once-upon-a-drama

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some essays to fill your time

Just a bunch of things I've read recently.

The Authoritarian Roots of India's Democracy by Tripurdaman Singh

Why is Everything So Ugly?

Casual Viewing by Will Tavlin

“You are Next”: Unmarried Urban Women in India and the “Marriage Talk” by Shilpa Phadke

Crossing Days by Thomas Dai

Inside the Indian Manosphere by Lhendup Bhatia

Optimism and Desperation by Camilla Grudova

Everyone is Cheating Their Way Through College by James Walsh

Blunt-Force Ethnic Credibility by Som-Mai Nguyen

When My Authentic is Your Exotic by Soniah Kamal

The discontent of Russia by Joy Neumeyer

On anti-political projects by Kat Rosenfield

'Correcting' historical wrongs is a slippery slope by Manu Pillai

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Links to novels I am reading or rereading or will be reading/rereading this spring and summer

Since something tells me I will be reading a lot this spring or summer. This list has more danmei than het so I marked het with an asterix in the event you have preferences one way or another.

The Blood Crown

https://zhuwangsqc.blogspot.com/2021/03/chapter-1.html

*After Transmigrating into a Short-lived White Moonlight, had a HE with the Villain

https://pinnochies.wordpress.com/category/atswm/

*Consort of a Thousand Faces

https://www.volarenovels.com/novel/consort-of-thousand-faces

*Chang’an First Beauty

https://creativenovels.com/164594/in-dire-straits/

Chun Feng Du Jian:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/16zItu9NWxz3q9Kbz4xMQlkkRGbA001DZqxHRj1H0a7c/edit

Copper Coins:

https://tongqiankanshi.blogspot.com/

Dinghai Fusheng Records

https://www.chickengege.org/novels/dinghai/

The Dumb Husky and His White Cat Shizun (2ha/erha)

Ongoing fan translation: https://erhainfo.carrd.co/

Edited MTL:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1u99FXcDET1bMdMjAzl9TLyYBJfuzkAIZ

*Eight Treasures Trousseau

https://dreamsofjianghu.ca/%E5%85%AB%E5%AE%9D%E5%A6%86-eight-treasures-trousseau/

*Empress with No Virtue

https://plainlybored.wordpress.com/2015/02/25/empress-with-no-virtue-chapter-1/

*Ever Night/Nightfall

https://www.webnovel.com/book/nightfall_8324018606000005

Every Day the Protagonist Wants to Capture Me

http://bcnovels.com/everyday-protagonist-wants-capture/

Fox Demon Cultivation Manual

https://cangji.net/category/yaohu/

The Golden Stage

https://chichilations.home.blog/golden-stage/

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation

https://exiledrebelsscanlations.com/novels/grandmaster-of-demonic-cultivation/

Heaven Official’s Blessing

https://tgcfmxtx.carrd.co/

*Heroine Saves Gentleman

https://shainagtranslations.wordpress.com/heroine-saves-a-gentleman/

How to Survive as a Villain

https://foxaholic.com/novel/how-to-survive-as-a-villain/

It’s Not Easy Being a Master

https://xixistranslations.com/nebm-chapter-1-waking-up/

I’ve Led the Villain Astray, How Do I Fix It

Ch 1-56:

https://www.sakhyulations.com/2017/09/30/ive-led-the-villain-astray-how-do-i-fix-it-chapter-1/

Ch 57 on:

https://www.asianhobbyist.com/ive-led-the-villain-astray-how-do-i-fix-it-57/

*Jiang Hu’s Road Is Curved

https://www.wattpad.com/story/179763596-jiang-hu%27s-road-is-curved

Jin Se

Ch 1-10

https://www.wattpad.com/755022934-jin-se-priest-english-fan-translation-bl-novel

Ch 8 on

https://chrysanthemumgarden.com/novel-tl/js/

Jun You Ji Fou

Ch 1-17

https://dustbunnytranslations.wordpress.com/2020/06/09/jyjf-chapter-1/

Ch 18 on

https://uheitranslations.wordpress.com/2021/06/04/is-the-gentleman-feeling-alright-chapter-18/

