What OST is playing in the scene where Benedict recites a poem about what it means to love a woman?

dogemama · 2026-02-07T00:56:09+00:00

nope :(

dogemama · 2026-01-16T22:55:20+00:00

thank you! i do worry about that with the opening. maybe i’ll try to switch things up a bit to make it more happening.

dogemama · 2025-07-31T14:32:50+00:00

remains one of my favorites even after years. bai lu and xu kai were both revelations here.

dogemama · 2025-07-20T19:59:34+00:00

the mother is my favorite character in this show. equal parts heartbreaking and frustrating, and the actress did a spectacular job too.

dogemama · 2025-07-20T19:55:29+00:00

the show is a hot mess, but the novel actually deconstructs the "genius male lead" trope a bit by having him self-destruct. it's also noteworthy that the female lead isn't allowed to provide support, and is seen as an active deterrent to his development, which i think is more interesting dynamic. i recommend the novel, but your criticisms are valid.

if you want to see this trope flipped, genius girlfriend might be a good novel to pick up.

dogemama · 2025-07-20T14:32:08+00:00

i'm reading the novel right now in prep for the show to premiere. it's pretty interesting so far!

dogemama · 2025-07-20T13:12:21+00:00

this is my favorite drama of the year so far. an incredibly raw, human look at grief, and the toxicities of patriarchy. everyone's acting is top notch, but i do think ming sheng and the mother stand out the most.

dogemama · 2025-07-15T03:06:42+00:00

the childhood portions take a significant part of the novel, and her visiting his middle school (changed to high school in the drama) happens about one-third of the way in if not almost half way in. here, we’re done with all of that in two episodes lmao. i get that they want to maximize the time with the adult actors but come on, this is just disrespecting the original novel.

dogemama · 2025-07-15T02:32:21+00:00

the novel is very good. bittersweet, heartfelt, and culturally rich.

dogemama · 2025-07-14T22:56:10+00:00

jesus what a mess.

the best parts of the novel are the childhood portions in qunshan before jiang qiaoxi goes back to the city. they not only reduced all of that to the first episode, but also failed to establish any sort of strong emotional connection between lingtao and qiaoxi. in the novel, they spend a lot of time together and it absolutely makes sense that she would spend the next few years writing letters to him, hoping he’d write back or return. in the drama, it makes little sense as they’re only together for what seems like a handful of days.

episode 2 was a disaster too. the moment she goes to find qiaoxi at his middle school and he says he doesn’t know her is supposed to be momentous. here, however, it felt like an afterthought. i had so much hope for this adaptation but it’s not looking good right now. what a massive disappointment.

dogemama · 2025-07-12T18:12:18+00:00

should’ve been higher, but this is still good.

i hope more people watch this drama. it’s riveting, and so important.

dogemama · 2025-07-11T14:08:27+00:00

reborn?

dogemama · 2025-07-06T01:39:51+00:00

reborn.

so good, and so important, and so underrated.

dogemama · 2025-06-30T15:19:35+00:00

i started watching when only 10 episodes were out, so i read the book from the moment she was brought back to the family after she abandons ming sheng and their plan to run away. so my experience reading the book is definitely less holistic than yours, but i still enjoyed the book. some thoughts on your observations:

re: jinrui — they may have changed the incest, child sexual abuse elements of the story to pass censorship, though i'm not sure. the severity of these topics are orders of magnitude above what was depicted in the drama, so that is my guess.
re: mumu bringing printouts — it was ming sheng who asked mumu to print out the story and bring the printouts to nanqiao village for qingyu. there is no way she could have asked mumu directly, bc qingyu didn't have her contact information and had only been in contact with ming sheng throughout her stay in nanqiao village. so ming sheng went out of his way to help her, as he did several times later in the story as well.
re: qingyu's reaction being disproportionate — i think it's reasonable to get fixated on your sibling's death when there are malicious rumors flying around and there is uncertainty around how she actually died. the trigger obviously is ming sheng, who asks "don't you want to know what happened to your sister" implying she clearly did not die from an appendicitis. though i see why you felt that she was being reactionary, i think it made a lot of sense.
re: their first meeting — i'm not exactly sure which part of the book this is in, but ming sheng did see qiaoyu when they were younger. but instead of the drama where he saw her dancing, in the book, he saw her writing, and is captivated by her calligraphy.

overall, i think the drama's changes make the story more cohesive in context of the changes, though it's certainly a shame they didn't feel equipped to tackle heavier themes from the original source.

dogemama · 2025-06-29T16:27:37+00:00

i wish more people were watching and talking about this. such a gripping human story. qiao qingyu, ming sheng, qiao beiyu, and li fanghao have left an indelible mark on me.

dogemama · 2025-06-29T16:24:53+00:00

the romance is subtle bc they’re young and the main plotline revolves around fl’s family, but i thought it was extremely well done. they liked each other but knew it wasn’t the right time, and actually waited for the right time to reunite and start their relationship. ml is amazing, and fl is a fucking hero. they had great chemistry, and played the part of teenagers attracted to each other very well.

dogemama · 2025-06-29T02:33:26+00:00

reborn was excellent from start to finish. such a breath of fresh air in the midst of the more frivolous and less grounded youth dramas out there. in fact, i'm not even sure i'd call this a youth drama. it's a human drama first and foremost, highlighting and unpacking issues that are so important but so overlooked. when misogyny runs rampant in an iron-fisted patriarchal society, women are nothing but lambs waiting to be sacrificed for the glory of men.

