Oh My Baby

I did enjoy the first episode of Good Casting, but I thought I'd also check out the other new drama I was wanting to watch and maybe alternate, since they are both still in progress. So, today I watched the first episode of Oh My Baby (64 minutes, 836 calories). It's actually my first drama with Jang Na-Ra, though I've had a few with her I'd wanted to see for awhile (like Fated to Love You with Jang Hyuk).

In this one, she plays a single woman facing her impending 40s. She hasn't dated in ten years. Too busy with work, who knows. She loves kids and wants one -- she's even the temporary editor of a magazine ALL about babies (the chief editor is on maternity leave). She's got a lot going on. For one, her boss telling her she ought to move to another magazine they control (i.e. one NOT all about kids) because, as a single woman without a kid, she'll never be promoted to chief editor where she's at. And horrible pains that she thinks have to do with her period, but she finds out that it's endometriosis and it will require surgery...and seriously impede her chances of having kids. In fact, she's on a cusp. The doctor is telling her there might be no way she can get pregnant.

I don't know a huge amount about endometriosis, other than that I know it an be incredibly painful. And that you're probably NOT gonna have a baby when you have it, especially past 35 (I had those speeches myself, even without endometriosis). So I'm not entirely sure where the show is going with that, since it's apparently supposed to be about her search for a father for a baby (whether she gets married or not -- at least, that's what I'd gathered from the trailer. But maybe that's wrong).

So...all that sounds pretty depressing, BUT the show is obviously geared towards laughs. In the first episode alone, she takes out a pervert who flashes her and accidentally (and embarrassingly) ends up in the hospital, taken there by Han Yi-Sang, while wearing a fake pregnancy outfit (that was for a photo shoot) after having kids spill water on her and a couple of ahjummas thinking she's in labor when she's doubled over from the endometriosis pain.

Anyway, there are three guys that have already been introduced--and are obviously the baby daddy contenders, since they're also on the poster. ;-)

I really enjoyed Park Byung-Eun in Because This is My First Life, so I was excited to see him here. The other two guys I haven't seen in anything else, so they are new to me.

If I had to guess now, I'd say Go Joon's Han Yi-Sang is the guy she'll wind up with in the end based purely on relative (and type of) screen time (in the first episode). Basically, he's a guy she was interested in dating 3 years before (or maybe longer, I'm not sure) but he was rude and not interested. That's kind of his shtick. He's a photographer and he's supposed to be good at his job. Character-wise, so far I'd say he's...well, he's kind of an odd duck. Not sure what I think of him yet.

Yoon Jae-Young is an old friend of hers that had cut her out of his life when his then-wife demanded he do so. But now he's divorced and a single dad (to a little 8 month old peanut) and her meddlesome mom has invited him to live downstairs in the same house that Jang Ha-Ri is living in (it's the mom's house). Unclear whether they were just good friends/childhood friends or had perhaps once had some kind of relationship. They've definitely known each other a while. Right now, Ha-Ri is mad at him for how he cut her out of his life and has just popped back in pretending nothing has changed. So far, character-wise, he's a mess. Sloppy, confused, and a bit strange. This actor is good at strange though, so I'm here for that. But, man, I hope he doesn't wear the ugly tracksuit for the whole show.

Choi Kang Eu Ddeum (not sure about the name as it's Choi Kang-eu-tteum on Wikipedia) is by far the youngest at 25 (in real life, not sure what he's supposed to be in the show but presumably somewhere around that). He currently calls her Auntie and is very sweet and considerate, but also clueless in that way that helpful young men can be.  There hasn't been enough of him in the show yet to know anything beyond that.

So far, I'd say this looks good and up my alley. I actually enjoyed it a bit more than the first episode of Good Casting, but that's partly because Good Casting's plot needed a LOT more set up and a lot of it was quite dark -- I anticipate it will get more crazy silly action-y as the show goes on. Whereas this one pretty much went off the deep end towards funny/silly right away. But since there are just a few episodes out and subbed, I think my plan of alternating back and forth is a good one.

I kind of hope, in a way, that it doesn't wind up being Yi-Sang because he's the most predictable choice. But even when you look at the promo posters and things, he's always the one positioned right next to her. So he's probably it.

