#He is like the bad boy who is mean to the kdrama protagonist who loves him anyway

[catheewolf]

I Love Him Like That

Hello! So i finished reading the movie script, and I feel like this crowley is also cool, and that he needs a nice boyfriend who would love him just for who he is. Oh wait...Aziraphale already does that! So I made a story about it!  Enjoy ~

______________________________________________

F*CK

It was a dead end. It was impossible for Movie crowley to escape now. He turned around and backed himself against the wall. He looked at everyone who had chased him down to this alley. He gulped and frowned. They were his others versions with accompanied by the angels. They didn’t look pleased with movie crowley, and he assumed that it had to do with how he expressed himself about...certain things.

Out of nowhere, there was an explosion of light between him and the crowd. Movie crowley flinched and covered his eyes. He opened them and started to blink only to see that movie Aziraphale was now infront of him. One hand extended protecting movie crowley.

“Thats enough” Movie aziraphale said to the crowd. He was in his angelic form dressed in a white robe and resplendent as always. Everyone stared at the angel...and seeing that nobody was going to say something anytime soon, movie Aziraphale looked over his shoulder and asked “Are you alright, dear boy? Movie Crowley nodded, and then focused on the angels that started to do the same with their demons.

“please dear, there is no need for that”

“we just want to talk”

“about what exactly?” Aziraphale turned to gaze at the three angels who were now in front of him.

“well..”

“he treats you like sh*t”

“CROWLEY”

“Its clear as day that he has no interest in being here. He sees no value in being on earth-”

“and he has no respect for you”

Movie aziraphale stared at the versions of his demon. He immediately sensed their love for the versions of himself that it was almost palpable. The sight infront of him was heart warming.

He sigh and snapped his fingers, his white robe being replaced by his white suit. “Very well. Lets take this conversation somewhere else shall we?”

“I think thats a-

“TERRIBLE IDEA” Movie crowley intervened. “Besides, I have work to do at the nightclub and-”

“WOT”

“a nightclub!?” why the f*ck do you have a night club?”

“hmm, interesting...”

Movie crowley made a face and then looked at his aziraphale who had placed a hand on his shoulder. “My dear, lets hear what they have to say. Besides, this is a rare opportunity! Oh! it never occured to me that there were more of us! just look at them! You are ever so handsome in any version! and- *GASP* they look so good in a bow tie!” Movie aziraphale was now gushing over their other versions without realizing that his optimistic attitude made them blush in delight.

Movie Crowley grumbled “nugh...FINE” and Movie Aziraphale beamed at him “excellent!” He snapped his fingers and soon appeared in his museum.

“Um, hello. Uh, its not that I dont like this place, but wouldn’t it have been better to miracle us to the bookshop?” Tv azi asked.

“hm? what bookshop, dear?” There were many gasps made and movie aziraphale looked at everyone whose expression where that of shock.

“Your bookshop! you...you don’t...?”

“You don’t own one?”

“Oh! sorry no. I don’t own one, never could have run one anyway. I wouldn’t know how”

“And who said that!?”

All the aziraphales looked horrified, even the crowleys looked slightly concerned before staring at crowley with a scowl. Movie crowley flinched and looked away.

“Listen” Movie Aziraphale started “I know that you all have something to share about crowley, but if you would let me” he looked at every single one in the room “I would like to speak first about the matter. Please?” He asked gently.

Everyone looked at each other, some shrugged and others just looked concerned, but at the end they all nodded.

“Thank you” Aziraphale said with a smile. He took a deep breath, and started with “I love crowley”

The sight before him made him smile and giggle. The crowleys had their jaws drop to the floor blsuhing at how easy this angel had said such a phrase, and the aziraphale’s were wide eyes and blushing to. Some had their hands on their cheeks steaming.

“I love crowley” he repeated “I love everything he does. He is so wicked, cool, handosme, aaaaand....” at that he turned to look at movie crowley who looked away from him for he knew what was coming “deep down a little bit good”

“He stood up to the devil himself! even after being offered to be the boss in alpha centauri, he stayed”

“cause you cheated...” movie crowley mumbled

“Yes, but you could have ignored it and left, but you didn’t”

Movie crowley shrunk more into his shoulders and hissed.

“Sure, he doesn’t like earth, he cheats at checkers, he runs a nightclub, and does many other (bad) things on earth, but thats how he is. He acts like a demon should, and I do not expect him to behave in another way. Of course he says things that...well...hurt...but don’t we all?”

Movie aziraphale saw something happen to his other versions.

“Crowley here is not meant to love, but I am, and I have...so much love to give, that no matter how many times he cheats, says mean things to me, or tried to leave without me....I will always forgive him, and my love for him will not change because I love him like that, and he likes me too...in his own way”

“He is my best friend, I’d help him anytime, follow him if he were to ask me-”

“really?” Red head crowley asked

“of course” Movie aziraphale answered.

“I do not wish him any harm...in fact it makes me happy that he stayed. I’d be so lonely without him” Aziraphale put his hands together “so please, do not hate on him. He did something good for the world despite his dislike of it...”

“But...he is so mean to you...” one of the aziraphale’s said. His hands were then taken by Movie Aziraphale’s own who hold them affectionately.

“thank you...for your concern my dear, but I’m alright with it, he won’t scare me off with those manners of his anytime soon”

“Besides” Movie aziraphale movied to the other crowleys “look at these demons! aren’t they cool!? So handsome and wicked!” The crowleys were now blushing at this version of their angel gushing over them.

