Page Turner

I've got just two episodes left of The World Owes Me a First Love (and am, honestly, a bit disappointed with the predictability of the last half of that drama) and decided I needed something short I could finish quickly. I also didn't want to continue on with the When the Camellia Blooms or start The Tale of Nokdu because I don't want to get into the waiting for subs dance. I probably should just finish up Revenge Note, but I've got so many episodes of that to go...

So. Yeah. I started something new.

It's short -- only three episodes of an hour each. And it's been on my list for awhile but only recently came up where I can watch it in my region. And...it has Ji Soo. It's Page Turner. And probably a sadder, more angsty thing than I would normally pick right now, but, hey, it's got a young, energetic Ji Soo with a purple streak in his hair. I've been meaning to see him in something else since Strong Woman Do Bong Soon (and his brief cameo in Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Ju).

Yoo-Seul's (Kim So-Hyun) mother has been pushing her to be a pianist since she was young and discovered that her daughter was a prodigy who could play after no lessons (she previously wanted to be on herself, but couldn't because of financial concerns, and is a piano teacher). Yoo-Seul is top at her performing arts school, followed in second by Seo Jin Mok (Shin Jae-Ha), who coincidentally was the one who kicked off Yoo-Seul's mother discovering (after he was a brat to her and wanted to fire her from being his teacher) her daughter's talent. They are enemies at school and Yoo-Seul secretly hates him because she hates being pushed by her mother and doesn't even really like piano...well, who would? When it's all her mother seems to care about.

The mother is played by Ye Ji-Won, who played a character I loved (Jennifer) in Thirty but Seventeen and it's so weird to see her play a character now that I really, really just want to smack. As a mother, she completely offends me. Not only is she using her daughter as a surrogate for herself, she tries to make her cheat and step on other people. Just, ugh.

There's also Ji-Soo, playing Cha-Sik, a top athlete. He's got a promising future with potential scholarships and all kinds of things with pole vaulting, etc. but a chance accident finds him with a diagnosis that means he needs to give up sport. He's an upbeat, goofy guy and this throws him for a loop. He doesn't know who he is without sport.

Anyway, after a particularly contentious meeting, Jin Mok prays for something bad to happen to Yoo-Seul...and it does. She gets in a car wreck (her mother was driving and not paying enough attention because she was too busy talking about her future plans for her daughter and drove out into an intersection). As a consequence, she loses her sight. Jin Mok finds out (I think he's literally still at the church or wherever when he gets the call about the accident) and is full of guilt.

He goes to the hospital to visit her, bringing rather useless flowers (though, to be fair, at the time he didn't know she'd completely lost her sight). Meanwhile, Ji-Soo has run into Yoo-Seul, who asks him for directions to the roof. Once there, she plans to jump. It's not her lack of eyesight...in fact, she was almost glad. It's that her mother has told her (in front of a horrified doctor) that now she'll just have to play and practice the piano that much harder.

Jin Mok has it out with her and gets his world turned a bit upside down when he hears that she doesn't even like piano and can't stand the thought of it any more and doesn't want to live with her mother pushing her any longer. She jumps...but Ji Soo is there to catch her. He didn't actually take her to the roof, but to the parking garage, because he suspected something. Having overheard her dramatic speech, he tells her it's partly her own fault (he can't fault a mother for anything, seeing as he's got serious hero worship going on with his mom and would do anything for her) because she never told her mother she didn't want to play and pretended to like it and always went along. Which is somewhat true, but not the whole truth, as dear old mom is pretty horrible. Pageant mom.

But he's having his own crisis as well and breaks down later on his mom. What should he do with his life? What does he have to live for without sports? She takes an old picture that she claims is her with his dad out of an album and shows it to him, along with some info about who she says that is -- a famous pianist and very intelligent man. She convinces him he's got way more than just sports. He decides he wants to play piano and follow in his dad's footsteps so he can maybe someday meet him. I suspect that man really isn't his dad, but who knows. Basically, she wanted to give him something to aspire to...I don't know that she even imagined he would take it to literally mean piano.

And that's the first episode. Durrrr. I'm going to try and not write up that much about the remaining two hours. Anyway, adore Ji-Soo so far. Such a nice job, both in his bouncy up mode and in the breakdown crying mode. The actors playing the other two leads are good as well and glad to see Yoo-Seul finally standing up to her mom at the end of episode 1. Not sure yet about Jin Mok beyond the fact that at least he feels guilt. We'll see. She was horrible to him, but he was pretty horrible as well (including when he was a kid).