Liu Yao

https://chichilations.home.blog/liu-yao/

Lord Seventh

https://chichilations.home.blog/lord-seventh/

*Marrying the Soft-Hearted Villain

https://www.wattpad.com/story/222848827-marrying-the-soft-hearted-villain

*Mei Gongqing

https://hamster428.wordpress.com/mi-gongqing-chapter-index/

Mistakenly Saving the Villain

https://chrysanthemumgarden.com/novel-tl/misvil/

Nan Chan

https://cangji.net/nanchan/nanchan-c1/

The Paranoid Emperor’s Black Moonlight Shizun

https://jinzeffect.wordpress.com/the-paranoid-emperors-black-moonlight-shizun-bl/

I did an MTL for untranslated parts: https://www.mediafire.com/file/ooufb41e77qwpxb/the+paranoid+emperor+MTL+cleaned+up.docx/file

*Phoenix Ascending

https://www.volarenovels.com/novel/phoenix-ascending

*Princess Agents

https://www.webnovel.com/book/princess-agents_10176031205004305

Qiang Jin Jiu

https://cangji.net/qiangjinjiu/

The Reader and Protagonist Definitely Have to Be in True Love

http://bcnovels.com/reader-protagonist-definitely-true-love/

NSFW chapters: https://forum.novelupdates.com/threads/all-nsfw-chapters-the-reader-and-protagonist-definitely-have-to-be-in-true-love.55378/

*Rebirth of the Tyrant’s Pet: Regent Prince Is Too Fierce

https://www.lightnovelpub.com/novel/rebirth-of-the-tyrants-pet-regent-prince-is-too-fierce-24041419

*Return of the Swallow

https://www.volarenovels.com/novel/return-of-the-swallow

Scum Villain’s Self Saving System

http://bcnovels.com/the-scum-villains-self-saving-system/

Sha Po Lang

https://www.northwestflower.net/

A Snake Encounter/Yu She

https://eggytranslations.tumblr.com/

Spring Trees and Sunset Clouds

https://exiledrebelsscanlations.com/stsc-chapter-1/

Strongly Pampered Male Wife

https://foxaholic.com/novel/strongly-pampered-male-wife/

To Rule In a Turbulent World

https://lsww.carrd.co/

A Thousand Autumns (note - tried it and hated it but leaving link for completeness’ sake)

https://baoshan-sanren.tumblr.com/post/647626175223562240/hello-i-saw-your-post-where-youre-rereading

Transmigration of Mian

https://foxaholic.com/novel/transmigration-of-mian-reluctantly-becomes-his-man-wife/

*Tyrannical Wang’s Beloved Wife

https://brokenjinsei.com/tyrannical-wangs-beloved-wife/

The Wife Is First

https://chrysanthemumgarden.com/novel-tl/twf/

Wu Chang Jie

Translation 1: https://wuchangjie.blogspot.com/?m=1

Translation 2: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1o2UaYa3UBf435dSMHcTZad4O0wgc6M-4

Wushuang

https://dustbunnytranslations.wordpress.com/wushuang-4/

Extras: https://chichilations.home.blog/2021/04/08/peerless-extras-1-4/

Yuwu

Fan translation: https://href.li/?https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1WZAmwrq6ABeIPEHWI789eXOTthN9CRer

Edited MTL: https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/mobile/folders/12cvvVU_XBz60nmIJV9UfRIe9SFpxtuXu

Fair warning: I will probably be reading a lot and posting a lot about it this spring and summer since there doesn’t look to be anything much I am interested in terms of dramas coming out in the next 5 months, so if you don’t want to see web novel stuff, blacklist the cnovel tag.

ETA: here is a bunch more, all danmei, under readmore as it’s getting unwieldy.

Keep reading

[once-upon-a-drama]

this show covers too much for me to even express but. in short like. i love how compassionate Love and Redemption as a story is.

i love beyond words that the final battle is supposed to be luohuo and bai lin, with sifeng trying to support luohuo getting closure and healing, with all the demon/luohuo’s/humans wanting to avoid a giant bloody world destroying fight. i love that the good guys are trying to prevent a massive war - and that’s all luohuo/xuanji/god of war has EVER been trying to do. luohuo came to talk to bai lin long ago to tell him he had a way to END the war!!! god of war ended it, got surrender from the Asuras - and it was BAI LIN who made her anihilate the Asura from existence instead of just leaving it at the peace god of war had already accomplished!!! the world has BEEN at peace since and if bai lin would just leave luohuo jidu the fuck alone, then luohuo jidu does NOT want the world to burn - he just wants answers for the wrongs personally done to him and his entire people by bai lin!

