Because Empty Fame Is Evil. That's Why.

Pursuit of Jade

A 2026, 40-episode drama that has Tian Xiwei as the lead female character. It's based on the web novel Zhu Yu by Tuan Zi Lai X. The screenplay is by Zou Yue, Jin Zi, and Zeng Zhen.

The premise

This is a drama set in a fictional version of ancient China. Fan Changyu (played by Tian Xiwei) is a young woman who lives in the small village of Lin'an and makes a living as a butcher. The latter is something that carries a social stigma. Fan Changyu doesn't let it get to her most of the time, tho. After all, she has a younger sister Fan Changning (played by Cao Yanning) to take care of after both of their parents got killed by bandits. The drama begins a little over a month since their parents' deaths.

One day after work, Fan Changyu finds a guy semi-buried in the snow. Since the guy is still alive, she decides to take him to her home. "Yan Zheng" (played by Zhang Linghe) says he's a security escort that was attacked by bandits who stole all of his money and documents. [NB: Yan Zheng is the name I'll be using for this character throughout the post to avoid confusion. Though he has a few other names: Xie Zheng / Marquis of Wu’an /Xie Jiuheng (this is his courtesy name).]

Fan Changyu only has two other living, blood relatives: her grandfather (played by Bai Liwei) who is old and v. sick AND Fan Daniu, her uncle (played by Gao Yuqing) who is an alcoholic gambler. Her uncle rolls up to Fan Changyu's place with a gang. He plans to take her home. She pushes them back for the time being.

When she talks to the local authorities abt what's happened, she lears that, due to local law, the next living male relative CAN put a claim for the house . . . because Fan Changyu is single. It doesn't even matter that her father had legally given her the house in his will.

SO, after some deliberating, she sits down with Yan Zheng and says "how abt we get married so I can keep my home AND you'll be able to secure documentation? It's a win-win for both. Even better, since this is a business arrangement, once you fully recover (Yan Zheng is seriously beat up. He even needs a crutch to go around), we'll get divorced and you can leave!" Yan Zheng agrees and they get married. But he's not who says he is…


I'd been hearing a ton abt this drama--with everything being mostly positive.

The funny thing is that I happen to have renewed my Netflix subscription for a little bit (in order to watch BTS stuff) and figured, well, let me give this drama watch. If I don't like it, it's no big deal. And if I do, it'll be a good time.
Let me tell you, I finished this drama in FIVE DAYS, but there we are. SWEAT EMOJI

This drama is directed by Zeng Qingjie who happens to be the director of my most recent 5-star drama (Blossom). So I went in with high expectations and, for the most part, they were surpassed by a ton. Zeng Qingjie is v. precise abt everything from a scene of two ppl are quietly eating all the way to kisses, love confessions, and dramatic reveals. He's an expert at what he does.

The cinematography is IMPECCABLE! If you want to see a lot of pretty onscreen (from the setting to the special fx to the cast), this drama is for you! The technical aspects are amazing as well.

I like the majority of the cast. Everyone--from the main actors to the background characters --knows what they're supposed to do. It's deeply enjoyable to watch talented ppl do their thing in a natural way.

The sets feel real as well. Which is a neat thing since much of the story takes place in regular ppl's homes. At different points of the story, there are fancy houses as well as the Imperial Palace. But a lot of the drama happens in middle and low class settings. The village design is super interesting. This focus on realism extends to when the story moves to army camps. Even the tent for the leader looks like an actual place and not some museum piece.

Kudos to the music. The OST rocks every which way, really.

As for Tian Xiwei as Fan Changyu…she was great (with a v. small, YMMV caveat that I'll mention in my criticisms.) I'd first seen her in New Life Begins and found her charming then. In this drama, she's able to show a range of emotions (from super bubbly to strong and assertive). She can do many things v. well (with one exception that, again, I'll mention in my criticisms.)

One interesting thing abt her character is that she's v. physically strong. Especially for someone who is so petite. Funnily enough, there's a lot of behind-the-scenes footage of her, frex, carrying Yan Zheng w/o assistance. This adds another layer to who she eventually becomes in the drama.

I also like Zhang Linghe as "Yan Zheng" and his real identity (heheh). Just like Tian Xiwei, he can do comedy or drama pretty well. On a shallow note, the camera loves him.

Seeing the different types of women in the story is greatness. Female friendships and women supporting each other are two undercurrent themes from beginning to end. Neither is presented in a too contemporary way (which some dramas have fallen victim to.) Another thing is that everyone (including characters viewers might hate at first) does end up having at least a little bit of character development. There are a lot of things going on and so, it makes sense that ppl's opinions, feelings, and thoughts would change too. Sometimes for good, others for evil.

For the most part, the villains are good. The MAIN VILLAIN is a truly horrible person . . . that's also tremendously fascinating. Please understand that the things he does and/or orders others to do on his behalf are TERRIBLE. At the same time, though, he has a meaty backstory. The reasons motivating him do have some weight to it. That said, he's THE ABSOLUTE WORST. The second [this Character] shows up you'll run out of red flags. He's one scary mofo.


Do I have any criticisms?

1. A character (not gonna say whether they're part of the main cast nor mention their gender) gets information that is super important AND extremely sensitive. I liken the info to a vial full of nitroglycerine. In the sense that, used wrongly, it can make a huge mess out of everything.

The character makes the (to me) infuriating decision to keep the info to themselves and carry that burden. EVEN THOUGH, via internal monologue, they are scolding themselves abt not telling someone what they've learned. So they actively choose to lie--which was already making me 🙄…

Only for that character to find out, literally THE NEXT EPISODE, that the person who should've gotten the info already knew abt it and told the secret-keeper so. It was a v. rare pointless scene. SMH!


2. Regarding the CP, whenever the scene has to do with something cute, sweet, romantic OR non-sexual intimacy (such as holding hands, hugging, feeding each other, etc), the CP WORKS (thank the gods). As a viewer, the vibe is solid.

HOWEVAH, whenever the focus is on sexual stuff (foreplay or actually sleeping together), things go a little askew, IMO.

Zhang Linghe is game. You can tell that his character is attracted to Tian Xiwei's character. Sadly, those are the moments when Tian Xiwei lacks confidence. And that's something that comes across her performance. She looks confused at the attention on her pleasure and/or desire--which lowers whatever strong feels viewers are supposed to be experiencing.

So, their intimate scenes are moderately hot, but that's mostly due to Zhang Linghe's acting.

Unfortunately, I can't help but compare them with Blossom's CP (given that was directed by the same guy). And over in that drama, Song Mo and Dou Zhao have a carnal aspect to their relationship that is playful and v. human. You can tell they FUCK, basically. It's a v. adult vibe.

Back over to Pursuit of Jade, even worse for Yan Zheng/Fan Changyu fail at sexy times (IMO), the Secondary Couple really goes to town. This other couple is pretty much the bizarro/flipside of the CP. Meaning that there's undeniable love and trust between Fan Changyu and Yan Zheng, but there's none of that when it comes to the Secondary Couple. Theirs is an extremely twisted and toxic dynamic.

And yet, during the Secondary Couple's intimate scenes, both actors are into it with the female actor projecting confidence in her sensuality. It makes Tian Xiwei's uncertain reactions to her own husband's attentions and lust even more 🙃. IJS.


3. I also kept waiting for Fan Changyu and Yan Zheng to become a Power Couple. The story tries to present them as such, and yet I'm not convinced. They are good together and excellent partners to each other, but that's where it ends. Again, especially compared with (say) Blossom's Dou Zhao/Song Mo, Xue Li/Duke Su in The Double or Chu Chu/The Prince in Imperial Coroner. All who ARE true Power Couples.

To me, the CP in POJ doesn't get there. In the show, Fan Changyu's shift from a character who just wants to lead a rather simple life to someone who ends up amassing a lot of power is not as smooth as it should be.

LET ME MOVE ON to other things that bugged me.


4. The drama gets away from the production team somewhere around ep. 30-32. Things are happening, I'M INVESTED IN THE OUTCOME and all that. BUT, during the last batch of episodes, there are too many betrayals and sudden reveals for the amount of time left in the drama. NGL, I keep thinking of matryoshkas because there's a lie covered by another lie to cover the lie to cover the truth and then another truth. FTR, I understand what happened, but I didn't like how stuffed the last eps are.