Edit: finished it. It ended a bit too open for me, though also on an emotional high note, so I suppose I shouldn't really complain. But I do feel like they could have had 5 more minutes to just give a bit of closure to the relationship between the three leads -- it was almost more about the mothers in the last little wrap up than the kids. Anyway, all three of them did a great job and hit the mark with their characters. I did enjoy it and I'm glad I watched it. Could have easily enjoyed watching it as a longer drama because they were great together. Not sure if I'd watch it again or not. Maybe, after awhile. But definitely a worthwhile watch.

Edit (again): After some further reflection, one very simple addition would have (mostly) fixed the ending for me (though, to be fair, I really want more closure than this)...at one point, they show a picture of Yoo-Seul holding her trophy for the duet competition and she's smiling for the first time in any of her award pictures (so, yay, she actually is enjoying playing piano). But it's still a solo pic of her. If they'd just made that a photo of the three of them, that would have given a roundness to the ending that it didn't have. They wouldn't even have had to make it romantic (though Cha-Sik's character definitely had a bit of a crush on her). Just a friendly thing would have been fine. But the story really needed SOMETHING with the three of them to finish with.

When the Camellia Blooms

So...since I finished Accidentally in Love (finally!), I was going to pick back up with either of the two I'm watching on Viki (The World Owes Me a First Love or Revenge Note) BUT the stupid website was down again. Or, half down. At any rate, not working. The only thing I was in progress on with Netflix was Let's Eat and I just really wasn't feeling it today so...yeah...I started something new.

And it's another in progress one. Sigh. I really shouldn't do that. I have been wanting to try it, though. It's When the Camellia Blooms starring Kong Hyo-Jin (or Gong...she was the lead in both The Master's Sun and It's Okay, That's Love, both of which I mostly liked) as Dongbaek. She's slightly quirky, which is probably what I like about her. Her characters (that I've seen) are always slightly off in interesting ways.

I knew going in that she was a single mother who doesn't get a lot of respect (South Korea's got some issues definitely as far as that goes; just look at the real world news) but is doing her best. And that a cop falls immediately in love with her when he sees her and he's kinda goofy.

Which is true. The cop is played by Kang Ha-Neul as Hwang Yong-Sik and he is indeed immediately smitten by her as soon as he sees her. He's a bit of a Don Quixote type; tilting at windmills, with an over-developed sense of justice (which is why he's a cop) but an innocent air.

BUT I also knew going in that there was some type of serial murder thing going on in the background. Hence why he's a cop. BUT I didn't know that they were going to tease that it's Dongbaek that's the (or a) victim -- they show a flash forward into the future where a corpse wearing her bracelet is pulled from some swampy land and Yong-Sik being terribly upset. So I'm a little confused because the rest of the show does NOT feel like it's a tragedy, so it's hard to imagine that they're actually going to kill the main female lead. Honestly, I kinda hate flash forwards. Just tell me the story and allow it to carry everything instead of teasing some big thing that you then have to build towards. So, eh. I dunno. If I had to guess after the first episode who the dead body is, I'd say it's Dongbaek's employee Hyang-mi, who they've already outed as a kleptomaniac who only steals small things (like lighters...but a bracelet is also small)...why make such a big point of that small character detail unless it was actually important?

There's also a guy in the city played by Kim Ji-Suk (I saw him in the few episodes I watched of 20th Century Boy and Girl) who is a "nice guy" (maybe) married to some absolute wretched skinny starlet-type Instagram influencer beyotch but they don't even live together, though they have a baby (that the wife won't even touch). I imagine he is the dad to Dongbaek's kiddo (who is 7? But seems older...more like 9 maybe...but she's been in Ongsan for 6 years and he was a wee baby when they moved there) as why else introduce him?

Other than that, there's an assortment of people who live in Ongsan (like Kim Sun-Young who always plays someone bizarre and kinda funny mostly, so another reason I don't see how this will play as a tragedy) who aren't always kind to Dongbaek, even though she's lived there now for 6 years. One is her sleazy landlord (Mr. No) who has political aspirations and is always flirting with her, even though she won't give him the time of day OR any free peanuts...but his wife, a lawyer, suspects that she is the "other woman" because he's always calling her and hanging out at her bar (to be fair, I imagine the wife is correct in that there's bound to be another woman with that horrid man, but it's not Dongbaek).

So...I'd say I liked it so far other than the flash forward thing. Yong-Sik is obviously going to be adorable and one of those unconditionally in love types.

But...I also just looked up how many episodes this sucker will have and F-me...it's gonna have 40. Or maybe 32? or 18? Crap. They are 60 minutes each. And only 10 are out so far. And there's some confusion over whether it's gonna be one of those things Netflix breaks into two seasons or what. One thing shows Netflix having just 18 episodes, with the last scheduled to air mid-November. Maybe the South Korean thing is 32 episodes of 30 minutes each? But then 18 isn't half of 32. So totally confused.

