#SEUNG HYUN DOES AS WELL

[bl-bam-beyond]

A LOOK BACK at Jong Chan & Seung Hyun

Remember the brief moment when Jong Chan's ex and Seung Hyun's first love (crush) Na Soo Seong encouraged Jong Chan to pursue Seung Hyun and then...

THE NEW EMPLOYEE (2022, SOUTH KOREA)

And the way Jong Chan (KWON HYUK) the man all about work trained his eye on the cute intern Seung Hyun (MOON JI YONG)

The way Jong Chan looked at Seung Hyun once he looked at him "that way" was magical.

@pose4photoml @lutawolf @kingofthereblog-boysloveed @thewayofsubtext @pharawee @absolutebl

[authorhjk1]

Surviving NNN

Part Five: Songs and TV remotes

The month is coming to an end. While you are happy about that, the three girls in your apartment can't share the same feeling. They don't know what Karina has promised you, but they are all sure that it can't be better than having you to themselves until she is back.

They even have a bet going on between the three of them as well. Just like you, they are not allowd to cum. As we already know, Chaewon lost that bet. But are the other two aware? And if that's the case, what is her punishment? Or does the winner get a reward?

But while Minju waits for you and Yena to come home, it seems like another one of the girls might fail their own challenge. The young woman is sitting on the leather couch. One might think she is enjoying a movie or a TV show. But if you were to take a closer look, you would soon find out that this little angel is enjoying something else.

So far, she was able to keep her hands off herself. But Minju's rapidly increasing horniness makes it hard for her to concentrate. Her eyes are glued to the TV, like a five year old watching an exciting kids show. The young woman bites her lower lip, a quiet moan escaping her mouth.

She was just carelessly watching some Youtube videos. Dreamcatcher's new MV to be exact (It came out today, check it out). But the algorithm soon directed her to another kind of videos. Yours. The first one was your last MV. "Emperor" is it's title, while the album is called "Dream of death". The whole album is basically about you, having nightmares of your recent lives. The title song describes your life as an emperor of Korea. The good parts and the bad parts.

Minju tried to take in every detail of you as she watched the video. You had a wig on, since you are supposed to have long hair. She finds this look on you really hot, espeacially during the scene where you sit on the throne, you hair falling over your shoulders as you lean forward.

Minju was already close to her limit at this point. But after that came the real trouble for her. Fan cams and stage performances. Minju sighed everytime you did a hot move, making her squirm in her seat. Her excitement kept building and building. The way your body moved to the rhythm of the music. Your facial expressions. Your deep, sad voice. All of it proofs too much for Minju.

She is now half lying on the couch, her head resting against the backrest. She threw a blanket over her lap earlier, because she was cold. She decided on the tightes and shortest pair of hot pants she could find this morning. The month is coming to an end and she still hasn't made you cum.

The blanket is now hiding Minju's hand as it's unbuttoning her shorts. She pulls down the zipper at the same time as you lift your shirt on stage. The young woman hears the screams and cheers from the crowd, mostly women's. She sees your toned abs for just a moment. They are glistening with sweat after having danced for more than an hour already.

As Minju is about to touch herself, she stops. In her current state of mind it's a Hercules task for her. Is she really willing to give up so easily? She sighs in relief as she sees that the video has come to an end.

But her horniness takes over as soon as the next one starts. It's a performance video. But not just of you, but Karina as well. Although not being in the same agency, the two of you did a cover together. "Trouble Maker" by Hyuna and Hyun Seung. The two of you performed it right before you got caught. Everyone said that the two of you had crazy chemistry together.

As soon as Minju sees you in that loosely buttoned up shirt, she immediately has the urge to touch herself. Not wearing panties is now definitely a benefit. But when Minju sees Karina standing in front of you, she soon realizes that her fingers are not going to cut it. If she really is going to give into the temptation of cuming after almost a month without it, she has to make this a really good experience. Her eyes stop at the TV remote that lies next to her. She shakes her head in disbelief. She shouldn't do it. She can't.

And yet, she reaches for it. Minju lets out a deep moan as she feels the cold plastic against her entrance. She sees you, lying your hand on Karina's midriff. Your girlfriend is only wearing a skirt and a short top, exposing her naked skin. Minju can almost feel your hand glide over her belly button as she pushes your remote into her wet pussy.

Yena looks at you in disbelief. She came back from Hong Kong yesterday. Her eyes wide as she stares at you.

"Are you sure we should do this?"

You nod. You made up your mind.

"I can't wait. Let's go!"

You chuckle as you turn around in your chair. The two of you were having lunch with Lee Jung. She is an excellent dancer and choreographer. She is Yena's costar in "HYEMILEEYECHAEPA" and is responsible for some of the most famous dance choreos. BlackpinK's dances come to mind.

Now, you and Yena are sitting in your studio after you have finished the song you will be releasing soon. You offered her to be the first person to listen to it.

You start the music and Yena immediately bobs her head to the rhythm. It takes a couple of moments, before you start off the song.

"This is Moon. Let's get it."

You have a couple of phrases or signature sounds to start off your songs. But you usually use this one for songs with a lot of rap in them. Your fans allways differentiate between your singing voice and rap voice. They call you Jin-wol when you sing and Moon when you rap.

You study Yena's excited face. You value her opinion a lot.

"It's already dark, but we don't sleep

The half-eaten cupcake on your plate

Your hot breath against my cheek

We both now that this is fate"

Yena has a big smile on her face, unaware of what this song is about. No one would be able to guess its actuall meaning. Except Karina. Because this is the first night you spend together.You want to get back at her for this stupid bet. And you know she is going to listen too it as soon as you release it. Which will happen before this month is over.

As the song keeps going, Yena's cheeks start to flush, just like Chaewon, when she read a small part of the lyrics. This song is pretty much only rap, which makes it sound even a little dirtier than it actually is. By now, you've switched up the beat, while changing the tone of your voice and the rapping as well.

"My lips travel up your gorgous body huh

Your skin tastes just like Lotus flowers huh

My mouth moves up your thighs, getting sloppy huh

I could see myself between your legs for hours huh"

Yena has frozen still, her wide eyes glued to the screen of your recording equipment. Only now you relaise that Yena's right hand is resting on her thigh. The rest of the song stays on a level similar to this. Everyone with a brain knows what you mean, but you never say it out loud.

Once the song ends, Yena looks at you. You can see the conflict within her. She wants to tell you it's too explicit. And yet she is about to ask for a rewind. Her lip slightly quivering as images run through her head.

"You wanna hear the other two songs?"

It's a mini album since your last full album isn't that long ago. The other two songs are already finished as well. You see Yena hesitating before she nods. Even in her own her head, she doesn't know why she wants to hear more. Just because she is a big fan?

A big guilty smile plays around Kim Minju's lips as she sees you and Yena walk in. The hand that is still holding the remote is still under the blanket.

"Oppa let me listen to his new songs!" Yena boasts as Minju tries to hide the fact that she was masturbating just a second ago.

"Oh really?"

The disapointment in her voice clearly evident.

"Don't worry, it will come out any day now."

Yena skips towards the room she and Chaewon share. Minju catches Yena's slightly rosy cheeks as she passes by.

"What are you up to Minju?"

You look at the TV. Minju has stopped one of your stage vidoes. You are standing on stage, your white shirt pulled up, your abs exposed. The hem of your shirt is tugged between your teeth as you are about to do a body roll.

"Minju?"

_________

Hi everyone!

I apologize for the cringy lyrics once again. I don't think I'm cut out to write stuff like this. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, altough there was not much action in it. The next one will be out soon ;)

I don't have time to edit it right now, but I will do it soon, so please bear with me, if you see some major grammar mistakes or misspellings.

Have a great day!

[xxkissesforchanniexx]

Hi sweetie!

