Thirty but Seventeen

Trying out a new Kdrama, though I'm not sure as yet whether or not it's a good one to follow up Because This is My First Life with. It's called Thirty but Seventeen. I'm going to not-exactly-live-blog it rather than waiting to the end, partly because it's got so many episodes. (Warning: I don't think anyone's actually reading these blog posts, but if you are some random person who has come across this, all of the following is very spoiler-y...it's NOT a review. It's just my thoughts.).

The basic story:

Woo Seo Ri (Shin Hye Sun) was a 17-year-old violin prodigy and is preparing to study abroad in Germany at a prestigious music academy of some sort. Gong Woo Jin (Yang Se Jong) is someone who has been watching her from afar and been curious about her. He finally works up the courage to say something to her on the bus, but then chickens out at the last minute. But that one thing winds up meaning that she's on the bus her (along with a close girl friend of hers) one stop more than she should have been. Tragedy or fate -- the bus is involved in a serious accident and the friend dies in it. Seo Ri winds up in a coma. Woo Jin is traumatized by his role in this, further complicated by the fact that he believes that Seo Ri's name is her friend's name and thinks she is dead. Thirteen years later, he is working as a set designer but is emotionally cut off from everyone around him and actively pushes people away by acting like an ass...and Seo Ri awakes from her coma to a world completely changed and no one she remembers around her.

The first two episodes were fine. They are shorter than the other dramas I've been watching (30 minutes vs. an hour). But I'm now starting up on episode 6 and even though Seo Ri and Woo Jin are now in close proximity, they are reaaalllllllyyyyy dragging out him finding out who she is or even that she was in the bus accident. Like, she got through rehabilitation and everything and then escaped the hospital (and why did the hospital not go to the police?) and has told NO ONE why she's so clueless. It's a little weird. Why wouldn't she tell? Why wouldn't she go back to the hospital because she knows the nurse was holding back information?

Also, I'm feeling really bad for the other dude friend of hers from when she was young who has grown up to be a doctor and was apparently the only one looking out for her all these years while she was in a coma. He's billed as "supporting cast" which means he has no hope of being the love interest. Poor guy.

So...jury out still. The acting is pretty good. The story is interesting but the plot is really moving too slowly. If I hadn't heard from a lot of people that this one is really good, I might have given up by this point. And it has one of the more extreme versions of "plot convenience" I've seen yet -- Woo Jin is actually living in the house that was her house and has her dog. Like, really? Sooooooo convenient. And they keep teasing him almost finding out who she really is but it's gone on long enough now that I'm, like, okay just get on with it already.

Edit: Oh FFS about to start episode 10. At the end of episode 8, they were teasing that he'd FINALLY figure out she's the girl from his past but NO. How long are they going to draw this out??

On the plus side, the guy playing his younger nephew, Yoo Chan, is just adorable. He's starting to crush on Seo Ri, partly because she's still more like a 17 year old than a 30 year old. Too bad he's 11 years her junior. Why did I not know a Chan when I was 17?? And Woo Jin is finally starting to thaw. But, seriously, episode ten???

Also, the housekeeper Jennifer character is one I totally love because she's so bizarre.

Edit, mid episode 10: SERIOUSLY. Seo Ri winds up cleaning an apartment because Jennifer hurt herself doing Tae Kwan Do and it's the apartment of...her doctor friend. But of course they miss each other. Come on! I like the characters but these ridiculous near-misses are getting...well, ridiculous.

Edit Whatever: Okay, I finished the whole thing and gave up on the whole blogging as I went thing. Overall, I did enjoy this one even though the ridiculous coincidences for plot convenience were nearly stupefying. SO many. The whole thing was held together with "isn't that a coinky-dink?" It was egregious...and pretty predictable. The worst ones were:

• that the randomly hired housekeeper (Jennifer, who was really an awesome character)'s husband was the only other fatality in the massive traffic accident and
• that Woo Jin's family just happened to buy Seo Ri's house and adopt her dog that was left behind and
• that the florist they randomly stop at is owned by Seo Ri's missing aunt

That said, the characters were lovely. If I ever watched it again for the good moments, I would probably just start off at somewhere around episode 16 which was around where everything blew up at once (doctor finally finds her; she discovers her best friend is dead; Woo Jin finally figures out the girl he was crushing on was Seo Ri and that he didn't kill her...all in one freaking episode). The chemistry between the two leads was really nice and they were adorable together (though neither of them ARE or LOOK 30). 

It was sadly very easily to predict the plot turning points--I knew when he figured out who she was and how she fit into his past that he'd probably go right for guilt and want to run away and that all of that would be resolved by him learning that it really wasn't his fault that she was on the bus for that extra stop (and that she had been crushing on him too--they'd dropped so many little hints for that along the way that it wasn't a surprise). But I liked it despite all of that. 

A couple of brilliant scenes too that were both funny and heartwarming -- like when she's thinking he's about to propose to her and she kinda freaks out but if you were paying attention you knew it was going to be a new keychain and not a ring. I enjoyed her freak out and it was nice that they made a point of him saying, no, let's take things on your time, we don't have to rush things. And it was a nice scene when he thinks she's gone off to Germany to study and spends literally the entire day crying at work and at home, not letting anyone talk to him, when all they wanted to tell him was that she decided not to go. He was trying so hard to be supportive. It was nice. 

So...yeah...this is one that I had to just let go of my tendency to eye roll at the ridiculous plot and just enjoy the characters. Because they were nice. And I do think it ended well, other than that they didn't even give a nod to the poor old friend/doctor dude. It wasn't his fault he didn't have a chance and never did. But sweet Woo Jin was a total cinnamon bun and so was Chan.

