#until the aforementioned last episode which we will forget exists in its entirety thank you

[theoptimisticdaydreamer]

It is rare that the ending is the most aggravating part of the drama. Love to Hate You did exactly this. I flew through this show in a matter of days and loved so much about it. I love the honest communication between the FL and ML, the lack of a love triangle, the chemistry between the FL and the ML, not dragging out any storylines, the bromance between the ML and the 2ML, and the hilarious older actress character Soo-jin. I was not expecting the ridiculous shenanigans of the final episode. The only thing that saved the final episode was the fact that they got back together and there is a happy ending. Everything leading up to that point made me want to tear my hair out.

This has definitely turned into a comfort romance drama that I will happily rewatch. Except fast forward through the entire 10th episode until the end because it is stupid. 

~~~Rant Incoming~~~

I had such high hopes in the beginning because after the reveal that FL had a colorful dating past, the FL and the ML decided to date in secret and lie that they had broken up. Woo- don’t let the rest of the world decide your relationship when you are happily together. Now, in the year of 2023 and the fact that in real-life actors have successfully dated in secret for MONTHS, if not YEARS, and that at this point the ML is an established actor and the FL is a successful lawyer...their actions after this decision make no freaking sense. When you are dating in secret, and your “break-up” is fresh public gossip, YOU DO NOT GO TO EAT IN A CROWDED RESTAURANT. YOU DO NOT GO OUT FOR KARAOKE. 

THEY SHOULD KNOW HOW TO BE FREAKING DISCREET. 

If they had flown under the radar for a couple of months, it would have all worked itself out. Its not like they couldn’t have a dating life together in private for heaven’s sake. He has a second house and a car (though really should get a second car that is not bright blue and more discreet). There could be dates on the beach, in the park, in SECLUDED LOCATIONS. They could go out to eat in restaurants in rural towns run by people who don’t give a damn that he is a popular actor. But nooooooooooooooo.

The FL runs into the rabid mob otherwise known as the ML’s “fans”. The audacity of these bitches. I despised them the entire season and wring their necks in the final episode. Get a life already. 

Then he holds a press conference. He states directly that he shouldn’t stop living his life just to please his fans. He proposes (!!!) to her during this press conference. This also gave me a lot of confidence that they were going to do away with the break-up-for-stupid-reasons troupe. Honestly, this would have worked. If you draw from present-day reality, it is a growing trend where popular actors/celebrities/idols write letters to their fans that straight up say I’m getting married, having a baby and I’m very happy. And there is support for them. Support from people who know where to draw the line in their love for a famous person. And once the support for his relationship changes enough in the public eye, the brands will also cave. It would have worked. 

Until the FL, in the second burst of stupidity this entire show (the first being that she believed he was dating an minor based on one scene only and running with it and not stopping to fact check whatsoever), decides to BREAK UP WITH HIM during this live broadcast press conference. What is frustrating is up until this point, they TALKED TO ONE ANOTHER before making decisons that impacted the both of us. Yet all of a sudden, she is making this huge decision for the both of them, NEVER TALKING TO HIM ABOUT IT BEFOREHAND, acting like its the best for the both of them (she can’t possibly know this). She didn’t give him A CHOICE. Also the fact that this was not done privately really rubs me wrong. Also, SHE NEVER APOLOGIZES FOR THIS. Even when they get back together, she never admits any freaking fault in breaking them up in the first place- not making decisions for the both of them, not essentially discarding him and blindsiding him with the breakup (which is exactly what his first love did which was the source of all of his relationship trauma). 

It is so incredibly stupid. SO FUCKING STUPID. 

And then she doesn’t talk to him for a month?! What!

It also really bothers me when she never answers him when he asks her “circumstances can always change, so what’s different now, what changed”. Because if this happens again, what will be her response? Will she act rashly without talking things out with him? Will she assume that she knows whats best for the both of them but actually foolishly break both of their hearts in the process? Circumstances changed with his first love and that lead her to reporting him as a stalker out of fear of what being in a relationship would do to her image. I’m not saying that the FL is going to report the ML for stalking but she has not proven that she is anything but a fair-weather lover. When the going gets tough, she gets gone (WHICH IS CONTRARY TO HER ENTIRE CHARACTER). 

Their reconciliation conversation is honestly one-sided when it shouldn’t be.  She asks him why he’s here then if he’s going to break up with her because he didn’t need to do that in person. That makes no fucking sense because she literally broke up with him during the press conference. They were no longer together after that. That’s how breakups work (especially with the added humiliation of being broken up with on live TV after proposing to someone).  He rightfully points out that she was the one who closed their chapter. She then says nothing else and he says everything. She is the one who should be doing all the talking. 

