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When the Drama You’re Watching Totally Gets You

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If Looks Could Kill, You Would Be Six Feet Under, Mister, HDU!

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Reasons to Watch My I.D. Is Gangnam Beauty

1. It is feminist as fuck. I mean, this is one of the few Kdramas that is unabashedly, no holds barred, feminist. Intersectionally feminist. 

2. It is set in college. Dramas set in college aren’t rare but those that represent it with verisimilitude is rare. I’m not saying Gangnam Beauty is 100% realistic but I feel like it does try to be real.

3. Do Kyeong Seok. 

4. I appreciate the fact that the main lead has seen Mirae when she looked the way she did and liked her before she ended up changing herself.

5. The drama engages in a pretty decent discourse about societal values where beauty is concerned and the unfair demands made on women to pursue an unrealistic standard of said beauty. 

6. Mirae is a freaking fantastic character. I love how the actress manages to bring her vulnerability to the forefront without making her seem like a pushover. She conveys the trauma she lived through so perfectly.

6. Did I mention the drama is feminist as fuck? Cuz if not I will do so again. 

7. The webtoon is pretty darned good too but I feel like the drama gives the story more depth because the medium allows it to do so.

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When Heroes Grow in the Ground

So I’m watching a fantasy Chinese drama and there was a scene when the male protagonist who is a phoenix in his spare time fell from heaven (or whatever) and landed in a flower elf's garden and she decides to save “the crow.” So she plants him in the ground because that’s how she grew up and that’s how she thinks everyone grows up. Anyway, I give you, the hero of the drama:

/dead.

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Drama Wisdom

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When you successfully win over your girl’s sisters:

This was such an awesome scene. I love the sister in green. 

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Number One Complaint All Drama Watchers Have:

Why do the protagonists of a drama s                                                                l

                                                                 o

                                                                     w

down so much JUST BEFORE their lips are about to touch?

I could legit write an entire book in the time it takes for their lips to come together. Mothers could have babies and send them to preschool. Countries could form and die. Presidents could become orange. 

Just.

KISS ALREADY DAMNIT AND MOVE FASTER WHILE YOU ARE AT IT.

That’s all.

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This Scene Though.

This scene was such a killer. I love how she started off slowly, keeping her voice low, her tone measured, and them BOOM. The beats in this scene, the masterful way she controlled the emotion.

/forever swooning.

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A Guide to Prosecutors: KDrama Style

You might have heard of these guys. They are super popular in Kdramas. Listen to whoever is called 검사 (komsa, kawmsa?). They are prosecutors and come in three specific shades:

1. Black (so evil Satan takes notes from him) 2. Gray (circumstances require shade) 3. White (angels weep)

We currently have a whole stable of these guys parading around though there are also some lawyers prancing around to make things lively but we’ll get to them some other time. Right now, Dramaland is hot for prosecutors---though I guess K-Dramaland usually is hot for them.

Most of them have complex feelings...or um, none.  Exhibit A:

This guy has no feels:

(Hwang Shi Mok, Forest of Secrets)

On the other hand, this guy has way too many:

(Lee Jun, Forest of Secrets)

Then there are Prosecutor Pasts or as we novelists like to call it, The Inciting Incident. You know, that one incident in your life during your formative years that functions the same way as the initial tile in a sequence of domino tiles does? Yeah, that. The Painful Past. 

I present to you another prosecutor who is also sexy. Prosecutors, if they are not gross and scum on earth, are often sexy. It’s a legal thing we don’t question too closely.

(Lee Junki (I forgot his character name), Lawless Lawyer) MY BAD. Junki is a defense lawyer. Let’s pretend he is an honorary prosecutor because he’s got the sexy covered. :D

Some just have most horrible luck where forensic doctors (and parents) are concerned. But they are pretty determined and that’s cool.

(Investigation Couple)

I  bet she wishes she was shooting either her parents or the forensic doctor who is an asshole of incredible proportions.

They can also be vampires in case you didn’t know. It’s a super power.

(Vampire Prosecutor, also sexy.)

They can also have prophetic dreams while sleeping. And look cute too.

(Lee Jong Seok, While You Were Sleeping)

Have I missed any? None that are important :D The way things are going though, I might have to do one for judges soon. 

