International Dramas: ‘Tale of the Nine Tailed 1938’

Promotional image of (left) Lee Dongwook and (right) Kim Bum for ‘Tale of the Nine Tailed 1938’. Copyright goes to tvN.

Hi! It’s Annie!

Still in the spirit of the current strike and especially avoiding Netflix like the plague, I have yet another review of a non-recent K-Drama. This one is available on multiple streaming websites, none of which are Netflix. I have twice attempted to get into ‘Tale of the Nine Tailed’ which is a popular but not critically acclaimed fantasy K-Drama. There really seems to be a debate on whether or not the drama is good or not and people especially seem to have an issue with the romance in the first season. What people did really like, however, were the characters of Lee Yeon and Lee Rang and their brotherly relationship. Both are handsome and charming and have an almost Thor and Loki type dynamic going on; except it is so so much better. This was also an acting comeback for Kim Bum, who everyone acknowledges as being the best part of the first season. But unfortunately, beyond the scenes with Kim Bum in them, I really couldn’t get behind the first series. I would always get so bored a few episodes in, look for encouragement online, and then end up dropping it when people said that the series didn’t get much better. So, when I heard there was a second season that was almost more like a companion to the first season than a sequel and took place around the 1940s, I was all in. And you really don’t have to know anything about the first season to enjoy this one. I am very glad to say that I absolutely loved this and loving it as much as I do makes me want to go back and watch the first season even less. I’m just going to get into it! MAJOR SPOILERS ahead for BOTH seasons!!!

Summary: After an important theft, Lee Yeon follows the mysterious masked thief back in time to 1938. A time where many of his immortal god-like friends are still at the forefront of society and, most importantly, he is able to reunite with his brother, Lee Rang, who is the leader of a group of bandits and very skeptical of him. Together the brothers join forces to solve several problems in that time period and try to find out who the mysterious man in the red and white mask is. Though Lee Yeon might have bitten off more than he can chew with the explosive return of Ryu Hongjoo, who definitely has her eyes set on him.

The Wholesome:

Lee Rang- I have no idea how I’m not supposed to start with him. This is Kim Bum’s character and everyone is not kidding when they say that he’s the best part of any scene he’s in. Think of a kicked puppy turned anti-hero and you’ve got the heartbreakingly adorable and devastatingly badass Lee Rang; a character who will simultaneously rip your heart to shreds and make you swoon. And I really should have expected it from him considering that the stand-out in ‘Boys Over Flowers’ has always been Yijeong for me. Kim Bum just has this charm about him that catches your eye in every scene. It honestly doesn’t matter who else you’re supposed to be watching. Your eye will immediately find him even if he’s in the background. Every time. And he’s amazing at playing characters who seem guarded on the outside but are really just huge softies. After Lee Rang was abandoned by Lee Yeon, he found himself completely unaware of how to defend himself or the mountain he had been left on. Which results in him killing a village of people which then results in his brother being sent to take him out. When Lee Yeon does actually fight Lee Rang, the betrayal is even more cemented. Hence the enemies to brothers storyline in the first season. Lee Rang once again starts this season off skeptical of Yeon, because this is a complete redo of that character development as it takes place in the past. This is one of the reasons why I say you really don’t have to watch the first season. But needless to say, Lee Rang has had it tough and has also done some pretty deplorable things. He has serious abandonment issues and has guarded himself against the world. And we spend this entire season seeing him soften and become a guy who would drop anything to help anyone. We see him struggle over his own emotions and learn to let people in. And Kim Bum’s acting for all of this moved me to tears several times. Yes, this character is swoon worthy, sarcastic, and charming. But all you really want to do is give him a hug.

Lee Yeon- I wasn’t expecting to like this character as much as I did, but I really did end up loving him too! He has a certain jokey type of charm that catches you and won’t let you go. Both brothers are fluent in sarcasm, but while Lee Rang has a darker undertone to his, Lee Yeon is much more light hearted. The type to brush his hair out of his face before stabbing someone and make it look more like an effortless chore than an actual battle he’s struggling with. He really gives off this energy that he’s lived for a long time and he doesn’t have the energy to do this anymore. But he has a really compassionate heart that keeps him in the game and keeps people endeared to him. While many people in this drama start out suspicious of him because of past events, he refuses to give up on them. And his refusal to give on people and instead look out for them in whatever way he can is what keeps people around him. You don’t often see a main character who’s the glue that keeps people together and he certainly is. He doesn’t care about your view of what’s masculine and what’s not. He’s a caretaker, plain and simple. He takes care of everyone and really tries hard during this season to make sure that everyone is going to be taken care of before he goes back to the future. Even if that means he never gets back. Both brothers are similar in the fact that they would both deny it, but they have such big hearts. And they’re both hilarious to watch.

Brotherly Love- They’re even better together. Yeon appeals himself back to Rang by just being there for him and showing him that he’s not leaving him behind anymore. When Rang finds out that Yeon is truly willing to repair their relationship, he immediately is willing to take a bullet for his brother. More than anything else, this series is about their relationship with each other. The writers really took the criticism from people about the last season and fixed it. In the last season I know that many people didn’t enjoy that it focused on a romance that wasn’t super successful instead of giving more time to the brother story that certainly needed more time to develop. This drama is all about that brotherly story and the re-do of their repairing relationship. It also becomes, at several points, a hilarious buddy-cop type of show where they’re constantly bickering while trying to solve some mystery. They bounce really well off of each other and look so great together on screen. There’s even a gag where they need to go undercover at a hair salon so they apply for jobs there. The woman running it refuses to hire men until she sees them in the waiting room, adjusting their suit collars and cuff links and otherwise looking very attractive, and hires them on the spot. But the best part is the adorable moments where Yeon is tucking Rang into bed after Rang has already fallen asleep or just staring at Rang because he enjoys their time together. (Spoiler: Rang dies in the first season which is why this time is so precious to Yeon. And even after Rang finds out that he dies in the future; instead of feeling betrayed he also enjoys their time more. This is also why I won’t watch the first season.) The brotherly dynamics in this show are the best part and they carry the show.

Hongjoo- I LOVED this character. And everyone also seems to like her more than the female character in the first season. She’s both hilarious and badass and I wanted more from her. She runs what is essentially a brothel, and she is fiercely protective of the women who work under her. On several occasions during this drama, villains will kidnap people who work for her because they know that those people are her weakness. She will do anything to make sure they come home safe. I think we all want a boss exactly like her. Her fighting skills are probably more advanced than anyone else’s in this drama (which is saying something) and although she’s just as scheming as her two best friends (Yeon and Muyoung), she’s definitely smarter than them. She also has the ability to steal scenes. But so did Yeon and Rang. So it really did make it difficult when there was a scene with all three of them in it. Massive abandonment issues are a thing in this drama and, yes, she has them too. She just wants to be loved, which is so freaking relatable. You really feel for her and I love the way she single handedly brings her friend group back together despite all the scheming from everyone involved. Including herself. She’s the resident badass here. Need I say more?

The Romance- There was a small cute romance between Rang and a mermaid named Yeohee and it was EVERYTHING. Yeohee works at a tailor’s shop and boutique and first meets Rang when she’s fitting him for a suit. After he blushes adorably when she makes a couple of adorable comments about how cute she finds him, she decides that she wants to catch his attention. She sees him again when she’s singing at a speakeasy style place and gives him a necklace for protection which eventually results in her saving him from drowning. As he is a nine tailed fox, her saving him now inadvertently means that he owes her. Something she had no idea about when she saved him. And she uses her wishes to get him to do fun things with her that he usually wouldn’t do. When he starts falling in love with her, he is initially angry because he’s not used to the way she makes him feel. At one point the poor bean even breaks down into tears because he’s not used to the warm and tingly feelings he’s been getting around her, which is the most adorably heartbreaking scene I’ve ever seen. I still don’t know how to handle that scene, it’s just too pure and wholesome. They save each other on multiple occasions during the series and they actually have a happy ending! Despite a couple close calls; she doesn’t die! And knowing that Rang has someone to love him is actually what makes Yeon feel like he can go back to his own timeline. This is just the sweetest relationship ever and I will never stop crying about it. You can’t make me!

The Setting- The vibes here are immaculate. Everything from the nicely tailored suits, to the black and white movies that the characters go to see, to the small speakeasy on the corner. I also absolutely loved the cute little boutique shop with the mirror in the back that Yeohee worked at. All of it felt so aesthetically pleasing. I know I will be re-watching this series over and over for the characters and relationships especially, but I could honestly re-watch it for the vibes alone.

The Wearisome:

Muyoung- I called that he was the red/white mask from the moment he appeared on screen. And he never got as much character development as I wished he did. I was very very happy to see him end up as a Doctor so he could potentially start his relationship with Hongjoo, but we needed more time for him to get there. Especially after he kept his schemes going so long after the friendship was reforged. We didn’t even get enough time of him actually fully registering that who he brought back to life wasn’t really his brother. Nothing about his plot ended very clearly even though it felt like it was supposed to. He wasn’t a bad character but there were a few elements that fell flat.

Saying No- Yeon kept telling Hongjoo that he was in a relationship. He said this constantly. She still attempted to force herself on him in a couple of situations and wouldn’t really take no for an answer. And this was usually played for comedy. I’m still seeing this issue in a lot of dramas where somebody being a borderline stalker and not taking no for an answer is viewed as either romantic or comedic depending on the gender of the person doing it. It’s bad no matter who does it. This depiction of a lack of understanding for consent really needs to stop. It would have ruined her character for me if it wasn’t for the fact that I know this is still such a common problem in the writing for so many dramas around the world. It bothers me so much that this is still common.