How are you? Hope school and everything is going well. Congrats on your exam! I know you'll do great on all the others bc I just have that much faith 😌

I saw your little schedule and saw upcoming Hyune and Jisung fics wich sound amazing just by the title. So now I'm super excited for those!!

Just a little idea for you... But I have an unhealthy obsession with perv Seung. The perv Jisung headcanons made me think you might be open to writing this. Something about perv Seungmin just hits harder than it does for any other member (for me at least). I was thinking about being in a relationship with him and his perv tendencies start peeping through...then one day you catch him using like your underwear or another one of your items to get off and you just go along with it (bc y/n crazy like that) 😭

If you just wanna chat, feel free to ignore my request when (and if) you reply to this. I'm totally cool with just being friendly and talking. I'm on Tumblr for the community after all 🤷‍♀️

You're fics make me feel some type way everytime I read them no matter how many times I read them and I super appreciate you! Love you 🤟

-🐺🐺🐺🩷🩷🩷

OF COURSE I CAN TAKE YOUR REQUEST I FEAR NO CHALLENGE

(i can actually see this with Seungmin tho~)

Pervy boyfriend Seungmin x fem reader Headcannons

into smutfic >.>

SFW + NSFW (idol Seungmin, UNDERWEAR STEALER?!?!, someone sedate me-, sweet Seungminnie very breiefly..., unprotected sex wrap it before you tap it lovies., seungmo is not slick, lil bit of sweet bullying >.>, seungmin will never be stopped.)

someone tach me how to do the side by side pics thing. it never works..

Boyfriend Seungmin who spoiled you when he wasn't busy. He wasn't perfectly affectionate, bullying you all the time, but it was his way of loving on you.

Boyfriend Seungmin who called you stupid names when you had silly arguments (nothing serious really).

Boyfriend Seungmin who would brag to STAY about how amazing you were.

Boyfriend Seungmin who would check your location constantly when you went out. For one because he was worried about you. And for two because...

Pervy Boyfriend Seungmin stole your panties again.

Pervy Boyfriend Seungmin who was for once scared you might catch him.

Pervy Boyfriend Seungmin who would take your bras with him on tour and jerk off to the thought of you. Inhaling your scent from the panties he'd oh so rightfully stolen.

Pervy Boyfriend Seungmin who fucked into the mattress when you sent him pictures of you while he was away.

Pervy Boyfriend Seungmin who imagined you under him when you squealed on the phone about something. Oh, he'd give you a reason to squeal.

Boyfriend Seungmin who promised you he'd be home soon.

Boyfriend Seungmin who hugged you in the airport, acting calm and collected when really...

Pervy Boyfriend Seungmin wanted nothing more than to bend you over and make you take his manhood. But knew that you wouldn't like doing such a thing in public... or maybe you would (maybe he should make you at some point)

Pervy Boyfriend Seungmin who didn't wait to put his bags down when you got home and to your bedroom. Pulling your pants and panties off with such force it shocked him, fucking you like his life depended on it. maybe it did.

Pervy Boyfriend Seungmin who seemed to get harder when you moaned at how rough he was being with you.

Pervy Boyfriend Sungmin who asked begged you to let him cum inside. Who let out soft whimpers when you climaxed together.

Pervy Boyfriend Seungmin who wanted to be sweet to you after you did so well for him, but who's dick came back to life at the sight of your pretty pussy oozing his seed.

Pervy Boyfriend Seungmin who encouraged you to go out and have fun with your friends, just to stay home and bury his face in you cum covered panties from the night before.

Pervy Boyfriend Seungmin who was in the middle of jerking off to a voice message you'd sent him when you walked in because you forgot your wallet. Who's face burned pink as you made him feel vulnerable... embarrassed...

Pervy Boyfriend Seungmin who wasn't going to let you get away with that...

He hadn't intended it to go like this.. but he wasn't going to complain as you bounced on his cock, rocking you hips into his own, moaning softly.

Seungmin groaned and gripped your hips, thrusting up into you.

"You're such a weirdo." You moaned.

He looked at you with an incredulous expression, "I'm the weirdo? You see me with your used panties in my face and the first thing you do is jump on my dick."

Your face went redder if that was even possible. Seungmin leaned over, pushing you onto your back and fucking into you. "Then again, I'll take this pretty pussy over just your underwear any day."

You whined, "At least stop stealing my favorite bra."

He smiled as he reached between your legs and rubbed your clit. "How about no?"

You wanted to say something more but he forced the air out of your lungs as he slammed deep into you. His tip kissed your cervix before he came hard, pushing you over the edge with him and whining as your pussy squeezed him tightly, milking him dry.

Pervy Boyfriend Seungmin who kept your panties before sending you back out again.

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@asahisimpnation

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[luckykittens198]

When Your Dad is a Pillar of the Universe 6

Kim Rok Soo at the small table in the living room. He was sniffling and his eyes were a bit red. His uncle was puttering around the kitchen boiling water for tea and milk and making stir-fry for lunch.

"Are you not going to talk?" Ask Kim Rok Soo.

"Have you calmed down?" His uncle answered without stopping his cooking.

Kim Rok Soo fell silent as he clasped his hands. "Not really, but I'll manage. Maybe?"

"Good enough, I suppose." His uncle was plating the stir-fry.

"Here, have some food first. And here is a glass of milk for you." Said uncle Seung Jong as he gave Rok Soo his plate.

Rok Soo nodded and started to eat. It was delicious. Just like the one his father used to make on the good days his tremors calmed.

"Does it taste familiar?" His uncle asked. Weirdly enough, he didn't touch his food.

Kim Rok Soo nodded, "It tasted like the one my Dad made."

"Of course it does. He is me after all."

Kim Rok Soo nodded as he continue eating. Until he stopped as he digested what his uncle said.

"What do you mean my dad IS you?!" Kim Rok Soo screeched. Kim Seung Jong grimaced and rubbed his ears.

"Children really can screech, huh?"

"That's not the point! What do you mean he is you?!"

Kim Seung Jong gave Kim Rok Soo that strange smile reminiscent to the one his father gave him. "Exactly what I said. Kim Hyun Woo, or at the very least, the being using Kim Hyun Woo's body is part of my main body."

"Main body?"

"Mm. How to put it.... To explain everything, I'll need to explain how you were born. And that's a bit complicated," Seung Jong pouted.

Kim Rok Soo felt odd seeing what clearly a pout coming from middle-aged man.

"How rude. I'm definitely not middle-aged man," Kim Seung Jong said as he flicked Rok Soo's forehead.

"Ouch, wait, did you read my mind? And you are definitely middle-aged."

His uncle tsk-ed, " I didn't read your mind. It's written on your face. Also, I'm older than middle-aged."

Kim Rok Soo just blankly stared at his uncle and shrugs. Whatever. He got adopted by a weird uncle. He'll manage as long as he is fed.

"Oh boy. Why are you like this..."

Kim Rok Soo continued to ignore him.

Exasperated, Kim Seung Jong started to explain the circumstance of Rok Soo's birth. Kim Rok Soo just stared at him at disbelief.

"Wow, poor mom," was the only thing he said by the end of it.

Kim Seung Jong raised an eyebrow, "That's all? I told you about the secret of the universes and you only said that?"

Kim Rok Soo shrugs and continued eating, the food was too good to be let cold. After eating, Kim Rok Soo continues, "It's not like I can verify if what you said was true or not. So yeah, the only thing I can say is poor mom. Her husband hasn't been her husband, and her true child is a still born that got possessed by me."

Kim Seung Jong tsk-ed. "That's not it. Well, the husband part is right, but her child doesn't have a soul yet when you enter. In fact, the pregnancy was supposed to be a miscarriage early on, so a soul wasn't meant to be there."

"So, I didn't took another soul's place?"

"No. You simply finally have the chance to be born."

"Oh."

Kim Rok Soo's eyes reddened. His breath was caught as another tears gather at the corner of his eyes. Kim Seung Jong looked on awkwardly before sighing and opened his arms, "Come here kid."