WHY DID I DO THIS?? Maybe I won't watch any more for a while. I would have started the Tale of Nok-du if darn Viki had been working.

Edit: Okay, it's February now and the show has finished and I slightly spoilered myself by seeing a clip that obviously shows them together at the end of the show (but happy I did), so I'm picking this one back up again. I've about to start episode 4 now and I have to say I really love this one so far. I  just adore Yong-Sik. I need a Yong-Sik. I can see that there's gonna be a lot of angst coming up, but I am so here for Yong-Sik. Kong Hyo-Jin is also still good, but she generally always is.

Edit: Okey dokey! It's just now March and I finally finished this one. I watched it while doing my exercise time (and a bit on the train). It wound up at 20 episodes. It did drag a bit...and was slow-paced in general. Honestly, the story probably could have been told in a movie length bite. That said, I did enjoy it. As I suspected after the first episode, Hyang-mi was indeed the latest murder victim. Actually, pretty much everything I thought would happen after the first episode...yeah, it happened. So I suppose you could say it was predictable. There weren't any surprises at all. Everyone was pretty much who I thought they would be, character-wise. The fact that it worked is all down to the cast, especially Kang Ha-Neul as Yong-Sik. For me, he's the one that carried it and made it worth watching. He's just a joy. I hadn't seen him in anything before, but I'll be on the lookout for him now.

Kong Hyo-Jin, in contrast, was a little bit of a disappointment compared to other things I've seen her in, but it wasn't her fault. The character Dongbaek had moments, but she also spent a great deal of time being a dishrag. It would be one step forward and then two steps back. She's a very good-hearted character but also frustrating and weepy. So it wasn't my favourite part she's ever played.

Was it worth watching? Yes. I can't say it was super satisfying, in retrospect, but it also may have been a timing thing...a big part of the latter half was the storyline about the mother dying of kidney failure. That ended happy, but it's also coincidentally right now where in my life mom is going into hospice and we're basically on death watch. So it was a bit hard to get through those bits. Timing. Did that colour my viewing? I imagine it did. But I did overall like it a lot. I need a Yong-Sik. He's pretty much one of the nicest K-drama dudes I have ever had the pleasure to watch.

Tenterhooks

I'm on edge a bit this week. My book is out at the Frankfurt Book Fair. Will it sell to some foreign markets? I could really use some good news. The drama with the car is dragging on still. Things are just...well, you know. Stressful. I am cautiously hopeful but at the same time, very worried.

Can't concentrate. Just waiting.

And trying to finish off at least one of the shows that I'm watching. I whittled it down to an "actively watching" list of only 4, but there's another 10 (okay, probably 11) that's on the slowly watching list and I don't wanna count how many I want to start.

Out of the 4, I've put the Chinese drama The World Owes Me a First Love on hold because I caught up to the subbed episodes and I want to build up at least 4 or 5 of them before I pick it up again. Maybe I'll even wait until they are all out. As of today, 22 episodes are released out of what I think will be 24 and they've been translated up to episode 18. I'm up to episode 15. It's the one that I'm probably most enjoying at the minute, though it's about to enter the angsty bit of the over-arching story line...meh.

Yeah, I just need low angst and happy right now, you know? This is why I'm so tempted to start the Tale of Nokdu, which looks adorable. But I really ought to finish something else first.

I was also really liking Revenge Note with Cha Eun Woo and Park Solomon. Up to the latter half of that as well, but it also had hit the oh no everything is falling apart stage so I'm working myself up to it. It's an odd show; at once both lighthearted and very dark.

Then there's Let's Eat and it's okay and I will finish it, but I don't love the female lead character (the character, not the actress; as far as I can tell, the actress is talented enough) and it's not exciting me. So I'm finding myself watching an episode here and there but not necessarily looking forward to it? But not hating it enough to drop it? And all the food looks good...

Which leaves me with the one I'm trying to finish that I started back in August...Accidentally in Love. The episodes are short (about 25 minutes if you cut off the intro and the outro). It's also the least angsty (though it too is entering the angstiest, frustrating bit of the story where "circumstances conspire against our leads bum bum bah bum"). The acting isn't amazing and it has the most laughable special effects I've seen in anything made in the last 20 years, but it is mostly silly and cheerful. So that's where I am. I'm on 22 out of 30. Gah. It feels like there's still so much to go!

I want some good news. I want something good to happen. I've done all I can to make something good happen, and now I wait and I stew and I sweat and just generally feel like pinhead. I feel like I should work but I'm still waiting on last changes from my editor but I am also just so AAAGGGHHH that I feel like my brain is going to explode and I also just want to sleep.

