[CDrama] 罪嫁 / Sinful Marriage (2025)

I think I'm spiraling ahaha

THIS IS UNHINGED. FL is UNHINGED all capital letters. This is the case when someone steals the show for being crazy. By that I mean ML is quite crazy but FL is CRAZIER. True enemies-to-lovers story. Both have a deep grudge from the beginning and do things out of spite only to go through many adversaries and dangers together before their feelings changed.

It has a bit of old-school drama sadistic elements, but the story is quite gripping and my thoughts on FL are basically - oooh~ she's a spicy woman~

But in reality, the story is about a sudden marriage when ML's paramour is reported to be murdered by a carriage, the one at fault is a childhood sweetheart of FL. She is a daughter of a minister and he asked her to take the blame for him, his prostects in the future exam and his entire life will be otherwise over, blinded by love she agrees although fails to see the true nature of her lover and has no idea what accepting the charges as her own will bring her. ML forcefully marries her to make her "suffer", but she is not having any of it. Her schemes and actions, her change of face at the drop of a handkerchief leave no space to doubt that while ML is toxic, she is an acid subtsance too. Knowing the truth that she who always considered herself smart was a fool in the face of love, now she tries to prove her innocence, but it's a bit too late to extract yourself from many intrigues of this house.

One must know that this is not a healthiest relationship, while they reach for a better future they hurt each other plenty.

Since it's a short-form also there is no need to expect anything grand from the story, but hoenstly it perfectly portrays some of the moments in webnovels I would like to have a visual reference for, now I have it. If I read something like this I'm not sure if I'd like it on the same level as this drama.

Also of course production is on the level which is obvious, but some things made me openly laugh (especially the convoy that was leaving the city left on foot, no horses, no carriages, I think the one I saw before at least had a horse, they're not cheap).

And actress who plays FL is gorgeous but also good at it. 

Anyway, one reaction - oooh~ It's obvious I opened because of the poster and the title, after all it's daring to name a show this way, but boy it paid off.

Honestly, this actress was so good at her craft I wish the budget would be more abundant, nothing high class but at least will include some additional footage that will fill in the gaps. Like the ending is emotional but two characters appear that we thought were finally over. Also despite the villains being one-dimensional, I liked the idea overall. In spoilers~

[CDrama] 锦绣宅心 / Threads of Destiny (2025)

ahahaha lol what was that

This is a short form drama, so instead of basic 40 minutes we have 15 per episode. So production is obviously rather cheap and the plot is rushed as if it's a galloping horse. It's based on a webnovel and follows the story of two reborn sisters who switch places when they marry into the same house, Lu family. But one is full of petty tricks while other crushes the opponent with wit. Very melodrama, high-speed paced, everything happens with convenience and for the effect. Never watched these before, very random find on YT. I basically opened up any drama that attracted me and looked first few minutes. Before I found a couple of main actors who'd make me wanna watch them and also have at least some skills instead of being a wax face.

So the female lead here is gorgeous. Pity they have pretty heavy make-up which is too modern (like many details if you care to notice), but she is still gorgeous and fun to follow.

So I went to MDL and looked at her page, even if the girl films short form, it doesn't matter since sis is Working. I suppose Chinese entertainment industry is pretty harsh. But considering how many dramas I passed by they release some crazy amounts of it.

What bought me was not only her but the chemistry of the two, to me it worked, they were cute.

The plot itself isn't anything new, it's packed with tropes and main character don't have a second without someone plotting against them, this is why some epic soundtrack is always playing to showcase how great they are or the moment is simply epic and you need to pay attention.

But I'll be honest, that ending was lost on me a bit, because it was done for only one character redemption.

The English version is available on YT.

[WEBTOON/Manga] I've Fallen for the Empre's Greatest Villaness

Yeah, I'm also surprised that this is manga/webtoon. I'm too used seeing manhwa all over the place.

Did not plan to find anything good so soon. No really, I consider this a stroke of luck, a jackpot of search, beacause this manga / webtoon is simply adorable, I can't even express how fantastically fun and cute this is. I had so much fun reading it, I know it's not over and I will gladly continue following it. Eng version can be found on webtoon.

After reading now I understand why some want their man have a little wolfdog or a pup vibe, because this man n the cover is the exact embodiment of it. He is so good, he may have made few things hard for himself and for others because of his situation, but overall this man is perfectly good. 

Their dynamic is so fun to follow, the art style truly elevated it. Those funny moments, ah loved them.

#fantasy, European ambience, comedy, romance, fated lovers

The story takes place in a fantasy land that has an on-going situation with a protective shield against monsters and demons. The ones at the forefront are those who are known as guardians and saints. Many wield magic in order to defeat the dark forces that try to seep through to the peaceful world, but the one who bears the most tragic fate is the Guardian and Raven is the current one who knows that his fate is sealed. There is also another person who wields incredible purifying magic and that is Estrella, also known as the Greatest Villainess of the Empire.

Both of them did not cross paths when suddenly Raven's house receives an order from the Emperor to wed with the house of Sharens and his soon-to-be wife is none other than Estrella.

She is known for her behavior and he is known for being a womanizer, but are these even true?

The very first meeting she comes to him and says I want to see you kneel. You're sitting there gaging because I never expected such a turn, but she has such an adorable personality with an awkward touch, but she also moves forward with such resolution.

She is truly the domineering one in this relationship, at one point she even compares herself to old lecher because Raven, who is a rumored womanizer is nothing more but a paper tiger, those rumors are not true and he never had a relationship with a woman. All his love will be given to Estrella.

But it doesn't mean she doesn't have the moments of doubts and vulnerability.

Can't consider this a spoiler, this is given quite early in the story, but Guardians are said to sacrifice themselves because they know no other way how to fix the seal that loses power over time. This is why he pushes any love or relationships away because he is such a kid boy who truly doesn't want anyone to hurt over him, but he still manages to attract a load of people with his kindness. Despite his fierce looks among his people they all know he is like a mother hen.

Estrella promised herself that she will do anything within her power to protect him. Our girl is built different.

The story is truly light-hearted, of course stakes are high, but the vibe of this work does not allow you to feel pressured. These two are like two cutie-patooties that are so fun to follow and root for.

[MANHWA] My in-laws are obsessed with me

Pereshati Zahardt is a count's daughter who got remarried after her mother’s passing. When her father died, he left her all his fortune. Then, Pereshati's greedy stepmother and stepsister conspire with Pereshati's lover to kill her. However, under mysterious circumstances, Pereshati is brought back to life and travels back in time before her murder. To buy some time before getting her revenge, Pereshati visits the handsome yet notorious grand duke, Therdeo Lapileon, to marry him. During her visit, she uncovers a horrifying secret of his family. How will Pereshati deal with it? Will she be able to take her revenge?

 In a non-spoiler way I may say that I recommend to check out this manhwa. 9 out of 10 times I dnf a Korean manhwa or a novel, because we don't click. But this time I found myself engulfed in this story and I don't regret starting it (reason is: manhwa is currently on hiatus since Jan'25 due to artist's poor health).

 Despite such a cheesy title the story itself is very engaging and heart-warming, but much darker than average. Because I was surprised myself about attention to details and how this story concentrates on what this family has to go through. What each family member had experienced, their achievements and limitations. How it influences their life, values, life choices and many other sides of their lives. It feels like it occupies everything.