Rok Soo didn't know what to do. So he slowly crawl to Kim Seung Jong's lap and let himself be hugged. Somehow, Kim Seung Jong's hug felt as warm as hus father's hug.

"That's cause your father and I came from the same being, kid."

"Just shut up and lemme enjoy this, old man."

Kim Seung Jong only chuckled.

----

High above the spirit world, a great being looked through the crimson star with black strings coming through it. 'His' deep dark black eyes flickered. A smudge of brown appeared on it for a second before it disappears.

"Hmm," 'He' hummed.

The silver mirror next to him flickered before a string of words appear on it.

"Is everything alright, Great Master?"

"Everything is alright, Arrodes. It feels like a little bit of humanity returned to me. Arrodes, could you tell me some good stocks to invest into?"

"Certainly, Great Master!"

As the Lord of Mysteries read Arrodes' info-dump, 'His' mind went back to when Kim Rok Soo hugged Kim Seung Jong. Some of 'His' tentacles hugged himself, but it still doesn't feel the same as what Kim Seung Jong transmitted to 'Him'.

It's been so, so long since someone else touched 'Him'. 'His' fellow countrymen has all disappeared to the annals of history with no one remembering them or their civilization.

God Almighty (Adam), Eternal Darkness (Amanises), The Anarchy (Roselle), and other Great Old Ones have fallen to deep slumber by the end of the cycle where 'He' became the Lord of Mysteries.

'He' sighed, wishing to fall into another deep slumber. But surprisingly, Kim Rok Soo slowly but surely became a stable anchor for 'Him'. Right now, what worried 'Him' was the future calamity in this world. When the time comes, perhaps 'He' will have to spread the accumulated beyonder characteristics to normal people just so they could survive.

Yes, 'He' also needs to built some shelters for the humans to live in. Kim Rok Soo will be sad if he was the only human left after all.

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[starcrossed591]

KDrama Year in Review 2023

While I watched more KDramas this year than CDramas, none of them consumed my heart and soul quite like this year's crop of CDramas did (CDrama review post here). And I dropped KDramas more readily than I have in years past, in part because there were so many more things to watch than I had time for (also I had to finish my dissertation and graduate, etc etc). Still, there were definitely some that I really, really enjoyed, so here's this year's KDrama round up:

16. My Lovely Liar: Started strong, got boring real quick. Dropped for homophobic murder plot. Still, glad to see that Hwang Min Hyn can actually act (although full disclosure, I did still enjoy him in Alchemy of Souls, wooden as that performance may be). Hoping Kim So Hyun can catch a break and get a role in a drama more worthy of her in the near future.

15. Crash Course in Romance: Excellent performances and chemistry by the ML and FL. Romance between two middle aged people instead of youths is also a treat. Dropped around ep 12 because of the unnecessary, homophobic murder plot. Pass.

14. A Good Day to Be a Dog: Surprisingly stronger than the goofy premise suggests, largely on the basis of Park Gyu-Young's performance as the FL who turns into a dog upon being kissed. Pacing problems in the third act around the origins of the whole dog curse thing. Can't say I recommend unless you're really in the mood for some shenanigans, but largely inoffensive if a little silly. (Also it turns out Cha Eun Woo *really* leveled up his kiss game for this one!)

13. Love to Hate You: Perfectly serviceable rom com. Nothing too special, but a nice weekend binge if you're in the mood for that. Also a good way to see Kim Ji-Hoon's v handsome face and that *hair* without having to deal with everything involved with his rather murderous run in Flower of Evil.

12. Joseon Attorney: A Morality: Perfectly serviceable law procedural/Joseon historical. If you don't like either of those genres your mileage may vary, but I had missed having Bona on my screen, so it worked well enough for me.

11. Welcome to Samdal-ri: I seem to like this one more than literally everyone else I know, and I fully admit that my enjoyment of this drama is more vibes-based than plot-based. I guess I have a soft spot for Shin Hye Sun yelling at people at Ji Chang Wook going a bit unhinged over a woman who ran away from him (see also: Lovestruck in the City).

10. My Demon: Very much enjoying Song Kang as a cranky demon falling in love with a human. Very tropey in the best way, and feels like a return to form for the supernatural romance genre. Remains to be seen if they'll land the ending as of this writing, but enjoying as it goes.

9. Doctor Cha: A contribution to the slate of divorce comedies I watched this year (see also: Strangers Again (KDrama) and Let's Get Divorced (JDrama)), a surprisingly touching story about growing older when you've devoted your life to someone who has not done the same for you.

8. Alchemy of Souls: Light and Shadow (Part 2): While Ko Joon-Yung never quite managed to replace Jung So-Min as the FL for me, I definitely still enjoyed the closer to this fun fantasy series. Special shout out to Shin Seung-Ho as Prince Go Won and his pet turtle

7. Strangers Again: I didn't see a ton about this one on tumblr as it was airing, but I found this rom com? melodrama? divorce procedural? makjang? story about relationships and why they end unexpectedly profound. I tuned in expecting mindless makjang hot mess, and instead got a thoughtful meditation on divorce. Left me feeling unexpectedly melancholy at the end, but glad I watched it.

6. The Secret Romantic Guesthouse: Very fun sageuk! Probably won't knock your socks off, but it does what it does very well. Bonus points for a B couple as compelling as the A couple. I've also been a big Kang Hoon fan since Little Women, and there are a couple of other actors in here that I'm always glad to see working.

5. Perfect Marriage Revenge: Tour de force makjang. Came out of nowhere and blew me away. Hits all the right beats, and unexpectedly fun (and was a nice break from the heaviness of My Dearest for me). This was a good year for jaded and slightly unhinged transmigrated FL's back for their #revenge (see also: Story of Kunning Palace in CDrama land), and I was here for it. Also features one of the spiciest make-out scenes of the year, 10/10 recommend

4. See You in My 19th Life: Absolutely loved this haunting, melancholy, and sometimes unexpectedly goofy reincarnation drama. I loved the webtoon and had high expectations, and this drama largely met them! The continuing relationship between sisters Ji-Eum (Shin Hye Sun) and Cho-Won (Ha Yoon Kyung) was a special highlight for me, and while Shin Hye Sun is already a never-miss for me, I'm especially looking forward to whatever Ha Yoon Kyung does next. I prefer the ending of the Webtoon to the KDrama, but I'm still delighted this drama exists and am glad I watched it.

3. The Interest of Love: Look, I loved this drama. Even though it seemed on the surface like nothing but *mess* in the interpersonal lives of these characters working at a bank on the border between a rich and poor neighborhood in Seoul, it nonetheless had some of the most searing class commentary of the year for me. I also love an FL who will (spoiler) pack up her things and disappear at the drop of a hat, even if no one else will understand her decision to do so, because she just cannot deal anymore (see also: the FL in Lovestruck in the City, whom I also love but everyone else hated). This drama kept me gleefully coming back every week in a year where not a lot of others did.

2. Call It Love: A revenge slice of life melodrama that I found unexpectedly touching in its deep melancholy. Loved not only the main couple, but the relationship between the siblings and their pharmacist bestie. A lovely character study. (Also I somehow ended up watching this at the same time as Till the End of the Moon and Li Susu as Ye Xiwu's hidden identity/revenge plot, which was unexpectedly stressful! Had a very "it's the same picture" moment despite two dramas in two genres that could not be further apart.) If you missed this one (and since it aired on Disney+, you might have--Disney+'s effects on the KDrama streaming ecosystem will be the death of me), it's worth seeking out!

1. My Dearest (Parts 1 and 2): Kind of feels like everyone has said everything there is to say about sageuk of truly epic proportions, but it blew me away as well. Epic romance? Check. Twisty political machinations? Check. Heartwarming friendships between women? Check. Strong ensemble cast? And my top FL of the year, Lady Gil-Chae, played to perfection by Ahn Eun-Jin. I've adored her since Hospital Playlist, and am delighted that she's getting the attention and the roles she deserves. Namkoong Min also a top contender for ML of the year as Lee Jang-Hyun. Part 2 dragged for me a bit in places after a nearly perfect Part 1, but such a great drama overall.

