#that joseon arc

[psalm40speakstome]

Three times! I watched Bae In Hyuk die THREE times!

[fairytale-poll]

ROUND 3C, MATCH 2 OUT OF 2!

Propaganda Under the Cut:

Su-a-Heo:

Whale Star: The Gyeongseong Mermaid is set in Joseon (Korea) during the Japanese occupation. Su-a is very sweet and determined. She becomes mute due to having lye poured down her throat to kill her after accidentally overhearing a conversation between the resistance fighters. She eventually joins them, having witnessed firsthand the impact of the Japanese colonization. Even though she's in over her head at first she proves to be reliable and effective despite not knowing how to write or read at first.

Bug:

Their a bug that falls in love with a human they rescue and becomes human, but even when they don't get to keep their human body, they still get to be with their love. It's a sci-fi fairytale musical.

Little Mermaid meets Starship Troopers musical starring awesome puppets and the most trans coded main character ever. Please. Please vote Bug Starship I love him. Go watch Kick it Up a Notch from Starship. Go watch Status Quo from Starship. You will understand.

He's a bug and he lives in space on a bug planet but he really wants to be a starship ranger which you can only be if you are a human and then one day a spaceship lands on his planet and so he goes to an evil bug called Pincer who then helps him become a human. And Bug falls in love with a human on the spaceship and it's very sweet. The musical and storyline are based on the little mermaid story, the creators themselves called it "the little mermaid but in space". Bug wanting to be a human/a starship ranger and achieving that and falling in love with a human is very much like the little mermaid

Starship is a musical that can only be described as The Little Mermaid meets Starship Troopers. It follows Bug, an alien bug who dreams of being a Starship Ranger, a galactic explorer/soldier, but the rigid confines of bug society keeps him trapped in a job he hates. He reaches a Starship Ranger named February from the hive and immediately falls in love with her. In order to be with her and pursue his dream, he makes a deal with a giant scorpion named Pincer who through sci-fi bs gives him a human body. Near the end of the second act he sacrifices his human body and returns to his bug body, and saves the day and wins February's heart. It's truly the ultimate Little Mermaid. He has multiple songs, and his bug body is portrayed by a puppet!! Vote for Bug!!

“It's a big, big, universe So many dimensions And unanswered questions Not to mention Life What an invention Life There's no choice involved in what you are given One mind, one voice, one body to live in It's a short, small thing we lead With so much potential Pointless or essential Which one can I be? Where do I fit? Where do I stand? Who are they to say what I am? And how can I stay inside this awful world I know? I need a way out I need an escape I'd rather be dead than to live in this place I wish that something or someone could just take it all away Someone take me away” dear god….. can anybody hear me…. (song from starship)

They are the purest little mermaid adaptation done in the most unuque way. An alien insect gets turned into a human, a race he has always loved and admired, to be with the woman he fell in love with. Also just a great musical.

Bug's whole arc is so so in tune with that of the little mermaid. He is an alien who has fallen in love with humanity through a crashed spaceship and trades his place in the hive for a chance to be with both with the human he's falling for and to be a Starship Ranger. He body swaps with human in a cryogenic pod! It's literally sci-fi Little Mermaid!

[cere-mon-ials]

2022 in kdramas

*that I finished

I spent my January nursing all that The Red Sleeve broke (my heart), nourishing what it gave me (provocation to write, notes here), cursing what it did for my overall k-drama viewing expectations. I am still mad that Lee Se-young wasn’t recognised for what she did in TRS, a show that belongs to Deok-im and her alone. I had finished Good Manager a day before, a long-winded bromance between Namkoong Min and Lee Jun-ho. I didn’t think much and truth be told, I don’t remember much either. Happiness fell flat after three episodes; stayed for the remaining episodes because of the excellent chemistry between the main characters. I evidently watched Coffee Prince many years too late but I saw every reason why I might have never finished school if I had seen it earlier.

Run On kept me thrilled on occasion, became white noise otherwise. I loved seeing my two joys, running and translation, woven into the show, loved the miracle of found friendships and homes, and a defiant writing philosophy that healthy relationships are worthy of being probed. Despite how unbearable Our Beloved Summer was about Ji-woong’s unrequited love, I could see the good-naturedness of the story writer-nim was trying to tell. I loved watching why the two leads fell apart and what brought them together. I loved that this had something to do with communication but I loved even more, that it just had to do with having grown up and realising you can love something you’re not and that’s one way to experience life. Kairos is the most underappreciated show that tackles time-travel. Great writing with exceptional attention to detail.

February was spent with the duology of the Ahn Pan-seok—Kim Eun—Jung Hae-in universe, the k-drama equivalent of Austenian bliss. Both shows benefit from Kim Eun’s thesis that romance may be intimate but love, in a patriarchy, demands a public that must accept it. Ahn Pan-seok is the finest orchestrator of moments that feel like the time lapse that falling in love is, that thing that people often reduce to soulmatism or violins at first glance. In One Spring Night, it works. In Something in the Rain, it fails because Kim Eun was still finding her voice as a writer who is stumped by what makes for the ‘right’ kind of conflicts in a 16-episode arc. I don’t think that’s the only problem with SITR but it’s the one she solved with marvelous elegance in OSN. In both shows, the main leads are charmingly, refreshingly communicative with each other. But it is in OSN, where Kim Eun figures out that being vulnerable is not the same as talking about vulnerable things, and how to make it count for all relationships that matter. Son Ye-jin and Han Ji-min, I love you both equally.