 This world might be not super complex but unlike many of the stories I've seen it gives you enough details to see the picture how this world lives. Surely it's not historically accurate (about this later) it's just "Europen ambience" and an inspired world with no parallels.

 This is the time when the story really wins from visuals. Especially the character of Therdeo who is a silent type and keeps everything to himself. He's a basic repressed person who also has points won from the fact that he does not have insta-love with Pereshati (like in many other novels or comics where MMC is said to be not interested in women, but the moment he laid his eyes on FMC all his convictions change instantly, so cheap). Here this shows his repressed nature and also his trauma. Pereshati's image also adds a note with her funny faces at times, which lightens up the story, which otherwise would be more dramatic than it already is. The romance may not be the first priority (understandably) but it's a very nice slowburn so when things finally progress you root for the two of them. They also go through different issues, which I thought was a great touch to add instead of something flawless.

 Pereshati is a kind and compassionate person, she is hard-working and smart. I like how they deal with each other and she has a progress of mostly having Lapileons as her shield to caring for this family. I loved attention to her state of mind from beginning which sowly changes. Unlike many stories she does not start with a perfect plan for revenge, her situation is more real (at least to me) since she does not even believe in what happened to her. Her relatives did not act obviously malicious, they were kind and loving for years and years, this is why she was caught by surprise. Which is more terrifying than most of the "villains". She decided to strike a deal with Lapileons only on her instinct to feel safe, because only later she realized that her experience was the reality with long-lasting effect. The Lapileons gave her the chance to find the family she can truly love and who truly love her back.

 Therdeo is a silent type but who bear responsibility of entire family, he has a lot on his plate. he really looks like he hasn't slept for at least a decade. But he tries to grow an dlearn when he does something he realizes was not right. Maybe one of few couple who actually talk it out when they meet with problems and in case of Therdeo it's a big deal becase it's really hard for him to trust and him slowly opening up is the result of progress. The two really complement each other.

 Now a few words about being historically accurate in manhwa. I love how historically inaccurate Korean manhwa usually is.

 It shouldn't be, but it also does not rely on any rhyme or logic of its own. Basically, they do not create a certain microcosm of their own world or even copy the existing one, they just throw whatever is what I noticed while watching some of the manhwa.

 I was surprised to see that some details were included in this manhwa to showcase the works of the estate and its servants, for example, like one I can think of is Chapter 85 from Season 2 when Pereshati is given a tour around the Dukedom but she sees servants rushing in and out with stuff like loundry and she is told that Grand Duke is the one who allowed it, which shows how unlikely it is to see servants, well, it's true after all in many existing historical manors like in Englad and France the servant stairs was in another part of the house. When I studied in an Academy, it was located in a revamped historical house (it wasn't anything fancy), but they still got the old stairs and it had such narrow and dangerous steps tbh, many people lost their footing there and I think someone was said to be hurt from the fall. While the main stairs were elaborate and wide and grand and took longer time to climb them, though somehow had smaller steps than what we usually use nowadays.

 Although the costuming in this manhwa also can be called "I'll just pick and choose from different existing historical period fashion", I wish any of them would follow just one template instead of going for whatever. The only thing that will always be consisten is the gloves that everyone in Lapileon household wear. But the rest of it, sometimes it is nice (like Pereshati always wears something less elaborate and also the color scheme is always in darker colors), but at other times it's really - just put whatever and let's mix periods. During the Pereshati's friend wedding we see her helter neck dress with exposed back, which looked just too modern. I say this because it takes you out of immersion. I also love how everyone uses the A4 paper and there's so much paper as if it costs nothing. It always throws me off a little bit when I watch, all this modern stuff here and there. But what can I do, the 3D models are used in every manhwa extensively, so don't be surprised if every estate looks the same, but different color. 

 Oh the word about their estate, it's a palace. It's huge and they even have a second building, it almost looks like a street. If we take this scale, they're loaded. Though see no need for such a large estate to be near the city. Take London for example, the city house wasn't comparable to the estate. But from another angle it shows how rich Lapileon family is, but actually their house is always empty and they don't invite guests to stay over.

 I also found it fun how we follow Pereshati on her journey to how run the estate, but we never hear of anything except her venture into charity, yet she spends so much time with papers. Note: though her charity project had great details I must say, author really thought it through. But here's the thing, outside some business mentioned we have no idea what they do, we know they do it, but the scale is unknown. At least they have mines.

/-SPOILERS-/

Well, anyone who read a bit will know that Lapileons suffer from a curse, their blood is poisonous.

I found the scene where Perishati dies from it and finds herself at the bottom of dug grave like a touch of black humor, I know it's not funny but I laughed, since she had such a stunned expression and these fuckers planned to bury her.

Here's the scene, Perishati as a single woman who knows her stepmother is capable of murderng her, so while she has a chance to get away from a situation she does want to extend a deal to Therdeo, since she knows he needs a marriage to stay away from Imperial family. She visits him and no one is aware of her visit, so when they talk she is on edge, which is her earlier state of mind, which nicely portrays her psychological state at the beginning of the story. She bites her fingers and they bleed. The Duke is not impressed and lives up to impression that he doesn't deal with women. While he wanted to leave she grabbed him and he pushed her hand, being scratched by her ring. Somewhere she has a contact with his blood and dies. Then is revived. He finds it peculiar and even makes her die again (unhinged behavior he apologizes for later). So they strike a deal, he needs her for experimenting with their curse and she will get protection.

This arranged marriage starts really from lowest of the lows. But slowly she sees the true nature of this curse and how it influences this family.

This family knows how to deal with the curse, it is said that they need to make a woman the head of the family and this eneration did, but Pereshati's sister-in-law lost her husband and her child to poison, so she was not in the right state of mind and relegated her power to the youngest, which is Therdeo.

The number of Lapileon's direct descendant is not much, they also have collateral branches. But due to their curse they have to keep an eye on every member of the family and this curse is the biggest secret they have. Otherwise it may lead to a disaster, which we find already happened in a place where they had no idea about.

Pereshati's arrival is not only a key to starting solving this curse, because everyone is invlolved in it, but she also has influence on the members of this family to varying degree. She is not some super savior who will lift the curse with a move of her finger, but you can feel her presence.

The story really revolves mostly around the curse, but it's actually interesting how detailed it is.

Also even the reason why they haven't found the way to deal with it is justifiable. They really wouldn't be able to move on without the participants who now take the central place.

Although I said spoilers, but I just removed a big chuck of what makes this story great. It's the case when you really need to read it to see for yourself.

[SHORT REVIEWS] #24

Some finds, on-going stuff and future reads.

Recently I cleaned my bookmarks and the progress was great. Although to some may sound silly but the tactic of pending works for me.

What I do for any type of book. Since the array of books seems endless it feels inevitable to want to read more, but is there a way to filter them? I found that the following works for me. 

1. Read summary, read available chapters (self-publishing, online), read available excerpts (trad. publishing). Summaries almost always do not correspond to the content. It's not false advertisement, it's mostly how a synopsis tries to lure you into reading and making it sound like the best book you've ever read. Even for Chinese online novels I read so much, where authors try to put the content and idea of the novel into the title, sometimes the content may not correspond to the way synopsis painted the story.
2. PENDING period. When I have too many things pinned I basically let them pend for some time. You can't read everything at once anyway, so let those books wait for you. You will find that by the time you return it's easier to make a choice and sift through titles. 
3. Reading first few chapters (or some recommend 50 pages rule). Is to gve yourself enough time to asses if you want to proceed reading. I usually just read a bit if I want to decide how far the book will end up on the waiting list. Sometimes the story can grip you from the first passage (usually in regards to trad. publishing), while few chapters are needed to have a feel of style and story when it comes to online reading (if you noticed many don't try to reach for the first passage hook when it comes to online novels).

