Whymsy Days

the rebel princess: i am a damsel. i am in distress. i can handle it

(I don't know if I'm quite dropping it, for the big reason that it's nice to have some background noise when dealing with 1293102938123 pages of redactions)

I actually love the "cold, cerebral FL" type in general. On the idol dramasphere, the older dramas Shen Zhenzhu from Glory of Tang Dynasy, Schemes of Beauty, Ruby Lin's Yin Lihua from Singing All Along, Ady An's Dugu Banruo from Legend of Dugu, to the newer ones like Li Rong from the Princess Royal.

I also actually really love a 大女主. Zhen Huan -- the 大女主-est drama of them all, and Minglan -- are in my top 5s. I adore Hailan from Ruyi and she would put some of these scheming FLs to shame. Hell, I even watched (and rewatched) that FBB Wu Zetian drama.

And hell, I ended up surprising myself and enjoying Ashes to Crown. I was Wen Yu's #1 defense squad for Gui Luan.

But you got to set a level of interiority and you got to set a level of stakes. Shen Zhenzhu & Yin Lihua's coldness was also an internal pressure cooker (and I would argue the same for Ruoxi from BBJX) and you feel the repression and it's a mixture of heartbreak and relief when they break.

Zhen Huan is this combo of you watch her doing boss level ups in terms of schemes but contrast it with how she continues to lose herself. Minglan wins but still has to work through her trauma. Also both of them fail at the start -- many, many times -- and work through them.

DONG SICHENG (董思成) / WINWIN as Ye Xian

YOU SMOOTH MOTHERFUCKER

Getting her all hot and flustered YEASSSSS

OMG THE WAY HE JUST SHAMELESSLY STARES AT HER MOUTH DAMMIT

I need another season of "A Splendid Match", or at least maybe 4 or 5 special episodes that show Chen Yanyun's back story. I'm very much intrigued by a few things about him:

1) His family's connection with the Ji family - from the looks of it, the Jis treat him as their master. They obey his orders. Is the Ji family some sort of vassal clan to the Chens? Do the Chens - or Yanyun personally - have considerable investment in the Ji family businesses? Did the Chens' investment actually helped the Jis become the wealthy family that they are now? What are their connections politically? Why does Chen Yanyun seem to hold sway over them?

2) Yanyun was described as a scholar; he was the top of his batch of examinees. He's considered as one of the most brilliant members of the Secretariat and the Senior Grand Secretary's best pupil. He is also the head of the Crown Prince's household.

Yanyun is a career court official and a political strategist, so why does he have excellent fighting skills? He's an expert horseman and archer and has the skills of a seasoned battlefield commander.

His sister mentioned something about him once serving at the yamen but a yamen post doesn't seem to require archery skills from its senior officials.

Of course, I would want a separate 2nd season that would show him and Jinzhao further dealing with the emerging crisis in the empire, and Yanyun becoming the young Emperor's support and most trusted ally. I want to see him rise to Prime Minister and Jinzhao becoming an influential imperial lady who is her husband's strength and heart.

Hear me out, hear me out.

Exhibit A: Their first meeting as kids, most assuredly not just between Zang Hai and Miss Xiang. Coz it also included ZZX getting kidnapped by ZH for the weirdest reason ever.

Exhibit B: ZH has seen BOTH of them having a bath, need i say more. AND he only got into the bath with one (1) of them (not Miss Xiang)

Exhibit C: ZH manages to alienate BOTH of them within the same episode (ep 19), almost back-to-back. i.e. not waiting for Miss Xiang at Zhen Tower, and then catching ZZX leaving the army and basically telling him I'm only your friend if you come with benefits. In very quick succession. Almost like if I'm gonna break up the polycule, everyone's gotta go.

Exhibit D: And then in the same episode (ep 19), there's a romantic background song (complete with lyrics on the side), where ZH and Miss Xiang are kinda walking around missing each other and gazing longingly at the sky. BUT at the same time, we also get ZZX sprinkled in the middle, rolling around in mud and trying to survive army training, throughout the entire song.

Baffling, if interpreted within the context of a mono-cis-het ship (why is this third and also fourth person always there). Intriguing, if we accept a polycule a la Mina Harker that includes ZH, ZH's husband ZZX, ZH's wife Miss Xiang and Miss Xiang's wife Mr Eight.

Don't pop my bubble. let me live in my dream.

I can't stop thinking about The Safekeep by Yael Van der Wouden... It was so sad and obsessive and doomed from the start. I had no idea there was a love story in it (i picked it up knowing nothing about it except that it won the Women's prize for fiction last year) and i'm glad i didn't expect a beautiful love story, as some reviews can make you think. It is beautiful, don't get me wrong, but it is tangled with heartbreak and distrust.

(spoilers under the cut I NEED to talk about it)