I really don’t have much to say about this drama that’s negative. I could talk all day about how amazing it is! And I probably have already talked far too much. But if you like Thor and Loki vibes, you’ll love this. Because this is really like if Thor and Loki were better developed characters and their relationship as brothers was WAY better developed and more wholesome. This drama also has a great amount of action and fantasy and is just so aesthetically pleasing. It is absolutely one of my new favorite K-Dramas and I will probably re-watch it soon despite the fact that I just watched it. I can’t resist! I need to visit my Lee Rang again! If you haven’t seen this drama, I strongly recommend you go and watch it. Even if you didn’t like the first season at all, you’ll probably love this one!

See you across the pond!

Sincerely Annie!

Video Games: ‘Chicory: A Colorful Tale’ Review

Official art for ‘Chicory: A Colorful Tale’. Copyright goes to Greg Lobanov and Finji. Artists are Alexis Dean-Jones and Madeline Berger.

Hey! Hallie here!

And I’m back with another video game review! Continuing on with my love of playing cozy games, I saw that this game was basically a coloring book with cute animal creatures and I knew that I had to try it out. But if you know my taste in games, you also know that I like deep storylines. Fortunately, this one delivers on that too! As cute as it is, the heart of ‘Chicory: A Colorful Tale’ is the hardships of being an artist, including topics such as imposter syndrome and depression due to burnout. But how do these elements work together? And does a coloring book translate to good gameplay? This is a non-spoiler review, so I’m just going to go into the basics of what I liked and disliked about this game. Mainly I want to talk about how cozy it is because, as usual, I want to make sure the people with anxiety like myself can find games that will feel comforting!

The Story:

This story follows a main character (The character is named after the player’s favorite food but the default name is Pizza), who works as a janitor for the artist Chicory. Chicory is the protector of the land of Picnic and is known for being a Wielder, or the artist chosen to wield a magical paintbrush. Picnic in its natural form is colorless, but the Wielder is able to bring color to the world by coloring it in themselves. But one day all of Chicory’s colors vanish from Picnic. When Pizza goes to check on Chicory, they find the magical paintbrush left on its own. In a split-second decision, they pick up the brush and begin to re-color Picnic. However, Picnic’s in a worse state than they thought. And to make matters worse, Chicory is bed-ridden and refuses to pick up the brush again when it’s offered to her. Pizza quickly finds themselves in the position of not just coloring everything back in, but also figuring out what happened to Chicory’s colors. While each character in this game is absolutely adorable, Pizza and Chicory are the focus of the game and the way the hardships of being an artist are explored. Though they’ve always wanted to be the Wielder, Pizza was never confident enough in their art to pursue that. And when they end up in the position of showing their art to the world on a large scale, they’re hit with criticism they aren’t prepared for. On the other hand, Chicory was chosen to be a Wielder. But she’s both tired of her work and convinced that she isn’t good at art anyways, so she quits. As an artist I found it really cathartic to play through a story where the main characters have the same problems with finding confidence in their art. And though the game shows the lows of being an artist, it also shows the process of coming to love your art and approaching art on your own terms. I highly recommend this for anyone who’s struggled with their abilities in any sort of art form.

The Gameplay:

As I said above, this game is basically a virtual coloring book. Instead of fighting any enemies, each new screen has a new set of trees, flowers, and houses to color. You can color as much or as little as you want to, and throughout the game you can even collect “brush styles” which are basically stamps you can use to add more precise shapes to your creations. I also really enjoyed that each area of the Picnic map has only four colors to choose from, which felt like enough variety to have fun with the colors without making be spend way too long trying to pick colors on a color wheel. If you find coloring books calming like I do, this game is the perfect way to unwind. However, the brush is needed for more than just coloring. In order to get to each new area, you need to use your paint to interact with the environmental puzzles around you. On some screens that means using paint to grow plants to walk across, on others it means coloring in an otherwise pitch black cave, and on others it means finding a pattern to paint into a doorway in order to open it. Each area is a series of new puzzles, and while they’re fun to solve, they aren’t too difficult to figure out. Whenever you’re stuck, there are also telephone booths in most environments. When you use them you get to talk to Pizza’s adorable parents! Pizza’s mom will talk to you first and will give you your general objective, which is helpful if you end up lost and unsure of what you’re supposed to do. If you need more precise help, Pizza’s dad will give more exact hints to help you get through the area. There are also boss battles in this game. They can seem complicated at first, especially because they require you to control both Pizza and the brush at the same time, but the game does help you get used to it. Dying during these battles doesn’t restart the battle either, but instead puts you right back where you were so you can keep going. Overall it’s really calming and creatively satisfying to play.

Collectables and Side Quests:

There are A LOT of collectables in this game. I’m not someone who likes to go around collecting everything in a game, but there are so many collectables around the map that I wound up finding a lot of them anyways. The collectables mostly consist of clothes you can dress Pizza in, brush styles, and lost kids which, when delivered to the home of a woman who looks after them, can be traded for decorations for your house. These are just fun little aesthetic details, and the game provides more for you even if you don’t decide to grab more collectables. For example, in one area of Picnic there’s a shop that allows you to trade any of the clothes you do have for a piece you may have missed. There’s even a hairdressers that gives you mystery haircuts depending on your mood, kind of like ‘Animal Crossing’. On the other hand, side quests aren’t as large of a presence in this game. They don’t impact the storyline much at all, but they do give you slightly more time to get to know some of the side characters that pop up in towns around Picnic. They also aren’t very hard to complete. While there are characters who might ask you to deliver a lot of letters, others will just ask you to paint their house or make a mural. But if you’re worried that completing side quests are the only ways to get to know the cute animals that live around Picnic, don’t be! Talking to the characters gives you just as much personality, and sometimes characters will come up to talk to you and admire the landscapes you painted. One character even gave me some fan art they drew! There’s a lot to do in the land of Picnic, but you can trust that none of it is overwhelming and (almost) everyone you interact with will be perfectly pleasant!

That’s it! I feel like I went on for a while about ‘Chicory’, but this wound up being one of my favorite games I’ve played in a while. It was relaxing in a way I really needed without it being so short that I felt like I went through it too fast. I clocked in around twenty hours of gameplay, ten of those being story related and the rest being dedicated to coloring in everything I could and exploring everywhere I wanted to go. But even with there being lots to do, I never felt overwhelmed. I especially loved this game’s approach to the topic of making art, which I found very relevant for the week before I start my college art degree. I highly recommend this game and I hope you have just as much fun creating with it as I did!

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

ATEEZ: Happy Birthday, Mingi!

Performance screenshot of Song Mingi. Copyright goes to ATEEZ and KQ Entertainment.

Hi! It’s Annie!

ATEEZ has been giving me a lot of stress lately between recent announcements of K-Con, their fan sign, and their Bouncy challenge all in my area. My luck getting into any of these events has been pretty nonexistent thus far. But you know who usually helps me out with stress? Song Mingi! And this will be posted pretty much right on his birthday, so I really do want to give a very excited HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Mingi who has been making all of our lives a little better since the moment he debuted with ATEEZ. This man is known for his incredible deep rapping voice, his composition genius (Can we talk about the orange juice song?), and his moments of wisdom that we can all take with us. With each passing day I become more and more astounded by this man and everything he has done to make Atiny feel seen and empathized with. And he’s also always hilarious to watch in just about anything ever. So I’m going to get going on just some of what makes Mingi so absolutely great!

Wise:

I feel like his more recent domestic style vlogs have strayed Mingi’s biases right into delulu land. As a Yunho bias, I absolutely relate and can say nothing. I’m probably in delulu land more than I’d like to admit. But for the people who (like me) originally thought that maybe he was showing too much of his personal life for himself to be comfortable, don’t worry about that at all. In one of his most recent vlogs, Mingi said that his more domestic posts and vlogging projects were specifically to show Atiny that he’s a human being. That he’s a real person with real thoughts that can absolutely relate to the struggles we’re all facing too. Which is an incredibly noble thing for him to decide to do for Atiny. And his more recent attempts to connect more with Atiny have only become larger and more genuine. In recent behind the scenes vlogs, Mingi can be seen interacting with the camera and attempting to give really wise advice to Atiny about happiness. He’s now talked about how anything that brings you happiness at all, including small things throughout the day, count as happiness. That it isn’t something you have to achieve. He’s also started talking about his anxiety, which I am very happy about and really relate to because in the past couple years I have also been diagnosed with anxiety. Mingi talked about how his anxiety came from feeling as though he had accomplished too much too soon in his life and ended up having to unlearn that success in life is defined by career goals. Unlearning that success in life is defined by career goals has been a huge part of my anxiety journey as well, though in a different way. But hearing him talk about it and knowing that there was someone else also going through that process was so healing for me. I am forever grateful for his comments assuring me, and I’m sure plenty other Atiny, that I am not alone. And also, let’s be honest, those clips of him vlogging with his Mom are some of the cutest moments I’ve ever seen an idol post.