“Tell me, don’t you all love them for who they are?” Movie aziraphale looked at all the Aziraphales who looked at each other and sigh “We do”

“I know” movie aziraphale smiled “I can feel it”

________________________________________________

After everyone left, Movie Aziraphale walked towards his Crowley and placed his arms around his shoulders. His chin now layed on crowley’s hair.

“I meant every single word I said to them”

“nugh....i know...you always did”

“hmm”

“......I love you too” crowley mumbled.

“what was that?”

“I’m not saying it again angel” crowley said through clenched teeth

“Oh Crowley please! say it one more time I didn’t hear it!”

“Tough luck then, cause ya ain’t hearing it again anytime soon”

Aziraphale saw how crowley’s ears turned slightly red and he hugged him tighter to himself with a big smile.

                                                      FIN

[recurring-polynya]

What comparisons can be made between renruki and Ichiruki? I often wondered about this.

This is such a hot button issue that as soon as I received this (perfectly polite) ask, my body tensed up and my brain went Am I being trolled?

It’s honestly a shame that there is so much bad blood behind this, because it is, in fact, a very interesting thing to talk about, and I am going to attempt to do so in good faith, because I love thinking about this kind of thing. Even though I am very openly a Renruki shipper, I love all three of these characters very much, and I think that Ichigo and Rukia’s relationship is very important! I am doing my best to be neutral, although I have not read very much Ichiruki fanfic/meta, so please give me a benefit of a doubt. Obviously, I can’t stop anyone from reblogging this and putting their own comments on it, but I have no interest in getting in debates over it, so don’t be surprised if I don’t engage.

This is both long, and I am sure some people don’t care, so I’m gonna put the rest under a cut. I have tried to hard to write this in a way that will not make anyone mad, but if you think it will make you mad, please give yourself the gift of not clicking on it.

So, what is the same between Ichigo and Renji? Lots, actually. Physically, they are both tall, strong, and have ridiculously colored spiky hair. They are outwardly grumpy, but secretly have soft, gooey centers. Neither one of them is dumb, but they are both dumbasses. They are protectors: they would rather take any amount of pain or damage onto themselves than see a loved one hurt. Their friends are everything to them, and that goes triple for Rukia.

How are they different, then? There are three major bullets:

- Ichigo is alive. Renji is dead. Perhaps this is a little flip, but Renji belongs to same world that Rukia does, and Ichigo does not. This is not a value judgment, it is just a fact: If Rukia ends up with Renji, she stays where she is. If she ends up with Ichigo, either Rukia or Ichigo have to make a huge change. I will get back to this.

- Youth vs. Experience. Ichigo is a 15-year old boy, as we are told about 1000 times. There is some mystery over how old Rukia and Renji are, but they have graduated from secondary education and are currently employed. I think it’s safe to assume that they are roughly close in age to each other, but I think Rukia may perceive Renji as seeming older than herself-- he graduated from school, and she didn’t; he’s on his third squad transfer, whereas she’s hasn’t budged from her initial, entry-level job, and he’s now middle management. However, the arc of the story we don’t get to see, is that over the timeskips, Rukia not only catches up to, but surpasses him. Also, not for nothing, but I think that in the same way Rukia is immediately drawn to Ichigo because of his resemblance to Kaien, I think she is also drawn to him for his resemblance to Young Renji-- a grumpy, prickly young man, leaking self-doubt from every pore, whom she is more able to be generous towards through the lens of age and experience. (And I think this comparison could support either ship)

- Ichigo is the protagonist. Rules don’t apply to him. Fate breaks on his sword. He represents the triumph of love or hard work or dreams or what have you over the cruel millstone of the world. Renji, on the other hand, is firmly bound to the rules of the world in which he inhabits. In fact, that is arguably the entire purpose of his character. Renji’s fights are often used to set the stakes of the conflict-- ah, Renji got mangled, this guy must be tough. In the Soul Society Arc, he is an antagonist because he is doing what he is supposed to. In the TYBW, Kubo literally throws the two of them in a pit to fight some asauchi just to make the point that Renji is a shinigami and Ichigo is something else.

Let’s jump over to Rukia for a moment. Rukia is a great character, one of my favorite characters in any media. Rukia contains multitudes. She is tough and strong, but often melancholy. She can be beautiful and elegant, but she also lies and breaks rules and tried to put Kon in a dead cat once. Emotionally, she likes to present a cool front, but she has a big, loving heart, and she feels deeply. As a character, all of this makes her very easy to project onto, which is why I think so many people OTP her with someone, no matter who.Some people choose to try to make her into one of these things or another, and some people try to keep her as the full bundle of contradictions that she is.

There is no romantic content in canon Bleach. There is no romantic content in canon Bleach. There are many, many scenes that can be interpreted romantically, but no one goes on a date, no one kisses. Ichigo gazes longingly into the eyes of all his friends, it’s just a thing he does. Orihime does explicitly proclaim at one point that she loves Rukia, although I suspect that in the original Japanese, it’s the word for “friendship love” and not the very-rarely-used “romantic love.” I have seen a scene-for-scene comparison of IchiHime “romantic moments” only it’s Chad and Uryuu (which I choose to believe supports IshiChad, rather than negates IchiHime, but we may all choose for ourselves!) My point is that shipping in Bleach is a DIY craft, which, when we’re all having a good time, is what makes it so fun.

