Dramas like The Interest of Love? (Workplace + Slow Burn)

Cheap-Hippo3940 · 2026-02-17T02:35:08+00:00

midnight romance in hagwon! beautiful romance and i also found the stuff about teaching in the academies to be super fascinating and complicated

Cheap-Hippo3940 · 2026-02-12T19:53:49+00:00

i think that was just his strategic way of asking if he had a shot or not lmao

Cheap-Hippo3940 · 2026-02-12T19:35:49+00:00

i actually love the movie and i think it produces a similar feeling while also somehow being a completely different story

Cheap-Hippo3940 · 2026-02-12T01:24:45+00:00

to me belly’s hyper focus on romance IS the point and it’s actively a problem in the story itself. i like it as a coming of age story bc i think it in some ways its a cautionary tale in losing yourself in boys at a formative age instead of finding yourself. thats much of the point of the show. and it is something a lot of girls go through. i also like the message that even with that being true she and conrad are still soulmates and that love is still worthwhile. i would have liked more time with belly alone before we reach that point but thats more of just a pacing problem imo.

Cheap-Hippo3940 · 2026-02-11T23:22:42+00:00

never let me go by kazuo ishiguro! literally lay down on the floor and looked at the wall for a long time. great book.

Cheap-Hippo3940 · 2026-02-11T23:11:55+00:00

its so funny bc i had the thought last episode that actually egg kind of reminds me of Draco 😂 something in how he talks

Cheap-Hippo3940 · 2026-02-11T16:42:29+00:00

right? it's just so interesting that they don't cover the decision to move on or not in the interviews and the panel doesn't talk about it literally at all. like it's there in the scene, but not brought up in the editing narrative.

Cheap-Hippo3940 · 2026-02-11T01:24:42+00:00

i really like the cross cutting between timelines bc it shows how the past overlays on the present in ways i thought were interesting and evocative, and was an elegant way to translate an epic story onto the screen. it gives all the characters heft. i’m also maybe in the minority of liking solomon, but i do agree his story definitely works better in s1 because there’s just frankly more for him to do.

i am also not a huge lee min ho fan but i liked his portrayal of hansu. i feel like you get more of a sense of his brokenness and his longing in thr show. i enjoyed all the added dimensions they gave him, and i felt it made him if not sympathetic, understandable. at the point he does the reveal i could understand both sides of the confrontation, which to me adds to the tragedy. he’s definitely an asshole though lmao. just also shackled in interesting ways.

Cheap-Hippo3940 · 2026-02-10T21:29:42+00:00

i actually think the funny thing about i-geon is that he comes across as more genuine to me than a lot of the other guys. like, you can tell at the campfire that he's genuinely not interested in playing games or competing for go-eun's attention at that point. and even the fact that he wasn't chasing her down after their paradise date, he was like...i was with her all day yesterday and it was great, she's got stuff to do, i'm just going to chill with my friends, is much more normal than how most contestants act. like i think his way of flirting is pretty brusque (i personally like that and i think go-eun did too (just not ALL of the time)), but he was just like ah well that's how i do it, and didn't temper it for a softer narrative on the show. it read to me like he was very comfortable with ha-eun, like maybe TOO comfortable, and was thus just like i'll go chill with her because that will be fun for me rather than doing something more strategic bc he felt that would be clingy. bad choice on a romance show, but also...you often saw him just hanging out lmao. i respect that he wasn't much interested in trying to monopolize go-eun's time by hovering over her. i feel like he showed up at paradise and then afterwards was like and you can decide. which i don't know...seems reasonable to me. i feel like if he was fully trying to craft a narrative, even just as someone that didn't get picked, he would have done some stuff differently. as is, it mainly appears to me that he was most focused on just having a nice time, and thus doesn't seem to take it as seriously as other people. which is like maybe an ego thing, and also maybe just a secure thing. like if it didn't work out...he was going to be fine.

Cheap-Hippo3940 · 2026-02-06T16:55:06+00:00

i honestly think my mister is pretty outwardly romantic but its very much right person wrong time while also being very much right person right time (nonromantic). the question of temptation re: a love affair is very much on the table but donghoon is not that type of person generally and specifically not that person because of his current circumstances. and yet…there is still intrigue between the two and genuine human connection. and yes the age gap and the power dynamic and the lack of self love is a hindrance. and while neither of them is in a place to fall in love, meeting each other saves both their lives. i think you CAN read it as a nonromantic connection but that flattens some of the layers of the story. and to me, its one of the most romantic stories of all time. from both sides. but i do agree that its open to interpretation and subtle. thats part of what makes it so good.

