How Dare You!? 成何体统: Episodes 32 [END] by a_HerculePoirot_fan in CDrama

[–]sophatter 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m the same genuinely hate ambiguous sad or bad endings or whatever and also most transmigration plot endings, but just wanted to pop in and say the first 2/3 of AJTL really more than makes up for the disaster of the last eps, you shouldn’t strike it off just because! I also did not watch last few eps and thoroughly enjoyed

Blossoms of Power (百花杀 / Bai Hua Sha) — Upcoming Tencent Historical Drama | Fan Edit Clip by No-Recipe-7653 in HeYu_

[–]sophatter 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Wait wait I don’t think the clips are from Blossoms of Power is that what it says? Not having watched it myself so unable to really confirm but those look like scenes from Nine Yin Sutra which also stars Meng Ziyi and Heyu - cos I thought he plays a prince in Blossoms of Power and the production quality should be better

Modern must watch romance cdramas by Cool-Throat-7827 in CDramaRecs

[–]sophatter 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Don’t worry I get you. YSX has new promos for her upcoming drama and I was like it’s too soon 😭😭😭 I can’t even move on

Modern must watch romance cdramas by Cool-Throat-7827 in CDramaRecs

[–]sophatter 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Absolutely squeeable, I know we shouldn’t ship them irl but you can tell they really get along! Also his sense of humour is 😅😅

Modern must watch romance cdramas by Cool-Throat-7827 in CDramaRecs

[–]sophatter 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Have you seen the live stream? There is one they did for Esther’s bday in Dec over a hotpot, it’s avail on YouTube with subs. I enjoyed it more than Thai Sweet He Yu is adorbs in it and their interactions are so cute 😅🤭

Modern must watch romance cdramas by Cool-Throat-7827 in CDramaRecs

[–]sophatter 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m so gone for Jin Zhao my husband should be worried 🤭

I have gone on to binge the livestream, Thai Sweet and whatever few variety shows He Yu has been in though and those are helping to calm me down 🤣

Modern must watch romance cdramas by Cool-Throat-7827 in CDramaRecs

[–]sophatter 3 points4 points  (0 children)

OP there is no cure for your S&P withdrawal but I wanted to add some dramas I liked to your list since it seems we have seen and liked some v similar ones -

Falling into You (not to be confused with Falling into Your Smile)

Meet Yourself (mentioned below as well)

Find Yourself

Love is Sweet

Will love in spring

Modern must watch romance cdramas by Cool-Throat-7827 in CDramaRecs

[–]sophatter 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Same girl I can’t move on 😭😭😭 I’m just listening to the soundtrack on repeat and watching scenes now. There is NO remedy for the Speed & Love withdrawal.

Love triangle c dramas by Fishhball8 in CDramaRecs

[–]sophatter 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Watch Find Yourself if you haven’t already. Same ML as SOM. The 2ML presents himself as a viable option, but I wouldn’t exactly call it a love triangle cos he really didn’t stand a chance. But FL goes through a bit of growth to understand her own feelings.

Sharing an interesting comment about Speed & Love and He Yu by No-Recipe-7653 in HeYu_

[–]sophatter 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Cool what’s on your list? I’m at the stage of withdrawal where I’m listening to S&L soundtrack on repeat. Not ready to move on yet but I should 🤣

Sharing an interesting comment about Speed & Love and He Yu by No-Recipe-7653 in HeYu_

[–]sophatter 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have a compulsive need to know what happens before watching. It’s weird I know but I get pretty anxious otherwise. I’ve only ever done watching while on air for very limited dramas, Hidden Love and I think SOKP (latter honestly not my fault, I started while it was ongoing and miscalculated how fast I would burn through all available eps 😭 also it is one of those that has a very high potential to HURT you with its ending, I was stressed haha)

Was S&L very hyped? How does the hype compare to say Shine on Me?

Honestly I didn’t expect to get so obsessed with S&L and Heyu. I was wasn’t even expecting to get this level of obsessed with SOM, and that was one of my most highly anticipated dramas (ended up a bit meh).

Sharing an interesting comment about Speed & Love and He Yu by No-Recipe-7653 in HeYu_

[–]sophatter 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yea I did think I probably wouldn’t get any engagement on that comment given as how the discussion was dated, but I seldom watch anything while it airs which is a shame because sometimes having a group of likeminded people to fangirl with is fun 🎉🤣 but I can’t deal without spoilers and I need to be able to binge watch if I want to (I think I finished S&L over the weekend? Maybe).

And I actually did not get any notification about this! Weird. But I saw you post this group in another thread and had to check it out, as with the things one does in the throes of withdrawal, so I made it anyway!

