I'm back

I had a great time. Stuff in Warsaw was dealt with almost no complications, and three days in Lubin were wonderful. I haven’t been in Lublin in years and it was so nice to see what’s changed and what has stayed the same.

I’m all caught up with my dreamwidth reading list. I think. 😊 I still have a lot of new fics to read, because reveals for 520 Day Guardian Reverse Exchange 2025 happened, yay. And I’m so behind on drama watching. I did watch some when I was away, but not much, my eyes really dislike the small screen of my phone.

What I already watched after being back:

Boys in Love

It’s so sugary sweet, that I feel like I have a new cavity every time I finish watching the newest episode. 😉 I enjoy it a lot, it’s my lovely Sunday slice of fluff. And I really hope it will stay lovely and sweet and fluffy, and that there won’t be any unnecessary angst and sudden 11th episode break-up in the future.


The Next Prince

I still enjoy it. It’s entertaining and pretty to look at. But I wish the pacing was better. As it is I’m starting to get a bit bored sometimes. IMO some of the scenes drag on and on and on. It seems, after four episodes, that the screenplay isn’t their strongest point. Unfortunately.

More with spoilers here.

Yeah, no, Ramil’s father Prince Rachta is definitely not the main bad gay. If all the clues points to him for now, and this is just the 4th episode – nah, he’s not the main villain. Right now my money is on Khanin’s grandfather. He’s all ‘see me being such a benevolent monarch, I’m so calm and kind and unassuming’ on the surface, but you see ruthlessness under it. And you know, he plays chess – a clear sign of a manipulative villain. 😉 But more seriously, he does look to me like a mastermind who has everything under his control, at least for now. He reminds me a little of Korn Theerapanyakul from KinnPorsche.

Ramil is getting his redemption arc for sure. Sure, he’s a manipulative asshole. And he’s a bit of a sexist jerk to Ava. But he has an abusive father. He’s desperately and possessively in love with a person he can't admit to being in love with. And that person is cruelly punished every time Ramil makes a mistake or defies his father.

I ship Ramil/Paytai so much. I wish we got a bit more about them, and not just one scene per episode. Also give me more Ava, show. I love her and I want to see more of her. But I feel like this is this drama’s biggest flaw – a large cast, a lot of secondary characters, and a very uneven focus. They have a lot of ground to cover with all those couples (there supposed to be three secondary couples) and they have all those mysteries and the palace intrigue, too. And I feel like they wasting their time on so many irrelevant scenes. Like I love NuNew’s singing, but do they really had to have him sing a song in this kind of drama, too?

But Khanin continues to be great and makes me love him more and more. Boy has so many feelings already and is not afraid to act on them. The way he just cut in during Charan’s dance, so he could dance with Charan instead. And in front of the whole court. And then that talk when he tried to make Charan admit that Charan feels something more than just respect and loyalty... I liked that a lot.

Sweetheart Service

I watched the three available episodes and I loved them. The main pairing is another one of those ‘an enthusiastic, sweet puppy and an aloof, antisocial kitty’ pairings. I usually like those and here it’s adorable, too. The secondary pairing is another sweet and shy puppy in unrequited (for now) love with a guy who has a crush on someone else.

But I have to say it was a bit unexpected to watch a kdrama and suddenly realize that my ears don’t deceive me and I am hearing Bertold Brecht’s song as a background music in one of the episode 2 scenes. It was Mack The Knife. 😊