Edit 24 May, episode 2 (68 minutes, 893 calories): I watched the second one today instead of going back to Good Casting. Maybe because I'd had a small discussion on Twitter with someone about how they weren't into this one because of the whole baby thing not being up their alley. Which I do get. That part of the show is actually not that much of a pull for me. I was never one of those people that *had* to have a kid. And as much as I love little dude, I know I'd have been okay if I hadn't had a kiddo. I never had that NEED like the character does in the show. And, to be honest, I don't really understand it. So maybe it's just that I like seeing a show with characters that are older/around my age? I'm not sure.

Episode 2 did expand things a bit more. She (at the end) makes her decision that she's gonna have a baby, marriage or not. And we see a bit of Yi-Sang's background where his wife/fiancé dumped him. And a bit more about how Jae-Young was actually kind of asked by Ha-ri's mum to be there for her, even if they live together like brother and sister (which really does seem to be the relationship that they have so far). Still enjoying it as a whole.

Edit: Gonna have to pace myself with this one as I'm just about caught up. Have watched through episode 4 already and only 5 are out. Sigh. Enjoying that Go Joon has been bit by the love bug pretty quickly, though I imagine it might take him a bit to admit it. Based on the first episode, it really seemed like they were going to make him really resistant. And he definitely seems like the end goal. I  can see that Jae-Young might love her in a non-brotherly way, but I don't think she's ever viewed him that way at all. I just can't see them connecting in that way, though I think he'll try. The baby boy...ah, he's sweet, but I just don't see it happening at all. Anyway, enjoying it though the embarrassment factor is VERY high in this one.

Edit 1 June, after episode 5 (92 minutes, 1010 calories + 25 minutes yoga [also one episode of Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories). Yeah, so liking this one. I relate to a lot of it, even though I never had that kid bug. But the stuff about how nothing happens if you don't make something happen. About that feeling, no matter how old you get, that you're never a grown up. About being unsure about what to do, unsure about the future. Second guessing. All of that is very relatable. That makes it all sound very angsty but it really isn't. I mean, it is, but it isn't.

Edit 2 June, after episode 6 (70 minutes, 906 calories) Boy, this poor woman can't catch a break. I'd find this story unbelievable if it were set in the US or the UK (given how much she's being dumped on and doxxed in the media for wanting a child without being married to the point she might lose her job), but given what I know about Korea, it's not out of the realm of possibility. But it's sad. But nice to see all the guys stepping up -- though I'm not sure of baby boy's motivation in doing so. Up to now, he's really seemed like someone who sees her as an auntie type figure. But would you go so far for an auntie? Maybe. He is a sweetheart. Though he's obviously meant for the one reporter.

They've teased that Yi-Sang's wife/fiancé/girlfriend (? not sure what she was, other than that they were together a long time) might have left him because they were unable to have kids (his problem or hers, not sure). And at the end of episode 6, he's at a doctor asking if it's possible for him to have a baby (so probably on his side?). Which is sweet on one hand, but also kinda weird as he literally resisted even kissing her (though he wanted to) in the last episode and hasn't made any moves at all towards actually progressing their relationship to her...though, boy, he's smitten. But now he's ready to father her children? I fear that they're setting this up as a Noble Idiocy kind of thing where he loves her but backs off because he doesn't think he can give her what she wants. Though, when asked (in a weirdly personal conversation) whether a kid or a partner would be her choice, she picked partner. Still think he's the end result; all things point to that. And I do love a dude that is smitten.

Also liking the little glimpses into the life of the Editor in Chief mom dragon lady. Bits of truth there.

Edit 7 June, after episode 7 (76 minutes, 1003 calories + 20 minutes yoga): Yeah, definitely looking like the Noble Idiocy route. Yi Sang has declared (however reluctantly) that he just "wants to be alone" and that's all he wants out of life. Meanwhile, Chief Editor has quit because her newest baby is having febrile seizures and she wants to be home. Hari is feeling somewhat better as she wrote a confessional piece for the magazine & it'll be a reoccurring series to explain her side of things to the readership. Mysteriously, she's no longer having her endometriosis pains (did the writer just forget that? Seems weird.). And Tteum overheard her saying something and I suspect he thinks she wants to marry him or something and, at the end of the episode, while he's very, very drunk, he kisses her. And of course Yi Sang sees it...I kinda figured that was gonna happen. Oh, and Jae-Young keeps bringing up "well, why don't you just marry me" but Hari doesn't even give it half a thought. To be fair, he never says anything like "I love you; I've always loved you," etc. even though we see in a scene with his ex-wife that he had wanted to be with Hari once upon a time. If he was framing it differently, he might even have a chance. But I don't think that's where the show/characters are going on. Poor Childhood Friend.