Hilarious:

I think Mingi has always been one of the funniest idols to watch doing anything. He always has the biggest reactions; whether it’s him being the most scared giant you ever did see or him screaming the loudest in a game where only he hadn’t had any alcohol. I also relate to his lack of interest in drinking, so I loved that about the segment too! On top of his reactions to variety show segments such as this, his reactions in more behind the scenes types of footage are also always funny. Yunho and Mingi recently released a skit where they were arguing about Mingi supposedly deleting Yunho’s gaming profile because Yunho wouldn’t pick up Mingi’s call. (Again, all fake.) This is somewhat a call back to a past vlog where Mingi accused Yunho of not respecting his “moral loyalty”; which has now become a fandom wide joke. They both were able to do that skit with complete straight faces, but Mingi’s acting almost seemed personal. Which tracks considering how often Mingi has done challenges or skits like this with a completely straight face. He’s been known for completing really cutesy dance challenges this way and it always makes it that much more enjoyable to watch. But while we can all agree that Mingi is an absolute joy to watch on camera; the other members have said that he’s even more fun off screen. In another more recent vlog, Yunho and Yeosang were asked about Mingi’s charms right before Mingi walked through the room only to open a door and promptly roar as he entered. Both Yunho and Yeosang agreed that Mingi always has them laughing, especially off camera.

Relationships:

It wouldn’t be a birthday post if I didn’t talk about all of their relationships to each other. Mingi is one of Hongjoong’s problem children in that Hongjoong revealed that Mingi is the second most difficult member for him to parent (only after Yeosang). Mingi does often seem to have his own agenda but he’s also the only other rapper and writer alongside Hongjoong. You can tell that they have fun riffing off of each other and giving each other inspiration, and their pairing in the ‘Bouncy’ MV was nothing short of perfection. Like the other members of the maknae line, Mingi really does like to tease Seonghwa. But they also have a very sweet relationship where they both become fixated on certain things very easily. Yunho and Mingi have known each other forever and you can absolutely tell. Mingi fondly reminisces on times when Yunho would take him out for lunch or dinner during their school days and accuses Yunho of betraying his moral loyalty. Mingi has also recently declared that he would marry Yunho as soon as the law let him. (Unfortunately, same sex marriage is still not legal in South Korea.) Yunho at first laughed when he heard that Mingi had said this and then said that he would leave it up to Atiny’s imagination. Either way, their head-spinny fun and cute hand kisses always make them a noticeable pair. Despite having been given the nickname “tower twins” because of their intimidating height; those two are some of the most gentle giants you’ll ever see. Mingi and Yeosang were oddly controversial for a while because in a Vlive they admitted to not having each other’s numbers, which made fans wrongly speculate about their relationship. Since, they’ve proven to be very close and have light-heartedly talked about rectifying the situation. Both of them can be quiet in group scenarios, but it doesn’t mean they aren’t close! San looks after Mingi and often treats him like his own personal child while Mingi’s relationship with Wooyoung is more wild and full of constant laughter. They both burst out laughing very easily. And Jongho has called Mingi his favorite hyung and Mingi has claimed that he practically raised Jongho. His relationships with all of the members of ATEEZ are so adorable!

Performance:

When I think about performance and Mingi, I do immediately think of Yunho teasing Mingi recently by saying that he needed to use his pelvis less while dancing. Because Mingi will use his style of dancing to make any choreography move sexier. I mean, that man has even fully taken his shirt off for more than one performance before. He’s one of the ones that Atiny will cite as an eye-catching member that brings new fans into the group along with San. When he performs, it’s really difficult to look away from him! And even if you do, his deep voice while rapping will immediately draw your attention back. Also, can we talk about his badass shootout scene in the ‘Bouncy’ MV, please?

I want to say the absolute biggest Happy Birthday to Mingi! He’s a standout performer and a hilarious presence. He has that chill attitude where he’ll just sit down and casually talk with Atiny. (He’s done this before during a game where if you made sound you had to go in this waiting area; when he’d get out in the game he’d go to the waiting area and comment on the video feed with Atiny.) I think his strength is admirable and has inspired so many Atiny, including myself. And I so admire his want to let us all know that we aren’t alone. Thank you so much Mingi for making sure I felt like there was someone out there who understands me!

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Books: ‘Monk & Robot’ Series

Close-up of the cover for ‘A Psalm for the Wild Built’ by Becky Chambers. Published by Tordotcom. Artist credit goes to Feifei Ruan.

Hey! Hallie here!

I’ve been reading a lot more lately as a distraction from all the things I’m dying (absolutely DYING) to write about while attempting to avoid discussing struck works in support of SAG and the WGA. Among the books I’ve revisited are the ‘Monk & Robot’ series by Becky Chambers. These are two novellas, meaning each are only about 150 pages, entitled ‘A Psalm for the Wild Built’ and ‘A Prayer for the Crown Shy’. Both Sci-Fi books use a cozy atmosphere and two very wholesome characters to discuss things like the importance of nature and the meaning of life. This series is the epitome of cozy fantasy, but even more than that, I found them so incredibly healing when I first read them that I cried. So naturally, I want to convince as many people as possible to give this series a shot by talking about all the things I love about them! I’m keeping this post completely spoiler free as well, so you can hopefully go into these books with the same amount of wonder I did.

Summary: A non-binary monk referred to as Sibling Dex lives in Panga, an alternate version of Earth where humans have put behind their dependence on technology, money, and worker exploitation in order to live in a society reliant on being one with nature. Due to restlessness, Sibling Dex has recently taken up the mantle of tea monk, a type of monk who travels Panga and listens to the problems of the overwhelmed while finding the perfect brew of tea to ease their troubles. But when even the travel doesn’t ease their restlessness, they head off the beaten path and come face-to-face with a robot named Mosscap. The problem? The robots left humanity behind long ago to live out in the wilder forests and haven’t been in contact since. But according to Mosscap, the robots want to get back in contact with humans in an effort to answer one question. What do humans need? It soon becomes clear the answer to that question is very complicated.

The Characters: As you could tell from the title of the series, the books really surround the characters of Sibling Dex and Mosscap. While you meet other very pleasant characters on their journeys through Panga, the relationship between these two characters and their distinct views on life are what make the series. Sibling Dex is easy to relate to. They experience a very relatable case of burnout throughout both books, and you can’t help but sympathize with both their constant exhaustion and their constant disappointment in themselves for not living up to their own expectations. Their story is cathartic, and made even better when it’s seen through a character who has a satisfying level of sarcasm, frankness, and genuine kindness. On the other side is Mosscap, who combats some of Dex’s pessimism with wide-eyed curiosity and undeniable sweetness. Mosscap experiences its own insecurities, but the way it finds joy in every-day things and appreciates them for what they are rather than what they could be, makes the character healing simply because we get to see the world through its eyes. (Also note the very loving use of it/its pronouns for Mosscap. I absolutely adore it.) The two characters take turns being teachers for one another throughout the books in a way that allows each one to develop into the best versions of themselves. While Dex struggles with their view of themselves, their love for other people and other points of view allows Mosscap to see the loveliness in the complexities of humanity. Meanwhile, Mosscap’s general naiveté doesn’t prevent it from teaching Dex not to define importance by apparent usefulness. I learned so much from each character and I won’t forget those lessons anytime soon.

Solarpunk: These books are actually one of the best examples of Solarpunk I’ve ever read, but I don’t think a lot of people know what Solarpunk is. Most people are familiar with Steampunk, a Sci-Fi genre that incorporates 1800s steam-powered machinery with modern technology to create an alternate version of reality that takes heavy influences from the Victorian era. Solarpunk challenges the unsustainable nature of a steam-powered society by instead imagining an alternate reality where humanity embraced nature and made an effort to create sustainable technology. This series is one of the best things you could read to introduce yourself to this hopeful genre. The world of Panga is full of nature, whether it’s the bustling cities full of plants growing across large buildings and giant wind turbines, or the small villages that boast wooden cottages built into trees and clearings dedicated to trading necessities. There are solar farms alongside regular farms in some areas, means of collecting rain for drinking water in others, and even areas where people refuse to use any technology or electricity at all. The people who live in Panga (who do use technology) tend to have mobile phones as a means of contacting those they love, but also as a means of trading currency with each other. But that currency isn’t money. It’s acts that benefit society. If you “buy” food from a vendor, you simply pay it back by contributing in your own way to society. The mobile phones are used to tally how many acts you have done that can be traded for things you need. And if someone fails to benefit their community? Well, they’re merely checked up on and helped by their neighbors. It’s truly idyllic, and it makes Panga the perfect world to escape into when I’m stressed.

The Robot Analogy: Within this series there’s a plot thread that’s been played with a lot recently by Sci-Fi writers. This involves humanities creation of, and subsequent exploitation of, robots. In ‘A Psalm for the Wild Built’ it’s revealed right when you open the book that one of the main catalysts for humanity deciding to create a Solarpunk society was the robots closing down factories by refusing to work, and then going to live in the wilderness. The problem with this in a lot media (*cough* ‘Detroit Become Human *cough*) is that robot exploitation is often used as a poor analogy for slavery. And of course, all of it’s being written by white writers. That isn’t the analogy this book uses, fortunately. Instead, the book clarifies that humans see robots gaining sentience as a work of their gods to help society. Some do believe robots should be classified as constructs or tools, but should be respected as one respects necessities. Others believe robots should be identified as organic, like humans, because they gained sentience. And some believe that robots are neither and gained sentience because humanity had chosen ease over giving jobs to those who needed it, and their gods decided to rectify that mistake. It’s a really interesting look at not only humanity grappling with their own egos in a situation they couldn’t control, but also the modern-day problems we have with technology taking over human jobs. And all of it’s wrapped up in the main narrative here: Worker exploitation. The book makes clear that robots left humanity because they were overworked and undervalued, which we see in so many professions today. It’s really refreshing to see this plot line used for good.