In March, I began paying an honorarium to the guard of my Jang Hyuk horny jail. Deep-rooted Tree made me cry in at least 14/24 episodes. A Joseon murder mystery wrapped in a drama about accessible language as the beginning to breaking down class barriers and nation-building, with nerdy love for character interiority? I ate that up. Han Seok-kyu is the only reel King Sejong ever. Just like Jang Hyuk is the only reel Bang Won ever. My Country: The New Age is a shallow show with hilarously lofty dialogues and masterful action sequences. In my most generous reading, MCTNA attempted to ask if Bang Won’s modernity could have come at a lesser price; is modernity not equivalent to audacity? Woo Do-hwan is almost as good at portraying audacity as Jang Hyuk.

Having Park Eun-bin and Kim Min-jae play Brahms in a riveting duet is exactly what Do You Like Brahms? set out to do. Introverts are rarely done well on the screen and getting it right with not one, but two leads is an achievement too. If you are a person fuelled by that mystical "passion," the creative arts industry can be a cruel place. Chae Song-ah is, by all accounts, not as talented as the others around her, and this is not a story of stick-with-it-till-you-rise-from-the-ashes. Even the hope that it might be is wonderful writing because Song-ah is far more assertive than anybody gives her credit for, like a baby who holds onto your finger with shocking strength. In classical music especially, there is no such thing: you are good or you are out. Park Joon-young is great and yet, he is begging for an out, because being good is just the beginning. These two and the other characters are deeply in love with music and they want to protect that love. They all find out that in the end that love needs sustenance, not protection.

I binged Fated to Love You in April, in a private experiment to see how much Jang Hyuk brainrot I can take. (Let’s remember this is a summary of the shows I finished.) I came out of it with brainrot for one more Jang. Outrageous show, outrageous star power. Soundtrack No. 1 was a forgettable experience save for the fact that I am now a person who looks up Park Hyung-sik’s MDL page on the reg. I think everybody is right about Twenty-Five Twenty-One: (a) Baek Ye-jin and Na Hee-do were always going to break up (b) It was a terribly-conceived finale. Two other opinions I am going to leave here: (c) Ji Seung-wan, darling of my heart, should have been the lead for the show that writer-nim actually wanted to do. (d) More people would see this, and also may have responded with thoughts beyond ship discourse, if Na Hee-do was played by anyone other than Kim Tae-ri.

I think people were right about criticising Lee Soo-yeon’s Grid too. The science of time-travel took some leniency. I get why the finale would have been unsatisfying, even as a setup for a potential second season. But I offer that the thesis of LSY’s shows is never in how they end, because they are not moral science lessons for the future. Grid’s deeply introspective themes of time-travel and the greater good begins with the the sun, the most reliable force in a human's life, turning against mankind. This immediately takes away a human as ultimate antagonist, when it easily could have been. For LSY, the future is the darkest place with unknowable power and we have the task of paving a path of light towards it. Time-travel is not the science-fiction component with which to imagine our behaviour in an unrecognisable, but possible, place. It’s the fucking fantasy. Even if we got the chance to change the past, we really couldn't. The future is what we have got to change and the present to make the first move. Those dreams of going back, repenting hard enough, flirting with what ifs? Not going to cut it. LSY's meta elegance is in bringing the intensely personal version of this theme in parallel to the big one: divorce. FWIW, she had all these threads tie together by Episode 7. I get why she said Grid is the next iteration of her life's work—an exceptional mind.

Park Min-young could have chemistry with a rock, and thank god, Seo Kang-joon isn’t one. When The Weather Is Fine is the rightest show about life in the countryside. It nails the fine line of a tight-knit community that shows up for you and also, how easily they can be the first source of judgement, as people who know your secrets. Best book club in a k-drama. Very well done pining. Imo is my favourite character and she should publish that novel because “Hey. Who do you think killed my brother-in-law?” is a banger opening line. I first saw Lee Jae-wook in this show.

During the weekends of April and May, there was My Liberation Notes. I watched it like a scheduled therapy session, although I do not think Park Hae-young is aiming for catharsis with her works (despite it seeming like the most common outcome). I didn’t have the word “healing” in my everyday vocabulary so often before k-dramas. It’s a genre of k-drama that is meant to be comforting, to inject slowness into everyday life as an antidote for the ills of modern society. Bullshit. There are multiple wide shots of the Yeom family tending their farms, eating in peace amid the greenery, and they are claustrophobic. It might feel like complaints, and you’re free to think that. But PHY knows, as most people my generation do, finding an escape is actually really easy. That’s not the point. The point is to be less sad about being who you are; to know that who you are is enough to make a living, find love if you want it, make peace with your family. This show is about siblings as the real loves of your lives.

I don’t remember what I was doing in June.

Pachinko is not a k-drama strictly speaking, but let’s do it. I adore Min Jin Lee and I am afraid to admit how emotionally attached I am to the world of Kogonada’s eyes. In MJL's book, the linear structure is meant to make you feel like the history of a family can also be a history of the other themes that consume intellectual space. In the show, there is no such thing as a past, or a history. Nothing is done, nothing is over and under the rug. You see Sun-ja’s and Solomon’s stories at the same time because there's no distance that makes what happened then far enough from what's happening now. For this alone, Pachinko is a superior adaptation. I have a shrine for every woman in this show. Watching Yumi’s Cells 2 has been among the happiest experiences of my TV viewing life. Bloody Heart could have been bloodier. I respected that it reached a conclusion without feeling the need to give a neat answer to its central question of assertive power as driver of both unity and chaos—there’s humility in realising that the answer need not be determined in one generation. Jang Hyuk thirst got me into the show, Kang Hanna’s outstanding face and smarts kept me there. Lee Joon’s Lee Tae nearly made me quit. Park Ji-yeon, muah. I watched the back half of Signal in July. It is no fault of the show that I was zapped out of will to see women being killed. There were two scenes of Kim Hye-soo’s that wrecked me bad, I had to quit watching for couple of days. Thank you to the makers for giving a genre-defining template. (Kairos did do it better.)