5. Also, the last episode is V. WEIRD. It has a HEA, but, well, I gotta be detailed in my explanation.

FULL SPOILERS FOR THE ENDING

After everything has been taken care of, Yan Zheng asks Fan Changyu what she wants to do now. She replies that she wants to go back to Li'nan and have a peaceful life. From there, scenes go by showing the new Emperor, what roles Yan Zheng and Fan Changyu got as part of the new Imperial Court, etc.

Then there's a scene that shows her returning to her hometown on horseback, dressed in regular clothes.

The first thing that makes it an odd scene is that it's got a hazy filter that adds a dreamlike OR otherworldly vibe to it. Fan Changyu is welcomed by the entire town, it seems. But then, viewers will notice that the ppl welcoming her are ALL OF THE PPL WHO HAVE DIED THROUGHOUT THE DRAMA. Yan Zheng is there too (is he dead? WHEN did he died?) She gets off her horse and embraces Yan Zheng. He says something like "I've been waiting for you. It's been so long". MY understanding was that they were in the afterlife?

AND THEN, the scene fades into the drama's current timeline. She's back at her home, hugging the Zhao couple. Her husband and the Northwest Pig Butchering Crew are there. Fan Changyu starts telling the Zhaos abt the ppl who've died.

I… still don't know WHAT was the point of the previous scene. Maybe it was her making peace with those who have passed on? The thing is that it legit gave the impression of it happening AFTER Fan Changyu herself had died. O__o?!

THEN there's another scene where Chancellor Wei is given poisoned wine that had been prepared by his nephew. As he starts to drink it, he thinks abt his nephew showing up in his cell. There's a quick montage where they're having a meal, talking, etc. Again, it was confusing cuz I truly didn't know if the Chancellor was hallucinating as he was dying from the poison OR if the scene was something that had actually happened. Apparently, it did happened for realsies? It was fucking weird.

Then there are a whole bunch of time skips. And the last shot is of Fan Changyu and Yan Zheng heading into battle together as he snarks at her cuz she's a mother of two. Sure. Why not?

The end credit scene is a v. neat coda, tho.


What's the FMC's plot armor level?

Medium-ish.

Fan Changyu does tend to succeed and/or get away with things that, logically speaking, would've sent other ppl to jail. At the same time, the show (for all of its protectiveness toward her) does place her in v. dire situations. I also have to point out that, by the end of the series, she's lost many ppl who were close to her. This leads to moments when grief drives her not-quite-crazy, but she does become reckless cuz she's nearing her breaking point.


How's the CP? Are there any other ships I liked?

Fan Changyu and Yan Zheng, well, they're a FREAK4FREAK couple. Both are super compatible. They're absolute weirdos. Their flirting isn't the lovey-dovey kind. Instead, it's a mix of snark and randomness that only make sense TO THEM AND THEM ALONE.

They're a solid couple because the show gives them enough time to develop their bond. From the beginning of the story, they're living and working together as husband and wife, etc. Thus both characters get to really know each other both in good and bad ways, discuss their respective backgrounds [somewhat since Yan Zheng is hiding his true identity at that time], and so forth.

Although I wouldn't say that he falls first, IMO the show makes it look like he falls the HARDEST. I don't want to give the impression that (emotionally and romantically) this is an unbalanced relationship. It's not. The reality is that Yan Zheng has a lot more life experience given his position, age, and whatnot. So it takes Fan Changyu a bit to connect the dots (so to speak) when it comes to being in a relationship and sorting out her feelings.

However, once she's in, she's IN IT TO WIN IT. I do adore the FACT that he MAKES IT CLEAR TO EVERYONE WHO ASKS (AND EVEN THOSE WHO DON'T) that Fan Changyu is HIS PROPER/OFFICIAL WIFE. That's something that he NEVER questions. She does waver for a moment (obvs, once she finds out who he really is), but then regroups and they're back for good.

Theirs isn't a Like Attracts Like or an Opposites Attract type relationship. To me, they fall somewhere in the middle. They haven't had the same upbringing, but they do share similar values. When they're together, he's able to be vulnerable and soft. [One of the best things abt the first ⅓ of the story is that he heals physically and emotionally. And it happens in a way that he doesn't even notice it until way later.] Meanwhile, he gives her a sense of security AND support. Which is something she's lacked for a while.

As for negative traits, he does have a tendency to be overprotective of her and she is quite stubborn and impulsive. Eventually both of them do grow out of those things. There are some moments of jealousy, but the relationship remains solid even during the episodes they're apart.


How does the show handle the inevitable "Oh noes, the emperor's in danger of losing his throne!" storyline?

In an interesting way.

The current emperor Qi Sheng (played by Guan Yunpeng) is a puppet figure. He's on the throne cuz Chancellor Wei (played by Yan Yiquan) put him there. Complicating things is the decades long struggle between Chancellor Wei and Grand Tutor Li (played by Wang Jiusheng). The one unpredictable variable is the Marquis Wu'an (who is Chancellor Wei's nephew.) BUT nephew and uncle have been at odds for a while.

Then there's the Main Villain who has a long-term plan to get the throne for himself.

Later on, there's an idea to replace the current emperor with someone else (NOT the Marquis). Regardless, ecause the emperor is so shitty, I was game to see him GONE!

One 👍🏾 is that are less emphasis on court scenes than in other dramas. It's likely that's cuz the emperor is such a dweeb. Also the Marquis has a cooler/detached attitude toward the emperor. So the court stuff mainly happens in the last third of the story and even then, there are other things to keep it from overwhelming the plot too much.

Another plus is that everyone in court is SO morally gray. In other dramas, the emperor and his inner circle are either benevolent or fully evil. This show makes a good point of, when it comes to gov't, there are truly bad ppl who have the worst ideas and intentions AND there are LESS TERRIBLE ppl who have some good intentions but are also v. ambitious. This drama doesn't make it easy to side with one specific group. Everyone got something that's slightly twisted abt them.


Do I recommend it?

I think so! It's got drama, action, intrigue, mystery, comedy, AND romance. And even better, the romance is NEVER pushed out of the way.

THAT SAID, I do have to warn that around the halfway point, the mood shifts from cozy romance and comedy to brutal and dark as war-like situations begin to pop up. V. few ppl are actually safe in this drama (aside from the CP and abt 6 more characters?) There's also onscreen violence (though, since this is a Cdrama, there's nothing graphic such as gore. BUT ppl do die in terrible ways.) I wouldn't go as far as to say that it reaches GOT levels of gore, but things do get 😬.

Eventually, the mood levels out. Though it doesn't return to the fluffy (and again, cozy) vibes of the first third of the show, the BRUTALITY lowers plenty.

I don't regret watching it one bit; was v. entertained from first episode to the last.

I'm giving it a 4 out of 5.


Queerness level

I'm gonna go with non-existent. #SADTROMBONE


Le Trailer

Watch on YouTube

BTS: The Return

An hour and 30 mins documentary that premiered on Netflix on March 27th, 2026.

I'd been completely enthralled by the original trailer when it dropped earlier in the year. Most of my excitement--what I was looking forward to the most--was getting to see more of BTS' time in California. Up until the release of this docu, the only content the guys had dropped were a couple of livestreams, some photos, and that was abt it. Back then, some ppl had accurately figured out that there was some type of filming occurring based on the (admittedly blurry) background of some of things BTS had posted. But that was pretty much it.

Like many, IHNI what we were gonna get. Especially as this is the first full documentary that focuses on the OT7 in a long while. Prior to this, there was the BTS Monuments: Beyond The Star on D+--which I'd enjoyed.

This documentary covers the last 3 or so weeks of BTS working on what would eventually become ARIRANG.. It also includes some scenes after their return to Seoul, Korea as they prepare for the comeback.


BTS: The Return is an amazing film. It's kinda twinsies with RM's solo documentary (RM: Right People, Wrong Place). [His docu has remained my no.1 fave docu out of the ones BTS has dropped. Hands down! But I've already said everything I've ever wanted to say abt that over here.

This movie shakes off some of the 'mystique' as to what it means to be part of BTS (both the members AND the production team). One thing I liked is that it shows the Tannies AS actual ppl.