Because I don't follow any trends or recommendations, I tried, not my cup of tea. I have no need to rush and it is easy to just scroll and search for yourself. After all you're reading for yourself.

Now onto the novels.

绿茶穿进虐文后[穿书] by 日光融融

(mtl: Green tea persona transmigrates into a tragic novel)

[BL] On-going. Summary: An Yu had a prosperous career as an actor, he suddenly transmigrates into a novel to become a cannon fodder. Original An Yu was ostracized by his own family not knowing that it wasn't his family at all, he was manipulated into marrying a person but was actually accused of stealing a groom from his own brother, followed by infamy original An Yu never knew affection.

Newly arrived An Yu is a master of green tea, a pro, a Green Tea Lux. Although he follows the same pattern of marrying someone according to the storyline, but his own fate is not as tragic. For him this marriage is only a temporary stop before he leaves with money, leaving evidence of his family not only framing him left and right but most likely finding the evidence how all the fortune that is now squandered by the An family was originally An Yu's.

Xing Zhan (ML) was aiming to marry An Shi, the eldest brother of the An family, he did it to make his grandfather feel better and not worry about his grandson, but at the wedding saw absolutely different person. His first impression of An Yu - absoluetly worst. But day after day he figured that not everything is black and white and there is something behind the story of the An family that is not on the surface.

This one so far is the best from this whole bunch, thus first mentioned :)

    Really liked the beginning, it's fun and up-beat so far. Read ch 1-38 and it has a lot of progress in general and is very high-paced. An Yu is indeed a higher class of green tea, at least not so obvious. I'm hopefully waiting for its' development. It's interesting to see that ML and MC don't start all mushy, but actually some hostility was involved, even if Xing Zhan changed his mind later, but he still did not truly accepted An Yu because of the wedding and stealing groom incident. Only later uncovering the truth because he started to care for An Yu his stance changed and realizing that first impression was so false and held a lot of nuances. Xing family they all figured that An Yu changed the groom, An Yu never showed proof that he was framed by his own family, it's nothing compared to people finding truth on their own. It's really interesting to see how the entire family who thought how one was good had no idea that it was all pretence and the one who lied is more cordial and honest.

无间 by 二月竹

(mtl: Internal Affairs)

[BL] On-going.

I think I menioned this before? Anyway, this comes from the author of Backtracking / Looking back that I liked a lot.

Lu Yan (ML) is a captain of criminal investigation team, that discovered connections between murders and a person named Shen Qiao. Investigation uncovered that Shen Shao was currently entangled with three men who pursued him. But these three men, like the victims, had their own connection to a high shcool student who committed suicide 18 years ago due to bullying.

    According to author's notes this is a revenge story. Lu Yan will be living in close proximity with Shen Qiao (according to the summary). That's all I know, like with Backtracking I want to wait for the entire novel to be over to start reading it. Especially knowing this is also a revenge story. Also I know it's wrong to hype myself up, but still.

当死对头变小了 by 故筝

(mtl: After my archnemesis shrunk)

[BL] Completed. THIS ABOMINATION. Lol, but I honestly was weirded out.

I thought it's going to be a fn read, before it became weird. MC Chi Xi has a nightmare that he is a cannon fodder, but the only one who survived for almost entire book is his nemesis Wen Jichen (why he is nemesis, well mostly his sister competes in business world). But one day this President Wen disappears and appears as a 6yo boy in front of Chi Xi. Who finds nothing bad about taking a kid along on a show. What I found really a trashy turn is how the whole transformation was treated, that it had something with Wen's reaction to Chi Xi. And even if there is an adult soul in a young boy's body to me their attempts at inappropriate jokes were too trashy. Like are you seriously talking about erections? Even with an adult person you don't go around talking about this stuff.

Also Chi Xi is portrayed as this silly goose who is likable. Though mainly lacking brains for business and he is not completely clueless. But still...

And later I found out that this author also wrote this - 我和六个Alpha匹配100% - a story about matching of one person with 6 Alphas. I remember reading it before (dark history) but I dropped it soon enough since it was just... a mess. But after realizing who this author is, I realized that I basically wasted time, good thing not much.

与神明的恋爱法[快穿] by 暮时夏

(mtl: The way to fall in love with a deity)

[BG] Completed. Summary: A blue bird that was the first creation of the deity asks to come along when He travels to mortal worlds. She has her own ulterior motive, she fell in love with her creator and maybe she can get close to him in those worlds. But her memories as promised will be sealed and everything is left to fate.

    This novel is almost truly soft, if it wasn't for some sudden thrill here and there that poses no threat. I read a bit of it. As far as I can understand unlike many transmigration novels in this one ML is indeed the He who we know is a deity that created everything and the blue bird is his first creation, she was scared he will completely forget about her and will spend millenia in sealed space waiting for him, this is why she asked to accompany him, but she will remember nothing and he won't be a regular ML like a CEO or even a man, He will always be some kind of deity. Like the first arc he is a mountain god that was awakened because the little reincarnation of blue bird brought him from the brink of extinction. She still falls inlove with him as if it's the most natural thing for her.

就不能当咸鱼吗 by 青梅酱

(mtl: Can't I be a salted fish?)

[BL] On-going. 

I want to try this one, since I rarely touch Interstellar stories. This author I admit I tried before but never managed to finish the story, it was also on-going at that time and as per usual I got distracted by a hundred of other things. And I had several 'horror' type of stories with entities.

The premise of this story is about two people who live under an alias just to have a leisurely life, nothing more. While actually both of them are two bigshots that managed to fatefully meet on a desolate planet. MC is a founding Marshal who others search for, because they do not believe he died.

This author always has some fancy covers btw. And they wrote an e-sports novel (several actually), I'm pretty sure it's on NU, but I forgot which one. But I was attracted to these type of stories more. *hates e-sports*.

婚后浓情 by 若诗安轩

(mtl: Deep love after marriage)

[BG] Completed.

This should be a love after marriage story (obviously). I couldn't read passed ch18, FMC annoyed me so much with her irresponsible of words.

Wen Qian had a one-night stand with Shang Mo. She is a pampered princess of the Wen family (of course beautiful and sweet) and he is the current head of the famous Shang family (a head above Wen family, men are always more CEO than others). But even with precaution she got pregnant. She decided to keep the child, but did not tell anyone about it at the beginning, not planning to say to Shang Mo as well. I could understand her panic etc. She tried to wringle out of this (the joke became old since it was used at least three times).

And I hate this type of shit. It's good that others decided for her to enter a marriage when they found out. And I know this sounds harsh, but I want to be realistic, it's her body and she wants to do whatever she wants with it that's totally okay, but having a kid is a responsibility, not only to give birth to it, but also make their growth healthy and happy. Imagine the kid being a "wild child". Do you want your kid to be labeled that? Even if they're a wealthy family and they can provide everything the kid needs, but that part won't change.

