forestofglory

Posting this because I have a lot to say about A Love Story of Oiled Paper Umbrella even though I haven't finished much else. Even though I haven’t read much that I want to write up, I have read a bunch of enjoyable fic, so I’m counting that as joyful reading win!

Keep Running Special Season ep 6-8—This was fun! Zhou Shen showed up for the last three episodes which was nice. I think I will check out some of the older seasons of the this show at some point

The Gown of Harmonies by Francesca Forrest—This is a standalone fantasy novelette about a blind seamstress. I liked it a lot! I liked how central to the story the labor of making a dress was – it can be really hard to center any kind of domestic labor in fiction but this did it beautifully! I thought the romance could have used a bit more development, but it's hard in a short piece like this. Overall this was sweet and charming!

A Love Story of Oiled Paper Umbrella—This short (24 episodes each about 35 minutes long) Chinese drama features demons and demon hunters (Not sure what genre it's considered, since it's got demons but not transcendents) I’ve been stressed so I’ve been watching this about as close to binge watching as I get. It's very more-ish.

Still I think I’m watched this less critically than I normally watch things. There’s bit early on where the main characters torture a demon for information that’s the kind of thing often have trouble suspending my moral disbelief about, but it hasn’t stopped me form watching this. (Maybe because its brief and non graphic? ) I feel a bit guilty about this though.

Also I didn’t think too hard about the plot, which is full of twists and schemes. I didn’t keep track well enough to really say, if they make sense. This is a bit darker than what I usually go for, but it escalates slowly and by then I was invested in the story.

I’m proud of myself for being able to recognize that the costumes in this are inspired by the Tang Dynasty! I also like that this show features women wearing men's clothing but not in disguise as men, a thing that real Tang dynasty women did, but that I haven’t seen in any other dramas. On the other hand several costumes are these one shouldered over robes, and I think those look silly. There's also some weird asymmetric collars I'm not fond of. But, even if I’m not fond of some of the pieces I do really like the overall aesthetic! There's so many fun colorful textiles!

Du Yuelian, the woman most often shown wearing men’s clothing, is a badass and I love her! She also has an interesting friendship with the FL, which I wish got more screen time.

Spoilers.

The ending is sad though! Both the main characters more or less die. They do accomplish their goals though, so its not entirely tragic. Still I was sad and I probably wouldn’t have starting watching it if I had known

ETA(later the same day): Now that I have been thinking about it I'm irritated that Nan Fengyi never told Meng Xizhou that he didn't really kill her uncle and all those people! It would have solved some problems and I can't see any reason why he wouldn't tell her! I may have spent some time plotting a fix-it AU where her little sister finds this out and plays matchmaker

Overall a very engaging show! I’m full of feelings about it right now.

Content notes: gore, animal death, parental death, childbirth, forced castration, torture