°♡~RumiRumiRoo~♡°

shitposting on my latest hyper fixations: cdramas ☆ kdramas ☆ cnovels ☆ bl/danmei ☆ movies/series

[captainjoongki]

you know my royal nemesis is a 10/10 serve when i actively cannot give you names of another actor or actress who could've pulled off these characters better than heo namjun and lim jiyeon. like, this is a custom made custom fit role for both of them and they are playing them better than perhaps even the writer could've imagined.

on paper, the characters are written well yes, but the two of them and their combined chemistry are selling this drama SO well. what may have been cringey in another's hands is being seen as dreamy and suave, what may have been over the top in another's hands is perfectly timed comedic skill. i am just so very impressed.

[dramastream]

MY ROYAL NEMESIS 멋진신세계 (2026), Ep. 06

[tzikeh]

More examples of the WORST mansplaining here.

[useyourblinker]

This might be my favorite

[lotsofcatsandcheapwine]

This is mine

[stockyardsyndrome]

[dangermousie]

This is a very very pretty drama but I am wondering why the palace procurement ordered so much of this particular shade of red in epic bulk - everything is colored in it - the floors, the ropes, the clothes, the drapes. No wonder these people are always backstabbing - I too would be cranky to live in permanent migraine town.

This drama feels more and more like series of still images in motion - like a model photoshoot or a magazine spread. They are striking poses for effectiveness and if it was a book illustration it would be cool but I feel nothing within the story because it just screams posing posing posing.

This was supposed to be cute but inadvertently has summed up my annoyance with the bulk of recent entrants into girlpower genre of cdramas. She’s supposedly the girl boss but it only works because some dude who’s the actually talented and powerful one does stuff for her. Which is not really feminism.

This is supposed to be romantic but once again posing and lack of chemistry undercut it but also I can’t help but fixate on the fact that they end in this pose because she can’t even tie a knot properly.

The fact that this is a mini in normal drama format would be fine if puzzling but the posing for three seconds clips on Douyin or w/e is really wrecking it.

This isn’t even a normal mini style, it’s micro/vertical.

[dangermousie]

That’s your every decision. And every decision of every character.

Finished ep 5 and I am noping out. This drama is as aggressively stupid as every character in it and the editing is so bad as to come across as a parody (ML getting stabbed on a boat, falling into the sea and being cared for in the palace in the span of 15 seconds is something else.)

The vibe is like an AI abridged summary of a narrative that is dumb in the first place and I can’t.

It can’t be the worst drama I’ve seen this year because Rebirth and Seeds of Scarlet Longing exist but it definitely deserves a bronze medal in the moron Olympics.

[raspberet]

very impressive they all saw a big firework and were immediately ready, but I am imagining this scene playing out all over the capital:

[da-man-si]

All of them probably pulled out their armour and headband from under the floor or something John Wick style only to not even get one mention of appreciation after they sacrificed themselves holding down the palace gate so FL can #girlboss her way to becoming Grand Princess.

#justice for longwei army

[dreamingsnowflake2013]

She put two and two together, figured he must be a freak in the sheets and panicked, trying to run for her life.

[thecollectibles]

Layered cliffs under clear sky by qing ying

[fake-married-my-dead-fiance]

This is beautiful

(She's being poisoned and strangled by her husband but that doesn't diminish the beauty)

Oh man the fabrics in the background! (as the bodyguard kills the emperor!)

This drama is gorgeous

[dangermousie]

Four eps in and Ashes to Crown is enjoyable the same way Affinity was enjoyable - the plot is nonsense and the characters are stupid but the vibes are vibing and it’s very entertaining.

This scene in ep 2 sums it up. Does it make sense for ML to mysteriously teleport from the outer wall at the exact moment FL need him? Or her plan to be adopted sister to somehow work? (In the novel she marries the kid which at least makes sense.) No, of course not, it’s bonkers. But was it entertaining to watch? Yes.

ML continues to aesthetically bleed all over the place:

(He also has earring trauma and even autocorrect is not buying that and trying to convert it to “warring.”)

I full on laughed at this:

It made me think of the old Soviet joke: “Will there be another war?” “No, but there will be such a fight for peace that no stone will be left standing.”