So, bringing all of this together, given that Ichigo and Renji are fairly similar characters, why are the ships so different, and what makes one appeal to some people and be abhorrent to someone else?

I think about romance stories a lot. I actually took a class on romance novels in college and I just really like to think about the mechanics of stories. In the truest sense of the word, “romance” is about extremes-- about sailing the high seas and wearing ostentatious shirts and shouting off a cliff in a rainstorm. When we talk about romance as a genre, the characters tend to behave in a way that we would not prefer our actual romantic partners do, but the over-the-top nature of it makes us swoon and our hearts drop -- except when it doesn’t. What is heart-breakingly romantic to some people can be a huge turn-off to others. The biggest fight my husband and I have ever had was over a kdrama. The male lead was hiding his identity from the female lead in order to help her, and I found it all to be deeply, deeply romantic, and my husband turned to me and said “He is being dishonest with her and I think it’s morally wrong” and I almost died.

So, let’s break down some of the themes of the two ships, which I think gets at the meat of what you were asking. Now, like I said, shipping is very participatory, and anyone may have their own ideas of how these relationships would be, and I am a big fan of “a great writer can get away with anything”, but in broad strokes, I think that these are the themes of the two ships:

IchiRuki:

Love conquers all/ Love is enough to overcome differences of class, age, lifestyle, geography, etc.

Instant connections/Love at first sight

Love is a force of the universe that cannot be denied or defeated

Young love

Grand gestures

Your partner changes you (in a positive way)/You effect change in your partner

Your partner is the center of your world

Your partner is the one person who can get through to you/You are the one person who can get through to your partner

Banter

Dumbassery

RenRuki:

Love takes work

Best friends to lovers

Second chances/Broken things can be repaired

Love is a choice

You improve with age

Shared experiences build love

Pining

Working together with your partner to create a mutually satisfying life together

Your partner enriches your world, but your independence is maintained

Banter

Dumbassery

There is also some degree of character interpretation at work, too-- there seems to be a huge degree of disagreement between fans as to whether:

a) Ichigo enjoys his normal, human life, and even though he do anything to protect what he loves, he would prefer to live a human existence with his human friends and family. He credits Rukia will helping him realize his strength and powers.

b) Ichigo is unsatisfied with his human life and that meeting Rukia opened the doorway to a life of excitement and adventure, on top of being given the strength to protect his loved ones.

As far as Ichigo pairings go, I think that most IchiHime people fall in category (a) and most IchiRuki (and GrimmIchi) shippers fall in (b). In both cases, peoples’ ships align with their view of what makes Ichigo happy. Most IchiRuki content I have seen  seems to feature Ichigo moving to Soul Society, rather than Rukia moving to Karakura. Rukia pretty explicitly indicates at the end of the Soul Society Arc that she wants to stay in Soul Society, plus she’s got a pretty established life there. Contrast that to the story of Isshin and Masaki-- Isshin seems pretty flippant and disaffected about his life in Soul Society; it doesn’t seem like it was a particularly hard choice for him to give up being a shinigami. Also, it’s pretty clear that what Isshin did was illegal, and I’m not sure there would be an easy way for Rukia to just say “WELP, I’m off to live as a human, smell you jerks later.”

To try to wrap things up, I think the actual dynamics of an IchiRuki or RenRuki relationship would be very similar, actually. They would banter a lot and dive headfirst into danger and support each other no matter what. Byakuya would treat either guy with the vaguest, most grudging amount of respect. The primary perpetual, unresolved argument between Rukia and Ichigo would be “The Living World is dumb/Soul Society is dumb”, whereas with Rukia and Renji, it would be “Squad 6 is dumb/Squad 13 is dumb wait no I didn’t mean that Captain Ukitake is an angel.”

Personally, I headcanon Renji as being more able than Ichigo to step back and be the support person in the relationship (see that bullet about Ichigo being the protag), so I think that RenRuki could manage to run a functional household, whereas Ichigo and Rukia would just go on adventures until they got arrested for tax evasion.

*For the record, I am very pro-IchiRenRuki, except that they would be even worse at running a household. It’s just Renji trying to explain how a chore wheel works while Rukia and Ichigo walk out the door on him.

[dangermousie]

2019 END OF YEAR KDrama Post

Wow, I haven’t made one in years. This is going to involve only dramas that came out in 2019 because I watched a hell of a lot dramas made prior to that and trying to figure out which ones will give me a headache.

DRAMAS WATCHED (In order of liking from most to least as opposed to pure quality; I am including if I’ve seen at least two eps AND feel it was enough to make up my mind; yes I realize that’s inaccurate, but that’s my list)

Extraordinary You -  A philosophy and religion course AND a love story, and perfect at both.

My Country - a brutal, passionate, intense masterpiece of a sageuk. This is how they should be.

Crash Landing On You - the two eps that have aired brought my joy in watching kdramas back to me so vividly. This is everything. 

Encounter - the perfect noona romance of the year for me. It seems to have little plot (powerful older woman, idealistic younger man) but the characters made me love them with an unhealthy amount of attachment and the mood is just perfect. 

Haechi - smart traditional sageuk with a heart. This one will make you love it but also respect it in the morning :)

Queen: Love and War - Period, romance, mystery, helpless king and feisty heroine. It’s everything I love in one package. 