SHE NEVER TAKES ANY ACCOUNTABILITY FOR HER WRONGS NOR SAYS ANYTHING THAT SHOWS THAT HER FEELINGS FOR HIM ARE STRONGER NOW AND SHE IS NO LONGER AS EASILY SHAKEN. 

When he pushes her to give him answers (which he wholeheartedly deserves). She either says nothing, acts like a SIMPERING WOUNDED RABBIT, or AS IF ITS HIS FAULT (when she punches him for “being mean” I wanted to whack her with a newspaper-- she caused more emotional damage hands down). The nerve. 

If you are going to write the breakup to be so nonsensical, you should have the respect for the ML and the FL and their relationship up until that point to write the reconciliation BETTER. She should have apologized and given an indication that things will be different and I die on that hill. 

Also for her to be so proud of it later is insulting honestly. 

Their reconciliation hug was very sweet (all of their affectionate scenes were) but that came down to the actor’s chemistry and physical acting and had little to do with the script itself.

What was also against her character was how the guys at the law firm had to “save” her public image. I’m surprised she didn’t defend herself considering she is headstrong and violence-prone in literally every other aspect of her life. It was nice though that they came to her defense and supported her in the sense that they had her back after beginning the season being wary and distrustful of her. I wish it would have happened a different way is all- one where she sticks up for herself first.  

The romance between the 2FL and the 2ML was forced and annoying. They possess absolutely no chemistry and I would have prefered more scenes of the ML and the FL. The 2FL grated on my nerves more and more as the season went on (so freaking shallow and romance obsessed with nothing else to her character) and by the end, I wanted to reach in and drag her off the screen. Also, that public girlfriend-proposal was so uncomfortable to watch. I don’t know how he thought that was a good idea but I can guarantee you that at least 75% of women on this planet (which is a high enough % to freaking STOP) don’t like public proposals (especially featuring complete strangers).The feeling of public pressure and scrutiny is unbearable. She was visibly uncomfortable and he’s was like where is my answer. There was no convincing conversation before hand. Based off of the conversations they have had up until this point, absolutely nothing screams relationship ready. To be honest, the 2FL needed to find joy in her own company first.

I am happy that they didn’t forget about Choi Soo-jin considering that was the entire reason the FL got hired in the first place. I am glad that after 10 episodes we can see her successfully finish her job for her first client. 

Final critique (that applies to the whole show in general), is that I am not a big fan of the overuse of alcohol. Yes, I get that drinking is a big part of Korean culture but it was completely unnecessary to exist to the extent it did in this show. Alcohol should not be necessary alongside every single social interaction. You can have a good time without alcohol. You don’t need to turn towards alcohol every single time you are sad. Can the media stop showcasing people self-soothing with alcohol? It implies that alcohol is necessary when it really isn’t. 

All in all, a surprisingly enjoyable romantic comedy that delivered on both the romance and the comedy. Just think that the entire 10th episode could have been rewritten to do the characters and the storyline justice.

#love to hate you kdrama #love to hate you #comfort rom com drama #except through the entire final episode away #and rewrite it because wtf was that #contrary to their characters and their relationship up until that point #devoted to one another and communicated honestly with one another until she didn't #FL headstrong about everything until all of a sudden she wasn;t #the FL shouldn't have become a fair-weather lover #not a big fan of the lack of her accountability for emotional damage #APOLOGIZE #but their chemistry was AMAZING #10 out of 10 #yoo teo #kim ok bin #thank you for the lack of love triangles #and unnecessary painful relationship drama #until the aforementioned last episode which we will forget exists in its entirety thank you #easy enjoyable watch

[attract-mode-collective]

In The Garden Of Candy Cabs

toco toco, a series highlighting Japanese creatives that I’ve been extolling the virtues of since close to its debut has just hit a fairly momentous milestone: episode 50! Which also happens to showcase one of Attract Mode’s inspirations, that being Edit Mode. So of course I think everyone should see the video above (tho be sure to have closed captions on, btw, unless you’re fluent with Japanese).

Now might be another good time to shameless flaunt this Edit Mode tee I own; I’m probably maybe one of two or three (at most) to own one outside of Japan. Some might recall seeing this in a rundown of Game Culture Snapshots many moons ago…

On that note, and I know I keep saying this, but… am gonna pass along a new batch, hopefully soon. Until then, may I suggest Minus World’s take on game focused photography? Here we have some choice selections (some of which I was going to spotlight myself, but have been beaten to the punch, I must admit), like this Pac-Man rickshaw. It’s actually something that was originally posted by miki800.com, which I guess goes to prove that there’s quite a few of us that love both video games and Instagram…

Via the aforementioned survey is how I came to discover the bootleg! store, which deals in all kinds of rare or just plain odd video game or music related items (often a combination of both). Here we have an individual prepping for the release party for (what I believe to be is) the inaugural release by Heavy Metal Raiden, which is a band that does rock infused covers of tracks from the shmup Raiden…

Here’s what Heavy Metal Raiden sounds like, btw.

