Musings of the Obsessive Kind
She's a mite whimsical in the brainpan.
Musings of the Obsessive KindShe's a mite whimsical in the brainpan. |
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| Jun. 16th, 2009 @ 07:33 pm Seriously - am so wrongshipping! | |||
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Current Mood:
While I appreciate the contribution Dong Young provides to the plot through his thoughtful character and nuanced emoting: content I cannot help but ship Duhmi with Bin instead:  I mean! He is hugging her with handcuffs! People who made this made Damo and that explains everything: the focus on women in the story (the men are cool but secondary) AND the crazy shipping dilemma. In Damo, I am still not 100% convinced as to whom Damo really loved (though I have my opinions) and, more importantly, even though I thought Yoon was AWESOME, I shipped her with sexy rebel Sung-Baek instead even though I knew I should not have for reasons pretty darn valid. ( Spoiler as for the reason ) | |||
| Jan. 8th, 2009 @ 10:59 pm Dangermousie's Top 25 Kdramas list: new and improved | |||
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Current Mood:
I have decided that it was about time for me to update and expand my favorite kdrama primer yet again (which I first did some months ago). Not only were there a bunch of kdramas I wanted to add to the list, but I wanted to rearrange the order of some of the dramas on the list already (except for the first three or so, the placement of the other ones within the rankings is fluid and moves based on my mood) and very much expand it.  bouncySo behind the cut are 25 of my favorite kdramas, with summaries, reasons why, pics and vids. I have tried to keep it as unspoilery as possible. No kdrama I have not finished is on the list because I want to have seen the complete drama before evaluating the fave status. Also, I watch a lot of dramas, but I have hardly seen all or most kdrama out there, and there are some very famous ones I have never seen. I am always open to recs and am always looking for said recs. Now, without too much further verbosity, Dangermousie's 25 favorite kdramas list, new and improved. ( Lengthy post here ) | |||
| Jun. 30th, 2008 @ 09:52 am I am hard-wired to love angsty rebels... | |||
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Current Mood:
 calm One of Damo's points of brilliance is that, much as I love Lord Hwangbo Yoon, in episodes 4-7, just like Chae-Ok, I fall completely under Jang Sung-Baek's spell. He is a rebel leader fighting for a just world! Who is incredibly loyal to his friends, treats lepers, yearns to find his long-lost sister, and executes a scumlord who uses parents' debts to sell daughters into sex slavery. Not to mention he is so gorgeous it hurts. In eps 4-7 I always switch to becoming a Sung-Baek/Chae-Ok shipper, even if I know how impossible it is, starting with the very basic reason ( spoiler ). And for the rest of the drama, just like Chae-Ok, I am torn. Because once we switch again to Hwangbo Yoon and his interaction with Chae-Ok, I switch again, and so on... Anyway, this is a long-winded intro to some gorgeous caps from the beginning of ep 7 behind the cut. Mainly of Sung-Baek and Chae-Ok, but some of Hwangbo Yoon too, because he is too awesome not to include. ( Enter for angsty hotness here ) And speaking of angsty rebels, I just started episode 5 of Iljimae and took a few caps from first15 minutes or so. Not spoilery at all except for the fact that Lee Jun Ki is hot.  ( Caps here ) | |||
| Jun. 9th, 2008 @ 12:50 am Damo: eps 1 and 2 meta and picspam | |||
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Current Mood:
There was KISSING at the end of ep 11 of Lobbyist. Caps of that and many other moments of awesomeness coming. bouncyBut this post is not about that. This post is about Damo.  DAMODAMODAMODAMODAMO. I started showing it to ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} filmi_girl and, once again, its awesomeness hit me like a ton of brick: the prettiness, the emotional intensity, the strong heroine, the the the everything.( Behind the cut are caps and meta on eps 1 and 2. Not spoilery for anything beyond the first two eps ) | |||
| Jun. 8th, 2008 @ 09:19 pm Lobbyist: so much hot manpain should be illegal. It's bad for my health... | |||
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Current Mood:
 busyfilmi_girl came over and I started showing her Damo. We watched two first eps and, my God, I've forgotten how incredible this is. This definitely belongs in my Top 5 kdramas. Prepare for meta and caps (am dling eps for capping right now).But this post is not about that.  LOBBYIST LOBBYIST LOBBYIST. I love episodes 10 and 11 more than chocolate ice-cream. What do I love? Maria being tough as nails and successful and aggressive and this not being portrayed as a bad thing. That girl is Hard-Core: she can fight, she can bargain, she can think. YES. What else do I love? Harry's deep humanity. In a way, he is totally unsuited to his life, the way Maria is not. Maria has a hard edge to her a mile wide. But Harry? He can be incredibly tough, true, but he is a total softie under all that. I loved the scene where the guerilla leader sends him some anonymous young woman to 'take care of his needs' and he just gently buttons up her bra for her, and ends up talking to a mercenary, who thinks him foolishly soft-hearted, that she is too young and he has a sister her age. What do I love more than those put together? WHEN THE GUERILLAS CAPTURE MARIA AND TIE HER TO A POST AND FORCE HARRY TO SHOOT HER OR ELSE THEY WILL KILL HIM AND KILL HER ANYWAY. Yes, this deserves caps. OMG. I sort of forgot to breathe. That whole scene, and Maria's steadiness, and Harry's desperation and just...GUH. And how he promises to take care of her (later) and how they escape and how he is shot protecting her and just... MY FAVORITE SCENE IN THE DRAMA HAPPENS THEN. ( Come see my favorite scene behind a cut, full of hurt/comfort and OTPness ) | |||
| Jun. 8th, 2008 @ 01:24 am Damo: Strong women, conflicted men... | |||
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Current Mood:
I think it's about time for me to rewatch Damo. bouncyA 14-episode drama, Damo was one of my earliest Korean dramas, and all these dramas later, remains one of my favorites (I don't love it as much as Legend, and probably not as much as Hong Gil Dong, but it is still psychotically good). Filmed like a movie and written better than most movies ever get (and, at 14 eps, with no slow spots or pacing problems), Damo possesses not only a complicated story, amazing battles, and characters I grew to love madly, it also boasts the strongest female character I have came across in dramas: the protagonist Chae-Ok, after whom the drama is named. A Damo is a tea-servant in Korea of a Joseon period, and Chae-Ok is, ostensibly, a tea-servant at a police precinct, a slave of Commander Hwangbo Yoon, the 'boss' of the division. She is also an investigator for the department and one of its best fighters. She can do this as she grew up with Yoon, and the Commander, an outsider himself (he is a bastard child of a nobleman, not a truly 'proper noble' by birth), treats her as a sister or maybe more... The story is about a counterfeiting ring that might be the cover for a rebellion, about Chae-Ok's method of coping with living in a society that is almost unbearably rigid, and her emotional involvement with two very different yet oddly similar men: Hwangbo Yoon and the charismatic rebel leader Sung-Baek. Damo is one of the most gorgeously filmed, emotionally devastating, incredible dramas out there. All three of the main characters are outsiders trying to cope with the system that does not allow deviations, and their emotional struggles to define themselves are even more interesting than the overarching plot. Also, "Then I will humble myself" has got to be one of the most swoon-worthy things ever said in a drama, in context. Here is a rare non-spoilery vid to lure you: ( Cool ones but spoilery. Go watch the drama ) | |||
| May. 28th, 2008 @ 11:31 am A happy happy hodge-podge | |||
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Current Mood:
Things that make me happy: cold1. Daemul isn’t scrapped. The air date has been pushed to October, which I can deal with. Hopefully they will iron things out by then. 2. The fangirls in the JJH thread on soompi. They are discussing possible kissing scenes in Antique and are torn between horror (oh noez! Their oppa might be kissing another guy!) and delight (at least it’s not one of those icky girls). Heeee. I really wish this was a drama and not a movie, but oh well, beggars can’t be chosers. Still, 16 episodes of JJH reliving cake-related childhood abduction trauma and dealing with advances of the hot Waffle Sunki, whose sexy gay love he rejected in high-school, would have been pretty awesome. 3. Yup, Winter Sonata is definitely being made into an anime.  