Alchemy of Souls was super fun as a weekly watch. Daeho is boring to me as a setting and the plot ventures into territories worthy of critical thought once in a blue moon. But I admire the ambition, and the storytelling does have its moments. Lee Jae-wook is a menace. Inhaled Rookie Historian Goo Hae-ryung over four days; I enjoyed it. Extraordinary Attorney Woo tried. I also binged Reply 1997. Reply 1988 is always going to be my favourite and I am not going to watch R1994 for a conclusive test of veracity.

Between these shows, their endearing efforts at being fulfilling shows about love of different kinds, I nibbled on episodes of My Mister. I couldn’t watch two episodes together; it was so potent, so unbelievably demanding of my attention in every way imaginable, and I gave it willingly. I wrote about the show here.

October brought the best mystery/thriller show of the year: May It Please The Court. It was written with a clear idea of how much to bite, knew how to chew on it, and that’s why it also landed the best conclusion of the year. The show is astute about forgiveness and justice, and well, forgiveness in justice. I think the show’s success is in how it trusted both its characters and the audience to process what this means to them. Jung Ryeo-won and Lee Kyu-hyung have impeccable married energy from first scene. Lee Sang-hee is the best, the hottest, the finest.

Little Women is the mystery/thriller show with the most potential of the year. It wasn’t until episode 11 that the show lost me but I do think the flaws began revealing themselves a lot earlier. I didn’t appreciate the show’s insistence that the central crime of the show was Sang-ah’s murders and not the patriarchal cult that pretends to be a meritocracy. I thought the Vietnam War references were in conversation for a whole different reason: I viewed it as a nod to the first war where losing means more than winning. That war is the blueprint for the 21st century exertion of control for the right to capital and target audience, rather than mere territory and pride. But this symbolism wasn’t what came through and I understand those who pushed back on how the war's references, along with an exotic flower, rang hollow. LW did get characterisation right, particularly the way poverty alters how intelligence is perceived and valued. It’s ambitious premise—that Louisa May Alcott was wrong in deciding these sisters would taper their poverty with unusual politeness—is radical.

I will rewatch the first 11 episodes of May I Help You in several trying days of my future. Baek Dong-joo and Kim Tae-hee, butlers to the dead and the alive respectively, are companions, friends and lovers, in that order. What's not to love? The acts asked of them are rarely grand but they are delivered with emotional heft. I forgive all the detours taken from episode 12. I tend to find it dull when everybody and everything is connected to each other. In this one's ending, it's quite lovely. I see the vision in saying that we only know Dong-joo’s story because that’s the story we have tuned into. The miracles could be happening to anyone at all. I wish writer-nim wasn’t so Christian throughout—the throwaway line about suicide put me off. Best piggy-backing scenes in a rom-com and also, favourite kiss, I am going to say.

[jessread-s]

Thanks to @fiercereadsya for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review

✩🏹🐺Review: 

A gripping murder mystery and swoonworthy romance set against the backdrop of a brutal period in Korean history. 

“A Crane Among Wolves” follows Iseul, a sheltered, privileged teenager, as she embarks on a dangerous journey to save her sister, who has been kidnapped by the tyrant King Yeonsan. Prince Daehyun, who is disgusted by his half-brother’s rampant abuse of the common folk, wants nothing more than to overthrow him.  Despite their initial disdain for each other, Iseul and Daehyun’s mutual hatred for the king results in a reluctant alliance to stage a coup.

June Hur’s historical reimagining centers around the fall of the Joseon dynasty in the Korean peninsula. As someone unfamiliar with this dark period in history, I was captivated and devastated by the widespread atrocities Hur’s characters navigated and the sacrifices they had to make to survive the abuse, kidnapping, enslavement, and execution that was prevalent during this time under King Yeonsan’s reign. I especially admired Iseul’s strength and her devotion to her sister. She goes to extreme lengths to save her sister from Yeonsan’s clutches and I enjoyed watching her develop from a spoiled girl to a selfless revolutionary.

I really enjoyed the murder mystery sub-plot woven into the story. It further drew me in and the suspense kept me on my toes. I tried and failed to identify the killer, but I loved trying to make sense of the clues Hur left throughout. 

Iseul and Daehyun’s begrudging allies-to-lovers romance had me in a chokehold! Their relationship development is very gradual with the two prioritizing their cause (usurping the king) over each other. Still,  they cannot resist giving in to their desires and I loved watching that play out from both of their perspectives. The tension, angst, and mutual pining Hur writes into their relationship made it all the better!

Cross-posted to: Instagram | Amazon | Goodreads | StoryGraph

[ash-and-books]

Rating: 4.5/5

Book Blurb: June Hur, bestselling author of The Red Palace, crafts a devastating and pulse-pounding tale that will feel all-too-relevant in today’s world, based on a true story from Korean history. Hope is dangerous. Love is deadly.

1506, Joseon. The people suffer under the cruel reign of the tyrant King Yeonsan, powerless to stop him from commandeering their land for his recreational use, banning and burning books, and kidnapping and horrifically abusing women and girls as his personal playthings.