Something that's brought up (not a spoiler since it's shown in the trailer) is the level of pressure they all felt abt their messaging and the music; Also all of their questions abt how to incorporate what they wanted to do with the current trends in the market. Plus the doubts they felt as to what BTS is in the group era of Chapter 2 and what's the best way to convey those feelings. It also shows a LOT of the bond between the guys.This isn't just camaraderie or friendship. You can tell the seven truly love and TRUST each other. EVEN WHEN THEY DISAGREE.

To me, this is a v. accessible docu for casual fans and locals. Mainly cuz it touches a bit on their history, but not to the point that it'll overwhelm. It gets a full 613 OUT OF TEN. I highly recommend it.



ONE V. IMPORTANT THING I'D LIKE TO POINT OUT REGARDING THE VIEWING EXPERIENCE:

For some gorram reason, as soon as I played it the first time, Netflix immediately gave them dubbed English voices which was GROSS AF. I HATED THIS.

To correct it, you gotta go to Audio and select "Korean (original)".

THEN

IF you want to use subtitles, DO NOT CHOOSE THE "ENGLISH CC" ONE. Instead, pick the one that's just "ENGLISH". The reason is that "English CC" will give you a pretty decent translation of what they're saying. HOWEVAH, the "English" option adds a lot of nuance and that's something that the other option lacks.

I'm saying that as someone who has watched this docu a few times using English CC once and English another times. There's a lot more DEPTH with the latter. IJS.



NOW I'M GOING INTO **FULL SPOILERS**. I WILL BE DISCUSSING/MENTIONING ✨KEY SCENES✨


After Burn the Stage (BTS' first docu), I'd say the majority of the Tannies' documentaries became kinda too polished for my taste. [NB: I'd say this changed around 2023's Road to D-Day onward].

Although I get why BigHit would want to maintain the idol image for the Tannies, IMO the end result kinda flattens things AND the Tannies a little. Like I mentioned above, I do think that this 'glossy docu-style' shifted a lot into something realer and more grounded starting with Yoongi's third solo project onward. Since then, all of the docus aren't relying so much on the past/have focused on more recent (2022-present time) stuff. Watching their solo docus and THEN watching this one makes for a fascinating viewing experience.

THIS TIME, we get a TON of footage of the guys working on songs, the writing process between RM and A. Chic frex, understanding the motivation behind the album, frank discussions of what might work vs. what won't, etc.

I really appreciated that we see the boring and frustrating moments of songwriting (etc.) Yes, BTS are RIDIC TALENTED and the ppl they work with pull their own weight as well. BUT, in order to get to beautiful, moving, and/or hyped up songs, BTS has to start from somewhere. And this means a lot of creating, deconstructing/analyzing, and improving songs.

By the time the movie begins, they've been in song camps, working on and dropping potential songs, etc. They're kinda in a loop, kinda lost. This connects with the Studio Notes video where they discuss the album and mention that they'd come up with 100+ songs that then had to get whittled down to 14. It's a PIA process. The beat is right, the beat is wrong, lyrics aren't quite landing, the lyrics are heavenly.

One example is with the song "Aliens". It's original title was "Endless". In the movie, there's a clip of them singing the original version and being at odds with the song itself, but not wanting to drop it either. It was interesting to me, IDK.

There's also a lot of discussions throughout the docu abt their sense of self as Koreans. Frex, some of the songs they're working on are really good but they want to add MORE Korean lyrics cuz the songs (as they stand) have too much English in them. But they also need to work on the Korean lyrics in order to replace the English. IDK, I was geeking out watching those scenes.

Also, for fellow guitarist!Yoongi enthusiasts, there are a LOT of shots of him playing with his guitar. Which was HEAVEN for me, NGL.

Not everything is work, tho. There are plenty of scenes of them goofing off at the beach, spending time at the pool, chilling out as a group. It's all abt their bond RE-SOLIDIFYING as BTS. FWIW, the members did hang out a lot while enlisted (they all went to each other's solo concerts even). It's not like they were separated for 2 yrs. But their time was limited cuz of the demands of military life. This meant that it wasn't until Day 1 of Hobi's HotS tour FINAL that every member was fully present at the same time.

One thing that's not shown a lot (but has been mentioned by RM and Yoongi) is that they fought a few times here and there (regarding the songs they worked for this album). For them, it's a healthy thing to do, from time to time, in order to keep their dynamics from stagnating. They're all v. aware that they're not gonna always agree on everything, but it's the group what matters. It's a healthy outlook.

A lulzy moment that wasn't filmed happened one night when they'd been eating and drinking. RM told the rest of the guys that it was time to clean up and head on to bed. For some reason, Taehyung took offense and THAT activated Jimin's soulmate protection mode. Fast forward to Vmin arguing with RM, following him to his bedroom, and continuing to argue AND cry for three hours, LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL. It sounds like the most ridic thing, but then Vmin are FOREVER DRAMATIQUE, hehehe.

Another cool thing was seeing them working toward a unified concept for the album. And how their teams (production, styling, management) worked WITH them. Discussions abt where the album was headed, what was going to be lead single, etc. Conversations that began AND continued in Seoul. Reinforcing the idea that, yeah, BTS cowrite, sing, and dance to their own songs, but they can't do everything. This docu offered a glimpse into how some parts of BTS (that aren't the members) work.

Loved all of the cute moments between the guys. Frex, Taehyung will one day eat Jin cuz that's his hyung. ANYWAYS, there's a quick scene in which Jin admits that he doesn't even know what's going on with the album. Taehyung then wraps himself around Jin while reassuring him abt trusting the vision. Later in the movie, Jin draped himself all over Jungkook and kept bratting at him. Vminkook were goofy while in the pool, etc.

One of the LOVELIEST SCENES was, once they're back in Korea, Taehyung sits down for dinner with his Wooga Squad (Park Seojoon, Park Hyungsik, Choi Woosik, PEAKBOY). My heart soared since, just as much as I love BTS, I also like the friendships they have outside of the group. And Wooga Squad is one that's lasted for years (to the point of the guys not only have gone on several vacays together, but even have a 3-episode IN THE SOOP spin-off of their own.)

Among the 'shocking' moments in the docu is when someone (I wanna say BangPD?) comes up with the idea of adding a recording of "Arirang" to "Body to Body". When the demo is played, as soon as that part comes up, Hobi and Jimin are INTO IT. THEY'RE VIBING HARD. Taehyung is on the fence/unsure, and Jungkook is feeling good abt it (tho maybe not to the point that Jihope are.) When Taehyung asks Jihope abt the vibe, Hobi says "(listening to this) feels like electricity running thru my body (in a good way.)" They're excited to share this with RM and Yoongi (Unfortch, by this time in the actual!production, Jin had to fly back to Seoul for his encore shows so we never get to see his first impression abt this.)

So then they play the song for Namgi. . .

Yoongi is NOT FEELING THE YAYS. Though the one who REALLY doesn't like it is RM. He pretty much pulls a Muppet Face and says that the addition is too much. And this prompts Taehyung to agree and add that he feels some ppl will look at this as "wow, these bastards are trying too be too patriotic" (in a way that's extremely bad cringe.)

Meanwhile, Hobi is looking at RM like "WTF IS WRONG WITH YOU? THIS SONG IS A VIBE!"

I found it funny (and shocking) to see RM's confused reaction as to why Jihope are so rah-rah abt the addition. FTR, RM didn't hate it, but he felt it was too much AND wasn't jelling as well with the rest of the song. THEN, there's BangPD who keeps suggesting that the addition makes sense, it's a good thing, etc. Tho, the final decision as to whether or not the addition will happen rests solely with BTS.

The twist is that, not only "BODY TO BODY" opens the album, but it's been wild seeing HOW MUCH PPL LOOOOOOOOOOOVE THE INCLUSION OF "ARIRANG" IN B2B!!!!

I've yet to see one person who hated it. There's so much social media that I've come across of ppl teaching others how to sing "Arirang" for when B2B is performed at the concerts. I'm getting goosebumps cuz it's been nothing short of amazing seeing the crowds (up to now in Korea, Japan, the US, Mexico, Spain, England, Belgium, Germany, France, Colombia, and Peru) singing along.

