#we love it and there are many plot twist and unexpected things coming

[sphaxcca]

My Candy Love New Gen Ep. 3 Review

Okaaaaaay so since this is my first post on here: Hi there! guess who's gonna give her unasked opinion about her Playthrough of My Candy Love New Gen? ME! ofc.

LET'S TALK ABOUT IT...

So i've finished playing the episode and honestly i'm starting to wonder how the plot is gonna develop during the story.

Until now ce can't really say that the story is growing but, I mean, it's completely fine because these are the first episode so it's pretty normal that there's basically nothing but just a presentation of the character and a little peak of their routes.

The episode was pretty chill and cute for some point of view, but my only doubt is about the speed of the storytelling, i really hope that with new episode the story's gonna grow in speed or in lenght of episodes because, for how is it now, it's gonna take forever to make a real "change" in the plot (especially for Jason's route candies like me) The idea of the welcome party was EXTREMELY cute also the "preparation" part was okay;

Amanda not partecipating at the party because Candy didn't choose the park had me turn up my nose honestly, but by the way she reacted the all time, i could have guessed it. She gives me a little bit of snooty vibes but i guess it's just the shell of the character.

ELENDA. oh my ELENDA. I hope with my whole heart that she's gonna be the new Rosalya because i need it. I genueine need a ray of sunshine like her in my candy's life when she's gonna sleep with the rival agency's boss :PPPPPP (The truth or dare part XD had me DEAD, i mean come on guys, you're almost 30 and you need a TRUTH or DARE game to break the ice? LMAO. )

NOW LET'S TALK ABOUT THE CHARACTERS.

ROY. Can someone explain to me? Please don't tell me that the dare that he should have done was to kiss Candy and, because is dating Brune, he turned candy's head to kiss her on the check. Please don't tell me or imma GASP. At first i thought he was going to be the gym bro not interested in any dating or in date many girls at the same time, BUT THIS. BRUH unexpected. So i guess Candy in thi s case have to be Eric 2.0 of new gen. Love it. Let's sleep with another taken man!

DEVON. So I Honestly don't know what to say about him for now because i can't really say what's gonna be the issue with him. I Just really hope is not gonna be like Hyun route ( a full of nothing) because the character seems really cute, so please beemoov give us some tea or a plot twist. Something that happened in the episode that made me actually turn my head the screen was Candy saying (if you go to him at the Mall) "It seems that he doesn't want to be the Ceo" Maybe this is going to be the route?

THOMAS. I honestly love him and i feel like his entire route is gonna be Candy tries to make him understand what is to date someone. I also have a feeling (which would make totally sense) that Thomas is either authistic or he's part of that percentual of the populations that has an IQ higher that the others. L O V E I T TBH and it's a shame that i hvae to play two time the episodes because the outfit it's not the same for jason's route.

AMANDA Snooty on the outside but a marshmallow on the inside, i'm so sure of this. My guess here is that, girl's rich ass didn't say anything to her family that she likes girls. I just really hope is not the sme thing that happened with Priya because players dont wanna play things two times.

JASON. At last but not least, the enemies to lovers we didn't know we needed. what can I say? I have a huge love for Men who are so incure of themselfs that they put up this gigantic EGO (and not Confidence) to try to hide their real self. This going to be and Astarion (Bg3) route 2.0, I'M HERE FOR IT. Btw i'm pretty sure he seduced Danica to make her leave Devenementiel, this B, love him. At least he's not taken Candies....

what do you think? <3

-Sph

[my-own-walker]

Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn’t’ve?) 

note: this special request was sent to me by @the-goblin1. thank you, my dear. you have the mind of a mastermind. 

summary: evan gets the hots for his co-star during a scene

warnings: sm*t, fem!reader, p in v, evan being horny lol

+++

Evan’s POV

The success of the show was unexpected. When the second season was announced, I wasn't told anything about it. Just that I wouldn't be playing Tate again.

The new season brought many changes. Doing an anthological series came with its challenges. I would be playing an entirely different character, in a different story, set in a different place.

Kit came pretty easily to me, minus his accent. That kind of challenge is what you look for as an actor, though.

It was announced that my love interest would be played by a relatively new actress named Y/N Y/L/N. In the spirit of changing things up, Taissa wouldn't be returning this season. She wouldn't be my scene partner anymore. It was like going to school after summer break and finding out your best friend wasn't in your class.

It was a total gut punch, for sure. Until I actually met Y/N.

She and I clicked really well. We had a mutual understanding of the motives of these characters and our scenes went off without a hitch. She was quick as a whip. She knew exactly how to make me laugh. We bonded over our love of acting and our tastes in music.

She got her start only a year prior to shooting Asylum. Some Disney Channel show, she said. I nearly cackled when I found out. I sort of didn't want to relive my time as Seth in 'Phil of the Future,' but she gave me no choice. We talked about our experiences with Disney sets. She had some sort of bit part, kind of like mine. She said she played the bully in the episode.

It helped her get cast in other more serious roles. She must have really sold that bully part. A couple episodes on some medical dramas and crime shows led her to the part of Grace in American Horror Story, and I couldn't complain.

It's worth mentioning that she was absolutely stunning. Just visually a marvel. I tried not to let it affect my work, but god, was she beautiful.

It was impossible to ignore my feelings for her. It physically hurt to keep myself away. I didn't want to compromise the work we were trying to do, but man I was starving for her. Ah, the genius of pain. It was like a knife in my stomach, poking and prodding at me each time she walked into the room. A constant feeling of disquiet and adrenaline.

The tension I felt worked for the story, thankfully. I found that our scenes were more believable because of how enamored I was.

It was like I had a schoolyard crush. I found myself frightened by the bite of rejection, entirely unsure of her feelings toward me. The aforementioned knife twisted every time I thought I might fall short of the mark. That she would be repulsed by me, or disinterested in the most soul-crushing way.

I didn't want to compromise our friendship. We had grown so close. The season's filming was going so well. I didn't want to risk it all and lose her due to the shame of rejection and uncomfortable feelings between us. And I for sure didn't want her or me to lose the job because our scenes got awkward.

But then came the sex scene.

+

Written into the plot was a love story blossoming between our two characters. It would come to a boiling point in an intense scene in the bakery.

It was as if a softly spoken magic spell granted my ultimate wish. Being that close to her, all over her, was all I could think about since meeting her. Now it was coming true. And in a way that made it so that I didn't have to actually put myself out there and get rejected.

The shoot started without a hitch. We were briefed by the intimacy coach ahead of filming in order to make the scene as comfortable as possible for the both of us. We were fitted with the necessary modesty undergarments that kept things sanitary, but convincing for TV.

After running through some things a couple of times, both of us felt ready to start. I began the scene, Y/N walked in and we exchanged dialogue. The lines flowed naturally, growing in intensity until I had to hoist her onto the table, hungrily gripping at her clothes.

I thought I could stop myself. I thought that being in character would prevent it from happening. But my true feelings made themselves known as soon as I had to act out thrusting inside of her. My mind wandered. I pictured her and I doing this, but for real, just the two of us. No cameras. No lights. Just real and raw. Before I knew it, I felt a tightness in my pants grow. My groin began to throb. Y/N looked down at my erection and blushed, breaking character and giggling a bit.

'Cut!'

'I'm so sorry," Y/N laughed, straightening herself up. 'We can take it again, I got distracted.' She looked down at me from atop the table and smiled. My face flushed.

Was she grossed out? Fuck. I thought.

'U-uh-' I stuttered. 'Can I actually take five? I think my uh- costume malfunctioned.'

The crew obliged and I quickly made my way to a back room, hidden from everyone on set. I was so embarrassed. My cheeks burned so hot, I thought they might burst into flames. I began to adjust myself, making sure I didn't have to clean anything up before returning to work.

'Boo,' a voice said behind me. My heart nearly stopped.

'Fuck!' I yelped, shoving my dick in my pants and turning on my heel to see a very coy Y/N standing before me.

'I thought I might find you here,' she smirked. She turned around and closed the door behind her, quietly locking it.

'Hey listen, uh-' I began. 'I'm so sorry about earlier I just-' She cut me off by putting her lips on mine. I tensed at the touch but didn't pull away. I just couldn't believe it was real life. My arms wrapped around her frame, just as they did in the scene, cradling her closely. We made out feverishly, every bottled-up desire I had bubbled to the surface.

