#shancai deserves better

[ffamranxii]

I’m only about halfway through Meteor Garden so I’ll save my major comparisons to Boys Over Flowers for the end, but I’d really like to get out my thoughts as of episode 25.

This is Shancai, and she is our protagonist. She is literal sunshine in human form and she deserves SO MUCH BETTER than what she’s getting. Seriously, she needs to tell every single character in this show to fuck off and then get the hell out of Shanghai. She’s been assaulted, insulted, harassed, kidnapped, demeaned, and had absolutely everyone in this show tell her “Oh Si’s just a total dickbag because he loves you” and “you’re just unsure because you’re in love.” No, Si’s a dickbag because he’s the fucking devil and she’s unsure because she’s been forced into an abusive relationship due to her inability to just say no and Si’s inability to take a fucking hint. At this point I’m watching the series to see if she makes it the fuck out alive.

This is the F4, (l-r) Si, Lei, Meizuo, and Ximen. Si has some serious anger issues that apparently stem from his father passing away and no one loving him enough, which I guess gives him the reason to be a passive aggressive asshole and beat the fuck out of random guys. Body count so far: 2. He’s also literally assaulted Shancai four times as of episode 25, once within the first episode (which is when Shancai should’ve noped the fuck out of there but of course did not, because women’s autonomy and safety mean nothing in this show.) I understand that a huge part of the Hana Yori Dango franchise is Tsubasa/Junpyo/Si learning to be an actual human being and deal with his emotions, but Si is disturbing close to his manga counterpart, and manga Tsubasa almost got Tsukushi killed, on purpose, within the first ten chapters. That being said, when he’s with his friends he does have some good moments and does grow, but he seriously needs to leave Shancai alone. 

Lei is who I thought I would ship Shancai with, since I shipped his Korean counterpart with her Korean counterpart hardcore in Boys Over Flowers -- but I was wrong. Lei is not a great person. He’s cold and distant and extremely hung up over his childhood love Jing, who he’s only slightly nicer to. He follows Jing to Paris, and when they break up he uses Shancai not just to get over Jing but to pull some weird passive aggressive stunt over on Si. In fact, Si and Lei seem to have this really bizarre, sadistic sexual tension between them and have more chemistry than Shancai does with either of them. I’d root for that ship.

Meizuo is not at all what I was expecting. So far everyone follows their Korean counterparts really well -- except Meizuo, who is nothing like Woobin. Meizuo might as well be an entirely different character, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Also unlike Woobin, he gets his own storyline apparently with Caina, which looks promising. Meizuo is arguably my favorite Meteor Garden F4 member because he dresses like he fishes every piece of clothing from the trash and I scream “what the FUCK are you wearing” at least once an episode. He’s also the sassiest.

Ximen is just a slightly more manipulative Yijung, which I kind of like. He also seems to have a dangerous side to him that the Korean adaption gave to Woobin -- it’s implied that he and Si have beat up people in the past together. His relationship with Xiaoyou is, I think, the only fucking healthy one in the entire show so far; he’s extremely sweet, attentive, and caring towards her, even though he’s a dick and a troll to his friends (though to be fair, Meizuo and Lei also troll Si at every opportunity, which is hilarious) and enables Si’s behavior towards Shancai and passive aggressively shames her when she tries to stand up for herself. I’m wondering if his relationship with Xiaoyou will pan out like that, or if it’ll be super cute and storybook like Yijung’s was with Gaeul.

Shancai has actual friends in this adaption, holy shit. Xiaoyou is the Meteor Garden counterpart to Gaeul so we’ve seen her before. She’s very cute and kitschy, and at times is one of Shancai’s only supporters (though she also hardcore Shancai/Si and tells Shancai multiple times “you’re just in love” when Shancai voices her very valid concerns about the man, which is worrying because Xiaoyou also doesn’t make good choices when it comes to romance.) Li Zheng (middle) and Qinghe (right) don’t exist in Boys Over Flowers and therefore are completely new to me (but not to the franchise, as they have Hana Yori Dango counterparts). Li Zheng has a massive inferiority complex that isn’t entirely undeserved in the beginning, as Shancai (accidentally) leaves her humiliated in the rain and unable to get into a big party. She almost ruins Shancai’s life by getting her drunk, sending her home with a strange guy, and posting pictures of them in bed together all over the internet -- and Shancai, for some bizarre reason, fucking forgives her, because she is a literal saint and we do not deserve her. After that stunt, however, Li Zheng seems to be a pretty decent friend, but like everyone else in this show is completely unreliable when it comes to giving Shancai dating advice. 