What's more, Hobi tells RM that he knows what RM means, but he says that, to them, the song might seem OTT cuz it's such a famous song, almost on par with a national anthem. BUT, if the song is THAT good, it'd be the same as when they (meaning BTS) find music from other countries and are happy to discover cool stuff. The ppl from those countries might react like "what are you talking abt since this is such a common/patriotic song?"

I really, really liked that part of the process. Truly fascinating seeing that happen in real time. Cuz I think a lot of ppl have an idea that for any successful artist (that writes and produces their own music), the process is super smooth as they come up with banger after banger. When the reality is that it's just like any branch of art: there's an idea that's gotta be hammered out and then as the artist goes to work, it gets to what they eventually had in their heads to begin with.

The docu does a great job of showcasing that.

Confession time: I haven't seen many idol docus aside from Le Sserafims' docus. FWIW, I do want to eventually get around the CORTIS and SEVENTEEN docus and that's pretty much it. Mostly cuz I'm not interested in anything else.

So I'm not sure if other docus go DEEP into the process of creating an album down to the nitty-gritty. Let alone showing how connected the members are. And I don't mean connected as 'yays, we're friends!" (that's nice to see and all), but more on showing ppl as the complex beings they are. Sometimes they're tired, cranky, tipsy or argumentative. How does the group's dynamic shifts when someone's disagreeing OR when a member wants to point out or criticize another member's performance or idea?

Cuz seeing all of that is what made me 😍😍😍😍😍😍😍 at this docu a lot more. BTS, as THE biggest band in the world, feeling the pressure 13 years into their career. The members are mostly in their 30s (Jungkook turns 29 this year). This is gonna be THE BIGGEST COMEBACK anyone has ever seen in Kpop. All of that is gonna cause friction. All of the emotions are running high. The expectations ALONE!

This docu showed them as human beings. Like, yeah, they've got coins and are popular, etc. BUT they're also ppl who have hopes, dreams, and different tastes. Ultimately, there's also a lot of love. And I, for one, am super grateful to get the chance of witnessing what post-enlistement!BTS is like when they're off-stage, with unstyled/flat hair, no makeup, and comfy clothes. We see the dynamics as a group, as units, who influences who musically, and how they make everything connect not only with themselves as a group, but with the fans and the rest of the world.

And we get to see Bam too!

I've had a ton of fun every time I've watched it.


Final Thoughts

OFC, I'm recommending this docu. Especially for those who are curious abt current!BTS, this film gives a good idea of how they work together, what they think of each other. And, like, even with all the ups and downs, they had a great time in California. Awesomecakes docu is awesomecakes. :DDDDDDD


Rather than link the trailer for the docu once again, I'm gonna link this 3-minute and change video that showcases some of the vibes from the docu itself.

Watch on YouTube

Re-reads. HUH

NONE!


I DNF'd

*Worth The Wait by Isabella Murray (M/M contemporary romance short story) - Bill works out (however reluctantly) at a local gym. Steve is one of the part-time trainers and someone Bill has a "mild" crush on.

This was flat and unengaging romance. I didn't get Steve's motivations regarding his goals (is he a part-time trainer who is also a paramedic? Which career is he more interested in?) and Bill's inner commentary abt being so old (he's only 36 mind you; Steve's 28) annoyed me a ton. Despite only being 53 pages long, I bounced a little before page 20.


* Tyler's Guarded Heart by E.J. Stoll (Book 2 of the Cardinal Falls series, M/M contemporary romance) - Tyler's the fuckboy of his friend group. He meets and has a one night stand with Graham, but then feelings begin to develop. Whatever will Tyler do?

Shitty writing was the main reason why I gave up on this novel around Chapter 2. Also, even though I liked Tyler in the first book, his presence wasn't enough to keep me flipping the pages. Graham was a BORE.


Had an awesome time at first (but it all went downhill from there).

* Nathan's Second Chance by E.J. Stoll (Book 1 of the Cardinal Falls series, M/M contemporary romance) - Nathan's first love was his friend Colt. Whom he had accidentally kissed when they were both 15 y.o. and then Colt's family moved away. The last person he expects to see back in Cardinal Falls is Colt. On top of that, the v. first time he sees him is while Colt's in a date with Oliver. Will Nathan and Colt find their way to Tru Wuv???

FTR, the one thing I cannot take points away for is the fact that this is (yet another) one of those low-angst stories. The blurb makes it v.,, v. clear that the bulk of the plot will be smooth sailing. So I did keep that in mind when I read this book.

Reading this book was the equivalent of sitting in front of a wall that's gotten a fresh coat of beige paint. It was just as ✨riveting✨. /s

Starting with how similar Nathan and Colt sounded. More than once, I actually had to go and check WHOSE POV I was reading--which isn't a good thing since both MCs are meant to be different ppl and not, IDK, sharing one body.

The main problem had to do with the writing style. This book was published in 2025 and yet, it read like something that had dropped in 2005 or thereabouts. Even down to the sex scenes that included things such as tongues dancing against each other/wrestling for dominance AND (when any character orgasmed) spilling ropes of cum.

*SIGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH*

The only good thing (for me) was the book's length; I finished it in an hour. Oh, wait, and I did liked Nathan's friends too. Especially Tyler (shame that I ended up DNF'ing his book. Alas.) I gave this book a 1.6 out of 5.


* Aaron's Unlikely Love by E.J. Stoll (Book 4 of the Cardinal Falls series, M/M contemporary romance) - Aaron has a Meet Awkward with Oliver while the latter is on a date with Colt (Aaron's BFF's forever love.) There's a neat simpatico between them that grows first into a friendship and then into something more...

This book was the one with the best writing in the entire series. I liked Oliver a ton as well as how his ADHD was shown too. Just like in the previous novel, it was (once again) neat to see the circle of friends (and their SOs) expand in an organic way. Oh, and I did enjoyed some aspects of the Oliver/Aaron romance. Finally, this book has 1-2 key scenes from each of the earlier books. Instead of boring, I liked how the author mixed those into Aaron and Oliver's love story.

HOWEVAH

There was one HUGE issue that lowered the rating for me. Because, once I noticed it, not only the main conflict but also the bulk of the romance itself came undone.

From the time Aaron and Oliver first meet and continuing pretty much for 80% or so of the book, Aaron makes it v. clear that he doesn't want to be a relationship because he's a bad boyfriend.

The problem lies in that Aaron never gives any examples of his 'bad boyfriend' behavior. So it's then up to the reader to guess or assume anything and everything from things that are mildly annoying all the way to potentially criminal stuff. Is it that Aaron is prone to excessive jealousy? Has anger issues? Has had gambling and/or substance abuse issues? Has cheated on past partners/is prone to cheat? Has been cheated on by so many ppl he doesn't trust people? Is bad at handling/managing money? IHNI, your guess is as good as mine.

To top THAT off, Aaron starts a friendship that then turns into a FWB situation and eventually is officially dating Oliver. BUT he, somehow, manages to convince Oliver to HIDE THEIR RELATIONSHIP FROM EVERYONE FOR NO APPARENT REASON? (IIRC, he does a word salad as the reason why he wants to keep things with Oliver hush-hush. I read the "explanation" a few times and was still WTF at my tablet, NGL.)

EVEN WORSE, when (toward the end of the book) he does fess up to his friends abt his relationship with Oliver (WHICH HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR MONTHS AT THIS POINT, MIND YOU), everyone is justifiably shocked. They ask him why he hid that from them (since everyone has met, interacted, and become friends with Oliver all this time). Aaron mumbles an excuse to Nathan (specifically) due to Oliver and Colt (Nathan's now bf) having having had a disastrous date A WHOLE YEAR AGO. Nathan's confusion mirrors mine. BUT THEN, Nathan, Tyler, and Matthias COMFORT Aaron for ~reasons, I guess. 🤷🏾‍♀️🤷🏾‍♀️🤷🏾‍♀️

MAKE IT MAKE SENSE, GORRAM IT! This book, just like the other three, has dual POV. So there's absolutely NO REASON why Aaron wouldn't think back to his 'bad boyfriend' times/behavior at least once. The amount of effort this story puts into trying to convince its readers of Aaron's explanations is rather Herculean, NGL.

