Rants and Weekly Raves (RAWR) #398

Anne: Another boring week with a lot of work went by. Although I did see a horrid sight this past Saturday as I was driving my MIL and my son to their hair cut appointments. If you have ever lived in South Texas, you probably have seen the massive amounts of Oak trees scattered around. And right now, it's pollen season. I'm used to seeing my car covered in a light dusting, or sometimes a heavy dusting, of yellow. However, driving down a street of oak trees, I noticed a strong wind stirring the trees. Next thing I saw, the entire air outside my car (thank goodness I always set the air to circulate inside) turned yellow. For anyone with allergies, this was the stuff of nightmares!

Hoping everyone has had time to adjust to our collective disappointment of Bridgerton season 2. And now, let's talk about some of the shows I managed to squeeze in this week.

Decreed by Fate

I watched all 16 episodes of this incredibly silly drama. It is definitely not the best quality, the editing certainly can use a bit more work, and the plot is full of holes and irrationalities galore. But this is just so engaging... And I'm not just talking about the frequent exposure of skin. This drama used every single predictable sexual tension device that you can think of...but I still loved it! 

Ye Rong Er is a princess who has grown up to have so many feminist ideas that she was unmarriable. A state the she was completely fine with, until the Emperor issued an marriage decree for her to marry the General. However, she did not like being forced into a marriage and her "first" impression of her husband was less than stellar, so she decided to run away. (Understand that she never set eyes on her husband so she has no idea what he looks like.) Her goal is to get a divorce, but she knew that no one would take her case. So she decided that she will need to earn her way, by experience, to write her own divorce decree. And apparently in order to do that, she has to be in the business of marriage and divorces. I look at this business as a combination of a marriage broker and a divorce lawyer. 

Now in her pursuit of this, she meets two men. One, is Fang Xian Xun, 

a man who came to "help" her when she was standing up for a new bride being beaten by her groom because she did not want to marry him. This young man became her "student" even though she knew very well that Xian Xun knew much more martial arts then she did. 

The second man, Lu Ting Xiao, 

she met when she went to sully her own reputation, at a male brothel, in order to get rid of suitor. She went to get someone to help her "sell" her promiscuous reputation. 

And Rong Er is like any normal girl, and with two men entering into her life almost at the same time (and constantly showing way too much skin for a historical drama), she start to "fancy" both of them. The entire first 1/3 of this drama is devoted to teasing the audience about the possibility of a threesome. 

At one point, when the three of them were bound by their hands, Rong Er's imagination went wild. She thought about her marriage ceremony

And thought about how they would all have to do a lot of "stuff" together...

It would be slightly awkward...(her thoughts)... And of course, all of this sexual tension between the 3 leads cannot be complete without a shot or two at a potential BL tease.

The boys got drunk and she stripped them for bed, and the left one was cold, and the one on the right said "I'll be our blanket/quilt". Next morning, they were holding hands... You get the drift.

It's light hearted and silly and at only 30 minutes per episode, perfectly doable. Now, there are of course secret identities, secret missions, and episode 16 ended on a cliff hanger (not for the couple), but more on the background plot itself. So I guess there will be a season 2?

Military Prosecutor Doberman

We all saw this coming right? I mean when the previous scene had him pretty much promising the General he will do whatever it takes...we all saw this coming. And now one is outside and one is inside. I don't know how their phones are not monitored, but hey, that's just me. The two episode a week is killing me though. But this is not as bad as KinnPorsche, there is only 1 episode a week! I'll need to  let this one build up a bit before I start.

Legally Romance

It took until episode 29 before Lu Xun finally admitted defeat and confessed his feelings. And the ONLY reason he did it, not because she was going on blind dates with a bunch of men, but because he saw Chong Wen walking into the restaurant with the intent of wooing Qian Wei back. I have never seen two people more into about winning then confessing...and it is sad that I can perfectly relate and understand their motivations. I also love the fact that there was a betting pool in the office where their co-workers and boss were betting to see which one would fold first.

And I do like the explanation about how she managed to "go back in time". So close to the end!

Blueming

There is definitely no hesitation in the confession department with this Korean BL drama. It's super short, with only about 10 minutes per episode and 11 episodes total. Cha Si Won works very hard on his figure, looks and charm, which is critical in the film department. But he just has to meet Hyeong Da Un, who is everything he wants to be, without trying. And to his surprise, this perfect boy thinks the Si Won too cute for words. It's adorable if anyone is looking for something short to binge through.

And that is all for this week. Hoping everyone has a great week ahead...and did anyone watch Oath of Love? I still haven't made any progress...and I'm not sure why.