monstersnroses

She's a little bit dippy, she trusts her cousin whole-heartedly and honestly thought it was just a keepsake for them to have... was how I read that one.

If you compare this to other dramas in it's class:

On the romance + cars level:
Fast and Furious and Need For Speed ---> so much cars and so little realism, barely-there romance
Mia Culpa ---> gratuitously racy to the point of cheapness, badly written characters and premise, so pretentious, not dark enough, cars aspect is just a skimpy side dish
*Speed and Love = superior

On the "they're not related, but STILL..." level:
Hidden Love ---> kinda groomy, badboy not much of a badboy
The Smile Has Left Your Eyes ---> Tragic ending, takes itself too seriously to be considered "fun"
*Speed and Love = superior

On the Dark Sexy Cheesy Thrill Ride level:
Embrace In the Dark Night ---> Too short, logic and continuity problems, zero realism
Koi To Dangan ---> Way too over the top, shallow emotional content, weak FL
My Lethal Man ---> Too makjang, not that strong of an aesthetic appeal (except for ML)
*Speed and Love = superior

Also babygirl trope done right:
High EQ
Proactive to her own interests
Daring and assertive
Not petulant or insincere
Capable and strong
Makes attempts all the time to conquer her own shyness
Sets goals and achieves them
Continually taking steps to become more independent

This is actually best-in-class in multiple sub-genres.

I think her babygirl act here is coming off strong, but A) not over the top and B) creates the right juxtaposition between light/dark devil/angel when contrasted with the ML.

But they really pushed that contrast to an apex, and Esther is pushing the envelope of "baby sister cute" so I can see why it turns some people off.

I think this drama slaps so hard, if all the eps had dropped at once, I would have called out sick from work to binge it fr.

looking at ur watchlist, i'd say drop. I predict u gonna have a bad bad time. You liked FITYMI, LMLMV, DOTS, AASOL.... If it wasn't for your high rating of HL, i'd think you would be totally allergic to this type of drama.

It's because of the mindset you take going into it. You're *hoping* for Lighter And Princess but plus extra. Or maybe Amidst A Snowstorm of Love or First Frost plus extra. You're mentally already comparing them with really heavy hitters that you love, thinking that since this is sexy and hyped, it must be one of the greats.

But the real place this drama is coming from, is Embrace In the Dark night plus extra. Or Mia Culpa but actually done correctly.

You need to lower your expectation bar allllll the way down to like My Lethal Man levels. Realize that this is like an extended, pimped out short-length with star casting and really really good production. THAT is why it's so off the hook awesome.

Accept that a level of cheese is *baked in*. No one said this was a dairy-free dessert.

No, but it is "pseudo-incest" which is an entire subcategory of it's own. And every single time one of these come out, a whoooole bunch of pearl clutchers flood the threads with their sanctimoniousness, and judge my kink as if it is the most disgusting thing of which they can conceive. Screw the bronies, furries, feeders, and groomers that share our existence on this planet: They gonna clock straight HOURS on social media to make sure we know they think that every single one of us who loved Hidden Love, That Winter the Wind Blows, The Smile Has Left Your Eyes, and now S&L, are vile filthmongers!!!

Screw those virtue signalling b*tches. There is a time honored tradition in asian drama of "batshit crazy romance" of which I happen to be a HUGE fan. Kidnappings. Power imbalances. Amnesia. Mermen. Crazy chaebols posing as bodyguards. Fake marriages. Fraud, larceny, lie detector machines at gunpoint, fake leukemia, teachers and students, host clubs, gumihos, demons, stabbings, groomers, poison, face swaps, loan sharks, gangsters, blood drinking, blackmail, and Literally The Devil.

This one is pseudo-incest, it's hot af, and not even CLOSE to the bottom of the crazy-barrel. Not even close. But it's a magnet for sanctimonious zealots and hater karens.

You in this for the realism

FL's dad = was a racecar driver, and back in the day one of his besties died, and left an orphaned child behind. FL's dad brought the little orphaned boy home and said to his wife "we gonna raise this kid nao." and she was like "yea right the hell we are" and he was like "..."

But that little orphan ML had no other parents or support system after his real father died, and he was in the house being raised as their adoptive child since (afaik) before FL was born.

Now FL's parents are divorced. When they split, FL went with Mom, and ML went with Dad.

Currently Dad is remarried, and Mom is about to remarry (?) or has just freshly gotten married, something like that.

FL has moved from her real Mom's house to her real Dad's house, living with him for the first time since her parents split. But her real dad has still been raising the ML as his own this entire time.