The most frustrating part in all of this is that Oliver/Aaron ARE well-matched and sweet to each other. BUT, because of Aaron's FULL-ON CLOWNERY ABT BEING "A BAD BOYFRIEND" (in the past), I couldn't fully enjoy their romance. The "conflict" was THAT stupid when there were several other things that could've thrown a wrench or two.

One strange thing I just realized is that, for all of the talk of his past relationships, Aaron never goes into details? Never mentions anyone by name (only says he's dated mostly women and some men), but all of it is super vague. I got the sense that the author didn't want to break the illusion of Aaron/Oliver = TRU WUV or something. Coincidentally, Oliver never says anything abt past hookups or boyfriends either. Huh.

I doubt I'll read anything by this author again. The series overall had 1 good book (no.3), a questionable novel (this one), and two mediocre stories (books 1 and 2). Thankfully, all of them were fast reads, so I don't feel like I wasted THAT much time, IDK. YMMV, you do you, etc. I gave this book a 2 out of 5 and that's only cuz of the writing and how likable Oliver was. *Hands*


It was . . . fine?

* Not That Scandalous by Isabel Murray (Book 3 of the Not That series, M/M contemporary romantic mystery) - Charlie's a grumpy cafe owner that's developed v. strong, romantic feelings for the (allegedly) straight handyman Kevin. But then, it turns out that Kevin's REALLY into Charlie . . .

Writing remained good, I liked seeing all of the guys being friends and supporting each other, the older women in secondary character roles, and the mystery FINALLY getting resolved. I thought the MCs were okay.

Going by my earlier theory abt each book being a subgenre of rom-com movies, this one is that odd, straight to DVD (or, nowadays, direct to streaming) movie you might start watching and be v. O__o abt the story. BUT something will compel you to keep watching despite of how bizarre the characters might be behaving. So think of any cult rom-com and you'll get it.

That said, I did have more issues with this novel vs. the other two . . .

The MCs' romantic gestures were subtler than expected (learning and practicing making lattes for Charlie, renovating Charlie's home (to the point of having a binder with designs!) for Kevin.)

My neutral vibes toward the romance itself have to do with Kevin. I never got the sense of truly knowing who he was. Like, sure, he's v. single-minded abt Charlie and is also semi-perpetually horny, and . . . that's abt it. The gaps in his backstory (what happened to his folks? why is he still working for Craig?, etc) meant that a lot of his behavior (his reaction to discovering a body, his bulldozer-like approach to making sure that Charlie is aware of how much he (Kevin) wants to be with him, etc) was presented without any context to give it sense. So there was a dissonance between the Kevin on the page (his behavior toward Charlie, how he'd shut down or get ridic protective, etc) and the way Charlie described Kevin's actions (since the book is told from Charlie's POV.)

In the end, I wasn't convinced of their relationship from an emotional standpoint. Though I got it cuz it's what the book focused on.

This book had a lot of CREEPY AF discoveries (vis a vis the overarching mystery) bordering into nightmarish. OTOH, at least the majority of the important things WERE resolved. I gave this book a 2.75 out of 5.


* Such a perfect family by Nalini Singh (Mystery) - Nearly two months after a quick wedding to Diya, Tavish flies to New Zealand in order to meet her family. While there, a horrible tragedy happens. Now Tavish is trying to figure out what happened while also doing the most to avoid getting arrested for a crime he didn't commit . . .

Having DNF'd the first two books in the Psy-Changeling series, I hadn't expected to read anything else by this author. However, I'm a sucker for mysteries and so I started this book.

The writing was excellent and most of the chapters were short, so I felt like I went thru the novel faster than usual. I also liked the character of Tavish--how morally gray he truly was from beginning to end. It was deeply enjoyable watching him trying to weasel out of getting out of a tough situation.

OTOH (and despite the bulk of the mystery being interesting), the last 40 or so pages took a steady plot and added a lot of ridiculousness to it. As the murderer identity was revealed (alongside their motivations for doing what they did), I kept thinking that this book turned into a v. trashy movie-of-the-week from the early 80s. 🙄 my eyes a lot cuz, out of nowhere, the book was asking me to ignore some random plot holes and 'coincidences' that were (magically?) adding up to nonsense. Therefore, I gave this book a 2.5 out of 5.


Good vibes all around

* Matthias' Protective Embrace by E.J. Stoll (Book 3 of the Cardinal Falls series, M/M contemporary romance) - Matthias is a hard-working guy with great friends, but not much romance. He becomes attracted to Frank, one of the workers remodeling his patio. Something abt that young guy REALLY calls out to Matthia's Daddyness . . .

NGL, I started this one feeling a bit anxious that I was gonna have a bad or mediocre time, so no one was more surprised than me when I got super invested in this novel's DRAMARAMA, hehehe.

THANKFULLY, there was enough angst to balance the fluff out. AND, even better, the conflicts were mostly external and based on real life issues. Sure, Matthias had the resources to help Frank, but his help didn't resolve everything. Frank still had to put in enough effort to get his life on track.

Out of the two MCs (this book had dual POVs), I did connected more with Frank. He had the kind of storyarc that drew ppl in: trying to do many things, but still failing and yet not quite giving up. He was so stretched thin that I was surprised he hadn't gotten into a car accident or worse. Matthias was OK--though I felt the author was heavy-handed in how much of Matthias' personality was shaped by him being a Daddy. BUT I did liked how he took care of, supported, and respect Frank.

I also enjoyed seeing Frank interact with Matthias' friends and their SOs. Color me INTRIGUED abt whatever's happening between Aaron and Oliver cuz that looks like it might be INTERESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSTING.

As for negatives, again, I was kinda 🙄 abt Daddy!Matthias. Such as, around Chapter 7 (by which time it's v. clear that he's in Daddy mode even if he doesn't want to admit to himself), when (in his POV part of the chapter) he wonder IF HE'S TOO INVESTED IN FRANK'S WELL-BEING (from a perspective that's more Daddy/boy than simple friends). Me: Matthias, darling, why are you asking what you already know the answer to?

Also, the sex scenes bordered a bit on the generic side of things. I have this book a 3 out of 5



Current fic tally

Picked up 178, have DNF'd 71. Not bad. Gonna try to focus and finish up a few of the longer stories this month.


Some thoughts

This batch might've been SRSLY mixed, but I don't feel particularly bad abt any of it. My best "find" was the Singh mystery.


Last time

Have already begun the third book in the Not That series. Still have the Singh book, a M/genderqueer historical romance, also an Ilona Andrews, and a comic book. So Juuust abt enough to keep me reading. I'm planning to read some queer horror next month, so there's that.

Finished Not That #3 and the Singh book. Had to renew everything else save for the comic book (which I decided to read some other time). /o\


Up next

Aside from the Andrews and the m/genderqeer hist-rom, I did check out a M/f vampire romance that's getting some buzz, and a Bi4Bi M/F contemporary romance. Hopefully, I'll be able to throw in some more creepy and/or scary-sh book as I've realized I'm NOT in the mood read horror right now. Maybe in December, IDK.

Febe is someone who works with concert production in Nigeria. She's got years of experience and a candid personality. I first saw her cuz the YT algo suggested this video (I wonder whyyyy? 😅)

She explains a lot of the backend stuff regarding setting up the stage, who is organizing and making decisions, etc. One thing I learned (not from this video, but elsewhere) is that, for the Arirang tour, the stage production team spend something like a week or two setting up and breaking down the set in a huge hangar in SK. Which makes sense!

Watch on YouTube

One question that tends to pop up a lot has to do with the lack of big tours in the African continent. In this video Febe goes IN abt the v. real issues for touring any African country. AND THEN, she explains a few of solutions. Thought it was so interesting that I just had to share it with y'all.

Watch on YouTube

Each video is abt 20-21 mins. long.

During their time in London, BTS split and filmed two things. RM went to Bella Freud's show while the rest of the Tannies sat down for "an English tea". Behold the wackiness:

Watch on YouTube

Way earlier in the year, IIRC this was late March, RM and Taehyung visited Sanghoon and had a v. mellow convo. This is the ideal video to watch on a lazy afternoon and/or when you want something super calm.

Watch on YouTube

AO3: GlitteryV

Tumblr: glitterv4


Hi ya!!!

