starlit-dramas

I feel the same; it's a great show so far to balance some of the harder-hitting ones I'm watching too.

How so?

I think it's sooooo funny that Sun's already started to show signs that she's crushing on both "Earth" and Ongsa... literally what in the Lois Lane level chaos 💀

I think she's supposed to be neurodivergent / autistic coded.

A lot of people arguing. Nobody seems wrong or right, especially when it's all pretty subjective anyway, but it's kind of a mess.

Of course!! To me, it really does come down to – if there is an actual fault, in the storytelling or on some ethical component, or even if a person is willing to openly admit that they don't like a story, then I think that is worthwhile.

But when the superiority kicks in, or when an opinion on something is presented as fact – "the writing is immature and bad" over "I found it immature and bad when [xyz]", I feel like it can stunt discussion – and I feel like it can be sometimes intentional, when somebody either doesn't want to be challenged, or when they just want to look down on the fools who deign to enjoy something so pedestrian.

"The trouble is that we have a bad habit, encouraged by pedants and sophisticates, of considering happiness as something rather stupid. Only pain is intellectual, only evil interesting." – Ursula Le Guin, a quote which I feel like very well applies to stories of this nature.

Too often when a story like this comes about, it feels like there's this strange intellectual battle fought all the time over who can enjoy a lighthearted ("childish") story the least – for who else can enjoy simplicity, joy and forthrightness but children and the intellectually weak, according to some?

If we get deeper and more complex characterisation later on, then I'm sure I will appreciate it. But for right now – for the fact that there are still only two episodes of this out, too, and it's still early on – I'm enjoying this exactly for its simple nature. I'm finding it lighthearted and enjoyable so far, and I'm liking the feeling of looking forward to my Fridays . ♡

I think if it continues the way it is, it'll be nice to get a sapphic / GL story that's not mired in tragedy, angst or horror, not because I dislike any of those things – but for just for some variety. It still feels rare enough when there isn't some of the "Gay people are normal!" style morality tale that feels more othering than normalising, or a moral punishment (usually through aforementioned tragedy, heightened angst and horror) or filtering through a million different lenses of censorship and coding (which I can still appreciate, but is nice when it isn't enforced or expected) treatment that sapphic love stories often get.

Unless it goes drastically off the rails, I'm having a really fun time being promised something a little romantic and whimsical at this point. I can't wait for more. <3

I agree that the boys harassing Ongsa wasn't handled the best, as imo it was far more an issue on sexual harassment than filming somebody, and the way that they framed it felt weird.

But otherwise – I don't see what else you've listed that isn't just playing on a typical comedic motif, or constructing theme? It might not be exactly "adult" humour, but it's a fluffy romantic comedy set amongst dramatic teenage characters, and sometimes themes can be more explicitly stated and on-the-nose – especially when the tone is more lighthearted and it's not especially intended to be "food for thought", and especially when it comes to characters like Aylin (who I believe is being coded as autistic or neurodivergent – and as an autistic person myself, I think a lot of us can tend to say things like that quite bluntly), like I believe they're going for with this.

This isn't intended as a bashing on you more than a discussion, by the way, and I actually find it nice to get some balanced and well thought out perspectives in here that I don't entirely disagree with – I also think it's perfectly okay if the humour or the way that themes are handled don't work for you – but my main point of disagreement is that I don't think a child could write this, and I don't think it's entirely fair to conflate "I don't like this" with "this is objectively bad". So far, I think it's been pretty well paced, the dialogue has been effective for what it's trying to do and has been kept in-character, and it's got an audience that enjoys it (myself included for right now). I would say on the whole, though not faultless, I think it's been well written for the genre and tone they're going for.

Being ableist, even over characters that aren't explicitly stated as autistic but have traits, isn't as relatable as you think it might be.

I'm soooooo excited for Jeong Nyeon... I can't wait 😭

I NEED this

Couple Of Mirrors is a historical (1920'sish) Chinese psychological thriller GL (though highly censored, still obvious), about a lovely feminist author and the domesticated assassin who keeps on implicating her for crimes, which I personally loved.

Highly sexual (in case that's an issue), but there's also the historical Korean film "The Handmaiden" about Korean a woman who intends on swindling a wealthy Japanese woman mid-occupation until it all goes disastrously wrong, which I also loved to pieces.