Edit 8 June, after episode 8 (88 minutes, 956 calories) Some slow progress now with Yi-Sang, though I don't know that they really showed him transitioning from "no, I can't" to "okay, I can't help myself" but what the hey, I'll take a kiss while watching the fireworks any time.

Edit 12 June, after episode 9 (72 minutes, 929 calories) Jae-Young, ah, sweetie, too little, too late. Though I am a bit sad because all the signs are pointing to the next couple of episodes being that angsty middle bit as Yi-Sang and Hari are bound to have a very short dating honeymoon period before his probable chance of not being able to father a kiddo comes up. Also, poor baby boy Eutteum, but he'll get over it. Unlike Jae-Young who only has his bitchy ex wife (and I have to admit here that the actress who plays her is one I've only seen in bitchy parts, so that probably colours my perception of her...I don't even like her face), at least he has the other editor girl.

Edit 25 June, after episode 11: (78 minutes, 1014 calories). I didn't want to catch up again, so I took my time watching another episode...also because I knew it would be hitting the angsty part where Yi Sang has finally told Hari about his infertility issue. Honestly, I knew this is where the show would lose me a little bit because I've never been the woman that *had* to have a baby. So it was hard to watch her stewing and simmering and waffling after his honesty when she herself had said that she'd choose her love over a baby episodes ago. At least, somewhat happily, at the end of the episode she has run to him to grab him in the classic back hug and declare that she can't give him up. Though we know that won't be the end of the drama or the Drama.

Edit 29 June, after episode 12: (84 minutes, 932 calories -- including an episode of High End Crush) I feel like I ought to feel bad for Jae-Young but I'm not. He's trying, but not in the right way or with the right words (or, really, any words that make sense--why would you tell someone in a relationship with someone else, hey, come and look at houses with me when you've never even told them how you feel? Of course she didn't show up. Why would she?) and he knows it is too late. 

I do like the bits with the other ladies, wherein it kind of even passes the Bechdel test -- the friend that's married with twins and struggling because she can't find a job and she's going crazy, even though she loves her kids and her husband is a nice guy; the other friend who is married and happy, but they are childless by choice and getting grief for it. I've been in both those places. So they feel really real. Other than that, really liking Ko Joon as Yisang. He's got such a good smile, though I understand he's mostly played tough guy parts? I can see that in him, but he also seems like such a mush. I'm enjoying him. 

Edit 6 July (watched it yesterday): Okay, so I'm through episode 13 and I think I know why I've been going through the latest episodes so slowly. The more I watch, the less I like the women in the show, including the main character. Well, mostly Hari and her mom. I was really rooting for both of them in the beginning but now...eh...sigh. Especially as I am getting premonitions of a needless break up. I can't fault Yi Sang though. Even Jae-Young is finally doing the right thing, however grudgingly. 

Edit 9 July, after episode 14 (68 minutes, 749 calories): I am really dragging with this now. It wasn't so much this episode, though it had it's downs, but that the previews indicate a huge Noble Idiocy / Forced Separation alert in the next episode. And...just...UGH. At least there's only two more episodes. Two tropes that I really, really don't like because they are almost always unnecessary. Seriously. Out of all the dramas I've watched where this happens -- and it's A LOT because it's apparently a very popular "twist" -- it's only made sense in a few of them. And even in those, it could often have been done in a different way. So, bleh. 

Maybe it makes me so mad because it feels so lazy when so SO many shows do this? I don't know. But it's really, really annoying.

