Y’all I can’t lol, I’m so smitten my heart is threatening to quit. This one is going on ice till it finishes and I can go through the full spectrum of human emotions in one binge. Didn’t even get to five minutes of ep 5.

Me 0.208342304 seconds after seeing Sunjae in Lovely Runner :

I’m in my C-drama binge era again since the K-drama plate is drying up for me, and saw that a new ZYQ drama just dropped on Viki. He’s in some really good underrated smaller dramas (Butterflied Lovers, Provoke) so was keen to see what people’s impression of this drama was so far! Went to the all knowing land of Reddit, and got a good laugh from few lines in someone’s post about this drama (bless Reddit for being a place that never lacks witty humour ) “ Starring the Jawline of China, Zhao Yi Qin…” 😆 That he probably is honestly, that jawline could cut glass. And then:  it currently seems like every historical mini-drama director is in their Michael Bay era. Ultra dramatic blue and/or orange color grading, ground-level shots, tilted shots, rack focus shots, slow mo, rain, lightning, smoke, silhouettes, the whole plate . Honestly this describes Butterflied Lovers and Provoke to a T (which the Redditor also compares this show to, if that’s a persuasive factor for anyone familiar with Zeng Qing Jie’s short dramas?). Always in awe of the sheer effort that goes into smaller dramas in particular, because you really didn’t have to Director sir/ma’am but you did and I appreciate that a lot.

Everyone’s first impression vibes seem to be good, I shall report back too – wonder if any Beanies are also watching/planning on watching?

Another mini review/set of thoughts because I’m really, really liking the currently on air drama Blossoms in Adversity ! Mild spoilers ahead, I’m trying my best to steer clear of any of the major ones.

Things I love about this drama:

– At its heart, it’s a drama about family and womanhood. The FL is the eldest granddaughter in the very large Hua family who are rocked by circumstances that see the sudden exile of all the men in their family. They’re promptly kicked out of their own home and have to scramble to now survive and adapt. Our FL is an explorer and adventurer by nature and has so far lived to the beat of her own drum, against the constraints of the expected traditional gender norms at the time. Now though, she’s found herself in a situation where she has to convince the other ladies in her family to let her be the head of the unit so that they can not only survive but bring back the men of the household. It’s an uphill battle, especially since most of the women in the family are strongly adamant that they’re doomed without men to guide them, and so it’s very satisfying to watch her grow and take charge. She’s undeniably wise beyond her years but she’s used to operating like a lone wolf, so navigating tensions within the family, facing the judgement of society and those outside the family, and reclaiming their reputation and independence is a whole new challenge. She’s also young, so although she’s smart she’s also still learning and growing and going through girlhood if you will.

– The rest of the women in this family have the most satisfying character arcs too. There’s a lot of them and the sudden shift in circumstances is a shock (understatement) to them, especially because they have very staunch ideas of what women can and can’t do. And it’s not on them of course because they’ve all lived in a patriarchal society where the odds are stacked against them, not to mention they’ve been conditioned since birth believe they can only operate within very narrow parameters as women. Watching them slowly come around to the FL’s outlandish – and very progressive – ideas and ways of doing things, and then slowly regaining their own independence and confidence is so beautiful. They’ve got dimensions to them, and there’s a few scenes that brought tears to my eyes, where you’re reminded that before being mothers and grandmonthers, these women were also young and full of spirit and they’ve got a lot of ‘hidden’ talents of their own that they’ve been suppressing through the years.

– Adjacent to the above theme, the bond that these women create to come together in the face of adversity is 😍 The drama isn’t without a few female antagonists, but the women in the Hua family unit, although they begin the story competition with one another in the name of family hierarchy, really grow and come together as a family through the course of the drama. Another scene that made me cry a little was when the youngest daughter in law finds herself bed ridden and delirious and calls out for her mother (who isn’t there of course). Within seconds, all of the women in the family come to her side and hold her and tell her that they’re there for her, specifically that her mother is here. It’s a really beautiful scene that highlights how these women have surpassed the titles of familial bond that they had before, to now be each others mothers, sisters, aunts and best friends all at once.