Favorite Drama of the Year: My Dearest. See above.

Favorite Female Character: I mean, it's gotta be Gil Chae from My Dearest, right? She starts out as such a spiteful, spoiled noblewoman, and then turns out to have a core of pure steel. Turns out all her conniving and strategizing, which went towards causing mischief in the village, really just needed a proper outlet. While I would never want to be in the circumstances in which she found herself, if I did, she's exactly who I would want on my side.

Favorite Male Character: Everything's coming up My Dearest this year, because this one is Lee Jang-Hyun in My Dearest as well. Checks the box for my competence kink, and has a knack for showing up just when Gil-Chae needs him, even at great personal cost. Also a smart-ass, which I probably like a bit too much in a man.

Favorite Secondary Female Character: Cho-Won from See You in My 19th Life. Her relationship with her reincarnated older sister was almost more compelling to me than the main romance sometimes, and really helped develop how the ties that bind us are not just romantic ones. Also she was just super cute

Favorite Secondary Male Character: Could have picked anyone from Team Himbo in Alchemy of Souls, but gonna have to give this one to Go Won, himbo prince of my heart

Favorite Ship: Again, it's gotta be Gil-Chae and Lee Jang-Hyun in My Dearest. Sometimes, there are drama couples that nearly cause me pain when they are apart, and these two quickly became one of them. Though their relationships is hardly functional for much of it, through all that push and pull, they ultimately learn how to show up for each other. Also, their *chemistry* is insane!

Favorite Secondary Ship: I loved Hye-Seong and Sung Joon, the B couple in Call it Love. Seeing the SFL grow more comfortable with herself after a truly shitty ending to her previous relationship was a nice respite from the hidden identity stress of the A couple in this one. I'm also a sucker for a good romance where you start to see someone you've long taken for granted differently. (Close Runner Up: Cho Won and Do-Yun in See You in My 19th Life)

Favorite Platonic Relationship: Gil-Chae, Eun-Ae, and their maids, Jong Jong and Bong Doo, in My Dearest. I loved loved loved the relationship between these women in this drama, and part of the reason the second half of the drama suffered a bit for me is because of how far it moved away from this core relationship. They were ride or die for each other more than the majority of the men in their lives, and I loved that for them.

Trope that Needs to Die: While I find murder plots in rom coms tedious at the best of times, homophobic murder plots are really not it. Quit it, y'all. It's not cute.

Dramas I Missed: Moon in the Day, The Story of Park's Marriage Contract, and Tell Me That You Love Me (grrr Disney+ on this one) are on the list for next year. I'm probably missing others.

Non-2023 Drama Spotlight: Finally went back and watched Do You Like Brahms? for a hit of Park Eun-Bin. A lovely, if also melancholy, slice of life romance that's just as much about what to do when a (career related) dream that you've worked really, really hard for just isn't going to come through as it is about the main romance. Also made me fall in love with Kim Min-Jae and his lovely deep voice, enough so that I also then went back and finally watched Dali and the Cocky Prince, which was also a treat. Recommend both.

Most Looking Forward To: I continue to yearn for a Yumi's Cells 3, and who's to say if that one will ever come through, but I'm putting it out into the universe anyway. More realistically, I'm looking forward to the surprisingly stacked line-up of sageuks coming up, including Captivating the King and Love Song for Illusion.

[liselicanis]

Good Things Fall Apart

[AO3 Link] [Ch. 1] [Ch.2]

Chapter 3: Quietly I Mourn

The only sound in her workshop is the dull roar of a welder's flame. The small little taps of hammer on metal, and then a satisfied sigh. She pulls of her mask and inspects the two pieces she has put together and nods to herself. Her eyes flick to a screen displaying a picture of an R-7000, one that was holding a submachine gun in it's hands and she compares the fingers to the ones that are laying on her table.

A close enough match, maybe a tad bit shorter? There was only so much she could fix. Sneaking a peek back at the semi-comatose omnic in the middle of her workshop, she compares the size of her hand to the metal. It's cold and hard compared to her much softer and squishy flesh.

The cast on her other arm reminds her of just how breakable she is compared to omnics. They break too, but most cannot feel pain. Not in the same way a human can that is. She actually does wonder if he did.

Though asking him would be a task. All he can do is crackle and hiss at her. By now she's learned that when she does something he doesn't particularly like he'll make a noise. And that's the most she can get out of him. A lot of times, the omnic straight up ignores her so she can't even do the 'one hiss for yes and two for no'.

Gah, this was frustrating. Fine, since Mr. Grumpy wants to act like that, she can just concentrate harder on her work. Like, her actual work and not him. She might not be any use on the field right now, but she can still file reports.

A quick text to Yuna and she's back at her computer, working on some reports. "The damage to the defense matrix was...hm...so now I can only use it for 3 seconds, huh. Lame. Wonder if Dae-Hyun can bump it up to 4..." and then she cringes.

He hasn't been back for two days since she basically threw him out. She knows he's stopped by though, since sometimes there is food and drinks left outside the door. Notes that remind her to actually sleep in her own room tonight because the rest of the team is starting to get suspicious about the amount of time she's kept herself cooped up in here.

What a guy.

She can't rest just yet, the arm on her desk is nearly complete, and paperwork has been piling up. Usually Yuna would be helping her with this but because of her omnic friend here, she's been doing almost all of it herself.

"Since I can't be out there with you guys, I might as well do it, right?" she had told Kyung-soo. King merely shrugged over the video call and agreed to send her reports via email.

When she had filed her own reports, they had been more or less tailored to her particular fashion, quick and filled with gamer slang she'd picked up from her years of online gaming but when it came to her teammates she learned a few things she hadn't previously.

Jae-eun's were very clinical while Yuna liked to summarize as quickly as she could but her reports were still at least three pages long. Seung-hwa was similar to Jae-eun but had more complicated words that Hana learned to keep a dictionary tab open on her browser to decode what the heck he was trying to say. And last but not least Kyung-soo's were shorth and not too detailed. "...we showed up and nine Gwishin squid drones blew up..."

Wow. So descriptive. Is this why their Captain always had to have a word with him? Whatever, back to the report.

Singijeon had sustained the least amount of damage while Beast had taken the most and was nearly totaled. "No wonder she sounds mad in her text..." her fingers moved quickly over the keyboard, the tap of the keyboard being the only sound that echoed in the room.

At one point she turned to look at the omnic, but he seemed to have put himself in hibernation mode? At least, that's what she thinks it's called. Omnics didn't technically need to sleep, so...hm.

Poor guy must be bored out of his damn mind.

-

He was not in fact, bored out of his mind. What he was doing however, was watching her.

One week he'd been stuck on this table, one week of her constantly talking and prodding at him. At one point she had actually propped the table up and watched a movie with him, explaining to him the plot and pointing out her favorite scenes and quoting lines that she knew by heart. He hadn't care much for it when he realized that this was in fact the movie she had been talking about when she expressed her wish to ride upon his shoulders.

Just yesterday she had taken a tape measurer and held it to his torso, saying that his arms would be the first thing she was going to work on.

There had been this excited tone to her voice as she set the measurer aside and set her hand on the stump of his shoulder. "Since you're so big, bet you are really good at protecting others." Well, she wans't entirely wrong, but even then what good was it to be big if he hadn't been able to protect the few he had cared about?

Lanet had died because of his unwillingness to be patient. Nameless and Zera abandoned him. Just like he had abandoned his once home in Nepal. He tries not to remember Mondatta and Zenyatta too much. A teacher he had cared deeply for and a brother he could confide to his thoughts about the world they lived in.