But is it really?

I saw a clip of a Korean movie called What a Man Wants a couple of days ago and...eh...let me start with what it was. Two guys playing pool. Brothers? Brothers-in-law? A sexy woman joins them, one knows her from somewhere. The other is taciturn. There's nary another woman in the whole pool hall. She saunters in, oozing sex, working the room without even really trying.

She's playing pool with them. She's good. The one is obviously flirting with her. The other seems to be actively trying not to be affected. She's taking shots with her butt all stuck out as far as possible. All the dudes in the pool hall are watching. A waiter walks by and accidentally drops his tray; her butt gets soaked.

And then...

And then...

...she takes off her thong underwear RIGHT THERE and then she...she...TIES UP HER HAIR IN A PONYTAIL WITH HER UNDERWEAR. The underwear that she JUST TOOK OFF. And goes back to playing pool. The taciturn dude finally puts his jacket over her.

I just...I...I got nothin'.

I thought, when she stood up, that maybe she was going to take off her skirt and play the rest of the round in a slip or something. Or even in her underwear and stockings. I dunno. Would be kinda crazy, but hey. Or maybe she'd attempt to towel off.

But.

Why or how is this any kind of an appropriate response? How is this sexy? How is this anything but gross? Am I missing something? Am I just...not a man?

Anyway, I looked up the movie because I was both curious and disgusted and it's apparently about the two dudes; the one cheats on his wife all the time and then she dies and he's torn up to figure out she also cheated on him and tries to prove to his wife's lover that she loved him more (wtf?) and the other dude (the taciturn one) is his sister's husband, who winds up cheating with the pool playing lady or something. But they "all love each other anyway" or some such nonsense. Definitely not my kind of movie and I'm not watching it. But it's still stuck in my mind because I can't get over that one clip. It's such a WTF moment. I JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND.

Moorim School

Little dude and I finished The King's Avatar and so are looking for our next together watch. I talked him into trying Moorim School, as it looked like a decent match for him. Teenage-ish magical fantasy action-y adventure set at a school with kick butt scenes and at least one feisty heroine. Some humour as well.

I wouldn't say he was in love with the first episode, though he did like it. Mostly he thought it was kind of stereotypical and, well, he's right. There weren't any surprises.

There's the K-pop Idol (with blonde hair) being blackballed by his manager because he's made enough money off of him and he's difficult and the poor dude is struggling with some kind of uncontrolled magical power + hearing loss caused by it and feeling very alone.

Then there's the rich dude with the controlling father who's been kicked out of every school he's ever gone too...his father kidnaps him to try and force him to go to Moorim school and he tries running away and is ultimately saved from drowning by plucky, non-nonsense "could sell ice to an eskimo" long dark haired pig-tail girl from a humble background...and falls for her immediately, calling her Little Mermaid. Once he finds out she goes to Moorim school, he's all in.

And there's the other girl, who (I think) is the daughter of the headmaster, who has some kind of magical ability of his own...and she's a big fan of the Kpop dude, even saving his life when some lighting rig almost falls on him at his concert.

Hmmmm...I think we can see who's going to wind up with who based on who saved who? Could be wrong, but maybe.

Anyway, it's kinda cheesy but fairly interesting. I think he would have liked it more if the end bit with the preview of the next episode hadn't basically given the entire episode away. Might have to try him on some other shows as well and see which one sticks, but I'll watch this one either way, I imagine. I like the plucky girl in particular.

When knowing doesn't help

I'm not doing great right now. I know I'm too stressed. My stomach is upset all the time. Signs of another ulcer. I can't sleep well. But I'm completely exhausted. Got up at 6:45 to get little dude ready for school. Was so desperate tired that I went back to bed around 8. Didn't wake up until 11:30 (which was a longer block of time than what I'd slept solid the night before). It's past 3 PM now and I'm once again so tired that I just want to curl up in a ball and sleep.

But knowing that I'm too stressed and what it's doing to me doesn't really help. I can't do much of anything about it. Things are what they are at the moment. I'm worried about money. I'm worried about a lot of things. I was worried before all the crap with the car and little dude's stolen laptop. That just all made it worse.

I feel teary off and on. Maybe it would help if I had my next round of edits to work on so I could focus on something. I dunno.

Something's gotta give, right?

The World Owes Me a First Love aka Lucky's First Love

So...I wasn't feeling like any of the dramas I'm currently watching (Accidentally in Love and Revenge Note being too...well, young and Let's Eat not being romance-y enough and the others on my "currently watching" (i.e. haven't yet given up on) list being a bit too angst-y) so I...of course...started a new drama.