Chocolate - if, like me, you like slow old-school melo with genuine grown-ups, this one is for you. Ha Ji Won and Yoon Kye Sang are both incandescent in this. 

One Spring Night - a rare slice of life that worked for me so so much. I rooted for the main OTP like crazy (I did skip all the sister stuff though because boring to me.) It’s just a breath of fresh air.

The Tale of Nokdu - a rare funny youth sageuk that worked for me (except, ironically, for when they tried to be politics-heavy and serious about it.) Wonderful OTP, funny situations and just generally a delight. 

Memories of the Alhambra - I can hear people screaming that I put this so high, but this is a faves ranking, not objective one, and I loved the unusual premise (it ultimately fell apart but it tried), and Hyun Bin’s performance was out of this world and the aaaaagnst and I enjoyed waiting for it each week until almost the end. That ending though!!!!!

Psychopath Diary - this is black comedy at its best and hysterical and smart and somehow got me invested in the hapless protagonist. 

Hotel del Luna - clever and funny and smart. Hong Sisters largely back to form. I found the sageuk parts more engaging than modern ones, but what else is new.

Search WWW - some parts of it worked for me more than others, but it had solid writing and cool characters and some interesting OTP(s). 

Love is Beautiful Life is Wonderful - has the weekend drama slowness but it lovely and fun. 

When the Camellia Blooms - it was well made and the OTP was great and the acting top notch, I just don’t tend to go gaga for slice of life dramas, especially ones involving market ladies, much. 

Flower Crew Joseon Marriage Agency - competently done, pretty period piece about nothing. It was enjoyable and forgettable at once.

Catch the Ghost - I put it as high as I did because the OTP really did have lovely chemistry but the story was a complete mess, the police work made no sense and the heroine’s character was like nails on a chalkboard for me.

Joseon Survival - I got about four episodes in and liked it a lot but then Kang Ji Hwan turned out to be a convicted rapist, they replaced the lead and I didn’t go back. I kind of want to because I liked what I saw and I am madly curious as to whether they changed the main character or just said he had a different face now, no explanation. 

The Last Empress - pure inconsistent trash but so entertaining!

Vagabond - I made it eight episodes in before I realized that I would have as much fun staring at traffic. It’s a competently done actioner but without more, actioners never work for me, so this was a viewer/drama mismatch.

Arthdal  Chronicles - incoherent, visually odd and boring, this is arguably the worst drama this year but I am giving it higher place because the cast really tries (even if it tends to fail because it has nothing to work with) and because it attempted something different even if it failed spectacularly. SO BAD.

Melting Me Softly - yes, my brain was fully melted by this soulless, charmless waste of Ji Chang Wook and my limited free time.

VIP - Any drama that makes the main mystery and thrust of the story who the husband cheated on his wife with is BORING. Seriously, this is not exactly Hercule Poirot. They wasted their cast - I have NO idea why Lee Sang Yoon agreed to be in this as a one note character and Jang Nara is playing a second scorned wife in a row but without even the entertainment value of her previous outing.

Abyss - aptly named. The best thing I can say about it is it didn’t offend me but oh boy was it dull.

Absolute Boyfriend - I loved the manga but it’s time to accept this can never be adapted well. They wasted the cast and that ending was just an insult on top of a trash heap.

The Lies Within - you cast that cast and deliberately have no romance. You are dead to me. 

Woman of 9.9 Billion - competently made, but it’s everything I dislike - dour unpleasant bored people behaving as if they are in a particularly dreary art-house French movie but without any nuance or interest the latter came provide. 

Love with Flaws - shrill, dumb, neither acted nor written by anyone trying at all. 

Rookie Historian Goo Hae Ryung - objectively, it’s not the worst drama on the list, but it’s everything I hate in one package - willfully ahistorical but not cleverly so, male lead incapable of acting, the characters so one-dimensional they disappear, this purports to be a period drama but about as period as a space ship. God, I loathed this. 

FAVORITE DRAMA

Extraordinary You - smart (so mind-bendingly smart) and moving and totally unpredictable and with so many things to say about free will and religion and self and nature of memory and narrative, this had an insane impossible premise and yet somehow managed to do it full justice and stick the landing. 

WORST DRAMA

People with Flaws - this is different from least favorite because even if I loathed e.g., Rookie Historian or Woman of 9.9 Billion, I recognized some positive features; it’s just certain things really rubbed me the wrong way due to personal preferences. But this shrill hot mess of a drama is really everything that’s wrong with dramaworld.

FAVORITE MALE CHARACTER

Prince Yeoning, Haechi - fiercely smart, strong, tormented by the duality of his birth (royal father, servant mother) but not letting this distract him from his purpose, loyal to the bone, and with integrity nothing can shake but where you can feel that it’s not easy and that it costs him.

FAVORITE FEMALE CHARACTER

Eun Dan Oh, Extraordinary You - a go-getter who remakes the world (literally); smart, cheerful, strong, beautifully human. She feels so real and yet is larger than anything around her. 

NEEDS TO BE MURDERED

Yi Seung Gye, My Country - a sociopath destroying lives in his quest for power and control, even the destruction of his own family barely gives him anything but momentary pause. He is the reason for the tragedy of MC. 

FAVORITE SHIP

Eun Dan Oh x Haru, Extraordinary You - their love is literally universe and god-defying. They have loved each other as different people in three separate worlds (and counting), and have defied loss of memory and even loss of self as well as death, the end of worlds, and their god and the narrative and literally anything and everything, to be together.

Runner Up: Soo Hyun x Jin Hyuk, Encounter: tender and decent and his bringing her back to vivid life and the way they love and support and compliment each other.  

Probably gonna be on list if doesn’t go haywire: Crash Landing on You: she is a SK heiress, he’s a NK officer, they have mad chemistry and so much potential.

NOTP:

Tae Mi x Morgan, Search WWW - love the actors, love the chemistry, love the characters in terms of the way they are written, but they are absolutely wrong for each other and there is no future of any sort but misery ahead. None of their issues are resolved but are swept under the rug. It’s a cautionary tale, not a romance. I did a long rant before so not repeating. 

BEST SECONDARY OTP

Scarlett x Ji Hwan, Search WWW - they stole the shippiness in the drama for me. Cooky and adorable and noona romance done right.

FAVORITE SCENE

Haru’s final disappearance, Extraordinary You - the lights start to go out, the world literally dissolving, Eun Oh and Haru clinging to each other, with his telling her she was his beginning and the end. His name, the one she gave him, is the last thing he hears. In a drama full of amazing scenes the very gist of which was defying the very creator and universe and meaning of existence, this was the one that stayed with me the most.

BIGGEST CRUSH

Seo Hwi, My Country - I have a thing for deeply honorable, deeply tortured period badasses with long hair and a death wish (see Choi Young in Faith etc.)

BEST SCENE STEALER CHARACTER

Yi Bang Won, My Country - he started out as an antihero and ended up as arguably a tragic villain (or maybe still an anti-hero) but oh boy, was he magnetic and fascinating and sucking out all the oxygen whenever he was in the scene.

NEEDS A SEQUEL

Memories of the Alhambra - WTF ending was that?! All that misery and no real resolution?! Dammit!

TROPE THAT NEEDS TO DIE

Youth Sageuk - I hate most of them! They are anachronistic and dumb and honestly, what is the point of having fully modern people in period clothes? Just make a modern show and call it a day.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT

Melting Me Softly - Ji Chang Wook’s first project back from the military was an unfunny, unmoving, pointless mess with not an ounce of genuine enjoyment despite the excellent pedigree of everyone involved in front and behind the camera.

Arthdal Chronicles - the makers made excellent Queen Seon Duk, Tree with Deep Roots and Six Flying Dragons. The cast was uniformly A grade. The result was an open-ended, boring, incoherent mess that looks like a bad sort of a drug trip and made about as much sense. 

BIGGEST GOOD SURPRISE

Extraordinary You - I had zero interest in yet another high school drama with no actors I recognized. By the end, EY was an emotional brainy twister of a marvel that became my favorite drama of all time. I’ve been watching dramas for over 13 years so that’s saying something.

2019 DRAMAS I HAVEN’T SEEN THAT I MOST WANT TO WATCH

The Crowned Clown - I love sageuks and cast and it looks so smart and emotional

Angel’s Last Mission: Love - my next contemporary - I watched a little and loved what I saw

Fates and Furies - I saw a few eps and classic melo is so up my alley.

Clean with a Passion for Now - I like the cast and it’s a year of falling for hot weird bosses apparently.

Graceful Family - I love makjang and Im Soo Jung.

The Secret Life of My Secretary - downmarket Beauty Inside and I loved BI.

Love Affairs in the Afternoon - artsy adultery FTW

Item - I don’t like crime stuff but I am here for Joo Ji Hoon.

My Strange Hero - seems a little cooky but I am fond of Yoo Seung Ho.

MOST ANTICIPATED IN 2020

King: the Eternal Monarch - Lee Min Ho and Woo Do Hwan and parallel worlds and written by Kim Eun Suk. Yes Please.

I should probably make one for cdramas too though that one would be rather shorter.

[katierosefun]

andddd july flew by, and i’m here to give everyone an unasked for report of...things...i watched / read / listened to this month because why not

kdramas: 

miss hammurabi

aaaah oh my god the way i told myself that i won’t be watching any more legal kdramas because your honor stressed me out so much--but god. i wound up watching this and fell in love with it so fast? miss hammurabi is about a rookie judge (the gal on the right) disrupting the judicial system with her strong sense of justice. i really wasn’t too sure if i’d like her, but oh god. i fell in love with her so fast, with her desire to make the world a better place and her ability to smile even though she’s had a horrific life of her own.

honestly, i really just loved this show, mostly for how it covers so many issues in the courthouse, from working overtime to the emotional fatigue to the frustrations with those brought to court to the actual cases themselves, which are all civil court things (so we get some stuff about sexual harassment, child custody, medical malpractice, etc). this show really demonstrated that each of these cases were important--and also...really hard-hitting. i think i cried at least once per episode just because...yeah. i’m reminded that no one goes to the courthouse because they’re happy or because they’re having a good time, and it really is the job of judges and lawyers to keep a cool head and execute justice the best they can. 

so basically: i loved this show. i loved it a lot more than i thought i would, and that’s always a good thing. there’s also not a whole ton of romance here either, if you’re looking for a show that’s not really too deep into that. it’s def. more focused on depicting the legal field, as well as all of the complications that come with that. as a result, there’s a lot of heartbreaking moments in the show, but there’s also many, many, many uplifting ones that reminded me a lot of why i personally want to enter the legal field. so if you’re looking for a show that might restore your faith in humanity, then i def. recommend this kdrama!