Eep!

Well, some good news anyway from my agent. But somehow I don't want to celebrate or really say anything until the contract is actually signed. So...eep. Still crossing fingers. Is it okay to be happy?

Escape

This week has kind of been wrecking me. Well, to be honest, this presidential cycle. I don't even live in the US anymore but I still have lots of friends there on Facebook and Twitter and so I can't escape the news. It's too much sometimes.

This week it has been all about Kavanaugh, the supreme court nominee.

And I'm just...I'm full of rage and despair in equal measures.

I still remember the first time a boy physically exerted power over me when I was maybe 9? 10? 11? -- the next door neighbour boys, one of which was my age and the other a bit older. The one had invited me over to play. Then the older one was acting kind of weird and he grabbed my wrist and wouldn't let go, a mocking smile on his face, insinuating that they could do things to me because I was a girl and weak and alone. I remember the feel of his fingers on my wrist still and that was how long ago? 35 years ago? I remember that surge of fear and adrenaline and uncertainty. And how, when he finally let me loose, I slunk back home, quiet and timid and I never played with the little brother again.

And I remember all of the catcalls and whistles and the groping from that age on, but especially in my teen years -- most of it from much older men. The veterans that hung around mom's job, with their grizzled beards and greasy hands that would grab my ass as I walked by, not even surreptitiously. That was after my father died, so I had to have been 15 or 16. The boys on the school bus with their hands. You couldn't fall asleep, even though the bus ride was over an hour long and picked me up before 6 AM. and I was always tired.

And, of course, John, my mom's man friend after dad died. Waking up to him grabbing my boobs or staring silently at me at night, sitting there on the side of my bed in the dark, of the "accidental" times he exposed himself to me, or the things he said. Of him driving me to take the SATs in Pensacola and getting a motel room with one bed that I refused to share with him and then never sleeping that night because he stood in the doorway the entire time in his underwear begging me to "just let him cuddle" for a little while. The fact I managed to take the test the next day and get a National Merit Scholarship still amazes me.

And the guilt, of course the guilt. Because what all of those things have in common is the boys and men telling you that you deserve it, that it's your fault, that they couldn't help themselves. I didn't sleep without a bra for years. Fully clothed. Multiple layers. I still sometimes have issues when my husband wants to touch my breasts. And it's hard to explain to him. It happened so long ago, right?

Yeah. It's always there.

And this week it's been everywhere and I just can't take it anymore. I've shut off Twitter and Facebook. I can't see that man's smug face anymore. Can't do it. He's got hair like John, which probably makes it worse but let's be honest, that face he makes when he's insisting on his innocence and victimhood -- it's the face of so many men that I have known.

Even though I count myself lucky because I was never actually raped. Groped, fondled, cajoled, messed with, frightened, whatever you want to call it. But compared to some of my friends, I'm lucky. I really am.

And I am retreating into Mystic Messenger (which I haven't even played in a while) and Kdramas because I feel alone even though I know I'm not. It doesn't help that I'm not feeling 100%. Little dude had a fever the last couple of days. I've got a raspy throat. And I'm tired. Just so, so fucking tired.

Modern Cinderella

Okay, I'm all for Cinderella stories. I can tell you about the oral tradition behind them, about the male versions (called Cinder Lads), about how they appear across many different cultures. Seriously, I've studied Cinderella stories. And I'm not talking the Disney version. So a long while back, I thought I'd try the Shall We Date? Modern Cinderella app. I made it part way through one story and gave up. It was bland.

The art is...mostly okay except for the MC. Her eyes are fully 4x the size of anyone
else's like she's some kind of Anime Barbie. And she stands around all prissy.

It's obviously an older app as they haven't even bothered putting it into their new Dear Otome combined thing and there's no special events or anything of the sort. But, for whatever weird reason, I decided to try it again. Maybe because I thought I should at least get through an entire route before passing judgement? I dunno. Anyway, I tried it again. 

The Story...you are a poor little rich girl and your mother has controlled your life, slathering makeup on you, keeping you sheltered, throwing massive parties so she can marry you off to someone acceptable. You think you have friends but instead learn that they are nearly all sycophant pariahs that are only interested in your money. So you freak out at a party and run away into the night, not even bringing a phone with you. No money. Nothing. You luckily wind up on the literal doorstep of this entirely too nice non-threatening gay dude named Aiden who takes you in and gives you clothes and a room and a job. Why? Who knows. He's the Mother Theresa of otome games.

So...that first route I'd tried and given up on had been maybe the one with the singer? I don't even remember. This time around I tried Zack, the pilot, and in the route you wind up becoming a travel writer. You meet him right after starting your new job at Aiden's bar. And...he's a pretty nice guy. The MC, on the other hand, really comes across as a raving idiot. She's rude when he's just being, like, normal nice. I think she throws coffee all over him the first time they meet after he makes some innocuous comment on how she seems like she might be from North Edel (exactly where she is from). And she continues in this vein--he continually shows up and is nice to her and she acts like a rude beyotch to him. You have no idea why he keeps coming around. 

I think the app developers were trying to show her as recovering from her previous spineless ways and being independent and feisty but...meh...no. She's pretty horrid. But also stupid. I actually renamed the character Naive Idiota. Hello, how are you today, Naive? What lesson will you not learn today about how to be a nice human being and productive member of society? 

But I finished the route. She finally becomes almost bearable at the end. He was pretty much a saint. 

I can't say I enjoyed it.