I felt for the hem of her dress, beginning to lift it up before stopping dead and separating myself from her.

'What's wrong?' she panted, looking up at me with her big sparkly eyes. My stomach lurched.

'I just, I don't want to do this if you don't,' I muttered, sheepishly. I'm not even sure if that's what I actually wanted to say, but it came out nonetheless.

'I want this, Evan,' she whispered. 'I'll confess, I think I really like you.'

'I-'

'And I think you feel the same, based on what happened a few minutes ago,' she continued.

'Y/N, I want to be professional, but fuck, do I have feelings for you,' I replied. 'But I think, I think for work's sake, we should hold off.'

'We're playing two people in love, why would it compromise our job? If anything, it would help us,' she argued.

'If we do this, I’ll run the risk of losing you, and that’s worse,' I breathed.

She didn't reply. Instead, she grabbed me by my face and pulled me in, resuming our make-out session. I couldn't hold it in any longer. I grabbed her shoulders and led her backward, pressing her up against the wall. She moaned softly. The pressure in my pants returned. Or had it ever even left?

Her hands fumbled around at my waistband, looking to unhook my belt. I helped her out, removing it in one swift motion. She took the button of my pants in her fingers, unlatching it hastily, then at last, she unzipped my fly. I tugged the trousers off and my cock sprang out, throbbing immensely. I couldn't wait to feel it inside her warm, wet pussy.

She removed her panties and reconnected with my lips, wrapping her arms around my neck. I hoisted her up the wall hurriedly, my dick finding and sliding inside her dripping cunt almost instantly. We both let out loud moans as I thrust further into her, feeling her warmth encompassing my member. Her walls tightened almost too deliciously around me, making it tremendously hard for me to stop myself from coming. I groaned.

'Oh my god,' she cried, eyes screwed shut in pleasure. Her face was so contorted by ecstasy, it made me fuck her harder.

'I'm gonna come,' I moaned, thrusting just a few more times before blowing my load unceremoniously inside of her. Months of tension released. She threw her head back and cried out, signaling that she had as well.

I removed myself from inside of her and guided her back down to her feet, holding my hands on her shoulders to keep her steady. My knees were weak, too. Pure adrenaline was keeping me upright.

'Holy shit,' she panted. 'Holy shit.'

'You're so fucking hot,' I growled, punctuating it by peppering kisses up and down her neck and chest. Finally having caught her breath, she laughed.

'I think we may have to, you know, do our job now?' she snarked.

'The job where I get to pretend to fuck you? Don't mind if I do,' I replied, wrapping my arms around her waist and pulling her in close.

'We can go for round two after we nail this next take, okay?' she smirked. My chest tightened in the best way. She took my breath away.

+++

LOL I HOPE THIS WAS OKAY!!! writer's block had me in a chokehold. i have so many requests to get through i was like 'damn where do i even start???' clearly it was with this one. thanks for breaking the curse. more to come very very soon...

[psychicsolanum]

TUA S4 SPOILERS

I have so many thoughts after finishing it.

yet I feel so empty lmao.

I'm gonna put my disorganised rambles under a read more if anyone is interested and/or wants to scream with me about it

umbrella academy is one of, if not, my favourite show ever made for its storytelling and unique art direction yes, but mainly its characters and their dynamic, like everyone who loves this show.

i love the fluffy sibling relationships and how their trauma affects how they live and behave with one another. everything is built off of the characters!! it's never revolved around love interests unless it made sense and I really loved that. patch (mostly), dave, ray, lila and even Delores tied into the main cast's arcs and pushed the plot forward in a way that I thought was really satisfying and didn't take away too much from the family dynamics that the show focuses on.

so why did they choose these random romantic relationships this season to focus on? I thought the twist about Ben's death was actually great and unexpected personally, (and i loved seeing the kids go out on a mission; i always wanted more flashbacks to their childhood) but to boil it down to a virus that made him fall in love with someone he just met? that's so boring and so unlike anything they've done before imo!

also what happened to sloane lmao. I know basically nothing about behind the scenes stuff but what was the point of having her and Luther get together last season if they had no plans, I'm guessing they must have and the actress didn't come back?

and I feel like hargreeves' grand plan that caused everything in this show to happen feels so anticlimactic now. I mean I guess it literally meant nothing now. this feels like life is strange all over again but worse lol.

Klaus! thank god he exists in this series. what a breath of fresh air any time he was on screen. i never thought i'd be so relieved they threw him into another side quest lmao thank god he wasnt burdened by the main plot too much. I don't mean to say I'm completely happy with what they did with him, they started this arc of like, not letting his powers define him and finish his transformation that he's been continuously going through since s1, but because the show ends with everyone killing themselves it just kind of fizzles out? still love him and his careless whimsy, i thought the way he got his powers back and the scene following it was really good. as always wish they explored it moreeeeeee ughhhhh. Omg they never did anything more with the void or God either. I loved that stuff :(((((((((((

I cant even think about the five and lila stuff without getting mad so I'm just gonna say: fuck you for that. what the fuck were you thinking. why. why. why. in my head five is aroace and moves on with his life, maybe takes up golfing idk. who cares. anything else. HE LITERALLY SAID "I WANNA FUCKING KILL HIM" ABOUT DIEGO IN THE LAST EPISODE?!?!?!?!? and he hid the way home to her children from her for months???? I like the very end of the plotline where it explained founder five, very Loki, but that could have been accomplished without the 7 year romance...............

I think the 6 year time jump reallllyyyyy did not help this season at all. it just led to all the conflict with Allison being resolved instantly and her only story being the one klaus is living with. also wtf was going on with her powers why did they just give her telekinesis thats way more boring than her rumours! I like the tiny bits we got with klaus and allison but it was so short! with the time jump we missed so much development, most of them feel like completely different characters for no real reason. the only thing we know about luther is that he became a stripper, and viktor owns a bar in canada i guess??? these guys were most of the main plot in season 1 and they were so one dimentional this season. i feel like we barely got to get to know Claire or Diego and lilas kids which would be fine if the rest of the plot going on with the other characters was good and engaging, which i felt it wasn't. I don't even know the kids names apart from Grace, which is very cute ill give them that.

The show ended with the main cast doing a group suicide. ceasing to exist. none of them getting to heal.

I'm sorry I don't want to be a hater and I really do hope that some people loved this season but im just so sad lol. i liked the first couple eps and I really love these characters, judging by twitter I'm not alone in my disappointment though lmao. what was the potential s5 gonna look like?!?!?

I loved klaus and Allison a lot and we got little snippets of greatness, I want a spinoff of them now!!!!!!!

I'm excited to hear other people's opinions, maybe I'll see other perspectives and feel a little better haha.

klaus 4ever 🖤☂️🖤

[goldenivy0]

Oooh what time is it? That's right! It's time to raaaaamble!

Top 3 most shocking moments to me in the ACOTAR series 😂 (in the sense that I was not expecting these things to happen at all):

Feel free to tell me yours ;)

1ST PLACE

His voice broke as he whispered to Elain, ��You’re my mate."

Finding out that Elain and Lucien are mates. This moment deserves the first place without a doubt. I was NOT expecting that in the slightest and now they are my acotar OTP ehehe 🧡. Quick note: Because we couldn't have had this moment without the sisters being taken to Hybern that night, I think I should give an honorable mention to that scene here too. I'm not going to give that moment a place in this top 3 but I won't pretend that I was waiting for that to happen either. When Elain and Nesta appeared in that room only to end up being thrown into the Cauldron I was shocked!! I was like "Ariana... what are you doing here?" 😅

2ND PLACE

“I knew,” it gasped, sensing my shift in thoughts. “The tracking … I knew of it.”

“Then why come at all?”

“You … were kind. You … fought your fear. You were … kind,” it said again.

The freaking Suriel dying 😭 (killed by Ianthe of all people, I hate her so much 😤, for everything she did).

3RD PLACE

While we spoke, I said down the bond, "Helion is Lucien’s father." Rhys was silent. Then — "Holy burning hell." His shock was a shooting star between us.