Heee. 4. Powerful Opponents has certainly become the drama of the spring for me. Who would have thought…I wasn’t very familiar with/attached to any of the leads before it started. Especially amusing is that I mainly checked it out to see Lady Bodyguard and President’s Son hook up but ended up the hugest bodyguards!shipper. Heeeee. Oh, Gwan Pil :) 5. Even though I want Gwan Pil/Young Joo with a scary level of fangirling, I do like Su Ho as a character, and adore Lee Jin Wook, who plays him. I just don’t want him with Young Joo. So imagine my delight when I found he was in a drama where he did get the girl, last year’s Someday. The plot sounds delightful. Our Heroine is a reserved manga artist, who doesn’t really believe in romantic love much. She comes to Korea and meets Secondary Guy, a manga fanboy who is smitten and decides he is in love at first sight, not even noticing the cool Secondary Girl who has loved him for years. Secondary Guy hires our Hero, Lee Jin Wook, a private investigator with a tragic past, to follow his dream girl. And it goes from there… Happy endings for everyone abound, so what’s not to love. I don’t think fansubbers ever did this drama, but a DVD with subs is available from YA. I mean, look at the cute MV! 5. PO is winding up next week. But luckily, I have a new drama fixation to take its place…Iljimae. And speaking of, ep two subs are out! I have only watched the first half of first ep and I like it a LOT. I don’t love it as much as Hong Gil Dong, but it’s early days yet, and in any event, HGD pinged my fiction loves uniquely. Oddly, I can also see why it’s getting better ratings: it’s a lot more traditional in its approach than HGD. So yes, Iljimae. I am sure my like will transform to LOVE as soon as poor little Iljimae will lose his privileged existence and his family at the age of eight (???), grow up to be Lee Jun Ki and begin his awful yet photogenic torment and suffering. Also, any clue which of the two girls is his OTP? I don’t mind either way. One way we get so beloved by me trope of aristocrat-slave (though would Iljimae be considered a slave? I mean, he was born upper class. But then Ha Ji Won lost all her aristocratic status when her family was executed in Damo, and became a slave…so.) Plus, that would mean he falls for the girl whose Dad killed his family, thus giving me shades of Time Between Dog and Wolf. However, if we don’t get that, I don’t mind a bit.It would also be fun if he hooked up with thieving peasant girl, sort of like Legend. I already got aristocrat/slaveOTP with Hong Gil Dong and Damo and it was all so perfect, plus I can have my fill of angsty avenger/gently brought lady otp angst with Strongest Chil Woo which is coming out later this summer. Also, this way I can have a ‘I am in love with my not!sibling’ OTP of aristocrat girl and Iljimae’s nemesis, which would also make me happy. | |||
| Apr. 9th, 2008 @ 07:14 pm New, improved, and expanded 'Dangermousie's fave kdramas' pusher/rec list | |||
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Current Mood:
I have decided that it was about time for me to update and expand my favorite kdrama primer (which I first did some month ago). Not only were there a bunch of kdramas I wanted to add to the list, but I wanted to rearrange the order of some of the dramas on the list already (except for the first three or so, the placement of the other ones within the rankings is fluid and moves based on my mood) and very much expand it.  chipperSo behind the cut are 20 (actually 21, because of a tie) of my favorite kdramas, with summaries, reasons why, pics and vids. I have tried to keep it as unspoilery as possible. No kdrama I have not finished is on the list because I want to have seen the complete drama before evaluating the fave status (possible future candidates to be put in that aren't there because of it are Mawang and MISA). Also, I watch a lot of dramas, but I have hardly seen all or most kdrama out there, and there are some very famous ones I have never seen. I am always open to recs and am always looking for said recs. Now, without too much further verbosity, Dangermousie's 20 or so favorite kdramas list, new and improved. ( Lengthy post here ) | |||
| Feb. 22nd, 2008 @ 03:53 pm Submissive Asian girl stereotypes? Think again... | |||
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Current Mood:
I was going to do a post on cool drama guys with swords but then I thought...ehhhh, everybody's done one of those. I want to do a cool post on kickass drama GIRLS with swords or guns. And why they are awesome. calmSo here goes: ( Like your girls elegant but kickass? Enter here ) | |||
| Jan. 18th, 2008 @ 06:34 pm My all-time favorite Korean dramas, with summaries, reasons and vids. Yes, it's a converting post :) | |||
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Current Mood:
As I am sure is clear to anyone reading this LJ, of all the dramas out there, Korean ones are my favorite kind. Whether it's the amazing production values, tall and masculine hotties (often with swords), adorable heroines, or just the total cracktastic emo, I don't know. But kdramas rock. awakeBut which are my favorite kdramas? And why? Here is a Top 10 list, with reasons, vids, and pics. Note: no drama that I haven't finished completely is on this list, because who knows how it will turn out. Hong Gil Dong or The Legend might end up on this list, but are not included because I am not done. We'll see...Also, I have a 'favorite scene' from each drama, and I described it very briefly, if at all, to make it as unspoilery as possible. ( Top 10 here ) | |||
| Mar. 18th, 2007 @ 09:52 pm The amazingness that is Damo: I am done | |||
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Current Mood:
So. sadDamo.  I am done. And meganbmoore and alexandral, I'll always be grateful to the two of you for pushing this because I probably wouldn't have checked it out otherwise. But now this is definitely in my Top 10 dramas. And I simply must see the three leads in something else, but I am afraid, because I don't want to ruin my image of them as Chae-Ohk and Hwangbo Yoon and Sung Baek.I think it maxed my angst capacity out. But while I could do with fewer beards, I think this was an amazing amazing drama. If I only could stop tearing up just thinking of it. ( Spoilers for the whole thing ) ( Spoilery but awesome Damo MVs ) | |||
| Mar. 18th, 2007 @ 04:43 pm Yet more Damo | |||
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Current Mood:
Oh Damo. contentOh Tent Scene. Yes, I just finished ep 12 (I am flying through this) and am sniffling like mad. I need a break before I completely dissolve. ( Semi-coherent ramblings ) | |||
| Mar. 18th, 2007 @ 10:35 am The amazingness that is Damo | |||
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I haven't been posting as much about it (largely because chippermeganbmoore has done such an awesome job metaing about it), but I have been watching and loving Damo more and more.I am halfway through ep 9 now and it's amazing. It has everything I could ever want from a drama (or any other fiction for that matter): 1. Honorable men: both Hwangbo Yoon and Sung Baek, even though on opposite sides of the law and destined to fight to the death, are noble men. I hate it when one of the opponents is supposed to be evil, in fiction. How much more interesting when they are both good, just forced by circumstances to oppose each other. 2. Strong heroine: Chae-Ohk is amazing. She is an exceptional fighter, but she is also devoted, intelligent, honorable and yet wholly human. 3. Complicated politics: I love a good love story, but what I love even more is when the love story is not the only thing going. 4. Amazing fights, gorgeous costumes, wonderful score, and sets to die for: Damo is as gorgeous as any movie and the fights are brutal and different and fluid. 5. Love Story to die for: Hwangbo Yoon and Chae-Ohk cannot live without each other. Literally. And then there are strong feelings (of a really complicated spoilery nature) between Sung Baek and Chae-Ohk. ( Spoilery thoughts though ep 9 ) | |||
| Mar. 16th, 2007 @ 02:14 pm Largely on The Devil and Damo | |||
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Current Mood:
You have NO idea of the willpower it’s taking me not to click on the spoilers for the last Hana Yori Dango 2 ep. This is not helped by the fact that I am leaving on an out-of-town trip tonight and won’t be back until Saturday evening, so might very well not get to the ep till then (depending on when dl will become available). AAAAAA! contentTo distract self, I’ve been thinking about The Devil. Mawang is the Korean name and I better start using it from now on because otherwise people are going to mistake me for a Satan-worshipper :P Nothing against S-ws, but am not, am merely a Joo Ji Hoon fangirl, which isn’t quite the same thing. Anyway, Mawang. Starts next Wednesday. Any idea if a subs group picked it up? Pleasepleaseplease say yes. After watching the youtube short interview clip I linked to earlier, I have also realized that I like Uhm Tae-Woong now. He is just so funny and adorable. He gave me the creeps in Delightful Girl Chun-Hyang and since it was the only thing I saw him in, I sort of id-ed the actor with the role. But now, nope. Even if I end up disliking his character in Mawang, I’ll still like him as an actor which is good. Also, the thing they said during that interview/promo thing that Joo Ji-Hoon plays a good man who becomes evil (in the course of the drama) made me think that he can’t be a serial killer, not from the start. Because no way is that a serial killer description. Unless they mean ‘serial killer’ in a very broad sense as someone who