Also I think we were supposed to think dad was noble to beat up ml for trying to kill a man wjo snuck into dad’s tent at night (!!!!) because it turned out man wanted to beg for medicine but I am left thinking that the bad guy was right to kill dad in life 1 because he really truly was too stupid to live - if you tell your bodyguards to stand down when a random dude sneaks into your tent at night you will end up dead asap and should not be a general but perhaps a wandering monk.

This was neat tho:

So was the weapon teaching scene mmmm

I think it would have hit way harder if Chen Duling was capable of serious chemistry with a man (only time I’ve seen her come into vicinity of that was with Joseph in Veil) but the tropes are troping so we are good.

Conclusion: dumber than a bag of rocks and the only thing I can use to describe the pace is the Russian phrase галопам по европам but it’s really fun and really pretty! So yeah a mini with money.

[da-man-si]

Yes to everything!

I feel like this jay z gif while watching this drama:

It's kinda fun so I'm along for the ride so far but I'm also flabbergasted at the silliness and these characters trying so hard and failing at being court schemers.

[rumiroo]

If not snake, why snake shaped?

[rumiroo]

Per cdrama laws, all sturggling scholars and imperial princes are the devils spaws and not to be trusted. Ergo: He's a snake. Get away from him, girl.

This why women need to be educated and stay away from men until they are well over 25 and their frontal lobe has fully developed bc what is this??

[renewedmotionforjudgment]

My main take in terms of the romance arc: I see what they are going for, I wish the chemistry was stronger (for example, I really loved ZYR’s chemistry with BSE which really drew me in.)

And I do think a part of it is that CDL tends to better with older ML actors (like I’m genuinely curious for example what a match up with her and say, Yan Yikuan) or women (born to play a lesbian, acting in mainland.)

And I would say it would be fine in some other format but the pace is breaknecking.

It’s not so negative (like Jadewind) that it detracts from the viewing experience. And it’s not … unwatchable, like I plan to watch, but it feels slightly under seasoned.

[dangermousie]

This man has just committed so much murder.

I am in love.

[dangermousie]

Two eps in and my opinion is FL has more balls than a tennis court at Wimbledon and the amount of brains that would fit into a very very small tea spoon with room left over.

This man is reevaluating every single life choice that led him to this job.

Also let’s face it, man could totally take that sword away from her being a super soldier and all. I think he just wants an opportunity to kill more stuff.

[dangermousie]

I was telling this to @aysekira but - First ep of Ashes to Crown was fun but also very very very mini with a budget. I don’t even mean the plot because a lot of times plot bones between a wild mini and a prestige project are similar, but in the vibe and the way it approaches and conducts narrative.

There is zero world building and depth/nuance but gorgeous visuals and gonzo - good minis and this sort of thing make me think of opera or certain silent movies tbh - a sense of heightened unreality and dream state where logic is dream logic but emotions are true. Think of Carmen or Tosca (or if we are going silent movies, Sunrise or The Crowd.)

These are in no way recognizable as real people and it does not feel like a real place but the very stylized feeling is also a strength somehow.

I think a lot of people do not care for the so called mini/opera type of storytelling - when I think of e.g., Sanjay Leela Bhansali or Guo Jingming - the directors who go all in for that - they have as many detractors as fans. And that’s the thing, if you look at e.g., Devdas or Saawariya it’s as unreal as Fangs of Fortune or Veil of Shadows in terms of connecting to actual reality.

But to me, that sort of thing works (the reason I love SLB and GJM, silents, opera and well made minis) because in denying actual reality it becomes emotionally hyper real to me. If we take someone like GJM, for example, the reason I love his stuff is because he uses the extreme stylization in service of narratives that I would normally associate with classic scifi even tho he’s of course not doing scifi classic or otherwise - exploring fascinating concepts and also narratives of what it means to be human. And honestly the same feels true for SLB or King Vidor or FW Murnau or Frank Borsage silents.

Now this all only works when done well and I have no idea if Ashes to Crown will be done well but at the very least it’s pretty so we shall see.

[rumiroo]

Watched 4 episodes of Ashes to Crown. This show is so pretty to look at, and the leads are doing the most individually (together? As a couple?? It's kind of a mess). Unfortunately, the plot is cuckoobananas, so I'm tapping out.

Also, apropos of nothing, but I prefer our boy with flowing long hair (like in Generation to Generation) or tied in a ponytail like the first 2 episodes.