Hi welcome to my little blog :,) Here are my recommendation lists! I try to keep these updated but I'm not always punctual, forgive me. Let me know if you have any questions or trouble with the links!
My main is @softandorsweet <3
currently rewatching: Doom at your service
just finished: Love for Love's Sake
MY TOP 5 FAVORITES (see google doc list for plot descriptions and my full list of recommendations)
Romance Kdramas
DOOM: AT YOUR SERVICE (TW death, terminal illness, parent death, themes of su*cide)
TWENTY-FIVE TWENTY-ONE (TW anti-fatness, mild bullying, themes of depression)
HOMETOWN CHA-CHA-CHA (TW anti-fatness, themes of su*cide, ensemble character death)
YUMI'S CELLS (1 & 2) (TW anti-fatness)
LOVE FOR LOVE’S SAKE (BL) (TW homophobia, su*cidal ideation, shown su*cide, death, blood)
WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING (TW childhood trauma, parent death, so much anti-fatness, homophobia, sexism, main character death, murder, slipping someone a drug, themes of & shown attempted su*cide, gun violence)
HAPPINESS (TW self h*rm, murder, zombies basically so lots of blood, classism, gun violence)
Thai Romance Dramas
NOT ME (BL) (TW physical altercations, gun violence, arson, kidnapping, commentary on ableism, racism, capitalism and more)
BAD BUDDY (BL) (TW physical altercations, blood, family violence, gun violence, unwanted public outing)
MY SCHOOL PRESIDENT (BL) (TW mild manipulation, shove, slap, punch, homophobia, non con photo taking, unwanted public outing)
KINNPORSCHE (BL) (TW gun violence, murder, torture, kidnapping, mafia altercations, physical altercations, under the influence sex scene, dubious consent)
THE ECLIPSE (BL) (TW homophobia, minimal physical altercations, outing someone)
Japanese Romance Dramas
MY LOVE MIX-UP (BL) (TW homophobia)
ALICE IN BORDERLAND (TW shown death, su*cide, extreme violence, sexual assault, severe psychological trauma)
CHERRY MAGIC (BL) (TW age gap)
SEVEN DAYS (BL) (TW cheating)
ONLY JUST MARRIED (TW fake marriage, unrequited love)
Taiwanese Romance Dramas
ABOUT YOUTH (BL) (TW family stress)
WE BEST LOVE (BL) (TW blackmail, dubious consent, manipulation, non con kiss, violence)
MY TOOTH YOUR LOVE (BL) (TW trauma, parent death, physical abuse, family abuse)
i wanted to include any warnings i noticed while watching these shows, as to reduce any harm to anyone taking my recommendations! these are still my favorite shows and have as many nuanced positives as nuanced negatives!
key: FL = female lead, ML = male lead, TW = trigger warning
message about south korean dramas: i think so many of us are drawn to kdramas for their depth and analysis of different forms of oppression and traumas. however, kdramas are lacking so much in so many ways thus the TWs. i recently found out that studio dragon, the largest production company in south korea is a monopoly company (bought out all smaller independent businesses and now has total control over most production in south korea). studio dragon alone has produced vincenzo, hometown cha cha cha, happiness, twenty-five twenty-one, yumis cells, my roommate is a gumiho, doom at your service, true beauty, start-up, tale of the nine tailed, flower of evil, it’s okay to not be okay, hi bye mama, my holo love, love alarm, hotel del luna, because this is my first life and way way more. plus they just signed with Netflix in the last year or two, and will only be continuing to expand. if you regularly watch kdramas there’s not much we can do, expect support the dramas that have become more inclusive. knowledge is power and having perspectives on why studio dragon is not perfect is more beneficial than living in the dark.
12 year old tim realizing robin’s not coming back to gotham and deciding that it’s Batman’s fault so he has to ruin the little bit of sanity and peace of mind Bruce has managed (read: struggled) to keep in his grasp:
OOH YEAH BABY ITS THE SURGERY EPISODE BABY!!! ME AND THE HOMIES NEED SOME NEW FACES FOR OUR NEW PLAN, AND WHO BETTER TO GET THE JOB DONE THAN THE TWO MOST EVIL PEOPLE WE'VE EVER HAD THE MISFORTUNE OF HAVING OUR LIVES VIOLATED BY? I MEAN IT WOULD BE FUNNY. IT WOULD BE FUNNY.
what are katara and azula's favorite things about each other's culture? least favorite?
oooh excellent question!