Edit 12 July, finished it. Eh. Didn't love the last couple of episodes. I mean, it ended okay, but they basically did the typical. And it wasn't a very satisfying ending, somehow. It was a bit like they went through the motions, but...I dunno. It's hard to put my finger on exactly what didn't do it for me. Maybe that there weren't any big romantic moments? They didn't really wrap up a bunch of threads? Maybe because I really connected with it in the beginning but then it was losing me by the end? I dunno.

So...am I glad I watched it? Sure. Would I watch it again? I don't think so. But I would watch Ko Joon in something else, definitely. 

Good Casting

Since I finished up Put Your Head on My Shoulder, I thought I'd try something that had a bit of a noona feel to it and maybe some ridiculousness. Good Casting is a drama that's currently airing that looked like it would fit the bill and is getting good reviews. I don't normally watch stuff that's still being released, but there are 9 episodes out now and I thought I'd give it a try (and maybe alternate it with another new release called Oh My Baby that also looks good). Since it's an hour long one, I'm adding in episodes of Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories to get to my 80 minutes (more on that in that show's post...er, which I'd started apparently in February 2019. Oi. It's been a while.).

So...after the first episode...basically, 3 lady agents (and I guess you really have to use the term "lady" loosely as only one of them is remotely delicate) have been assigned to a new mission to bring down an impossibly hard dude to catch named Michael that has evaded capture for a long time. Two of them had been on a mission three years prior when they had "lost" him -- which also resulted in the death of another agent, who was the baby daddy/maybe husband (but they possibly hadn't gotten married yet) of the third lady. Though none of them know that connection yet.

So. The three ladies. One, Hwang Mi-Soon (played by Kim Ji-Young) is in her 40's and complains of arthritis (EFF ME, I'm older than her by a year in real life). She's tough, man. But funny. Not sure of much else yet about her other than that. I get the feeling she's going to be the comic relief. And kick ass with her sass.

The young one who lost the husband is Im Ye-Eun (Yu In-Young) and she has a three year old daughter and has that whole single mom being ostracised thing going on (Korea, you really need to do better if this is the way things really are). She's a computer expert but has never been out in the field before.

The last is Baek Chan-Mi (Choi Gang-Hee) who is the extreme crazy one. We first meet her when she's undercover in a prison and she's seriously badass. She was also in charge of the mission three years before and husband/baby daddy dude was shot protecting her.

Dong Gwan-Soo (Lee Jong-Hyuk) is their team leader and he used to date Baek Chan-Mi apparently. He's not confident he can control her. Honestly, I'm sure he can't.

And, though I haven't met him yet in an episode, I know that Kang Woo-Won (played by Jun, who, since he has just a single name as his name, I'm sure is an Idol) is an Idol that somehow is in the plot because I saw a clip where one of the three ladies (either the young one or the crazy one; not sure as I saw the clip before I saw the episode and didn't pay that much attention) is escorting him. And that there's probably some kind of noona romance thing going to happen there. I am on board for that.

So far, it looks promising. Production quality is good. Fight scenes are sharp. Like that the ladies are all good...but also crazy. I like crazy ladies. Also a bonus that two of the actresses were at least born in the same decade that I was. Ha.

Most of them are also new to me, which is fun. The only one I'd really seen in anything before is Yu In-Young who was in a few episodes of My Love From the Star as the girlfriend that Shin Sung-rok's character killed and in Oh My Venus as the evil beyotch. She's not even recognisable in this compared to those and I didn't realise it until I looked her up. It's interesting to see her in something so different. She was pretty detestable in both of those roles. Oh, and Lee Jong-Hyuk I'd seen in A Gentleman's Dignity (which I didn't finish because I wanted to burn it with fire).

Edit 25 May: (86 minutes, 947 calories) In some ways, this show is going fast and in others, slowly. A couple more flashbacks, setting up Chan-mi's breakup with her current boss 10 years previous and that the CEO guy she's assigned to had a crush on her back in late high school/college? Bit coincidental, but okay. Mostly enjoying it, but man, why'd they have to make the young lady Ye-Eun be such a clueless, kinda spineless klutz other than with computers. She's so barely competent that you wonder how she makes it out of her door in the morning without managing to break something. I get that it's for laughs, but come on.