Finding out that Lucien isn't Beron's son but Helion's as a result of his secret love affair with LoA. Well, colour me surprised! I found it sus that SJM would always make references to Lucien's skin color and how it was darker than his brothers' but I can't lie, the possibility of Helion being his father never crossed my mind, not even after his introduction at the HLs meeting.

There are so many other unexpected moments and plot twists in the series that I could have chosen from but ultimately I think these are really the three that made my jaw drop the most. However, and inevitably, I cannot help but also make a reference to the moment when we discovered that Jurian was one of the good guys after all and that he was working undercover, or the moment when we realized that it was Papa Archeron who was returning from the continent at the front of the human fleet in a last attempt (and the first in many years too) to help his daughters.

So yeah... CONCLUDING: Not. Expecting. That.

(P.S. I didn't include here the revelation made by the Suriel that Rhys and Feyre were mates nor the moment I read "And Rhys was dead" because I already started the series knowing who Feyre's endgame was and that she would have her happy ending. If that hadn't been the case I might have gaped a little bit at my books in those parts LOL 😆)

[goldenhickeysandramen]

Wanted

These last few months we have been definitely spoiled... 

From the 1st of February, until the end of April, we've had 15 vlives from Jungkook and 8 vlives from Jimin. In total 23 vlives in 3 months. That's an average of almost 8 vlives per month. LOL

(I know, I know.. some of the JK’s vlives are in the same day... but all together have more than 3 hours total length... that's equivalent to several vlives of the rest of the members. ;))

Now it seems like a dream... 

We are half way through May and....

Let's see…

My positive side is that these two are finally aligned and both working hard. We don't know what Jimin is up to, but I'm optimistic that more music is coming. And of course, JK is totally into JJK1.

(my negative side keeps thinking about that last post of JK asking his stalker to shove the food up her ass. I hope he comes back soon, with his beautiful ponytail and the whole threat thing will be buried)

Before February I used to grieve thinking that there was nothing in the pipeline that would bring jikook back together in content.

After the last few months, I think I've learned that there are always plot twists, unexpected surprises, subtle gifts to their fans….

They know we're here, and while they're still with us, they'll surely come back from time to time.

There are a few months left to enjoy many things. I would advise everyone to try to live this in the best way possible.

Talking to a friend, I told her that BTS will keep putting their fans first, at least until this chapter is over.

Not for nothing Suga himself, who writes challenging lyrics and drinks on stage, and smokes in his MVs (to reflect the reality of his generation/age, not to set an example of anything), just recently said in an interview that they are all like "real brothers" and have been living these last 10 years together LOL…. any curious fans will know that in 2018, when they had some issues, many of them moved out to live on their own.

I mean, we're living, in my opinion, a sort of Chapter 1.5, with them discovering new facets of their independence (I loved NJ's interview for Vogue, and how he acknowledges the limited or isolated life they've lived until last year), but without crossing too many boundaries (and especially not changing too much certaing OT7 dynamics)

Couple this with the lack of ot7 content, this might not be the best of the chapters, imo. Not so for jikook, at least in our eyes. We are certainly far from the golden age of 2019.

But it is what it is… and as I said, better to enjoy it, not think too much about the dark parts of this fandom. Let's learn to respect each one of them and who they hang out with or don't hang out with. What they want to show us or what they want to keep to themselves. We are not in their shoes...

..and wait for whatever, because whatever will come… as Letter came.

[chaikachi]

since you're caught up on the Locked Tomb, I thought I'd send some asks your way because I'm kind of curious:

1) I've gathered Cam and Pal are your favorite characters, but do you any particular favourite moments/quotes of them? Or just why you love them as characters in general?

2) any plot twists you didn't see coming but liked?

3) any dark horse characters that grew on you over the series or that you'd want to see more of?

EEEE I SURE DID!! Okay, warning for anyone that is not caught up with it or plans to read it, that there are going to be spoilers below. You have been warned!!

Yes, they are my favourites.😔 Friends specifically told me to read the books because they are "very much my flavour" and they were right. Which is very rude of them, tbqh :/// As for the why, it's a lot of things, I think. From a character design perspective, I've always been a sucker for scholarly types like Pal, and you can never go wrong with short hair and double swords like Cam. I like that they have a decent amount of contrast and are quite different from each other in some ways while also being soooo alike in others. From a thematic perspective, all the bits and parallels around devotion, identity, and responsibility. How just by knowing someone, we add 'indelibly to their weight'. How this is explored both as a positive and negative thing. How just by knowing someone else - dare I say, to tame or be tamed by another 👀- can change us irreversibly. How burdening those we care about is something we have to come to terms with, and that being burdened can in and of itself be an act of care. How these themes are exacerbated and mixed with plurality and merging. The ever important question of 'where do you end and i begin'? For moments and quotes, a lot of my favourite things about them are just how they interact with one another (or with other characters). The sort of relationship where words often aren't necessary. How so much of their connection is conveyed in actions. "Tell Cam... never mind, she knows what to do." and the "what to do" is her collecting the fragments of his skull off the floor?? that she glues back together with her own hands?? then travelled millions or billions of light years to meet with the one person that can pull his soul back into it??? Her carrying him, despite the risk and harm it poses to herself, because he doesn't have a vessel anymore??? Pal asking Nona to "give this to Cam" and it's a kiss to the back of her hand???? Sick!! Twisted!! I demand financial compensation for damages!!!! Cam had every right to go sit in the bathtub about that!!! What the hell man!!! But I would be remiss not to mention the conversations they have across the voice recorder when they can't speak face to face, the co-fronting/synergy thing that happens when the protect Nona at the beach, and of course: "Life is too short and love is too long."

I'll admit I was spoiled a bit to some things going in so that skews this answer a bit. There were certainly some things I predicted incorrectly but then was like "OF COURSE THAT'S HOW IT HAPPENED, HOW COULD I HAVE ASSUMED DIFFERENTLY". I was not expecting that many people to die in the first book tbh. What happened to the Fourth and Fifth houses hit particularly hard. Was not expecting Gideon to find a decapitated head in Harrow's closet. I think the most surprises I had were in the second book though. Kept asking myself what the heck was going on. The narrator reveal was such an unexpected and pleasant surprise. Like, I kind of figured that was the case but I wasn't expecting that to be how we found out. Camilla showing up somehow out of nowhere?? The full extent of Harrow and Gideon's origins had me at a loss for words. Also the epilogue leading into Nona had me soooooo confused.

Yes. I absolutely adored Augustine. Big fan of his whole vibe; i miss him. Also really liked Magnus, Abigail, and Ortus in the second book. Especially them stepping up and being the Responsible Adults™ Harrow never really had, but always deserved. Also Polyamory Win with both whatever Pyrrha and Dulcie had respectively going on with Cam and Pal aha. Very big fan of Dulcinea in general. From her appearance in htn to popping up in The Unwanted Guest. I don't know how we could see more of her, but I would not be complaining if we did. Muir is really good at characterization tho, i don't know that there have really been any characters I've actively disliked. 🤔

Thank you for asking! I'd love to know some of your fave characters/plot twists too if you feel like sharing!! no pressure tho uwu

[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.

[sapphicbookclub]

Author Spotlight: Amy Marsden

We're excited to bring you a post from Amy Marsden, author of We're All Monsters Here. Read on to hear about how this novella came to be!

I’ve always loved reading and writing, and ever since I figured out I was a lesbian I’ve wanted to see every kind of story with LGBTQ characters front and centre, specifically lesbian and/or sapphic ones. We deserve love and adventure too. I want to write mainly about lesbians not just because I am one, but because I don’t see an awful lot of us in books, or if a character is lesbian, the word still doesn’t appear in the novel. I want to help change that, one book/novella at a time.

We’re All Monsters Here was supposed to be a short story—between 5000 and 8000 words—for a writing competition, but quickly surpassed that word limit. Now a novella over 30k words long, I’m already writing the sequel, and have plans to make it a trilogy. The idea to write about a vampire came to me one random evening, and the premise of her eating the rich sparked after seeing one too many billionaires on the news not caring about us or the planet. I had a really fun time writing it.

