Yesterday was a busy day for me. I was rushed watching the finale and did not have time to digest properly. Although the last two episodes did not hit quite as perfectly as the first 8 for me (not just because of Tawan, but largely because I did not fully get what they were doing with Peach's emotional evolution), what a wonderful ride this has all been. I am truly thankful for this little silly story coming into my life.
Today I woke up with Bob Dylan's "To make you feel my love" in my head, a vintage but -because of it- kind of perfect song for Thee.
Be it the original:
"The storms are raging on the rollin’ sea
And on the highway of regret
The winds of change are blowing wild and free.
And you ain't seen nothing like me yet."
Or the updated lyrics:
"The storms are raging on the rollin’ sea
And on the highway of regret
Put your hand in mine and come with me
I’ll see that you don’t get wet."
And it hit me: Peach did not change much across their journey, because love shouldn't need it. Love is also meeting people where they are at, and understanding them deeply enough, to the point where no words need to be said.
Thee has proven that he can make it all work
"I could make you happy, make your dreams come true
There is nothing that I wouldn't do
Go to the ends of the earth for you
To make you feel my love"
Peach is not nearly as oblivious to Thee's feelings as he might seem. He is not unaffected by Thee's devastatingly sincere declarations either. He cares, perhaps just as deeply, but is not ready to put a name to those feelings just yet. All-in romance is just as novel to him as is to Thee so he's unsure about what he's feeling or what to do about it. And this not even taking into account the fact that he is falling for a guy despite 25y of thinking himself straight. Or that said guy is part of a completely alien world of the uber-rich mafia.
So he skirts the line of their relationship --pretending not to take Thee's words seriously but getting into his personal space at any opportunity, agreeing to silly unreasonable requests, initiating fun when it becomes apparent how little of it Thee has in his life. He may not even be aware of why he's doing it. Reminds me of We are, with Pheem's non-response to Phum's public confession, where there's reluctance to getting together officially but that does not stop taking care of the other when they are sad (or booking joint sleeping arrangements ;-) ).
Pond's Thee is just delightful. Endearing in his weirdness, in his openness to learn and change. His "simp 4 Peach 4ever" behavior is the only thing that could get Peach to overcome his reluctance to trust or rely on another person, brought about by his trauma and needing to take care of his sibling. The broken pieces of Peach and Thee fit perfectly together and they heal each other.
It's most noticeable in their smiles: contrast Thee's fake not-sure-what-to-do-with-my-face attempts at smiling (when following AI advice or in front of the camera) to the natural ones whenever interacting with Peach (shy, adoring, teasing, giddy, and the latest 'a long time is not enough how about forever' smirky one in ep4); Peach too, he smiles all the time in his day life as a way of reassuring people or as a mask for hiding his true feelings, but his smiles around Thee are of the "you might be the weirdest man i have ever encountered but i am totally amused" type, there's true joy in the laughs he gives on their dates (they're the only ones who don't know it is one) that does not show in any other of his interactions. It just works.
Overall, there's so much life and layers that they managed to pack between the silliness of the plot that makes me excited for the things to come. While I found the book entertaining (and there are some epic lol scenes that i remember fondly) it wasn't clear to me that there was enough material in there to fill a series' worth of screen time. The drama screenwriter went on to change things quite a bit to 1) help the transition between media and 2) manage fan reactions given the casting (eg Tawan as Peach's aggressor was never going to fly) while managing to keep the soul of what made the original fun.
Not sure how the changes affect some of my favorite scenes from the book (Peach crying in front of Thee, the hospital conversation between Peach and Plub about Thee, all of the Thee + Plub interactions since those two together are a riot). And the changes bring about a lot of new exciting possibilities. Someone suggested new Rome Peach scenes which should be hilarious. Whatever comes next, it's going to be done well. and i am certainly going to be entertained. Bring it on.
Do the pajamas fit? I’m not quite used to them yet. What do you usually wear to sleep? Everything I own has Theerakit K. Lee engraved on it. Including your pajamas?
very much enjoying Blossom so will post some flow of consciousness thoughts about it (mostly about most recent 4 or so eps)
I am not sure if some of DZ's planning horizons are longer than my brain can handle but I keep getting confused about what of the situations arising were something she anticipated vs something unexpected that she then plans around. like all the dumb sneaking around in full view of the enemy, surely she knew that stepmonster and incel uncle had eyes on her so why make it so easy to give them ammunition? Why have it generally known that she is very rich as that is the main hold that keeps her tied in her engagement with loser 1st life husband? Color me confused.
she sounds smart and wise when handling other people's issues, and in particular when giving advice to SM, but in her own matters i am not seeing all that much evidence of it; i suppose even the smartest people have blind spots and let emotion rather than reason dictate their actions
The Wu kid getting caught in the mess surely was not part of her plan, might be bad editing but i did not understand the role of SM in helping with grandpa Wu's retirement which got him rescued.