Qinghe and I were homies for a while, because he is THE ONLY GODDAMN PERSON who continually sees Si for the asshole he is and calls him out on it, and the F4 treat him pretty badly, using him a lot as a replaceable member for when they kick Si out (for all of five minutes) for being a little too unbearable. However, by episode 25 he’s fully into Nice Guy mode, and hates Si not because he’s a douche but because Si is dating Shancai. Dude went from Shancai’s best friend to one step away from being an incel and I am mourning the loss hard. 

Here we have the one-offs, who I expected to play a much bigger role than they actually are. We have Tian Ye, who also is brand new to me having not existed in the Korean adaption. He’s a chef at a restaurant Shancai works in (before Si chases her away from it) and he’s the only goddamn person in this entire series so far who likes Shancai and hasn’t treated her badly. He actually tells Si to gtfo out of his restaurant and stands up to him for Shancai more than once. I loved him so much and I am so sad to see him go, but the reemergence of his ex(?) fiancee makes me hopeful he’ll show up again too.

Xiaozi is the girl Si’s mother tries to arrange for him to marry, and I was SO EXCITED for her because I LOVED her counterpart in Boys Over Flowers... but Meteor Garden has left me very disappointed indeed. She’s extremely wishy-washy about Si, saying first that she hates him and won’t marry him and doesn’t want anything to do with him and then in the same episode deciding that they’re going to date before their marriage and asking Shancai for advice. I really liked her for the first half of that episode and I feel like they just completely fucked up her character.

Jing is Lei’s childhood friend and ex girlfriend, and the only other person who is unconditionally nice to Shancai -- with the caveat that she’s a horrible cunt to Lei. At first all seems well. They seem to be very loving and in a committed relationship, but the more times she appears (and we have the chance to get to know her a lot better in 25 episodes than we did Seohyun in 40 something), the more it becomes clear that she’s only leading Lei on and doesn’t truly return his affections. She resurfaces in their lives just to drop a bomb on them -- “Hey I’m going to Paris and never coming back and also disowning myself from my family, okay bye!” -- and Lei actually drops everything in his entire life to go after her. The flashback we get of them in Paris is supposed to be cute, I think, with soft lighting and dreamy atmosphere, but it actually just shows Jing neglecting Lei to the point of cruelty until he decides he’s had enough and leaves. While we had almost an entire season before Seohyun announced her marriage to some Parisian dude, Jing does the same within the first fourth of 48 episodes, and it paints her in a horrible light. She destroyed Lei and doesn’t even feel bad about it, and we haven’t heard from her since.

These three don’t have character posters and that’s a damn shame. I must say, Si’s sister Zhuang (left) is JUST as badass as Junhee, and takes absolutely no shit from her brother -- but she isn’t here for very long. I think we saw her for, what?, two? three episodes? Junhee didn’t play a huge part in many episodes in Boys Over Flowers but she was still there a lot in the background, usually making quips at Junpyo or arguing with their mother. I hope Zhuang comes back. 

Caina is a character who’s new to me and I think I’m enjoying her a lot. She was introduced in the same arc as Tian Ye, which makes sense as she is (and maybe no longer?) his fiancee through an arranged marriage. While the F4 were all congratulating Shancai for doing well in the cooking competition, Meizuo just sat there a little starstuck and talked about hooking up with Caina the entire time. WELL SHE COMES BACK in episode 24(or is it 23?) TO MY IMMENSE SHOCK, and apparently is into trash chic because she immediately jumps into a little arc with him. What concerns me though is how her extremely low alcohol tolerance, her blackout drunkenness around men, and her blackout-induced injuries are all treated as comedy. Meizuo and some creep fight over her for two entire episodes, and each time ends with her eating pavement and waking up hungover and extremely beat up from it. This show makes me fear for the safety of women in China, since Caina’s predicament is played for laughs. Also, what happened to Tian Ye?? 

And finally, there’s THIS BITCH. Si and Zhuang’s mother. She even looks like Zhuang (which means in-universe Si looks like his father, which is extra heartbreaking as his father is dead), and she is the biggest cunt I’ve had the delight to watch. I hate this bitch like I hate Dolores Umbridge. I thought Junpyo’s mom was bad but Si’s mom is ten thousand times worse. She’s cold and cruel and looks to humiliate Shancai whenever she can, and even her own son and Mrs Yu too. She’s literally just Umbridge as a mom except she doesn’t physically abuse her children. She’s the only person I can say I’m almost okay with being made more terrible than before, because the mom was always supposed to be horrible.