Seventeen-year-old Iseul has lived a sheltered, privileged life despite the kingdom’s turmoil. When her older sister, Suyeon, becomes the king’s latest prey, Iseul leaves the relative safety of her village, traveling through forbidden territory to reach the capital in hopes of stealing her sister back. But she soon discovers the king’s power is absolute, and to challenge his rule is to court certain death.

Prince Daehyun has lived his whole life in the terrifying shadow of his despicable half-brother, the king. Forced to watch King Yeonsan flaunt his predation through executions and rampant abuse of the common folk, Daehyun aches to find a way to dethrone his half-brother once and for all. When staging a coup, failure is fatal, and he’ll need help to pull it off—but there’s no way to know who he can trust.

When Iseul's and Daehyun's fates collide, their contempt for each other is transcended only by their mutual hate for the king. Armed with Iseul’s family connections and Daehyun’s royal access, they reluctantly join forces to launch the riskiest gamble the kingdom has ever seen:

Save her sister. Free the people. Destroy a tyrant.

Review:

A girl willing to go to great lengths to rescue her sister from an evil king soon finds herself working together with the king's half brother in order to stage a coup and destroy the king. Based and inspired on real historical events/figures, the story is set in 1506, Josean, in which the evil tyrant King Yeonsan rules. Known for his cruelty and horrific abuse of women and girls, King Yeonsan will kidnap married women and young girls to abuse, traffic, and use as playthings. When seventeen year old Iseul's older sister is taken to become the king's latest prey, Iseul will do anything to get her back. The king's power is absolute and to challenge him would mean certain death. Prince Daehyun has not only witnessed but committed many horrifying acts in order to simply survive in his half brother's rule. He has been forced to shut his emotions off in order to just survive... having to watch King Yeonsan's rampant executions and abuse of people... and Daehyun has been bidding his time, patiently waiting to stage a coup and dethrone his brother. Daehyun and Iseul's path cross and despite their dislike for one another, their deeper hatred for the king will bond them together as they seek to free themselves of this monster. All the while a different monster is on the loose, a killer known as Nameless Flower, prowls the street, leaving behind dead bodies and messages to the king. Can Daehyun and Iseul make it out alive or were their chances impossible to begin with? This was such a heart wrenching and brutal read, especially since it is based on real history and on real atrocities committed. I cannot even begin to imagine the horrors that had occurred. The story was a fantastic look into this moment in history and despite how hard it was to read at some points, I was absolutely gripped until the very end and was so happy with how things turned out. I would absolutely recommend this for anyone who enjoys stories based on history, heart wrenching stories, and just a good read!

*Thanks Netgalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group | Feiwel & Friends for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

[klqrambles]

Q I need to hear you dump about all these musicals you like i am SO INTERESTED .

GRAHH the secret to my interest in musicals is: if it had a Korean production I probably like it /hj

Ok okokokokok I’mma try and summarize some of my current favs (i say current cause it’s always changing) feel free to ask me to elaborate on any of em

Also it’s beneath a readmore

Dorian Gray <- has been my interest for over a year now. Largely follows the plot of the book but what if Henry had the best character arc of the main three aka he goes from a silly little guy of an asshole to an asshole who regret his spaghet

Mozart l’Opera Rock <- follow the life and shenanigans of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart being the silliest queer man alive. Also Antonio Salieri has a lowkey mental breakdown about being gay for Mozart but that’s besides the point.

Swag Age: Shout Out, Joseon <- a story about a little guy named Hong Dan and his fight to be a silly little guy who does poetry in a country where poetry has been banned. A very very good rollercoaster of emotions

Frankenstein <- Not Frankenstein: A New Musical, but a Korean original. Does Not follow the book but has some highlights like Victor and Henry being Definitely gay for each other, Henry getting beheaded and turned into the Creature, the Creature being forced to fight in a fight ring under the most toxic queer couple to ever be in love(?), and Victor constantly referring to the Creature as Henry cause he can Not let his love die literally or figuratively

Pirates <- Follow Louis as he chronicles the Golden Age of Pirates alongside Captain Calico Jack, Anne Bonny, and Mary Reed. Also Anne and Mary are very in love (one of the songs is literally Love At First Sight) and Jack is smitten with Anne. Louis is Jack’s bestie and in some ways protege. Genderless cast aka both men and women are hired for the same roles, but the roles are always cast with the same gender pairs therefore it is always gay (so the guys play together and the girls play together but not across lines)

Mama, Don’t Cry <- uhm geeky little guy named V wants to be a vampire so he can get married to the love of his life so he travels back in time to get turned by Count Dracula. Count Dracula and V are a little gay for each other, V gets turned, V doesn’t get the girl, Dracula’s in drag, they end up possibly (definitely) in gay love forever and always 👍

Black Mary Poppins <- a tragic tale of four orphans, now adults, looking into the case of their Nanny Mary Smith and the lost memories of their childhood.

