Drumming my own drums.

"My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness." -Dalai Lama

[blooies]

in 2021, word of honor and gong jun and zhang zhehan ruined me 💀

[blooies]

ugh why is bigbang and jay park coming on the same day 😭

[blooies]

a familiar stranger 🎨

decided to check out this short series cuz someone on reddit was raving about it and did not disappoint! it really has all the tropes and hits all the romantic points in a short amount of time which i appreciated LOL but this also felt like a super high quality short (i’ve watched a few shorts and a few of them scream shitty quality lol) but this show just felt more polished? maybe doesn’t hurt that the director is blossom and pursuit of jade’s director 😭 his work truly is supreme lol

anyways low key also can’t believe this is my first cheng lei drama since i know so much about him already but never watched him in anything until now lol. but yes the plot was good and intriguing and it was makjang enough without being borderline crazy. the leads had chemistry, there was yearning and angst, cute ass kid involved which i always love cuz it always illicit these images of a wholesome family or the guy yearning for the girl after seeing her so soft with a kid (lmao), it also has a “fake” wedding trope, hidden identity, past and fated connection, him saving her scenes, her saving him, and actual love and intimate scenes with a pregnancy!! and i loveee how the ML was so trusting of the FL since the beginning really and never doubted her intentions or who she was. even after seeing that explicit painting he was just like nope now im even more sure that is not her LOL so good. nothing dragged out which is the great thing about watching a short. and our ML is smart and catches on fast! (like with her identity and the pregnancy). there were also funny scenes and i loved the scene with ML calling our FL by her real name over and over again 🥹 also there were like a lot of OST songs for such a short drama?? there were good twists?? if anything the only thing i thought was lacking was the 2nd ML and how he “fell” for the FL lol, i mean i think that’s what show was trying to portray but i was confused why he was suddenly in love with the FL

and i think the ending was perfect! kept wondering how on earth were they gonna wrap this up but honestly there couldn’t have been a more perfect ending. like the face back switcheroo would have been so…complicated lmao. it’s best that it ended this way despite the tragic ending of our 2nd CP. anyways show was good! even the title is sooo aptly named! show probably comes second after rainkissed fate which is still my ultimate one LOL

[blooies]

ok voicemails to isabelle was so good 😭😭 so funny but so healing and emotional at the same time 🥺 the beginning and their young selves was just done so well! and everyone was so perfectly cast. the leads had so much chemistry. so good 😭

[blooies]

coroner's diary 🧤

i went into coroner's diary cuz someone mentioned that the leads get together early and stick together for the whole duration and they were not wrong 🥹 i was actually quite surprised - for a show that was so dark and so serious at times (i mean, the crimes are pretty dark and heavy! and even the opening and ending theme is quite "dark"), our CP was actually quite cute together!!!! i really liked how they showed him in awe/in admiration of her very very early in show, and you could see they both sort of admired each other? respected each other? and then you could see that spark and curiosity slowly grow into love

ALSO the first episode was just killer. i dont know if another series can top this first episode (actually there's a few i can think of lol, but this is really up there) cuz it was just bang bang bang and like bang opening scene showing her parents getting murdered, the mystery surrounding their deaths, her revenge, coming under the guise of another identity....it was just very action packed and drama packed at once which really reeled me in right away lol

ok but back to our CP, i just loved how they got together really early on (episode 15!) and like just stuck together throughout it all! (i also liked how they got her hidden identity out of the way as soon as they confessed their feelings to each other lol) there were no misunderstandings or miscommunications or separations. they really stood by each other, encouraged and respected each other. again, for such a "dark" show, the romance was really romancing and the chemistry was really chemistrying(?) lmao. and it was cute!! i just loved them after they got together lol and him being the ultimate boyfriend. and i was just so surprised there were so many kisses scattered throughout show (again like i said, against the very bleak and dark backdrop of show lol). also i liked how they got married a few episodes before the last episode, so we could see them as a married couple (i love shows like that, i'm looking at you blossom!!)