He focuses instead on the girl who is now slouching in her chair, either deep in thought or fast asleep, he can't tell, and how despite the caution of her male companion, is insistent that she wants to help him.

Ramattra is still wary though, questioning the reason she feels the need to do so. Surely she's doing this out of selfishness, to make herself feel better. When she had talked about his hands, she kept looking at his faceplate, grinning, and then mentioned how much it reminded her of some stray cat that one of her teammates had snuck into the base some time ago.

"In the end, Seung-hwa had to give her up. I hear sometimes he still visits the family that adopted her," she had said, her voice becoming more quiet. "They apparently lost their father recently to a Gwishin attack. You see, he was a fisherman, and he was working in his boat. Our radar didn't pick up the distress signal in time."

She stayed quiet after that. Why bring up the cat at all when it would end up causing a pained memory? He really couldn't understand how the minds of humans worked. One moment as happy as one can be, the next they are a broken mess.

Or like now, how she's just sitting there, simply existing like he is. His sensors pick up her even breathing and concludes that she's asleep. Figures, since the girl had been working him almost nonstop. Taking only the smallest breaks to take care of her human needs.

Other than that she has remained at his side, fitting pieces together, holding them up for inspection, taking notes on what needs to be refitted or readjusted. She's wiped off old stains from his armor, not commenting much other than an off-hand 'do omnics bathe?'.

(in theory they could, but it was probably best not to get too wet lest their circuits malfunctioned)

It is the sound of her door opening that he snaps back to reality, his vision sensors easily helping him see through the darkness of her room. It is her friend, the one that had helped get him here that steps through, looking hesitant.

The boy goes over to her, pets her head fondly and turns off the monitor for her. He then removes his jacket to place over her shoulders and then finally comes to stand by Ramattra's side.

"..." the human male says nothing, only stares at him hard. Ramattra cannot sense any malice or anything from this human.

Finally the human lets out a breath he's been holding, almost exasperated. A hand is running through his hair and the boy looks so lost that it is almost pitiable. Almost.

"Listen, I-" whatever it was that was going to be said, Ramattra never heard, because at that moment, warning alarms began to blare.

[stuffnonsenseandotherthings]

Watch It Or Drop It Challenge - Drama 2

I currently have space on my Currently Airing watch list and thought why not add the element of surprise? After all, there are plenty of currently airing dramas on my Plan To Watch List that I am currently not watching so this is the perfect opportunity to take on another drama from my Watch Or Drop It Challenge. With that in mind I did a little maths, narrowed down the selection of currently airing dramas only, input the data, pun the wheel and ended up with....

👑 Love Song For Illusion

Country: Korea

Episodes: 16

Genres: Historical, Romance, Drama, Fantasy

Director: Lee Jung Sub

Screenwriter: Yoon Kyung Ah

Summary: It tells both the heart-fluttering love story and fierce obsession of a King with two opposite personalities and an assassin girl who wants to kill him but ends up falling in love with him.

Crown Prince Sajo Hyun is an intellectual character who uses his innate artistic sense to work as a fashion designer at a downtown boutique while hiding his identity of crown prince. He has a wound deep down in his heart from his childhood due to his oppressive father Sajo Seung. Sajo Hyun’s other personality Ak Hee is a charming character who can easily seduce others, but he is cursed to feel extreme pain when he makes physical touch with others.

Yeon Wol lives a life full of twists and turns, going from an assassin to concubine. Yeon Wol is the royal descendant of the fallen Yeon Dynasty and the only daughter of Yeon Poong Hak. Yeon Wol hides her identity and becomes assassin Gye Ra to avenge her family. While trying to assassinate the king, she falls into a trap set by an unknown person and wakes up the next day with no memory of her past.

(source: Soompi at MyDramaList)

Why It's On My Plan To Watch List:

Yeah no I'm not sure why this was on my Plan To Watch List because this does not sound like my cup of tea at all. Not even a little bit. My best guess is that I added this back when it didn't have a full summary (drawn in by the promise of a historical drama with LONG HAIR) and forgot to check back. If I had this would have been removed from the list long ago 😅 I'm sure this is a wonderful watch for those who like dramas like this but each line of the summary somehow makes me want to watch it less. I'm not even going to give this a go, I know my own tastes well enough by now to make the call already.

Verdict: Drop

I guess I'm going to need to spin the wheel again. Hopefully this time I'll have better luck 🤞

[invisiblegarters]

Not-So-Micro BL Reviews

This is mostly me doing catch up on all the things that I have been watching/was watching and then abandoned when I found Midnight Museum and fell like a ton of bricks (this is still something that confuses me but what can you do, really?) It will be long - I missed or ignored a LOT for a while.

Catch Up Dramas:

All the Liquors - This one never did anything revolutionary, but I have to admit that I liked the awkwardness of Chef. I really liked BFF cutie though. He was seriously the highlight of the entire show for me. Cute, if mostly predictable and not really plot heavy. Very KBL kiss. 7.5/10

Our Dating Sim - This was just a little gem of a series. The chemistry was on point and the conflicts made sense from what we were given of the characters. For how short it was, the emotional arc was satisfying. It's a solid little drama, and I quite enjoyed it. Good kisses, too, and not just for a KBL. 8/10

A Shoulder to Cry On - I just don't think that this one was for me, and that's okay. Part of me feels like if I were younger it would have landed better - it's dealing with some pretty serious topics and yet something about it feels a little too OTT for me, like they're kids playacting at adult emotions rather than it being genuine. IDK. I wanted to like it more than I did. This is one of the ones where the time skip actually worked in its favor though. 6/10

The New Employee (I know, don't look at me) - you know, I don't know why I randomly stopped watching this. It's adorable, and it actually does manage to convey the business drama pretty well on top of the cute, which I didn't expect from such a short drama. They also made me really dislike Manager Park, so kudos to them for that. I do like that Jong Chan genuinely believes in Seung Hyun's ability, and that he encourages him in that capacity. Overall this show was just cute, okay? It was. 8/10.

Bed Friend - I had such high hopes for this one. High apple pie in the sky hopes, even. I love me a FWB that gets serious (even if King was clearly pining for more from like, day 1 I don't even care. I've been wanting that fix since Between Us (another one where at least one of the FWB was clearly ready for more almost immediately, but hey what can you do). And these two are very, very good at selling that they want each other so kudos for that (and they clearly still want each other after the feelings and do not turn into blushing maidens who apparently haven't heard of kissing before, Team)). But around the time the gross boss Krit decided to invite himself over for family dinner with worst mother and SA stepdaddy and worst mother was like "oh yes he's perfect for you, son" I tuned out and didn't bother tuning back in until recently. I feel like there's only so much misery you can pile on one character before I either stop caring or start finding it unintentionally hilarious. I have to keep reminding myself that I am a Westerner so I don't understand the family dynamics in these things, that's all. Honestly Uea's inability to cut his awful mother out of his life is just not something that I can resonate with. It does amuse me though how often parents in these dramas are either amazing or awful, with not a lot of in between, normal sort of hey, sometimes parents do dumb things too because they are fallible and human. I guess that doesn't make for good drama. King and Uea are very cute, though, and I do really like them when they get to just chill and be boyfriends with each other, although I have to admit the end got a little too saccharine for me. I swear I can be so picky, sigh. The show might not have fulfilled all my hopes, but once it got off the misery train it was fine. 8/10