I’ll leave this here so I don’t keep rambling about how much I love these books. I absolutely adore the ‘Monk & Robot’ series. The characters are deeply relatable and their discussions give me more hope for humanity than anything else I’ve ever read. Crying during these books isn’t a result of sad moments, it’s a result of catharsis. Becky Chambers made me feel seen and accepted just as I am. And she also made me believe that humans do have the capacity to care for the nature and the other people around them. Not every story makes you want to change the world, but this one does. And even more importantly, not every story makes you feel valid for just being yourself, but this one does that too. These books had an extremely positive impact on my life, and I hope they’ll affect you in the same way.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

International Dramas: ‘Love Like the Galaxy’

Promotional poster of (left) Leo Wu and (right) Zhao Lusi. Copyright goes to Rakuten Viki and Tencent Video.

Hi! It’s Annie!

Continuing with not talking about any piece of media involved in the current writer’s and actor’s strikes, I really wanted to start finding dramas that are outside of the usual big name streaming services too. Because the streaming services are one of the biggest targets of the strike and for good reason. They are paying their workers some of the least right now. So, in an effort to find a drama as disconnected from all of these as possible, I went searching on actual international drama services for something free and this popped up everywhere. If you want to watch this one right now for free, you’ll be able to find it on multiple (actually legal) sites and none of those are the regular big name streaming services. I was a little skeptical at first when I saw that it was free multiple places, but when I looked it up I saw a bunch of people saying that it was one of the best historical romances to come out in the past several years. After seeing nothing but rave reviews (and watching a couple of swoon worthy scenes online), I decided to give this one a shot. I’m so glad that I did! This has to be one of my favorite dramas I’ve seen in a while and one of my new favorite romances. I almost decided not to watch it when I saw that there were fifty six episodes. I ended up watching this drama in five days. Am I proud of myself? No. (Maybe a little.) Was it worth it? Absolutely, yes! It doesn’t feel like the drama is that long because it’s packed with so much action and romance. I’m just going to get into it! MAJOR SPOILERS ahead!!!!

Summary: Shaoshang is a clever and headstrong girl who’s lived in a loveless household her entire life after her parents abandoned her with her grandmother for other priorities. General Ling Buyi is loved by all the women in royal and noble households and has a long list of women wanting to marry him, but he is unwilling to marry anyone. After a few chance encounters he finds himself unwittingly falling for Shaoshang, who is completely oblivious. But his lifelong want for revenge may just ruin any relationship he may or may not have with the woman who likes him a little more than she lets on.

The Good:

The Female Lead- One of the things that I love about Zhao Lusi in anything is that she never plays a demure or helpless lead. She always faces first with a charm steeped in pure intelligence that you often don’t get in female leads in anything. I think she’s my favorite romcom actress right now just because of that. I seriously can’t think of a role that she’s played that wasn’t fiercely intelligent. I feel like a lot of dramas don’t feel that their characters can be well balanced if they don’t stick to a main trait. I have no idea why that is. Zhao Lusi always plays characters who are a mix of multiple things, which is a breath of fresh air. I’m glad that dramas are starting to stop with this idea that a woman can only be one thing. I feel like especially with women in dramas, people want to see a female character stick to a specific aesthetic. Often times knowing too much or being too intelligent is seen as taking away too much from the cuteness and innocence of a character. That is absolute bullshit and I’m very glad that this drama didn’t fall into that trap. She was adorable and still more clever than most of the men in this show. She fought for herself against bullies and took her own revenge. She stood up for herself, even against her own boyfriend at parts. She is a master healer which is viewed as a complete strength rather than a “female position” within the army. All of the other male characters miraculously massively respect her for her healing abilities. I mass watched this drama to cope with stress before a job interview and watching her gave me the strength I needed to just be myself and even have fun during the interview. She’s one of those female characters where I walked away from the drama wishing that women had more role-models like this character in media. She is strong, nuanced, complicated, and contradictory. Just like real women are.

Male Lead- At first glance he seems like the typical stoic general type character you’d get from a drama like this. He’s not one to show his emotions very easily and he’s the first one in the fray when a fight breaks out or someone sets a fire. He’s well known for both his intelligence and his brutality on the battlefield. In fact, towards the beginning of the drama they take this a step forward by talking about how he’s also known for his torture tactics. That was a particular detail I really wasn’t expecting. Because the point of this character isn’t that he’s perfect at the beginning. Despite having a kind heart, he has a deep seated need for revenge that’s made him pretty bloodthirsty on the battle field. And, just like the main female character, he also didn’t grow up in a loving household. So he doesn’t actually know how to take care of people that aren’t his soldiers. When he and Shaoshang first get together he completely flubs it. He tries to tell her what she should or should not do in trying to look after her health. He also attempts to get her and her family up early in the morning to strengthen them in self defense. None of this is asked for and it’s also not left alone either. Shaoshang threatens to break their engagement over him taking liberties where they aren’t asked for or wanted. And he takes each and every single one of her critiques to heart. He communicates with her, often the first one of the two to do so, and continues to grow throughout the drama to be not just a protective husband, but an actually respectful one. He treats her like an equal and becomes the best version of himself, including learning to show his emotions more. He’s also one of the most swoon worthy characters I’ve ever seen. Leo Wu plays him so expertly and every romance scene made me want to sob just because of how kindly he looked at her. His sword fighting scenes are also action packed and so fun to watch.

Romance- This drama is all about the couple getting closer not because of forced circumstances, but because they actually communicate. When there’s a problem they either communicate with each other or make the mistake of not doing so and learn from it. Towards the beginning of their relationship, Shaoshang is extremely bad at communicating and will only tell him things when she’s angry with him. He communicates with her that he wants her to talk to him when something is wrong and eventually they become amazing at it. It feels almost like a realistic view on a relationship, especially because we see so much of them as a couple and supporting each other. He goes from wanting to always protect her to trusting her to come back alive and respecting her boundaries while still being protective in a healthier way. She goes from not knowing how to communicate to encouraging him to communicate even more. And when there’s a problem, each of them show that they’ve actually learned. When he tries to tell her not to eat close to bedtime and she expresses that she’s uncomfortable with him trying to control things like that, he makes up for it by giving her a pancake around the same time. I love that this drama covered things like boundaries! That aside, the romantic moments here are also so swoon worthy. There’s a moment where she’s trapped by bandits and he comes to help her and gets injured. She’s the only one who knows how to safely pull an arrow out of his wound. Despite this scene being kind of graphic; the way he holds her wrists and never breaks eye contact made me almost pass out. And then afterwards he asks her if her hands hurt from pulling out the arrow instead of worrying about himself. It was one of the most romantic moments I’ve seen in an any drama ever, I keep looking it up just to rewatch it. When he later ends up sacrificing his relationship for his revenge he’s completely mournful of it, to the point where he starts to cry every time she enters a room. And he more than makes up for it by showing that he can be trustworthy and that he more than trusts her. This is a relationship between two people with horrific trust issues learning to fall in love and put their complete trust in someone else. It pulls at your heartstrings and makes you feel for each character. There’s not a moment where one of them does something that you can’t empathize with. And their relationship at the end of the show is one of the strongest I’ve ever seen in a drama.

Family- Even though Shaoshang hasn’t seen her family for most of her life, the way they eventually become close to her and stand up for her is amazing. The entire family is incredibly capable, to the point where all of them fight. I’m talking the women too. Her family is so badass! And the Emperor and Empress taking the main couple under their wing and really being there for them was also so cute. (Also, her eldest brother is absolutely gay coded and you can’t convince me differently. They even make sure that he doesn’t get married at the end!)

The Female Relationships- Though there are bullies, this drama really tries to focus on having healthy female relationships, especially where they are unlikely. The Empress and the Emperor’s concubine both have children who are trying to become the next Emperor. But they view each other as sisters and never try to hurt each other or each other’s families. That’s a first for me, despite the many historical dramas I’ve seen. Shaoshang has two best female friends in this that she talks to about everything. This drama likes its female friendships and I love it!

The Bad:

The Bullying- I could have done with a little less petty bullying. I understand why it was needed, but having so many instances of the same women bullying Shaoshang over and over and over again got a little tiresome. I think a few less instances would have made things more smooth.

Dropped Plotline- I loved almost everything about the Prince politics plot. Which is saying something considering I usually don’t like politics in my fantasy. But aside from the amazing plot twist at the end that Buyi was working for the third Prince instead of the Crown Prince the entire time; the end of the Crown Prince’s story kind of sucked. We knew that he was basically too nice to be in power, but we never heard what he truly felt about losing his power. And he ended up with a wife who tried to instigate the death of the woman that he truly loved. He deserved to be happy! He wasn’t malicious at all! Why did this drama never address how unhappy his situation ended up by the end?

The Villains- I don’t think any of the real villains were really developed. There were a few things I also didn’t quite get by the end. Like what that mist they were talking about was and why all those physicians that investigated it died. I liked the revenge plot line a lot, but none of the men and women behind it were very interesting.