beyond evil 

so.....it’s no secret that i’ve been mildly obsessed with this show. i binge-watched it in the span of...i think four (4) days, so that’s averaging about four episodes (4 hours) a day. let me just say...i was kind of on the fence about watching this, but now i’m really glad that i did because whooo boy, i was in for a ride. basically, this show is about lee dong sik, who was accused of murdering his sister (amongst others) 20 years ago...and han ju won, the young detective / inspector who’s trying to track down the murderer (who he believes is lee dong sik). 

lots of other things happen, but that’s the least spoiler-y summary i can give of this show because....whooooo boy, there’s just so many twists and turns in this show? as soon as you start thinking you have everything figured out, this show tosses in another thing that reminds you of just how clueless you actually are. that said though, none of the twists felt out of place--they all felt very planned and very smart, so kudos to the writers for that! 

overall, i hella enjoyed this show--the plot, the characters (who all want to do the right thing, but they’re all very jaded in their own ways which makes being a 100% good person basically impossible in this monster of a town), and, of course, the relationship between dong sik and ju won. there was just an absolutely fascinating push and pull between their relationship, lots of distrust and mocking each other in the beginning...only to slowly but steadily grow into trust and respect for each other (and in my head, def. something more....but lol i’ll let you guys decide on that for yourself ;)) 

i.....genuinely loved this show. i found this show just incredibly smartly written, and all the characters were incredibly intriguing? and the relationships were all fascinating to me? just. god. this show ripped me apart so many times, and i loved it all the more for it. like. guys. i wrote or started writing about six fics for this show in the span of 48 hours because i love it that much.

movies:

the handmaiden

ohohoho this movie has been on my to watch list for the LONGEST TIME, and i was glad that i gave myself some time to watch this movie at the start of the month, because...whoooo boy, it was so good. this movie is inspired by the book the fingersmith by sarah waters, only whereas i think the book took place in victorian england, this movie takes place in japan-occupied-korea. sook hee, a pickpocket, is hired by a conman to persuade the secluded lady hideko to marry him. the conman plans to later inherit hideko’s wealth and send hideko off to the madhouse. 

many things happen over the course of this movie, and i’m not going to spoil anything, but oh boy...oh boy. i mean, this movie is pretty well-known for the main relationship between the two protagonists, sook hee and hideko. the romance was such a ride, and i thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of it. this movie really said “be gay, do crime” in the best way possible. 

as a quick warning though, this movie definitely is erotic. i kinda knew that heading into the movie, and i was still a little caught off-guard. so maybe if you’re a little squicked out by sex/erotica in general, i’d maybe skip over this movie. that said, this movie was beautifully filmed, with beautiful writing, and the cast was just perfect. i don’t think i’ve seen a movie so beautifully or smartly crafted like this before, and i’m very glad i watched this film. 

the meg

let me caveat by saying....i watched this because my brother wanted to watch it, so i sat through this movie and...y’know? it wasn’t awful. kinda predictable as far as shark movies go, but it wasn’t bad! i found myself enjoying it a little more than i thought i would...? but basically, this movie is about, you guessed it, an underwater research facility that was just looking into a deeper part of the ocean and etc. surprise, they found! a megalodon. multiple megalodons! cue the chaos. 

so...there were definitely some more suspenseful moments. i shouted “these people just KEEP FALLING OFF THE BOAT” a few times. there was one character who i was like “oh man he’s gonna be the villain isn’t he :( darn :(” to “oh hey he has a heart” to “oh never mind” to “ooph”. there were some more slightly emotional moments, but?? not particularly thought-provoking or impactful. so like? overall? it was one of those movies where like....it’s not bad, it’s not really good, but! hey, not all movies need to be incredibly deep to be even somewhat enjoyable! (and like, i mostly just enjoyed watching this movie because my brother and i cracked commentary all throughout it, much to my father’s chagrin.) 

music: 

so, apparently my music taste changes when i’m thinking about something that’s not star wars related, and i saw a bit of that when i was making this playlist for lee dong sik and han joo won from beyond evil. as spotify works, it wound up with me adding a few of my songs that i thought fit them, and then i wound up going into the radio part of my playlist and listening to a lot of new songs, and i just have to list some of my new faves here: 

let me follow by son lux: you know when you hear a song that just feels so...strangely cinematic? like, you get all kinds of vivid images in your head and stuff? this was def. one of those songs. it’s quiet, and there’s something weirdly...ephemeral about it? that’s the only way i can describe it. and mildly haunting. and mildly tragic. idk why, but i think big fans of tragedy & the patroclus/achilles kind of feel might like this song. it’s just. god. i spent 2 hours sitting in my bed just listening to this song on loop. 

not in the same way by 5 seconds of summer: this is a public scolding @ 15 year old me who thought it was lame to like 5sos just because they were getting popular. boo, 15 year old caroline and her “i’m a weirdo, i’m not like other girls or other people my age” phase! because 5sos actually slaps, and this was one of my fave songs? idk. another weirdly cinematic song. the refrain is just chef’s kiss, in the kind of rambly way that leads to a shout. i love that kind of stuff. 

start of time by gabrielle aplin. bro...the way gabrielle aplin’s voice brought me straight back to 2014-2016 era caroline...but weirdly, i haven’t heard this song from her before? and bro. bro....i’ve never wanted to run to the top of a hill and watch the sunrise with a loved one so bad in my whole life. god. idk. if you need a song that makes you feel like. things just might get better. this one’s for you. 

sedated by hozier: okay, so i’ve only ever listened to a handful of hozier songs in my whole life (i know, i know, how can i bicon like myself not listen to hozier 24/7? le sigh), but bro.....bro. i get it now. i get why people screech about hozier. i already liked his music before, but...ah. idk. something very powerful about this song. i now understand why people want to lie down in the middle of the woods when they listen to his music. 