All in all, Meteor Garden should be subtitled “Everyone In This Show Is A Terrible Human Being, Except Shancai Who Can Do No Wrong.” And normally I enjoy shows about terrible people but this one isn’t a comedy like It’s Always Sunny or The Office. This is supposed to be some great epic love story between Shancai and Si and all I see is a girl who feels like she can’t voice her own opinion and tell a guy to back off, and a guy with rage issues who won’t back the fuck off. 

I mean, I’m finishing the series, but... it’s definitely a challenge. At least the soundtrack is popping.

[momentsatmydesk]

~ I Found A Long-Lost Part Of Myself While Watching 'Meteor Garden' ~

Here's a fact: you can never get over the first drama you've watched. 

Every drama-lover I know confesses this lovingly. So, as I waited for being lovestruck yet one more time, I was drama-struck by Cupid instead.

My very first drama happened to be 'Meteor Garden’ (2018) a Chinese remake of the popular K-drama 'Boys Over Flowers'. Like the blink of an eye, I didn’t realize when I was already forty minutes into the first episode. 

That's how the drama bug got me.

The Story:

Meteor Garden revolves around the story of two Ming De university students, Daoming Si (Dylan Wang) and Dong Shancai (Shen Yue). While a typical rich brat meets a poor but badass girl, the story also pans out to accommodate a great cast of secondary characters. 

Beginning with the 'F4', Ming De's most popular boy-group starring its leader Ah Si (fierce, smart heir to the Daoming Group of industries), Huaze Lei (musical genius), Ximen Yan (tea god) and Feng Meizuo (art lover with an unbeatable memory).

There’s Dong Shancai's adorable mother and father, her best friends, Chen Qing (banana expert) and Xiao You (bubble-tea partner).

Over a span of 49 episodes, we watch Shancai and Si's unexpected love bloom, we celebrate the spirit of 'family' -- both in blood and otherwise, we cherish friendship as true as the color of a clear sky and we come face to face with a bounty of life-lessons as we fall deeper and deeper for the characters that make the show.

My favorite learnings from the drama:

1. Dong Shancai's character is a far cry from your typical C-drama heroine. She's strong, confident, boisterous and unafraid of speaking her mind. I absolutely love the way she teaches you to own who you are. To own your whole person --- your strengths, your weaknesses and to keep going exactly when you want to give up.

2. Meteor Garden celebrates love in different forms. The love between a mother and daughter, that between between two lovers, two friends, two almost-lovers-but-now-lifetime-BFFs, the kind of love that hurts because it isn't yours to claim, the kind of love that teaches you how to love with a big heart and then, the kind of love that you must let go of so that you can meet a love you deserve.

3. The F4 sum up the following sentence: find your tribe and love them hard. Their lifelong kinship reminds you that 'family' goes way past DNA and some of the best people in your life today, could have once-upon-a-time been complete strangers. They support, encourage, guide and hold each other up.

4. As a typical C-drama lead, you'd expect Daoming Se to totally own his privilege without acknowledging its side-effects. But Si's transformation from exactly this sort of person to someone who is open to changing for the better is refreshing. What blows my mind is how Si shows courage to write his own story, not the one that's expected of him.

5. While we're used to 'voicing' our opinions, Shancai taught me it's better to let your actions and virtues do the talking. Because, a pure heart may not always be a loud one but it will be seen nonetheless, since it is true to itself.

6. And then you have my favorite learning of all time: LOVE IS WORTH IT ALL.

It is worth growing into, growing for and fighting with every ounce of your soul. 

I've watched many love stories and read quite a few too, but I am unabashedly biased towards Si's pure, magical love for Shancai and vice versa.

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Image Credits | Netflix 

Image Art | Doodle Shape (Android App)

[crispmarshmallow]

In Retrospect, the Finale of Meteor Garden 2018 was whack. We deserved better, especially when it came to their wedding. Yet, I still fucking love Meteor Garden. I wish they showed what happened after Shancai and Ah Si finally ended their hunger strike, also, those two episodes had too many flashbacks.