Moonlight Chicken - I loved this drama. And the funny thing is that it was low on my radar - literally the only reason I was planning on watching at first was due to First and Khao. That was it. The plot wasn't even really my thing, I figured I'd just be waiting for those two to show up and that would be that. But nope, I loved it. This felt like just the kind of grown up drama I've been aching for, one that was ultimately less BL and more, well, life, with all of its complications and messes. It just so happened that the main characters were gay. More of this, please, Thailand. I promise you that there is an audience for it. I liked how messy it was, and in such a believable way. From Wen and Alan's extremely slow breakup to Jim's trauma becoming a sort of shield for him against opening up to people to Heart and Li Ming's wholehearted jump into a first relationship, the characters felt real and grounded and i loved it. No one was perfect (well, except Gaipa who is honestly a sweetheart too good for this world - I loved his huge crush on Jim even though I knew it wasn't gonna go anywhere, he was so sweet and unassuming about it, best unrequited love ever). Jim especially won my heart, because the way his walls worked was so relatable to me. I think that some people don't quite get how easy it is to shut yourself off, and how once you do it it is so much easier to just keep letting past trauma keep you from moving forward, not necessarily in ways that hinder your entire life, just parts of it. Jim's utter reluctance to let Wen in and his worry about Li Ming made so much sense to me. He'd been burned and burned hard, it's only natural that he'd want to protect his beloved nephew from the same pain, even though he went about it in the worst way possible most of the time. :D But that's not how it works for the young, and that's a good thing. Yeah, Li Ming might crash and burn, he and Heart might not be forever, but that's okay. I have heard people complaining that Earth is way too young to play Jim, but I honestly thought he suited the role, actually. It might be my favorite role of his yet. Final Verdict: 9.5/10. This was almost my perfect drama and if I could have more of this I would be delighted.

New (to me) Dramas

A Tale of a Thousand Stars - watched because of Our Skyy2. I wanted to be looking forward to more than just The Eclipse and Never Let Me Go, haha. It was fine. I really liked Tian, even when he was being a spoiled shit. There's something about Mix, I think, that makes him extremely watchable. I do not really feel that way about Earth and I was mostly annoyed by Phupha. *shrug* I wanted him to actually talk to Tian rather than making decisions for him - sure Tian was impulsive but so much of his problem was with his parents running his life, he didn't need that in a lover, too. Once Phupha pulled his head out of his ass it was better, but my goodness that took a while, didn't it? Also what is it with this pairing and these weird "does he love me or my sister/the woman who's heart I have" plots? Glad Moonlight Chicken moved away from that kind of plotline, even if I do actually really like Cupid's Last Wish (more than this one, actually - I get the sense that is unusual but I don't care, I love it). Overall though this wasn't bad, even if I felt like it dragged a bit in places. Am genuinely sad that they put Khaotung in a Earh/Mix vehicle and didn't have him gently pining over either of them. He did it so well in Moonlight Chicken, after all. Final Verdict: 8/10

Star and Sky - Star In My Mind & Sky in Your Heart - these were fine. I felt like there was a lot of drama over very little, but they're decent little slice of life kind of dramas. Easily consumed, easily forgotten. 6/10 for both.

Rewatches (because why the hell not right)

The Eclipse - I just love this drama. *shrug* It's so incredibly rewatchable. Plus, you know. I love Akk, he's exactly my kind of character. I honestly can't wait for the Our Skyy2 episodes but they look a little nuts. Honestly though I don't even care so long as we get some cute - I think that there were enough tears during the show proper. Yes both First and Khao cry well but still.

Cupid's Last Wish - You know, the first time I watched this I think that I said I was pleasantly surprised because I expected it to be a lot less obvious that Korn was so gone on Win that no one else even entered his big, dumb head. I was worried that it would be more of a "oh, I fell in love with you as a girl but it's still you" thing, and it...was very much not. I thought they also did a real good job walking the line between showing Win and showing Lin, and I have to give a lot of credit to Jan for her portrayal of Win as Lin. Pitch perfect, really. I say again, there's just something about Mix that is likeable - I've enjoyed him in ever single drama I've seen him in thus far, although Earth as Moonlight Chicken's Jim has my whole heart. He really shone in that role. My one quibble with this is how everyone just forgives the mom for being awful. I don't know, I guess I'm just a grudge holder. Anyway I originally rated this at a 7.5, but due to sheer rewatchability and how much fun I actually do find it, I'm moving it up to an 8.5/10. It's fun, I like it a lot, I will probably watch it again at some point.

Looking Forward To

I'm honestly kind of out of the loop with this! I don't really know what is coming up, so my list is very short:

Only Friends

Dangerous Romance

Both of them seem messy, messy, and i am ready for it. I also can't wait for the Utsukushii Kare movie but I'm going to have to, so.

I'm also excited for whatever comes up for the renewed drama shower slot for MBS. I wasn't a fan of all of them last year (I loved one of them beyond all reason, liked two, was meh on two and DNF one), but I love that I can look forward to at least one drama coming out of Japan for a while.

Whew! That wasn't so bad, was it?

[consumeronionbulletin]

Moving (2023)

Take seven episodes of Korean X-Men fanfic, add four episodes of spy stuff, a pinch of Korean gangster nonsense, mix well, and you have recipe for a pretty good superhero show.

The final three episodes of janky CGI fight scenes let me down at the end, though.

What Worked

The high school story that made up the first half of the show was delightful. Just a fun mix of YA tropes and the good kind of mutant superhero nonsense. I also liked the whole secret agent assassin thing playing out in the background as well.

And every single character actor was fun and interesting, this was a show that made sure to treat its secondary characters well.

What Didn't Work

And then the secret agent nonsense started taking over the entire show, and the plot got pushed to the side in favor of five episodes of backstory for every single grownup on the show, and then it got frustrating. I still liked alot of it, especially the meet cute between Bong-soek's parents, but we needed half as many episodes of it.

Also, that gang war plotline was just completely drawn out and gory and unnecessary. It made me dislike Hui-soo's father quite a bit. At least the past version of him.

The show's worst fault, though, was that dang three episode long fight sequence at the end (intercut with backstories on every single person in the fight). This series only had about 12-14 episodes worth of story, and they squeezed out 20 of them.

The series just gradually gets worse after episode seven, to the point where I was skipping scenes by episode 10, and even most of episodes 13-14. It's a case of not enough story and also too much backstory. That kind of thing works better in comics and/or webtoons, but does not work for a TV show.

The Performances

There's too many characters here to cover all of them, but they did a good job of making them (mostly) interesting.

Han Hyo-joo as ("secret agent mom") Lee Mi-hyun. I loved her. The character was well written and the superhero abilities were at the level where they could do creative and interesting things with Mi-hyun. Han Hyo-joo gave a good performance, but she was given a darn good character to play.

Ryoo Seung-bum as ("super hero assassin") Frank. Another interesting character played very well. He somehow managed to feel dangerous even when his only real superpower was not dying. The action scenes with him just worked, which made the big janky stuff at the end of the series look even worse.

Lee Jung-ha as ("super hero / boy next door") Kim Bong-seok. For this series to work, you had to really like this kid, and the actor did a good job making me cheer for him. Which made all the episodes where he was missing harder to get through.

Youn-jung as ("strong girl") Jang Hui-soo. Another likeable actor with a great character. It's too bad they kind of pushed her to the side in the final episodes. And it wasn't a knock on the actor. Her character arc just finished early and then they made 6 more episodes and the writers didn't really give her anything. The bullying stuff she had to deal with at the beginning of the series was gripping to watch.

Zo In-sung as ("the amazing, flying") Kim Doo-sik. All of the scenes he played opposite Han Hyo-joo were great. The rest of his backstory was pretty good, but a little uneven.

Ryu Seung-ryong as ("human punching bag") Jang Ju-won. I liked all the stuff he did in the early episodes, and I disliked most of what he did during and after his backstory arc. His stuff with Hui-soo's mom was okay in execution though a little unoriginal.

Kwak Sun-young as ("Hui-soo's mom") Hwang Ji-hee. I've seen this actor before (notably in Hospital Playlist) and she did a good job here, especially some of the early romance arc with Jang Ju-won. But the plot itself was cliche, and they just kind of killed her off to make people sad rather than having it make too much sense. (Was the NIS behind it, or not? Does that really change anything?).