Edit 28 May: (65 minutes, 659 calories + 20 minutes yoga--would have been longer but iPad ran out of battery) Okay, episode 3 picked things up and moved them forward. Lots of slapstick in this one, which is good. The viewer knows already that two of the guys they are staking out (CEO guy who was once in love with Chan Mi and baby Idol Woo-Won) are good guys who have no clue as to the shenanigans, which is probably a good thing for a drama of this type. I don't mind knowing who the bad guys are right off the bat (though pretty sure the big chief at the NIS is also dirty) when the point is the funny journey and not the destination. Looking forward to when the crazy hijinks with the Idol baby get going too. And I feel for poor Mi-Soon.

Edit 29 May: (85 minutes, 1105 calories) Still liking the show and wah! they upped the stakes more than I had anticipated this early on (and have possibly killed off Gwan-Soo, which was unexpected). But am still really frustrated with Ye-Eun. She's so frickin' useless. She'd really better get better. I mean, the other two ladies have their moments (mostly as plot humour devices) but at least they pull through. So far, Ye-Eun's character is just pretty much a dead weight. I was actually looking forward to a whole noona romance plot thread with her and baby Idol dude, but right now I'm so frustrated seeing her flub everything that it's kinda meh. But we'll see.

Edit: I watched another episode yesterday and I just wanted to add that Ye-Eun is literally about 98% useless. They're literally in the middle of a car chase where the team leader was shot by who they are chasing (he didn't die, by the way...which was kinda ridiculous...they clearly showed him being shot and then ret-conned that to him being "grazed" in the next episode. WTF.) and she's driving and misses a turn and then DOESN'T make a u-turn because "it's not allowed here." Seriously, she's like the world's worst secret agent. Actually, she's just absolutely useless so far as a character. And we're reaching the halfway point as I've finished episode 6 of 16.

Actually, I'd say that I'm watching now for Chan Mi and CEO guy (Lee Sang Yeob). Action sequences are good too. The rest I'm kinda 50-50 on. Why does every Korean drama that features their secret service or the police ALWAYS have the boss be one of the bad guys? Seriously? I've watched maybe 5 or 6 shows at least with this as part of the plot.

Edit 9 June after episode 7: (90 minutes, 1171 calories + 25 yoga) Ah, grrrrr. Even the two "good" agents were acting  like idiots this week. I mean, seriously. Other than the kick ass martial arts stuff, I would make a better spy than any of these people! Right now, I'd say I'm enjoying basically all the parts that are NOT related to the spy/crime fighting work but not the on the job stuff. I'd like them to be more competent, please. Like, at all.

Edit: after episode 8. URGH. I feel like every episode I watch I am more disgusted with how incompetent they are as agents. If I could, I'd forward through all of those bits.

The State of Things

Welp. So, we're trying to buy a house. But not in Oxford, which is where we were hoping as an in-between compromise, but in Coventry. Because we figured out we couldn't really afford Oxford, at least not anywhere close to the city centre or train station. Our offer was accepted, so now we're just waiting on the mortgage final approval (we had a preliminary approval). It should be okay.

I'm not terribly excited. Coventry is not a place I had ever wanted to move to. I am trying to keep positive. Yes, am leaving behind my friends and getting even farther away from London and little dude has to change schools, but on the plus side, at least we'll not be renting anymore. And it is a bigger place than GX and there's a market and things like that and even a Forbidden Planet. Not that you can really go to anything at the moment, since it's still global pandemic...no idea when things will loosen up. I don't think we'll ever go back to "normal" -- there will be a new normal. And no idea what that will look like yet.

The house is okay. Hubby was all ready to buy it before he even saw it (and we only viewed ONE house in person) so long as it wasn't horrible. And it isn't horrible, but I think it needs more work than he seems to be acknowledging. Everything needs painted. Carpet needs replacing. The cabinets all look like cheap Ikea stuff to me and feel rickety. The hob is ancient. The kitchen sink is barely deep enough to wash things in. There's also no fireplace, which was a thing I'd always said I wasn't going to go without again. There's no place for a guest bedroom (though, technically, little dude is getting two rooms -- one tiny one for sleeping and then the other for everything else). The other bedroom will be my office. Which also means hubs and I will be sleeping in the same room again. We'll see how that goes with the snoring... It does have a nice garden and a small conservatory (in which I'm not allowed to put my elliptical as it's downstairs and everything must be "just so"). Good windows, with two bays. It was built in the 1930s.

