I just found out FL is a member of Girls' Generation 😭Wasn't it weird for her to play a fan after being an…
There's an interview I saw where she was talking about a scene where she holds a photocard for luck, and apparently they informed her behind the scenes that Girls' Generation was the first group to have photocards included with albums, lol. I feel like it must be interesting to live out the other side of her experience.
I feel like a lot of people watching are forsaking the "entertainment" aspect of this drama, and are treating…
Sorry for the delayed response; I was asleep. But thank you! I completely agree. This is a romance story, and though underlying archetypal structures are common to most stories, romance in particular follows a very specific pattern, without much deviation. Wanting or expecting this drama to change course at this point is beyond silly.
Thank you so much for the link! I'll go check it out. 🙏🏻
Fairly lengthy commentary on this drama + my thoughts on reactions to it (so far) below:
I feel like a lot of people watching are forsaking the "entertainment" aspect of this drama, and are treating it as a 100% serious depiction of idol life and a full endorsement of excessively obsessive behaviour, when I just don't think that's the case at all.
I think the FL, in some capacity, is supposed to represent the “everyfan”, and capture certain parts of that fan experience. A big part of her story is that he saved her at her darkest moment, handing her a song when she was about to kill herself – and I think, for a lot of people, this is how music and fandom operates. I remember being quite badly suicidal from about the age of 13-16 due to health complications, and I genuinely think one of the things that kept me holding on was music. Keeping that wonder and that fantasy alive, the birthday-like excitement of new releases, the idea of saving up to see concerts, has all been a major part of what has kept me alive too. I think this aspect of her storyline is literalising that feeling – when a song (or another piece of art) made by a person you don't know reaches you, and you build your world back around that.
I'm not saying it's right to lay in bed dejected when your crush / first love (who happens to be famous) is rumoured to be dating someone – but it's hardly the worst reaction I've seen in Kdramaland, let alone real life. Healthy? Probably not! But each of these characters have been flawed, dynamic and complex so far in this, and I don't really think either can be classified as "healthy". I do think, for the sake of real life – the fact that she went through the process mentally with herself, and ended up both empathising with him more and handling her emotions without lashing out at him or his ex, was actually a good direction for it to take. I hope more people in real life will be able to empathise with each other and be able to develop the emotional regulation required to feel through complicated emotions, even if rooted in some degree of parasociality.
One more point, is I feel like this drama is doing a good job so far of balancing the scales a little; so even though she knows an abundance of surface-level details, like his body language tells and skincare; she doesn't know who he is on a deeper level. I think with the current trajectory, this drama will keep on having her getting to know him beyond his public persona. Her house has been stripped back, and so far it feels like we just barely know who she is, what her father did or did not do – her connection with the guy next door. She's got her guards up, and I feel like it's going to be his role to get her to lay her sword down and be emotionally vulnerable. I can't see her doing that with anyone before him at this point.
This has been lengthy as hell, and I genuinely applaud anyone who's gotten this far by reading it all the way through. I guess TLDR; I think there is a side to this show that mirrors real life fans and idols, but I feel like this all has to be taken as a STORY with fictional characters doing fun things too.
Remember though, Bell only has 15 months, Claire is serving life (technically). When she heard Bell say she wanted…
I think that's a really great point, and for sure another reason why it might feel like the relationship's going at breakneck speed (even for sapphics). I feel like there are a lot of in-story reasons that can justify it.
I feel like I agree the relationship progression has felt "off", and I think if I'd done this drama, I would've done it differently (I think the pacing of the relationship in the novel was better in this particular regard, though I prefer how well this drama is otherwise fleshed out), but I'm also pretty sure it's SUPPOSED to feel rushed. This episode is called "newlyweds" – they were grieving, they''re together all the time, and they're in this lust bubble right now without having necessarily built that necessary layer of trust all the way up yet.
I also think that parallel with Wichai x Dao was artistically done so that we'd get a sense of Claire and Bell's warm, "right" and balanced love – compared to the roughness and clear power disparity of the other pair. I don't feel like it ruined anything – and if my suspicions are right about Kae switching Dao's birth control pills out with her antihistamines – I think it's going to be an important scene for their impending (rightful) downfall.
Overall, though I don't think this is the perfect drama – I think it's pretty damned great. The cinematography, the casting and acting, the layers to each character so far, the MUSIC (oh my gosh, the music was beautiful this episode. One kind redditor found out the "wedding" song is Warm by Valentina Ploy, in case anybody wants to go search that up).
I'm really looking forward to my Saturdays at the moment. It's going to be hard waiting for next week, where I think there'll likely be a bit of a fallout between Claire and Bell. Though I don't think it'll last very long, lol. Just start unbuttoning your prison blouse a little more, Bell. That + your puppy eyes I think we've well established are Claire's foibles.
Agreed, this series is for sapphics. Straight people have a billion series. Why do they need to have running time…
You worded that perfectly. Thank you. 🙏🏻 I personally think it's a really poignant parallel, and, if I'm reading into the scenes correctly, I think that it's going to include an important plot point going forward too.
Whoa what? Oh man. We are going to be stressed with that series too?
I haven't read Stuck With Me, as I'm waiting to support the author (kind of upset to come across spoilers in the comments here, actually), but in the books I have read; the powers of past, present and future are split between the siblings of the eldest child.
In Reverse 4 You, Jattawa can pause time indefinitely or reverse time by ten minutes once per day (past and present), and her sister Vivi gets prophetic visions (future). Their father can reverse time and uncle gets visions (I don't know who can pause time).