while young Wu is nice and all, his mentality is still that of a naive kid (his actions wrecked the standing of his family and almost destroyed his grandfather but his conclusion "love is worth it all" and at least losing everything means no longer having responsibilities towards the family and being able to pursue his hobbies), particularly striking when contrasted with his friend SM who lives and breathes duty and responsibility
when the possibility of emperor granting them marriage arose, SM was so very obviously in the yes please camp; sad DZ and family all jumped at finding excuses against it. now that that the idea has been planted in his head he seems quite single minded about making that marriage happen. not sure how he ends up getting her to agree to a "marriage of convenience" when clearly he is super smitten and so is she (despite stubbornly refusing to acknowledge it). i suppose it is awfully convenient to get what you want.
same scene was interesting to me because it was mentioned that an imperial decree was what bought SM's parents together. given that i am spoiled about the basic family story (why dad hates him but loves his bro) it is interesting that the root cause of his family misery stems yet again from the emperor.
the fact that grand princess 's interest in DZ originally had to do with who her uncle is is funny to me; since all that came our of that is messing with his plans and plain pissing him off.
ming and her beau: they are completely harmless and in love but also both naive and lacking any practical skills. not sure how they'll be able to live without someone (with a backbone and skills) around to do what needs to be done; his sis will eat them both for breakfast, for one
SM and DZ conversations: i like it when he says one prosaic thing to mean something quite different like pointing out that while wisteria can grow in the harshest conditions it will grow better with a little support; or that the addition of a new ingredient can change the same old same meal into something new to imply that life is what we make of it and even if many things are unchanging there are still choices to be made that change the overall experience.
the idea that no matter how awful the world having one person fully in your corner is enough to make life worth living feels particularly powerful in light of the times
Ep 26-7: i found it interesting that they set the romantic conflict regarding lmt not as one of picking between this or that man but making it about choosing personal freedom over any man. So cxz's task is to prove to lmt that being in a relationship with him does not necessary mean a gilded cage and/or that being together is worth some compromising of personal freedom (which is required in any marriage, really). she is done being angry with him about the lying and now she's only getting mildly irritated that she has to deal with his un-relentlessness (his mum did say that he's the most stubborn of people so when he makes up his mind about something it's impossible for anyone to change his mind... so he'll keep pissing her off by not going away until she gives in). lmt has clearly softened quite a bit already but there's still a long way to go (the fujun episode was plain cruel). that said, a man who grovels by secretly making sure you get to eat your favorite food is one worth keeping around imo.
I also enjoyed the running joke of having him going about his romantic business only to freak out the two lords who were looking for layers of meaning in his actions. And the fact that there were several layers but not in the way they thought. On that point, when cxz crossed the border for her he knew exactly what he was doing and exploiting it for the politiking (his madness is always super calculated, and apparently i also like that in a man). You can see his excellent go player brain working double duty and it's fun to watch. Won that round fair and square.
All in all, pretty entertained.
PS: i pity poor cxz's minions whose job description went from elite shadow guards to improv and sourcing gourmet fare for furen and managing the boss's bad moods. they all need a raise and a holiday.
PPS: still thinking about book vs script comparisons; the changes from the book do come at a bit of a cost for lmt: in the book they get to consummate the marriage pre-reveal (and there's a lot of premarital hanky-panky going on) which makes lmt unmarriageable, and even more entitled to being mad at him. drama cxz is also a nicer guy, less controlling and ruthless, which makes him more sympathetic to the audience. book cxz also gets there in the end but there's a lot more of a process. overall, the changes make sense on the long run but i get why people are mad at lmt for being mean to her hubby at this stage.
Ep 28: cxz's 10 step plan to 'get lmt to marry me' is on the way... can't wait. 1) get her to stop being raging mad about the lies (by getting stabbed, following her around looking all pathetic, giving her food and medicine as secret gifts, public declarations of love, etc) - checked. 2) Get her a title to shut up the gossipers - checked. 3) not exactly planned, but trigger some fomo by getting engaged with random princess - checked. 3') talk himself out of said engagement - checked. 4) prove to her you really mean it - in progress. 5) get her to admit that she is not 100% immune to all this. 6) get her family to agree. 7) make a solid prenup. 8) navigate imperial rage. 9) get mum and sis to like her. (uphill battles all round) 10) Wedding! after which he'll "yes, dear!" his way through the rest of their lives. Solid game plan.
Ep 29: forcing imperial family to back out the engagement themselves by making himself undesirable was a clever solution out of the dowager's decree (i am mostly impressed by the degree of utter shamelessness, echoing the i'm a useless dandy! in earlier episodes. takes someone 100% confident in oneself to give zero care to face). This lack of care for social rules is one of the things that makes him a suitable partner for lmt in ways that ziyu, who is all about face, cannot match. She is too unconventional for most men to handle, really (and aware of it).
The fight scene was cool and it shows again how in sync they can be when they want to. But more importantly cxz still makes moony eyes at her immediately after watching her slash a dozen necks single handedly. unlike her family (gramps in particular) who still behold her to regular female conventions, cxz is 100% ok with that facet of her. she wanted to be loved for who she is rather than the proper amnesiac wifey version. She has that.