Anyway, so stressing over all that. And the outstanding state school(s) we were hoping to get little dude into are all over subscribed. So we're also applying to an independent school. It looks good and is at least less expensive than where he is now (not by a huge amount, but some), but he'll have to do the entrance exam. It should be fine, but it is another worry. And we had been hoping we could get out of school fees. So, meh.

Am working on the book, but I am going slower than I really should. Am having a hard time concentrating. I just feel...discombobulated. Disconnected. Worried. Fretful. But I've got to get on it, as I promised my editor I'd turn it in after June. It's doable. I just need to get more words down on the page every day to hit it. And as I'll be packing after that, I imagine, I really need to finish it.

The only thing I've really been good about is exercising. Hahaha such a bizarre thing for me to say, eh? I've never really liked exercising. I wish I had. But I've settled into a semi-routine where I do the elliptical every day and then every other day or so I also do either some yoga, boxing, or arm exercises. Am doing 80 minutes on the elliptical (so, like, 2 episodes of a 40 minute drama...not sure what I'm gonna do when I run into an hour long drama again...do I do 60 + extra stuff every day or do 120 and be crazy? I dunno...just finished Put Your Head on My Shoulder so I'll probably need to figure this out tomorrow as two of the ones I was thinking of starting next are indeed hour long shows)

I haven't been taking any days off, as I figure I'm not doing any walking to speak of as I'm home all the time. Have only been out a handful of times. Hubby is doing the majority of the shopping. Should I be taking days off for rest? Maybe. I don't know. Probably. But I'm feeling more sane when I can zone out and watch a drama while I'm on the elliptical. It's about the only time I don't feel like my brain is about to implode.

So I've lost 11 pounds now (nearly a stone). Want to lose at least as much again. Have lost about 4% body fat. Want to lose another 6%. Have lost inches around the waist, though I didn't measure when I started so I don't know exactly how many. Fitting into some of my clothes again. Still lots more to get into.

I'm trying to disappear. It's just taking a long time. 52 days to lose the 11 pounds. How many more days until I eclipse myself? Swallow myself whole, fall into the black hole? Turn sideways, out of sight, out of mind? A thin sliver of self, invisible? The Woman Who Was Used Up?

These walls keep closing in...

Listening to a new song by a band called, apparently, Humanwine. It's called Rivolta Sirenziosa...

These walls these walls keep closing in
Oh where do we begin our dismantling?
We call on all to sing!

Yeah. Sounds like a pandemic theme song, huh?

Anyway, I've been useless these past couple of days. Still exercising, but that's been the only thing I've been good about. Too much in my head. It does look like it makes sense to move (when we can) to possibly Oxford. And hubs brought up that maybe we could possibly buy a house, rather than rent. I am sick of renting, to be honest, but I didn't think we were in the shape to do it. And maybe we're not, because it would wipe out savings to do it. But we've gotta do something. Something's gotta give. And he did find a house that *looks* good. No way to look at it, of course. It's all just up in the air. Everything's up in the air.

I'm not doing so well with everything always being up in the air.

It's been too many things. Juggling despair and worries.

I've actually been playing some Mystic Messenger since the lockdown started. It helps--heh, except for the sleeping thing...though I'm not doing that well anyway. Did a run through of Zen (of course), then Jumin, 707, and Yoosung. Though I had saves from day 5 so it wasn't as bad as all that. Did only good ends. Don't want any bad right now. But now I dunno what to do. Try and do Jaehee? I don't have a save there and it's not my favourite, but I didn't really give it a shot last time and kind of sleepwalked/walkthroughed it. So maybe. The only one I haven't done is Ray/Saeran. And I don't think I'm up for that level of devastation right now.

Been painting too. Experimentally. Never tried landscapes before, so working on that and some masks and random things. It helps.

Anyway. Haven't lost much more weight. Haven't gained any either. But I have lost 3% body fat, so I guess that's good. And am changing shape. But I want more of me to be gone. There's too much me. Too much in my head, too much everything.

And I don't want to write right now, but I need to. So. Off to do that.