Diaghilev/Nijinsky <- two musicals detailing the lives of Sergei Diaghilev, Vaslav Nijinsky, and the rise and fall of the Ballet Russes. Gay and tragic and makes me wanna bite them /pos

Honorable mentions: Wild Grey (the Oscar Wilde musical), Western Story (cowboys but everyone’s lying), Brothers Karamazov (a condensed form of the series by Fyodor Dostoyevsky), Next to Normal (Mental health issues are hard), Salieri (what if Antonio Salieri had his own musical?), Mozart! Das Musical (Mozart’s life story again but make it focus on his times with Coloredo), Elisabeth (Queen Elisabeth of Austria-Hungary’s life as told by her assassin), Death Note (Death Note), Kinky Boots (Drag Queens lfgggggg)

[wondereads]

Weekly Reading Update (04/01/24)

Reviews and thoughts under the cut

The Red Palace by June Hur (7/10)

This was a really interesting historical mystery that delved into an area of history I'd never heard of before, the palace nurses of Joseon. The historical aspect of this book is incredibly interesting and made even more so that the plot is based on a true event. The mystery isn't mind-blowing, but it is executed quite well and balances actually solving it with the social pressures of the time. Unfortunately, this book falls short in terms of the characters. I liked the main character, Hyeon, but she doesn't really have a solid arc. Her relationship with her mother drew my attention, but her relationship with her father ended in a very unsatisfying way for me. Also, while the love interest is green flag after green flag, he also has no discernable flaws.

The Lost Heir by Tui T. Sutherland (CR, 70%)

Of the first five books of Wings of Fire, this one was my favorite when I was younger. I really enjoyed the more heavy political aspects, and that holds true now. For a middle grade novel, this delves a lot into the various implications of dragon politics and leadership. Also, just like the first one, it is surprisingly violent. Tsunami is also one of my favorites of the dragonets (it's tied between her and Glory most of the time), so I really enjoy reading from her perspective.

Trickster's Queen by Tamora Pierce (CR, 5%)

This novel begins with a bit of a time skip, but I can already tell it's going to be much more social politics-heavy than the first one, and I can't wait. I like the dynamic between Aly and Kyprioth; only the daughter of the Lioness could be comfortable speaking to a god that way.

House of Crimson Hearts by Ruby Roe (CR, 5%)

As would be expected from a vampire novel, there's already blood, but perhaps not in the way a vampire would like as she's been stabbed. I'm really excited to get into this one since there's not a lot of sapphic romantasy out there.

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut (CR, 5%)

This should be a quick read, but I am a bit apprehensive. This was pitched to me as science fiction, and while I do love a strong anti-war sentiment, this seems remarkably normal so far. I hope it's not like Dirk Gentley's Holistic Detective Agency where I have to wait the whole book until the science fiction part comes into play.

[accidentalslayer]

💗 Comfort Shows 💗

Thank you @elegantsplendour for inviting me to join in on the fun! Plus, it kind of helps me break the ice of my deep lurking/rabid reblogging LOL. I don't actually know 10 people on Tumblr yet so I'll just tag the people I do know~

@rosecentury @closetedwh0r3 @ren-drake @brandyovereager @leonorasbabygirl @catmikaelson20 @green-eyedshooter-blog @margueritetheduchess05

Rules are as follows: post 10 of your favorite comfort TV series and then tag 10 people. ♡

1. Once Upon a Time. (I used to be super heavy into watching/interacting with the fandom. Tbh, it was mostly because I simp for Rumplestiltskin and Belle/Lacy. Oh, to be a single piece of straw that Rumple spins into gold...)

2. Versailles. (I am a HUGE fan of period pieces & disaster brothers. The chaotic dynamic between Louis the 8th, the Sun King, and his brother, the Duke du New Orleans really had me hooked! Plus the cool polycule that the Duke, the Chevalier, & the Princess Palatine was 🤌🧂👩‍🍳)

3. Bridgerton. (Do I even need to expound the joy and excellence of Bridgerton? They recently dropped some teaser pics of Season 3 with Penelope and Colin and I am literally frothing at the mouth. It exists now to torment me in the back of my conscious mind. 🙃 😭)

4. The Originals. (Around the same time I got into OUAT, I was also addicted to the Originals! Klaus was my immediate favorite because of his BIG YANDERE energy but also because we're both artists. I also paint and create visions that I'd like to see in the world. Recently re-watching it again so I can write Dawn Misplaced, I began to switch allegiances to Elijah. I love his classy, polished "business man" vibe. I wonder how he'd fair against Rumplestiltskin...?)

5. The Vampire Diaries. (I realized that I had never seen this show before I watched the Originals and I'm currently blazing through Season 2. I love Damon and Stefan. More so Damon. I have a bad boys thing, I know. Tbh, I don't trust Stefan for some reason. I also think I'd enjoy sitting and writing in the same room as Elena. And I would Homer Simpson fade into the bushes whenever Katherine is around.)

6. Shadow and Bone. (Ngl, I was only in it for The Darkling and no one else. I do not care about the Sun Summoner or her whole entire character arc and would have happily watched the series if it'd centered around Kaz and Kirigan fighting for the destruction or expansion of the Fold. I also found the main protagonist super annoying. But she is a light magic user and the common trope or dark side of the light is righteousness and hypocrisy.)

7. Hotel Del Luna. (I LOVE K-dramas! This series is an amazing, quirky story that tackles themes like death, trauma, and shedding the past in a way that makes you laugh & and feel vindicated. Plus, the female lead is super confident, cool, & empowered throughout the narrative and has a lot of yandere traits without being too ridiculous. Also, I just love the concept of a hotel for ghosts in the afterlife. There's so much potential in that trope.) 8. Mr. Queen (Another quirky K-drama about time travel that takes place in the austere land of Joseon. There's time travel, sarcastic and witty banter. Gender swapping through crazy awesome Korean magic. And a clever, irreverent protagonist who slowly redeems himself over the process of the whole series from asshole to best boy. At least imo. Also, the outfits, and the background of the whole show is just really well-done. I can tell a lot of love went into those hanboks.) 9. Hannibal. (Okay so not exactly a comfort show as much as it is a "Yandere Crave". When I'm writing villain or misunderstood characters I sometimes just start binging on this show. I love Mads Mikkelsen. I guess I just have a thing for the last name "Mikael's son" and variants of it. The dynamic between Hannibal and Will was maddening and intense and I love how obsession and finding yourself reflected in another person plays a part of it.) 10. The Untamed (Have you ever watched a TV series that moved you to tears both in it's narrative, setting, outfit, and actors? Have you ever burned with longing for two characters to embrace each other while they both fought on opposite sides of philosophy and politics? Have you ever burst out in tears crying ugly sloppy happy and sad tears at the end of it and felt an emptiness so profound in your soul upon completion of it? Number 10 wears the crown in my list. It has no equal.)