And I could understand if ML was a complete douche, many women are single moms for the reason that men are irresponsible scumbags. But he proposed, admitted it was his fault and went on to arrange everything like marriage, in everything ML is always responsive to her. When she asked - What will our relationship be after the marriage? And he answered - It's up to you. He, the powerful and mighty, actually already loved this girl for who knows how long, she doesn't know about it of course, but she found herself in a situation that it's impossible to simply walk away. But she has the power in this relationship, he gave it to her openly.

Maybe I'm emotional because I watched a video of a review on that divorce show 'see you again' or smth, the most famous 4th season (?) with the most exhausting wige ever named Mai and the scene where her husband broke down talking about their daughter. Like in many situations I'd be on the side of the woman. But when kids come into picture it becomes different for me. And I don't like how some the situations are painted in a dark way. Wen Qian acted so dramatic because she had few nightmares. While she is a rich woman, with her entire family behind her, her future husband is sincere, I can't sympathize with her since she is not in a bad situation. To me she just acts willful and immature. This is why I got annoyed by her. All she does is pouting and sulking. Sigh, I guess it's the favorite type of FMC that acts like that. That's why I DNF'd it.

❧

I added some Korean novels to the list, but considering I mostly DNF'd the whole bunch I previously added I didn't want to mention them here. I'm just surprised at what high rate I dnf them, they're really not my cup of tea, but because of Windburg I at least rekindled a bit of faith in them, it's just not going good so far.

❧

Goodreads is not bad for digging in recommended pile.

A Grave Gift by Christy Carlyle

Electra Poole Mystery Series #1

Official synopsis:

Electra Poole has spent much of her life hiding her abilities, fearing the same fate as her mother—labeled mad and locked away. But in order to survive on her own, she plays into London’s obsession with spiritualism, offering carefully crafted séances to those desperate for answers. Yet when she foresees the death of a wealthy noblewoman and chooses to stay silent, the guilt is suffocating—and the danger is very real.

Lady Becknell is murdered that very night. And someone might know what Electra saw.

As threats close in, she has no choice but to seek help from Scotland Yard’s Detective Inspector Gideon Pierce, a man tied to her past—and to the father she’s never forgiven. But the killer is watching, and with each step closer to the truth, Electra’s own life hangs in the balance.

To outwit a murderer, she must embrace the very gift she’s always feared…before she becomes the next victim.

I always get caught when it comes to couples exploring mysteries. Can't help myself it became one of my favorite things in books. This sounded interesting and this is why I added it to "want to read".

Although having a gift may sound like a cheat code, usually it's not that easy.

A Murder in Mayfair by Magda Alexander

Rosalynd and Steele Mysteries #1

I admit I was caught by a pretty cover and that lovely redhair beauty, I read a bit and the style is okay to me. Despite it being a 1st POV. The premise is someone a man, a toff, hires someone for a murder, it's in the prologue. The next part is we meet Rosalynd, she is an eldest among her siblings, excluding her brother who inherited the title. Their parents gone and Rosalynd was like a mother figure to her siblings and spent years to bring them up, she is also a fervent fighter for women's rights and does not plan to marry, ever. This is basically the content of first chapter. As for the murder, it casts suspicion on her beloved cousin and this is where things start from (according to synopsis). 

Again, couples solvingmysteries, I'm in.

The Place Where They Buried Your Heart by Christina Henry

This is what I picked up as recommended by Gab Smolders (@YT). Usually I skip on recommended, but I watch Gab because she is a gaming channel instead of a book channel and her preferences are mostly in horror. I was attracted to description of this one that this should be a good and interesting take on a hounted house novel.

A Deadly Affair by Carla Simpson

Angus Brodie & Mikaela Forsythe #1

Another mystery book, another couple. I honestly read first few chapters. It's quite dynamic I think and the stakes are high from the get go. Mikaela Forsythe (one of my nieces is also called Mikaela) finds that her sister is missing, someone like her sister who would never disappear without a word has been missing for days and things get even worse when police finds a dead body of her maid. Knowing how unreliable police is, not to mention her sister's husband also wants to do things discretely without a noise, Mikaela decides to take things in her hands and finds a private investogator, Angus Broodie, someone who doesn't look like he will get his job done, but her aunt promised he is the best at what he does.

Not always chasing pretty covers. Also attarcted to the FMC of this novel, she is someone who preferred travel to balls and tea parties, she is a writer and has adventurous spirit. She also have seen enough to not be scared like any other lady would and nothing will stop her from finding her sister. I saw this recommended on Goodreads many times but I kinda skipped it. Who knew that it sounds promising.

The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson

Eternal Path Trilogy #1

Usually, I would skip a book others are raving about, but many people praised it, so I put it aside too. The shortest reasn to read a book ever. 

[ANIMATION] Haunted Hotel (2025)

It says, from minds behind Rick and Morty, but honestly I find it not needed, it only serves as advertisement to attract attention of those who might have watched Rick and Morty, but in how many cases when something is said to be done by someone who did this and this we rely too much on that information and in many cases expect something similar, but to me who actually watched both I'd say it's not a good publicity.

Rick and Morty to me is like a bad a*id trip. Haunted Hotel has a bit of the unexpected vibe to it too, but it's a pretty tame show, I'd even call it cute.

Telling the story of Catherine who inherited a haunted hotel from her brother, whose ghost still lives in it, She and her two kids move in. her son is a pretty average teenage boy, but her daughter actually dabbles in magic. Oh yeah let's not forget the demon Abaddon locked in a boy's body that the brother found in the woods. The story throws you right into action. It's basically ironic horror.

It's colorful and fun. It has some famiy conflicts going on, but interestingly always involving something paranormal as means to show it or solve it.

Was surprised to find so much fanart on Tumblr and it was all about Abaddon, I agree, he is special. And a pretty interesting character, his antics are funny. It's great that the entire family has something distinctive about them.

I'm usually pretty skeptical about things that are "Netflix Original", but this time I zoomed through the show in no time and it was pretty fine. It doesn't pretend to be something bigger than it is. Just a small show to have a little bit of good time.

[MOVIE] Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)

Doctor Strange teams up with a mysterious teenage girl who can travel across multiverses, to battle other-universe versions of himself which threaten to wipe out the multiverse. They seek help from the Scarlet Witch, Wong and others.

-IMDb

I'd say this description is so false. Because the main confrontation is between Strange, the girl (the best background board type of character) and Wanda. To know why Wanda got crazy you need to watch the TV show they created, which of course I didn't care about because I don't care about her character.

This is a downside of the MCU, they include things that were mentioned somewhere, elsewhere, which basically means you need other sources to fully feel for the characters here.

I can honestly accept that I liked the special effects. Because I recently watched the Hitchhiker's galaxy guide some of it was reminiscent. The plot is a totally different thing though.

I like how to make the character totally bad Wanda refuses to peacefully ask the girl who can travel the verses to help her, no, she is now paranoid and wants the power for herself.

Meanwhile the girl is completely flat as a character, she is so insignificant and acts as a took I'll be honest. Like we should care about her.

This is why they escape and Wanda chases.

She chases relentlessly, so much so we find that in one universe there is a whole bunch of heroes of alternative versions. I love how ridiculously imbalanced the powers are. Like Wanda arrives at their temple and starts pew-pew-pew with her powers, before she fucks up someone's head, just one person and it basically creates an opening (l = logic). Later she is with her dark book, which I think had a pretty short but nice scene of a woman sacrificing herself  to destroy the book. But I laughed so hard when in very next scene Wang tells cliche stuff like "better kill me" but yields under the threat of his comrades' deaths. I thought they should protect secrets with everything they had, I guess I was wrong. But even more ridiculous thing when they find that temple and Wang almost acts as a tour guide. My question is - how does he know when he is forbidden to go there? Do they get a brochure of secret places?