[hzlmrgoalsk]

Lei. Ok. I mean. I’m not mad at you for throwing the wine in bitches face. At all. Like. Actually. I’m proud.

Lei is so upset over the fact that Shancai could potentially die that he just lashed out at the two responsible. I mean. Si isn’t much better. But. Lei. That’s a pure Slytherin moment. And I love it. So so so much. Cuz they deserved so much worse than that.

[nujuuum]

Because Lei deserved better, my mind just wanders off:

- He meets a passionate and vibrant girl whom his professor in Julliard recommends to be his piano accompanist while he plays the violin and became best friends (and probably beyond).

- She would go on and on about Bach, Rachmaninoff, Schubert, Chopin and their musical pieces, and Lei would listen all the way.

- Pushing and supporting Lei to participate Violin competitions because he’s an introvert.

- Because she’s active in musical theatres and student orchestras, Lei is dragged into them as well albeit willingly. Which also made him popular among the girls much like in Ming De. She is neutral about it but Lei’s eyes are set on her.

- Playing street piano improvs in New York and always have bystanders amazed at how talented both of them are. Lei sometimes would pull out his violin too.

- Fiercely playing Mozart’s Sonata for Two Pianos when they are up to it.

- They would visit Si and Shancai in London. Because Shancai is such a nice person, Shancai and her naturally became close friends.

- Dates usually consist of VIP tickets to classical music concerts, if not VVIP, museums, blindly walking in Central Park and feeding squirrels and ducks, hanging out on rooftops and playing random music pieces in practice rooms.

- Getting chased out of practice rooms together for napping.

- Constructively criticising each other’s play when needed.

- Testing each other on musical theory.

- Meeting Ximen and Meizuo and them continuously teasing Lei about their relationship. Her and Lei don’t even know if they are in a relationship because being around each other became so natural for them.

- Lei teaching her to play bridge, and her teaching Lei acting (Lei demonstrates the best acting he could do — his ‘flame’)😂

- Pastel-coloured clothes shopping.

-Lei will hesitate to confess because he’s a bit afraid of getting rejected for the third time after Jing and Shancai.

[the-y-generation]

Hii! Love your blog! Have you ever thought about which Hogwarts houses the meteor garden characters would be in? :D

Ooohhh what an interesting question! I thought long and hard about this, and didnt try to force fit them to all the houses. Also, I just kept this to F5. So here goes…

Dao Ming SiSlytherin, without a doubt. I dont think this requires any explanation.

Dong ShancaiAnother easy decision - Gryffindor. All the times she stood up to Ah Si and his mother, how she fought for her dreams and desires. She practically functions on sheer luck and insane courage.

Huaze LeiAt first, I thought he might be a Hufflepuff, but ultimately decided he is a Gryffindor. Why? “It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends.” Lei was the consistently stood up to say Ah Si, and challenged him to make him realize the depth of his feelings for Shancai. He made himself a rival to bring the best out of his best friend. His motives may be vague, and his methods questionable, but he always meant well and stayed loyal to his friends.

XimenThis was also a tough choice for me, but I think he is a Slytherin. He’s also quite cunning and mischievous, based on how he treats Ah Si and his antics. But what convinced me the most is his fear of love, which he masked with his womanizing. There’s something so Malfoy-esque about how he harshly treated Xiaoyou at the beginning of their relationship.

MeizouThis innocent little bean that deserved better. I think he’s a Hufflepuff. Out of the F4, he’s the friendliest, most approachable, and most easy-going. Even Lei had douchebag moments in the beginning of the series, but I cant remember a time that Meizou was unreasonably unkind towards anyone.

[alexiraphale]

me on ep20: fuck shancai my guy did deserved so much better

Currently watching Meteor garden (kdrama) Lei cute af

Si is pretty handsome but kinda huge asshole vibes rn

Shancai? Damn y’all my girl is badass af 😍

[ffamranxii]

Meteor Garden is so much more bearable if viewed as the tragic story of two gay men struggling with comphet and taking their frustrations out on the girl they knew their families would never approve of which is why they fight so hard to “be” with her. Shancai is little more than a plot device (who deserves SO MUCH BETTER than what the narrative offers her), a game of chicken in a very homophobic society. “My mom wants me to get married so I choose this poor girl who will make us lose a lot of face and pray my mom gives up entirely.” Seriously, the sexual tension between Si and Lei is so thick you can fucking see it with the naked eye.