But I was curious. Was she always such a complete idiot / bitch? So I tried the Chris route. He's the photographer...where the job you wind up in is Mountain Climbing Guide. Each one of the routes includes you figuring out what your dream job is -- one of the only things I like about this app is that it isn't just about romance but also finding yourself. And she's actually bearable in this route (I'm not actually finished with it yet) and acts like a rational person. He's another saint of a human being. I'm thinking, hey, okay, this isn't bad. It's not amazing, but it's w-a-y better than the other one.

But.....the route is progressing merrily along, they are getting along, it's all normal, there's about to be a confession...and then...while mountain climbing together, some sketchy dudes push Chris (and Naive) off the mountain and try to kill him. He gets amnesia. You have to figure out why they are trying to kill him and help him get back his memory.

And I'm all, like, wtf? Where did this come from? It's so out of left field. What the hell is going on? Are the app developers on drugs? 

So, I dunno. On the one hand, yay for an app where the routes actually feel very different. It's just really uneven. I'm going to finish the Chris route, though it may take a while as this is one of the apps where you have to do the stupid fashion showdown thing and it takes awhile to get enough cash to move forwards because it's stingy. After that...am I gonna play another route? I don't know. Should I?

Edit...finished the Chris route. It was all around better than the other one BUT there's is nothing earthshaking or groundbreaking in this app. It's all just okay. I think I'm giving it up completely, especially as it takes ages to collect enough coin/whatever to progress and the payoff isn't worth it. I did start some other route (the chef?) and it was another one where the MC is a blazing idiot again, so I didn't even go beyond the first few "free" chapter bits.

Because This is My First Life

This K-drama is very nearly perfect and is definitely my current favourite. Because This is My First Life is a 16 episode drama that I wouldn't have minded having another few episodes of at all. Actually, it could have used it. The first 14 episodes I honestly don't think I'd have changed much of anything. The last two...well, like a lot of other people as evidenced in this DramaBeans recap, I can accept them, but I do feel they could have been better...or more. When I originally typed that last sentence out, I'd put "I think they could--" but I amended that to feel because that's really what it comes down to. The heart was a bit off in them--not a lot and probably not as much as my first instinct said it was either.

Yoon Ji Ho (Jung So Min) is thirty and stalled in her writing career, always being relegated to barely respected assistant writer, even though she's smart and determined and even went to a top university. When she returns home after a few months to the apartment that she shares with her younger brother, she discovers that he has a newly pregnant young wife. Even though she is the one who paid the deposit and has been supporting him, in her patriarchal family, the boy is everything. So it's her that winds up moving out but she can't afford anything and she doesn't want to crash at her friend's place long-term.

Meanwhile, Nam Sae Hee (Lee Min Ki), a rather taciturn and logical programmer who owns a house but has no extra disposable income (house poor) has had to kick out yet another tenant. Through friends of friends, Ji-ho winds up moving in. Se-hee thinks she's her brother from his snooping on social media; Ji-ho thinks he's a girl (Bo-mi, who also works at the same company and was in the picture she was shown of her new landlord). They don't run into each other for a few days at the apartment (where Ji-ho is proving herself to be the best tenant he's ever had with her cleaning and taking care of the chores & his all important kitty) BUT they do have an accidental kismet-like meeting out at a restaurant where they bond over football, Ji-ho experiences a humiliation related to a guy that she thought was going to ask her out, and then ultimately winds up kissing Se-hee at a bus stop thinking that she's never going to see him again. Her first kiss. This is a story of firsts.

Hmmmm. This is going to turn into an entire re-cap if I don't dial things down and I don't mean to do that. What I really want to do is talk about what I loved about this drama and what I didn't and my somewhat complicated feelings about the ending. So...

To sum up very quickly and leave out a lot...Ji-ho and Se-hee wind up married but they don't intend it to be a "real" marriage but instead a two year contract marriage. She needs a place to live. He needs a good tenant. People will object if they live together unmarried (especially parents). Predictably (this is, after all, a K-drama romance), they both soon find that things aren't that simple.

I need to introduce the other people now, as while this is primarily their story, it's also the story of two other couples, all of which have their own challenges to overcome. Ji-ho's two best friends are Su-ji (a fiercely independent career woman who had dreamed of being her own boss, but is suffering under the misogynistic pervs she works with--OH how much of what she goes through is so familiar to me and nearly every woman who has ever worked in a male dominated industry) and Ho-rang (a fluffy confection of a woman who's dream was to be married and live the stereotypical nice-house+kids homemaker lifestyle. I'm not actually trying to be snarky here, though it probably sounds like it...it's a perfectly acceptable dream).

Se-hee's boss is Ma Sang-gu (often known as CEO Ma, a bit older but rather whimsical man with a definite side of earnest ridiculousness and who once slept with Su-ji and has never forgotten it). Sang-gu is also a mentor for Won-seok (Ho-rang's boyfriend of seven years who has been supported by her as he works on an app that is, quite frankly, stupid and doomed to fail, though he is a smart guy).

Let me quickly (I keep saying that word, but obviously I don't know the meaning of it...) break down their relationships because they both have some lovely character development.

In the beginning, Su-ji has no thoughts of anything but hooking up with men for her own pleasure because her goal is to make enough money to help care for her disabled mother and because, I surmise, most of her experiences with men have proven them to be assholes. Certainly the men she works with on a daily basis are generally scum of the earth. And, oh man, does it remind me of my time working for Ernst & Young right after university. Blech. Sang-gu slowly wears her down by always supporting her, even to the point of losing out on a venture capital investment that would have taken his company to the next level because he couldn't stand how they were treating her. Seriously, Sang-gu is pretty awesome. He's ridiculous and he gives terrible advice but he's what Su-ji needs in her life. They wind up talking about marriage at the end and honestly, I don't think there's a thing I would change about their story arc (they are the middle couple in the picture above). So I'm not gonna talk about them anymore.  