Anyway, she had her way, a full-blown altar to use to steal the power (how convenient), while Strange connects from another universe. Ngl the thing they thought about as using a dead body in original world to connect was campy.

But this is it. Simple message to the girl, which is flat as the ground - believe in yourself.

But what Wanda got was far worse, but honestly only this part, very last part of the movie was okay.

Again, the special effects were great, some operator's work was really good. And overall it was okay. It's just those silly things to forcefully stick the story together that got to me.

[Chinese BG novel] 好孕快穿：娇软女主在位面被团宠 by 啃一块酱大骨 / Easy pregnancy system: the heroine is pampered in every world

*title is mtl'd in a free-wheeled manner by me and is not an official one, I just thought this title was fitting to describe the story.

Maybe the title will make you think this is not worth reading and I don't insist. But it managed to be a sweet cookie type of story with love and kids. Many novels actually have the same vibe, but it's because they don't have primary goal of having kids, which draws the line between this and that.

Summary: Su Zhiruan who used to be a common worker, pretty resilient and adaptable is picked up by "easy pregnancy" sustem for a task to save the bloodline of Sons of Destiny and become a mother of their children. With the promise of getting back with enough money and assets to live a leisure life she embarks on the path of completing her mission. But with each new world it becomes evident there might be something more to Zhiruan herself and her targets.

It's 1vs1, it won't feel like that at first but you'll get the gist soon.

#QT, children, group favorite, *Qidian

This is an easy-going type of novel, but actually is pretty sweet. I found it randomly on Qidian and actually thought it was nice, pretty calm type of reading with FMC being pampered by her husband (love of family and husband's family is optional, author started liking more melodrama in last few worlds). But tbh beyond the initial setting of her needing to give birth to his children there is no explanation of why and what is significance of this. Partially my own guess was to continue the bloodline of Son of Destiny who without her would be childless and because the world depends on him will lead to plane's collapse. But my own theory was often sabotaged by FMC's action, since in several arcs she did not inform ML of her pregnancy and he was unaware of becoming a father (see the arc spoilers). Which is one of the parts of FMC that I personally did not like, because I consider it cruel towards the children and the father. And another part of the reason is that it's kinda illogical in a way (since the children and father meant to be reunited, because father searches for Ruan, meaning he will find about children). She also does some contradicting shit. Back to the reason why babies. I have no idea, I know that ML is only one person and he wants Ruzn to remember him in those worlds and remember herself.

After reading 6 worlds I do have my problems with FMC though. She is a pretty good character overall, you can feel she is full of light, strength and gentleness. But sometimes she strikes me as oblivious at points when it is illogical.

To explain it plainly she often feels oblivious to feelings of ML when she supposed to have lived several lives and is an "old driver" when it comes to feelings, why sometimes it feels like she is new to this. And because of this sometimes she makes stupid decisions which do not make her look good? I'm currently reading the 6th world and it is most apparent here.

Again, including short world descriptions and spoilers and my own thoughts like what I think is quite wrong.