"Furen" was rather pleased to use his people to clean house, proof that there are some perks to be had from this marriage business. She was also a little impressed by his public "marry who you want but i'm here if you're unhappy" speech, even if she immediately slashed any hopes after the edict. Finally, she was worried about his wound even if reluctant to show it. Overall, she is working her way to 'he's an idiot (affectionate)' levels of acceptance. And she finally showed some genuine smiles this episode, some of which were directed straight at cxz. Progress!
ep30: family agreement -- check, softening lmt -- making good progress. the daily letters were not as cute as the book but they managed to get most of the scene right. it ended up somewhat low key but still lovely.
he's sneaky and a drama queen and hardly upright but he gets her and he takes the necessary steps to meet her on her terms. what makes him rare in cdrama ML space is the ability to listen to other's point of view and to learn from it (way back when, she told him that taking concubines is lame, that rejecting a woman should still take into account her feelings, later about her wanting freedom and each complaint lead to a change in his mindset and associated action). he also owes up to his mistakes. But despite being royalty, victorious army commander, a savy politician, rich, the top bachelor on the market and all that, when it comes to lmt he still manages to channel a complete fool vibe which is endearing
she many not need a man to live well, but life is a lot more fun with her madman hubby around.
ep 31-32: yay! they are so cute back together. it also occurs to me that cxz is working hard to make the lies true, not just by making her his furen, but also in the details of the process, like when CJ told LMT that he had to go to her maternal family 3 times to beg for her in marriage, and then ended up having to work just as hard to convince her grandfather, or like the redo of the village party.
i seem to be in the small minority of people enjoying this but in any case ...
On Ziyu and LMT being different kinds of people who want different kinds of things: she had realized that even before Ziyu got her nearly killed. And it makes sense, she is too uncompromising to accept the dirty deal with Sui Wang, not to mention life in the imperial harem; and she needs more freedom than he can possibly give her.
I found it interesting that Ziyu kept telling her 'your opinion is what matters to me the most' only to go against her wishes behind her back over and over again. In contrast, CXZ is living-breathing that sentence, letting her do whatever she wants while being there in the background for any necessary cleanup (the taking the blame for the arrow scene was A++).
LMT told Ziyu that he's ruled by pragmatism while she follows her emotions, but that 'let me go' felt all rational to me. She had zero qualms about that clean break (unlike the breakup with CXZ where she was on the verge of tears throughout). And she was emotional every time she bumped into CXZ in the capital. He is the only part of her past that she could not completely let go of. Which is why it makes sense that they end up together in the end (and now that the script is back to roughly following the book order of events there are some super juicy scenes to look forward to). [also notably, she talks about her sentiments for Ziyu as 'admiration', but about the relationship with CXZ in terms of 'love' and 'hate'.]
CXZ about his sweetheart: "she is not some noble's daughter, she is my equal in every way" haven't squealed this hard in ages.
Also loved how his minions kept referring to LMT as Furen even after the breakup.
The game of Go: CXZ was willing to fight it out with Ziyu but immediately conceded defeat to LMT. Another round of 'We'll do what you say.' I also liked how she's shown to be the smartest of the three (in the book the author comments that she could be a woman emperor if she set her mind to it, which seems about right).
The boys' corner: I totally enjoy the banter between the Emperor and CXZ, the frenemy vibe of "fine i'm going to help you with the politiking but don't expect any reverence on the issue of my girl LMT " makes for some great entertainment value. [was fair payback for CXZ to have to watch from the shadows the woman he loves on a 'date' with another man, karma's a bitch that way] [Ziyu's dissy "other Wangs disrespect me by not showing up to summons, unlike you who just use me as an excuse to chase our ex" was also on point]
The girls' corner: Western tribe princess was on the money " Your fake husband may have been a lying liar that lies but at least he was very easy on the eyes; all in all worth it. " Snort.
Empress: I liked her character in the book and love it even more in the drama. Funnily enough she and Ziyu embody the mutual-respect-cooperation type of marriage that CXZ-pre-LMT wanted, and in their case one can see why it would make sense. They do fit well together and could be happy if he let go of his LMT obsession but alas. Perhaps the drama will make that happen.
Finally poor Sui Wang: He managed to piss off the top three smartest people in the realm and now they all want him dead. Survival chances 0%.
PS: Despite not reaching remotely the same monumental levels of obsession, this drama makes me think of my beloved cang lan jue in that the book had some good tidbits and interesting characters but was overall lacking in structure, but the script tightened the narrative and made it into a much better story without compromising on the highlights of the original. Here too I keep comparing the two (book vs script) and finding the drama winning in execution by a pretty large margin. the fact that they changed so much of the order of events keeps me on my toes as i still don't quite know how they'd get to the next book scene which keeps it fresh.
PPS: i'm curious about forms of address... he still calls her Miantang but she can't call him 夫君/fujun and she'd sound too distant calling him Wangye so what? full on cxz?
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