dangermousie | And yet more MARS. I can hear the groans

Warning: this post is going to be all MARS and very long. For all those who aren’t interested (which will be everyone on my flist, LOL), I can only offer that I am more than halfway through so a couple more posts and I will be done. As it is, I am helplessly entranced by the bizarre combo of wild soapy angst and detached philosophical musings.

aliterati, I have to say I thought of you. You have corrupted me and turned my brain into slash-susceptible. While most of this show is really low on slash vibes unless you really dig, the latest ep made my jaw drop. A new student named Tong Dao walks by and out hero Ling’s reaction? “He is cuuuute.” Said absolutely seriously. And his friend is all “yes, everyone is talking about this boy that looks like a girl.” Ling reiterates Tong Dao’s cuteness to the world to hear. And then later when a girl is pestering Tong Dao to go out with her sister, his reply? I can’t because my heart belongs to Chen Ling. Heeee. Granted, the slashiness is complicated by the fact that Tong Dao is a psycho who likes Ling because the latter was a violent patient at the same psych ward Tong Dao was later (so I guess he is into recreating an Asian version of Leopold and Loeb?) And to put a slashy crown jewel on this whole thing? When the same girl approaches Ling and tells him “you get the girls, now you won’t leave guys alone too?” and explains about Tong Dao, Ling’s reaction? “Well, he likes me because my butt (!!!) is so cute.” Hmmmm. He sort of adds as an afterthought that he isn’t really into guys, but….I have to say if it wasn’t for the fact that he is so into Qi-Luo, I’d be taking bets on how long it would be until dating time. Though since a number of characters wonder whether Ling likes Qi-Luo because she is very similar to and reminds him of his dead twin brother, I am not sure how healthy and slash-free the alternative is :P

On a completely different tack, I do love that the heavy duty melodrama is interspersed with just cute and fun couple moments. If all they did was conduct impromptu psycho-therapy, it would get really dull. My favorite moment is the light-hearted bit where Ling tries to teach Qi-Luo how to ride a motorcycle (operative word being ‘tries’) and they are cute and light-hearted, and normal couple like and no angst anywhere in sight. Which is how you know something bad must happen soon.

Of course, in a completely contradictory fashion, I am actually waiting with baited breath for the fireworks that will happen when Ling will find out Qi-Luo is a rape victim. He definitely will soon, because he is already quite confused. They had a little jealous spat, with him being jealous and her being pleased that someone was jealous of her (so cute) and then they were making up and she flipped when he started kissing her neck, which is pretty mild as far as making out goes and broke some bottles on the window-sill, broke it off and bolted saying that she was hungry and was going to get them something to eat, leaving the flabbergasted Ling staring at her (he also muttered something about eating her instead which certainly got my attention. Ahem). They are totally setting it up in a wonderfully anvilly fashion, what with Da Ye telling the understandably confused Ling (considering they are college students that have been dating for months and didn’t go even to second base yet) that of course Qi-Luo is freaked because it’s her first time. Ahhh, the irony. I weep. Or not. I was severely amused at Qi-Luo’s friend (Qing-Mei) practical advice (of course, no one knows about the rape) to sleep with Ling because hey, he is a guy and he needs that sort of thing. And of course, with an anvil number two, the size of Connecticut, doesn’t she want to know how nice it feels? I am awaiting the train-wreck with much impatience.

Of course, there is another brilliant lost in translation moment as Qing Mei talks to Qi-Luo about Da Ye (the secondary romance between those friends of the lead couple is totally cute. Maybe because he is so sanely nice and she is so bossy and outgoing. She is the most normal by a mile, not that it’s a hard competition on this show, though I did think initially she was just living by proxy through her friend), and she describes their relationship in a manner of lovely ways such as best friend, having a corner of her heart just for him etc etc and one of these is “we are like brother and sister?????” Heh. This show has an odd fascination with sib-cest.

Alas, in a few episodes there was a character so annoying I had to ff every time she appeared. She was sort of like a child-like Barbie doll only more grating. Various characters seemed to insist she was cute but their definition of cute must be from a different planet. She was Ling’s ex and she behaved as if she was five. Child-like helpless women who act as if they are still in infancy DRIVE ME NUTS. Of course, she did have the lovely idea of dating both Ling and his twin (kinky!) and Ling pointed out that she didn’t really care which one she dated because to her they really weren’t separate people (and again with the kink). I do like the fact that when Ling had to pick between infant girl and Qi-Luo, who might be quiet but is very self-sufficient and quite strong (I love that she tells him she won’t tie him down or prod him and basically he must choose who he likes for himself with no input from her and he should meet the ex etc and she means it) he picks the latter. Because? Urgh. Of course, the whole ex is tied to the mess with his brother and because the show was angst free for about 10 minutes, the poor kid ends up having a nervous break-down/panic attack about his mother and brother and father/not-father and hey, he really needs some Valerian Root. I have to say, I can see why he ended up needing the services of a psychiatrist.