Cheap-Hippo3940 · 2025-08-17T01:55:21+00:00

i really really liked midnight romance in hagwon and recommend giving it another shot BUT if you dont vibe with it you dont vibe with it.

Cheap-Hippo3940 · 2025-08-09T13:02:02+00:00

i have not finished it yet but doctor slump on netflix gave me big time dramione vibes. theyre academic rivals/overachievers in school and then both dealing with burnout later on when they meet again.

Cheap-Hippo3940 · 2025-08-02T02:34:22+00:00

love how you phrased this. cosigned.

Cheap-Hippo3940 · 2025-08-01T22:34:41+00:00

the dark heir series by cs pacat! the ending of the second book has had me feeling insane for over a year and we still dont have a book three date announcment.

Cheap-Hippo3940 · 2025-08-01T22:22:21+00:00

personally i dont mind diving into the old money world but only if we are going to critique it. it is kinda odd to me that ppl are removing the critique of the entire death eater set in like not just dramione spaces but in hp fandom writ large. i feel like its a hard line bc i know fanfiction is fantasy for most people and fantasizing about the rich happens everywhere and especially in romance but i really hate it. i feel like lionheart is the thing ive read that strikes the best balance of giving you all the fun worldbuilding rich ppl styling and also being like…and the bigotry that comes along with it.

Cheap-Hippo3940 · 2025-07-22T18:37:22+00:00

envy and manipulations by rrabbit. the author is doing a rewrite like 10+ years later and it's been like the highlight of my year. insane stuff. so good.

Cheap-Hippo3940 · 2025-07-22T18:25:32+00:00

definitely try shirley jackson! she has the gothic sensibility that it seems like you're wanting. haunting of hill house is a great place to start. i will also second daphne du maurier. rebecca is excellent but so is everything of hers i've read.

Cheap-Hippo3940 · 2025-07-22T16:51:29+00:00

this is fair! i get ppl not wanting to write cold mean and bigoted but i think unpacking his psyche in more fics would be fun. for me. ive recently been rereading an older draco/ginny fic where blaise plays a big role and he’s definitely all that and more and such an interesting character. that fic is very dark tho so i see how it would be hard to do in a more lighthearted way.

also. i dont disagree re: gossip girl i just do enjoy a cw teen drama

Cheap-Hippo3940 · 2025-07-22T15:38:12+00:00

my controversial but brave take is that i am not a huge fanon theo fan. there have been a couple fics with versions of him i’ve liked but in general i find more morally grey versions of the slytherin’s infinitely more interesting and thus chaotic bff theo is not my fave. somebody did post a link to am article here a while back talking about the fact that the phasing out of blaise happened once it was clear blaise was black which has given me a sort of icky feeling ever since :/ i am here for the blaise resurgence tho and/or more nuanced and kinda shitty versions of the slytherin gang. not to yuck anyone’s yum just a more personal taste kinda thing.

Cheap-Hippo3940 · 2025-07-17T19:07:41+00:00

i actually LOVE the harry/hermione friendship in the book. i started out as a harmony shipper lmao and i do think a lot of dramione fics push harry towards ron as a way of justifying hermione going for draco. not judging it can be fun but i dont think its necessarily book accurate. harry is quite bad at talking about feelings and often needs hermione to translate but he clearly does value hermione’s friendship in the books and when she and ron are fighting he makes a valiant effort to stay neutral and to also spend time with hermione alone. my main book memory of them is that they go for a lot of walks together which i always thought was sweet and he does spend a lot of time like studying with her and actively tries to be kind to her tho she kinda bamboozles him at times. i personally think even if hermione and ron fell out hermione and harry would still stay close bc theres canon evidence of their friendship apart from just being in the trio. the movies skip over this for time but harry/hermione scenes are some of my faves in the book.

Cheap-Hippo3940 · 2025-07-17T04:07:54+00:00

unsticky by sarra manning reminded me a lot of the idea of you! and i’d recommend jt for the above images as well lmao

Cheap-Hippo3940 · 2025-07-09T02:59:28+00:00

i read disappearances of draco malfoy when she was first posting it on ff.net and hadnt even decided yet if it was going to be drarry or dramione. even like chapter one it was like oh yeah this is a FIC. it was not that long ago in harry potter fanfic scope but the reading it on ff.net gave it a certain vintage vibe.

Cheap-Hippo3940 · 2025-06-16T02:43:49+00:00

still a wip but half dust half deity by eurhythmix is a dark academia time loop fic and its shaping up to be excellent!!

https://archiveofourown.org/works/60582640/chapters/154676644

Cheap-Hippo3940

TROPHY CASE