#ordinary greatness

[a-fantasy-lover-surfing-the-net]

Modern Cdramas I watched in 2023

This was my first year in Dramaland (both Chinese and Korean). And I have to say that for the most part I have enjoyed my journey in discovering the dramas. This list includes dramas that were released before 2023 as well.

9. Love of Replica

This one of those dramas with lookalikes where the female lead impersonates her lookalike and solves the mystery about her backstory. Also, it's a bodyguard romance so I definitely expected some things going in. It's full of cliches and tropes some enjoyable and some irritating. I have to praise Yu Yue (actress portraying the female lead), she really made me believe that lookalikes were two completely different people. The chemistry between the main couple is fire. I did not enjoy the secondary characters' romance. However the overall squad energy and their team dynamic was great. I kinda guessed the twist but was surprised by how dark the drama went. Overall, I liked most of it and I was disappointed how some of the characters ended up. If you want a bodyguard romance with kinda obvious twists with very good cast chemistry then you'll probably like it.

8. Parallel Love

This is a time travel drama (you'll see more of these in this list) where Lin Miao, the female lead travels from 2020 to 2010 and she must help Jiao Yang, who is the Vice President of Hong Yu, become the president of the company within 3 months otherwise she will disappear forever. What I liked most about is that Lin Miao is very competant and smart, even if she is not experienced for the task she will still try her best and give it her all. I enjoyed the romance and the dynamic of the main leads. It definitely has plot holes regarding time travel and the rules were not properly explained. They also did not really focus much on the time travel part and did use the potential things that they could do with time travel. However, the interaction between the present and the future Lin Miao was very well done and something that many people would be able to relate to. The business plot was medium and not very interesting. The main leads' personalities and character arcs was the reason why I enjoyed the drama. However, they left the ending ambiguous so if you don't mind open endings then you'll enjoy this time travel/corporate romance drama.

7. Love under the Full Moon

Another time travel drama with a twist that Lei Chu Xia (female lead), who has time travelled 10 years into the future can't leave Xu Xiao Dong side beyond a certain distance. Together they work to recover her memory to unravel the mysteries of the past decade. This drama has great romance, unique time travel premises further in the series, good character development for the main and secondary cast, an antagonist that seems like a real person which makes it seem like we could meet someone like them in real life and a plot with unexpected paths. However, it does have a bittersweet open ending which could make some people hate the drama. Despite that I really liked the drama.

6. Mr. Bad

One day, Nan Xing, an online novel writer makes a wish for an "unforgettable love" in a wishing pool. Then, Xiao Wu Di, the villain of her story, suddenly appears before her! She tries to avoid him, but Xiao Wu Di finds her and threatens her into taking care of him. Unfortunately for him, Nan Xing's wish comes with a special power: whenever she needs help, Xiao Wu Di teleports next to her to fulfill her wish. It's fun, fluffy and sweet with not much angst. The romance is cute and the dynamic with the secondary cast is enjoyable. The ending frustrated me but I assume they did it to pass the censors so I just pretend the last 7 mins don't exist. This is one of those shows you can watch when you just want to turn your brain off and watch a sweet story.

5. My Lethal Man

It's premise is similar to Love of Replica however here Shen Man Ning, an art student takes the place of Zhuang Xin Yan, granddaughter of a business tycoon. Yan Xing Cheng, the mysterious male lead is ruthless in pursuing the mastermind behind the threats and is not really sympathetic to Xin Yan but as they face the difficulties together they fall in love. The romance is so good and their dynamic is very different from typical ones. I found the secondary characters' romance weird and poorly done. The plot was really good and the pace kept moving along nicely. Except for the secondary romance, I had a great time watching it, I really recommend this one if you want a drama that balances mystery/thriller and romance and does a good job at both aspects.

4. Love in Time

A time travel drama again ! This is the last one though. This one is unique because the appartment in which He Zhen Yu has recently moved into merges with it's past one. This is how he meets a rookie reporter Chen Jia Lan who is a former tenant from four months ago, and through some miracle, they are able to see each other. When they attempt to prevent future misfortunes by changing the past together, their romance blossoms. Their romance was so good that I really ended up hardcore rooting for them to get their happy ending. I don't want to give away too much so all I'll say is that the time travel and its consequences were handled very well for the most part and the plot was interesting and took surprising turns. He Zhen Yu's character arc was very well portrayed on the other hand while in the beginning I related to Chen Jia Lan, in the latter part of the drama I was frustrated with her choices and how she didn't have a character growth moment. All the actors did a good job but I have to say that the main leads' acting was very good and made me very immersed in their story. All in all, I had a very good time watching it as the ending brought it all together for me.