[fortycumber]

so having read @mindmeltonabun-blog 's analysis of the plagiarism in My Demon, I felt strangely compelled to give my own review, since I have been pondering on it for quite some time now ever since I've finished it.

In short, my opinion would be, that the drama is a rather shallow, superficial, but visually stunning rendition of a popular trope that has been done a gazillion times before. It leaves a lot to the viewer's interpretation and their imagination due to the lack of proper explanation of major events in the plot. Think, an adaptation of a popular teen novel from the 2010s- short on everything but chemistry between the main actors (Fallen from 2016, The Mortal Instruments from 2013, heck even Twilight as the post stated as well and many more). The author laid out a nice blue print of a story that could have worked, had it been better researched and had she paid more attention to details. My particular problem with this drama was Gu Won's obvious identity crisis, which stems mainly from the fact that the author herself didn't really know what he was supposed to be. Like is he a demon, plucked from the many or is he the devil himself? He calls himself a demon, then then devil, he often claims that God's his boss, God herself says that she sent him there among humans, because she needed a "worker", which to me heavily implies that he's an angel..? Am I the only one who couldn't quite understand that part? And after the small discussion I had with certain commenters on Mydramalist, I guess I agree with the fact that he's supposed to be some kind of a fallen angel, mirroring the real devil, but that still doesn't explain as to why God called him "her worker". I guess, everything's part of the author's scarcely explained lore.

The Christian elements of the story, especially the Joseon Era part, were interesting (like I would totally watch a standalone drama following only that arc of the story, it's ten times more original than the main one), but totally lacked in execution and research which made a complete jumbled mess of the whole story, I did catch a few references to the Bible here and there, dunno if they were intentional or not.

Do Do Hee, to me, seemed like an even more washed out replica of Nam Ji Ah from The Tale of the Nine Tailed, mainly in how she was structured: she was strong, independent and formidable until she met her male lead and in a way she served as a feisty enigma for him to solve throughout the first few episodes, until he did and she fell flat, constantly in a need of his protection and reassurance. The "Succession" part of the show was an absolute chaos, it was obvious from the beginning who the culprit was and his tactics were honestly laughable, he wasn't terrifying at all, yet alone secretive and elusive, his whole character seemed to have escaped from a makjang if you ask me. There was no real fight, no palpable hatred and conflict between Do Do Hee and him, he spent strategically more time stroking Gu Won's magical book and chatting up the maniac he hired in sketchy chatrooms, instead of doing evil things. I would so preferred if the guy who was obsessed with Do Do Hee (for whichever reason we'll never find out btw or maybe I missed it, dunno) was the real villain instead of Noh Suk Min, he at least, evoked pure disgust and uneasiness in me, while Noh Suk Min made me laugh, literally. Oh and what a marvelous waste of Lee Sang Yi, his role was literally useless he was just there to be pretty (I love you boo <333333). Let's not forget the detectives please- they were even more useless, they just existed to be clueless about their jobs and look raggedy and lost most of the time.

The whole tone of the drama should have been different and more graphic. For a drama that deals with such heavy topics, it should've been darker, grittier, scarier, Gu Won should have been more dangerous, bolder, more seductive, sexier and more lethal, I mean he's a literal demon and given his tragic backstory he should have been truly ruthless, preying on people's misfortunes and feasting on the terrible outcome, in fact I think I would prefer for him to have been a libertine living an absolutely lavish and debauched life in the human underworld, where he would find most of his potential clients instead of the doleful theatre owner who mopes around clock towers looking for "his next victim", it just doesn't match the person he became after seeing Do Do Hee's past version dead and killing all of those people because of it (I mean Song Kang is more than a capable actor to do such a character, I wanna cry thinking what we've been deprived of seriously). For someone who boldly exclaims his hatred of people, he seems quite timid in hurting them, he should have been shown literally torturing people who didn't adhere to the contract and who wanted to escape it, instead he is just stuck in a dress up game with a plot that progresses nowhere and most of the time selectively "borrows" elements from other famous dramas. In fact the same thing could be said for Do Do Hee as well; as much as I liked most of her outfits, she was presented as this notorious business woman in episode one, but all she ever does in the rest of the episodes is just drive around town, looking like a Barbie doll.

I'm sure there were more things that irked me, but I just can't remember at the moment so I'll just stop here. The sole thing that saved this show was the chemistry between the leads.

[theinfinitedivides]

someone tell me why i saw the pansori singer at the kisaeng house (who Jang Hyun introduced to Gil Chae as the best singer in Joseon) and immediately thought 1. he looks exactly like a younger version of the man that the investigator spoke to in the psychiatric ward who literally broke down when he heard Jang Hyun's name and 2. if that's the case there is a very high possibility he's also going to have a King and the Clown-esque arc. dear God pls i can't take queer grief on top of everything this drama is threatening to give me

[sarangkstars]

Short Kdramas/Drama Special/Web Drama

Part 1

From time to time I go through the well-known "drama hangover". Even if I try to balance my backlog, don't start too many dramas with diversified stories at the same time, even if I choose only one favorite to follow... it doesn't matter, the routine will run over all my plans and I end up not having the courage or the will to watch anything. Usually when this kind of thing happens, I look for short dramas, with plots that I don't need to think too much, just watch, smile, fall in love and that's it, move on. So I remembered to list these short dramas I've seen and give my recommendations.