The point of this drama really is the romance and the drama never loses sight of that. Which is why I don’t feel like a single one of those fifty six episodes ever went to waste. Each one was needed. Though the villain at the end especially didn’t have much of a purpose, you could see why it was important to the overall plot and the main couple’s relationship. And even though it mainly focuses on the build up of this relationship, there’s plenty of action to go around here. I loved the fight scenes and the choreography both with swords and with a plethora of other weapons. This drama is more historical than fantasy, so we don’t get magic as much as we get full on sword fights and I absolutely loved that aspect of it! The equality of the couple, the mutual respect, and the most swoon worthy romance scenes I’ve seen in a long time made this drama a completely re-watchable one for me. This absolutely goes onto my list of favorites. I really didn’t have much to nitpick here. Absolutely give this one a watch! And give something well worth it a view that has nothing to do with the big streaming services.

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Video Games: ‘Coffee Talk’ Review

Screenshot of Baileys, Myrtle, Aqua, and Freya from ‘Coffee Talk’. Copyright goes to Toge Productions.

Hey! Hallie here!

Once again, it’s been a while since I’ve talked about video games on this blog, mostly because I’ve been revisiting games I’ve discussed on this blog before. But now I’m back in the mood to explore new games I haven’t experienced, particularly cozy games. As someone with anxiety, I gravitate heavily towards cozy content and video games are no exception. I’m always on the lookout for games that can calm me down after a stressful day and sweep me into an immersive story that appeals to my love of escapism. ‘Coffee Talk’ was probably the cozy game I saw most recommended on TikTok, especially after the Animal Crossing craze started to die down. But I resisted playing it, mostly because I heard it was very short. Still, I couldn’t get over the plethora of good reviews, so when I decided I was going to start looking for new games again this one was at the top of my list. But does the content really hold up against the short length? And does the gameplay make this a relaxing or frustrating experience? Let’s look at what ‘Coffee Talk’ has to offer.

Gameplay:

The gameplay in this game is really simple. You make coffee for the customers that come into your shop. You have a select amount of ingredients that grows slowly as you progress through the game, and customers will give you either an exact type of coffee or the flavors they feel like having that day. You use those orders to put ingredients together and create the perfect cup of coffee, tea, or hot chocolate. You’re only allowed to use three ingredients for each drink, but the game will tell you how warm, cool, sweet, or bitter the drink is to help push you in the right direction. Also there to help is a list of recipes you can access throughout the game, but the game will only give you three recipes to start you out. The rest you have to figure out yourself through experimentation, which the game strongly encourages. There will even be characters who come back multiple times specifically so you can experiment until the drink they order is exactly to their liking. And lucky for you, you can also trash a drink up to five times before you serve it, so you get plenty of chances to get a vague order right. However, while the game tries to take importance away from getting orders right the first time to encourage mistake making, there are different endings to this game. And you only get the good ending if you get almost every single order right. So while the gameplay can be lenient, I wouldn’t exactly call it completely stress free, though you can play individual chapters to fix what you missed. Still, I found making drinks to be an overall fun and relaxing experience. My one hint to you if you start this game: A drink will usually be right if it has an official looking name. If you make something that has a name like Tea with Honey and Mint, you’ve probably messed up somewhere.

Story:

The story takes place in a modern-day Seattle that’s filled with fantasy creatures as well as humans. It plays out as various unrelated storylines converging on the coffee shop you, the player, own and run. Customers of the coffee shop will either open up to you or other customers, allowing you to get insights into their lives and troubles. The storylines are smartly framed around one character, Freya, who is friends with the player and wants to write a novel based on the patrons of the coffee shop to reinvigorate her writing career. Freya not only gives context to the story, but is also more outgoing than the player which allows more sensitive or shy characters the opportunity to open up. Amongst the characters who open up about their lives there’s a half-elf man and a succubus woman who are trying to overcome their families prejudices against the other in order to continue their relationship. There’s a werewolf and vampire who get existential about their long life spans amongst sexual tension. There’s an experienced game developer befriending a new independent game developer and helping her with a new release. A young pop star who’s overprotective father is complicating her job. A mysterious alien who’s looking to find love. There’s also my personal favorite, a cop who likes to slack off and gives amazing advice. Some characters are better than others, the game developers don’t seem to get as much attention as some of the other characters for example, but overall each storyline has its own charm. And it’s fun to see these characters grow and change with each visit to the coffee shop. I was also surprised by some of the plot twists, though the main ones only occur once you unlock the best, and true, ending.

Length:

This game is only about six hours. For regular gamers, that’s very short. And it feels even shorter when you consider how much gameplay the player actually participates in. The issue with this game is it’s a visual novel, so if you go in expecting much more than a visual novel, you’ll be disappointed. You don’t make that many drinks compared to the amount of dialogue you read in the game, nor does your character participate majorly in any of the storylines. You’re more of an observer. And because you don’t participate much, your reading speed effects how long the game goes. If you’re a fast reader like me, you can breeze through the story in even less than six hours without much gameplay to slow you down. It’s also not the most repayable game once you get the true ending. And while there is a mode that’s dedicated to endless coffee making, it doesn’t add to the story. Ultimately, wether or not this effects your desire to play the game depends on the player. This game is fun, but if you want a good amount of things to do in your games this one might not be for you.

I really enjoyed ‘Coffee Talk’. It was a nice cozy game with excellent pixel art, interesting storylines, and relaxing gameplay. I do wish that it was longer or in the very least, that the player was given more to do. Maybe even giving players a choice of dialogue, even if it didn’t effect the ending of the story, could have helped the player slow down and feel more important to the storyline. And speaking of the ending of the story, if you couldn’t tell, I have mixed feelings about the true ending. I liked the added elements when you go back through the story, but I didn’t think the true ending added enough gameplay or enough story to truly be worth it. But despite those things, I don’t regret playing ‘Coffee Talk’ and I can see myself returning to it on days where I want to relax.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

International Dramas: Romance Tropes that Don’t/Do Deserve the Hate

Screenshot/ Promotional photo of (left) Zhao Lusi and (right) Chen Zheyuan. Copyright goes to Youku.

Hi! It’s Annie!

I am going to take the beginning of this to say an early Happy Birthday to Geonhak (or Leedo) of ONEUS. I’ve done an entire post on him if you want to check it out and if you haven’t listened to ONEUS, go do that! They are one of the best and most underrated K-Pop groups out there! I have obviously been very very into romance books and shows for a while now. And after consuming so much romance media I think I have a pretty big list of romance tropes that I very much like and ones that I really do not. And after being everywhere when looking at K-Drama reviews and also being semi-present on BookTok, I’ve found people with so many opinions on romance tropes as well. Including many who agree with my takes and also very much disagree. Romance is one of those things that’s really dependent on the reader and what they personally enjoy. But I do think there are some universally hated tropes and I thought it would be fun to argue for and against some of the tropes that come up the most. Which of the hate is deserved and which isn’t? Let’s just get into it!

Love Triangle:

I don’t want to spend too much time on this one because this is the one I’ve probably talked most at length about. I’m not a huge fan of love triangles unless it kind of looks like a love triangle, but really isn’t. That usually takes the form of the person in the middle of the love triangle actually having a preference from the beginning. The other person might be there to shake things up a little or maybe to be the hopeless lovable love interest that many of us actually prefer, but there’s already a clear way that this love triangle is going to go. A love triangle where the person in the middle is truly in between two characters, I usually feel like ends up under-developing the relationship and not giving the characters enough personality outside of romance. It spends so much time focusing on the drama of the situation that everything else gets lost. Not to mention, most people don’t actually relate to being in a situation like a true love triangle. Overall, for me personally it detracts from the plot and usually also detracts from character development. I like to see the true development of a couple, not just them getting together. Which is one of the elements that usually gets lost with a love triangle.

Conclusion- Deserved

Big Brother Dynamic:

This is one that has been coming up more and more and I can’t say that I’m mad at it. Hear me out, I do understand why there are a lot of people who don’t like this trope. And there are definitely ways that this trope can end up more creepy than anything else. I am not a fan when this trope involves two characters who were practically raised as siblings. I see this happen a lot in dramas where the secondary love interest will sometimes be someone who was also raised by her parents with her and who she looked at as a brother for most of her life. If someone was raised as your brother and you at any point considered them a brother, that’s just as bad as someone who’s actually related to you. Because, at that point, they might as well be. But I really do love this trope when it involves a brother’s best friend who the main character might have grown up seeing often, or someone who the main character was childhood friends with who was a little older, or even just an outside person who took them under their wing at any point in life and kind of had that caring big brother energy. As long as they weren’t raised as siblings; this is a trope I usually enjoy. Part of that is because I usually go for the big brother type when it comes to fictional characters… and also sometimes in real life. I really love a guy who’s super caring and has that responsible energy. I’ve recently gotten into ‘Hidden Love’ and that show has this dynamic exactly. He’s her big brother’s best friend and has looked out for her for years because of that. Because I already like this dynamic, it was easy for me to fall in love with this drama. This trope gets such a bad rep because of storylines that have actually resulted in incest or near-incest situations. And that I understand the hate for. But I honestly don’t think that this is most of what goes on with this trope and I really like the shows that just use this trope as an excuse to create a super responsible and respectful guy without connecting the male character so intrinsically with the female character’s childhood. Especially not their entire childhood.