Ho-rang and Won-seok, on the other hand (the bottom couple in the picture)...they've been dating for seven years. They fight, they make up, they love, they argue. Repeat. Over the course of the show they wind up really seriously breaking up (and Ho-rang is even courted by another guy who matches what her "ideal" should be while Won-seok is asked out by Bo-mi who he is imminently compatible with). But, at the end, they realise their love is stronger than their differences and get back together. I'm okay with their ending, though it would have been just as strong story-wise if they had either wound up with their new partners OR an open-ending where they've just recovered from each other. Any of those options would have made sense, including how they did wind up back together. So, yeah, I'm done talking about them too.

This is Bo-mi. She was awesome, though she didn't have a huge part. I'd seriously watch another show about her character.

Can you tell that they are my least favourite out of the couples? I think it's because I identify the least with their characters. I can see myself in all of the other four but I can't see myself in them. But I like that they were in this drama and I do think that they provide a nice counterpoint as all the different relationship dynamics are explored. They were needed. So...

A lot happens in those first 14 episodes and I've actually just thought of the one thing in there that I would have changed and it's probably just a K-drama thing (seriously, I think every single one I have tried has relied on this to one extent of another)...the sheer plot convenience of Se-hee's first love (a woman he lived with in college who became pregnant, though the baby was lost and she disappeared from his life completely, leaving behind a message that he didn't deserve happiness that he took too to heart...and his parents did not approve, etc. etc.) being the producer who miraculously shows up to offer Ji-ho a new writing job. Oh, I'm not complaining about the character, just how they shoehorned her into the story. I get it. They wanted to make her someone important to both Ji-ho and to Se-hee but it was all just so convenient. Anyway, it is what it is.

Anyway...maybe I should go back to the things I love about this one. I love that there's nary a chaebol in sight. That the characters all have flaws, that they struggle, that they support each other, that it does pass the Bechdel test (though, yeah, they talk about their love troubles too), that all of the characters have a story arc that works, that there are some absolutely lovely perfect moments, that it's painfully honest about the struggles of real people in South Korea, that all of the actors really shine and there weren't any particular moments that took you out of the story.

Now then...the thing that has bothered me since I finished watching the show...I think I've finally figured out why it was bothering me. It's because I want Ji-ho to be better than she is. And that's not necessarily right (on my part). At first, there were a lot of things I would have changed. The last two episodes are a bit rushed and the "feel" of them is different from the rest. It's not just me; other people commented the same thing. When I first finished the show, I couldn't stop thinking about it and what I would have done differently. But after thinking about the characters more, I think the ending was acceptable, though I still would have tweaked it.

But...er, maybe I should explain what the ending was first.

Basically, after their trials and tribulations and the stuff about Se-hee's past and Ji-ho's as well, Ji-ho decides unilaterally that she needs to terminate their contract. But the show (I think) makes it obvious that she doesn't consider this the end of their relationship. She tells the ex that she doesn't consider the divorce a "sad ending," she talks about it being an intermission, she says things about how they took marriage too lightly. Her telling him coincides with him about to finally confess his love for her in a clumsy kind of way. And he doesn't do it because she says things first. And then she leaves. He thinks she's gone off to travel. Instead, she just moves into a hostel of sorts and stays in Seoul and hangs out having spa days with Ho-rang. She doesn't take the job that he thought she was going to take. Then she returns some indeterminate time later (this is another quibble -- one bit makes it sound like she's been gone a few months but other things, like how Se-hee takes off 15 days from work out of his 20 days that he has saved up, makes it seem like it might be less...the passage of time in general in the last two episodes isn't very clear), bakes a cake (maybe for Valentine's?) that says basically "here's to our first day of our new relationship" and goes to find Se-hee at his old apartment. But he's sold it. Because the dude was that depressed; he couldn't be in the place where she used to be even though that house had been everything to him before. They coincidentally both wind up at the roof top apartment that used to be Ho-rang and Won-seok's together. While she was gone, Se-hee had been drinking himself into a stupor, had stopped going to work, etc. etc. He was broken. They make up, etc. and the end is that they do file their marriage and find a place together, she becomes a successful writer, and they compromise by not following all the traditional Korean things that you're "supposed to do" and remain true to themselves, putting their love first.

So...at first, there was a lot about that I didn't like. Why did she leave? Why didn't she try to talk to him when she knew he was finally about to open up? Why did she pull the disappearing act? But the more I thought about it, I think most of it does work from a character standpoint. Ji-ho isn't perfect. As her mother (who is brilliant) tells her, she's kinda full of bullshit sometimes and she's stubborn and once she's made up her mind, she goes forwards no matter what, even if she's wrong. So, okay, I get that she needs to sort out her own feelings, to make sure all the confused jumble of feelings and regrets inside her actually equals love. Untie the knots. I can even take her leaving.

But the thing that doesn't work for me after all that is that even though she could very, very easily get information about what he's up to while she's away from her friends, she obviously doesn't. She has no idea that he's sold his house. She doesn't know he hasn't shown up at work. How would any person do this? I find it inconceivable that she wouldn't want to know. While they show him suffering abjectly, they show her giggling and having fun. They don't show her introspective and pondering. There's some voiceovers that hint at it, but it's the barest of hints. So it makes her seem like a real asshole and unnecessarily cruel. All of it would have felt better if they had just shown her angst-ing over things. Then it would have worked for me. Sure, there had been a power imbalance in their relationship at first, but this makes it swing too far in the other direction when the ending makes it clear that the writers were trying to make them more equal. Also, they seem to be stressing that he had to open up and show his emotions, like anger, for her to feel like he is letting her in...but BEFORE SHE LEFT he actually very clearly shows his anger by beating the crap out of the guy that sexually assaulted her in the beginning of the show, though she wasn't there for it (but would certainly have heard about it from either the ex or one of the friends as she was in the middle of a lawsuit about it). They show the ex being astounded that this man -- that Se-hee, who would never hit anyone, that man that would always bottle everything up -- actually beat someone up. Badly. So he'd clearly shown emotion and was about to confess. But the show basically doesn't address that whole thread and she leaves anyway.

I don't normally like the scenes where the character thinks they are dreaming
and says things they may or may not normally say because of it. But I'll accept it
here as there were about 9 empty beer cans and he'd been drinking himself into a
stupor for days. So, okay. But man, poor Se-hee. You ought to say you're sorry, Ji-ho.

That said, Lee Min Ki does an amazing job in the last two episodes. The scene where he thinks he's dreaming Ji-ho is really brilliant. The next day where he finally realises she has come back and he gets angry at her is also great (though she's entirely too flippant in this scene). I would have written that bit differently myself as I feel like they were going for a lighter comedic touch that wasn't necessarily right for the emotional impact that the scene needed to have. She has all the power at this point and she comes off a bit callous.

But, anyway, all that said, the show was generally brilliant and I loved it. It's definitely the best Kdrama that I've seen so far and the moments that worked well were perfect. And there's not a lot of things I say that about, ever. Books, movies, games, whatever. I know I can be too critical sometimes; it's a job hazard. 3/4 of my day is thinking about character motivation and story arc and other crap like that. And I would never ever claim that any of my books are perfect. Man, I SO wish I hadn't agreed to a few editorial changes on my fourth book that I did because they weakened one of the threads I was trying to get across (and readers did notice; though that is also the only book I've received a starred review on). And I wish I'd fought to keep the dead dog, though, yeah, I know, don't kill a dog in a story; no one likes it. I'm still learning. Always will be. So I consider this high praise; Because This is My First Life was very nearly perfect.

Guard Me Sherlock

Alrighty. Remember how I thought I'd take another stab at Guard Me Sherlock after the combined Dear Otome app from the Shall We Date? people came out? No? Well, I did. And I'd decided that I would refrain from passing judgements on a game until completing at least one route. Because sometimes, one route is utter crap and in the Wheel of Fortune of life, I often seem to pick those first. I dunno why.

So. Yeah. There's a few things I like about this one and a lot of stuff I don't. Your mileage may vary. At this point, I've nearly completed three routes: Inspector Lestrade, John Watson (Season 1), and am nearly done with their current release of Edward Hyde (of Dr. Jekyll & Dr. Hyde fame).

What I like about it...the heroine is pretty plucky and proactive and has opinions of her own and the guys all treat her like an intelligent asset to whatever investigation is going on.

Um...that's mostly it.

Okay, not entirely. In the one route that I enjoyed (John Watson), the story was pretty engaging and mostly made sense (kind of). The characters had some chemistry together and it was nicely romantic.

But, apparently there are two types of stories in this app -- the earlier (?) ones where it's one character on a route (like the John one). And then these later ones (like the Edward Hyde one I'm on now and the Inspector one) where it's sort of like pitting the character you're after vs. Sherlock...except there's no way to actually pick Sherlock? It doesn't really make sense. And it winds up quite annoying as Sherlock sort-of vies for your affection at the same time as the other dude but correct character answers only lead in one direction. I'm not sure if they were going for a Love Tangle type of quandary but it really just doesn't work.

After I finished the Edward Hyde one, IF I play another route, it'll only be the single character things. The other ones are too annoying.

Anyway, things that I don't like...

A random example screen. The reason I had chosen the Inspector (centre) as my first route was because he was the most attractive option out of what was available. But he's kind of a bumbling idiot. And a couple of the dudes look more like ladies (like Hercule over there). Which I don't mind, but then I'd rather they were ladies that looked like ladies. And there's a kid who's supposed to be the landlord (?? in London? hahaha) and there's a route for him too? Grown up a bit but, yeah, it's kinda weird

The artwork is...well...kind of crap. Most of the guys don't look attractive at all. Mycroft is probably the worst. I literally cannot imagine a situation where I would try his route. All other otome games and routes have mysteriously disappeared from the world? I dunno. Of course, it doesn't help that he's pretty jerky, which is how he's always portrayed but...um...here too? Bleh. And half of your options are really bad guys (Moriarty and his henchmen who, you know, kill people...)

And besides the normal gacha stuff, the point thing you have to do is sort of stupid and annoying and very slow. It's like a hide and seek where you just randomly click things and get these "kiss points" and then you have to click the character to "kiss" him and earn points/tokens. It's hard to earn enough of the points/tokens this way. Takes forever AND is boring.

Then they throw this extra bonus thing in where they randomly insert little brain teasers into the storyline where you can earn extra stuff or tokens/cash. They break up the story, which is annoying, but also most of them are kind of stupid. I realise they were going for something to tie into the Sherlock / Solve a Mystery thing but it's so random that it's very off-putting. Take the last one I did...they were literally running away from someone who wanted to bodily harm them but somehow they have time to stop for a random quiz? Like, really?

Then there's the stories themselves...they...um....they don't make much sense and they aren't very clever. Take the Edward Hyde one. You're an actress and you go to Sherlock because you're engaged to a man and you think maybe he's not what he seems. An old acting friend (Edward) shows up and sort of goes all crazypants and destroys the room when he finds out you're Gilbert's (?!) fiancé because he's seen Gilbert do sketchy things. Anyway, everyone gathers together to investigate because, I guess, it's not enough for you to just hear that the dude is sketchy + your gut feeling.

As you investigate, it becomes pretty clear that the dude is sketchy as all hell. Though, to be fair, so is your good friend Edward. But we're supposed to like him, even though he's randomly violent and uncontrollable. There's a big scene at Gilbert's house where dude is literally acting all evil, polite mask removed, etc. and trying to freaking KILL you. You escape with some evidence on a USB stick. But why the F-ettyF do you even need to see what's on the USB? Dude just tried to KILL you all. With a knife. And extreme malice. But she's all, oh good now I have evidence and can break off my engagement lalala. It's just so stupid.

Anyway. Can't say that I particularly recommend this one. They also set the thing in London and then get stuff wrong about the city all the time (especially directionally and distance-wise). That annoys me, since it's my city.

Though, the John Watson route was decent. It wasn't groundbreakingly noteworthy, but it was nice. So, I guess, I'd say this app is ok...if you stick to the single character routes and not the weird Sherlock vs. someone ones.

About Time

So, after watching What's Wrong with Secretary Kim (the first K-drama I actually really liked it), I was excited to try a new one. I started watching A Witch's Love with the little dude (as it seemed a bit goofy, which is the kind of stuff we like to watch together) and About Time (aka A Moment I Want to Stop) by myself.

Just finished it this morning and wanted to get my thoughts down. I was intrigued by the premise initially -- Choi Mika (played by Lee Sung Kyung), a woman who can see the lifespan clocks of everyone she meets (including herself), is facing her last days. She's running out of time and she can see it slowly ticking away. She meets a man, Lee Do Ha (Lee Sang-Yoon) who seems to have the ability to stop her clock from moving forward. Will he change her fate? Will they fall in love? Will there be a happily ever after? Can there be a happily ever after when, in her experience, nothing can be done to change your clock?

Things are, of course, complicated by a number of factors. But you knew that. To begin with, she's not sure exactly how or why or when he is affecting her clock. At first, it just seems to stop when she's near him (and that distance is variable). Then, once they get closer, it even adds time. Sometimes slowly, sometimes quickly (this is one of the areas where the mythology of the piece is a bit iffy; it's inconsistent and never really explained and obviously used purely for heightening tension within the plot...which I'm fine with in general, but sometimes it was a bit clumsy and too-convenient plot-wise). And how does a musical actress get close to a richy-rich third generation chaebol? And one that is engaged, no less? And has anxiety issues (due to a very bad past breakup experience)? And has quite possibly one of the most contemptible families in history (well, the dad and one brother, anyway)? And...and...and...there's a lot of complications. Not the least of which is getting close to this prickly man at all.

Let me just stop and say here that overall I did like this one more than not. The acting, other than a few hiccups in the early episodes, was pretty good. I enjoyed it, even the heartwrenching moments (of which there were many). The supporting cast was fairly well developed (other than a couple of things I'll talk about later). It was good. I'll look out for other things by these actors. I wanted to say that up front because now I'm going to break down the things that didn't work as well for me and I have to admit that it's likely because I'm a writer and stuff like this gets under my skin. But it doesn't mean I didn't enjoy this one. In fact, it's because I enjoyed it that the bits that were off are nagging at me.

The arc with the nice older brother of Do Ha was a good one, though sad (though his death seemed to come too soon based on how much time she'd said he had left on his clock...like there was a time jump of sorts that wasn't really explained, especially as all the other ongoing plot threads didn't seem to jump as well.). The digression into the romance between Mika's best friend and younger brother seemed to have been inserted to lighten the dramatic tension and was welcome because of that--there did need to be some laughs in-between the intense crying scenes or it would have been far too depressing. The stuff with the babyfaced genius director sometimes went on a little long, but that was partly because the writers were setting him up as a red herring of sorts as a potential love interest (more on that in a minute).

There are 16 total episodes in this drama. It's possible that there were about 2 too many or 2 too few. The first few, setting up the premise and characters, move at a decent pace. The middle sometimes drags, but is mostly okay. The end is where things fall apart.

There are two major plot threads that are working to keep them apart.

The most straightforward one is the fiancé, Bae Soo-Bong (Im Se-Mi), who at first is playing hard to get (it's an arranged marriage type of thing and she's turned down Do Ha's proposal, like, ten times) and then morphs into absolute batshit crazypants "If I can't have him, I'll destroy us all" territory. Im Se-Mi does this well and Do Ha's father is her willing accomplice (seriously, he's a terrible dad...the writers kept trying to throw out little redemption tidbits for him but, no, he's just awful). But then...after ramping up the stakes again and again with both Soo-Bong and the dad, it's resolved FAR too easily. Soo-Bong, after one last desperate plea for attention, is about to commit suicide. Mika and Do Ha stop her (Mika having been alerted by Soo-Bong's clock wavering between 54 years or 2 minutes). And then...she just kind of gives it up. Returns the rings. Stops all of the intense business bullying, etc. Basically disappears as an obstacle in the space of 20 minutes. It was too sudden, especially as the father as an obstacle (threats of disowning Do Ha, etc. etc.) aren't even MENTIONED at all. There's no resolution there. When you finally do see the dad again, they are simply having yet another uncomfortable family dinner. There were no repercussions. There was also no resolution of evil big brother either. The only movement there is that you see that his wife gains a little independence and confidence by the end of the series.

I mean, I realise why they did this. They were, hahaha, running out of time and they had to wrap up the main plot thread--Mika and Do Ha's fated love story. But it bugs me because it felt lazy. They should have either toned it down and wrapped it up more neatly OR expanded it out and done it properly.

So, anyway, the main obstacle, of course, is that once Mika discovers that she is stealing time from Do Ha (he had 61 years to start with, while she had about 80 days), she feels she has to run from him. She can't kill the man she loves. But she doesn't tell him this, instead drawing it out over a number of episodes as she keeps trying to give him excuses ("I don't like you." "I made it all up.") to push him away but he keeps pursuing her. All of that was fine, story-wise. It was painful to watch, but it works. That's the story. That's their love; while it may have started under strange circumstances, they are both the kind of people who put others in front of themselves. She doesn't tell him that the reason she is running from him is because she is taking his time because she KNOWS that he would be all too willing to give it.

Once he discovers her deception, that is what he wants to do. Of course it is. But she, of course, can't accept that because she loves him just as completely as he loves her. They come to a compromise of sorts (and all of this pretty much plays out over the last 3 episodes--rush, rush, rush) where she promises not to run and he promises to stay far enough away while she acts the leading role in a musical (I didn't talk at all about all the stuff going on with the musical...and I'm not going to even though it's a huge part of the story because, ultimately, it's part of the vehicle of the plot but it isn't the driving force and I've already written too much about this). But, he says, after it is done, she has to "do things his way." Well, you and I know that there's no way she'll do that. I don't know why Lee Do Ha thinks for a minute that she will. But I suppose love--and hope--are blind.

Predictably, closing night comes. She is down to a small amount of time. A handful of days. Lee Do Ha takes her hand. He makes sure to cover her clock and his, hoping that if she can't see it, she won't focus on it. They spend a nice day & night together. He is blissful. She, on the other hand, is enjoying it like an inmate on Death Row enjoys his last meal. And the first chance she gets to see her clock, she does. And there it is, rapidly sucking away his days. Remember how I said up above how it was annoying that there was no consistency with how the time passes between them? Sometimes it was just seconds passing by at normal time...at this point it was days getting sucked up. After she (of course) runs and he (of course) finds her (with the help of her mom because, once mom finds out what's up (of course) she's going to do everything she can to prolong her daughter's life), there's the dramatic scene where the years are passing from his clock to hers over the space of seconds. She's panicking. They are in the street. They both get hit by a truck.

An effing truck. She apparently has really bad luck with cars (her grandmother saved her from one and sacrificed herself).

Which, by the way, you freaking knew was going to happen because the preview at the end of the last show TOLD YOU IT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN. That kinda pissed me off. Anyway. Way to spoil the dramatic moment.

And here is the most annoying thing. Oh no, she's thinking as they lie there bleeding in the street, after all of this and I've killed him, oh woe, what kind of fated love is this? Then it cuts to her in a hospital bed. She wakes up. Looks at her clock. We don't know if she can see it or what the number is or anything--a blaze of light as the door to her room opens and....CUT to a new scene.

Okay, remember how I said they'd given little red herring hints of the Director being a possible love interest? They tried to shove that in here in the last episode as a little gotcha thing (I get it, I get it, as a writer I get it, but it really pissed me off). It's too disjointed. And unsatisfying. And rushed.

She's dancing and it looks like a scene from early on when the Director who has turned her down for casting a couple of times sees her performing for herself and tells her some kind words (sort of; he's snarky because he thinks a lot of himself). Same song as the first one at her first audition. Same song as the first time she wound up kissing Lee Do Ha. I appreciate the symmetry, I do. But the execution is a bit clumsy. It's too long and you feel like you're in just another random flashback (there are SO many flashbacks in this, like they don't trust you to remember things on your own and have to force feed it to you) and when you finally get to the point where you figure out it isn't a flashback but possibly some new future and are they are pushing Director boy but then finally Lee Do Ha enters the scene and you're like oh FFS. At least I was. Then it goes into all these other little wrap-up scenes: the ex-fiancé having dinner with a new man, the younger brother & best friend sharing time, that uncomfortable family dinner of the Lee family, a visit where Lee Do Ha finally meets Mika's dad...and I'm like, okay, great, you tried to do a brief fakeout and then you go into the epilogue, basically, but just tell me what happened already, would you? The pacing was just all over the place in the last episode. Too fast, too slow. It was both satisfying and not at the same time. They do finally come back to it, him opening the hospital door, them both having survived being hit by a truck and her ability to see clocks gone.

But they just left that hanging there. The viewer is left not knowing how much time they have left. They don't know either. And that's not necessarily a bad ending but it felt unsatisfying, especially when one of the wrap up scenes is with Madame Oh (who also can see clocks) and you SEE HER LOOKING AT MIKA'S CLOCK but then they don't tell you. I'd rather they either left it alone OR gave it a concrete resolution. Like the most likely thing would be that the time he had had been split between them. Or, (more happily but less likely from a world building point of view), they now both had the same amount of time (some 60 years).

And there was the stuff thrown in at the end about all of the fated lover stuff that I'd already guessed WAY early on -- when Mika's grandmother had died after saving her from a car accident, it had been Lee Do Ha as a child in the car and how it was him bumping into her on the street that had first made her clock visible to her -- they threw it out there but then didn't really do anything with it.