– The ML and the FL have a really understated but sweet and solid romance. It’s not fireworks and poetry, and the ML is a man of very few words (and expressions, but it works here). He’s also got his own plotline to do with palace scheming which is equally riveting, but the very solid foundation of the friendship turned relationship between the ML and FL is something. They are each other’s comfort spaces and they find that they both can only really be themselves, vulnerable and honest, with each other. What’s even better is that the ML recognises the strength of the FL and respects that, so they very much work as equals and partners in life.

– Tbh the only flaw, in my eyes, of the drama so far is that the 2ML barely gets a plot line (so far anyways) which is a shame because I actually really like his character! All the other minor supporting characters though have their own mini arcs, even the maids of the Hua family, which works to make the tapestry of this drama even richer.

All in all, this is a really beautiful drama and it continues to be so in the home stretch. I’m glad I’m watching but I’m also sad I can’t start it again now for the very first time. I’m at ep 29 now, so not too many eps left and following this trajectory, it looks like we’ll get a safe landing too?? Not to mention, the intro credits artwork and song are chefs kiss 👌

They’re becoming self-aware!

The length of Cdramas means that sometimes the lead couple gets together pretty early on, and ironically I’ve found myself in the position before where I’m like ‘things are going a little to well??? throw in a misunderstanding or something to shake things up!’ 😆

Back to regularly scheduled programming with #LovelyRunner (also reads as: I finished all the available eps of The Best Choice so now I’m stuck live watching and waiting for episodes 😭but also prepare for double the spam because now that’s TWO shows I’m obssessed with)

Me trying to deal with how stupidly CUTE this show is and I’m not even like 10 minutes into ep 3 (also the 10cm OST in the background, I think it’s him??, BYE 😭)

Also was anyone else reminded of this HSM3 scene during the swimming comp. at the start of the episode??

Ok I’ll shut up but too good to not share, thought he couldn’t get more 😍 and then he started doing laundry in the next scene ahhh

drama writers trying to brainstorm a new, unique, never seen before, first of its kind, about to revolutionalise the drama world type of ML characterisation for a contemporary drama:

Okay here’s a mini kind of review, kind of set of random thoughts on Best Choice Ever so far, starting with: I like it a lot! I will try keep this as major spoiler free as possible but forgive me if I have inadvertently included some minor spoilers here and there.

I don’t know what the general vibe has been because I’ve not read commentary or reviews on this (yet) but this is a very cutesy lil contemporary drama. I’m like 10 episodes into the 14 that have been released so far and would definitely recommend- BUT with a few things flagged (we will get to that).

But first, to our leads. FL is of the hardworking Cinderella variety, but wait don’t roll your eyes just yet because she’s not the naive, ‘use me as a doormat’ kind of Cinderella. She’s steadfast to her values and principles, which means she knows how to stand up for herself and can also see through other people’s BS – refreshing!! Yang Zi here reminds me a bit of her character in Oath of Love but minus Zhixiao’s penchant for childishness. I know for some, the fact that our FL is a little too good might be a sticking point but I vibe with her a lot – she’s not without compassion or kindness but she’s also strong, wilful and independant, so it’s a best of both worlds situation. I’d go so far as to say, this is who I wanted Hyo Shim to be in Live Your Own Life (though granted I only watched like a third of that drama so idk what happened to her character arc in the end). She’s also got the cutest affordable chic type outfits here so A+ to the stylist.

Our ML is kind of tsundre adjacent. He’s no nonsense, has trust issues of the born into corporate wealth kind, is somewhat conniving, but not completely devoid of warmth. He’s also kind of like there but not really there for most of the first few episodes (the plot really starts to pick up around the ep 8 point) but I’m not complaining because every time Xu Kai is on screen, he’s serving (see below).