Conclusion- Not Deserved

Third-Act Breakup:

I think all of us are more than familiar with this. In almost every romance story, no matter what kind of media it’s for, there’s usually a conflict and breakup that happens just before the ending. Shows seem to think that a resolution can’t be satisfying unless it’s a complete resolution that happens after fully breaking the couple up. I know that it’s formulaic at this point and there are absolutely times when a show can completely sell me on it. But there are also shows that don’t seem to know how to make the plot dramatic and compelling without having the characters break up and get back together multiple times. Or, in the case of many dramas, they don’t quite know what to do once the couple is together so instead of focusing on them as a couple they just break them up. Though this can sometimes be used in a way that I like, I usually appreciate a plot that can make the story satisfying without this much more. And I also usually find that the plots that don’t use the third act breakup will find conflict in something else for the couple to go through together. This is really good for character development and strengthening their relationship.

Conclusion- Deserved

Bad Boy vs Good Boy:

This is super prevalent and a trope that’s usually a sub category of the love triangle. The main character must choose between the sweet reliable one and the cool mysterious one. It’s always been a super popular trope and you still see it everywhere. It was very obviously in ‘Boys Over Flowers’ in the form of Junpyo and Jihoo and recently we saw it again in ‘Imitation’ with Ryok and Yujin. This always kills me because I am almost always more likely to go for the responsible sweet one and that’s usually the character that the main character doesn’t end up choosing in the end. I find that more often than not this trope involves the main female character having a preference from the beginning. So that’s not really much of an issue here. What gets me is the way this trope is often weaponized against women. Men will often say that women go for guys that they know aren’t good for them and that the “nice guys” are left in the dust. Firstly, I think that any man who is holding that much judgement against women and further victimizing themself through that judgement is absolutely not a “nice” person at all. Secondly, the whole point of the bad boy character is that often by the time that the main character ends up with him, he’s actually majorly cleaned up his act. Now it really depends on the guy. There are times where, like Junpyo, the guy has major red flags that the show refuses to acknowledge. Then you have the guys like Yijung who massively reform to the point where he asks to have time to be ready for a relationship by the time the show ends. This is often the fault of the writer for the most part who has trouble differentiating between actual flaws and things like jealousy. I think being jealous is healthy to a certain extent, but unchecked it can go way too far. If jealousy becomes controlling behavior, it is no longer even a little bit healthy. Or, in the case of ‘Boys Over Flowers’ it can be the difference between a playboy who gets controlling to get what he wants and a playboy who recognizes his playboy behavior comes from a place of insecurity and actually attempts to become a better person. Kind of interesting that both of those characters came from the same show. So this trope is really dependent on how well it’s written. But, overall, most of the hate for this trope seems to come from sexist men. And while this trope isn’t my favorite and often leaves me disappointed, that’s partly because of my personal tastes.

Conclusion- Not Deserved

Obviously, I didn’t include many tropes that are really popular. Such as enemies to lovers or best friends to lovers. Mostly because, I mainly looked for tropes that are widely hated. Both of those tropes are ones that really seem to be universally liked. I don’t think I’ve met a person who really hates either enemies to lovers or best friends to lovers. But there’s a lot of controversy over love triangles or tropes that seem to edge too far towards something creepy. Which I completely understand. But I also think it’s important to see some of these from a different perspective when we can. What may not work for one writer or audience member at all could be the perfect match for another. And whether I hate these tropes or not, I can assure you that the tropes I hate would absolutely never make me stop watching my dramas or reading my romance books. They’re just too good for that. So whether you hate these or love them, just keep reading and watching!

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

International Dramas: ‘Because This is My First Life’ Review

Screenshot of Jung Somin and Lee Minki in ‘Because This is My First Life’. Copyright goes to Studio Dragon.

Hey! Hallie here!

With everything going on concerning the strike, I’ve been consuming a lot more media made outside of the US. That includes K-Dramas! A friend introduced me to this one with the promise that it has a much more mature approach to adult romances and relationships. As someone who can get frustrated with some of the more immature relationship issues that cause breakups and miscommunication in dramas, I was immediately interested in checking this one out. After watching it I was definitely surprised by ‘Because This is My First Life’. While not every trope in this drama necessarily appealed to me, the characters, their relationships, and even the way they express their emotions pulled me into the show. But was all the romance really as healthy as promised? SPOILERS AHEAD!

Summary

Jiho has always dreamed of being a writer, but she finds herself disillusioned with her work as a writer for the sponsored product segments of lower-quality morning dramas. To add insult to injury, she also has to do all the housework around the house she owns and shares with her younger brother and his girlfriend. When she discovers her brother and his girlfriend actually married and are expecting a baby, she decides to move out of the house to avoid a lifetime of serving the couple. After a search for new living conditions her friend puts her in contact with Sehee, an introverted man who works as a developer of a popular dating app and is searching for a roommate. The problem? Both are under the impression that they are living with someone of the same gender as them. Once they discover the truth, the two decide to marry under a two year contract in order to avoid scandal and appease their families who wish to see both of them married.

The Good:

The Female Lead: Jiho is a more unassuming female lead, which isn’t something I generally enjoy, but I still liked Jiho quite a bit. She’s very practical and organized, initially catching Sehee’s interest because she does her half of the housework with almost robotic precision and even cleans to get writing inspiration. She’s also very strong, never allowing anyone to pressure her into a decision she doesn’t agree with. At one point she gives up her writing because one of her coworkers attempts to sexually assault her, but she doesn’t let anyone pressure her into that decision. In fact, her coworkers attempt to pressure her into brushing off the assault, but she yells at her coworkers and quits her job. And even when she later gets an offer to come back to writing in a better company with more freedom and a good paycheck, she hesitates so that she can return the way she wants to. Often times we see characters like this written as if they’re cold and unfeeling, but Jiho isn’t. In fact, she’s the first to fall in love between herself and Sehee, at one point going so far as to rename his pet cat to something she feels is meaningful to their relationship. When he makes deliberate moves to push her away she gets angry enough to retaliate, forming friendships he doesn’t approve of and letting him know he can’t have her and push her away at the same time. There were things I didn’t like, which I’ll get into below, but overall I enjoyed this character.

The Male Lead: Sehee’s just adorable. Like Jiho, he plans out tasks and executes them with almost robotic precision. That’s initially the reason they get along so well. But unlike Jiho, he is painfully introverted. His only friends are his coworkers, his best friend being his boss who he, fortunately, became friends with long before he became his boss. His coworkers don’t even know him that well. Most of their experiences with him involve him glaring at them when they interrupt his work. But his introvertedness really does endear you to the character. He doesn’t really know how to interact with people, but in many ways he does try to reach out. And in moments where characters like Jiho reach out to find similarities with him, you see the cold exterior melt away into a quiet softness. I especially liked the scenes where Jiho and Sehee would sit down together to watch soccer, one of the only situations where we see Sehee fully unwind. And although Sehee is the last to admit he’s fallen for Jiho, he falls so much harder and it’s so cute. At one point, while Jiho is mad at him, she tells him he has to repay her by going to make kimchi with her mother. She fully expects her mom to let him sit out the kimchi making, and sure enough her mom encourages him to sit it out, but Sehee’s so concerned about pleasing Jiho that he won’t do anything less than the amount of work her mother is doing. I also liked the added drama of the reveal that he tries to push Jiho away not because of awkwardness, but because of a relationship his father ruined from when he was in college. It added so many more layers and made it even more heartbreaking when he broke down crying once Jiho tried to leave him. He’s just so soft.

The Side Couples: No hate to the main couple, but the side characters completely steal this show. I honestly like their relationships better too. First there’s Jiho’s high school friend Sooji and Sehee’s best friend and boss Sanggoo. Sooji’s a badass woman who can make men cower with a glance and never lets anyone insult her without fearing she might just murder them. But at work she smiles and laughs at inappropriate jokes or comments thrown her way without complaint. The reason is that she has a disabled mother she wants to take care of and she feels standing up for herself will hinder her ability to rise in her career, but it’s incredibly horrifying how she feels she needs to let men dehumanize her in order to do so. Sooji meets Sanggoo during a work meeting, where it’s revealed the two had a one-night-stand that Sanggoo fondly remembers but Sooji claims to have forgotten. But despite that awkwardness, Sanggoo feels uncomfortable on Sooji’s behalf with the way her coworkers treat her. And he doesn’t just stand aside either. He takes every opportunity to redirect attention away from Sooji and make the men making gross comments feel awkward. Sooji immediately respects him for doing this, but simultaneously brushes it off as him trying to get her to agree to date him. At one point she even tells him that they can’t date unless he sells his company, expecting him to admit he cares more about his work. But when she sees him next he breaks down sobbing, telling her he really considered it but couldn’t choose between his dream and her. Not only is this an amazing display of emotion for Sanggoo, but it kickstarts their extremely supportive relationship which consists of Sanggoo encouraging Sooji to stand up for herself, yelling in joy when she finally punches her boss in the face, and bragging about his girlfriend to said boss while getting on the back of Sooji’s motorcycle. I love this relationship so much. It’s my favorite part of the whole show.

