neighborhood and the people you used to hang out with when you're younger. Even though I'm kinda fed up with childhood friends to lovers trope by now, this one did it the right way. Romance is slowburn but the buildup isn't slow at all. The main cp are so cute despite the daily bickerings that you just can't help but root for them to be together. It also have unrequited love trope where you'll see the character continuously root for that person and not expecting anything in return. There's no antagonist/evil characters in this story, just your feel-good slice-of-life drama with a touch of teenage romance in it.

Another strong point this drama have is the friendship and family dynamics. The five main leads have such amazing and solid friendship and their chemistry with each other is very natural to watch you'll wish you have the kind of friendship they have. It's endearing how their respective families are friends with one another and the parents have absolute trust with their children even allowing them to stay in closed room, have overnight at their house without adult supervision and even go to outdoor camping sharing one tent. It's refreshing to see how they showcased different parenting styles in each household and the parents aren't portrayed as someone controlling, instead they understand and communicate with their children. There's even one case wherein a parent realized he's doing it wrong so he asked for advice and help from his son's friend in order to get closer with his son.

Unlike other dramas, this one never drags out misunderstandings and touches the issue in the most heartwarming way that it never felt annoying or frustrating to watch, instead I became emotional at those moments that I can't help but shed a tear or ugly cry.

The characters are funny, full of mischief but sweet and thoughtful on the inside. It's a delight to watch them get together and have their little meetings, bicker and help each other out.

The ost will surely stay on repeat in my playlist for the next few days or weeks even. The song choices fit the mood so well and I find myself heavily lss-ed with the opening song. The song "Can I See You Tomorrow?" gives off the ultimate nostalgic vibe and reminds me of one ISWAK ost.

What really stood out to me the most are the moments in each ep wherein a certain character will narrate his/her thoughts about love, life, and family. They're beautifully and oftentimes poetically written matching with flashback scenes that made the dialogue even more heartfelt.

Here are some of the lines that are deeply engraved in my heart because they are beautifully written and will really go well as book passages:

"Once people become parents, their memory begins to become biased. They always remember they are their children's most reliable parents, but often forget that they are also children loved by their own parents. When they are waiting for their children to come back home, they forget that their own parents are also waiting for their return in a similar mood."

"The audio frequency of the sound when a snowflake falls on the water surface is over 50,000 Hz. Because it falls beyond human being's hearing range, this snowy day is still so quiet that it seems I can only hear my own heartbeat and that it seems there is only me and the person in front of me on this planet with a population of 6.6 Billion. I hope this world can be noiser so that I can pretend that I've never discovered this secret."

"They think that the probability is just 0.01, so they put on the emperor's new clothes, trying to hide their affections with magic. But affections are not that easy to hide. Even if the probability is pretty low, it will be revealed at a certain moment. So on that rainy night, while looking at her back, he found that the most obvious evidence of falling in love with her was the feeling of easement in his heart and the smile on his face when he looked at her."

"You think nothing will change as time flies by. But this time, the moment you let go and turn around, some things completely changed. The sun went down and before it rises again, some people will leave you forever. We always thought that there would be a big ceremony to say goodbye, so we keep waiting for a warm hug, a refreshing drink, and a heartfelt goodbye, but in the end, we realized that most goodbyes in our lives are all silent."

"At that silent corner in my mind, there are a number of weird illusions. For example, can I become Alice who enters the wonderland with White Rabbit? For example, can I become the little girl who enters the forest with Totoro? For example, is there some special switch in this box which can teleport me? No, none of them exist. There's no flying dragons or knights, and I'm not the heroine of some comics for girls, either. However, the only thing I'm sure about is that this escape greatly shocks my world. My palms would sweat, and my sight would be indistinct. Then my view becomes narrower and narrower until there's room for only one person in my eyes. After a long time, I know such a moment is named adventure, in which the one in your eyes is irreplaceable."

"The familiar chirping of cicadas on summer nights, the familiar bear doll who must lean by the lamb, the familiar lovely girl who frowns even when she sleeps, and the 17-yr-old time wrapped by the sense of familiarity never seem to have changed. The only difference is that when I look at the familiar him, I feel a flurry and uneasiness that I have never expected."