Demonheart

I bought Demonheart quite a while back on Steam when it was on sale. I tried it out immediately, but only played for about 15 minutes that first session because it was almost dinner time. I'm now up to about an hour after playing a bit yesterday (er, also right before dinner), so I thought I might as well do a write up now before I forget.

This is an otome-ish game, but you could also just call it a visual novel. It is definitely dark fantasy. I believe there are three possible romance-able LI options. You do have frequent choices to make which determines who your character is -- whether they are tactful, defiant, evil, or good. I'm not doing a walkthrough at all this first time through and so far I'm pretty squarely in the tactful side and tend towards good. Which, eh, that's pretty much how I play most games. It's why I always wind up the healer in my D&D group. Anyway.

You play a young woman named Bright. Her family is poor and she's looking for work. She has a fiancé but he's pretty obviously a jerk who doesn't treat her well and is probably cheating on her. She competes for a job with a witch/healer named Orchid in town and gets it, to her surprise. No surprise to the player though...two of the other applicants were nasty people and the third was another witch with a pretty obvious agenda.

She works there for a while and things seem to be going well, though there are some weird things, like a dead cat that isn't dead and visits from cultists. She also learns some things about demonspawn (half human, half demon, always male, and live forever) and demonhearts (humans who consume, I'm guessing, a demon's heart/flesh (where this comes from, uh, I dunno) and take on some characteristics of demons/demonspawn but who do age and die and are illegal/hunted). All very foreshadow-y, but Bright is just bobbing along in her life.

Then she finds out Orchid is pregnant, though her belly is growing awfully fast...then Orchid makes her a magical necklace and puts it on her, though Bright isn't sure why or what it does. And then Orchid cooks her a special "steak" dinner that makes Bright feel ill and pass out. All of these things appear to happen no matter what choices you pick. I did actually go back and re-try a few options because I wanted to see because, honestly, as a player I wouldn't have eaten that, nor would I have put on the necklace...

Anyway, she sends Bright away to visit her parents once she's eaten of the meal. But she makes her promise right before she goes that Bright will "take care of her son." And the next morning, the city guard is knocking on Bright's door saying she murdered Orchid and left her torn apart (i.e. like something burst out of her mid-section...dun dun dun). And, without a trial, they take her to be executed.

They go to the gallows and then suddenly she's in...hell? And there's a demon child there communicating with her through word puzzles? And that's where I am right now.

The graphics aren't amazing and feel kind of old school even though it's from 2017. But they're not bad. Just feel "80's" and are kind of grainy like the fantasy novels I read back then. That might be a conscious stylistic choice. I have no idea. I wouldn't say it bothers me, though a few of the character sprites aren't done very well. Like, Orchid is good, but the fiancé character is really odd looking. Organisation-wise, it's fine and easy to navigate. Simple interface.

I do like the alignment game mechanic where your choices do lead your character towards a path, though I'm not entirely sure yet what difference it makes in game play. I'm still very much in the intro portion and a lot of the things that happen seem like they'd HAVE to happen no matter what you pick. Like, you have to wind up working for Orchid. You have to eat the suspicious meal. You have to take the magical necklace. I'll have to try it as an evil and/or defiant character sometime and see if it makes a difference.

Will report back more after I've played farther. Still early days here. It might help when I get to the part where you're meeting up with your potential romance partners (which, I think, is Orchid's son (I guess demonspawn age at a much different rate...), the female witch that had ulterior motives, and some knightly dude I haven't even met yet).

The 8th Son? Are you kidding me?

Little dude found an anime he wanted to watch with me. It is, of course, another isekai because he adores those. This time it is from a light novel series, though it has now been collected into a manga series as well. It's called The 8th Son? Are you Kidding Me?

The title character is actually the hardest to see in that image...he's in the middle with the glow-y light covering him up. Anyway, this time, Shingo Ichinomiya was a single salaryman in (probably) his 20's. He falls asleep and next thing he knows, he wakes up in a fantasy world where he's a young boy again. At first, he thinks, heh, this isn't too bad, as he comes to in the middle of a fancy wedding. The food's good. He thinks he's maybe the third son in a rich noble household. It's the eldest brother getting married.

But the next day he's in for a rude awakening when he finds out he's actually part of a very low level noble house with no money...and he's the 8th son. The eldest will be the new lord. The rest of his older brothers are setting off to seek their fortune in the larger cities to the north now that the eldest is married.