Keep reading

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"Rain, oh drizzling rain! Is this love?"

Kaathal - The Core (2023)

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Tsui Hark and Xiao Zhan on what art does for us as we get older

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Let’s be real here

Fun-messy manhwa don’t always translate well into fun-messy kdramas

So I’m going to ask you which ones would work and if you have a fancast in mind?

And which ones wouldn’t?

this is such a fun, excellent ask thank you for letting me talk about my favorite manhwa lol.

so i dont know if it would work, but i really, really want it to work because it's my favorite, and that'd be an OCN-esque dark-thriller-romance adaptation of olgami/trapped. olgami is the enemies to enemy lovers webtoon and it's got so much incredible character work and dysfunction junction. if this got adapted right it'd be the best drama ever.

fancasts?

first there's han chae ah, an ex-felon cabdriver trying to get ahold of her life after she gets out of prison and unfortunately ends up getting blackmailed into being a gravedigger/doordasher of human blood for a vampire.

for casting, it's probably pretty obvious, but i think han so hee is my immediate first choice. she's done action-heavy parts before and can also play a really great Mean Lady. others that could be fun are go min si, park gyu young, or jeon yeo been.

then we got park yunsu, who is the said unhinged vampire who blackmails her and later falls for her and it's a gigantic, twisted, fun mess.

for casting, im siwan would eat this part up. he's the perfect guy to be able to switch from a preppy church boy in one scene to a cold-blooded murderer in the next. he also could totally sell the "looks boyish, actually 200+ years old" energy.

other manhwa i think would make for good adaptations:

daily jojo (cheating a little since yumi's cells was already adapted but w/e!)

something about us (i guess it was already supposed to have one but it got canceled!)

muse on fame (it's...pretty much begging for a screen adaptation, yea?)

manhwa i *dont* think would make for good adaptations (or i'd be uninterested in them):

unholy blood. it's just got way too much going on

my reason to die. there's been too many dramas that are similar in vein to it already (someday or one day/a time called you, lovely runner, etc.) and i also dont think it would translate as well to screen

maybe meant to be. i could be convinced, i suppose, but i'd be skeptical. a lot of the humor relies on the graphic narrative format

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— Swallowtail, Brenna Twohy

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The Judge From Hell X Text Posts pt.1

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OMG. NOT HER SAYING RELY ON ME ILL PROTECT YOU, ONLY FOR HIM TO IMMIDIATELY GET STABBED TO DEATH PROTECTING HER.

It's so funny and heartbreaking at the same time. Like. I hate it here. One another week to continue this. I don't think I'll survive please.

leaving us with this for a whole week.... i will be live blogging from the psych ward next week

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this honestly just came out of left fucking field i would have never expected to hear anything like this in this show. consider me Pleasantly Surprised tbh

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Oooh she's slipping. She caught him the first time, with the pen recorder. And she dint this time.

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You know why judge from hell is amazing. Because they both keep going back to each other. Again and again.

Like yes, he does it because he wants evidence. But you can't tell me he also doesn't want to know about her, is extremely fucking curious about her. And she keeps going back to him. He challenges her. She admits that. Both intellectually and physically. They're also both capable, thoughtful people in their own way.

And its so rare to see this. both the female and the male lead so invested in each other. and to find it in a crime-fantasy, non romance focussed drama.

And on the other hand, da on is not a sunflower dude. He takes advantage of her growing emotions and whatever. And she repeatedly is nasty to everyone. And that's just how she is. But somehow it works. And it's keeping me gripped.

God this show is very very solid drama.

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The Judge from Hell 지옥에서 온 판사 (2024) Dir. Park Jin Pyo – Ep. 8

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The Judge from Hell 지옥에서 온 판사 (2024) Dir. Park Jin Pyo – Ep. 8

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THE JUDGE FROM HELL (2024) Ep.08

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"Why did he look at me like that? Makes me feel bad."

THE JUDGE FROM HELL (2024) Ep.08