The Lightning Man / Bus Driver. Some of this was engaging in that "everyone has a story" kind of thing, but that guy should have been fired the first time he hijacked the bus to go on a rogue mission. For every cool thing they let him do, we had to slog through 4-5 uncool / depressing things, which is not a good ratio.

The High School Kids. They were mostly okay, though there was really no reason for the future youtuber and the grumpy bully to be hanging around those last few episodes. And they built up Class President kid in the start only to just have him be mostly useless. Even his dad's backstory was completely superfluous to the plot.

The High School Teachers. They should have just made them all straight up villains. It was kind of okay to make the one teacher somewhat redeemable, but we really didn't need as much of his story as we got. And what was up with that security guard?

The Gangster Crew. No thank you. Did not like. Completely useless and a little depressing, especially for all the episodes we got of them.

The South Korean Spy People. They were all pretty hate-able, and meant to be hate-able. There was some good material but they drew this whole plotline out so much that I stopped caring about them.

The North Korean Spy People. The writers did a good job of making them both creepy villains and somewhat sympathetic as well. But we got way too much backstory for what ended up being very little payoff.

TL; DR:

This is not a bad series overall, but if you feel like skipping episodes, or just leaving after episode 7, that's okay. If you go into the show expecting a webtoon / comic type story, and you actually liked that kind of thing, then you should be in good shape to finish it.

[bl-bam-beyond]

JUN AND JUN (2023, SOUTH KOREA)

Trailer (Teaser) Highlights

Premiere Date: July 20, 2023

Available on: VIKI (in selected regions)

Starring: KI HYUN WOO as Choi Jun

YANG JUN MO as Lee Jun

CHO CHAN HYUN as Song Hyun Jae

PARK HYEONG SEOP as Simeon

With: HAN SE JIN in Guest Role (Sang Ha..Mr. Heart)

CHEON SEUNG HO in Guest Role (Jin Won.. "")

Synopsis: Lee Jun had hopes of stardom as a pop star but gave up on his dreams. So now he needs to enter the work force but with no experience he becomes an intern at a cosmetic company. There he is reunited with someone from his past the highly talented Choi Jun who is just as flirtatious.

Choi Jun has risen to manager and is in charge of the interns as well. As work piles up on Lee Jun so does the romantic tension with Choi Jun.

And a romance may also be in the cards for Simeon and Song Hyun Jae (second couple)

Plus guest appearances by the main leads of KBL, Mr. Heart. Are they bringing Jin Won and Sang Ha back or more than likely new roles.

@pose4photoml @lutawolf @bengiyo @absolutebl

[dreamingkdrama]

Alchemy of Souls

Genre: Fantasy drama, romance

Episodes: 20 (Season 1), 10 (Season 2)

Starring: Lee Jae-Wook, Jung So-Min, Hwang Min-Hyun, Shin Seung-Ho, Yoo In-Soo, Yoo Jun-Sang

Synopsis: Set in a fictional country called Daeho, the series is about the love and growth of young mages as they overcome their twisted fates due to a forbidden magic spell known as the "alchemy of souls", which allows souls to switch bodies.

Positives: It's really a fun show with many lovable characters, interesting plot an beautiful visuals. It has good action scenes, romance and I especially appreciate the humor. It's fun and colorful but it also has some serious moments. The actors were great and they really made this show so good.

Negatives: The second season wasn't that engaging. The chance of the main actress wasn't the best idea (even thoug it does make sense from the story point of view). Thos body changing magic always has the risk that the new actors will lack the right chemistry.

Conclusion: It is really a good show that is worth to watch. It has many fun and well developped chatacters you will love and root for. It has the perfect fantasy mixture of tragedy and comedy.

Action: 8/10 Romance: 9/10 Intriques: 6/10 Blood: 5/10 Whump: 6/10 Friendship: 7/10 Emotions: 9/10 Humor: 8/10

[arizona-trash-bag]

felt like rewatching the first korean movie I ever saw - my little bride (2004, dir. kim hojoon)

man, back in those days kdramas and movies were hard to get your hands on. there were no official sources, fansubs were always a crapshoot, and if I wanted to own something i’d have to wait for a china trip to get a physical copy. I remember coming across this dvd in a random video store in my dinky little hometown and being elated.

the plot is pretty simple - arranged marriage, hijinks ensue. one thing that I appreciated on rewatching though is how the gender roles are reversed in the development of their relationship - bo eun is the one who does whatever she wants and sangmin quietly looks out for her and plays the self sacrificing spouse role.

man, i’m obsessed with moon geun young. I was already a fan from autumn in my heart (THE og classic kdrama❤️), and she freaking owned this movie. she’s just so good. she has so much range, and she nails it every time. her knack for physical comedy is insane, she portrays the cheeky teenage girl character so well. all her cute little mannerisms in this are super naturalistic and charming. I miss her doing comedy, I really do.

kim rae won also gets to work his comedy chops here, and acquits himself admirably. I have no idea what he’s up to now, but I remember when he was one of the Hot New Things. this made me feel super old - the realization that my contemporaries are part of the previous generation of pop culture now🥲

also wow shin se kyung is stunning in this. they put a little too much makeup on her for my taste, but man she’s just so pretty. no surprise she went on to become a leading lady.

watching this sent me on a massive nostalgia trip. the 2000s was when the hallyu wave was really starting to peak, and so many mainstays of k-ent were formed during this era. the music, fashion, actors, story tropes, all of it reminded me of how exciting it was to be a k-ent fan at the time. the internet made everything accessible to the west, and I remember going on the d-addicts forums (now there’s a name you haven’t heard in a while!) every day to gush about the popular new shows. veteran actors like hyun bin, song hye kyo, song seung heon etc were just getting their breakout roles. looking back, it’s insane how far we’ve come and how much k-ent has proliferated. I appreciate the ability to just pick up my tv remote and netflix any new kdrama, but i’ll always have fond memories of those early years.

[thekatea]

Happy Merry Ending

Watched: 18.05.2023

These (basically) 2 hours felt like a summary of the story, not the whole story itself.

From the start I was not exactly amazed. Trauma, depression, and anxiety is a trend in k-bls in 2023 and I’m kind of tired of it. Still, just because it’s used a lot, does not mean it’s written well, so I would not mind a good representation - this ain’t it. It’s not offensive or anything, just painfully superficial. The whole writing lacks details to make it relatable and realistic.

And then they decided to literally put most of the plot and characters progression in the time jump. Not gonna lie, this was an interesting storytelling idea - not really showing the most important developments.

So we end up with Seung Jun who had little to no personality, Jae Hyun who must strongly believe in love at first sight to start liking Seung Jun without any good reason, Joo Won - the truest man-child with toddler tantrums (probably my favorite character, simply because of how entertaining it was to watch him act in such a pathetic manner) and Ho Yeon, a third wheel that is there to fill the space.

Realistically speaking, the best part of the drama was the friendship between Seung Jun and Ho Yeon - caring, supportive, calm and collected, selfless. Because Ho Yeon was such a big part of Seung Jun’s recovery, the relationship between the main couple did not feel as sincere. What about Jae Hyun was so impactful to have any effect on Seung Jun's life - this part of the plot was not really well executed.

The acting was good. Lee Dong Won presented the anxiety in a decent manner and while the writing and directing might have been improved, the performance itself was not an issue. Don’t think Byun Sung Tae had a hard job to do, since Jae Hyun is not exactly the most complex character, but he managed to hold my attention on him during his scenes.

The production was… your typical short low budget k-bl.

Overall, this is sadly a skip.

