Dramas and fanfic recs

[maggie33]

ClaireBell

I admit I was a bit underwhelmed by the finale. I don’t really know why, because I generally liked what they did with it. But something in me wasn’t enjoying it as much as the previous seven episodes. Well, apart from one thing. That thing I enjoyed so much.

More with spoilers here.

And that one thing was what Bell did to get Top arrested. That was very satisfying. I even said “Hell yes, you deserved it, you coward” aloud. 😊

I also liked that Dao decided to keep the baby. IMO it felt very in character for her, knowing what we know about her fraught relationship with her son. Maybe I would feel differently if she was supposed to be in prison for a very long time. But we don’t know how long she’s supposed to be in prison. As far as I remember they never mentioned that in the show. So it might be just a few years.

I also liked Deedee’s sort of redemption arc. And that she did change for the better just a bit. And her cute something with Porsche made me smile.

I also absolutely get why Claire did what she did to Kae, even if that meant prolonging her stay in prison.

Now that I think of it maybe I was a bit underwhelmed that everything was tied with a neat little bow. All the villains were appropriately punished. All the good and goodish people got their happy, or at least happyish, ending. Which was nice, but I guess I was expecting something maybe a little bit messier?

Heated Rivalry

In general I liked the show well enough. And let me repeat that I’m very glad that the show like that is so popular. And I for sure will be rewatching the 3rd episode a few more times in the future. And the ending of episode 5, of course. And Scott/Kip tag on AO3 makes me very happy, too. 😊

Minor spoilers for the finale here.

Scott’s speech made me teary-eyed. And I really liked Shane’s talk with his mom after his parents found out about him and Ilya. That was very well done and very touching.

I also finally finished reading Heated Rivalry the book. It was meh for me. And I found Ilya so annoying in the book. At least in the show Connor Storrie has charisma and charm that make Ilya’s annoyingness easier to swallow for me. But yes, I don’t really care for Shane and Ilya’s romance.

I started reading Tough Guy – Game Changers book number 3. I read five chapters for now, and it’s rather meh, too. But I will give it a few more chapters. And if I won’t like it more by then I’ll drop it and try the next book in the series.


And I’m still very in love with Kim Go Eun, and I’m in the middle of the 1st season of Yumi’s Cells, which is very sweet and fluffy, and such a relaxing watch. And I started The King Eternal Monarch rewatch (two episodes for now, still as entertaining as I remembered). I’m thinking I might try Goblin again next. I found it boring the first time I tried it a few years ago, and dropped it after watching four episodes. But maybe I’ll like it better this time? 😊


And I still have a few interesting Yuletide fics to read, but I wanted to rec two fics from those I’ve read so far. First one is a perfect post-canon fix it fic for a background couple from the Thai BL drama Dangerous Romance. And the second is a sweet and lovely and very touching post-canon fic for Some Like It Hot.

Man of Many Talents (12705 words)
Fandom: หัวใจในสายลม | Dangerous Romance (TV 2023)
Rating: Mature
Relationships: Saifah Homchan/Name Thanadol Vattawut
Characters: Name Thanadol Vattawut, Saifah Homchan, Sailom Homchan, Kanghan Krittin Sukprasert
Additional Tags: Post-Prison, Home Improvement, First Time, Domestic Bliss, Emotional Hurt/Comfort
Summary:

Name goes to prison and then gets out of it. And just like he promised, Saifah is waiting.

Twice Over (6992 words)
Fandom: Some Like It Hot (1959)
Rating: General Audiences
Relationships: Jerry "Daphne"/Osgood Fielding III, Jerry "Daphne" & Sugar Kane Kowalczyk
Characters: Jerry "Daphne", Sugar Kane Kowalczyk, Osgood Fielding III, Joe "Josephine"
Additional Tags: Post-Canon, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Found Family, Marriage Proposal, She/Her pronouns for Jerry "Daphne", Canon Compliant, Trans Character
Summary:

Three months after their escape from Miami, a girls’ day out with Sugar becomes a reminder of how drastically Daphne's life had changed since she and Joe had fled Chicago - and how much of a perfect dream it had become.

Or - Osgood wants to propose again, properly this time. Sugar helps.