I'd been hearing lots of buzz about how adorable The World Owes Me a First Love aka Lucky's First Love was. And also that it was very low angst and cute. Which I could use right now. Did I mention that the insurance has declared the car a total loss? Which means we'll be paying at least £3000 and possibly more AND have to buy a new car? So. Yes. I need some VERY LOW ANGST right now. Seriously. I know I'm stressing. I can feel it. My blood pressure has been wonky. My stomach has been iffy. I think I'm getting an ulcer again. So. Yes. Let's get back to the drama. The fictional drama, that is.

It is, indeed, pretty adorable so far. I'm just one episode in. Xing Yun (played by Bai Lu with hair that I feel must be a wig because it is so strangely unmoving, but is adorable nonetheless) is a hard-working and (so far) capable employee...in fact, the first employee (? there must be a story there) of TIG, a game company owned by Xia Ke (played by Xing Zhao Lin). I'm going to ignore all of the fluff blurb on Viki because it makes it sound like she's a new employee and "hijinks ensue" but that was disproved in literally the first two minutes of the show. Anyway, he can seem taciturn but as soon as no one is looking at him (especially Xing Yun...who's name means "lucky"), he gets some adorably goofy smiles on his face. He obviously finds her indispensable. It might be the whole "lucky" thing but it's obviously more.

He goads her into having a date with someone (the new game they are developing that she wants to work on is an otome, it seems) and is immediately jealous when it seems like it might have been a success. So jealous, in fact, that he even dreams about her leaving the company and having children. Oh, yeah, we all know where this is going.

I'm sure there will be antics. He's an ultra-eligible bachelor that everyone's after. Rich, good-looking, smart, etc. She's sweet but also seems to stick up for herself (thank god) and seems to have an ok head on her shoulders (other than a marked lack of dating experience). Xia Ke has a brother (really a brother?) and a sister that I think are going to play a big factor too.

At any rate, so far it looks like a keeper. Seems sweet. Funny. It's a Chinese one too, and I am trying to broaden my Korean-watching horizons, so that's good. I hope it stays as light and fluffy as it feels.

Edit: Watched the second one last night after little dude went to bed. Still funny but now so confused! So the lady I thought was his sister is maybe his ex-wife? And they have a kid together (unseen as yet) BUT the guy that Lucky is dating was together with the ex-wife and they still have feelings for each other? That seems a crazy coincidence...er, um...yeah.

Some cringeworthy scenes as Lucky goes on her second date with the dude (Chu? Eh, whatever, I know it started with a C) and his parents are there and the mom is WAY pushy for marriage. Poor girl. So she ducks out of there with a work excuse but then almost winds up kidnapped. It's all crazy. Anyway, still enjoying it. Just confused.

Edit after episode 3: Thought I might post briefly after each episode. Still confused. Is the kid his son? Can't tell. Everyone's always Uncle or Auntie so no idea of the actual relationships. But he doesn't treat Xia Ke like his dad at all. And the ex, if she is his ex, doesn't really treat him like an ex either. It's very weird. And he doesn't treat her like his ex either. So no clue what's going on. Lucky is kind of a strange character. Is she smart or dumb? It's kinda hard to tell. She's definitely awkward and doesn't think before she speaks. Methinks she's going to regret pretty much all of the things she's blurting out later on. Not sure what I think of the Chu Nan guy, though it seems he'll wind up making up one of the couples with the (maybe) ex of Xia Ke. Can't tell yet what kind of a person he is. Is he nice? Shady? Got a star-crossed love thing going on? Is he the dad? I dunno.

Edit, after episode 4: Okay, she is the big sister. Which is what I thought originally. Dunno if the kid is his or not, as the kid calls him "Uncle" but that may just be because he's illegitimate and he doesn't know who his dad is? Dunno. Anyway, still enjoying it, though Lucky really needs to grow a bit of a brain. Mostly I'm liking Xia Ke's reactions to everything.

One kinda weird thing that SO doesn't jive with my own (non-mainland) Chinese upbringing -- boy, everyone is pushing her to sleep with Chu Nan, including her mom (and his) after they'd literally had ONE date (that was cut short). It's kinda weird. I mean, I guess it's pushed her for the funny aspect of it, but it's weird. My family is so the opposite of this.

Edit, after episode 9: Yeah, I didn't bother updating after each episode. Wasn't feeling very good today and so I have vegged out. The weather is also utter crap, which doesn't really help. My brain feels like mush and I have a headache. One of those not-quite-a-migraine things. Anyway.