Because his only other really sexy, big production ML role was My Fated Boy, so if you haven't seen that, then he just wouldn't be on your radar.

MFB is in my all time top ten, out of hundreds and hundreds of dramas watched. He's so wicked hot in it, and that script was a thing of beauty.

I really disliked L&P, and have sort of similar tastes to you, here's my reccs for badboy+yearning+intensity+HE

1. The Smile Has Left Your Eyes - stylish, borderline taboo, angsty, spicy. They think they are siblings, but they aren't. This is one of the ONLY personal exceptions I have to the "must have HE rule", this is a tragic ending but so fitting and worth the watch anyways.

2. Devil Beside You - oldschool, kilig, angsty, ML/FL have very similar dynamic to this one, she is supercute, he is badboy af, they are step siblings. High kilig, skimps a bit on the actual spice.

3. Lesson In Love - hot, angsty, ML is badboy but he is young and inexperienced, she is older and calmer. Spicy af.

4. Learning to Love - high angst, he is badboy she is goodgirl, but she is older and calmer than ML, and there is no good spice, just tons of angst, excellent acting, strong script, and an HE

5. The Rose - oldschool, lo budget and bad acting from ML, very taboo, she almost gets together with her legit half brother but it doesn't actually happen, love triangle, this one is truly twisted, but the angst is there, the kilig is there, spice levels high. Altho skimpy on actual kiss scenes. Deep psychology.

6. Doom At Your Service - sort of cheesy in that distinctly k-way, but stylish, angsty, she is cute and sweet, he is literally Doom. Moderate kilig with dashes of spice

7. That Winter The Wind Blows - Angsty, yearning, pseudo-taboo (FL thinks ML is her brother when he isn't and he knows he isn't). Low on spice, but good kilig and the kiss scenes are solid.

i second MFB, it's one of my all time faves, he's hot af in it and the script is strong.

It's how I would dress if I could wear whatever I wanted also. I like rocking corsets and frilly skirts with shitkicker jackets and boots, and jeans with sundresses. Stylist NAILED it!

I don't think you're the only one thinking it.

I don't find it cringy, I think it's cute and entertaining, but there are other dramas I've insta-dropped because the FL was trying this same schtick and i couldn't stand it.

Esther is capable of dialing it up or dialing it back, and in this one she's at about a medium-level. I vibe with her here personally. I think the emotional intensity at clutch moments is coming through just fine. Her crying needs just a liiiitle bit of work, but it's fine basically to me idk.

Her coquettishness is in babygirl style, but her actions show a strong FL. She doesn't wait for permission to go after what she wants, she is always making moves to be more independent in her life, she doesn't sell herself short or see herself as weak, and she stands up for herself. She even jumped into a fight and kicked a bad guy's ass with her double black belt tae kwon do.

Her *delivery* is just soft and gentle on the outside. She has contradictions and complexity. She isn't afraid of learning about racing or fighting and knows about cars and martial arts, but breaks appliances and pretends she doesn't know how to fix them and acts like she can't peel her own fruit when she wants ML to come pay attention to her. Which, in itself is proactive if you see it on another level.

Im guessing probably at the heart of your distaste isn't a lack of character development or lack of inner strength.... but just that she hit that babygirl note so hard that its harshing your vibe. **Which is totally understandable**

But just that I wouldn't want people to read your comment and think that that's the end of the story and she's just a 2D helpless girly girl, because she's def not that.

...AND A NON-ANNOYING FL BESTIE, FINALLY FOR ONCE omg

What kind of development do you think she needs? In this drama, she has put her foot down on her mother, tried to raise up her down in the dumps father and give him love and support, get ML to continue his education and stop taking dangerous risks all the time, enrolled in school on her own, and took her own initiative to learn more about ML's passion and develop her own skills as a racer. Not to mention being proactive about love despite feeling really shy inside.

His character is the one that needs development, and he's going to get it, as the dialogue and script make obvious.

idk why people get so hung up on "character development". She's certainly not 2 dimensional, why does she need an existential inflection point to prove it?

Not blood related, and ZERO grooming involved. But it does have a dark lowkey kinky undertone, because he helped raise her in a "parental older brother" role. He freaking bottle fed her as a child. It's riding a fine line.

This drama is full of quality kilig moments, which has been kind of rare in asian dramas lately. Giving huge Devil Beside You vibes.

Blessings and good luck to you, friend 🐉

You too, study hard! Jiayou!!!