Anna, the main character, is the poster child for morally grey. Yes, she’s a vampire who kills people and drinks their blood. But, she tries to do so to horrible people. She doesn’t always succeed, of course, girl’s gotta eat after all, but she tries. That’s the main thing, right? She’s at the weekend retreat to destroy the CEO of a multi-billion dollar oil corporation, his Board of Directors, and, ultimately, his whole company. I know there is a history in media of portraying the villains and anti-hero’s as queer, or at least queer-coded, but as I mentioned above, I want to see queer characters in every kind of story. To be honest, I’d like to read a book where there are no straight characters whatsoever.

We’re All Monsters Here has a lesbian main character in the form of Anna, a lesbian love interest—and so much more—in Saira, a bit of spice and humour and violence, and a fast-paced plot with building tension and twists you won’t see coming. It’s in first person, so you really get into Anna’s head and root for her over the course of the weekend.

It’s available on Amazon now!

Thank you to Sapphicbookclub for this guest spot opportunity.

We’re All Monsters Here - Book Blurb

When Anna is invited to a secluded retreat full of selfish, greedy humans, of course she doesn’t say no. Not only did she manipulate the CEO of the world’s largest oil corporation, Peter Beyer, into organising the four-day getaway in the first place, but no self-respecting vampire would ever turn down such easy prey. Her weekend gets even better when she meets Saira, one of Peter Beyer’s employees, and they begin a whirlwind affair. Blood and beautiful women are Anna’s idea of a great time.

She should have known it was too good to be true.

Hunters are dangerous, deadly, and dedicated to eradicating vampires. When a group of them turn up at the retreat, Anna must use her centuries of experience to escape their ever-closing net. Will she get out unscathed, or will they finally catch up to her? Will she give into her intense and unexpected feelings for Saira, or will she leave her to burn as she destroys all evidence she was ever there?

A fresh twist on urban fantasy, with an added splash of sapphic romance.

[essegigi]

(More Glass Onion thoughts)

A single phrase that gave me so much joy was when Blanc straight out admitted his intent to throw everyone off with his "southern hokum." Because yes, he knows exactly how he comes across with his accent, the colloquialisms, and his humble manner. He's weaponized his southern-gentleman persona and I love him dearly for it.

I wonder if some people who didn't like that twist were also feeling betrayed by being lied to? Idk, but the main criticism I've seen is people upset that "we couldn't possibly have known about the twin sister!" And...no, we weren't given anything solid enough to predict it, except maybe as a wild guess. But when we do find out, it slots in nicely with what we already know. Certain things make more sense now. We were even told "she's changed" and "she's like a completely different person." I'm curious if anyone actually did see that coming?

Connected to that, the revelation that he actually lies...! We as the audience have come to trust him implicitly, so there's no reason to question him when he says he was invited, and then when he acts confused and mortified about not actually being invited. The reveal that he was in control of that situation the whole time is not only delightful bc it shows his competency, but bc he tricked the audience as well as the other characters.

That's not usually the detective's job! Sure, they'll sometimes have an ace up their sleeve, but to have the whole premise flipped on its head at that stage is unexpected and fun (imo, at least). And it's not like he knows everything to the point where there's no mystery, it's a huge plot point that he doesn't. He just knows more than we were first let in on.

I've seen some opinions from people who sound like they wanted all the puzzle pieces presented to them immediately so they could solve it themselves in the first half and feel smart. But then wouldn't that be kinda boring? There were enough other little details and clues to catch that made me feel a little clever (pineapple, for example) without giving everything away.

Anyways I watched it a second time and caught so much more. There are also so many things others pointed out in their own posts that make me look at things in new light. So much to talk about!

[walkingaftermidnight07]

Chain of Thorns: all my main thoughts

yes hello, i wanna make a large post abt this bc i just need to list everything out since i have A LOT of thoughts

MAJOR SPOILER WARNING

SERIOUSLY

DONT READ FURTHER UNLESS YOUVE READ THE BOOK

Things I Liked:

basically every moment where we got to see Will. I was laughing at so many things that Will said and I missed having that, since I will never get enough of Will's humor.

Seeing Jesse interact with the Merry Thieves. It made me so happy and I love seeing Jesse's dry humor mixed in with the Merry Thieves; he fits in with them so well.

Just human Jesse in general. Everything about him made me so happy. He was so kind and brave and quite funny.

Getting to see more of Anna/Ari. During the first book we got almost nothing of them, partially because of Ari being poisoned but also because Anna was kind of not in the main circle yet.

Christopher visiting Grace and them getting to know each other. It made me so happy that there was someone who could see past what Grace had done and could give her a second chance, and their bond over science was so sweet.

Thomastair. That's it. No explanation needed.

Ghostwriter I thought was pretty well done, but the whole "them kissing would cause Lucie to see demon stuff" was kind of unnecessary.

Jem being there for Grace and talking to her to help her through

The Watchers were a really cool plot twist I wasn't expecting

honestly the james turning on the lamp on pg 127 caused a lot of pterodactyl screeching which was fun

the Herondaisy scene in chapter 23 hehe

Effie every time she opens her mouth

Also Bridget who is my queen. she is my love, my life, my star.

Eugenia Lightwood just existing was fabulous.

Esme being the most random plot thread ever which caused a lot of unexpected laughter

"Alastair why are you so stupid I brush my teeth dont tell anyone" LMAO

Alastair with the baby

Again, Thomastair.

Matthew's eventual acceptance of Alastair into the group

Cordelia outsmarting Lilith with her deal

Belial having a weird obsession with being crowned prince of London or whatever

Also Belial's weird bird demon friend made me CACKLE

Bridgestock blackmailing Charles. if i'm honest, i think it was a great part of the plot bc it did kind of give Charles a slight redemption (but also him being kind of outted is also really bad) but i think it was great in kind of allowing Flora be able to accept Ari without fear of Maurice

Lucie and Cordelia talking abt Cordelia's boobs lmaooo/The Wicked Queen Cordelia

Grace's entire arc through this book

the different meanings behind "cordelia ran"

Things that made me sobbbb:

Will becoming a sort of father figure to Jesse

The Merry Thieves helping Matthew with his drinking

Cordelia and James when they finally confessed for real

Matthew's entire arc with his drinking and telling the truth

Christopher's death

"you are my unfinished business" IM SOBBING STILL

Christopher's death

The scene where they see that Kit's dead

Kit being dead

Intermission: Grief

the fact that kit was in fact dead and not going to come back at the end (i was in denial for the entire second half)

Matthew and James while in Edom

Thomas coming out to his family

Alastair telling Cordelia that he's always afraid for her with her being the wielder of Cortana

Again. Kit's death. (i cried a lot ok its been an emotional couple of days)

Things I didn't like:

The whole love triangle. I still don't think that Matthew truly loved Cordelia and i never believed it would be an actual love triangle

the fact that the truth about the bracelet had to be kept secret for so long. it felt kind of unnecessary. there were other ways to draw out the plot than that.

the fact that tatiana exists

Kit's death. I feel like it's so unfair that of all people, he's the one to die. it didn't feel well written, it felt like it had to happen bc she couldn't kill the queer characters and Kit was the only main character left that she COULD kill.

Grace's entire plot being kind of left without an ending.

The lack of mourning/a funeral for kit. (since we didnt get enough mourning, i think im going to write it bc i want to suffer for the purpose of completing the loose ends)

the pacing. the entire plot felt so oddly paced, and it wasn't as much of a mystery like choi or chog.

again, why christopher? i feel like matthew would've been a better choice, or perhaps sona.

magnus kind of getting written out so early

though i love our gay couples and their accepting families, it is a little bit unrealistic. i get that the point is that this particular batch of the families are very kind people in comparison to what their families become a little farther down the road(ie Robert, maryse, etc), but it still feels a little bit unrealistic.

i felt like the whole lucie and cordelia struggling with their friendship thing was a little bit too much to add into this already very full book. (although i loved the wicked cordelia reveal that was fun)

i feel like we didn't fully get the wrap up at the end that we needed. we didn't see enough of them after the battle, as they came to terms with their losses and their wins and how they would continue their lives.

also we never really got to see jesse meeting his cousins/aunts and uncles and i wish we'd gotten that.