for katara, her favourite thing about the fire nation is probably their sense of romance. it really pervades nearly everything in the fire nation. (this is all hc i fear BUT) the fire nation has an obsession with passion; be it the physical form in an ever-so-obvious erotic fixation with strong powerful (naked) bodies, the visual language of someone through clothing colour and manner, even violence and death - the fire nation weaves romance through everything, all behind these layers of disicipline and self control. fire nation arts are therefore prolific in every level of society and known to be MELODRAMATIC AS HELL. they adore poetry, theatre, performance, all of it, with romantic tragedy at the core. what im essentially saying is the fire nation is both somehow repressed and obssessed with emotion, and katara resonates with that. she's a romantic at heart herself, and this kind of thing is really attractive to her. of course, it's only once she understands the fire nation that she really falls in love with their ideas of love
her least favourite? where to start! the fire nation's militantism, their bone tight grip on self control, the professional distance expected between everyone who isn't family (and everyone who IS family), the fixation on hierarchy within every level of society. their violent discipline, the dehumanisation of it's leadership figures, their obsession with fighting, death and war, and so on and so on. katara has a big issue with a LOT of the fire nation, though admittedly some of this is her stubborn refusal to understand or adjust her own world image. the fire nation is so unapologetically violent to itself, and as a healer she HATES that. she cant wrap her head around it. just STOP KILLING EACH OTHER.
i think the crux of it is that she simply can't understand how the fire nation expects complete self containment and obedience, all in the pursuit of a rigid sense of order (to avoid the harm that fire causes by it's very nature). it's just... not something she's ever had to contend with. water can't burn a country to the ground with an accidental spark, afterall. from her own cultural background all these rules and complications is a complete anthesis. she thinks its really stupid, honestly
for azula, there's honestly a lot she respects about the water tribes. most of all is their way of life, the tribes are chiefly hunters that harmonise with their environment. in that way, they take up an 'apex' role, and are intimately involved in the cycle of life. birth, living, death, the tribes slip into each role as both a teacher and a student. and i think that kind of simplicity of life impresses azula - the strong and the weak, the community, the easy way everything fits, that everything is used and appreciated. there's no sense of excess, really, to the water tribes and it's deeply satsifying for her. plus, for a princess that's trapped up in a thousand barriers in her own society? i think she's fascinated with the tribes way of allowing oneself to BE oneself. (there's that fire nation romanticism too)
what azula dislikes about the tribes? there's no certainty about them. the community and it's needs are fluid and adaptable. they don't have hierarchy, rules, rigid centuries old protocals to follow. she hates that. they don't have a formal military, they don't have an independant judicial body, they don't have a formal branch of religion. as much as the tribe fits into a harmonisiation with the world, azula wants RULES. she wants ORDER. she wants DISICIPLINE. the water tribe has NONE of that, there's little to no lines in the sand dictating who and what. its so frustrating for her. it's basically just azula not understanding how the water tribes can function as an ever changing thing. shes like a fish out of water (forgive the pun), as her entire life is defined by rules and absolutes.
also, and more pettily, azula is a traditionalist that actually adores the tech and metal of the modern fn age. where's her central heating?? what do you mean they only have a central fire for warmth?? she wants a SPA, NOW. shes a brat
Do you ever think about the parallels between Rinne and Aira
Not only they have a shared interest in protecting Hiiro and ensuring his well-being/growth as a person, (and it's extra interesting given how Aira sort of dislikes Rinne for how he dealt with Hiiro in general—by leaving him alone at their hometown and disowning him in the summer of the MDM—, so even though they have the same interests and goals regarding Hiiro, they aren't exactly friends nor like each other — though this is mostly from Aira's part, because Rinne does like Aira and even acknowledges him as someone important to Hiiro that he must keep in his life), but Aira kinda is what Rinne used to be, before his dreams of becoming an idol we're crushed by the new rules of ES.
!! Main Story, Episode 171, "Revolution"
I've seen many people talk about how Rinne and Aira would get along because they're both idol otakus, but I believe that's a common misunderstanding of Rinne's character, because Rinne isn't an idol otaku (at least not anymore). He doesn't like the current idol system and the way Ensemble Square is running the industry. That's why he tried to change it by force in the !! Main Story by acting out. This is different from Aira, who loves the idols born from this system, and is a participant in the ES system that is going to hurt the industry in the long run (because ES is mass producing idols like a factory, stripping them from their own individuality and what makes idols especial in the first place — which is why Aira likes idols to begin with! Because they're different from ordinary people!)
!! Main Story, episode 220, "Despair"
Aira is aware that the idol industry isn't perfect, in episode 171 he even acknowledges that the mass production of idols similar to items of consumption made in a factory is wrong and it strips idols from their beauty and value, but he doesn't have the insight and first hand experience with heartbreak as Rinne had, so he doesn't have the motivation to protest or change the way ES is running the industry. They both love idols and dreamed of becoming one, but Rinne isn't an idol otaku, because he can't be a fan of idols mass produced by the current system.
What Rinne does instead, is support underground idols that would otherwise be trampled or forced to disappear by ES because they don't fit their sets of standards (and because ES has monopoly in the idol industry, they can easily do this without much repercussions or public outcry) and gives them his protection. This is explained throughout the course of the story of Night Club.