Lucky finally got the news that Chu Nan wasn't into her -- and, boy, his reason (which this part she doesn't know or else she'd really have to kill him...) was because he wanted to marry her and then divorce her so that he would also be a divorced person...which was the reason that his mom objected to him marrying big sister of Xia Ke. And one good thing that big sis has done is slap the heck out of him when she heard what he was up to. Good for her. Somehow, I imagine she'll wind up with him by the end of the show BUT he deserves ALL the slaps.

And to complicate that, her first husband is back. Seems he disappeared on her some years back (presumably while she was pregnant, as he didn't seem to know until recently that he had a son) after a car accident that he thought would leave him disabled (and maybe I mis-read it as this part went by fast and I was too lazy to go back and check--but Xia Ke was involved in the accident somehow?) So far, his excuse seems to be "I didn't want to burden you." So, yeah, he doesn't deserve anything from her. I suspect there's more to it than that.

Lucky was mad at Xia Ke for all of a hot minute about his role in keeping the truth from her. Honestly, a bit bothered that he really didn't apologise or try to excuse his behaviour at all. Anyway, at the point in the story where he's finally thinking whoa, maybe I like her...do I like her? I dunno...what should I do? to which I'm, like, duh, dude, you've liked her since the beginning you big idiot. And since the path to love in a drama can never be a straight line, He (the one who I thought might be a brother but turns out is probably just a university friend? He Yu) has popped back into the picture and is chasing after Lucky. Not sure why. She's definitely not his normal type, which, I suppose might be why. Though, really, we know the real reason is that something's gotta force Mr. CEO to figure out his feelings (and her, too, I suppose, since she's dumb as a post when it comes to love and reading signals). Also newly popped up is another old friend from university -- this one a girl -- who has a crush on Xia Ke but will undoubtably wind up with He.

Is that everything? I think that's mostly everything. I'm still enjoying it but there's a lot that doesn't make logical sense. But that's okay. That's not what this type of thing is for.

Edit, after episode 13: Ah, Xing Zhao Lin is doing such a good job as Xia Ke. He's finally admitted to himself and to his big sister (liking her more now, though still doubtful that Chu Nan actually deserves to be with her...and yes, there was more to ex-husband...he was having an affair way back when that she didn't know about but Xia Ke and his grandmother conspired to get him out of the picture with money (which he was more than willing to take) and now she finally knows and is with Chu Nan...mostly I feel sorry for the little kid who nearly got kidnapped/ransomed...I knew that was coming but ah, well.) that he likes Lucky. But He Yu is pushing hard, even though Lucky's really not feeling him as anything more than a friend she bickers with. But, of course, Xia Ke thinks there might be something there and goodness knows he's not a character to actually, you know, talk to people.

But, at any rate, great scene where she's drunk and angry at him and he's all at once confused and reluctant and desperate and needy, and like a drowned man, and they kiss. He did such a great job at the scene and really showed the longing. Now I'll have to look out for that actor in other stuff. Bai Lu, the actress, is decent too, but mostly her job is to be adorably clueless and there's no weight to her.

This is a very stereotypical drama in SO many ways, but it's fun even in it's predictable-ness.

Edit, after episode 14: Aw, man! This is why I don't usually watch stuff that's not fully released yet. Episode 15 is out, but it isn't fully subbed yet. Episodes 17 and 18 will be released today, and probably won't be subbed for a few more days. ARGH. Just when you think, okay, finally Lucky has told He Yu she really, really doesn't want to date him and Xia Ke is finally, finally about to say something to her...now they introduce a whole new subplot where they're accusing her of selling company secrets. I mean, I knew this was bound to happen because she met some guy at a conference that was trying to get info out of her (but she didn't give him any) but I was kinda hoping it wouldn't because that was so long ago and I just want to get to the part where they have some requited love already! Also didn't realise how many episodes it was going to be. I thought it was going to be 16, so I figured I was really close to the end and the payoff. But no...

Crap. Just looked it up on MyDramaList and it looks like there will be 24 episodes. Frickin frack.

Edit, after episode 22: I saved up until a bunch was translated and now I've just got two episodes to go (one of which is subbed, the other will probably be done tomorrow) and I'll wait and watch them both together.

Anyway...I have to say I liked the first half a bit better than this latter half where it's gone all typical storyline -- Noble Martyr (Lucky leaves the company because she thinks that's the only way to get the investment to go through & does so by pretending to date He Yu), He Yu misleading her and trying to make a relationship when she's clearly not interested, Late introduction of bitchy manipulative past girlfriend + now the manipulative and conveniently ill/dying grandma who believes lies of past girlfriend + wants Xia Ke to take over the family company + probably more Noble Martyr stuff to come. Makjang Chaebol stuff...except the Chinese version, whatever that would be called.