Questions I still have:

bridget? whats going on with her? theres a throwaway line in the coda mentioning something is odd abt her, but thats it??

grace. what is going to happen to grace? i wish we could perhaps see her and figure out if she's alright.

im still confused abt the lightwood line. i guess they're trying to say that alexander is going to continue it? (that actually kind of makes sense, genetics wise tho, cuz alexander looks like cecily and alec and izzy are supposed to inherit that)

will we ever get a revised family tree?

blackthorn line???

Rupert's ghost?

fairchild line? am i correct to assume that its going to tie into charlotte's pregnancy reveal at the end?

I'm sure I have more thoughts but I can't remember them at this present moment and I didn't write them down but these are all the ones I wrote down.

lmk what y'all think abt this book

[feralkwe]

top five worst tropes, in your opinion?

ooh! a tough one, because there are so many tropes, and so many categories of trope (character trope, relationship trope, plot trope) that i could make a list just in one of them. but just generalized off the top of my head, no specific category:

5. amnesia. oh my GOD i hate an amnesia plot, especially when it is the only thing preventing the conflict from being resolved, or used as the conflict keeping a ship apart. the closest thing to an amnesia plot i have ever liked, and i feel dirty giving terry goodkind anything related to a compliment, but the chainfire spell in the last two sword of truth books was actually compelling because *everyone* magically forgot the character in question existed, every touch of her was wiped away in an actually cool concept. it's too bad tg wrote the most insufferable male protagonist ever committed to the page. he seriously ruined the entire series by existing. i wish there was a chainfire spell to make me forget richard rahl.

4. the misunderstanding. if your whole story arc/plot/reason a ship can't sail is because of some misunderstanding that could have been resolved with a reasonable conversation, you've lost me. it's uninteresting to me. it's just so flimsy as a concept that it cannot carry the weight of a compelling story. it makes the characters feel shallow. come up with a better obstacle. i believe in you.

3. deus ex machina. i love a good twist or unexpected turn, but babygirl you gotta leave us crumbs that lead us there, even if we, the reader, might be too dumb to see them. idc if it's a random convenient power introduced at the exact moment it's needed or a literal deus ex lowered on a crane to solve the problem. if it's too convenient without any context clues, i'm gonna be annoyed because i feel cheated. leave that stuff to the theatre professionals. you're not an ancient greek.

2. the perfect protagonist everyone loves. no, i don't mean mary sues as they've been smeared across fiction everywhere. i love me a mary sue! more people should be so bold! i mean the characters who never seem to have conflict with anyone ever. everyone is their friend. no one ever argues with or challenges them. no one is ever annoyed with them. wronged parties forgive them right away, even when they are wrongity wrong wrong. even the pc of an rpg runs into personality clashes with their closest companions and have to rng their way out of it. give me a little grit or friction, please! bonus irritation points if the characters just bang and it's all forgiven.

1. the love triangle. just... heck off i am so tired of it. no one writes it in an interesting way anymore. it's always obvious who will pick who in the most boring way. more often than not the third person is just mistreated and left hurt and alone or as a lazy plot device to keep the main couple in conflict. let me balance the scales of my terry goodkind compliment from earlier by saying that he did this most egregiously to my poor girl nikki in confessor, building her up in a relationship with the horrible protagonist who did not deserve her until the last minute when she helped rescue his real love. then he just... discarded her. it's boring. give me (believable, well developed) polyamory or find a better conflict for your obviously destined to be endgame couple. heck, even give me a person who genuinely loves both people and *tries* while slapping on a bittersweet ending! if your third person is disposable then your character did not earn their hea*.

*i purposely left off the hea. that's a post of its own.

[two-braincells-in-total]

Rank the books you've read this year(not necessarily all just the ones you really liked can do too)

I've read too many books this year to be able to rank them, so I'll just list them and rate them in a random order

IMPORTANT NOTE: I'm a mood reader, I don't rate the pacing and writing and stuff, I rate how much fun I had while reading it

Shatter me by Tehereh Mafi (book) - I'm giving this a 4/5 stars, because the pacing was pretty slow in my opinion and, even tho I still love it, it's not as strong as the rest of the series

Destroy me by Tehereh Mafi (novella) - 5/5 stars. Aaron Warner. That's all I have to say about it

Unravel me by Tehereh Mafi (book) - 4/5 stars. The first half was kind of slow, but I loved the second half

Fracture me by Tehereh Mafi (novella) - unpopular opinion but 5/5 stars. It's very good to be read before Ignite me, because this way the things that happen in Ignite me make a lot more sense, the character development in Ignite me would feel forced without reading Fracture me and honestly, Adam's POV didn't bother me as much as other people. Yes, I was mad at times, but the things that happen are pretty important for understanding the plot and characters of Ignite me

Ignite me by Tehereh Mafi (book) - 5/5 stars, there isn't much to say, Juliette's development ate

Restore me by Tehereh Mafi (book) - 5/5 stars. It did not restore me. I think it was a good way to continue Juliette's character development, because healing isn't linear. And that ending omg

Shadow me by Tehereh Mafi (novella) - 5/5 stars, Kenji is my baby

Defy me by Tehereh Mafi (book) - 5/5 stars, best book in the series FIGHT ME. Again, I loved the direction of Juliette's character development and Emmaline almost made me cry (I don't cry on books)

Reveal me by Tehereh Mafi (novella) - 5/5 stars, once again, Kenji is my baby

Imagine me by Tehereh Mafi (book) - 5/5 stars, I don't really remember what happened in this book, but I remember that I liked it

Believe me by Tehereh Mafi (novella) - unpopular opinion, but 4/5 stars. I didn't enjoy it as much as I hoped I would

The Do-over by Lynn Painter (book) - 3/5 stars, I was confused about how tf that happened and I'm not the biggest fan of the plot tbh

Betting on you by Lynn Painter (book) - 5/5 stars, I don't really remember what happened, but I had fun while reading

Better than the movies by Lynn Painter (book) - 5/5 stars, it was a fun read. It was actually the first book I read this year

Better than before by Lynn Painter (novella) - 5/5 stars, again, I don't remember it, but it was fun

A little note here, when I list a book, I include all of the bonus content for it

The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barns (book) - 5/5 stars, underrated series in general, it deserves more love. I read it for a school assignment and I was very disappointed to find out the assignment was cancelled after I had already done a full analysis on it. It became one of my favourites tho. The 'you' was creeping me out SO BAD

Killer Instinct by Jennifer Lynn Barns (book) - 5/5 stars, I loved this book. The plot twist was unexpected, but I must admit kind of annoying (SPOILER!!!!!!!!!! What do you mean the killer is someone who had 2 lines up until it was revealed? They didn't even figure it out, it was by accident and I know that cases like this aren't uncommon, but come on!)

All in by Jennifer Lynn Barns (book) - 5/5 stars, this is the book where we start getting bigger hints about the biggest comflict of the series

Bad Blood by Jennifer Lynn Barns (book) - 5/5 stars, this book changed me forever, the story was so creepy and sad and so well thought out, if you haven't read this series, you should. This book is a literal masterpiece in my opinion

Twelve by Jennifer Lynn Barns (novella) - 4/5 stars, nice ending to the series, even tho it still gives the possibility for continuation of the saga (jlb, this me begging for another book), not the best in the series, but it's a novella, so that's what we get

The Grandest Game by Jennifer Lynn Barns (book) - 4/5 stars, I have several rants about it on my blog, so I'll leave it at that

The Reappearance of Rachel Price by Holly Jackson (book) - 4/5 stars, the plot twists were good and so was the storyline and the characters

I hope this doesn't find you by Ann Liang (book) - 5/5 stars, got me out of a reading slump, it was very cute, perfect if you want a lighthearted read, finished in a day

If you could see the Sun by Ann Liang (book) - 5/5 stars, again, very cute, it had a little bit less romance than ihtdfy, finished in a day

This time it's real by Ann Liang (book) - 4/5 stars, cute, but I don't remember much from it, finished in a day

Five feet apart by Rachael Lippincott - 4/5 stars, enjoyable read, nice message, left me staring at the wall

One of us is lying by Karen McManus - 4/5 stars, I liked it, but they were only solving the case in the last 50 pages, the rest was just teenage drama, which is still fun, but not what the book was supposed to be about