With Jattawa's daughters in Reverse With Me and Stuck With Me – Karan can reverse time, and gets visions (past and future), and Maitree can pause time for ten minutes (present).
Whoa what? Oh man. We are going to be stressed with that series too?
I don't mean to be mean or rude at all, but please could you put the details of Stuck With Me under a spoiler tag? Especially as there's no official translation yet.
I've been locked in from the start; there's something so quietly compelling about this drama. I like things that are on the slower end, but I wouldn't even call this all that slow? There are important plot points unfolding every episode, but the plot is centred around emotions, the connections between characters, and the lies that we tell and break down between each other. I'm in love with it so far. I hope it continues being this good. 💕
The last thing you'd want at this point is for the story to feel too happy too soon, because that's how you know you're going to end up with ultimate emotional devastation. With this "breakup" / separation here, I'm positive we're going to get a happy (or happy leaning open-ended) ending.
Oooh, if you know of any other "alpha female" sapphic dramas or shows, then please do let me know; I find this…
I think that's just a staple of the romance / love genre in general to be honest? I think you'd be harder pressed to find love stories between two working or lower class people of similar stature (though of course, they do exist, and I do seek them out). People tend to find the idea of a rich, powerful and / or good looking person protecting and loving them more comforting than the idea of a broke, powerless and ugly person doing the same, and that's the fantasy that a lot of these stories are selling, whether that reflects their reality or not. A lot of people who are interested in romance are interested for that sense of projected comfort and the guaranteed happy ending.
Again, if you can find other specifically Korean, onscreen GL (or coded) series with the same rich girl x orphan girl (though I'd hesitate to call Seul-Gi "soft") dynamic, then I'm all ears – but if you can fit the examples on one hand or less, then I still think it's pretty unique for now. I do hope for the same, though, that this is a sign of expansion!
Thank you so much for the link! I'll go check it out. 🙏🏻
I think the FL, in some capacity, is supposed to represent the “everyfan”, and capture certain parts of that fan experience. A big part of her story is that he saved her at her darkest moment, handing her a song when she was about to kill herself – and I think, for a lot of people, this is how music and fandom operates. I remember being quite badly suicidal from about the age of 13-16 due to health complications, and I genuinely think one of the things that kept me holding on was music. Keeping that wonder and that fantasy alive, the birthday-like excitement of new releases, the idea of saving up to see concerts, has all been a major part of what has kept me alive too. I think this aspect of her storyline is literalising that feeling – when a song (or another piece of art) made by a person you don't know reaches you, and you build your world back around that.
I'm not saying it's right to lay in bed dejected when your crush / first love (who happens to be famous) is rumoured to be dating someone – but it's hardly the worst reaction I've seen in Kdramaland, let alone real life. Healthy? Probably not! But each of these characters have been flawed, dynamic and complex so far in this, and I don't really think either can be classified as "healthy". I do think, for the sake of real life – the fact that she went through the process mentally with herself, and ended up both empathising with him more and handling her emotions without lashing out at him or his ex, was actually a good direction for it to take. I hope more people in real life will be able to empathise with each other and be able to develop the emotional regulation required to feel through complicated emotions, even if rooted in some degree of parasociality.
One more point, is I feel like this drama is doing a good job so far of balancing the scales a little; so even though she knows an abundance of surface-level details, like his body language tells and skincare; she doesn't know who he is on a deeper level. I think with the current trajectory, this drama will keep on having her getting to know him beyond his public persona. Her house has been stripped back, and so far it feels like we just barely know who she is, what her father did or did not do – her connection with the guy next door. She's got her guards up, and I feel like it's going to be his role to get her to lay her sword down and be emotionally vulnerable. I can't see her doing that with anyone before him at this point.
This has been lengthy as hell, and I genuinely applaud anyone who's gotten this far by reading it all the way through. I guess TLDR; I think there is a side to this show that mirrors real life fans and idols, but I feel like this all has to be taken as a STORY with fictional characters doing fun things too.
I also think that parallel with Wichai x Dao was artistically done so that we'd get a sense of Claire and Bell's warm, "right" and balanced love – compared to the roughness and clear power disparity of the other pair. I don't feel like it ruined anything – and if my suspicions are right about Kae switching Dao's birth control pills out with her antihistamines – I think it's going to be an important scene for their impending (rightful) downfall.
Overall, though I don't think this is the perfect drama – I think it's pretty damned great. The cinematography, the casting and acting, the layers to each character so far, the MUSIC (oh my gosh, the music was beautiful this episode. One kind redditor found out the "wedding" song is Warm by Valentina Ploy, in case anybody wants to go search that up).
I'm really looking forward to my Saturdays at the moment. It's going to be hard waiting for next week, where I think there'll likely be a bit of a fallout between Claire and Bell. Though I don't think it'll last very long, lol. Just start unbuttoning your prison blouse a little more, Bell. That + your puppy eyes I think we've well established are Claire's foibles.
In Reverse 4 You, Jattawa can pause time indefinitely or reverse time by ten minutes once per day (past and present), and her sister Vivi gets prophetic visions (future). Their father can reverse time and uncle gets visions (I don't know who can pause time).
With Jattawa's daughters in Reverse With Me and Stuck With Me – Karan can reverse time, and gets visions (past and future), and Maitree can pause time for ten minutes (present).
Again, if you can find other specifically Korean, onscreen GL (or coded) series with the same rich girl x orphan girl (though I'd hesitate to call Seul-Gi "soft") dynamic, then I'm all ears – but if you can fit the examples on one hand or less, then I still think it's pretty unique for now. I do hope for the same, though, that this is a sign of expansion!