1. Emperor x Palace maid. Since there is a Son Of Destiny and Ruan needs to get close to him, she often expresses things she does not mean actually. Here she is a maid near the Emperor, silent and hard-working. The palace had no descendant for 5 years. Emperor is filial and is under pressure from each side, while his mother always expresses her desire for grandchildren. Also Imperial concubine is her niece from Empress' family, so she gets a pass more often. Emperor started to take a note of this silent maid and she was a comfortable silent and gentle companion, when a chance arrived after a bit of drinking the curtains were dropped and the spring has come. In other words hot night was there. Ruan refused to become a concubine and stayed as a maid by His Majesty's side. Which she did for the mission, not because she was smitten by him (it will happen, but later). You can guess that a bit later she became pregnant. From here on changes occured in the harem. The Emperor's past is described shortly, like his father had many offsprings and he wasn't exactly favored, so he had to survive in this harsh environment, while only few survivors remained, he became benevolent ruler but was averse to women. In consequent worlds ML is always the lonely person always averse to marriage before meeting Ruan, but the most boring part is that his loneliness is often described shortly and almost in the same manner. Back to Emperor, this childhood experience explains his rare going to harem. When Ruan appeared he stopped going completely. When Ruan was found to be pregnant the one among happiest was Empress Dowager, she treated Ruan nicely and cared for the future child. The one most vicious was Imperial Concubine who considered herself the biggest winner because of her birth and connections and wanted to become the next Empress, she always oppressed people in the harem and punished if she was jealous, here she was driven mad (she even wanted to hurt the born prince). After Emperor fell for Ruan he kept her close, slowly promoting her. All other women were let go with money or became female officials. I forgot how many children they got in the end, but many. One heir, one loved martial arts, one poet, monk, businessman and I think there is another one, also they had a daughter who was the youngest. The palace was empty of concubines but full of children, Emperor got his happiness of having a home and family. Empress was ecstatic for grandchildren. And Ruan was basically the winner in life, their family was recorded in history as one of the most benevolent rulers who had a strong loving bond and whose children never fought. This fashion of letting their kids do what they want continued into next worlds.
2. Disabled boss x student in need. Actually he is pretending to be disabled (explained, but not in detail to care much). ML found Ruan to become a mother for his child(ren), he didn't want to get married due to his childhood experience. His father was more romantic in his youth, so he sired some illegitimate children who were sweet-mouthed, later he realized the faces of others, but his own son was distant and it became a pain for the old man (later relationship was mended a bit because of Ruan). ML is a domineering type who pretended to be disabled to lure out his half-brothers who were vying the fortune of their family, even if ML actually had his own company. Ruan in the script needed money for her grandma, so she signed the contractual relationship. ML pretty soon was quite territorial about Ruan but was oblivious to it. When she was done recuperating she indeed left him and children. This is the part that baffled me but also contradicts consequent worlds where she is afraid ML will take her children away. I wondered why during their relationship she never probed him further, while he dropped hints to his feelings, but she was so stoic about doing things according to the contract and always reassured she won't cling to him, which of course broke his heart. I side-eyed this because relationships changed and this could have played on it. Then she left, this girl even got the man drunk so he could sleep while she was off with her grandma to another city. He later found her and expressed his feelings and she eventually accepted, also thinking about children. But she did not give up her career of becoming a civil servant so they had a bit of long-distance relationship with children going back and forth before officially reuniting when she was transferred back. Well, many things can happen. But still want to know her motivation of leaving her children and never raising any questions about the ML. Note: Ruan gave birth to triplets, so yeah, I have questions.
3. Young master x peasant girl in the 80's. In this script the difficulty should be that OG Ruan could never get close to someone of ML's level, but you never feel the difficulty for once and ML is clearly interested in FMC quite early on every time and FMC is accimplished herself which impresses the ML every time. Originally she wakes up to find out very delapitated house, her mother who is weak-willed and almost famished siblings. Their father who is a local scoundrel chose a wealthier widow to get along with and abandoned his family. With such a son and husband there is also a vicious mother-in-law, who brought a lot of hardships to wife and three children. But one who is more vicious is the daughter of that widow (Either Caihua or Cuihua, pretty average and normal name for a village girl). OG Ruan never even crossed her path, but because she was prettier it made the girl jealous, but because her scheming was horrible from young age it could easily manipulate naive people resulting her getting away with a lot of stuff.  She also likes to stay behind the backs of others. The fate of OG Ruan was really bad. Now Ruan seeing it's the period of economic growth in the 80's there are oppurtinities everywhere dabbled in everything she could, clothes, writing and opening a snack shop. Her business was successful, she even managed to send the evil MIL away early on to the widow's house (they were not wealthy at that time) and when MIL and widow came to make trouble they became known to all people around and became infamous. Ruan let her siblings go to school and got ready for Collage Entrance Exam herself. ML is a teacher in the sibling's school, his secret identity is the heir of the Qin family from the capital, he was pressured by parents into marriage, they were afraid their only son and grandson will be lonely, but instead he decided to travel far for a bit. This is how they met. ML used the idea of helping her for the exam as means to get close. Ruan also avenged the OG Ruan (since the above-mentioned widow's daughter still continued to make trouble and ended up doing the same things, trying to knock her out and send to a house of a cripple). When Ruan passed the exam (it was also a face-slapping type of scene where she had to stand aside and wait for results to be announced while others thought it's the widow's daughter who got high score, since both have same last name Su) she then travelled with her siblings to the capital. Her mother stayed behind to watch after restaurants with her new husband. Her mother's transformation maybe is the most significant. From cowardly and unaware she was now facing more knowledge and new ideas. It's great to see such transformation. After arriving Ruan became a star since she was a new student of physics department but also her boyfriend is a popular person. His family also were ecstatic to find he has a girl, later were conquered by her abilities, since Qin mom was into fashion business, Qin father read Ruan's writing and Qin grndpa was the professor of her department. So yeah pampered life with a lot of loving relatives. I think they had twins, her son united all the businesses under the helm of Qin group while her daughter decided to travel (inspired by their travel in their childhood) and later filmed documentaries becoming famous in this field. In several worlds so far when time comes ML and Ruan delegate power to their children and basically spend their time togther. Three successes, I would start suspect something about myself. While this girl is kinda oblivious. But do not fret, she will get to it later.
4. Crown Prince x Medicine girl. In OG plot the prince is saved by fellow villager, but the forces later annihilated entire village in retaliation. Now it is Ruan who took care of the prince, her idenity is a medicine girl, but strangely she decided to give him an identity of her childhood sweetheart (fake) and they lived basically like an old married couple. To me this only brings confusion (like he feels she loved the guy and it hurts him) and she did it only to get closer to him. Maybe because it is deception it felt kinda meh. They indeed married according to village traditions with Crown Prince being on board with it. Later he was found according to plotline and before leaving asked if she wanted to be with him, to be concubine, she did not want to enter the palace again..although his was empty, but she thought he might marry one day and she will be below others and not free like she is now, but she already knew she was pregnant, which is the thing I found cruel about her. Like she gives birth, children grow up in ancient times without a father (kids later mentioned being called nasty things) and she also deprives their father of knowledge about their existence. Not to mention when she took entire village away they burned it down, since they knew the dangers of forces behind the assassination. Few years later she became a big business lady. Crown Prince stubled upon his own kids by sheer chance, later investigated and came to Ruan to face off. You know what I find strange is that kids' reaction is not only the ability to accept their father and how they stand for their mother, but how it portrays ML as someone bad, when he did nothing wrong. "If you make mom sad" the dude had no idea you existed. Why make him sound like a bad guy, the scumbag of the situation is actually FMC to me haha. Anyway, the later part is kinda dragged out to me because it feels like she is hard to get (not in a coquettish way, she just acts like a stone). Later on because she asks for slow progress of pursuit (I mean girl, you already married, you did the deed, what slow pursuit do you want?). They came across people who assassinated Crown Prince years prior, but they both were fine, they faced the situation of forced proximity (falling off the cliff and spending a bit in a cave). Tbh  I always feel weird at the points when Ruan decides it's okay to be together. She married the Crown Prince, later it was also revealed that she had a hidden identity, lost daughter of a general. Another point is that sometimes author feels like she forgot what she wrote priorly, you know how information is repeated is one thing, but when times passes and someone mentions the same thing and another person acts as if hey hear it for the first time. Not to mention the repeated passages that bear the same information are abundant.