I do like that during her “decide what you want for yourself by yourself and I won’t interfere and you should also figure out your past” phase, she is still quite quite supportive (I love the scene where he just sits by himself on the steps and she walks by and he asks her to sit with him so they basically sit together quietly not touching or talking but being companionable), but quite rightly very hands off.

And then of course this show brings on the cute. I love his phone call to her when he tells her he really feels at peace with her (yay, he can save on meds now!) or tells Da Ye that he loves Qi-Luo (before he told the girl, hmmm), or when he overhears that the girls have been talking about her as a “convenience store girlfriend” (i.e. quiet and obedient and will do anything he says) and that she’s heard it, so he finds her and says, very tenderly, that he’s heard she was a convenience store and does that mean she will do anything he says? And she nods so he tells her that he says that he begs her not to dislike him ever even though he isn’t as nice as Da Ye (yay, he noticed) and she makes a joke in return that of course he is horrible. And then they walk off holding hands. Awwww.

Also, whoever did this thing certainly knows the demographic. This show is heaven for a hurt/comfort freak like me. Because completely randomly in a random ep he has a fever and she stays overnight to take care of him. Someone who likes me has been writing this, surely, especially when then we see her watching him sleep and holding his hand to her cheek. And then she wakes up in his bed and even though she is completely dressed, even with ponytail still on, she freaks a little because of her sex issues and he tells her he woke up and he felt better (ah, plot convenience diseases, how do I love you) and he carried her to bed because she'd get sick just sitting and sleeping that way and that's all he did. :P

And then the most adorable scene in the whole show follows when he asks her why on earth did she buy pots and pans etc etc and she says she was worried he'd wake up hungry in the middle of the night and then she could cook for him and gets a bit defensive and adds that they are useful things to have anyway. And then she tells him if he wants something to eat, ask her and she'll cook anything, so he starts grinning and says "OK, steak?" and she grins back and says 'can't' and he keeps asking for stuff and she says ‘can't’ and they are both grinning and then he asks her 'so what can you cook?' and she says 'omelet with rice' a bit sheepishly and he grins and says 'why didn't you say so in the first place.' I am dying from the awwww. And equally so because of the fact that she can't cook and that she makes smiley face on omelet. Cuuuuute.

And then of course, because there hasn’t been any angst for 10 minutes (do they time these things) it switches into heavy-duty angst as he talks about his brother and how he hated him because he was always so perfect and judgmental and it would always make him act out. And how it’s his fault his brother jumped off a roof-top, because he was the one who told him about the whole “we are not really our father’s children” thing and how he hated him and loved him at the same time. And he says that he’s killed his brother and he is twisted and was acting out because he is horrible and there is a part of him that is distorted and evil and twin always brought it out (at this point I want to talk to the TV and tell him: haven’t you read ahead? It’s because your brother was a manipulative sociopath? Keep up.) And then he beats himself up some more about how always protected his twin but what his twin wanted was really parental care (hello, transference much) but he didn’t know anything about such care because it’s not like he ever had it himself. Oh, bring me the world’s smallest violin, please.

Of course, instead of running for the hills, Qi-Luo just tries to reassure him and tells him that he must have wanted protecting even more than his brother. Awwww. Now I know why he is so into her. It isn’t the fact that he is attracted to her, or that she is cool, or even that she reminds him of his twin or feeds his mother fixation. It’s because he can tell her the most bizarre stuff and she’ll know how to deal with it without freaking out. Just think how much money he can save on therapy that way! And then he starts crying and tells her not to look and she holds him and awwww. And then later he walks her to the subway and she asks him to kiss her 'like friends do in foreign countries' (wtf???) and he leans over the turnstile and they kiss and it's yummy and very gentle and it’s their big end of beginning of credits shot for a reason and he looks all fragile and she tells him she is happy knowing him. Me, I’d be hiding the knives.

Btw, I do have to mention that am such an idiot. It took me 7 or so episodes to figure out they were in the University, not in high school like in the manga. It makes so much more sense. Not only in regard to the characters’ maturity and actions, but also that I can much easier buy these actors as 20 somethings than 17 year olds. Yay.

Qi-Luo with her feisty, well-adjusted (except for earlier rock-mauling ep) friend Qing-Mei: