#and smacks it into realistic grounded messy slice of life drama seamlessly

[mejomonster]

Dear Diary is SO good we slept on it. I regret ToT

It has a Xena reincarnation episode Wild Fucking Premise, played totally fucking straight (and you know how often comedy cdramas just go for ridiculous plots instead of realistic)

The comedy is that these 12 year old girls romance historical fantasy ocs are alive and in the real world doing magic, having the ptsd from dying in battle, the obsession with love only Romance Interest fictional characters have, but they're real. They're real and being told they're fake and dealing with the crisis of reality not matching their memories, but their magic evil villains are still chasing them. There's still henchmen and evil sorcorers and sorcoresses that act like Aphoridite. But these characters are also played SO genuine. Their lives are real to them, goals are real to them. And thus the contrast between their personalities and the real world causes comedy.

But the angst is heavy as fuck, the girl who made them is 24 now and hates the world, has alienated herself from her own happiness, and she's in a personal growth arc hellscape that this is only highlighting more. The people Based in reality are very relatably real, no sugar coating (also rare in your modern romance cdrama that's either too fluff unrealistic or too outlandish to be realistic). The drama lands in this Wonderfully genuine to reality place, with a huge grounded heart. The magic of childhood and the crushing reality of adulthood, and how that magic in childhood now might make us perhaps Ponder our own lives now and how to see the good in the mess (an apt metaphor for us now Watching a cdrama making us feel the same revelations as the heroine going through the same).

I absolutely adore it. Hikaru No Go/Qi Hun cdrama is maybe the closest in tone I can think to this show, with the mix of magical with very realistic peoples lives. But these lives in Dear Diary are messier, more adult, and that's not sugar costed. This drama is quenching a drought of trying to find comedy in a realistic setting, magical in mundane, the way Xena could be ridiculously slapstick played straight then make ur heart crush and as you cried.

Anyway back to lighter level commentary ToT

I'm in ep 6 and Murong went into the bathroom with his friend Wushan (both are fictional love interests come to life). Murong has been having flashbacks to war and dying in his story life (a cautionary tale that if your Romance OC ever comes to life they DO come with the ptsd the trauma their story had comes with), Wushan despite his calmness has also noticed unsettling things not adding up like knowing languages he shouldn't know (from his story life). So reasonably, they decide to get in a "hot spring" (bath) to see if it triggers another Murong memory flashback so tjey can figure out wtf is going on with them (Murong had a flash back earlier near another hot spring). Makes total sense with their characters, the impending horror of them finding out wtf they are, while also being about to be comedic gold BECAUSE

Dragon lady loves Murong (she's also from the story). The real guy who knew her from the story thinks she's hot so he's been helping her henchman style to keep her near in case he can shoot his shot (and cause he's the only real person who gives a shit if this Story Villain made real is actually okay and alive and not totally fucked over by the real world). And so he bought her an apartment to see Murong from. So she saw murong disappear into the bathroom with Wushan.

Wushan, being a teen girls Ideal Man, is seductive looking, sly and cunning, well dressed, and rich as fuck. So this real man sees Wushan going into the bathroom, Murongs story best friend? Real man says "oh man dragon lady I think you have more competition for Murong than just the girl"

Love the implication real guy (Deng Shui Lui) thinks a dream Romantic Lead is bi (he's right i can confirm djdj) and thinks Wushan is making a move (because it's in character and Deng Shui Lui knows the story) and it's a realistic assumption either IF they were real life normal men meeting secretly in a bathroom, OR if they were storybook best friends meeting secretly.

But what Den Shui Lui of course Fails to realize, is our Romantic Lead story men are both having some trauma and Oh God Existential what the FUCK things going on and need to secretly handle this shit because certainly bringing it up to others would make them seem Even Less Real.

Meanwhile Dragon Lady is still in single minded Romantic Villain mode so she just has to go make sure no one touches Murong her Crush to end all crushes

This set up is incredible impeccable and nicely balancing the horror of these 3 poor fuckers realizing they are figments of imagination who's traumatic lives were played over by God's who are now the messy cruel people they're interacting with, with the comedy of them all being so perfectly just Out of touch with how they appear and what they want versus how they think to get it that it's ridiculous to see

In other news. Thanks Dragon Lady for stopping the impending ptsd flashback, and Wushan can Get it

Sjdjjd earlier in the ep. Wushan convinced his real Woman counterpart to bang in a ball pit. Incredible.

#dear diary #lb #anyway WATCH oh my god im gonna cry #this plot takes the wild stuff ONLY 12 year old indulgence goes for #and smacks it into realistic grounded messy slice of life drama seamlessly #i absolutely love it #and im so impressed????