Nigh Club, Epilogue 2
Aira tries to impersonate an ideal idol persona, as the ones he watched when he was younger. He wants to embody a model idol and inspire others as idols inspired him in the past. Rinne used to be similar, but ES arbitrarily destroyed his solo career making him lose that dream, and that's why he embodies the wild and rebellious persona he portrays on stage, which is a complete opposite to how a traditional idol should act (and this is a constant point of conflict between him and other idols, such as Himeru; Himeru tends to scold Rinne for being so wild and doing whatever he wants because it goes against what is expected of an idol, but in Night Club he comes to understand that this is Rinne's soft way to protest against ES, despite having lost to them in the first part of the !! Main Story).
(Sometimes, I wonder if Rinne is happy being the wild and playful self he is with Crazy:B, or if he would prefer to be on stage as an ideal idol like he used to do years ago....)
However, despite their differences and the dislike/intimidation Aira might feel towards Rinne, he admits he understands his feelings and where he comes from, and that he can't help but to relate to him due to the fact that they both love idols. Aira scolds Rinne in episode 220 "Despair" to make him stop his pity party, but later in episode 224 "Flutter" he comforts and encourages him instead—telling him that he should not give up being an idol, because he recognizes that Rinne loves idols as much as he does, and that he still has a reason to live because he has fans of himself and of Crazy:B waiting for him among the crowd, meaning that he is still loved and accepted by someone, despite all the wreckage he had caused.
(And if I'm allowed to get personal for a moment, I just need to make emphasis in how important Aira is to the development of the Amagi brothers in the last arc of the !! main story, and this scene is a perfect example of that. Aira is the one who encourages Rinne to join the others on stage and sing, and after that it is Hiiro that pushes Rinne to give that step which finally leads them to perform on stage together 🥹)
So as we can see, Rinne and Aira have a lot of similarities, but they act in completely different ways due to their circumstances. They have similar backgrounds as idol lovers but they have different views and feelings about the industry and the profession, (however, they seem to share the same ideals as to what an idol should be, and love the same type of ideal idol inside their hearts). Adding to that their shared most beloved person, Hiiro, and how the two of them want what's best for him but they have a point of contention due to Rinne's bad actions in the !! Main Story, and their relationship becomes x10 more interesting, and I wish we talked about it more!
And we know Happyele hasn't forgotten about them, because Aira appeared in Rinne's recent relationship chart, just below Hiiro.
(also, a little unrelated, bu i think it's funny that despite having a heart to heart at the ending of the main story, their relationship is still "want to tease him" and "he's a little scary" ahdks Aira, who scolded Rinne in front of hundreds of people in the MDM, regressed to feeling intimidated and troubled by him. A couple of friends commented that it was probably because Aira had a burst of courage in the MDM because of the severity of the situation, so he had the determination to call out Rinne, a senior that he particularly feels intimidated by, publicly without second thought. It is canon that after the fact, Aira admitted that looking back on the MDM he felt embarrassed for doing such a bold thing. Idk, it's just something i find very interesting and fun about their dynamic www)
So this leads me to believe that they haven't forgotten about the history these two had in the main story, and all I can do is just wait for them to expand on their relationship and dynamic more eventually in some future event.
SUPER shitty Von Kaiser warmup doodle in relation to a doodle hopefully coming soon 🩷 this is based off this little pin i found on Pinterest, image credit to @/rotforbrain on there for the photo !
emphasis on shitty but sometimes u just gotta get the gears turning , drawing with a stiff hand is tewww risky for me !
This poem explores the theme of unconditional love. It emphasizes a love that is all-encompassing and accepting, one that sees beyond superficial flaws and insecurities. The poem suggests that this kind of love is essential for human connection and understanding. It encourages us to look at each other with compassion and empathy, recognizing and accepting each other’s true selves.
Asuka is a tragic figure, a figure of mystery, a wild card, all because the only thing she wants in life is peace and quiet for herself and to feel in control- yet her secret heritage that may be hidden from her for her own protection and the reality that life is unpredictable and will go on with or without you keep ruining that delusion, that vision of how the world is meant to work to her, and she suffers regardless of what she wants, what she does, and how little she understands anything
She was born into a family preaching peace and balance and order while being a creature of violence, and puts a dozen mental locks and excuses over this truth to justify giving into her impulse for fighting by pretending she's justice when she does it
She keeps trying to build a place of safety but she's using sand and life is a wave that destroys, yet she stubbornly persists rather than give up, not drowned to the point of self centered suicidal loathing like Jin- there's contrast, where Jin is cloaked in death Asuka stubbornly clings to life and humanity as a normal person in a terrifying world
She's not a fucking narrative clone for Jun's own purpose, Asuka's purpose must be determined by Asuka herself