I mean, I like the main characters. But it has devolved into same-old-same-old. The few pluses are the other best girl friend that had the unrequited crush on Xia Ke being the one to force the stalemate and that Lucky at least USUALLY stands up for herself.

But.

Sigh.

I wanted more than the typical out of this one because so many of the other elements were so good. It's not that it's bad and it's on par with a lot of other shows I've watched -- seriously, these are the storylines that FREAKING ALWAYS TURN UP. But I did want it to turn some new corners and instead it took a 180 into bog standard.

The best bits are with the two leads together. More of that, please.

Edit: Okay, I finished it and contrary to all the clues, the last two episodes were remarkably Noble Idiot free. Thank goodness. Actually even a few satisfying bits, where the evil Ex was trying so very, very hard to screw things up and get Lucky to come unglued, but instead she rose to the occasion (in a not-bitchy way). And Xia Ke never  went down the O woe, I must give up all that I love to take on the family business (instead, older sis was the new chairwoman). So while there was some angst, it was all managed in far better a fashion than I had any expectation of. So even though they introduced all the old tired storylines, they actually at least handled them in a fresher way.

So I'm happy with that. Lucky even pushed him to accept her as a full partner rather than as a behind-the-scenes-someone-I-must-protect person, which was also refreshing. They even gave us a double wedding at the end and a cutesy ending scene. So, thank you, Chinese writer person, whoever you are. I thought you had failed me, but you prevailed.

Another Story...

So...given all the stresses of life lately, I had done a play through of Mystic Messenger with...drumroll please...Zen. Because, you know. Zen. Also, I'd had a save game I could go back to around Day 5. But after I finished it, I was kind of missing it. I'd unlocked Another Story eons ago when I'd had the hourglasses so I thought, eh, what the heck, I'll give it a go. No walkthrough. Just let it go.

I wound up on V's route, even though he's never been my favourite -- I've always wanted to smack him for his martyrdom leanings. But Ray was just so...creeptastic. The MC also has to REALLY be an idiot. Oh, hello random stranger! You want me to drop everything and play test a game for you? And I have to put on a blindfold and go with you to who knows where? And stay for who knows how long? Your random madman giggles don't freak me out at all! Of course I'll go with you to certain doom!

I mean, really.

I honestly can only roll with it because I love the guys so much and they make me happy.

Anyway. V. I'm on Day 8 now, so nearing the end. I'm not going to go over the whole route or do any write up or anything because a) I'm still not a huge fan of V and cannot at all fathom his motivations or how there's any realistic way that they all end up this way and b) I've got no time for that. So, just some general impressions:

• Rika is absolutely batshit crazy. I mean, I knew that. But, whew. She's a total psychopath. Sociopath? Maybe both. It kinda makes me worry for the writers at Cheritz.
• V is the epitome of Noble Idiot. Seriously. He should be in the dictionary for it. At least he has good hair.
• It's annoying that nearly all of his CGs also feature Rika. For heaven's sake, Cheritz, give me a picture of just V.
• While I can theoretically feel sympathy for Ray, he's so creepy and off that I would probably have to do a walkthrough to successfully make it through his route. Heck, to even get on his route! Though maybe not...I think you'd basically have to pick all the options that would be stupid and self destructive.
• I do not at all understand why Rika has fans. I want to burn her with fire. In a 2D sort of way. I'd never do that to a real person. But she's so beyond reality.
• Zen is still best boy, though Jumin was well behaved as well.
• I think it will be a while before I can play Yoosung again after this because, as annoying as he was in his own route about Rika, he's absolutely a whining insufferable mess in V's route. I seriously want to hit him. And this is Yoosung we're talking about. The cutie pie shooting star. And I kinda want to kill him or just hand him over to Rika already so I don't have to listen to him whine about her anymore. Just go, boy, and get thee to a nunnery. Or cult. Whatever.

Anyway, if I have any final thoughts after I finish, I'll add to this. I honestly have no idea whether or not I'll get a good ending or not on this one. I may die a horrible death. Or all of them might get converted. I dunno. Though, honestly, is a good ending even possible with this storyline? I don't really see how.

Edit: Okay. I finished it. Pretty much walkthrough free, other than I looked up two answers because I honestly think the translations failed because neither made sense. I did get the Good & Normal ends (by saving right before the party and not accepting all the guests the first time to get normal). And I do have a few more thoughts.