5. Ascetic heir x love-brain heiress. This one had some tragic OG plot. The OG Ruan is a love-brained lady, she decided to marry an ordinary person who impressed her with few sweet words and ability to cook for his woman, but who did not really conceal his ambition (honestly, he was almost blunt in his speech always saying - when I become the boss of the company and you will stay at home as a happy housewife raising our children). He also cheated on her early on, drained the entire Su family so she would depend on him, she was tortured, framed by mistress for killing her daughter and OG Ruan ended up torn apart. Ruan later asked herself how guarded the OG was to believe this man, what she found in him, he often said some foul things and he was so obvious when it came to greed, ambition and his affair. Ruan at first pretended to be the same love brain, but devised a plan to reveal all his deeds and his mistress so they will bear the stigma for years to come. Also she accidentally saw her target added him and chatted about her own gossip with ML. She confessed to her parents about the cheating and asked her parents to move this guy away but never let him to the core power. While he was appeased and worked to the bone thinking he was important and almost gleaming, the guy did not forget his mistress, as a chauvinistic bastard as he is. Ruan mentally stimulated both parties, which also sowed discord due the guy's ambition and the mistress' greed and misunderstanding. She knew the mistress was pregnant now. The plan proceeded well. Later she had to move it fast-forward because she saw them together in a bar by accident and of course she couldn't turn away and pretend to be blind. She still acted heart-broken in public and instigated the guy to leave the mistress and ask for forgiveness in front of her parents, he really bought this bs not realizing Ruan slowly changed, while people watched live the whole process of him kneeling in front of their house, admitting mistakes, later his mistress arrived with her belly and acted pitiful thinking she will get her way but the scumbag ended up pushhing mistres down creating a whole mess (mistress lost her first child). Thanks to the push by Ruan these two became notorious and famous on the Internet. He was kicked out of course from his position and the house they lived in. He still though she was the same love-brain girl and was confident in getting her back, while Ruan took over her company and accepted Zhou's pursuit, the prince of the capital who holds immense power liked the girl who gossiped about herself and slowly came to like her emotionally. Another trap Ruan laid down for the scumbag is her jewellery she bought in the presence of this scumbag but he took part of it for "safe-keeping" which he gifted his mistress. When they lost everything and lived together, the scumbag, mistress and his mother thought of those jewels. Interestingly the mistress now became the love brain of the story, no matter how poorly she was treated she was brainwashed slowly too, but she never left (at first she barely restored part of her health, but because she did not get any good rest after losing her babe she became thin and weak, completely unable to resist physically). When the trio eyed selling the jewellery they thought of doing it silently, but Ruan was always watching them, when they started selling she collected evidence. After all this was new jewellery not released yet, so here's a trap, either he is a thief or a spy. Their family had to return the money to settle it down. But netizens now knew about their deeds. Using public opinion Ruan made this family famous. Later she used her platform to post about herself which further stimulated both her ex and his mistress. For example her marriage process and her wealthy life. While these two married in simplest way and now as a wife she continued to be tortured. Among other things lost second child to a beating. Several times they did not allow her to rest and recuperate, they bossed her around and she always had to do things by hand, which was so tiring and always listed to the MIL who berated her etc. Even if the guy had some leftover contacts and started a business, Ruan tripped him many times. Later the mistress eventually got pretty mental. She gave birth to a girl, whom entire family hated. And she herself hated, since she has been brainwashed for months now. Although her husband got back on track a bit it allowed him to philander again, while she loved him and had no idea how to keep him, before got an advice from a commentator online. She bought some illegal drugs that made her husband paralized, so she was found guilty and sent to prison. While she was away her daughter was dumped by MIL near a dumpster, good thing a good-natured grandpa picked her up, but when she was three and grew up the MIL found her back as a free labor. Also accused poor man of abducting kids. When she was five she met Ruan, Ruan wanted revenge on the family of three, but she was kind to the girl (the mistress in og plot threw her own daughter out of the window, and because she acted like a heart-broken mother and ppl around would never believe what Ruan said, she successfully framed Ruan for this act, Ruan had no evidence to prove otherwise) and said if she needed help she should call. When the girl found that right after returning home her mother wanted to sell her she called Ruan and was taken away. Driven to madness the mistress actually chopped her paralized husband, poisoned MIL and jumped from the building herself, which partially mirrored what happened in OG plot. The little girl was adopted by Ruan. The girl always remembered this grace of kindness. Together with her husband they had four kids, twins at first (son inherited the Su family, daughter became an actress), later they adopted the little girl and years after gave birth to twin boys who later inherited the Zhou business. The adopted girl was always kind and greatful to Ruan, never wanting to accept anything from the both families even if she was offered to. She was like an older sister to her siblings, since she was more mature due to her past experience. Although the fate of these three villains is hardcore, but they did a lot of atrocious things to Ruan in OG plot and actually would do the same if chance allowed and never change their ways.
6. God x Demon rabbit. This is the one that I have most questions about or it just made me mad. In OG plot Ruan is sent to the God realm to serve, but she was refused and sent back but they did not survive. She is a demon rabbit, the weakest clan among demons / mosters. Her target is the God Changqi, so she had disguised herself as a man to serve in his palace, because she heard that he is not close to women. Otherwise she would be turned around. But I truly didn't get her idea of running away from him afterwards. The way I say it is because he may have an aloof temperament and looks rather cold, but he was never violent. On the contrary he treated her well, even as a page boy. She feared she would be dead if her mascarade would become known. But honestly... the girl treated it like as if he's some moster. To me that was unfounded. This time she had to use the system mall to buy pills and to first use pill to get one time result and one to confuse him, so he would think it's a dream. I truly felt sorry for him because she drafted this fake identity where she has wife and children at home, while Changqi basically had no idea what to do with his feelings. Another point of his kindness is that he openly said she could go home if she missed her family. he liked her she drugged him okay? I'd be scared for this instead of crossdressing. Well, they have the night and she can't decide where to go to escape, she decided on mortal realm. Having a pretty pain-free birth (easy pregnancy is called that for a reason, she feels almpst no pain or has no usual perks of pregnant women, she feels fine, gives birth easily and also restores her beauty afterwards) she comes down the mountain. Here she was approached by some dude (I have no idea why author several time wrote a situation where FMC is approached by someone and they say they're not bad people and if they can talk for a bit, it always sounds sketchy), this man happened to be a prince, who asked her to pretend to be his lost sister to appease his parents, while he wants to become a demon hunter. Very convenient. Just for the sake of becoming famous and be found. Later her children described their mother having a hard time...bitch, what hard time? She never truly suffered in these planes, even here, she came with treasures and pocketful of spirit stones, she'd be a wealthy lady living incognito, she could protect herself because she was a practitioner. They may not know it. She used the idenity of Princess so she and her kids could live well in the palace and be among other people. She became famous for bringing their kingdom back to life and almost rivaling with bigger countries. She was considered a deity who came to save their kingdom. And then Changqi found her. She was afraid he will take her children away (you were not afraid previous when you left them in arc 2) and also does he look like that type of person? When will she start reading tpeople? At other times she is found to be quite smart, eloquent and with high EQ. But with ML she becomes oblivious to the guy's feelings that reek - I love you. ML has practically written it all over him. The children asked him to explain why he never came, best answer would be - ask you mother why she got pregnant and decided to escape, but of course he will bear the blame of the situation. They also said - if you make mother sad we will be on her side. Filial wonderful kids, but have no idea it was their mom who patted her back and escaped. By the descriptions she brought back to life a whole country, she is respected and loved, people make statues to pray to her. The one at fault in this specific situation to me is definitely FMC. Her choices. Changqi looked for her for all those years, she deprived him of seeing his own children to grow up, it's not only her children, he has the right to know. Again dropped the confusion on the entire giving birth setting, like if you need to give birth, why take children away, like what's the point. Even if author draws only one path for you, it doesn't mean there was only one path. Sigh. This part about kids and how they met their father and questioned him made me kinda mad. Again ML is the one remorseful and of course regretful that he hadn't seen his kids. The two eventually relegate the power to the royal family while they decided to return to the god realm. And also they agreed to be together. Later on their kids were once again talented in what they do, becoming apprentices of the higher gods despite the fact that they are rabbits. In this life she lived a really long life of course, cultivation baby.  