I’m excited to listen to your voice. Something tells me that your gift will be superfab!


General info

I am only interested in shippy, i.e. romantic, stories.

If you go down the porny route, I’m way more into Porn with Plot and/or Porn with Feelings vs. Porn Without Plot. The idea of seeing how the characters feel about their needs and desires and communicate all of that to their partner(s) is hella fascinating to me. Also, people being goofy and/or laughing while having sex is awesome. I find super SRS BIZNESS sex scenes very meh.

Having said all that, although I do prefer Explicit stories, it’s totally okay if you want to stay at a G or PG level, i.e. fade-to-black intimate scenes or have the characters kiss/makeout only. I enjoy when characters show their affection with physical acts as well as being supportive. That also goes for dynamics between characters who are solely friends. So, hugs, hand holding, and the like are A+ in my book.

Do you want to add music to the podfic(s) or any kind of special audio f/x? Go for it! No worries if you don’t want to either!

Finally, even though I have blanket permission, this is the one time I don’t want to receive a podfic of my fics (even as a treat.) If you have any questions, you can ping the mods to communicate with me. As long as you avoid my DNWs, I am sure that I’ll like whatever you end up creating. :D



Kpop RPF (BTS)

This is my main fandom.

I’m crossing all fingers and toes in the hope you choose fic(s) among the many wonderful ones that exist in this fandom. ;________;

My two biases are Yoongi and Taehyung, so I’ll be more <3___<3 if either or both are a part of the main ship.

Shipwise, I LURVE Taegi (Yoongi/Taehyung), Taegimin (Taehyung/Yoongi/Jimin), and Sugakookie (Yoongi/Jungkook). At the same time, no one does it like Vmin (Taehyung/Jimin), Yoonmin (Yoongi/Jimin) or Namgi (Namjoon/Yoongi). But if you happen to find a NamJin (Namjoon/Seokjin) or a JinKook (Seokjin/Jungkook) fic that you think I’d enjoy listening to, don’t let me stop you from recording it! Same goes for any OT3+ combo up to and including OT7 since, as you can see, I sure love these guys.

That said, I can run v. hot-and-cold when it comes to Hobi-centric stories, so if you’re inspired to record a fic featuring Hobi as part of the ship, I suggest going for rapline OT3 (Yoongi/Hobi/RM) or VHope (Taehyung/Hobi) fics.

BTW, I’m A-OK with post-disbandment fic as long as the story’s ending is a happy one. Same goes for enlistment and post-enlistment fics. I don’t mind them, but happy endings only. Meaning NO conflicts or estrangement between the members by the end of the story.

I’m not at all comfortable with fics in which the guys aren’t native-born Koreans. Same goes for fics set in countries other than Korea (aside from touring).

Clarification:

Premise A: The story’s about BTS touring the UK. Hotel shenanigans happen –- I’m A-OK with this.

Premise B: Jungkook was born in (any USian city). Now that he’s at (USian university), he meets Namjoon, Hoseok, etc. –- This story is NOT for me.

When in doubt, go for stories set in Korea OR, if not possible, then set in a nondescript city or even outer space.



Legally Blonde

Ah, this is a blast from the past. Deffo one of the movies I’ve rewatched a ton of times. I really like how Elle Woods was a kind person throughout the story; that she reveled in her idea of femininity without putting other women down. Also her female friendships!

That said, my ONLY interest shipwise is Elle Woods/Vivian Kensington. It’s a typical Enemies to Friends set up , what’s not to love? As awesome as Emmett is, I like stories in which Elle and Vivian end up together.

As for things to avoid, I’d say Legally Blonde 2 (it’s fine, but the first movie’s my fave) and the musical (which I know is good, but it also goes into other side stories, etc.) Stick to stories for the first movie only, please.



Big Eden

ANOTHER old skool fandom! And a tiny one at that! Here, I love the canon ship (Pike Dexter/Henry Hart). My interest fanworks-wise is with post-canon stories. What happens after the movie is over?

I know that the bulk of the stories in this fandom tend to be chill and introspective (just like the movie), and I’m fine with that.

My one DNW here is any story in which Dean Stewart has an important role. I detest that character!



FAVE TROPES!!!

Families of choice

Porn (especially when the story has lots of sensory details)

Kinkfic (D/s, kink discovery and exploration, edging, orgasm control, and consensual somnophilia are some of my bulletproof faves)

Failboats in love

Most AUs (I’ve pointed out the ones I don’t like in my DNWs)

Gentle!dom

Tentacles

Banter

Soulbonds

Established couple brings in a third

Crackfic

Self-cest

Enemies-to-friends-to-Lovers

Sugar Daddy/Sugar Baby (accidental or not)

Praise kink

Trope inversions (example: two people without soulmarks fall in love in a soulbond AU)

Competence kink


**SQUICKS/DNWs**

Anything Covid-19 and/or Pandemic related (including quarantine and lockdowns)

Noncon

Cheating (Emotional or physical partner betrayal)

Incest (including between cousins, foster, and stepsiblings)

Jealousy

Hanahaki disease

Filk

Excessive crying (some tears are fine, but if the characters keep crying every other paragraph,I do get annoyed.)

Deathfic, i.e. Major Character Death

Character bashing

Heavy angst (A reasonable amount of conflict is welcomed. What I’m referring to here are stories in which the characters suffer for 95% of the time.)

Unhappy endings

Cannibalism

Bullying (especially if it’s presented as a romance trope)

Animal Harm

Open/Ambiguous endings

Poetry

First or Second person POV

Underage

Any fic with the Dead Dove: Do Not Eat tag


Kink NOPES

Bestiality (including in fantasy settings)

Sounding

Cuckolding

Age play (sexual and non)

Vore

Waterports or any other bodily fluid-based kink. (Comeplay is A-OK, anything else is a nope.)

CNC

Enemas


*Please AVOID these AUs*

HYYH-centric (this is a canonical BTS AU)

Apocalypse

Exes get back together

Zombies

Horror

Gaming AUs (especially Overwatch)

D&D and any other kind of tabletop roleplaying game

Sport!fic (but especially hockey)

High school

Coffee shop

De-aging

Characters are any of the following: serial killer, ghost, ghosthunter, a cop, doctor, nurse, rock star and/or part of a rock band.

Characters have a romance, FWB or other kind of relationship with a cop

Sex Pollen

Catholic AUs (including demons, angels, and priests)

Omegaverse (I do love this trope, but I’m also v. particular about it, so I’m erring on the side of caution and including it here.)

Slavefic

Fuck or Die

Harry Potter and/or Hogwarts settings

Reader/character(s)

Teacher/Student

Boss/Employee

Hospitals and mental institutions

Weddings

Christmas (it’s okay-ish if a fic is set in December but please, please no ‘magic of Christmas’/discovery about the 'spirit of Christmas’ and fics of that vein).

A super adorbs variety show in which Illit's surprised a girls' school. I loved seeing the different fandoms doing presentations, ILLIT's reactions to everything happening onstage, and the happy reveal of them performing.

Please note that there's a LOT and I do mean a LOT of v. happy screaming. I think that the show's PDs tried to balance the noise out a little. BUT I do have to make it clear that, once ILLIT shows up on stage, the audience is HELLA THRILLED from beginning to end. It didn't bother me, but I get why it'd be annoying for others.

English subtitles are available.

Watch on YouTube

Re-reads. HUH

I'd started to dive back into KJ Charles' A Gentleman's Position cuz something had reminded me of Richard and Foxy Davy. But then I looked at my immediate TBR (totaling 10 books) and returned Richard and Foxy Davy to the library, LOL. Truthfully, I'm not much of a re-reader to begin with, but there we are. 😅


I DNF'd


* An Earl, His Valet & Their Wife by Nicola Davidson (Book 2 of the Regency Menage series, M/M/F historical romance) - After a health scare, Michael's mother asks him to PLEASE get married and produce an heir ASAP. Michael isn't fully convinced, but he does make it clear to his parents that he will have to discuss this with Gerard, his valet, because he respects their relationship.