• Did Cheritz mix up the good & normal ends? In the Good end, V goes off and disappears for 2 years (though he does get his eye surgery first, the idiot) and then reappears like the manic pixie dream boy he is at a party and is, like, hey, girl, you ready to love me now? I almost came to see you, like, a billion times, but I didn't. But I thought about you a lot. So, those ten days we chatted two years ago...you love me, right? Like, WTF? In the normal end, he asks you to immediately move in with him and, while he's a bit tentative and angsty (as per usual), you're together. So...yeah. And half of the Good end is some weird dream-like sequence with his mom? Ah, well, at least the art was nice. But I really kinda wanted the MC to be, like, DUDE.
• And...Ray blows himself up, apparently, in either of these endings. On the plus side, 707 never realises that he's his brother, so at least he's not devastated. Sucks to be Ray. He never deserved that. He's total fruit loops, but it's not his fault he was tortured and drugged by Rika for years.
• In the normal end, Rika has also apparently blown herself up. Yeah, sorry not sorry. In the Good end, she blows up the apartment but shows up at the party and tries to give drugged up wine to any guests that show and Yoosung stops her and gets her some treatment, though you don't know how that goes. I suppose the only benefit of that end is that at least Yoosung got some closure? I dunno. Personally, I'd rather she burned with fire in every ending. Like, every single one.
• But the biggest thing with V's story in general...okay, yeah, I get that he was trying to protect his friends from Rika the Psychopath...BUT the dude KNEW she'd started a cult with however many Believers AND he KNEW about Saeran/Ray from the start. He knew about the abuse and drugs. But...he just let it all happen so he could protect the RFA? Shouldn't he be prosecuted too? I mean, COME ON. You were trying to protect your friends but you also knew about all these other people being hurt. It just kinda kills any sympathy I have for him at all. He's an idiot. A wanker. A wanker and an idiot. But he's pretty, I'll give him that.
• Zen should be given a medal for taking one for the team and babysitting Yoosung through this whole route.

So...in general, I'm not in love with Another Story. Will I go back and do Ray's side sometime? Eh, maybe. But I'll have to leave it sit for a while because I get the feeling that one is going to be even more crazypants craptastic than V's story. It was more enjoyable to do the Casual Story and Deep Story. Maybe it's because there's SO much more of Rika? I dunno.

I suppose I will work through the After Ending, but maybe I'll give it a few days. Just thinking about it exhausts me.

Quicksand

Last week was a hard week. Perhaps one of the worst weeks I've ever had. I won't say the very worst...I mean, there's the week my dad died, for instance. But this was a bad week, partly because of timing. I'm already on edge a bit with the hubby's new business venture and feeling like there's no fallback. No safety net anymore. I'm not sleeping well. Generally kinda stressed. Have gained all the weight back (also due to too many guests and not enough time to go to the gym, but whatever, it's excuses). Feel gross. Tired all the time. Fearful. Blood pressure a bit wonky. And mom isn't doing well...though it's hard to tell exactly how bad she is when mostly what I get are 11 PM texts from my sisters alternating between "she's ok" to "you better visit soon" but mom herself won't tell me anything. Anyway. This week.

It started when little dude got sick and had to stay home. That's always bad. I had an appointment for a massage already made and needed to go out to get stuff for dinner, so I thought I'd quickly run out while he slept some more (I did tell him before I left, of course). On the way there, just a mile and a half from the house, I hit some flooding. There were cars in front of me, and cars behind and people on-coming, so I didn't really have anywhere to go. I got over as far as I could but...got hit with a wave from oncoming traffic and the car just...died. Dead. Wouldn't start again. And I'm stranded in the flooding with a sick kid back at home. I was stuck there for nearly 2 hours while making phone calls trying to get a tow truck. The police closed the road (I wasn't the only one stuck, apparently). Couldn't get little dude on the phone, so I finally walked home and left the car. Little dude, luckily, had slept through it all. Finally got a tow truck hours later to come and had it towed to the service centre. That was the day gone. A very expensive, stressful day. And we've got a £3K deductible, more or less, so no matter what, we're going to be paying a big chunk. It's already been a week and still no car while we deal with the insurance and hope that it won't take a full engine rebuild.

Was finally recovering from that on Friday when I get a call from the school and I first had that heart-pounding moment of oh no little dude but it turns out it was because he took his backpack with him to their breaktime at the park and left it behind and someone stole it. With his new laptop in it. The £900 laptop. And his new bank card. Keys. School books. Everything. Tracking all that mess and whoever took it used his bank card almost immediately after. Luckily we don't keep much on it. So filed a police report, etc. And little dude was devastated. It was his first experience with something like this. I think, probably, his first time realising how shit people can be.

It all just feels like quicksand, burying me.

BUT.

In good news, my editor finally sent me the draft of the cover image and the character designs from the illustrator and they are AWESOME. Honestly, it was my one good thing in a week of absolute shit. Thankful for that timing or it would have been unrelenting.

And...that's all I'm gonna say about all the crap for now. Trying not to dwell on it.