"There are many new days like today. Today, he holds my hand. Today, he holds me in his arms. Today, he carries me on his back and runs in the street in the early morning. Many days with him like today will eventually become my unforgettable past days. I'll remember days like today for a long time."

"Friendship means so much to us. It brings us close, and makes me flinch, so sometimes we just tell ourselves that as long as we're together, I can be just a friend of hers. But the taxi that I failed to catch, the phone calls that have been hung up, the time that's flying and my restless heart are telling me eagerly that in this world, both love and friendship are important. Every detail related to you is reminding me that we can't be just friends. So when it's still not too late, I have to tell you the things that I want to tell you as soon as possible. Huang Chengzi, I like you."

"In this world, it seems like all wishes have a guardian. Wishing wells, shooting stars, the aquarium's white whale. They're all hiding in the corners of the universe caressing the sorrow of loving someone alone. It's just that the god of happiness can't bless everyone out there. They let some people be happy and their wishes come true, and let some be sad, but they can't admit how sad they really are. The feeling of being in love is like a butterfly gently flapping its wings, that stirs up a hurricane in people's hearts. The second you realize it, then there's no escape."

[thehollowprince]

This one fic really tried scoring ~diversity~ points by having Braeden be a trans woman and sex worker, but portraying her as bitchy and antagonistic in need of being torn down a peg because she doesn't worship wunderkind fanon!Stiles, even tho she's no more abrasive than Kate (a good guy here) and Cora (who made a transmisogynistic remark ~jokingly~). And Stiles says "she resents what she can't control" like... sis, that's canon!Stiles, y'all hate Black and trans ppl SO. MUCH. Lol 😆

also, same fic embodies that "Hale family as the powerful rich ideal family" they have 300 charities, people sing their praises. But a Black Muslim pack are antagonistic, enslave their own family, are ~hostile~, face ~justice~ from white Talia, etc. And the one other trans (agender) character is similarly portrayed negatively, including Stiles making fun of their ~weird~ name. And overall the fic has such white savior tones despite the ~diversity~

The fic (rightfully) portrays Gerard negatively for being a child predator but simultaneously romanticizes Peter + Kate, the former who's literally known her since she was a child. And "she pursued him! She wore him down" and it's portrayed positively. And generally is weird, gross like that with age gaps like that. Deaton is, of course, Stiles's mentor here, and Stiles's personality is nothing like canon, just replace his name with Scott and it'd actually make sense lol

Fic is a strange creature.

I read (well... reread) one recently that was a Practical Magic AU. The problem, I realized upon rereading it, was that they (the author) had completely switched Scott's and Stiles' personalities. The sad thing is that, that's a given with most of these fics. Its an interesting phenomenon, this complete refusal to accept what actually happened in canon because it wasn't what they wanted to see happen, or what they thought should have happened.

Sadly, things like that, and fics like the one you described, are all too commonplace, not just in the Teen Wolf fandom but in fandom in general.

The thing with fics like the ones you mention is that people think that just by adding any kind of diversity that they'll get some kind of Woke Points and a free pass to do whatever they want. The sad fact is that, modern media has made this a precedent, with studios throwing on a minority character here or there, usually in either a supporting or antagonist role, and use age-old tropes and stereotypes without a thought to the negative impact that has on people.

Despite what that anon (who had been strangely absent for a while) seemed to think, I'd be more than happy if they kept Scott (or Braeden or Satomi or any minority character) out of their fics, because all they do is use them as villains and scapegoats so that they can "redeem" (despite having no clue as to what a redemption arc actually entails) the villains of the show because "they're purdy!" But therein lies the conundrum, because if they were to exclude the characters of color that they so often villainize, then they'd have no one to blame for the problems that "the real heroes" face.

Its a downward spiral that has no end in sight. Or maybe an ouroboros would be more fitting, because the cycle just keeps repeating itself.

I try to stay away from fics anymore, because I can't read anything, particularly in the Teen Wolf fandom, without applying over a dozen filters to make sure I don't stumble across one that completely contradicts canon, aka, what I actually liked about the show to invest all this time and energy in.