One of us in next by Karen McManus - 3/5 stars, I don't remember much, but I remember it was mid

One of us is back by Karen McManus - 3/5 stars, same explaination as oouin

Two can keep a secret by Karen McManus - 4/5 stars, enjoyable read, but same explaination as oouil

Nothing more to tell by Karen McManus - 4/5 stars, I remember it was a fun read, but nothign revolutionary

You'll be the death of me by Karen McManus - 3/5 stars, it was kind of annoying, poor Mateo was the only character I liked. Literally all of McManus' books have the same characters and plot when you break it down, which is why oouil is my favourite, it was just the first and honestly the best written

The Cousins by Karen McManus - DNF. The plot seemed nice and different from the rest of the books, but I couldn't get past the romance. I know that (SPOILER!!!!) apparently they aren't actually related, but they still think they're cousins for quite a while and I still see it as incest

The Hating Game by Sally Thorne - DNF. The fmc was annoying and I had already read The Spanish Love Desception, which is apperantly a ripp off of The Hating Game, but I still think it was better, the fmc was less annoying

Save me by Mona Kasten - 4/5 stars, cute read byt the ending was wild. I still have to read the next book. I already knew what was happening, because I had watched the TV show, but it was nice still

I read a bunch of other books for school but they are classical Bulgarian Literature and there is no point in including them

I also read (and still reading) a buch of wattpad originals and I would've included them, but they are all still in the beginning and I don't know how they'll progress

On the note of Wattpad, I do believe that See me by jackssfox counts as a book, but, as much as I like it now and I know that I'll continue loving it, it isn't finished, so I didn't include it (tho it would be 5 stars)

The books that were listed are 35 (if I'm counting correctly)

[abnormal-vacuum]

okay not that anyone really asked here’s my full review of the passenger series from itv. obviously spoilers under the cut.

i went into this series with pretty low expectations seeing the general reviews of it on google, but the further i got into the first few episodes of the series the more excited i got. i was really enjoying it! i thought it was shot really well and the colors were very appealing. lots of bold, warm oranges, reds and blues. overall i think the visual aspects are done incredibly well. everyone’s acting in it is great, too, something i didn’t expect. the banter is fun and gets you interested / attached to the characters as well as makes them feel real, like someone you’d meet in your day to day life. i like that a lot.

i’m a big fan of the ‘small town, big secrets’ trope, and no matter how many times its been done before i still eat it up every single time. every single person in that town has their own baggage and something that makes them the monster of chaddervale. i would have loved to see everyone realizing / being told that eddie really didn’t attack jim. we (both us as the audience and them as the characters) didn’t get enough time to settle down and think about that. all we got was a scene with eddies wife, joanne, saying something about revenge. that’s pretty much it.

there are so many plot points in this series, most of which i’m interested in, that are established in only 6 episodes, most of which go unanswered. does it leave for a good cliffhanger? no. it doesn’t. it leaves for a frustrating, unsatisfying watch with so much potential its almost painful. and you know, maybe, just maybe i could forgive this if the big reveal of the series wasn’t so stupid. my opinion on this is definitely skewed due to personal taste but i think only a bit. instead of following along the plot of the ‘curse’ or even a cryptid they instead went the route of some black web company doing experiments on anxiety riddled screen addicted youth? that feels like such a unearned, unteased ending. that’s not what i came to that series for. it doesn’t fit, it doesn’t make sense. the previous episodes and the twist don’t fit together. just because something is unexpected doesn’t mean its a good twist. i understand that so many stories have been told before and people want to create something that’s new and unique. but i just don’t think this was the way to go about it. and like i understand the commentary about young people being lonely and spending too much time on their phones but haven’t we had enough media about that? like at this point you’re saying something that’s been said time and time again without adding anything of value. sorry.

i’m being a bit harsh. maybe i would have enjoyed this twist more if it didn’t feel so rushed. six episodes isn’t a lot for a mystery series. you need more time to establish things, to build up tension and intrigue. they’re only given a certain amount of episodes and they just have to make do. i empathize with them, its the plight of modern shows. gone are filler episodes and month long runs. but i still feel as if there could have been a much better job done with the story— twist aside. like i’m still confused on if the 6th episode was the end of season 1. because it really didn’t. it wasn’t like a fun cheeky little cliffhanger, it was just a gaping hole left.

here comes the part where i throw what i would have done with the series at you. they’re a bit silly, yes, but i think they’re more… in line with the series than what actually happened.

i would have maybe done that there’s an underground worldwide cryptid / monster smuggling ring that takes them to be expirmented on or even used as weapons and maybe the bread factory was involved in it and due to negligence one not native to the area! thats why its being violent because its in an environment its not used to and its scared because everything seems hostile to it. maybe the monster could be friendly as a fun twist! that could also be a parallel to eddie who’s in a new environment where everyone hates him and he’s also not really a monster.

another thing that they could have done is maybe people are being turned into werewolves by that company! they’re trying to make super soldiers and they’re kidnapping young people to experiment on them and see what happens and if they can fit into normal society. this could also go into the whole “everyone is the monster of chaddervale” thing i was discussing before.

or!! it could be an alien show!! maybe people are being abducted by aliens and that’s what’s wrong with them!! i don’t know!!

in conclusion i did enjoy this show despite all of the harsh things i said above i just wished it was better. i honestly do recommend watching it if you enjoy mystery shows and aren’t upset by bad writing or whatever. i hope it gets a season 2 and i hope all of the plot points are resolved. so. whatever. needed to get this out of my system.

[adamwatchesmovies]

The Karate Kid (1984)

Before today, I had never seen The Karate Kid. I assumed the love directed towards it came from nostalgia and the film being released at the right time, in the right environment. I couldn’t have been more wrong. This is a sweet, surprisingly deep crowd-pleaser with many memorable scenes to go with its iconic characters and great performances.

In 1984, Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) and his mother (Randee Heller) move from Newark to Los Angeles. After befriending Ali Mills (Elisabeth Shue), Daniel is beaten by her jealous ex-boyfriend, a karate black belt named Johnny (Billy Zabka). Taking pity upon Daniel is Mr. Miyagi (Noriyuki “Pat” Morita), who senses that Johnny and his gang’s bad behavior stems from their instruction at the Cobra Kai Karate club.

Like John G. Avildsen’s Rocky, The Karate Kid shows relatively little of its sport but makes you care for it more than you thought was possible by betting its chips on the characters. It’s impossible not to relate to Daniel. Bright and good-natured but filled with self-doubt thanks to his lower-class status and inability to stand up to the Cobra Kais, you desperately want things to work out for him. You want him to develop the karate skills necessary to defend himself. More importantly, you want Daniel to become confident enough for him and Ali to become an item. It helps that Ralph Macchio and Elisabeth Shue have terrific chemistry. Whenever something threatens to keep them apart - be it Ali’s snooty parents, Johnny, normal teenage drama or Daniel’s insecurities - your emotions swell.

If you weren’t already invested, you hate the Cobra Kais so much you keep watching, hoping they'll get their (hopefully violent) comeuppance. This is where Mr. Miyagi comes in. He could’ve easily been a stereotype or a one-dimensional supporting character; an excuse to get the plot going. Instead, he’s a fully realized person with a unique brand of humor and wisdom. It’s hard to choose if the film’s best scenes are the tender dates and heartfelt talks between Daniel and Ali, or the training sequences with Daniel and Miyagi. The latter contain big laughs, a touching father-son-like relationship and unexpected depth.

Behind Daniel and Johnny, we have two very different teachers. The second we walk into the Cobra Kai club, we see photos of John Kreese (Martin Kove) proudly showing off his military career and belting out his mantra that mercy is for the weak, that the point of karate is to brutally crush your opponent. He cares nothing for his students and has only contempt for kind Mr. Miyagi. By contrast, the humble Okinawan immigrant does not flaunt his martial arts skills or military career. He comes to offer his services to Daniel because he wants to teach the boy self-defense. To Miyagi, karate is an extension of everyday life. He teaches the sport by putting Daniel in real-life places and situations that incorporate the moves his pupil needs to practice. Karate is a naturally occurring process, whereas Kreese hammers the idea of violence into his students. The brutality he forces into their lives manifests as aggression and they become twisted; violent. The methods of instruction couldn’t be more different.

The Karate Kid has a lot to offer. The soundtrack is terrific. The story takes you through a full gamut of emotions - everything from heartbreaks to laugh-out-loud laughs, the joys of first love, the tears of joy from a perfect birthday gift and the exhilaration of a competition whose final match might as well symbolize the triumph of good over evil. The performances are uniformly strong. The screenplay is thoughtful. The characters are unforgettable. It’s no wonder if popularized karate in North America. This is no mere “right time, right place” movie. It has lasting power and will delight audiences for generations. (September 10, 2021)

[mylovelytvstuff]

Good Omens Season 2 Was Lovely

I really liked Good Omens season 2 and was very positively surprised by it. I had worried 'they' will ruin it. There are so many ways to ruin a story, and it takes both hard work and inspiration to create a good one. And Good Omens season 2 was really good. Also be warned. Massive SPOILERS ahead.

Waiting for the Apocalypse

I expected another apocalypse story. And I kept waiting and waiting for it, wondering why the pacing was seemingly so odd. 

And as if to throw me off, in episode 3 Gabriel does announce the apocalypse:

“There will come a tempest, and darkness, and great storms. And the dead will leave the graves and walk the earth once more. And there will be great lamentations. Every day it’s getting closer.“

But this turns out to be more of a teaser for season 3. Still, it was enough for me to continue to latch onto the idea of the apocalypse the point where on my first viewing I missed the story that was developing before my eyes. The story about love. 

Apocalypse ended up being more of a background part of the plot. A character motivator rather than the main story: Gabriel is kicked out from his position in Heaven because he refused to get behind apocalypse v2. And he refused to do it because of love. He wanted to be together with Beelzebub. This twist really warmed my heart. It felt like I was eating something not knowing what it will taste like and then it ended up tasting perfect. 

The Clues for the Audience

The great thing about the final reveal is that it isn’t a twist for twist sake. It is well crafted and it makes sense.

They leave us clues throughout the season, in a sort of in your face but impossible to decrypt sort of way. Masterful! Gabriel brings the box and the only thing we see in the box is a fly. And because a fly is such an everyday occurrence to us, we make nothing of it. Then, to throw it in our face further, the fly keeps making an appearance throughout the show. We see Gabriel trying to kill it, in essence trying to wipe himself out! And just in case we have forgotten that Beelzebub is the lord of flies, we see her materialize in Crowley’s car as a swarm of flies. And yet it never occurred to me to make a connection between Gabriel and Beelzebub. 

In one of the more subtle clues, Beelzebub asks one of her demons “Do you ever think, wouldn't it just be nice if someone told you what a good job you're doing?” It tells us that Beelzebub is not content. She wants something different from that hell grind. We are subtly told that Beelzebub has discovered in herself a yearning for love. 

And all of this looks kind of slow and it feels like background to something. But it is indeed a major part of the plot. And the final explanation makes everything fit together perfectly. Have to say it again, masterful. I am really in awe. 

Beelzebub and Gabriel

Beelzebub and Gabriel falling in love is both adorable and hilarious. For instance, when Beelzebub likes Buddy Holly’s “Everyday” and Gabriel says: 

“Then…Then I also like it.“

It is like every time anyone has ever liked anyone else. We all pretend to like all the things the other person likes, we might even learn to like them! But Gabriel does it in a naive, ‘angelic’, extra transparent way. And it works! It succeeds in its desired mission. Beelzebub is moved and charmed. 

And then the resolution of the Aziraphale’s Clue! The jukebox that turns all the songs to “Everyday”! It is not about apocalypse at all! It is a ‘smooth move’ of a guy trying to woe a gal (or in this case an angel wooing a demon). Watching that revelation was like eating chocolate. 

It is through the Beelzebub-Gabriel revelation that the whole season came together for me. It was purposefully slow, misleading. And it isn’t really about apocalypse, it is about love.

While unexpected, the Beelzebub-Gabriel love story makes sense. Both of them have been at it for millennia, in their respective roles. They have been pushing for the ‘Great Plan’ and ended up facing a disaster which made them less keen on their roles. And they slowly discover love together through mutual understanding. Somebody paying attention to them as a person, not because of their function. Gabriel has certainly always been full of himself and his own grandeur. But as it turns out he was still not beyond spying on and ultimately choosing something much better. A voluntarily bestowed appreciation and kindness. To paraphrase Beelzebub, they both found something better than choosing sides.

There is a lot of sweetness in how this came to be. The moment Beelzebub gives the fly to Gabriel and he does not know how to thank her, because no-one has ever given him anything before…You can see how moved she is. And it is not overdone, overplayed. But you can just see them becoming people to each other, with each other, gently, gradually. And at the same time in big swoops somehow. They are no longer their roles. They are vulnerable individuals testing waters. It is incredibly moving.

I said it is hard to write a good love story. Apparently not for Neil Gaiman.

In another hilarious moment, Gabriel explains how he wants to be with Beelzebub and ends it with: 

‘Wherever Beelzebub is…is my heaven.‘

It is so SO cheesy! It is like a cheesy lovers line. But in case of Gabriel it takes on an additional meaning. Because for him heaven is not an abstract, but his home, everything that he knows, that he considers good. So it works in these two ways. Unbelievably good writing.

 

It is lovely. It is unexpected enough to be a good, surprising twist and yet it is believable and well developed.

Crowley and Aziraphale

This season makes it very clear that Aziraphale and Crowley have a thing for each other as early as episode 1. There were a lot of allusions and jokes that referred to them as a couple in season 1. Then there was the desolation of Crowley upon realizing his best friend was gone. And all the sweet happiness that both characters showed when in presence of each other or when doing things for each other. But you could still play it off as non-romantic love. I mean, watching season 1, you do not even know if angels and demons do the whole falling in love thing. I know, Neil Gaiman and Michael Sheen have since professed that it was all there since season 1. Maybe so, but it was subdued and implied rather than stated overtly. 

The first major clue in season 2 is when Aziraphale jumps out of the chair after Gabriel asks him if he knows what it is like when you don’t know anything at all, but that if you were next to one person, that everything would be better. Aziraphale insists he knows no such thing. ‘The lady doth protest too much’ and all that. Then we see Crowley once again abandoning his own self-preservation when he learns from Beelzebub that Aziraphale might get erased from existence for sheltering Gabriel. 

Btw. when Gabriel talked about the one person that makes everything better, he was thinking about Beelzebub, not Aziraphale. Perhaps he felt he can be safe around Aziraphale too, but I believe the feeling and that statement were meant for Beelzebub. Another lovely, delicious little clue. 

I was not really a fan of Crowley and Aziraphale being in love in the first season. I saw them as friends who had many adventures together and who had deep love and loyalty for each other, and that was enough for me. And it was such a rich, hilarious story. Frankly, I thought having them be in love would ruin it, that it would turn the story into something trite. It is hard to write a good love story, I think. It is only sort of watchable before the two get together. Once they are happy in love…there is no more drama to it. Being happily in love is a beautiful experience. It breeds peace, creation. But it is keep you at the edge of your seat drama when you look at it from the outside.

But I ended up being ok with how it was handled in the end. It was not trite or boring or preachy, because there is immediately a plot around it. Crowley in a moving display wants them to go off together and be independent. Aziraphale still does not get it and wants them both in heaven. And there is the story of the looming apocalypse v2 coming. So nothing boring or trite between these too. And at this point I do not think it will ever get boring or trite. Neil Gaiman and the writers have earned my trust.

When first watching the show I was not sure what the point of Maggie and Nina was in the grand scheme of things. Do not get me wrong, both actresses cut beautiful, alive characters across the screen. But what is their place in the bigger plot? Once you realize that the whole show was about love, it starts to seem like they were a stand in for that unspoken thing between Crowley and Aziraphale. Perhaps they were also a means of showing us how little Crowley and Aziraphale know about human romantic relationships. It is a funny dichotomy because on the one hand the two have shared many meaningful romantic moments throughout millennia and yet when they think about falling in love means they have about as much maturity as your average 13 year old. Crowley thinks it is all about standing in the rain, under an awning, Aziraphale goes back even more in time, all the way to Jane Austen.