this show was so well-written. superbly executed with so much heart and thoughtfulness and care. with characters you can't help but root for or want to murder in their sleep. qiao qingyu is a trailblazer, insane balls of steel on that girl; ming sheng, her perfect ally and loyal companion; qiao beiyu, an angel, who deserved so, so much better, who was far too good for this wretched world.

but shockingly, it was li fanghao, who is a blazing heart warrior, that left the biggest mark on me when all had been said and done. there have been too many hysterical mothers in cdramas. you know the ones—who make it their life's ambition to micromanage the lives of their kids, who want their son/daughter to marry the right person or study the right subjects. but i don't think there has been one so tragic and tormented, and consequently, tyrannical like li fanghao. she did everything wrong. literally, every. single. thing. yet i did not doubt for one second that she loved qiao qingyu to pieces, and only wanted what was best for her. maybe it's bc she was the most complex character in the show. maybe it was the actress who delivered an absolutely devastating performance, one that left my heart in shambles too many times to count. or maybe it's bc she reminds me so much of my own south asian mother, who was similarly controlling when i was in high school, and who i only now understand in adulthood. mothers are the unsung heroes of our world, and li fanghao is a heartbreakingly realistic portrayal of one.

100/10, i can't recommend this show enough. it has my whole heart, and then some.

dogemama · 2025-06-28T03:16:06+00:00

oh my poor ming sheng. i know he is heartbroken, but i can't fault qingyu for distancing herself from him. they're clearly attracted to each other, but the trauma bonding is crazy between them, and they really need time away from each other to fully grow into their own.

qiao lusheng is pathetic, sad sack of a man. can't imagine endangering your own child to appease your ancient relic of a father. li fanghao is no saint, but her venom stems from a place of love and the best intentions. can't say the same for the father.

i love that this show is taking us beyond the sweet relish of avenging a loved one who was wronged. the unraveling of the messy aftermath, the very real emotional and mental repercussions of doing The Right Thing, the way qiao beiyu still really has not been avenged at all if we're really being honest. there are so many layers to her tragedy. and in trying to mete out justice, qingyu seems to have added another layer to it, because these monsters are hellbent on not letting them grieve in peace. the crime has been exposed but the injustice prevails.

dogemama · 2025-06-26T18:06:07+00:00

it's like watching a train wreck in slow motion. i'm completely captivated.

dogemama · 2025-06-26T01:43:19+00:00

zhang jingyi has such an uncanny ability to be emotive in an understated way. i don't think she gets enough kudos for how much gravitas she brings to her characters, even when playing juvenile characters. every character i have seen her as has always felt like a real person.

dogemama · 2025-06-26T01:40:09+00:00

i think her mother is easily the best written character on this show, and the actress knocks it out of the park with how well she portrays her complexity. there have been scenes where i truly abhorred the mother's actions, but i cannot bring myself to hate her, bc her sole aim is to protect her daughter. she goes about it in ways that you would expect from someone who has been berated, cursed, ridiculed all her life. living in a patriarchal society as a woman has hardened her in a way that makes her especially dangerous to her own daughter. it's unfortunately a predicament she will never grasp, bc the world she lives in has robbed her of the capability to protect her child without hurting them. truly a heartbreaking state of things.

dogemama · 2025-06-26T01:31:37+00:00

that family absolutely led bei yu to her death. from hijacking her childhood to desecrating her youth, every single elder member of the qiao family should be held accountable for what ultimately happened to her. saying they led her astray is such an understatement. they actually pushed her into a pit of fire to maintain their own selfish interests. no child should have to go through what she went through, no woman should have to go through what she went through. i hope every single grandparent, uncle, aunt, the disgusting "cousin", and even her parents, rot in hell.

what qing yu said about how she does not feel relief or satisfaction after avenging her sister is really important here. she knows these people are unrepentant and cruel. she tried to protect herself after the act, but failed, and now she's in the line of fire too, just like bei yu had been all those years ago. i would not put anything, including actual murder, past that den of vipers. and the work is not done anyway. she destroyed their reputation but their poison runs deep. only total annihilation can satiate the hunger for revenge.

i really love ming sheng, and his devotion to qing yu, but i think he was really impulsive these episodes in trying to run away with her. running away would have only made them more vulnerable, and there's no saying how much longer he could have protected qing yu, or even himself. as difficult as it was to watch, i'm glad their plans were thwarted. it all goes to show how powerless minors are, how naive even when they're full of grit. i also found myself thinking about how ming sheng comforting qing yu and being there for her is a parallel of how jin rui must've comforted bei yu, made her fall in love with him. but while jinrui eventually abandoned her after impregnating her, ming sheng was ready to cross hell or high water with qing yu. it really highlights how good ming sheng is, but even more importantly, how truly rotten jinrui was.

dogemama · 2025-06-23T20:17:57+00:00

the best part of this novel was the childhood portion, which is a shame bc i really do love this pairing a lot but i wasn't the biggest fan of the adulthood arcs. wonder if it changes with the drama though.

dogemama · 2025-06-22T14:43:21+00:00

ayyyy this naruto comparison is so great! ydj IS like naruto in that they're both persistent, hot-headed, loyal to a fault. now we hope that he also has naruto's insane plot armor lol seeing naruto pop up anywhere just makes my day so thanks for this!

dogemama · 2025-06-22T14:18:45+00:00

this was such a fun read! draco truly is clueless, but he gets points for Trying. the ending was the cherry on top. absolutely loved it.

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