I wish there were more modern-day set GL psychological thrillers (and more in general), though. :(

I couldn't agree more. I've been largely impressed with the scriptwork up until this point, finding a surprising amount of depth in a story that could so easily come off as shallow – and though I'm far from swearing the writer or drama off, I feel like so many of the creative decisions made in the past episode or so have seemed, as you say, like a meaningless whirlwind of clichés that feel like they're there just because they can, because it's a Kdrama, it's easy, and it's expected.

I really do hope it picks itself back up and that a lot of the issues wrap up quickly, so we can get back to a drama that feels more in-line with what we've come to expect from the tone, themes and characterisations.

I'll have to check out the webtoon sometime! Thank you for the recommendation.

I understand that (though I don't believe they're portrayed as being the exact same as they were before, I know that it can be very easy to fall back into habits informed by trauma, even when progress is being made), which is why I don't believe it would be out of character, necessarily, for them to have had conflict. It was the way it was done that I took issue with – not the fact that there was some.

I feel the exact same way.

To be honest, especially with this couple, I wouldn't exactly expect smooth sailing when conflict arises. They both have a lot of trauma, her with relationships and trust – trusting herself and her own judgement as much as trusting another person, and her death. His death, and his default mode of repression and self-denial. Even under more ordinary circumstances, I think it would only be natural to struggle with such deep-seated relational trauma.

HOWEVER, my problem isn't necessarily with the fact that there's conflict between them now, but how it's been done. With their characters being older, and having more experience in relationships, and otherwise demonstrating an ability to communicate more effectively, I think it's a shame to encounter the noble idiocy trope to the extent it was there in this episode.

For example, I don't know if there was some mistranslation, but her reasoning of not believing in one-sided breakups, I feel goes against the nature of the drama – in which her goal is to break up both with her abusive boyfriend and her abusive best friend, even when they don't want to let her go so easily. He's supported her through every stage of her correcting her mistakes – but she can't do the same when he's going through a similar process? Not only does the logic feel thin, but I feel like it makes her a hypocrite – and not in a way that feels intentional.

If I were to change it, and include the same plot-line, I probably would have made it so that there was a buildup of information being sent out first, so there was a mystery of who it was – then had his ex turn up on the doorstep, having done all of her research of Ji-Won, pretending to be together with him. I would have made it press her buttons enough for her to need some space to think – but ultimately decide to trust him, especially once she saw for herself what the ex is like. Then they can work on the problem together, showing growth in her capacity to trust before the white truck moment hits (which I also believe could be meaningful to his development and his traumas, if handled well).

But perhaps I wouldn't have even had such an issue with where it's already gone, if it felt like they weren't trying to toss in every Kdrama element under the sun with it too, without giving proper justification in-story as to why. The back-to-back scenes of obvious PPL, the evil ex, the evil mother and the white truck of doom too, as WELL as the noble idiocy? It felt like a lot, while also feeling underwhelming for its predictability.

I've very very much enjoyed the rest of the drama – and I'm loving the scenes of the villains being villainous to each other. There's no way I'm not seeing through to the finish line at this point. It's still a little disappointing, but I have hope it will come right.

I feel like it's an interesting critique you're making – but not one I agree with, necessarily, because I see both of the villains as abusers, and I don't see the story in as much of a binary morality.

I don't think it's supposed to be seen as "victim setting up another victim up to be abused", but more of a "what if both of this woman's worst abusers got together instead". They both manipulate her, verbally put her down, gaslight her, and have both been shown to get physically violent with her at this point – I don't find it hard to call them both abusers, and pretty equally so. If they turn that on each other, do you think either one of them would "deserve" each others' toxicity if you see them as more or less equal? Do you think they "deserve" pity if they don't see what's coming? I think those are some interesting questions to get into.

While I agree that abuse isn't exclusive to nice people in real life (in my own life, I know some abusive family members who have been abused even worse for most of their lives), I don't think it's entirely fair to see the female villain as some sacrificial lamb in the context of this story, and I don't think the FL is making so much the "good" or ethically pure choices as you're presenting (she's very clearly depicted as struggling to keep on going with it, even if she's doing it in part out of vengeance – which I don't think she would if it was all about which apple she wanted to eat in the morning), so much as the most interesting one for the revenge story being told.

I'm in love with this drama so far. Everything's coming together so satisfactorily – a lot of the episodes people here have seen as "slow", I've seen as necessary buildup and character development to the midpoint where she realised getting them to hook up wasn't enough, and the second half we're already getting a taste of now. I'm glad the emotional toll of pulling off something that so goes against her personality and morals is being explored – it's been for her survival, but now it's for her happiness too. I'm really looking forward to what's to come. ♡