maewj

UGHHHH I HATE when a show makes second/third couple parings that are cute as hell and feel authentic and then REFUSES to give them sufficient screen-time! I can't believe they hinted that ML's friend liked FL's friend for WEEKS, only for him to ask her out in the last episode and have the other friend crash their date. What the hell was the point of any of it?!?!

I think when I consider autism representation in a Korean context, this show did a really good job. From my Western perspective, though, it was a hard watch, and could have been better.

I said 'practically every show" as a general rule. Plus I don't think "normal people aren't interesting" is a good enough excuse, otherwise we'd be writing about savants and superheroes all the time. I think the bigger reason is that normal neurodivergents aren't as interesting to neurotypicals because we don't have as much value to contribute to society. They don't relate to our struggles, so they try and glorify us or make us villains in equal measure. That's a whole other issue, though.

I mean, practically every show with an autistic/neurodivergent lead makes them a savant, even though most of us are normal humans. That's not great representation, in my book. Society needs to accept all of us, including most of us who don't have superhuman abilities in certain intellectual areas.

I mean, practically every show with an autistic/neurodivergent lead makes them a savant, even though most of us are normal humans. That's not great representation, in my book. Society needs to accept all of us, including most of us who don't have superhuman abilities in certain intellectual areas.

Reddit has a lot of opinions on this if you want to peruse them. I think many people see themselves in WYW, but that's because they kinda gave her all of the main traits of autism and didn't curate them for her character. Plus her lack of masking makes her character feel more like the stereotypical masculine representation of autism that we often see on screen. The autistic savant is an overused trope in media for neurodivergents of all types, including autism. Apparently, the only way to make autism appeal to neurotypical audiences is to make the character super helpful to society in their chosen career. In a Korean context, she's also infantilized at times, and all her tics are ramped up to 100%.

If he weren't her boss, sure. But that's a HUGE walking HR violation, even worse than the typical office romance.

But like THE SAME TWO SONGS per drama... And played at times when they really shouldn't be... Like somehow get him to hire a musician already, his stories (and his audience) are suffering!!

"Stringing along" is a bit harsh, neither of them seem super into each other. The proof is in the fact that her boyfriend fights for her mainly so that he won't "lose" to a man he regards as inferior. It has nothing to do with him caring for her and her happiness and everything to do with his own self-image.

Is there a good enough reason, though?! I feel like the typical vibe is "I don't deserve to be happy (at the expense of someone else, or my/our reputation), which, while valid, is is a pretty weak reason, at least in a Western context.

Whoa, I'm not sure if I should be complimenting you on your restraint thus far or inquiring why it took so damn long :P

Just lately?!

Okay, but points 3 and 6 are so interesting!! I was totally lost on what spell she could have done to figure out how ML felt, but that makes everything so clear.)

Tbf, that's kinda been the writers' main strategy this whole time- they've just finally shifted to the past to carry out the same nonsense they were doing in the present!

Very much agree with this. I was hooked by the dual timeline connection, and that aspect has very much been shafted in order to drag out the "but is it really love?" nonsense, plus all the drama with the second leads (especially the sfl and her dalliances)... I shouldn't expect dramas to deliver on what they promise anymore, and yet here I am...

I mean can accept their "vision" if it's truly what they want, but I don't appreciate them shoving all this scripted "she's so big and tough and scary" dialogue down our throats if she ultimately wasn't any of those things part from in the first 10 minutes of the show. I know that Asian media likes to tell, not show, but this was a pretty ridiculous amount of telling for no payoff. Even after Naksu's supposedly been dead for 3 years, they have to terrorize the town with her existence to add a bit of drama?! Please.

In this context, I wonder if they'd have written it differently if it wasn't a male-dominated profession. I truly wonder if there was too much pressure to not have the FL be physically strong the whole time. Like in Strong Girl Bong Soo, when she falls in love and stops saving people because the ML wants to "protect her" or whatever. It's not as bad in that show, because she goes back to her old ways eventually, but it reminds me of this show a little.

Uh oh haha Well good luck, then!

Sadly this was an element of Part 1 that only got worse in part 2...

The fact that she was able to be compelling at all given that what she had to work with in terms of a script is pretty impressive. Maybe the first actress made a more believable Naksu, but she also had spunky lines. When she was onscreen with the ML in front of her all she could do was blink robotically. It was off-putting. I feel like the real Naksu lives somewhere in between the two portrayals, but even if the Naksu of part 2 wasn't as bad-ass she gave me expressions, which I appreciated, even if they weren't an assassin's expressions.