[dark3rainbow]

Such a good review, you're soooo right about the misogynistic ways of all the other versions of Hana Yori Dango (manga, anime, dramas). But Meteor Garden 2018 just did it absolutely right.

I always thought the whole red card was a stupid game, especially because the rest of the school was allowing the bullying to students that didn't deserve it at all. In this version, the F4 had a fun, fair way for people to defy them. A bridge game.

And yes, the loser had to suffer somehow (those were the rules), but the punishments were way better than the whole whole school bullying stravaganza.

The setting being in a college makes it more believable. Shancai was a college student, meaning she had a bit of more independence rights. I would never believe a parents would agree of their high schooler teenage daughter to go to different countries with rich boys.

Shancai's parents were also a better versions than the Korean version.

And honestly, the F4's friendship was so sweet. You could actually see they were friends. And Shancai actually getting to become their friend was also beautifully done.

I was very skeptical going into this drama…. not because it was my first Chinese Drama, but because it was yet another version of Boys Over Flowers. I have very mixed feelings regarding that anime and (beloved) Kdrama.

I saw Meteor Garden gaining popularity on my newsfeed and it interested me enough to add it to my watch list on Netflix, but I just never seemed to actually want to click on it to watch it. I had no idea what it was about, I just knew it was popular. It was only after I read Official KSA‘s Review of Boys Over Flowers and Meteor Garden that I decided that maybe I should really give it shot. And a few weeks later, I did… and I couldn’t stop watching.

A short intro to the basic story of Boys Over Flowers and Meteor Garden (2018)

It’s the classic, tale as old as time story of a poor girl meets rich guy and friends and eventually end up together after many (many) obstacles and hardships.

It is based off of the Japanese shōjo manga series Boys Over Flowers written by Yoko Kamio. The female leads in each drama get mixed up with their school (college’s) most popular group, the F4. The F4 consist of the four most handsome, intelligent and wealthy students at the school who have been friends since childhood. Through misfortune, fate, destiny (whatever you want to call it), the female lead gets on wrong side of the leader of the F4, and he sets out to make her life miserable. But she stands up to him, and he ends up falling in love with her and pursues her until she eventually falls in love with him. And then after many obstacles, they end up together.

That’s really the long and the short of it. Everyone knows this story, and how it will end. It’s the journey that the couple take getting to that endpoint that really makes the story worth watching.

As I have already said, I have serious mixed feelings when it comes to Boys Over Flowers….

I was introduced to the anime by my closest friend. She is anime-mad and begged me to watch as she said she “couldn’t go through these emotions herself”. I thought, why not. It takes me a while to get into an anime, and believe me… this one has many moments that just made me want to stop, but I couldn’t. If it wasn’t the long, unnecessary dramatic stares, it was Rui Hanazawa playing that goddamn violin piece continuously…. I think I once timed one of the stares to be a full minute…. Something completely unnecessary in a 20 minute episode. These stares found home in the KDrama as well. I honestly just felt they wasted valuable plot time with these.

But these two things aren’t the source of my mixed feelings… that belongs solely to the two leads – Tsukasa Domyouji (in the anime) and Gu Junpyo (in the KDrama), and Tsukushi Makino (in the anime) and Geum Jandi (in the KDrama). Their entire relationship was something I constantly told myself not to ship, but at the same time I found myself wanting them to be together.

I’m going to use the KDrama character names to avoid confusion (also my memory of all the events that happen in the anime is a slightly sketchy, forgive me).  

Gu Junpyo and Geum Jandi’s relationship is NOT healthy.  Gu Junpyo is the worst type of bully there is: rich and powerful. Someone who uses their influence to get what they want and is not against using violence to get it. He physically torments Geum Jandi, intimidates her, isolates her and god knows what else. There are two scenes (one from the anime and one from the kdrama) that really stand out in my mind. They are the moments that define Gu Junpyo as a hero but they are also a result of his actions.

If my memory is correct, both these moments happen after Gu Junpyo thinks that Geum Jandi slept with another male character. He “stops” caring and allows the other students at the school to continue bullying her to extreme… and I mean to the extreme. The girl was tied behind a car in the anime and dragged and severely beaten in the KDrama (I don’t remember the exact form of beating here, I just remember fire and her being covered in white powder). Gu Junpyo comes to senses in these moments and arrives to save her just in time. The total movie hero move.