[gabzilla-z]

I heard you mentioned that Adrien/Marinette went down the tubes. I stopped watching the show a while ago, and I've heard some vague misogynistic crap happened without knowing the details, but dare I ask what went wrong with the show?

where to start

well let’s just focus on the romance

So the show starts with a typical shojo love square. So far so good, you have four different angles to tackle the same relationship thanks to secret identities. Girl crushes on boy who crushes on her alter ego, she’s not romantically interested, while boy crushes on alter ego while he is not romantically interested in because he’s already crushin... you get the idea.

Season one has its flaws, the epìsodes are out of order and the “origins/first meeting” that kickstarts their feelings is aired at the end of the season. But nothing that can’t be ironed out.

At this point you have a pretty strong hero bond. Chat flirts with Ladybug, she playfully tells him no, he’s not overly pushy. They care about each other very much. On the civillian side, Marinette has difficulties acting normal in front of Adrien but she’s slowly loosening up, so they are moving towards a friendship. 

So what happens next? Well you’d expect them their relationship to progress. And in some episodes of season 2 and 3, it does. Sorta.

Until the show hits the reset button and Marinette acts more and more like a stalker and Chat gets more and more petty every time Ladybug rejects his advances. We are not back to square one, we are out of the board. 

To mantain the status quo, it cannot progress. Marinette needs to still have a comical crush on Adrien which sometimes borders on humilliating. Adrien needs to send her soft looks while being comically oblivious and insisting to anybody who listens that she’s just a friend. Ladybug needs to see Chat as nothing more than a friend and reject his advances. And Chat needs to be infatuated with Ladybug and constantly make a move no matter how many time he’s rejected. It doesn’t matter if there’s progress in one episode, it will go back to status quo by the next (the out of order episodes don’t help)

At first, the only “love rival” is Chloe, who is so cartoonishly mean she’s not even taken seriously. On the other side you have Nino crushing on Marinette for one episode. At the end of season 1 we get Lila, who is maybe even worse than Chloe.

That’s two girls with practically no redeeming qualities that hate our female protagonist vs one sweet boy that is bff with the male protagonist and IDK if it even counts cause his crush lasts for one episode.

Huh

Moving on...

Season 2 introduces the “serious” love rivals, who honestly feel like they came right out of a kdrama. We have the cold on the outside sweet on the inside, rich, kind, no-nonsense and beautiful Kagami who crushes on Adrien. At first she seems to not like Marinette at all but warms up to her eventually; and “came straight out of a perfect boyfriend catalogue” Luka, who crushes on Marinette and is totally cool with Adrien. Both Adrien and Marinette seem receptive to their advances, but their feelings for their respective crushes don’t let them act on it. That’s it, until the season finale of season three where they both seem to move on from Ladybug/Adrien.

So what’s the issue?

Well the main issue is that we were already told Marinette and Adrien end up together so Luka and Kagami are at best the path for our heroes to mature in their feelings, at worst tools for misunderstanding and jealousy shenanigans. 

But Gabz, you may say, Adrien and Marinette need to grow up before they can be with each other because at this point their crushes are more bad than good.

Well yeah, that’s the other issue. We wouldn’t be here if the show allowed our main characters to grow without hitting the reset button every three episodes. So it doesn’t feel like an honest progression and more like forcing the characters to accomodate a set ending while hitting the biggest amount of bad love tropes in the process.

You could have introduced Luka and Kagami back in season one, where you could argue that their feelings were “less developed” to allow them to explore other possibilities.

Or if your want the stakes to be highter, you could have introduced them after their feelings grew and became deeper but couldn’t progress because of good reasons (like the fact that they can’t know their identities, Adrien’s multiple family issues, etc). More dramatic that what I’d like, but still doable.

Instead you get a yo-yo development that wants to have its cake and eat it too. Where the show wants you to feel for the square and be saaaad about them going for other people while at the same time sabotaging their development and making it look like a joke because of lazy writing. Why should I root for them to get together when it doesn’t seem to be good for either of them? The well is already poisoned.