Exhibit A-D:

OKAY so to the bit I want to flag – this is a very family centered drama, and the families are messy. Our FL and her family are in the centre stage of the plot and a lot of the major plot points occur around dynamics within this family, as well as the frictions encountered because of differences in family class/station/societal standing etc between characters. Which leads me to what I think might be the main thing that people will likely find leaving a bitter taste in their mouth – the FL’s mother. She’s not malicious but she’s very ‘I know what’s best for my family’/‘I only want the best for my kids’/‘I’m pinning the entirety of own hopes and failures on the shoulders of my children’/‘what will everyone think about us’ to the extremes kind of ethnic mother, which then spills into a fair few toxic traits and patterns of behaviour. The FL doesn’t exactly bend to all her mothers whims but she is very much caught between a rock and a hard place thanks to the expectations placed on her and her mothers actions. I objectively can see why this mother is very eye twitchingly annoyingly, but unfortunately for better or worse I’ve been surrounded by many reminiscent maternal figures in my own family so at this point I’m kind of desensitised to it. Also, her character is developed in a fairly nuanced way so she’s not the main antagonist – you can see that she genuinely thinks that she’s doing what’s best for her daughter/her family in her own warped way and there’s a fair bit of generational and cultural context that feeds into why she acts the way she does. Which isn’t to say I’m condoning that kind of behaviour or not calling it out for what it is, but I do sympathise with the FL to an extent because I understand her position somewhat. And that projection is what’s stopping me from outright ‘hating’ the mum or find her annoying to the point where I want to stop watching the drama, but I thought I’d flag that in anyways because I can understand that it might be a deal breaker for some.

The FL’s brother also, I have mixed feelings about, because I think he’s written to be someone you pity as the underdog but he kind of comes across a little too pouty/sad sometimes and I think that might be because of the actors execution. Overall though, I vibe with the realistic-ish portrayal of a family who are messy, flawed but genuinely love and have each others backs. It reaffirms my own experiences, as I’m sure is the experience of many, which is that family is complicated and you can’t really always neatly compartmentalise or label just how you feel about each other. Kind of reminds me of that TIkTok meme where it’s like ‘I won’t share a cookie with my sibling but I’d give them my kidney without thinking twice if they needed it’. It be like that sometimes 😆🤷‍♀️

@seeker thank you for the gentle prompt to check out Midnight Studio!! Your Tumblr fanwall posts convinced me to click play and I\’m glad I did – really enjoying it so far!!

manifestation circle time

he’s either always dying, crying or getting his heart broken (sometimes all three)

Me at the end of Lovely Runner episode 2:

Also, weird point maybe, but I like how much rain there’s been in these two episodes so far?? Idk I’m a big rain fan (this felt weird to say but you catch my drift, idk rain > sun), and so it heightens the emotions being played out in the scenes for me 🤷‍♀️

Me accidentally letting slip to mum just how much I paid for K-pop albums (and then the automatic revision of said price at 50% less than what I actually got it for).Also heard around the house:

“Why do you keep buying these, you don’t even play the CDs”
“This is literally just a torch with shapes in it, you paid how much for it????”
“Isn’t ONE group poster enough??”


Also I’m BACK! Or trying to be again – I got moved to a slightly bigger and different department at work, so whilst I was keeping up with live watches, I was a bit too frazzled post-work to post anything on DB. I’m still here though!! And very much enjoying ep.1 of my Lovely Runner.

Genuinely, every time I think I’m over this guy, a new drama comes along to say ‘lol you thought??’. I just started watching Wonderful World and 👏 to Cha Eunwoo’s styling team because uh, yeah it’s a vibe. Also adding to the fact, he’s playing a character with some nuance this time??? Thank god for the directing team that decided to give him a chance to step out of the one note reserved ice prince roles or sweet golden retriever roles he was in before (granted: I haven’t seen Island yet)

ok but no joke i’ve gone to work, gym and dinner but this has been running a loop in my head and i don’t know why, i’ve seen more 🔥 kisses but this one’s giving me all the butterflies #WI

yeah so I finished the episode #weddingimpossible8

also omg just noticed I moved up a DB level YAY (FINALLY)

Oh and one more for #WeddingImpossible this week – my guy Ji-han has been basically living out this whole Taeyang MV these past few episodes (also any excuse to bring back one of my all time favourite K-pop songs):

View post on imgur.com

Haven’t even finished the episode but had to stop to do these for #WeddingImpossible

The pathway to insider training starts young:

Ah-jeong this week (also another excuse to bring out my favourite song from the HSM series):