Until next time.

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Chilseong: An Unpopular Opinion

Look, I will freely admit it. When I was first introduced to Chilseong I loved him. The gangster with the heart of gold and Jang Hyuk portrays him so beautifully. He wears his vulnerability so visibly that you can’t help but root for him.

However, yep, you know there was one coming. Sae Woo has said no. Not once but twice and his insistence on asking her out a third time is nothing short of harassment. It’s kinda creepy actually.

Don’t @ me. Haven’t you been in a position where a guy just wouldn’t take no for an answer? *shudder* I understand his hurt, God knows I have been where he is too but the woman said no quite clearly. Man up and move on. 

Just because someone likes you doesn’t mean you have to like them back. I hope the lady in the hospital has a bigger role and turns out to be The One for Chilseongie because otherwise, it’s all going to be pain, tears, and jajangmyeong.

Okay, one more thing, WHY DOESN’T ANYONE IN THIS DRAMA FINISH THEIR FOOD?

I mean, dude, there’s a plate of stir fried beef just lying there begging for attention and people are leaving and here I am wondering who actually ate it in the end.

Maybe it’s cuz I’m fasting. Lol.

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Forest of Secrets or Why Do You Play With My Mind

So I am currently watching it. And it is blowing my mind with its layers of intrigue. It is so tightly written and plotted. I’m awed. AWED. Also Hwang Shi Mok and Lieutenant Han forever. I don’t even care if they have anything more than a platonic relationship as long as they continue working together.

I love how level handed yet deadly the MC is. It is SO refreshing to have intelligent MCs without the baggage or ego that usually accompanies said MCs.

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And After That, Say You Love Me

Okay okay, wait. You know how I said it was obvious the end game is Poong and our Chilseongie may not get his happy ending?

I may have been wrong. Or I may still be right. One thing is for sure, I don’t know anything.

Today’s episode suggests to me that Sae Woo is not as indifferent to Chilseongie as I may have thought and while this makes me sad for Poong OMG Chilseongie may get his chance to be happy? And this makes me SO GIDDY.

Ugh. I hate it when I like both guys. Why can’t the second lead be horrible? It will make our lives so much easier. 

Does anyone else hate the sous chef in the hotel with the passion of a thousand woks full of boiling oil?

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Reasons to Watch Lawless Lawyer

I have very good reasons. Many reasons. In gif form. Let’s go!

1.

2. Okay fine, there are other reasons. For once in his life, Junki has signed on to do a drama that has a heroine who has a lot of personality. Congratulations, Junki. The chemistry is high with these two.

3.

4. I also love her punches.

Again?

5. The soundtrack is sleek and sexy. The pace is breakneck and the acting is on point.

6. Did I mention Lee Junki? Let’s hope this one has a happier ending than the Red Drama We Do Not Speak Of.

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About Time: First (Not So Good) Impressions

About Time premiered this week and I decided to check out the first episode because two beautiful people are in the lead roles.

YES I AM SHALLOW.

Anyway, I have come to report my findings to my dear interested readers. But first, a poster:

See how pretty they are. 

Anyway, here’s what I think and we’ll do this in list form because I like lists. 

1. The premise is pretty interesting. The MC can see the time people have left before they die. This, as you can imagine, can get pretty darned traumatic. The worst thing is that she can see her own death nearing on the horizon. According to her life clock, she has about 100 days give or take a few left to live. Then she meets this dude who stops her clock simply by physical touch. Which mean that if she lives her life holding his hand, she will be able to live longer.

2. I don’t see how this works though because she obviously cannot live her life holding his hand--I mean, she could but that would be a not so fun life and both of them would get pretty sick of each other after a while.

3. The beginning was beautiful and while Lee Sung Kyung’s inexperience as an actress is obvious, she is decent and I reckon with time she could find her footing. She can definitely emote and she is emotionally relatable. 

4. The problem is the dude. I actually liked him in the roles I saw him in so I didn’t expect him to be quite so...bad. This role is clearly a departure for him; he is out of his comfort zone and dear lord, he is flailing. 