My mixed feelings come from the fact that I know deep down in my heart that Gu Junpyo and Geum Jandi should not be together. Their relationship is toxic. Geum Jandi totally changes from a a strong, independent young woman, to a weak, almost useless person because she “falls in love” with Gu Junpyo. Whilst their relationship is celebrated in the series, you know that if you saw this relationship in real life, you would worry for her safety.

Also, maybe it’s because Boys Over Flowers was like the 10th KDrama I watched, I don’t get everyone is so crazy about it. I can’t say that I watched it, I cringed through it. It definitely wouldn’t be a drama that I suggest to people who are just starting to explore KDramas.

My favourite thing about this KDrama was  EXO’S D.O., Chen and Baekhyun’s cover (performance) of Almost Paradise. It is just amazing!

But now onto Meteor Garden……

If I am honest, when I started watching I completely forgot that it wasn’t a KDrama so the Chinese took me by surprise. I also forgot that it was based off of Boys Over Flowers, so every second comment that came from me was “This is Boys Over Flowers”. But this is Boys Over Flowers with a difference. This was a Boys Over Flowers that I didn’t cringe through, or feel guilty about shipping the main couple. I don’t know how they did it, but they took what everyone loves about Boys Over Flowers and made it perfect.

Meteor Garden (2018) is a remake of the 2001 Taiwanese series of the same name, which itself is a remake of Boys Over Flowers.

I’m not going to go into too much detail with Meteor Garden because I want EVERYONE to watch it. But I am going to try choose some of my favourite moments.

The F4

Top to Bottom: Caesar Wu as Ximen Yan, Connor Leong as Feng Mei Zuo, Derren Chen as Hua Ze Lei and Dylan Wang as Dao Ming Si

Previously, the F4 were all arrogant and misogynistic. This version of the F4 are intelligent, hard-working and actually take their roles are sons of their family seriously. Seeing them take their classes seriously, and actually thinking about their businesses futures was incredibly refreshing. They are respectful towards women (even the two biggest flirts of the group). They also like (and dislike) all the attention they receive. The creation of the Joker Card and the challenges that they result in, were created so that they could just be left alone.

These boys look intimidating, but they are the softest things (you just don’t want to mess with them).

Their friendship as 4 is believable and cute. They are there for each other, but also don’t take each other’s shit. The other three constantly call Dao Ming Si for his behaviour towards Shan Cai, but help me correct his mistake nonetheless. They support each other’s decisions and will go out of their way to make each other’s dreams come true.

Even within the F4 there are two separate bromances that just melt your heart:

Dao Ming Si and Hua Ze Lei

Feng Mei Zuo and Ximen Yan

Dylan Wang as Dao Ming Si

In every version of the character Dao Ming Si, he is described as innocent, naive, childish but with a very bad temper. Dylan perfected this. All his pranks and reactions came across as childish. But his growth as a character was truly wonderful to watch. His willingness to take responsibility for his actions set him apart from all other versions. Also, I just love Dylan Wang.

I dare you not to fall in love with him. Just read this list from Soompi.

The Ships

Dao Ming Si and Dong Shancai (the main couple)

Their growth as a couple was so heart warming (and heart breaking) to watch. Dao Ming Si’s absolute devotion to Dong Shancai, despite her very poor communication…. My heart exploded. Like all he wanted to hear was that she loved him.

Ximen Yan and Jiang Xiaoyou (the tea couple)

The minute these two made eye contact, I knew they needed to be together. Watching Ximen deny his feelings was the most frustrating thing. All I wanted was for them to be happy together. Xiaoyou’s growth as a character was another great thing about this series. She gained her confidence from Ximen and fought to get him to admit his feelings. Argh, my heart couldn’t deal.

And last, but not least, Shancai’s wedding dress

I am honestly just in love with it. It is wedding dress goals for me.

If any version of Boys Over Flowers stands the test of time, it needs to be this one. They modernized the storyline without taking away the heart of the story. They allowed their female characters to retain their agency and gave their male characters more than one dimension.

I just honestly loved it.

Also! Shoutout to the amazing OST which you can listen to on Spotify!

Meteor Garden I was very skeptical going into this drama…. not because it was my first Chinese Drama, but because it was yet another version of Boys Over Flowers.

[joe-bidens-smile]

LEI DESERVES BETTER THAN SHANCAI FULL OFFENSE

This a Lei appreciation post. Give me a friend like him anytime. Though I’m totally in love with Si’s passion and intensity, no one can deny that this guy is equally endearing in his own silent way.