#ru yi

nor this tbvh:

Ughhh, I knew I could smell the angst from three weeks away. But now I can't keep the horrible tears away. It's not as though it's subtle angst. To be perfectly frank, its about as subtle as "I Not Stupid 2" of Singaporean government-approved messages -- i.e.: about as subtle as a hippopotamus rampaging in a busy pond.

And yet, I can't stop myself from blithering away like an idiot anyway. I really tend to get myself wired into these horrible situations where I can't keep away from the things that allow me to procrastinate. It really is quite a horrible scenario. So here I am, wasting my precious grading hours watching (partly, anyhow, doing some Chinese handwriting practice on the side) 《如意》 which is playing in the Mainland currently. 

I mean we all know Hawick and Yang Mi are supposed to end up together by the end, but the setup is angst-laden from the beginning. Yang Mi's best friend is his bethrothed and he has his typical Chinese postmodern period young lord with family issues. 

Unfortunately I can't quite get a grip on myself, and the tears are just teetering out. Yes, yes, I can practically see the gears in the writer's brain boasting, "THIS, this is the key to make the audience cry. Kill a little here. Add a bit of father-son angst and drama, then toss in the tentative bromance but hint at some major crossroads down the path." And then a note to the PD to not forget but pounce on the fact that the girls are best friends. 

Yes, yes, I can read the machinations. But damn if it doesn't make me cry anyway. Bahhh! And now I really appreciate Yang Mi's acting. Much better than 宫锁心玉 I'll have you know. Eh, this is always my favorite time period in terms of a tendency to have biased love for dramas set in this particular era. 

And the worst part, I'm such a tragic sucker for guys with fantastic standardized Mandarin accents. Or maybe its with a slight Beijing one. It doesn't matter what they look like, because once they have that beautiful lilt to their tune, it makes my heart soar and my lips twitch into an unbecoming grin, almost borderline eerie. Ahh, I need to get off this tragic addiction. And unfortunately, cheese-overwhelming though the romance may be, I actually am falling for it. There is an inherent problem here. 

In the meantime, three episodes in, despite the typical delivery of key acting snippets in terms of "insanity" and "vegetative statehood" (watch any period Chinese drama with a character who's "lost it" and you'll know the technique I'm referring to) or the tendency to overtake the scene with overwhelming music when main characters meet, it's a great series, so far. I'm quite enjoying the ride. Tear-driven though it may be.