3. Lucky's First Love

It's one of those office romances which has a light tone for the most part. Xing Yun is competent and hardworking who was there with Xia Ke when he started the company. They have been working together for years and have deep understanding of each other and work well together. Thankfully, Xia Ke is not one of those CEOs who are jerks and cold hearted. He may be reserved but he is quite caring (not in an overt way) not only towards Xing Yun but also his employees. Xing Yun does go out with someone else in the start but it doesn't last long and love triangle shenanigans are not long drawn out. The main leads' romance is sweet and depicts their daily interactions and they have great kiss scenes. The secondary couples are also great. This drama has character development for main and secondary characters, wholesome workplace and family dynamics, no over the top melodrama, lifelike workplace and relationship issues, slice of life interactions and very little angst. This is a great watch for when you need something short and sweet that's not too heavy.

2. Ordinary Greatness

The show mainly focuses on novice police officers that are starting their one year long mentorship. They soon discover that the grass-roots work is different from what they imagined, and, after some struggles, they're gradually moved by the sense of achievement and honour gained in their work. Throughout the show we explore their characters, their comraderie with each other, with their mentors and with other police officers at their station. We also get to know their mentors and other police officers at the station which immerses the audience in the show deeply. It is a slice of life type drama, where most of the cases are not major crimes. All actors knock it out of the park with their emotional as well as subtle portrayals. This show depicts how even small acts and seemingly tedious and insignificant work really have great impact on people's lives and that the people doing such grassroots work contribute just as much and are just as important to the society if not more as the people doing big acts like taking down criminal gangs. While some situations and cases are specific to China, everyone will be able to relate to majority of them. I must say this is a must watch drama.

1. Arsenal Military Academy

This is a Republican era drama in which Xie Xiang assumes her brother's identity to join the Chinese army and is accepted in the Arsenal Military Academy. While she is the main lead the story also follows Gu Yan Zheng(main lead) - a spoilt quarrelsome rich kid, the gentle and introverted Shen Jun San, Qu Man Ting - a famous actress and singer and secondarily other cadets, their teachers and other locals. It has great comedy, really good romance (including their hilarious bickering), enjoyable action and entertaining dynamic of the cast. All the actors did an excellent job here, the standouts being Bai Lu, for portraying being able to convincingly play the female role and the female disguised as male role all while knocking out her emotional and comedic scenes and Xu Kai, who can forget his electrifying performance as a lovable troublemaker. I have to warn you that the story gets serious in the last 10ish episodes and that the love triangle does drag out a little bit longer than it should but it's resolution is still good. To me the drama didn't seem overly patriotic so I didn't have a problem rooting for the characters and their goals of protecting and improving their country. This ranked first because it's romance, characters and their comraderie won me over completely.

You can also check out my costumed cdrama rankings.

As I'm still a newbie to cdramas and kdramas, I welcome your recommendations.

[staydandy]

Ordinary Greatness (2022) - 警察荣誉 - Whump List

List by StayDandy Synopsis : Four fledgling police officers who have just joined the force initially had their own expectations about what their profession would be like. Li Da Wei, a "thorn head" who was sent to the police school by his parents because he was too rebellious; Yang Shu, a rigid and upright lawyer; Xia Jie, a girl who's following her father's footsteps; and Zhao Ji Wei, who comes from the countryside and just heads straight on. When they come under pressure, when they face the contradictions in society and the new challenges brought by self-media towards their work, they become frustrated to the point that they consider giving up. However, the influence of their veteran mentors before them help the young cops withstand the test, thereby allowing them to understand their true mission to become proper police officers. (MDL)

Whumpee : Li Da Wei played by Zhang Ruo Yun (center male) • Zhao Ji Wei played by Cao Lu (far left) • Yang Shu played by Xu Kai Cheng (right, reading at desk)

Country : 🇨🇳 China Genres : Action, Mystery, Youth, Drama, Friendship, Crime

Notes : This is a Full Whump List • Idk why I expect so much out of 'cop shows' .. but this didn't have as much whump as I expected .. more of a 'coming of age' type. • TW : Suicide

Episodes on List : 5 Total Episodes : 38

*Spoilers below*

04 : Li Da Wei's hand is cut

12 : Nightmare

14 : Zhao Ji Wei's arm is scratched

19 : Da Wei, Yang Shu, & Ji Wei are scratched & bruised from a fight

21 : Yang Shu puking (very funny episode, Yang Shu & Da Wei go undercover as hosts 😂)

[kellyis4jc]

Ordinary Greatness: A Life of Elias Boudinot!!!

When we read Christian biographies, one of the biographies we need to read is "Ordinary Greatness: A Life of Elias Boudinot". This biography tells his true story on why he helped found the USA when this country was formed. Read about Elias today!!!