[byneddiedingo]

Lee Yeong-ae in Lady Vengeance (Park Chan-wook, 2005) Cast: Lee Yeong-ae, Choi Min-sik, Kim Shi-hoo, Kwan Yea-young. Screenplay: Jeung Seo-kyeong, Park Chan-wook. Cinematography: Chung Chung-hoon. Production design: Jo Hwa-seong. Music: Choi Seung-hyun. The plot of Lady Vengeance is at least as complicated and implausible as that of Park's Oldboy (2003), the film that precedes it in Park's "vengeance trilogy" that began with Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002), and it's made with the same attention to style. But the way it's worked out on screen though flashback dribbles of exposition feels needlessly complicated, and the culminating act of vengeance on the part of the families of the victims doesn't have the presumably intended emotional impact because it's spread out over too long a stretch. As a teenager, Geum-ja (Lee Yeong-ae) had become pregnant and, afraid to tell her parents, went to her teacher, Mr. Baek (Choi Min-sik), for advice. He took her in and not only made her a sex slave but also enlisted her in his scheme to kidnap small children and hold them for ransom. She lured a 5-year-old boy, Won-mo, into Mr. Baek's clutches, and when the boy was accidentally killed, Mr. Baek forced Geum-ja to confess to the crime by threatening to kill her own child, a daughter, who was put up for adoption after Geum-ja's conviction. Released from prison after 13 years because she convinced the authorities that she had thoroughly reformed, Geum-ja sets out to take revenge on Mr. Baek. We learn that despite her apparently angelic behavior in prison, she actually bumped off some of the more repulsive inmates, causing one to take a fatal fall on a slippery floor and slowly poisoning another, thereby gaining  the enduring support of her fellow prisoners. She calls in the favors she earned from some of these now released inmates so that she has the wherewithal to exact her revenge on the psychotic Mr. Baek, who has evolved into a serial killer of small children. The revenge, however, is anything but swift. The subplot involving Geum-ja's daughter, now called Jenny (Kwan Yea-young) by her adoptive Australian parents, feels extraneous, as does Geum-ja's affair with a young man who is the exact age that Won-mo would have been if he had lived. I suppose Park has a thematic point about the corruption of innocence that he wants to make, but it isn't integrated into the rest of the film very well. As a commentary on the nature of revenge, Lady Vengeance doesn't have the resonance of Oldboy, and despite some imaginatively nightmarish scenes it often seems like an exercise in film technique.

[ulkaralakbarova]

After a deadly earthquake turns Seoul into a lawless badland, a fearless huntsman springs into action to rescue a teenager abducted by a mad doctor. Credits: TheMovieDb. Film Cast: Nam-san: Ma Dong-seok Yang Gi-su: Lee Hee-jun Choi Ji-wan: Lee Jun-young Han Su-na: Roh Jeong-eui Lee Eun-ho: Ahn Ji-hye Kwon Sang-sa: Park Ji-hoon Teacher: Jang Young-nam Tiger: Park Hyo-joon Yeon-su: Seong Byeong-suk Madame: Jung Young-ju Ju-ye: Lee Han-joo Director Choi: Park Sang-hoon Director Oh: Ahn Seong-bong Ju-ye’s Father: Jeong Gi-seop Ju-ye’s Mother: Kim Young-sun Western Grandfather: Sin Sin-beom Western’s Mother: Hong Yi-joo Film Crew: Production Design: Jo Hwa-seong Sound Supervisor: Kim Suk-won Editor: Nam Na-young Special Effects Supervisor: Jung Do-ahn Adaptation: Ma Dong-seok Lighting Director: Song Hyun-suk Director of Photography: Byun Bong-sun Production Sound Mixer: Jung Gun Producer: Choi Won-ki Makeup & Hair: Nam Ji-soo Special Effects Makeup Artist: Pi Dae-seong Digital Intermediate: Lee Hye-min Production Design: Park Gyu-bin Original Music Composer: Kim Dong-wook Editor: Ha Mi-ra Martial Arts Choreographer: Heo Myeong-haeng Writer: Kim Bo-tong Executive Producer: Byun Seung-min Martial Arts Choreographer: Yoon Seong-min Original Story: Kim Dong-gyun Adaptation: Kim Chang-hoon Writer: Kwak Jae-min Executive Producer: Choi Byeong-hwan Special Effects Makeup Artist: Seol Ha-un Props: Kang Shin-hong Key Grip: Lee Hyun-gyu Special Effects Supervisor: Im Jong-hyeok Line Producer: Choi Su-im Visual Effects: Yuk Gwan-woo Movie Reviews: Chris Sawin: The film features some hard-hitting and explosive action sequences that will rightfully cater to fans of the genre. The battle in the basement of the apartment building, where we see Nam-san use a shotgun to blast his way through some of the doctor’s ‘enhanced’ individuals, is a total exhilarating blast. Ma Dong-seok has been a powerhouse for most of his career post Train to Busan, but he sends people flying whenever he throws his fist or pulls the trigger. _Badland Hunters_ also has to break a record for most decapitations in a film. **Full review:** https://bit.ly/bdlndhntr MovieGuys: Badland Hunters does something things well, others just passably. Action is wall to wall and well choreographed.Special effects are excellent. Characterisations are solid if predictable and the acting is not to be sniffed at. However, the story is unremarkable, with a climax that feels, well, anti climatic. In summary, an okay but hardly exceptional watch, that would have benefited from more creativity on the storytelling front. Ritesh Mohapatra: “Badland Hunters: A Visually Striking Action Spectacle with Narrative Shortcomings” In this post-apocalyptic action thriller, Badland Hunters, while suffering from a repetitive and clichéd plot and uninteresting characters, excels in stunning hand-to-hand choreography and scintillating action set pieces. The film benefits greatly from the expertise of its veteran stunt coordinator turned director, known for his work on Train to Busan. Commendable world-building, visionary concepts, and excellent VFX are hindered by conventional writing. The short, crisply edited runtime avoids unnecessary elements. Don Lee’s exceptional portrayal of Nam-san, with exhilarating action sequences, overshadows the film’s narrative weaknesses, making it a guiltily satisfying popcorn-worthy entertainer, particularly for adrenaline enthusiasts. Instagram & X @streamgenx.

[invisiblegarters]

The New Employee Ep 3

I don’t know if I mentioned this, but I love the mixing of the manhwa pages into the live action. Perhaps it’s a gimmick I’ll get sick of, but I doubt it. It’s fun and whimsical and I think it fits the show very well. 

Ah, the head pat. What would a BL be without it? It’s nearly as ubiquitous as “running to your LI”. And I legit cackled at Kang Hae showing him the online manhwa with the kiss, headpat, and their conversation inside. I’m finding this gag hilarious. Mr. Kim does look and act like he’s walked straight out of a BL, ha. Which I guess he did. Good casting. 

Oooh I sense some office drama building, Clearly someone is worried that Mr. Kim is after his job, Between that and the Marketing Team’s BS (them using their seniority to force Seung Hyun to drink past his limit and then actually pouring alcohol over his head made me furious. I really hate bullying, and I especially hate it when it happens to a sweetheart like Seung Hyun whose only crime was listening to Mr. Kim and not doing their work for them, ugh). I feel like we might actually get some real office drama that isn’t just hiding a relationship from people, and I for one am here for it. 

Man, I hope we’re not gonna introduce another half-assed love triangle a la Oh! My Assistant. I will put up with Seung Hyun’s lingering crush on Yoo Seong but I will not be happy if show pulls some stupidly contrived drama on me where he’s in love with Mr. Kim and then we have to focus too much on that in the last eps. Still bitter? Maybe a little, Sorry. But I’ve still got my eye on you, show. 

Well well well. I know that part of the synopsis is that they can’t keep their hands off of each other, but I didn’t expect a kiss in the third ep. And it was sweet, too - I loved Seung Huyn going up on tiptoes and the slow reciprocation. Also I’m not even mad about them getting fancy with the angles. I much prefer that to dead fish kiss straight on, tbh. If I can’t see it it’s Schrödinger’s kiss and given my druthers, I will always choose to think it was a good one. Plus as I already said all the visuals they did give us worked for me. 

Oh, Mr. Kim is slick. Go after what you want, Mr. Bossman. I appreciate a man who doesn’t waste time.