Yeah. So. I feel like I've complained a lot about this one. Mostly it comes down to the last episodes feeling rushed and incomplete. It could have gone longer...or shorter, if they'd wrapped up some of the fiancé angst earlier. I dunno. There are definitely things I would have done differently. But maybe some of this is also a cultural thing for the Korean audience? I'm not sure. The first few K-dramas I tried I found really unwatchable. I'm not Korean and I'm likely far too Westernized, even if I am half-Chinese. Watching things like this is almost a surreal experience. Some of it I identify with so much and other things feel so foreign. Being half something is sometimes hard. It's a foot each in two worlds.

BUT to sum up...I more liked it than not. The actors all grew on me. Especially Lee Sang-Yoon--he was so stiff in the beginning but then once he warmed up, was just lovely. Also like that in real life he majored in Physics. I feel a little sad that I wrote up all of this nitpicky stuff when I did like it so much--mostly because of the cast. Viewer's guilt? Well, this blog is just for me anyway. I write things for myself to remember them and I do want to remember this one. I am disappointed but still happy that I watched it.

Edit: After watching Lee Sung Kyung in Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo (in which she was much better) and a number of other better Kdramas, I'd have to downgrade my opinion of this one. It had promise, but it did fall short. Am on the lookout still for more Lee Sang Yoon though.

Brain dead

Today I had to take my random scribbles of story notes (much of which, to be honest, were just half-formed thoughts in my head that I'd never bothered to write down at all) and turn them into brief descriptions of 4 books that do not yet exist for two different series. My brain is now officially fried. And I really wish I could drink more than one coffee a day without getting shaky. But, it's done! Yay, me!

And, hopefully, what I wrote up makes a modicum of sense. I think it did. Not entirely sure. Will find out soon. The agent said it looked good. But he was also on his way to the airport and drowning in last minute tasks and emails. :)

Also started A Witch's Love (another Kdrama) and watched it on the train into London. Not liking it as much as What's Wrong with Secretary Kim, but I'm waiting to see how it develops. The one thing I've learned about Kdramas so far is that you have to give it a few episodes to decide...well, unless it's truly horrible. I think I'm partly confused as to who the love interest is. And disappointed that it seems like it's going to be yet another childhood trauma storyline. Surely they can't ALL go there, right?

It was little dude's big test day today so I bought him some manga as a reward for getting through it. And myself a book on how to make comics. Hadn't mentioned before, but the editor of my third book emailed me and asked if I was interested in doing a proposal for a graphic novel for them.

Um, hell yeah I'm interested in doing a graphic novel!

It'd be a re-telling of a classic story (something like Shakespeare) but with multicultural aspects and brought into a modern-day setting. It'd obviously just be the story part, with someone else illustrating as, while I enjoy drawing, I can't draw characters consistently. I can maybe draw it once, but it ain't never gonna come out the same again. Going to meet a friend next week who's done graphic novels before and pick his brain on how you structure the manuscript. While I've read lots of graphic novels (manga included, obviously), I've never written one before. I think I'm fairly well suited for it, as my main strength when writing YA is dialogue. So crossing fingers. Also nice that I only need to do a synopsis/outline rather than having to write the entire thing out AND that she's not in a rush as hopefully I'll have some good news / steady work shortly.

So things looking up and good timing, as with summer over and little dude back in school, it's back to work for me.

What's Wrong with Secretary Kim?

Ah, I've made it through summer break and a few rounds of guests (not going to get into the MIL visit because I don't even want to think about it) and now the little dude is back in school. I have news but I don't even want to write about it (mostly) anonymously here as I don't want to jinx myself. Hopefully I can talk about it in a week or so. Until then, I am a bundle of nerves.

So...let's talk about What's Wrong with Secretary Kim?

I'd pretty much given up on finding a Kdrama that I liked after a few attempts (like with A Gentleman's Dignity), even though I kept hearing good things about them. But I kept seeing bits about this one and then someone mentioned how the main guy character was like a combination of Zen and Jumin  (and he totally seemed that way from the clips...rich, stuck on himself businessman who actually has a good heart) so I thought I'd try it out.

And I love it. Loved it. Just finished it today.

Okay, it's still a bit like watching a live action anime with some funny/silly sound effects but here it wasn't annoying. It was just cute. The acting was MUCH better and both the leads and the supporting cast were really excellent.

But let me start over.

Kim Mi So (the secretary in question) has been working for 9 years for the young and handsome Vice Chairman of a huge corporation. He's a HUGE narcissist. When she suddenly tells him that she wants to resign, he's thrown for a huge loop. Why would she do such a thing? He's determined to keep her by his side. At first, you think it's just for superficial reasons, but you soon have hints that there's something much deeper going on and that there's a history between them.

That history is...well...a bit convoluted. Maybe unnecessarily dramatic, but I suppose they don't call these Korean DRAMAS for nothing. I actually wouldn't have minded if all of the past trauma stuff has been taken out and it had been a simple love story between the two of them -- characters from such different backgrounds and circumstances -- BUT, that said, I didn't mind it because it was handled fairly well and all the loose ends were wrapped up and it even wound up making sense. Mostly. That part did drag on quite a bit in the middle episodes (there are 16 total).

The humour was great and I absolutely loved the supporting cast, even the over-acting of Section Chief Se Ra. Secretary Yang, her love interest, was adorable and altogether too pure for this world. The best friend of the Chairman was hilarious and I'd love to see him again in anything. All of the side stories were tied up AND satisfying in their own right. Even the sisters of Secretary Kim were done well and I was worried they were just going to be foils in the beginning.

I'm sad it's over.

It was all so very adorably awkward and sweet.

And GAH I want to talk about all the other things going on in my life right now but I can't at the moment, not even here, so that'll be me done for the day. At least I can say, hey, I'm back! Summer break is over!