Part 2 here

Part 3 here

Splash Splash Love

Splash Splash Love, the 2015 minidrama with only 2 episodes made me so immensely happy. The story is about a high school student Jang Dan-bi (Kim Seul Gi). Running away from a maths test she finds herself in a playground. Unconsciously, she goes into a puddle and is suddenly transported to the Joseon period. There she meets King Lee-do (Yoon Doo-joon). My review here.

After the Rain

Kim Kang Woo is my soft spot and this 2 episode drama special seemed to call to me. And good thing too because this show is excellent. This is a comedic human drama about Bong Gil who is forty years old, single and tired of taking care of his 90 year old father. My review here.

The Reason I'm Getting Married

Two very good reasons to check out this drama - Song Jun Ho and Hong Jong Hyun. 😍 The story is about a woman (Park Hee Bon) who is about to marry her long-time boyfriend and meets a friend from the past who has a crush on her. My review here.

Came to me and Became a Star

This story is about Gang Seok (Kim Ji Suk) and Ha Jin (Jung So Min). Both are struggling to stay afloat in life when they meet and fall in love. Review here.

Review Notebook of My Embarrassing Days

Another KBS Drama Special starring Jeon So-min and Park Sung-hoon. Do Do-Hye (Jeon So-Min) is a mathematics teacher and has an overly honest personality, which makes her face embarrassing moments. She keeps a diary where she writes down all these embarrassing moments and reflects on herself. My review here.

Handmade Love

Because this web drama has Lee Soo Hyuk as the lead actor, I had to go see what it was all about. This is about Woven (Lee Soo Hyuk) who is a god who sinned by touching the coat of a goddess and his punishment is to live on Earth and make clothes that cure humans of their sadness.

I think Lee Soo Hyuk is perfect for the role of a god with that perfect elegance and ethereal looks. And I want to thank whoever thought he should wear high collars and fluffy pullovers. ❤️

The first thing that struck me was the luxurious appearance of the small shop. The clothes were beautiful and the furniture looked wonderful and magical.

I liked the stories of the humans he had to heal as they seemed solid and with good messages but I also felt they were rushed, maybe because it was only 8 episodes. So the concept was very cute but the execution was not very efficient.

The Universe's Star

"The Universe's Star" is written and directed by Kim Ji Hyun, known for "Splash Splash Love". That, and having my beloved Suho/Kim Jun Myeon in the cast made me want to watch this drama. This is the love story between a talented singer-songwriter Woo Joo (Kim Jun Myeon) and Byul (Ji Woo), a 19-year-old student who turned into a grim reaper after dying in an accident.

This show has stayed in my heart forever because although it only has 6 half hour episodes, it has more depth than some regular length dramas. Each episode had the ability to make me think and feel, and themes such as the meaning of life, self-worth or appreciating the present came up regularly in my thoughts.

While I can't say that the acting of the main actors was excellent I really enjoyed the OTP arc. The ending is quite emotional and moving and although it left me crying it also left my heart full.

I also have to mention the friendship between Byul and Gakshi (ghost). Though they should be "enemies" a friendship is formed and it is a pleasure to see them together.

Queen of the Ring

It's a cute and romantic mini-series of only 6 half-hour episodes. It's perfect for those who don't have time to devote to an entire series of 16 episodes or more and the content is light and heartfully.

Story is about an ugly girl, Nan Hee (Kim Seul Gi) who one day receives a ring that holds a family secret. Due to the magic ring, she dates Se Gun (Ahn Hyo Seop) who is a handsome guy but has a cold-blooded personality and struggles to see her as his ideal type.

I have a crush on Kim Seul Gi and I thought she gave Nan Hee a spunky personality even though she's so insecure about her physical appearance. And, as always, the emotional moments of this drama were delivered by her in a touching way.

I didn't feel very good about the premise of this drama and the idea of the "ugly girl" liking a boy who was only interested in physical appearances was not winning me over. However, the drama showed me that it had a message behind the original idea that left me quite satisfied with the end result.

Romance Full of Life

It's about In-Sung (Yoon Si Yoon) who is preparing for the exam to become a police officer for 4 years. He fails the exam 8 times, but he still has a positive personality. He then applies for the high paying part-time job which is titled "Full Life Experience". And then his life changes.

Of the Three Colors of Fantasies trilogy, this was the weakest for me. What I liked: I loved Yoon Si Yoon in this drama. I thought he looked adorable as a geek with those chrome glasses and that ruffled hair.

I liked that he turned into some sort of superhero and stopped being a weakling but I hated some of his actions and the way it changed him for the worse.

The OTP was okay.

Two Lights: Relumino

For three years Seo In-Soo (Park Hyung-sik) has been facing partial blindness. Looking for a new leisure activity, he joins a photography club for people with visual limitations. That's when he meets Ahn Soo-Young (Han Ji-min) - a young woman who is part of the group of students.

The story shows the daily struggles each has to go through due to their physical limitations, as well as the bond that is developed between them as they get to know each other better.

This short film is to make people aware of Samsung's Relumino device so the running time of the film is only 30 minutes, so the story is developed quickly but manages to be sweet, sensitive and beautiful.