Things start to look up with he finds a crystal ball that tests for magic. It's an innate thing in this world and most people don't have it. But the crystal lights up like crazy for him. When he goes out into the woods to try and practice, he meets a man that will become his mentor/teacher. He has to keep his magic a secret from his family, however, as that would put him in direct conflict with his older brother...who might try and do away with him as a threat. And certainly, the family that is left behind are all pretty crappy (especially dad and eldest brother).

So he gains wisdom from his mentor but learns, in the end, that his teacher is actually a ghost/wraith that will soon turn into some kind of mindless zombie but has only been hanging on this long (years) because he wanted to pass on his magic/teachings. He ultimately has to cleanse his mentor's spirit, thereby enabling him to pass on safely. Which would be a heavy ass thing to lay on a kid, but since he's from another world, at least he was more mentally prepared/capable. I guess.

Fast forward to when he ultimately makes it to the age of 12 when he can attend a magic school in the big city. But after practicing for years and hiding himself away and with what he learned from his mentor, he's already master class. He's also a bit socially stunted after avoiding people for his own safety for years so when he gets there and all the other students are avoiding him (because they think they need to impress him and that he's so far above them) he thinks it is because they don't like him.

But he finally manages to pull together an adventure group of decent kids that seem nice. And save an airship with a bunch of passengers from an enormous undead dragon. And then gets his own title and a bunch of money...but soon discovers stuff like that comes with a lot of obligations. And that's where we are, 4 episodes in.

It's an enjoyable show so far and I see why little dude loves it. He loves OP isekai type stories, especially when the protagonist is a good person who succeeds not only because of their newfound powers, but because they are decent people. It's a nice one for us to watch together. And, so far, has been lacking in excessive boobage, etc. So that's a plus too, for me as a mum...

Edit: We gave up on this one after a couple more episodes because it devolved into truly ridiculous crazy OP lead + every girl turns into a concubine. Like, an actual concubine. With the official wife's okay. And they're, like, barely teenagers. Was hoping it wouldn't do that. So, oh well. Little dude was, like, "meh, they just turned it into fan service."

Recovery of an MMO Junkie

I recently rewatched one of my favourite anime: Recovery of an MMO Junkie (i.e. Recommendation of the Wonderful Virtual Life). Even little dude likes this one and has re-watched it a few times himself, even though the target audience is definitely not 12 years old little dudes.

Moriko Morioka is a 30 something NEET. She quit her soul sucking corporate job (SO been there) and is living off her savings and...well, basically living out her life online in an MMO called Fruits de Mer. Her character is called Hayashi and is male. She falls in with another player playing a character named Lily, who is kawaii as all heck and joins the same guild. She's enjoying her time with them all, though her life in the real world is a bit bleak. She and Lily in particular are very close and become partners in the game, wearing matching cloaks.

Coincidentally, in real life, she has an encounter with a kind blonde haired man named Sakurai Yuta (he was adopted so he's actually blonde and not just anime blonde). He is drawn to her immediately. Of course, he's the one behind Lily, though Moriko doesn't know that. It takes him a while to clock it as well that she's Hayashi, but as their characters in game grow closer and tell each other things, he figures it out, mostly because his friend/co-worker (and an old work acquaintance of Moriko's) called Homare Koiwai interferes like some kind of strange cupid.

Over the course of the show, Moriko also realises that the guild master is the friendly guy that works at the convenience store she frequents. And that Sakurai was her old friend from the MMO she used to play. Basically, every version of themselves, they share a connection. It's destiny, man.

It's a very sweet show and even though they are 30-somethings, they act more like teenagers who have never been in a relationship before. I wish it were possible to find the manga, but it was a Comico webtoon by Rin Kokuyō and publication was halted prematurely due to her failing health so it has been on hiatus since 2015 (the anime came out in 2017?). As far as I can find, it was never published in book form and doesn't have an official English translation. Such a shame, because it's so lovely and I'm sure the extended written version has even more backstory / character development.

So I just re-watch it once a year or so because it makes me happy. Now seemed like a good time to watch it again. It still makes me smile. I just wish there were more.