MEANWHILE, Gerard is thinking abt how much HE misses being intimate with women, but that he wouldn't cheat on Michael, his partner of 5 yrs. He's also, v. coincidentally, wishing they had a baby to raise together. 🙄 SO, once Michael tells Gerard abt his parents' request, Gerard is like LET'S GET YOU MARRIED! And even goes as far as to suggest a woman as a future wife: Lady Katherine.

Unlike the first book in the series, this one was v. heavy in the coincidences. Also Lady Katherine's whole personality seemed to be centered around her love for gothic novels and not much else. Finally, the author decided to write Gerard's dialogue phonetically (he's Scottish). NO, THANK YOU!


* Spellbound by Allie Therin (Book 1 of the Magic in Manhattan series, M/M Historical Urban Fantasy Romance) - Arthur is, despite having no magical powers, focused on getting and securing magical artifacts so that they won't be weaponized by evil folks. He's got a new item, but doesn't know what it's for. Rory is a guy with the power of telemetry, a gift he hides from society save for the woman whose antique shop he works for. Arthur and Rory's pathS cross; they end up teaming up (and starting to fall for each other) in order to prevent an actual weapon from decimating the island of New York . . .

This is a book I'd been wanting to read for at least 5 yrs. Dunno why I waited to do so. On the positive side, the writing and editing are excellent. HOWEVAH, the pacing is agonizingly slow.

FTR, I fully believe that a relationship where there's a pronounced unevenness in a romance novel CAN make for a fascinating dynamic to read. Sadly, the contrast between Arthur being rich, handsome, in his v. late 20s, and wordly while Rory is 19-y.o., poor, and has an innocent/naive personality didn't work for me at all. Mainly cuz Arthur's whole deal (at least for the first 20%--which was where I bounced) was "I know better than Rory, so I will decide for the both of us". This extended to keeping VITAL information that would help them both. I just...NOPE. It was enough for me to stop reading this book and move on. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯


* The Labours of Lord Perry Cavendish by Joanna Chambers (Book 4 of the Winterbourne series, M/M Historical Romance) - Wanting some peace in order to sort himself out, Perry accepts Lysander (his BFF)'s open invite to spend a fortnight at Lysander and Adam's huge estate. When he arrives, he meets Jonny, a member of the nobility. Sparkage happens even though both men are v. wary for different reasons . . .

So, both Jonny and Perry get introduced in the second novella of the series. Jonny's intro is a short but pointed scene that shows his sassiness and close bond with both Lysander and Adam.

Meanwhile, Perry is (per Adam and Lysander's POVs in that other novel) a tall and handsome guy who is protective of his younger sister and has a v. serious demeanor . . . except when he's interacting with Lysander. Then, his personality turns warm AF. By the end of the second story, Perry comes out to Lysander and even claims having had a crush on his bestie.

Which meant I was excited abt reading a story in which two folks who are opposites (flamboyant/butch, extroverted/introverted, etc.) get together.

Unlike the image of Perry in the second story, the Perry in THIS book is a guy who spends half of his time on the boxing ring (huh?) and the other half getting drunk AF. It's gotten to the point that, after one too many blackouts, Perry accepts a standing invite to Lysander and Adam's estate.

The Perry 2.0 version in this story felt sudden and disjointed. IIRC, there was no hint of Perry being super into brawling or getting smashed in book 2.

THEN there was the insecurity angle. For Jonny, it was abt how tired he is abt being in relationships with men who either want to keep him a secret or try to push him into getting rid of his femme-y behavior. Meanwhile, Perry's extremely low self-esteem was split between dislike at his physical self (he's brawny) and deep humiliation at his "lack of smarts" (like other readers, I do believe Perry has some kind of undiagnosed learning disability.) I pushed myself almost to the halfway point of the novel before throwing in the towel. *Hands*


* The Girl Who Bit Me by Valerie Hunter (Book 1 of the Girl Who Bit Me series, F/F Vampire Romance) - Aster and Sylvia have been besties for 600 yrs. They've gone thru a lot of ups and many downs across centuries. Unfortch, they're running v. low on capital. So they come up with a plan to con a billionaire. Awesome!

I really wanted to like this. The premise sounded SO fun. Alas!

It needed more developmental editing. There was NO worldbuilding (everything was nondescript to the point of being excessively smoothed out.) Also, the characters behaved AND talked like they were in a generic sitcom. Nothing abt the plot made any sense either.

What really got on my last nerve was how ATROCIOUS the writing was. Think of someone publishing their first draft w/almost NO editing. Like, that's the kind of prose that existed in this book. It wasn't so bad as to make it completely unreadable, but there was a heavy fandom-y voice that grated to no end.

The funny (?) thing is that I couldn't quite figure out WHICH fandom it was from. Later on I did and was like "ah, I see. That's why the author made everyone so quippy for NO FUCKING REASON." >:(

Let me be clear that I was A-OK with this book being a P2P. There have been several P2P books I've read that have been fabulous and some that aren't. Unfortch, this one fell in the second category. There is a sequel (featuring another couple), but I'm steering clear from anything else by this author.

So, rather than push myself into continuing reading this mess, I gave up somewhere in Chapter 5 (out of 36.)


* Rivals In Love: A Queer Victorian Romcom by Will Flynn (M/M Historical Romance) - Nicholas' bestie (Amelia) has a younger sister who is started to get courted by the infamous rake Tristan! Nicholas HATES Tristan, so he tries to figure out a way to break up any and every connection lest Amelia's sister ends up disgraced . . .

Both the writing and the worldbuilding are fine. As a fan of banter, I did enjoyed how much of that was in this story (as a matter of fact, it WAS the banter what kept me reading past the moment I should've dropped this book. 😔)

On the negative side, there were abt 5 different plots going on all at once. Also both MCs annoyed me for different reasons (Nicholas was too naive for his own good while Tristan's prankster persona was OTT.) I DNF'd at the end of Chapter 7 (out of 32, IIRC)


Had an awesome time at first (but it all went downhill from there).


* Getting Away With Murder by Shari LaPena (Crime Thriller) - THIS NEXT THING IS NOT A SPOILER AS IT'S PART OF THE BLURB AND IS SOMETHING THAT OCCURS IN THE PROLOGUE!!!

Ted and Jill's luxe life is on the verge of going over a cliff due to dire financial problems. And then, Ted has the "inspired" idea of inheriting his older brother's fortune. The first thing they gotta do is get rid of him . . .

There's something to say abt wanting comfort via familiarity. Such as in the case of this book. The high readability factor (finished this in a literal afternoon), the 10 POVs, and the promise of a good domestic thriller featuring rich white ppl acting ridic were the reasons why I picked this book up. I've been reading this author's books for years and, despite the WTF-ry of it all, I do get excited abt something new from her.

Let me tell y'all, I was CLOWNED V. HARD from around the 20% mark (of a 320-something page book) onward. 😔

IMO, it was around then that novel started to plateau and continued on that flat line all the way to the end. Things did happened, but the overall storyarc was stuck in the mud. Especially once the repetitiveness went up to 11.

ON TOP OF THAT, a character who was seriously TSTL landed on their feet for reasons that I'm still WTFing abt.

Finally, this author is KNOWN for dropping bonkers-type of reveals and/or OTT twists. There were NONE here. The only 'twist' was something that didn't alter the plot in any way. The ending was the blandest, weakest, driest wrap-up I've seen in a while!

Joke's on me cuz I read this book even though I've given 2 stars to the last three books by this author. Even worse, I finished it when I could've just as easily DNF'd it. Obvs, I kept wishing the story would change course, that the author would throw a wild curveball, etc. only for none of that to happen. Me: 🤡

The one reason why I'm disappointed and not pissed off is that I didn't pay for this book. Yays to libraries for saving one's coins, heheh. Will I pick up her next book? Yeah, but as a kind of 'last chance' type of vibe. If her next book is as much of a 👎🏾 as this one, I might end up moving on from reading her stuff altogether. 😓

I gave this book a 1 out of 5.



It was . . . fine?

Nothing I picked up quite fit this category.



Good vibes all around

* Winging It by Mike Lawson (M/M romance) - Callum is 36 y.o. flight attendant for a grubby airline from Manchester. After getting dumped by his evil (now ex) boyfriend, he decides to fuck around. That is, until he meets Olly, the airline's new engineer. There's attraction and simpatico between them. Will Callum finally get out of his own way?