And I liked the message of hope, inner strength and independence in the midst of darkness.

[psalm40speakstome]

Absolutely adore and want her with modern him but that Joseon arc at the end was seriously so painful..whyyyy? Like even just one line of him acknowledging him

[coreancitizen]

The Secret Romantic Guesthouse: 2 suns in the Joseon sky

[wuxiaphoenix]

Worldbuilding: Bordering on Wild

What do borders look like in your story world?

In the modern day and age we’re used to thinking in terms of strict lines on a map. Step here, you’re in one state or country;

a step the other direction puts you in an entirely different one.

For most of recorded history, human definitions of borders, borderlands, and frontiers have been a lot... fuzzier. Along the lines of the supposed meaning of Lake Chaubunagungamaug, “you fish on your side of the lake, I fish on my side of the lake, nobody fish in the middle”.

Fuzzy borders can be interesting story settings. Think of the bar where the county line was painted on an outside wall, and the proprietor would just move that section when a county sheriff showed up. That put them outside of jail for a very long time, until the bar’s propensity for sparking trouble finally annoyed both sides’ sheriffs into showing up at the same time. Or, if you’re going for a less modern, more wild and wooly setting, you might look into the wide border zone between the Qing dynasty and the kingdom of Joseon. Supposedly Koreans weren’t supposed to go north of the Yalu and Tumen Rivers, and everyone else wasn’t supposed to come south of them. Supposedly.

(If you’re thinking there was all kinds of illicit trade, travel, and ginseng exploitation anyway - yep, you’ve been paying attention. But it was convenient for both sides to say “this territory is where our land stops”. So the border lasted a few centuries.)

Humans find an advantage in having areas they have influence in without having direct responsibility for. Like everything else human, this has its good and bad points. Some of the worst surface when you have entrenched bureaucracies. See any of the Three Letter Agencies, aka the Departments of Obfuscatory Services. (Cue Dr. Jane’s Anthem to Bureaucracy here.)

Do you want to claim an asteroid, or comet? How about its orbital arc, so no one else interferes with it?

Does a flying city belong to the land under it? If so, who enforces that? If not, who takes advantage of it?

In the U.S., property rights go down to Hell and up to Heaven. Technically the only thing allowed to trespass through owned airspace is an aircraft with a valid flight plan on file with air traffic control. This has been speculated to have possible effects on vampires... does a property boundary count as a threshold?

Where do people in your story declare a border to exist? And - near as important - does everyone have the same definition?

Because if they don’t, someone’s going to play in the fuzzy areas. Guaranteed.

Background for all this - I’m currently reading Ginseng and Borderland, by Seonmin Kim. Both as research for a potential fantasy, and as another source of info and how people live and work around it. Ginseng’s in the Appalachians, it’s likely to come up in the Oni books. Could be a New World addition to goblin salve....

[marahuyomae]

Hii sorry if I sound intrusive but may I ask your wattpad username? You don't have to drop it if you're uncomfortable tho!!

Oh Hello! Sorry for the late reply... I assume that the tumblr you are using is mobile making you fail to access the link... So my username in Wattpad is BerrySan15 and a little reminder about my works in that account:

My Demon Slayer Fanfics:

My First, My End- This is a KNY x OC so Don't read that... I wrote that book without much thought and believe me, I don't like my oc over there (She is like a Mary Sue, and I am disappointed with myself), I will rewrite it if ever I have a much more sane plot though.

Fates A N D Furies- Another x OC, I will recommend this if only I manage to remember that this book still exists... But it is under rewrites this year actually. The oc is much more mature here than the other fic...

Hunter x Hunter:

Begonia Lullaby- A very confusing kind of self-insert(actually it IS a self-insert)... Ongoing still... But confusing

Inazuma Eleven (The much more older works tbh):

Just A Little Bit of Love- Hiatus, DON'T read... Kind of made this on my younger years and I regretted it... A LOT. Tbh I made the script TOO violent. :)

The Duchess's Hope- Has a lot of crossovers... but the crossovers make sense in a way... But since it is a first POV, it is kind of messy.

Encanto:

Star of the Sea- A vey slow burn (the updates are slow too) story about Camilo and Oc reader... Most of the time tackles about Camilo's possible identity crisis.. So basically, it is kind of a friend with problems x therapist friend troupe...

Extras:

A Euphoric Celebration- A book filled with Anniversary or a few specials... kind of a QnA

Aesthetic and Anxious- A Poetry and Art book... not posting a lot though.. not unless I was able to make some...

Joseon Time Telling- An Info about the Shibiji(A way of telling the time in old Korea)

Tokyo Revengers:

A Recondite Impulse- Also available in this acc. But this one is Ongoing... And has a lot of characters..

I Never Liked Mama- Is kind of connected to the first story... Follows the story of one of my OCs that somehow has the child of Rindou in the Bonten arc...

Queen of Hours: Diary of a Babaylan- More active in that account, but both (Tumblr and Wattpad) accounts are catching up on each other...

Sorry if I made it too long.. Just warning you of the read and don't read..

[beckysbook5]

A Crane Among Wolves by June Hur - ARC Review!

Hope is dangerous. Love is deadly. 1506, Joseon. The people suffer under the cruel reign of the tyrant King Yeonsan, powerless to stop him from commandeering their land for his recreational use, banning and burning books, and kidnapping and horrifically abusing women and girls as his personal playthings. Seventeen-year-old Iseul has lived a sheltered, privileged life despite the kingdom’s…