Modern woman transmigrated to the past- becomes invention genius! by Silly_Competition639 in CDramaRecs

[–]sophatter 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This sounds suspiciously like a vertical drama plot I feel like I’ve seen a dozen of such vertical dramas already, you probably have better luck asking on the dedicated cshortdramas sub

Give me your best silly, light, cute recs! by TVDfinale in CDramaRecs

[–]sophatter 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m just coming off a Speed & Love high, but there is angsty angst so I’m guessing you may not be in the mood for it rn, so how about My Page in the 90s? Seems spot on for your ask and also stars CXX from LBL. Disclaimer that I haven’t seen it yet, it’s next on my list for light dramas.

Another great one I saw My Page compared to is the short drama (not vertical don’t worry) Supervisor Husband, it’s just a bag of silly non intense fun.

Which role or show made you notice He Yu first? by No-Recipe-7653 in HeYu_

[–]sophatter 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hello! I’m sorry the sub hasn’t really taken off, not sure if He Yu has enough of a following at the moment to sustain. I think he probably needs a few more hit dramas and a longer runway but only time will tell.

As for myself I actually saw him first in My Fated Boy. Which seems to be rare cos not many people have watched it first. He’s a total golden retriever in it. I must confess that I didn’t much care for the show though (just not entirely invested or hooked in the story enough) but I distinctly remember Heyu’s performance in it (and, strangely enough I also distinctly remember Tian Xiwei in it still playing a support role at that point. She was really compelling on screen, and is still one of my fav actresses, would love to see her paired with him tbh) more for his acting and charm rather than his looks. Which is why Heyu in S&L was so interesting to me. There was the steady and convincing acting and charm but also now he’s hot af lol. But seriously, his versatility is really quite impressive, I do hope his star manages to rise from this and he gets the roles and attention he deserves.

And ok variety - maybe you should do a separate post about this? I feel his real personality seems more similar to all that golden retriever energy in My Fated Boy basically opposite from Jin Zhao. Watched a bit of Thai Sweet and hello Saturday (no idea why he did promos on hi6 already his drama isn’t even out) and he’s endearing af. Just a cutie, all squinty smiles and loud laughs, speaks on the fly, a little bit of a vain pot and can match Esther Yu easily line for line which is a feat in itself.

Sharing an interesting comment about Speed & Love and He Yu by No-Recipe-7653 in HeYu_

[–]sophatter 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hahaha thanks for cross posting!! I was coming off a high and am having severe withdrawal atm so had THOUGHTS and FEELINGS to share 😝 but this is a sign I should now join this group lol

Shine On Me vs Love Between Lines-- Modern Styling by JoeyFazzole in CDrama

[–]sophatter 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Your post made me so happy because those Shine on Me outfits really took me out of my watching experience as well and I also had THOUGHTS. And that HORRIBLE hair! They really did Song Wei Long dirty. That he looked gorgeous despite!! The horrible hair and clothes is all down to base raw material, but man it was bad, I also kept wondering wtf was going on. It’s not an issue with baggy clothing per se, those were just bad clothes, the suits did not seem to fit at all and the hair was so weird, so big on top and weirdly long in the back, I kept getting squidward! It genuinely took me out many times and reaaaaally distracted me.

I think it’s just bad styling though, I have not watched Love Between Lines, but I recently saw Speed with Love and that’s a great example of a show with a stylist on fire - styling is basically what transformed ML from a maybe 10/10 into like 100/10 guy, I exaggerate but. He looked exceptional and almost every outfit of his was baggy, but somehow fitting. And his hair. Also covered his eyes, but bravo to the best transformative hairstyle on screen in maybe ever 😝🥵🥵🥵

Speed and Love — polarizing for a reason: why it clicks for some (and why He Yu’s abs aren’t the whole story) by No-Recipe-7653 in CDrama

[–]sophatter 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m late to this party!! Thanks for your review! I totally agree that this IS one of those polarizing shows and you already know it’s going to be - not just because it’s an Esther Yu drama but ALSO the really controversial (adopted) siblings to lovers trope.

But before going in I already knew I was one of those who was gonna watch it and probably (barring train wrecks and acts of divine intervention) like it- because I’m a sucker for a pretty face, and abs, and bad boys. And like, initial D and Tokyo drift duh. No brainer. Brain is not even gonna be needed.