[honeyedmilks]

ten answers, ten questions: kdrama edition

thank you so much for tagging me @kdramafeelings!! 💖 here i go! 

rom com or mystery thriller? why?

oh i’ll have to say rom com! i’m always a sucker for romance :’) and anything that makes me laugh is a wonderful plus.

is there a drama you love, but wouldn’t recommend to everyone cause you think it wouldn’t fit everyone’s taste? 

there is actually a drama i really liked, not one i’ve seen even a single person talk about much here on tumblr- que sera sera. it starred eric mun and jung yu mi. it was really interesting and was very show not tell, and i think it is something that would’t suit everyone’s taste...a lot happens in it and then there was the wild ride that was the infamous ninth episode with some scenes that i think would lose some fans... and man... you also had the outfits the stylists dressed eric in LMAO, but i shan’t give spoilers. though i would warn some potentially distressing sexual assault scenes, in case anyone decides to pick it up. 

what’s more important to you, your favourite actors/ actresses in a drama, or a a good plot line with a good script? 

i’ll have to say a good plot line with a good script. because i love park hyung sik but he couldn’t save the mess that was hwarang and strong woman do bong soon. and as a writer myself, i would rather have something good worth watching than stay for my faves, again for example- ryu jun yeol? LOVE! lucky romance? DID NOT LOVE. 

do you like to get spoilers before watching a drama or do you hate everyone that spoiled the story for you? 

honestly, i’m a spoiler kind of girl. i like knowing what i’m getting myself in too... my anxiety is too much HA so i often read up on stuff before i watch it, maybe even a scene i feel uneasy about, i’ll go to dramabeans and skim through a recap if it’s up. i guess i’m my own enemy because when i don’t brave it up and read recaps then i often stop watching or only watch certain scenes... but i never had spoilers for reply 1988 and that killed me so... spoilers it is... though spoilers for airing dramas i like... they’re always fun for me because i often get super hype and just want to know what’s gonna happen next! i’m that one hoe who stalks the tag on the drama day for spoiler posts.

if you listen to kpop, did you start before watching kdramas or after? 

ah i was in the drama scene way before the kpop scene- kpop is something i only got into recently out of curiosity i think. i honestly don’t remember what i was doing with my life before it though LMAO. i mean when i first watched moon lovers i had no idea who people like baekhyun or iu were. truly wild. i even started watching to the beautiful you years ago and didn’t know the legend that was choi min ho... can you believe?? like even with hwarang which i watched as it was airing (and dropped near the middle but checked the tags now and then)- i had no idea who taehyung and choi min ho were!!!!!!!! and they’re my faves now!! at least you can’t say that i’m biased when i watch dramas lmao 

favourite director? and do you realise if the drama is from him/her when you watch a drama? 

hmm that’s a tricky question, i have shows where i rather admire the cinematography and some of the shots and directing choices, but i’ve never really actively searched for the directors and so i don’t think i would really recognise their other work? or maybe i just don’t in general. but i would say that i really liked the director lee yoon jung, i think she’s directed heart to heart, coffee prince and cheese in the trap (which had a directing style i thought was really cool at times) 

what are your reasons to drop a drama?

gah that’s tricky... there are dramas i’ve dropped then some i took a break from then came back to... there are some where i just read through what happened instead of watched... if a drama is doing badly- as in not keeping me gripped and caring about the characters then i sometimes find myself drifting. i’ll drop dramas if i don’t really like the romantic relationships, like maybe if the pacing felt off or the relationship was not what i thought it would be or if it became toxic. i tend to finish airing drama’s more than one’s that have already aired and are up. i guess i’m very fussy and also very bad at keeping myself engrossed. i mean, if i don’t care for any aspect of the show then i’ll definitely drop it because then what’s the point if i’m not feeling stuff? sometime i’ll drop a show if it’s too stupid or ridiculous... agh there are so many reasons to drop things lmao like even unlikable characters and relationships are enough for me to say byeee i mean sometimes even shitty acting and quality gets to me.

is there an actor/ actress whose complete filmography you’ve watched, and if not, who is the actor you’ve watched most? 

ooh this is an very interesting question. i don’t think there is anyone who’s whole filmography i’ve seen but i have seen quite a bit of shin min ah’s work, as well as gong hyo jin’s and lee sung kyung’s work purely by coincidence. oh and lee seung gi and seo in guk’s are the only actors i think. 

have you ever watched a 50 episode sageuk drama? if not, would you ever consider it?

bruh. i’ve not seen one, no... i think i would consider it... but it would have to be one bomb ass series for me to get through it. and i’m talking about the bomb dot com. 

did you reach a point in a drama where you were just tired of the protagonists and started to root for the villain? who and why? 

ahh i don’t think so? so many shows i’ve watched didn’t even necessarily have a villain? but i guess boys over flowers did make me want to pull my hair out a bit, along with fated to love you. though the latter more- it was actually the male lead that had me 100000% done. and maybe beautiful gong shim but i loved my leads even if they were ridiculous. 

whew that was fun! now for my ten questions! 

1. do you have any actors/ actresses who you think are over rated? along with their works? anyone where you just don’t see the mass appeal? 

2. are there any dramas you liked but would tweak certain aspects of to make them perfect? if so, which ones and what would you tweak, change or add? 

3. top three favourite actresses? 

4. what’s the drama world you would like to live in? is it a goblin world? a mermaid world? a world with a royal monarchy? a world where you could be a ceo at the age of 20 just because of the golden family business? you can include general setting or houses you wouldn’t mind staying in. 

5. top three dramas where you loved the fashion/ outfits/ costumes?

6. top three dramas where you did NOT love some of the fashion/ style choices made? 

7. who’s your dramaland hubby/ wife? (mine’s baek in ho ;p) your dream partner? who is it.. your dramaland soul mate?

8. any dramas you thought had wasted potential? 

9. two dramas where you loved the ost? 

10. what do you think is the most iconic kdrama? 

i shall be tagging these lovelies to give this a go! @youngjei @junyeol-s @minhyowon @theseaisagreatplace @jichangswooks @timrggins  💖