5. The mental illness rep here is bad and as someone who suffers from anxiety, I know how debilitating it can be. This guy tries to express that but he can’t pull it off. I don’t know if it’s the writing or the acting but I suspect it might be both but he is the weakest link in this duo. 

5. LSK’s character is going to get clingy in the second episode and I can’t bring myself to watch it because I hate it when the heroine has to make herself so vulnerable.

5. The other woman, the main dude’s fiance or whatever she is, is eccentric and I like her. I hope they don’t turn her into an evil woman. 

6. I wasn’t going to watch the second episode but then I found this gif made by CaptainJoongki  and now I dunno. As I said, they are super pretty:

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Reasons to Watch Wok of Love/Greasy Melo

1. The drama features a talking horse. No, I really said it. A TALKING HORSE.

2. It’s bonkers. The drama not the horse though it might be too.

3.

4. Food porn.

5. Jung Rye Won is pretty darned adorable in this one.

6. Also this:

Look, I know debates are raging about who the love interest really is and who the end game is going to be. Unless you are blind or dense or both while also being in denial, it looks like Poong is it and I don’t hate it? I mean, I HURT FOR CHILSEONG BECAUSE CINNAMON ROLL.

But *shrug*

I don’t hate Poong and damnit, his wife has treated him so bloody badly it is frankly a miracle he has not moved to a monastery and sworn off all wenchly women for as long as he lives. Also, most important, Sae Woo seems into him in a way she simply isn’t into Chilseong my poor bb. 

ALSO it was foreshadowed quite early on when the dad in prison asks her who among the men she prefers and she answered with Poong. So don’t be that person and deny this is all a shock and hdu and whatnot.

Poor Chilseongie. He wears his vulnerability and his heart on his sleeve. It’s a good thing he has his boys to rally around him.

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A Poem a Day: An Irreverent Review

Here’s a review for your enjoyment of the drama about poetry and stuff and people who unlike doctors are just normal folk like I don’t know physiotherapists. 

I won’t post the poster for the drama because honestly? It’s not memorable. Also, I don’t want.

I will also add a disclaimer: I like Lee Yubi and I also like poetry.I will also add that poetry loses a lot (everything) in translation or maybe I am just uncultured. I don’t know.

But honestly, A Poem a Day had a strong start but oh my god, it was boring.

That was me as I waited for something to happen. And it did, often, but not the kind of thing that I wanted to see. I mean, initially it was cute? Bo Young was cute even without a personality. She had some personality, I suppose but no opinions, nothing that grabbed me by the collar and demanded I give her my ardent support. 

The romance was cute for a while until the second lead became super annoying and I was hardpressed not to throw something at my screen leaving myself without a medium in which to watch things which would have been TRAGIC. I resisted, thank goodness. 

The major issue I had with this drama was that it felt contrived. Rather than allowing the story to breathe, it tried too hard to be something without going the proper distance. It tried to be meaningful without actually putting in the effort to be meaningful.

As an example, i give you one of the later episodes in which we are introduced to a doctor who works too hard and has a stroke and finds himself in the same situation his patients were in. Bo Young feels heartbroken for him as is her brand and cries and whatnot. Which is fine. On paper, this sounds like solid stuff to tug at heartstrings. HOWEVER, this doctor is entirely without weight. They introduce him in the same episode that he is a paragon of virtue, has a stroke, and deals with his diminished capabilities. 

There is no progression of his character, however slight it is; we don’t see him from the beginning. We don’t see Bo Young’s admiration for him until he is used as an obvious plot device so his struggle, his story feels hollow and without the emotional payoff it would have had had this character been present in whatever quantity from the very beginning. 

This is not the only time the author does things heavy-handedly and as a writer, I found her/his/their obvious manipulations to be discordant. The poetry too while beautiful in the language of origin feels extraneous to me. I wish they had used few poems and dedicated more time to a single one, perhaps uniting the themes among the characters. 

This drama was among my least favourite but hey, at least I got to see this kid and his alligator. He was the best thing about this drama, to be quite honest. Okay, that and the friendship between the three people. I wish they could have removed the romance entirely and focused on the friendship between these three people. The drama would have been so much stronger for it.

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The prickly “I don’t care, but what’s wrong” routine is softening my heart.