7. Heir to the group x abused daughter. This one is insane, but actually I heard of someone in real life who acted like that. Let me explain. Ruan has an absolutely mental mother here. She always brainwashes and gaslights her own daughter to be kind, to never grab or fight, to admit her mistakes etc. The picture is pretty much Ruan living in the smallest room despite being the young lady of a wealthy family, is malnourished and riddled with ailment. Her mother made her stand as a kid to let other people take her sit, which made her freeze. She admitted that her own daughter stole something even if she didn't do it. She would push her out everywhere to basically say - you're such an ungreatful daughter and I as a mother have hard time *cries pitifully*. While Ruan is being abused at home. And her mother is more patriarchal than anyone, her brother is living a life of luxury, but she has to live in a small room to get the feel of common people. Her father became estranged from the family because his own wife always makes him lose face outside to outshine her persona, also always reminescing of their past which wore off long time ago. This time their father already had a younger mistress and was oblivious that she just wanted to find a rich husband and for her kids to inherit the business. OG Ruan seeing her mother crying acted for her, but her mother still accused her for being cruel, reversin the story one eighty. This time around Ruan made her mother aware of the illicit relationship early on, while she herself dealt with her health issues and bullying at school. By accident the doctor who treated her was ML and they eventually got closer, his mom helped the most. While the Su family was a total mess at home, Ruan acted in front of her mother according to her teachings - Mom, you taught me not to grab and fight and be kind, how great would it be to have half-siblings. To continue to hold up her persona she still only wept and accused other to feel sorry for her, she wanted to use Ruan as a pawn but this Ruan is new Ruan. She kept the entire family occupied, acted like a good daughter to get some starting capital money from her father and didn't care for the rest. Thanks to ML's mom, Mrs. Xie, she was able to secure the spot for the capital university, which she lost thanks to refusal of her mother in the og plot. She still kept it a secret, otherwise knowing what her mother will do. You might think this is crazy, but such people exist for real. Shocker. Anyway things go on for a while, the mess of the Su family is not unknown, but the Su father cares for his mistress and unborn baby, so he wants everyone to settle, but his wife and mistress are always clashing. The final drop is how during entrance exam her mother took her to a different place and again pushed the blame on her daughter in public for not saying where the exam took place and making her cause disruptance on the road, but Ruan recorded her monologue in the car. Being surrounded by police, by-standers and live cameras everyone heard what this woman said in reality. Shocker. But her mother even during her breakdown said she still managed to ruin Ruan's future and she will be some low class who finished a low-class school. The Su father who arrived (I love how everyone arrived at the scene lol) actually didn't bother with his daughter's education or well-being since he got news of his mistress' pregnancy. But then the Xie pair appeared and even principal with homeroom teacher who found it (well, this exam is a big deal like anywhere else with same unified exam) and announced Ruan got an admission spot for the uni due to her successful olympiads etc. From then on Su family divorced, while Ruan not caring about this family which actually forgot about her. She came to uni, ML confirmed his feelings for her and they decided to date. She recuperated her health well and she was loved by his parents. The only trouble was granda Xie who uniliterally announced he will be engaged to some other woman and since Ruan is weak and sickly and can't produce heirs. ML refused and stepped down from his position continuing being TMC doctor instead of juggling both sides. Ruan opened some company and joked that ML is now supported by her, which he never minded. They lived like this before she graduated and they got married. While ML's stepping down caused a lot of trouble for the company, grandpa Xie was overwhelmed and decided to finally compromise. During the banquet Ruan was approached by the supposed-to-be fiancee who actually assaulted her and almost threw her down in a dramatic fashion among people who came to the party. It was a mess. Grandpa Xie was shocked. Later they had a bigger wedding and a bit before it she became pregnant. Grandpa Xie passed away not long after kids were just few years old, he regretted his choices a lot and left a lot of his inheritance to the kids. I think last few worlds have a bit of more melodrama when it comes to families.
8. Amnesiac ML and resourceful girl in a disaster. This one is apocalyptic but without zombies, this has only weather cataclisms. Original owner is the second daughter of patriarchial family, she was made to drop out to earn money, while her family lives in a good house she is bullied and lives in some delapitated house. All her money are drained by her family with not a single word of goodwill. In og plot she won lottery and this ticket was taken away. She later suffered with no good food during the harshest winter and was even chopped by her own family. Partially I appreciated that setting don't involve some superpowers and zombies, but honestly just the human desperation. But this world is actually more of a cooking show and this is why I skipped it in big chucks, I don't care about the gourmet content. The thing is Ruan never said anyone that she won money, then she unrealistically bought thing in big bulks, this time system provided a lot of convenience. She found an abandoned mental hospital which was perfect to make it as her safe house, she had only few days before the official apocalypse. What type of instant delivery this world has and how much she bought. Later the story was like (oh, she actually did not forget to buy this and this, especially shocked me she had NY goods). When she was settled system prompted her that ML is near, ML was in a car accident so she took him home, he was amnesiac and Ruan had no idea what his identity is. But because she was stocked for yearthey lived a life of cooking a lot of watery text about how they cooked. While she was doing fine her family who never cared for her was not doing well. Anyway she installed surveillance equipment which managed to survive for months later. She wanted to see this good family turning on each other without a common victim. Basic chauvinistic dad and brother in several days when they ate everything leaving mother and daughter scraps told them to go outside, even hinting to lay back and ear food if needed. Which they eventually did, while these two spent time at home saying how without men what would they do but they depended on women to survive. Mother and daughter in the end killed both. While Ruan was spending her time with ML, it was the period of blizzard and cold. She eventually thought to do something with her knowledge of the future. She found people and offered to provide food but they need to build shelter base. From here the work of thousands started, slowly the base was built and people realized that the fog that came around will soon end but not the disaster. Thanks to this base many people survives, they broadcasted not only their implementations but also other suggestions etc. She became the hero of this base, since after the fog they had a sveltering heat which lasted for years. A year before the end she became pregnant, she was okay thanks to the system. But everyone else were worried. Also this was like one and only child born in years. It's not covered in details how exactly they survived, but Ruan collected all talent and allocated food and work tasks. ML also helped alongside, we also find that he was once a celebrity who later retired early and joined his parents' company, but only his grandparents survived. They came to Ruan's base and stayed for a while. After the heat another period of continuous showers began. And this was the last phase. Later because of her intervention at least the virus breakout did not happen. She truly became a hero. People returned to their homes and things returned to how they used to be. Because son and father clamored for a daughter Ruan indeed gave birth to a daughter a while after the disaster was finally over. Su mother and sister who survived actually came to the base as refugees, they did not dare to clamour about their relationship with Ruan and regretted their life choices. Ruan did not make things difficult for them, but did not approach them either.
9. Regent x Princess. Before Ruan asked once or twice if ML was the same, but actually her words were not so direct, it's before this arc started she was more or less sure. ML also appeared in the system space so we knw he follows her. In this plane Ruan is a Princess sent for arranged marriage between two countries, her entourage is ambushed and she fell down the cliff (og died, she survived), she was found by a hunter who happened to be by the stroke of fate her fiance, the Regent, who now lived a secluded life. He did not want to be involved into politics and chose to stay out of it, especially when the marriage was arranged. Now he saved Ruan without knowing she is his fiancee and she acted as if he is just a hunter. They got closer while she recuperated. And they lived like this in seclusion being pretty happy, if someone wasn't sent in search of the Princess. The fellow village girl found her jade pendant and took it as adorement, but later was recognized as Princess and she chose the life of silks and golds instead of rural life, so she concealed her identity (find this stupid because she and her mther when being taken away basically screamed at each other mother and daughter, why no one asked the question). Anyway, Ruan didn't care if her place was taken, this little girl Cuihua decided this was a life she will never get a chance to experience, so she will take this chance. meanwhile Ruan and ML were getting ready to be married but a day before Ruan was kidnapped and brought back to her original kingdom. This harem was full of infighting and the Emperor was an old leech. She became a small person acting as a maid, after all the fact that she was replaced will be known. Instead of staying idly by Ruan decided to act swiftly and sow discord among princes. So they will be occupied with infighting even more. Some time passed before the conflict grew and all princes rebelled. Ruan on the other hand got the Imperial Seal, using the gun she got from the system just got rid of princes and some officials who tried to oppose, she soon proclaimed the youngest child as Emperor and from then acted as a Regent, revitalizing this kingdom. When the enthronement ceremony was held the neighboring country sent envoy, ML included. He finally reunited with Ruan and voluntarily became her Prince Consort. He didn't bother his identity to be changed. They got married, she soon gave birth to twins, she brought up her children and educated the Emperor whom she brought up from childhood to the days when she relayed all power. Her children stays in this kingdom to help new Emperor since they grew up so closely, Ruan and ML traveled back to the same village and lived a retirement life. Even Emperor who abdicated joined them in this life. They just lived day by day like a common rural family.
10. What is behind their identities? ML is the Heavenly Dao and she is the Mother Goddess, thus the whole kids situation. They are very ancient deities coming from a divine realm. Once when Ruan came to experince the small world she passionately fell in love with a young man, but when they returned to their realm she was flustered to find out he was Heaenly Day, so she escaped, later she sealed her memories and now she unsealed them. And they can be together for real.

Ngl at times I felt my brain catching on some of the details, but the general impression is okay. It's sweet at first, in later arcs more melodrama is added. Has quaetionable parts.

Part of me still thinks there is not enough when it comes to feelings and chemistry.

But for a novel from Qidian, this already achieved a greater degree of success in comparison.

RATE: 3,75/5.