I LOL'd a ton (as in cackling IRL) during the first half of the book. The humor did pushed into secondhand embarrassment situations, but there wasn't any actual!meanness in the comedy. This book also had excellent worldbuidling. And that's something that can be difficult to do while not bogging down readers with too many details. The world Callum and the rest of the characters move around has a tactile and vivid quality. Finally (for the positives), the writing was good. It had a friendly tone and good pace for the majority of the novel. I hadn't expected to get sucked into the goings on from page one and yet!

Sadly, I did ended up having other issues...

For a book whose full title includes the word "spicy", there was v. little actual!sex included in the book. It is true that Callum has a v. active sex life (he mentions his many hookups, muses abt hook-up culture, and talks abt sex toys). THAT SAID, I did find it odd that a 300+ page book had 2 sex scenes. One of them is a literal paragraph long while the other one is abt a page and half. Hmm

No one would be expecting, IDK, a fuckfest from chapter 1. But, at the same time, adding a "spicy" tag but not really diving into that was A CHOICE.

ANOTHER THING: Olly was smart, flirty, sweet, and was v. attracted to Callum. All great things. But then, when the Inevitable Temporary Third Act Breakup (TM) happened, a lot of what had made Olly a wonderful character got put on pause. Especially his (previously) good communication skills. I also felt that he gave up on the relationship with Callum too fast given everything that had been shown before the ITTA Breakup?

The ending was meh. For me, at least.

A character messed up and was forgiven too fast. To explain,

I gotta go to SPOILERS

Callum's ex-boyfriend is The Worst (TM). Said ex sets Olly up to make it look like he's been unfaithful to Callum. Because of his insecurities, Callum takes the bait and breaks up with Olly in a bombastic way.

Later on, he tries to make up with him but is unsuccessful. After regrouping, he decides to do a Grand Gesture to win Olly back for reals. It goes well and they're a couple again. The thing is that, immediately after reuniting with Olly, Callum tries to apologize TWICE abt having been an ass. And twice Olly shushes him and says "oh, don't worry abt it. Everything is okay. You don't need to apologize." The END.

And, like, that's sweet in theory, but Callum did ZERO GROVELING while Olly basically shrugged everything off and now they got an unearned for HEA.

So I finished the book feeling less enthusiastic abt Olly/Callum. Wished there had been an epilogue--if only to round out the story properly. I gave this book a 3.5 out of 5.


* She Came for the Pack by Darva Green (Urban Fantasy F/F romance) - A decade after she escaped the evil Alpha who wanted to marry her for her magical Omega power, Sheila needs help if she's going to make it to a safe territory.

Quinn, an Alpha who is also Sheila's Fated Mate, helps her. This is DESPITE the fact that 10 yrs ago, Sheila broke their bond for plotty reasons. . .

I picked this book up cuz of the cover. IDEK.

Thankfully, both the writing and the worldbuilding were 👍🏾. I liked the way the author wove the mutual lore of witches and werewolves in a way that made sense. Sheila and Quinn were v. likable together and apart. Their intimate scenes were HELLA HOT too, heheh.

As for the bad, there were enough small things that aren't addressed in this novel that made me go HMMMM. Also, for all of the build-up, the final confrontation with the Big Bad was a total snoozer, IMO.

In the end, though, I gave this one a 3.2 out of 5.


Current fic tally

Have picked up 135, DNF'd 62. Been reading some lengthy fics (80k+). In a way, it's felt like I haven't finishing a ton of stories. OTOH, I've liked most of what I've started, so I'm feeling good abt how my fic reading is going.


Some thoughts

I KNOW it looks like I DNF'd a lot... but, in actuality, there are 10 other books I bounced from within the first 3-8 pages. LOL. All those were novels that ranged from 260 pages to around 400. Since that wasn't even 1% of the overall novels, I've chosen to not count them as DNF's. Like, I read enough to find out that I was not clicking with the story/writing/set-up, but not so much as to be specific in my criticism of those novels.

One thing I gotta point out is that, with the exception of the LaPena book and one of those ghosted book I'll mention in the next section, everything I read was from Kindle Unlimited. (Had an offer of 3 months for $1 and I said "sure, why not?). Therefore, giving up on all of these felt easier/less burdensome than if I'd paid even $1 for each book.IJS

It's been a weird time readingwise. Yes, I've not finished more novels than usual, but I'm not feeling like I'm a slump either. In any case, I'm trying to do some late Summer and early Fall reading before October (where I want to focus on queer horror novels. I'm a scaredy cat, so 🤞🏾 for me!)


Last time

I've got the (now infamous) F/F Second Chance romance, a contemporary M/M romance, an F/F 'dark romance', another danmei, and a regular cishet secretly magical dude with a magic cat (?). So a bit of everything.

Uhhh, okay, let's see . . . I gave up on the F/F Second Chance romance (for a final time) cuz the writing was NOT it. The contemp M/M was Winging It. The F/F 'dark romance' was the vampire besties one (DNF), the danmei I don't recall (maybe New Year, New Hell?), and the regular cishet mgical dude with a magic cat was a dud (think of the most generic Urban Fantasy written by a cisdude. Yeah, exactly.)


Up next

Have a Nalini Singh mystery (giving her a second try cuz the Psy-Changeling series was a No Go for me), a celeb memoir, and around 10 books from KU (mostly M/M & F/F romances and a mystery novel.) My goal is to finish all of these. Wish me luck!

TBH, I have zero idea how I found this channel, but anyways! 놀꾸야 NOLGGUYA's YouTube channel is abt her attending a ton of different concerts in Korea. It so happens that, among her many other videos (covering everything from TXT to Day6, exo, etc), there were these three which feature BTS (both individually and as a group).

In chrono order for funsies.

Watch on YouTube

Jin's concert September 2025.

I really liked hearing from someone who had gone to Jin's concerts in Seoul thinking that it was gonna be OK . . . only to end up realizing how amazing he is as a performer. Also how unique his concert was. FWIW, I think that a lot of ppl (ARMYs included) had the same kind of awakening to Jin's AWESOMECAKINESS and talents, heheh.

Watch on YouTube

A good review of the BTS comeback performance on March 21st, 2026.

This one was interesting due to how, because she's not an ARMY (though she knows and enjoys BTS music, but, again, in a v. casual way?), she talked abt the negative aspects of BTS' comeback show in Gwanghwamun. The lines, the extreme security measures that ended up inconveniencing way too many ppl including herself and her mother.

THAT SAID, she enjoyed BTS' performance (and really dug the addition of "Arirang" into "Body to Body".)

NB: A lot was discussed abt the way the police and the city of Seoul organized the crowds to the point of driving everyone bonkers. OTOH, however, there were zero reports of ppl being harmed--an important point given the Itaewon crowd crush tragedy a few years ago.

Could things have been a bit looser? Maybe, but there we are.

Watch on YouTube

BTS' first concert in YEARS. Seoul Day 1 of the ARIRANG tour.

Let me point out that, in addition to this being the literal first concert and all the pressures that come with that, the weather did its best to be HORRIBLE. It was chilly (46F / 7.7 Celsius) AND there was non-stop rain. So the stage was potentially slippery. Due to the condensation and other things associated with moderate, (again) non-stop rain, some of the effects (especially the smoke) went sideways. There was a steady fog for the first Act, frex.

ANYWAYS, NOLGGUYA had some opinions (a few criticisms that feel valid (to me) and tons of praise) on the show.

OK, some background first: out of all of the concerts (so far), the Standford dates (which totaled 4 concerts) are somewhat known for being the ones with the most locals/mundanes/general public. A big reason for this is that, since the stadium IS part of Standford University, a lot of students (who are non-fans) got a chance to buy a ticket to the concerts at a steep discount.

FWIW, I'm not upset the way other ARMYs seemed to have been. For one thing, no matter what, BTS will put on a SHOW, their discography is PERFECTION, and ARMYs are (generally speaking) a fairly welcoming fandom. Add to all of that an AWESOMECAKES ALBUM that offers songs across several genres and well, yeah, it'll be a blast no matter what.

This video is from a Korean law student who went to the concert out of curiosity more than anything. He interviews a few ARMYs and then goes to have the time of his life, heheh.

Watch on YouTube