kills more than one person for whatever reason. Which would fit into the whole thing going around that he is trying to achieve revenge for the deaths of his Mother and Brother. And then (and here is my spec) possibly starts going down the slippery slope etc. and maybe starting to take out innocent passerby or whatever and developing a taste for it. That would actually fit the fact that he is supposed to have some sort of a love relationship with Shin Min Ah’s character as I can’t see any drama giving a true serial killer a romantic relationship. They also mentioned that UTW’s character is an ‘evil man in the guise of good’ or something to that effect which made me go hmmmm….Poor Shin Min Ah. Will she ever get a normal love interest in a drama? ;D And because this is as good a segue as any, I’m still watching Goong 1.5 special and it’s too funny. The bloopers especially or the actor who plays CG’s father (who says he was supposed to be the Queen LOL) or JJH imitating their director. Fun. Oh, yeah. Damo. I am partway through ep 5. It would really help if I wasn’t so brain-dead when I try to watch this as I end up nearly passing out with exhaustion when I get to it. Must catch up on it this weekend. ( Spoilery thoughts ) x-posted at ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small} dorama_chat | |||
| Mar. 13th, 2007 @ 09:39 pm Damo!!!! | |||
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Current Mood:
EEEEEE! chipperI just finished ep 2 of Damo. Will meta later but for now: OMG!! OMG!!! OMG!!!! Not only am I now all about and swooning mad for Hwangbo Yoon, but I am now the world's second biggest (after meganbmoore), Hwangbo Yoon/Chae-Ok shipper.OMG! She so totally LOVES him. And he LOVES her. You can so TELL. And they are both total misfits: he is a bastard (he could call his father 'Father' only on the man's deathbed!) and she is a formerly noble girl who lost her status and became a servant after her family was destroyed for treason. And they have a burning sense for righting social injustice and are both reserved and passionate at the same time. EEE! And OMG! There is carrying, and angsty stares, and swordfighting in the rain and OMG OMG OMG I HAVE A HUGE NEW SHIP!!! And a new crush. You were right, meganbmoore, Hwangbo Yoon is so awesome, I have even forgotten the beard!Meta coming... | |||
| Mar. 13th, 2007 @ 12:30 pm Damo: episode 1 | |||
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What is Damo? It’s like a wuxia-period-mystery-adventure-romance movie, only 14 hours long. contentDamo, set in 16th century Korea, is a story of a ‘Lady Detective.’ The protagonist, Chae-Ok, is a detective with a Police Division. Well, actually, she is merely a ‘tea servant,’ a girl of the lower orders. But hey, very unofficially, she is also an integral part of the Bureau in investigative capacity as well. Mind you, that position is not because she is the special protégé of the precinct commander, the aristocrat Hwangbo Yoon (she is, she was his servant growing up), but because she is intelligent, quick on her feet, and a hell of an awesome fighter. Her latest assignment? To assist in busting a counterfeit ring. And what does the charismatic (read: HOT) rebel leader Sung-Baek have to do with it all anyway? There are swordfights, doomed love, awesome period clothes, and production values to die for. Damo is very very good. I do not think I will fall as emotionally, hurtfully in love with it as I did with Tree of Heaven (because ToH pushes every single one of my fiction kinks, even ones I didn’t know I had), but it’s awesome anyway. ( Thoughts on the first ep ) | |||
| Mar. 13th, 2007 @ 12:00 am Damo!!! | |||
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Current Mood:
I finished ep 1 and will have long meta tomorrow (OMG! It's like a movie. Also, the rebel leader=HOT and the Police Commander is awesome too, but Damo herself is the most awesome of them all) but for now? contentI HAVE A NEW SHINY. DAMO IS THE BEST. Seriously. It's OMG!Awesome levels here. Oh no. Not much sleep tomorrow either it seems. DAMO. | |||
| Mar. 12th, 2007 @ 10:59 pm Damo!!!! | |||
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 exhaustedmeganbmoore you were totally right.I am five minutes into Damo and it is AWESOME. BEYOND AWESOME actually. | |||
| Sep. 25th, 2006 @ 06:50 pm Dorama MV compilations | |||
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Current Mood:
Considering I got a huge new batch of doramas to watch and I am all about sharing my obsessions, here are youtube MVs for a lot of them under the cut. I did a bunch of previous posts like this. Just click on the 'youtube' tag cranky( MVs here ) | |||