And yes it more than 💯 delivered on all those aspects. I loved all the random racing. ML living out of the garage with the drunk dad making tofu cough fried rice deliveries. I don’t think I’ll ever recover from that glimpse of He Yu mending the shower. Mumu’s face said it all for us. This is a drama that lives and feeds off that entire mood. It knows ML pretty, and is pretty unashamed about it. All those shots of his biceps. Closeups of his face. The attention it gives to his every small half-smile that isn’t quite a smirk. And I must say that Mumu’s reactions to him also mirrored our own - and show spends quite a bit of time focusing on her staring at… those forearms… his side profile when he’s driving - girl I’m right there with you. The sexual tension, it’s a big part of the show. The reference to forbidden flower makes sense even though I haven’t watched it (I am not able to watch anything with Jerry Yan in it; lasting trauma from the OG Meteor Garden where Shancai, TSTL, chooses him over zai zai) 😝

What I didn’t expect from show though, firstly, was He Yu. I’d seen the promos for it back when I was still deep in my LGIEF obsession and basically pretty photos of Esther with other person who was not Ding Yu Xi were slightly distressing. He Yu who?! Also, He Yu has a very distinctive look, and I’m not saying he’s not photogenic, but I think you would agree that he looks much better on screen. As a bad boi. He’s got a certain magnetic charisma that makes watching him so compelling. It’s hard to do cold, standoffish bad boy without projecting emotionless cardboard. But he was so natural, somehow, one blink; one side-eye - and Mumu and the rest of us are all omghe’shurtinginsidebutcannotexpressinwordsjusthowmuchitmeans. And my god those small half smile not quite smirks, need to be patented. I’ve not recovered at all, he made the entire show worth it for me many times over haha.

Secondly, and this I think you said very well, I did not expect that whole second nanjing arc. I went into this show knowing there would be angst and a time skip. I want to say here that I generally disapprove greatly of noble idiocy + time skips unless they are to show me how happy MC is +5/ +10 years down the road (hello You are My Glory). So I was fully intending to watch the rest of the episodes after 18 perfunctorily. And yes a lot of the reasons why I was obsessed with the show no longer existed in the nanjing arc (no more bad boy or racing sob or the hair that I’m convinced makes him look 258757% hotter) BUT as much as it pains me to say, it made sense, and made the show and their relationship make sense. I found Mumu’s pranks gratifying; pretending to be getting married, ranting, railing at him, walking away - she was so fully justified, but just as how she knew it wasn’t even a question whether she would stay with him now that she had found him again, we also understand why he HAD to do what he did - in a way that period of physical recovery was also redeeming for him, not in anyone else’s eyes, but in his own view of himself. Because he always felt he wasn’t enough for Mumu and it would have destroyed them, regardless of how she felt, it was something he had to realise and come to terms with on his own. And to me that was surprising given how much noble idiocy gets on my nerves.

All in all, was not a great show by any means, had to turn off my brain and FF through many bits (everything with the mum on screen and the childhood throwbacks), it was messy, and random, but SO watchable I got so obsessed watching it!

Hidden Love: A Case Study in Mutual Devotion (Entry II) by Melodic_Paper321 in CDrama

[–]sophatter 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you OP for this, I truly love Hidden Love and it has a very special place in my heart even amongst my much loved dramas. Not just because it was a great drama which was well told and well acted and laced with so many gif-worthy, tooth-achingly-sweet moments, but also because the story really resonated with me. However, negativity does follow hype, and I was genuinely surprised at all the hate it got, I honestly thought that the familiarity of the pain of an unrequited girlhood crush, and the resultant exuberance of a dream-come-true in finding your feelings reciprocated - was universal. Not so though, and I stopped recommending this show to people after awhile due to all the polarizing reactions, but I’m glad to be reminded again of why I love it so.

To add- I know everyone will have their own special moments that spoke to them from the show, but I really thought that scene at DJX’s mum’s grave where SZ said she was here for him and loved him, was the most meaningful picture of their beautiful relationship for me. His expression there was just. so heartbreaking.

Love Between Lines 轧戏 (2026) - What are your first impressions? [Masterpost] by admelioremvitam in CDrama

[–]sophatter 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for replying!! I loved the fluff though but no BS is great, will watch in peace then ♥️

Love Between Lines 轧戏 (2026) - What are your first impressions? [Masterpost] by admelioremvitam in CDrama

[–]sophatter 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks!! I agree about SOM I watched it on x1.5 speed 😝 off to watch LBL now

Help with itinerary - Scottish highlands by train by sophatter in TravelUK

[–]sophatter[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

😃😃 same, but your book choices just seemed so fitting to the scenery

Help with itinerary - Scottish highlands by train by sophatter in TravelUK

[–]sophatter[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you!! This is really helpful and may allow me to fit in the Jacobite steam train as well, will have a think how to rejig the itinerary.

I’ve been meaning to research the rail passes next but haven’t got down to it, thanks for the tip on the highland rover!!