When we read Christian biographies, there is one biography you do not want to miss. “Ordinary Greatness: A Life of Elias Boudinot” tells the true story about one of our founding fathers in the United States. We need to know true American history and this biography shows the purpose of Elias Boudinot. Elias Boudinot contributed greatly in the founding of the United States of America. Due to his…

[gorespawn]

grieving every single day that the average person is so unbelievably fucking squeamish. i want to talk about cool stuff that i like! but alas, i am not allowed to 💔

[niteshade925]

I've stumbled across a treasure trove for Chinese history enthusiasts

This is not fiction btw. All stories inside are real history told in a way that's easily digestible for the average Chinese speaker. This author also wrote the original The Longest Day in Chang'an novel.

The author also adapted the first story into a historical cdrama show, and it may be the best one of its kind that I've seen in recent years. I might write a detailed review later or post some pictures from the show. 10/10 recommended.

[sciderman]

I recently saw an article that teased a potential prequel to the Holland spiderman movies, and it reminded me of something you wrote on here a long time ago. It was something like "please let that man age past teenagehood" and that never felt more appropriate than it did when I saw that article. A prequel to the Holland movies?? What even--you mean, we'll see him just live the normal life of a high school sophomore? Who would even want that 💀

peter the younger... peter the toddler... peter the embryo... peter the glint in the milkman's eye...

[cienie-isengardu]

"Shells" from Nickelodeon Avatar The Last Airbender: Team Avatar Tales

[a-little-ray-of-fantasy]

Ok! Question to everyone who has played both Smile for Me and Great God Grove:

I'm genuinely curious, because both smiles are incredibly disturbing for different reasons.

[dimsilver]

:)

[more-than-tender-curiosity]

Nick: im poor…

[has a maid, a two-bedroom house on the water, state of the art appliances, a dad who’s paying for A YEAR OF HIS LIFE, went to the same college and was in the same senior society as the guy he’s always calling rich, a well-established family business to inherit]

Nick: …compared to these guys

[bigcats-birds-and-books]

Books of 2024: June Wrap-Up.

Okay, y'all have Convinced Me--I'm going to start doing little wrap up posts! Behold: a shelf of what I read in June (not pictured: the bookmark at page 466 of ORDINARY MONSTERS, because despite having read two (2) books worth of book so far, I'm still not quite done with that one).

June was kind of a slow reading month for me (I did a LOT of writing, looking back--nice). I wanted to take OTHER TERRORS and THE ELEMENTS OF ELOQUENCE a bite at a time so the horrors and figures of rhetoric (respectively) didn't all run together. Both of those, much like A SHINING, turned out to be pleasantly leisurely wanders, whereas MONSTERS is kind of a plod.

I already did bigger write-ups for TERRORS and SHINING, linked in the bullets below.

OTHER TERRORS - ★★★★ Great bite-sized horror anthology with a really inclusive mix, as promised! I enjoyed most of these (always nice in an anthology!)

A SHINING - ★★★★ Weird fucked up heavy little book in translation, lit-fic flavored, but very approachable, I thought. Tiny enough to swallow in a sitting, but also kind of exhausting to do it that way? I'll definitely reread this one in the future.

THE ELEMENTS OF ELOQUENCE - ★★★ Fun romp through rhetoric! The examples were fun, and I appreciated the humor, but I also find myself still uncertain what a bunch of the figures actually ARE, definitions-wise, despite having read a book full of so many of them (I did just buy his recommended A HANDLIST OF RHETORICAL TERMS to help with that, at least, which is. almost entirely. definitions by volume). Neat thing to have on my references shelf, but it wasn't as excellent as I was hoping it'd be.

ORDINARY MONSTERS - 466/658 pages read; will report back later (but it's not looking good, folks).

[c00kietin]

I cried over my maths teacher today </3

[scoriarose]

She's getting ready to release her first album

[cunninghamchrissie]

i just. i swear i’m just doing my best ok. life didn’t turn out how i wanted or expected, i’ve lived through such trauma and tragedy, life is still so hard today and i’m just trying to have nice days. that’s the ultimate goal for me, i think, after all i’ve been through. just peace and quiet.

i won’t have a dream career, i probably won’t find love ever again, i can’t afford to travel anywhere that i desperately want to visit… so in the face of knowing that i just want to have nice simple days

[travelersrest]

🪽🌺🪽

[chizucore]

the casting for the KNT netflix live action was genuinely so perfect because everyone is like "sawako is so creepy!" and then you look at sawako and she's the most strikingly beautiful person you've ever seen, and meanwhile everyone is like "kazehaya is so perfect!" and you look at him and he's really just some guy. this is exactly how it should be!! this is biblically accurate sawakaze!! i love them like this