Moving on, bootleg! store’s Twitter reveals even more curios, like old game soundtracks on audio cassettes, which I’ve never actually seen believe it or not, despite by heavy interest in that world (I just always thought they came out on records and CD)…

And via Oliver’s most recent survey, I came to learn about the work of Emil Ohlund, which is on display at excube…

The custom Super Famicom cart that Oliver digs is nice and all, tho I prefer the image that’s used to promotion the exhibit…

Though here’s another look at that cart…

If you look around excube’s Twitter, you’ll find all sorts of neat things, including some killer threads…

So, which music video do you prefer; this one featuring a pixelated girl (via prostheticknowledge)…

Or this one featuring the polygonal boys of Persona 3-5 (via @xpatriciah)…

Speaking of, am really enjoying the current craze of adding the sexy af battle interface onto anything and everything (via maxalaatikko)…

On a semi-related note, thanks to @supcat for alerting me of the existence of this most wonderful of nonexistent video games…

And a huge thanks to @focra for the getting me the one birthday present (I’m 40 as of tomorrow, holy sh*t indeed; there’s also a bunch of things I could use, but for the purposes of this gag, please play along), which is this memory card that the Tiny Cart Twitter dug up…

On another kind of related note, here we have cf-12’s Virtua Stick, which has been personalized is a similar fashion…

Some additional pics of his set-up…

I’m always interested in seeing how folks play games at home, especially when you have stuff intended for outside the home (as previously noted). A few other examples, courtesy of decideweapons…

Here’s the story behind that previous pic…

“That one time I had an Aero table for a couple months. This photo was taken after i dropped it off at my buddy Andrew’s house before moving to California. These things are a bit overrated imo and actually quiet unplayable compared to traditional candy cabinets. But they are the rare so collectors go nuts for them!”

I came across decideweapons courtesy of sixteen-bit, which is where I also encountered the following as well….

I have no idea that the story is behind the candy cabs in the rose garden. Sorry.

Remember my mention of pixel8or last week? Well, here’s something that’s even more Rez-like than before…

Get a load of this; there were once plans for a Time Gal sequel, but instead of being FMV, it resembled Street Fighter?

Sticking with Video Game Densetsu for just a bit; an old PSone game that’s gotten renewed interest, mostly due to a live action adaption of the source material that bombed spectacularly, is Ghost In The Shell. And here’s a bunch of illustrations for the game (many of which I hadn’t seen before, and a few are slightly NSFW, FYI/BTW), not from GitS creator Masamune Shirow, but Toshihiro Kawamoto, who was one of the chief architects behind Cowboy Bebop…

And here’s an illustration from one of Shirow’s contemporaries, for the autumn of 1997 edition of the Tokyo Game Show, by Katsuhiro Otomo…

Something else that’s kinda/sorta related is Akira X Dragon Quest (via spaceleech)…

beautyofabandonedplaces recently posted the following image, which is the remains of an abandoned television game show set Canada…

… It prompted the following observation from lunaticobscurity…

“a fighting game stage waiting to happen”

… And that led vice-s-assistant to post a gif that demonstrates how IT ALREADY HAPPENED!!!

Yet another example of real life, or in this case an app, resembling a game, or vice versa (via beat-ignition)…

Now more than ever, I do my best to avoid politics around these parts, yet I can’t help but share this awesome clip by of Alex Jones on the Sega CD, which I originally saw via @HappyHarryToons, though the following is VMU Dream’s copy

Another clip from Twitter that I had to upload onto YouTube myself (in case anyone was wondering, I did ask the creator if a link was handy, but I’m also the impatient type; if there are any objections, I will not hesitate to take my copy down) is of the Konami logo in its entirety, which is actually quite rare, by @goodvideozone…

Which souped up Game Boy do you prefer? huzzahdave’s…

Or bootersbordello’s…

May as well re-post another oldie but goodie, though unlike last week, am going to keep my mouth shut (not that there’s much to say to start with)…

And finally, one last video, this one starring fellow Attract Mode Collective member Derek Yu plus company, in a documentary that’s for all the Spelunky diehards out there!

Don’t forget: Attract Mode is now on Medium! There you can subscribe to keep up to date, as well as enjoy some “best of” content you might have missed the first time around, plus be spared of the technical issues that’s starting to overtake Tumblr.