I want to take a moment here to declare that, based on my reading of Jane Austen and despite what Aziraphale says, NOTHING gets resolved at those balls. Usually everyone gets more confused and the conflicts grow even stronger. I think Aziraphale just wanted to dance with Crowley.

Back to the show. Another way of looking at Maggie/Nina story is having us see Aziraphale and Crowley learn something from humans. Something intimate. Technically speaking only Crowley learned it I guess. But it ripples down to Aziraphale.

And the ending, the ‘break-up’ between the two made sense. It did not make the show trite. They did not kiss to make everything magically ok. They faced the reality of their situation. And the reality was that, despite loving each other, they were not on the same page. They did not want the same things. 

Maggie and Nina resolution made sense too. Aziraphale and Crowley were throwing all this fairy dust in our eyes, pushing a silly narrative that did not have a leg to stand on. But still, it is a TV show, surely they will have a classical happy ending at the end, right? But reality stood strong again and ultimately won over. It certainly won me over. Nina and Maggie get a much more realistic and uncertain ending than one might expect from a comedy show.

What I Did Not Like 

I do have some smaller reproaches about particular things I did not like so much in this season. It will look like this is a big part of the post, but it is only a very tiny part of how I view the show. I will write other posts focusing on the better parts of the show, but here are some of my complaints.

The whole wee Morag story did not really sit well with me. To be honest, I am not sure why. It just was not very fun. It was like an after school special teaching 12 year olds about history of surgery. Aziraphale irritated me for not simply giving a bit of money to the girls to help them out. It kind of makes sense as we know from season one that he encourages humans to do this or that rather doing things for them directly. But still, in those circumstances, with 90 guineas in your pocket he can spare say 5 pounds?? Instead he drags the two poor girls back into the danger of the graveyard. Crowley shines again as the sweetheart he is, but even that part is…oh I do not know, a bit on the nose. Although it was fun to see Crowley wig out and change size.

I also really did not like the dialogue between Aziraphale and Crowley after their Nazi zombie adventure. It was off. Aziraphale thanks Crowley for ‘coming through for him’. He says if he was truly bad, he would have just walked away. But … Aziraphale was doing a favor for Crowley. Aziraphale could have just walked away as well. Crowley had done so many more substantial things to rescue and support Aziraphale as well as to demonstrate his true, good nature than…not running away from a botched magic act. How about helping him with the nazis? I think they just wanted to use that shades of grey shtick. Which is fine, but it should have been done in conjunction with better dialogue. The characters deserve it!

I think both of those needed more polishing, more thoughtfulness put into them.

But I do love the Job story. I think it was well done, moving and important in the characters’ development, especially Aziraphale’s. And in showing us even more about who Crowley is. I plan to dedicate a separate post to the Job minisode.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the bones on this are good. And that is why I hope we get to enjoy season 3 as well. The plot for it has existed, in a rough shape, for a long time, according to Neil Gaiman, so that is a good sign. The Aziraphale-Crowley love story is not boring or empty, and it is intertwined with a larger plot. So I really do hope two see David Tennant and Michael Sheen reprise their roles in a third season. At this point, I trust Neil Gaiman and the writers not to mess it up, even if there is a misstep here and there. The bones on this are good, there is a story there, just waiting to be told. 

Where to Watch, What to Follow it up with

I you haven’t seen the show yet but would like to and do not sail the high sees you can access the show by getting Amazon Prime. Click here for my Amazon Prime affiliate link. If you make a purchase through the link or the links below I will get a small percentage of the proceeds to help me keep blogging.

If you are in deep, you might want to buy the DVD of season 1 or get the book that set all this in motion. I just started reading the book. It is pretty hilarious, as you might expect. 

The show got me into Terry Pratchett. I bought the Color of Magic and Guards, Guards to start with. I have already finished the Color of Magic and it really was a lot of fun. Very creative. Well crafted believable unbelievable plots. I took a peak in Guards, Guards and it starts even stronger than the Color of Magic, so I recommend both. Here is a teaser from Guards, Guards that I found particularly hilarious:

‘It was a five hundred mile journey and, surprisingly, quite uneventful. People who are rather more than six feet tall and nearly as broad across the shoulders often have uneventful journeys. People jump out at them from behind rocks then say things like, “Oh. Sorry. I thought you were someone else.“ ‘

I think that gives you a good idea of what you can expect to find in the book.

You won’t get a rerun or a sequel of Good Omens in these books, obviously, but you will get introduced to a really imaginative and hilarious world. It is entertaining and even mind expanding. 

[altruistic-meme]

Hmmmm so I think that season one and season two have very different vibes if that makes sense?? Season one feels quieter simpler and more intimate somehow, like there's only a few main plot lines to follow and the focus is almost always on Simon and wille, whereas with season 2 it feels like SO MANY THINGS happened! Maybe it's bc I just watched the show so quickly and haven't really processed it yet but there were so many ups and downs and so many revelations and twists and it felt very chaotic and dramatic and angsty and messy. It's not necessarily worse or better than the first season, it's just different! And kind of unexpected. Like s1 is what you watch if you want a really nice quiet story that tugs at your heartstrings and makes you want more, and S2 is what you watch if you're in the mood for revenge and drama and lies and betrayal and chaos. What do you think?

I fully agree that the vibes are so so different, and it’s something i’ve been thinking about since my first watch. And I actually kind of really like the contrast between them! It's exactly what we were told it was: Season 2 was darker than season 1.

This is what I meant when I said that “they were all so baby” in s1: Season 1 feels incredibly hopeful. It’s very much lighter, and although the stakes aren’t necessarily any lower we don’t tend to notice them as much. Season 1 does have Wilhelm and Simon as one of the biggest focuses and their relationship, while definitely having its downs, also has enough ups to balance it out pretty well. Even though we have so many moments where they break apart, we also almost always see them come back together again either in that same episode or in the one right after. Even after the final break up in epi 6, we get the hopefulness that came with their hug and Wilhelm’s “I love you”: yes, they aren’t together, but we can see that they want to be, and now Simon knows how Wilhelm feels, and we know that Wilhelm is getting ready to fight for it. 

In season 2, all of this hopefulness is gone. It’s a lot more somber. We see early on that it won’t have that same back and forth that season one did. Simon admits to thinking of Wilhelm all break, but he also shrugs off his hand and tells him he doesn’t want them talking. There are only downs, for a while, between them. Every conversation is painful because you want them to be together, to be happy again, but there is too much happening between them and around them for us to have that. They don’t get a moment of joy together until epi 4, and even then that moment is disrupted and the beginning of the next episode shows that we’re back to having that space. 

We do come to a much more hopeful ending than we did in season 1 though: Simon confesses in return, he wants to be with Wille even against his desire to not be a secret, and Wille is finally in a place where he has found out that he wants nothing more than to be with Simon, even at threat of the monarchy. Wille had all-but-directly told Simon he would give up the throne for him already. He’s told Simon that he is more important than that, and with the belief that there is a backup, the final scene is him risking that for Simon. It’s the return of that hopefulness for a future that we had had in s1 and had been robbed of throughout s2. 

I use hopefulness to describe it because that’s what it feels like to me. But lightness is another way you could go. 

As far as the actual contents, i don’t actually feel like we were truly short on Wilhelm/Simon content, just joy. Like I said, most of their interactions hurt. And there was definitely a lot going on but I feel like it was more of a culmination of everything going on in season 1. It didn’t feel messy to me, story-wise. It was messy in a very real way. When all of these things begin at the same time, they’ll all come crashing at the same time too. S2 was that crash. It was everything we had worked on in s1 falling apart and coming together and the result was messy because life gets messy sometimes. 

S1 is definitely what to watch when you want that heartstring pull, but I don’t think s2 was only about drama and revenge. It pulls your heartstrings too. Again, especially between Wilhelm and Simon. The way they so clearly want each other but can’t have each other.

So yeah, I definitely agree with you that they are incredibly different seasons. I think they work well together though. I had the joy of being able to watch them back to back and honestly, the shift isn’t as drastic as I thought it might be. Because like I said, s2 was a natural crash after s1. I loved both seasons so much. I really hope we get a third, because there is definitely more we could see, and like many have said before me I think a third season would be the perfect way to wrap things up.