The other couple in this show is Jiho’s other high school friend Horang and her boyfriend of seven years Wonseok. These two are the most adorable characters on the show, Horang being an upbeat waitress obsessed with getting married while Wonseok is a much less successful app developer who keeps a cheery exterior for his girlfriend. The two fight and break up a lot, but at the beginning of the show we’re shown that the fights are mostly petty and they always get back together. But when Jiho gets married Horang expects Wonseok to finally propose. And Wonseok not only misreads her hints that she wants him to propose, but fully resists them. This leads to the most angsty relationship in the entire drama. These two even have a full-blown screaming match in an empty theater. But you understand it. Horang has been wanting to get married ever since she was little, she even convinced Wonseok to start saving up for wedding expenses at one point for that purpose, and she really can’t see her relationship continuing on without marriage. But Wonseok has fallen behind on sending money into wedding savings because he isn’t making money as an app developer, and though he does at one point give up his dream in order to make more money for her, he finds himself miserable and still not completely stable enough to fork over the amount of money needed to marry Horang. Their relationship is absolutely heartbreaking, and when they do break up, you can’t help but feel it’s for the best. Luckily, this drama is all about the happy endings and the two find a compromise that works for them both, but this relationship is absolutely a tearjerker in a really realistic way.

Crying: All of the lead men cry in this drama. More than once. All of the women do too. It’s a healthy expression of emotions on all sides and I loved it.

What I Disliked:

Jiho at the End of the Show: Towards the end of the drama Jiho decides to leave Sehee and seek out a divorce without really consulting him, mostly because he didn’t give her the details about his first relationship. This despite the fact that their marriage was fake and she hadn’t even confessed her feelings for him, so why he should feel obligated to reveal past trauma to her is beyond me. And the way she goes about the whole situation is wrong too. She tells him to figure out telling his parents that he’s getting a divorce knowing that he doesn’t have a good relationship with them, ditches him, and then tries to make him a cake as if they’re still friends. At least when she figures out they’re accidentally sharing a living space again she decides not to leave him, but seriously. I couldn’t sympathize with her at all, especially with the amount of pain and trauma she left him to deal with.

That’s it! I really liked this drama! Marriage of convenience tropes aren’t really my thing, but it did really work for this couple and their strange non-romantic romance. But like I said before, the other couples stole the show for me. While I did like seeing the practical ways the main couple found to ease themselves into a happy marriage, I enjoyed even more the amount of support and care that came from the two side couples. Sanggoo isn’t even my type and I nearly swooned at the way Sanggoo tore down an old man for being creepy to Sooji. Clearly, I highly recommend this drama. While there are late-in-the-game breakups and a few misunderstandings, they all make sense and they never feel immature. It has the healthiest relationships I’ve ever seen in a drama and that alone makes it worth it to check out.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

International Dramas: ‘Hidden Love’

Screenshot/ Promotional shot of (left) Zhao Lusi and (right) Chen Zheyuan. Copyright goes to Youku.

Hi! It’s Annie!

Because of the current strike we’ll be talking a lot about K-Pop and dramas from abroad as well as other forms of media instead of current US and streaming media for the foreseeable future! I finally finished watching this drama in its entirety after I had to wait for episodes to come out since this only came out at the beginning of the month in China. The minute I saw this I knew I had to watch it! I have always been into the big brother type for as long as I can remember. I feel like it holds a similar spot to the team leader because this male fictional character role usually automatically gives that character a good amount of respect and responsibility. Which is probably the reason why I like it so much! So I was all over the idea of the brother’s best friend falling in love with the sister plot. But as much as I do like this trope and honestly haven’t seen many dramas yet that focus specifically on this for the main plot; I also feel like it can be done so creepily if the writers aren’t careful. So many things could go wrong when it comes to characters who have known each other since either one or both of them were minors. So did this drama actually pull off this type of romance in a cute way? Or could they not quite get past the potential for creepiness? POTENTIAL SPOILERS AHEAD!

Summary: Sang Zhi has had a crush on her older brother’s best friend, Duan Jiaxu, for almost as long as she can remember. But despite the fact that he’s always been the guy for her in her eyes, he doesn’t seem to see her as anything but a younger sister. When she moves near him to go to university and he comes back into her life in a big way, it starts to feel like maybe he’s not so unattainable. And maybe their relationship will shape into something she never could have expected.

The Good:

The Male Lead- I don’t think I have to say that the male lead in this drama was quite possibly my favorite part of the entire thing. Like I said before; he’s kind of my type. The drama didn’t make it so that he really felt like her brother; he was more disconnected from her than that. It wasn’t like they were raised together. But he did care for her like she was family because he was best friends with her brother. Instead of settling on a typical semi-cold and distant lead, this drama really decided to go for the caring side of the big brother type and I absolutely loved it. Duan Jiaxu is every bit as responsible and respectful as you would expect and he’s also like a big puppy on several occasions. He’s just the most adorable character! He takes care of everyone and nobody can stay mad at him because he’s just such a genuinely nice person. He’s also so reliable. When she needs him, he’s there. And this has been something that was true for her for most of her life. When she needed a tutor in a subject he knew well, he became her tutor. When she was still not grasping the concepts, he took her to a museum to help her get more interested in the subject. When he noticed a period stain on the back of her skirt, he immediately sent her to the bathroom while he went off and got her tampons and a new skirt. And the show also doesn’t shy away from him showing emotion. He’s had a difficult childhood and when his father, who has been in a coma for years, finally passes on he doesn’t shy away from crying. He cries again at the end of the series when he proposes to Zhi. I’m also a sucker for a guy who stands up for and protects his girlfriend (as long as it’s equal and it’s not a way to show that he somehow has more power than her) and there’s plenty of that to go around in this too. Including him putting up with so much until it affects his girlfriend and because of her he takes a stand for both himself and her. There are just so many tropes with him that I love and this doesn’t even cover my favorite things that he does in his relationship with Zhi.

The Female Lead- I loved her! She was adorable and so many times when a female character has cuteness as a leading character trait, the drama will make her completely helpless and very demure. That was not the case here at all. Zhi stands up to her boyfriend’s stalker on multiple occasions, almost takes her brother’s head off when she realizes that he punched Jiaxu for dating her, and tells Jiaxu several times throughout the drama that she’ll protect him by not letting anyone bully him. This is one of the best dramas I’ve seen for protection in a relationship going both ways. She also cries during confrontation on occasion, which I loved because I do that too. And the drama didn’t act like she was less strong for doing so. I also absolutely loved how they dealt with her at least five year long crush on Jiaxu. Instead of being overly obsessive, she’s very careful in making sure that Jiaxu feels comfortable around her. When he comes back into her life and her feelings start resurfacing, she tries to make sure that Jiaxu likes her first and then becomes very nervous about the prospect of telling him that she’s liked him for so long. Eventually the information becomes kind of obsolete, but she eventually tells him and the information only makes them feel closer to each other. And it’s mostly because he realizes that she hasn’t been saying it because she’s afraid it would make him uncomfortable. He doesn’t make a huge deal out of it either and because of that, I think this was handled so well! I was a little thrown off at first because this actress played a warrior badass in the last drama I saw her in, but she pulled this off too. And I also like how a cute and girly character could have just as much strength as her last character who was more tomboyish. Just because a character is cute and girly doesn’t mean she has to be demure!

Relationship- It’s so important that this relationship isn’t reciprocated and doesn’t become an actual thing until she’s in university. There is no point where she’s not an adult yet and he is and there’s something romantic going on. There is a five year age gap between the two of them, which actually isn’t that bad. And they completely avoid making it creepy by making sure they are both adults when the romance part of their relationship begins. They also do an excellent job of making sure that the two don’t really focus on their past together once they get into a relationship. They are completely present with each other and despite the age gap they take equal responsibility in their relationship. I love how equal this feels! They get together about half way through the drama so we also get to see plenty of them being a couple. This is also not interrupted because the writers decided against a random third act breakup. There’s one moment where because her parents are reluctant to accept the relationship, Zhi worries that Jiaxu wants to break up with her. But as soon as she sees him, he immediately explains that this isn’t the case. They have so many adorable couple moments and this also includes them being super supportive of each other’s careers. By the end of the drama they have to be long distance for a while because he’s moved where both of them are hoping to live and is starting his own business while she’s finishing her degree at her university. Seriously, they are the cutest together! So supportive and also almost tooth achingly sweet. This drama has so much fluff, so if you’re like me and you enjoy that type of thing, you’ll absolutely love it!

Consent- This had to be one of my favorite parts of their relationship. This drama actually tackles consent in a way that I can honestly say I’ve never seen any drama do before. I think consent is still an issue for any romcom no matter where it’s from. For example, though ‘Business Proposal’ is a hilarious show, it still has one of the most disturbing scenes I’ve seen of a man sleeping with a woman who is obviously too drunk to properly consent. In this drama, after the main couple starts seeing each other, Jiaxu tries to go in for his first kiss with Zhi. Zhi, who has never been in a relationship before, is very nervous about anything physical in the relationship and gets automatically uncomfortable. Jiaxu sees this and immediately backs off, assuring her that he doesn’t want her to be uncomfortable. He later asks her if it’s ok to hold her hand specifically in order to get further information on what she is and is not comfortable doing. He tells her the reason he’s asking and everything. When Zhi later decides that she’s ready to be intimate with him despite the fact that she’s nervous, she clearly communicates these feelings with him. I’ve seen so many dramas use the “if we start I might not be able to stop” line as a romantic thing. This drama felt like the antithesis of that, which I’m so glad for. This might be one of the best dramas I’ve ever seen when it comes to consent!