the series/mysteries/murders in the beginning were also interesting, and you could see how they fell in love by working together (lmao not him saying he loved her as soon as she held up the liver or something LOL it's just funny and admirable that he loved her for who she was and for her uniqueness, strengths and intelligence). their relationship was very gradual and believable. also i love how the cases started off as just like, unrelated to the whole imperial plot. and also the side plot with the justice league (or whatever name it was called). i totally forgot about them until they were brought up again at the end! that was a good connection. i also thought the final mystery/case that tied everything together with the emperor was also very well done. i didn't see that coming lol

the only thing i didn't really "like" was how rushed it felt after episode 30. like scenes just felt cut short. or like, she was kidnapped but they dont show him figuring out she disappeared or was kidnapped. it was just like, next scene he's trying to find her lmao. a lot of him protecting her or saving her scenes could have been done much better imo. they were there but they weren't taken full advantage of (emotionally) if that makes sense. also the plot just like accelerated on episode 30, and show could have benefited from a few extra episodes lol. even the last episode was so rushed! i wanted more of our CP together lol. also the qin family and the brother sort of lost all plot development after our FL moved out of the house lol (so some things and development in show were lost halfway through)

tldr; show was interesting, cases were interesting, and our CP were very cute together!

[blooies]

low key my favorite part of teach you a lesson has got to be ML and minister of education’s relationship 🥹 “that’s my son-in-law, you punk!!!” 🤣🤣🤣🥹🥹🥹

[kcyars99]

The drought is OVER 🏆 53 years later, the Knicks are champions again!

[andiree]

KNICKS IN FIVE BABY 🧡💙🧡💙🧡💙

[blooies]

usually not a basketball watcher but damn still riding on that knicks OG high from last night 😭😭

[blooies]

zhan zhao adventures!!!

ugh for the first 10-15 episodes or so show was perfect. just classic wuxia, all the different sects, hidden identities, recognizable different martial arts from different sects, loyalty, bravery, adventure and mystery, things like wanting to duel just to be the best, and such good fight scenes. just so so good. i remember at like ep 10 or something i was like wait we’re only on episode 10 but i felt like so much has happened already?? the introductions of each character were done so well, our ML and FL’s bond and life or death moments were so good, saving the little boy, the urgency in getting the letter to the capital…just so sooo good. even the first arc with investigating the case and infiltrating the brothel was good, especially intertwined with the palace sect, but honestly everything sort of went downhill after that lol. it was mostly just plot plot plot but like fast plot and sometimes you don’t even see it happening plot but i wanted more character development and moments between our main trio!

and why did totally axe out any potential romance?? wuxia can have romance even if it’s not the main focus! but idk show just kinda got draggy with the brother murder arc and it was kinda just confusing and politics were happening but again confusing and not very clear. anyways i can go on and on, and don’t get me started about the ending lol. why wasting sooo much time on unnecessary things and not showing us necessary things!! lmao rushed to the max. almost as bad as fated hearts rushed ending 😭😭 oh well. zhan zhao adventures was perfect for however long it lasted. also yang yang and allen were sooo good in their roles. they really nailed their fight scenes and yang yang was so damn believable as a top martial artist. he must have practiced the heck out of those action scenes cuz he did sooo soo good! allen also did so good. not the same can be said about our FL tho lol. but seriously all the fight scenes were so so good and i appreciate the choreography and real fight scenes instead of some hand wavy cgi effects (im looking at you blood river lol). tldr; watch up to episode 15 or so for a perfect classic wuxia 👌🫡😭

[blooies]

zhan zhao adventures is actually pretty good??? such a classic wuxia feel, and good fight scenes that are not cgi or hand wavy. also so much better than yang yang’s last wuxia. im so excited to keep watching LOL

also that little boy’s parting speech was so damn cool LOL he’s so mature and so charismatic. asking our FL for her name 😭 and love the die hard loyalty that wuxia genres do so well

[yixiaosuige]

What day is it today? Why are so many people releasing lotus lanterns? The Princess is getting married. The common people want to share in the royal family's joy. That's why they're releasing lotus lanterns here for blessings.

[yixiaosuige]

1.03 || 1.38

[melonatures]

[sophiesblogworld]

The definition of enemies to lovers!!

[yingtan]

FATED HEARTS 一笑随歌 (2025) dir. Chu Yuibun, Francis Nam, Gu Zhiwei

[yixiaosuige]

1.07 || 1.25