The Friendships- I really liked that this drama showed each of the main character’s lives outside of their relationship too. That’s so important! Zhi had her college roommates who she found it just as important to go out with as her boyfriend. And Jiaxu had friendships with his coworkers as well as his old college roommates. This drama made sure that there was plenty of room for friendships. And uplifting female friendships as well! All four of the girls supported each other completely and all of them were shown to have different lives and talents despite majoring in the same thing. The other girls weren’t focused on a lot, but we still saw snap shots of their lives and how they worked within the friendship. And when one girl’s crush ended up having a crush on her friend instead of her, she never blamed her friend. She just accepted that he wasn’t all that into her. I was so shocked! I just loved how the drama made a point of showing that being social outside of your relationship is also important.

The Bad:

Male Control- It was really funny because this showed itself in very specific ways and not where I expected it to at all. Zhi’s Mom is probably the stronger one in the relationship with her Dad, but at the same time their relationship is remarkably equal. So her Dad isn’t a part of this as much. The way this shows the most is actually Jiaxu and Zhi’s brother taking care of her before she gets to university. And even a little afterwards. There are times where a male character will tell her directly not to do something. She’s told several times not to date, though she doesn’t listen. Jiaxu has a huge problem with her dating before he decides that he wants to date her. I think this is probably because most university students in some cultures are strongly discouraged from dating while they figure out their careers. This type of male control didn’t really show up in any other form, but it felt strange when it did considering how little it shows up in literally any other capacity in this drama.

Child Actor- When Zhi and Jiaxu first meet, she’s fourteen and he’s nineteen. Like I said before, because the writers are careful about when feelings are reciprocated and when the relationship actually starts, it isn’t much of an issue. They don’t start dating until she’s nineteen and he’s about twenty-four and that’s also their ages when he starts to reciprocate her feelings. Which I personally feel is completely reasonable. The only issue here is that they decided to cast a child actress for when she’s fourteen. It’s really strange because as soon as she turns sixteen, they use the main actress. It honestly doesn’t make much sense. And the child actress looks more like she’s ten or eleven than fourteen. Considering that she starts having a crush on Jiaxu at this age, it’s really strange to see them playing romantic music whenever Jiaxu appears but Zhi oddly looks like a small child. I personally think they should have rewritten it to avoid casting a child actress or cast someone who looked a bit older at least. It was just kind of weird.

If you’re in the mood to watch a cute, lighthearted, drama that doesn’t have a super complicated plot but instead has a ton of fluff, this is the watch for you! Dramas like this are usually ones that I’ll watch over and over again for comfort. It doesn’t have many side plots at all and doesn’t focus on them much if they do. Which is why you’ll notice I didn’t have anything to say about any sub-plot romances. And again, no communication based break ups either! When they have problems they talk it out! So if you’re in the mood to watch a lot of drama, I’m not sure I’d recommend this one. But it has a strong romance plot and the absolute cutest couple. And so so much consent! I absolutely recommend this one as a super cute and lighthearted watch! I think we all need those once in a while. And they’re always some of my favorites to watch too.

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Sci-Fi: ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Ep 4-5 Review

Screenshot of Jess Bush as Christine Chapel, Babs Olusanmokun as Dr. M’Benga, and Ethan Peck as Spock in ‘Strange New Worlds’. Copyright goes to CBS Television Studios, Roddenberry Entertainment, and Secret Hideout.

Hey! Hallie here!

We’ve gotten two more episodes of ‘Strange New Worlds’ so that means it’s time for another review! I have very different opinions on both of the episodes that came out recently, but I can say that I’m very much liking this season of the show so far. While not every episode is perfect, the show still captures the whimsey of ‘The Original Series’ while also tackling interesting moral and philosophical problems. Not to mention the amount of chemistry this cast has which makes the entire ship feel like one big, happy, family. ‘Strange New Worlds’ has become one of the best Star Trek shows at fully utilizing its ensemble cast to create a found-family dynamic, and that’s something I just can’t resist in Star Trek. So let’s get into the two most recent episodes and the good, and bad, of both! I’ll be reviewing these episodes a bit differently than I usually do, but with no less detail. SPOILERS AHEAD!

UPDATE: As of today, the SAG-AFTRA leaders currently striking on behalf of actors have discouraged any content creators from talking about projects that are currently stricken, meaning projects that are promoting and releasing. Though supporting works as an unpaid creator is a complicated discussion and does not technically cross the picket line at the moment, I will still be cancelling all content related to upcoming and currently releasing projects, including upcoming episodes of ‘Strange New Worlds’, with few exceptions. Please support the WGA and SAG-AFTRA at this time while they put their livelihoods on the line for fair working conditions and wages.

Amongst the Lotus Eaters:

This episode is framed as an episode for Erica Ortegas, an idea that I was immediately excited for. She’s the one who gives the opening officer’s log to gush about how she’s about to go on her first away mission, and she also gives a somewhat triumphant log to close out the episode. Except she doesn’t play a major role in the plot. She doesn’t even go on the away mission. The whole thing is thwarted when Spock randomly discovers that there’s an astroid field surrounding Rigel VII, something that Ortegas has to personally deal with, so she can’t go down to the planet. The rest of the plot proceeds without her and she’s given a side plot that’s returned to without nearly enough frequency. Sure she gets a badass save-the-day scene, but she doesn’t even solve the main problem in the episode. Meanwhile, the main plot aims to answer a question fans have had since ‘The Original Series’ hidden pilot was aired, which is kind of cool. In the episode Pike mentions a past trip to Rigel VII that ended in disaster, where he lost a yeoman and had to fight warriors of the planet. The strange thing about this event though, is the details were muddled between episodes, creating discrepancies surrounding what happened on Rigel VII. This episode cleverly decided to solve that problem by creating a plot in which everyone in the planet’s vicinity who doesn’t actively stay in the planet’s palace slowly loses their memories. This definitely raises the stakes, but I wouldn’t say going through an episode where the characters don’t remember who they are is really my cup of tea. Especially because plots like this mean we get less character development. I also can’t say I really appreciated the way Pike went about treating his crew in the lead-up to everyone losing their memories, which was less caring and more preoccupied with his meh girlfriend. So, not a horrible episode, but not something I can say I particularly enjoyed.

Charades:

Who doesn’t like a good Spock comedy episode? Ethan Peck’s Spock might be the most comedic we’ve ever seen Spock, and that’s probably because he manages to make Spock seem so strait-laced and so innocent at the same time. It’s especially fun that we get to see his depiction of Spock turned on its head for ‘Charades’, where Spock and Christine are in a shuttle accident that results in an alien species trying to “fix” Spock by removing his Vulcan half and making him completely human. Unfortunately for him, he’s also expected to perform a ritual with his future In-Laws to further cement his engagement to T’Pring. Because Spock has never been completely human before, he winds up going through the developmental stages of a human teenager. So he’s hungrier and moodier than ever before as his mother tries to teach him to lie his way through the ritual. This episode is just really cute. Amongst the entire crew trying to put up with teenage-boy Spock, we have Pike and his amazing facial expressions back. I honestly feel like this is the first time we’ve seen casual Pike back this season and I missed it so much. His expressions during the Vulcan ritual left me breathless with laughter. We also have some great girl-bonding in this episode. This includes Uhura, Ortegas, La’an, and Una chatting and joking around with each other, plus a hilarious scene where they’re trying to teach Spock how to act Vulcan in order to help him prepare for the ritual. But it also includes various scenes where Uhura and Ortegas have honest conversations with Christine where they try to get her to confess her feelings for Spock.

As for Christine, she gets the side-plot in this episode. She’s been talking about leaving the ship to intern with the Vulcan Academy all season and we all know part of her reasoning is to escape her feelings for Spock. While preparing for the interview to get the internship, she doesn’t even consult Spock on how to navigate a Vulcan conversation and winds up instantly regretting it. But Christine also finds herself in the position of trying to turn Spock back to his normal self before the Mind-Meld part of the ritual, an act he can’t fake. In contacting the alien species that changed him and convincing them to turn him back, with the encouragement of Uhura and Ortegas she confesses to wanting more of a relationship with him. Meanwhile, Spock has been feeling similarly towards her and, even after returning to his normal self, feels even more separated from his Vulcan side when he sees the way T’Pring’s parents treat his humanity as well as his mother. By the end of the episode Spock and T’Pring decide to take a break. We also see Christine blow off the Vulcan Academy for being jerks. Hell yes. But that isn’t all. It turns out during the shuttle accident Spock diverted all the shields to protect Christine, information which leads to Spock and Christine confessing to each other. Finally! But what is a break to T’Pring? Is this a Ross situation? And also, we know that Spock and Christine aren’t together during ‘The Original Series’ though she does flirt with him. We also know that Spock doesn’t completely break it off with T’Pring until ‘The Original Series’. So is this relationship really built to last? I suppose we’ll have to see. Either way I loved this episode and it reminded me exactly why I love the character dynamics in ‘Strange New Worlds’.

That’s all for this week! I’ll be back for more reviews of this season once we have a few more episodes released! At first I wasn’t sure if this season would be able to match the charm that the first season had, but even with a few missteps I feel like this season is winning me over. It’s so much fun, and even when it’s not at its best, it still has hilarious moments and themes that make you appreciate what the writers are attempting. I can’t get over how much I love this Enterprise crew and I can’t wait to see what they do next!

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie