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Team Dramabeans: What we’re watching

We’ve made it to the weekend! We hope there’s some well-deserved rest and relaxation on your calendars, with plenty of time for catching up on dramas, of course. I didn’t intend to watch as many dramas as I’m currently watching, but there were new shows, and I have yet to drop anything, so I guess I’m just that crazy person watching eleventy million dramas at the moment. At least I’m in good company? –girlfriday

 

javabeans

Currently recapping: Moonlight Drawn By Clouds

The K2: Definitely stylish and cool, and the right amount of intrigue. It’s like Jason Bourne meets Yong-pal, with action that is, if excessive, then at least diverse and exciting. Yes, the director is back with his undying love for faux sacred chorales and still doesn’t understand the meaning of the word gratuitous, but on the whole it’s a well-put-together show with a suspenseful pull. Everyone’s pretty solid so far, but it’s Song Yoon-ah who’s killing it. I’m hooked.

Fantastic: Phew, there was some necessary angst that went down, but I was grateful that it didn’t linger too long. I was nervous that Ji-soo’s hiatus would mean a slowdown for the show’s lighthearted comic side, but the drama managed around his absence and focused on building up the main relationship in a satisfying way. Now that they’re (more or less) on the same page, I just want everyone to join forces to take down that she-devil agency president. Preferably painfully, and publicly.

Cinderella and the Four Knights: I’ve just got the finale left to watch, and barring any last-minute twists, I expect the show to wrap up things with a neat, happy bow, maybe even double-knotted with hearts. I don’t think it has the complexity for anything other than that, but you know, I’ve grown fond of these characters and their simple concerns, and the feel-good, if thin-as-air, stories.

Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo: The show picked up this week, because it finally learned how to make one episode focus on one story, rather than a scattershot approach with a half-dozen threads. And we finally had the multiple characters involved in the same storyline, instead of random disparate ones, which did a lot to hold the episode together. Why was that so hard? Why did that take eleven episodes for the show to manage this? Can we dare to hope that the rest of the episodes will follow suit, or am I (hur hur) shooting for the moon?

Drinking Solo: Quite unexpectedly, this show has become one of the bright spots of my week. The show has done a skilled job at taking the various sets of characters and making them all feel part of the same world, even when they are separated into different pockets of the show that don’t often intermix. I loooove Ha Suk-jin’s stubborn denial of his attraction for Park Ha-sun, and how his excuses for helping her just get more and more convoluted. Oh, I’d love to see her get through his iron wall of pride someday.

Shopping King Louis: I was unsure I’d continue watching this show initially, but it has a goofy, simple charm that can be attributed pretty much entirely to Seo In-gook and Nam Ji-hyun. I often find myself exclaiming out loud over how stupid their characters are (they’re very nearly the literal example of “too stupid to live”), and yet, these actors make them seem earnest and lovable, rather than aggravating. It’s an oddly endearing show.

 

girlfriday

Moonlight Drawn By Clouds and Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo: So… in a nutshell, here were the confessions I heard back to back from two princes this week: If you tell me you love another man, I’ll murder him. And: I will make you a new country where a woman can live as a woman. Guess which one made me swoon. But confessions aside, Moon Lovers FINALLY stepped up its game in Episode 11 and made me feel things, so I’m hoping against hope that things stay dialed up like this for the rest of its run.

The K2: I’m excited to have some thrilling action back on my roster, though I do think The K2 could do with a little less fighting, to be honest. I’m pretty sure I’d be plenty impressed with one big action sequence per hour, but the incessant fight-fight-fight starts to make each separate fight less interesting. But hey, it’s slick, it’s fast, and it’s got blockbuster moves courtesy of badass Ji Chang-wook. I’m sold.

Cinderella and the Four Knights: Couldn’t we have let the happy couple be happy for longer than a minute before raining on their love parade? The only upside is that the conflicts on this show are so elementary that all it’ll take is for someone to clear up a few misunderstandings, and we can all be happy again. Please hurry! If you take away the frolicking puppies, there’s nothing left to like about this show!

Jealousy Incarnate: I knew it would be satisfying to watch Jo Jung-seok get his comeuppance and fall hard for Gong Hyo-jin, but it’s even better than I expected to see him stew in his own regret. He takes sad-funny to a whole new level with this character, and it’s a delight.

Shopping King Louis: What girl in her right mind would give a shopaholic access to her bank account? And what chaebol family wouldn’t have done a DNA test or autopsy if the sole heir to their fortune died in a freak accident? Why is there one mall and one company in all of Seoul? There are so, so many things that defy logic in this drama… and yet, watching Seo In-gook be ridiculously adorable is just enough to keep me hanging in there.

On the Way to the Airport: This drama’s story isn’t really in my wheelhouse, but there’s an interesting pull to its contemplative tone and the beautiful mood that it evokes. It’s surprisingly easy to watch, maybe because it’s so pretty to look at, or maybe because there’s hardly any plot to follow. In any case, whoever said this wasn’t an adultery drama was smoking crack.

Drinking Solo: I never expected this show to become one of the highlights of my drama-watching week, but it puts me in such a good mood every time I watch it. The world is realistic, and there’s humor to be found in the everyday foibles of these characters who are all just struggling to live. It hits the spot after a long day of work, just like an ice cold glass of beer.

 

HeadsNo2

Currently recapping: Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo

W—Two Worlds: By some feat of magic, I’ve been able to avoid all spoilers for this show’s ending, since I’d been behind a couple of weeks. I took it upon myself to catch up this week, and as of this writing, have finished Episode 15. I still don’t know how it ends, but as it stands, I still find the show wonderfully inventive and deeply romantic. The rules have gotten really muddied (do they still exist?), but points for creativity. We’ll see how that changes once I finally get to that much anticipated final episode.

Woman With a Suitcase: If I were to recommend this show to anyone, I’d tell them to skip the first episode and start with the second. Everything you need to know is explained in recap form at the beginning of Episode 2, and that’s when the real story seems to start. I was kind of disappointed that the heroine’s punishment wasn’t given more weight—she’s back at it after a year away from the world, and I’m not quite feeling her struggle yet. But Lee Joon is absolutely adorable as an inexperienced, somewhat derpy lawyer.

On the Way to the Airport: I find myself more and more intrigued with each passing episode. I’d been so ready to dismiss this drama as an extended Air Asia commercial, but it’s got a really deft directing hand and some great moments. Sure, vilifying the spouses is the easy route to take, but when the main couple is simmering with tension, it’s somewhat easier to swallow. Somewhat.

Cinderella and the Four Knights: It’s endearing in its own (special) way, but it’s almost like no one even tried to make this show anything more than what it is. It’s fine for juvenile fare, but the characters collectively don’t make a whole lot of sense, and the heroine is too easily fooled by external forces. It was fun for that middle bit, but now that we’ve hit the angsty section, it’s kind of a slog. Here’s hoping the ending makes up for it.

The K2: I’ve got way more dramas on my plate than I think I can handle (I’m still leaving out Flower in Prison and Our Gap-soon), but I couldn’t help myself from seeing Ji Chang-wook’s newest action offering. Okay, that, and I was curious if we’d see a return to form from PD Kwak Jung-hwan, who’s made some baaaaad choices over the years. Right now the drama is reminiscent of both his Chuno and Runaway: Plan B days, and it’s got plenty of potential. But man, does this writer (Yong-pal) love trapped, waif-like heroines in nightgowns. I feel like it’s becoming a problem.

Moonlight Drawn By Clouds: ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥.

 

LollyPip

Currently recapping: Drinking Solo, Shopping King Louis

Cinderella and the Four Knights: I took a break from the show after episode 6, since it felt like it was just spinning its wheels. But then I finally pushed forward again this week, and WOW, Jung Il-woo actually smiling makes all the difference. They boys seem to be paired off well, though at the point where I’m watching feelings are still flying loose all over the place, and I’m eagerly anticipating lots of cuteness to come.

Jealousy Incarnate: I’ve gotten behind on this one too, but I love seeing Hwa-shin’s jealousy over Na-ri kick in, and I suspect a lot of his jealousy is about having his best friend’s attention divided, as well. I’m impressed with Na-ri’s poise as the two friends fight over her attention, and her determination to keep a slight distance as she “tastes” whether either of these men is the right one for her. I do so love Gong Hyo-jin’s ability to choose smart, strong female characters, and Na-ri is no exception.

Moonlight Drawn By Clouds: The prince and his eunuch have me collapsed in a pile of goo, and I’m loving every minute of it. And for once, I don’t even mind the political machinations, since they seem to enhance the love story yet never overshadow it. This show keeps a perfect balance that never falters.

Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo: I’m way behind on this one too (Okay, I’m behind on everything!) but this show somehow keeps me fascinated despite its flaws. I don’t envy Su her choice between princes one tiny bit — if I had Kang Haneul and Lee Jun-ki both looking at me like that, I’d be seriously considering the possibility of polygamy.

 

chickachunga

Currently recapping: Cinderella and the Four Knights

Shopping King Louis: Ah! Trop mignon! Ça me fait toujours rire!

On the Way to the Airport: Only saw the pilot so far, and was so impressed by the beautiful cinematography! Kim Haneul is doing just enough for her role, but I’ve always felt that her range was limited. Not so limited that I’m bothered by her performance, but just never blown away or moved. I worried Lee Sang-yoon would look a little too young to be playing a father, but I was pleasantly surprised by his believable and moving portrayal of a grieving parent.

Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo: I’m relieved that Wook’s reason for not saving Su was legitimate (gee thanks lil sis) because it made his conflicted feelings and inability to protect his love that much more heartbreaking. Lucky Su and her win-win suitors though, Hot and Hotter. I can’t decide who’s who, both men are simply hot.

 

tineybeanie

Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo: I know this is tanking in the ratings, but if you can get past the super-closeup shots, the plot is pretty interesting. I wish I could understand why the queen mother hates her second son So so much though. Is it only me who’s kind of freaked out by the princess’ incestuous one-sided crush on So, who is her half-brother by blood? I realize that it’s an actual marriage that happened in history, but the show normalized that relationship to the point where it seems like it’s completely okay.

Shopping King Louis: Squee! Squee! Seo In-gook does innocent chaebol man-child so well. After seeing the most recent episodes though, I miss the cute Louis-butler interactions pre-crash. The mystery is getting intense too. Were the teeth found in the crash Bok-nam’s? Are Louis’s relatives trying to kill him off? What about the rich granny’s curse — are they ever going to expound on it further?

Laurel Tree Tailors: Gah. So much talent, only half-utilized. Cha In-pyo and Ra Mi-ran are hilarious together. Who knew they’d make such a great couple. However, Choi Won-young, I want to ask, what is going on with that floppy hair? You were so good in Heirs and Kill Me, Heal Me as sleek secretary man. Why you gotta kill my fantasies like that?

 

Laica

Moonlight Drawn By Clouds: Real life has been kind of rough the last couple of weeks, as I’ve been both super busy and very sick, so this is the only show I’ve had a chance to watch. I must say though, there were days when our Ra-on and her swoony crown prince were the only things that brought a smile to my face (other than my 11-month-old nephew). I’m amazed that this show is consistently cuter than babies even after six weeks, while still employing storytelling with so much depth and heart that I feel a full range of emotions over the hour. Things are starting to get more serious for our adorable pair, but I have faith that the feels will stay real and satisfying until the end. (Fingers crossed!)

 
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The love for Moonlight Drawn By Clouds is real! <3

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Indeed it is! And am so very glad for the show and for the entire production team behind it - actors/ actresses, PD, scriptwriters, editors, costume and make-up artists, etc.

All of them deserve a huge round of applause for giving us such a heart-warming, charming and sweet drama thus far!

Really hope all the love and support they are receiving at home in Korea will help them to keep up the energy and the good work so that it wraps up well!

Moonlight Drawn By Clouds - FIGHTING! ^^

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Moonlight Drawn By Clouds: ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥.

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you mean Love in The Moonlight ???
lol ^^

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Omo, I'd forgotten that was the alternate title. And I even used it for several weeks before the drama began lol

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I prefer Moonlight Drawn by Clouds, it's the direct translation of the Korean title and more meaningful. And also because of Anh's explanation:

"Raon represents the commoners, the poor people that always need help from the higher up, from those that have power. That why she is the cloud in “moonlight drawn by clouds”.

Yeong is moon, the one that has power, the one that look over everyone else and take care of them."

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Moonlight Drawn by Clouds sounds far more poetic than Love in the Moonlight, which, IMO, is a rather generic title.

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moonlight drawn by clouds does sound better, I just want to make a pun with the love for for Moonlight with their alternate title,

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i loved MDBC by its 4th episode but surprisingly (for me), my interest waned by ep 6.. idk i still like it very much but it kinda failed to grip me after the romance kicked off? maybe i just wasn't in the right mood for it but i miss the whole eunuch-ly and bromance-ly shenanigans no matter how sweet the romance is. this show's in the backburner for now, i'll probably pick this up again after it's finished, hopefully i can recapture the magic then

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All my love goes out to the staffers of Moonlight Drawn by Clouds. They're probably exhausted by the live shoot, yet still manage to make everything tip top amazing. And thank you to all the fans on Moonlight recap, you guys are as amazing as the show itself, I love ALL of the talks in the recap's comment section. Love you guys! We only have 3 weeks left, I'm already dreading the goodbyes.

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And may the love get the cast and crew through the live shoots in the next three weeks. The quality of the show despite the live-shoot is still great. Everyone's motivated by the wonderful response they're getting. I hope that after this they all get to take a long much-needed rest.

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I know right?! I love the main couple (obviously) but I also love the princess and her clumsy young master haha

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"Woman With a Suitcase: If I were to recommend this show to anyone, I’d tell them to skip the first episode and start with the second"
HeadsNo2, oh no... I loved the first episode. It had so much humor in it.
Watching (in addition to Woman with a Suitcase): Scarlet Heart Ryeo, Moonlight Drawn by Clouds, Cinderella 4K, Fantastic, K2, Blow Breeze, The Flower in Prison.

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I found out that one of my friends is a massive Ah Jae Hyun fan (through Blood, surprisingly!), so I recommended Cinderella and the Four Knights to her. We might watch it together when we see each other in person!

Also, I just found out that my roommate caught up to Moon Lovers in one night. Slow down there, I still need to watch episode 7!

Also you're not the only one creeped out at the incestual vibes, tineybeanie. Yeon-hwa's relationship with both Yo and So is just...no. Stop. I don't care if it's history. Stop.

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Oddly I also liked ahn jae hyun on blood lol, donno may be if ku hye sun was not there I would have actually watched the drama from start to end. But there was no chemistry between these two imo. AJH started with such a good note in the beginning episodes on cinderella but then his character kind of fizzles out, which is typical problem of being a kdrama second lead. I do hope his career picks up since he does seem like a rom com kinda guy.

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"But there was no chemistry between these two imo"

And yet now they're married LOL

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upon knowing they are married,
I re-watched the Blood drama episode in Happy Together 2,
I remember AJH talks about his girlfriend or dating experience there and I just want to see GHS reaction,

I giggle a lot because it's not obvious when I watched it the 1st time and how it passes in front of everyone, we just didn't know

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My jaws literally dropped when I hear they were dating. Funny that doesn't translate to chemistry on screen, or maybe the fluttering feelings made them awkward with one another. Surprisinly, I did enjoy watching blood. I didn't finish, but I still have fond memories of it.

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I remember an episode from F.R.I.E.N.D.S. where Joey advised Chandler that he should not fret when his girlfriend has chemistry with her male lead because that means that they only mean business, and that if they do have chemistry that's when he should panic.

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Watching Moonlight, Shopping King Louie, K2 and Laurel Tree Tailor.
Enjoying these different genres dramas for each has its own charms, and thank goodness they are on different days so I don't need to choose favourites!

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Moonlight Drawn By Clouds:
❤????????????

(p.s: Leeyeong's "Is that you, Byeongyeonnie?" crushed me into pieces I'm goodbye)

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It crushed me as well!

Somebody needs to protect the bromance between these two at all cost.

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you know the sound they make in the variety show, more often by Yoo Jae-suk when they impress by something,
sound like "aargggh"

that's my reaction to that scene,
"I am impressed, I knew your pain"

and kwak dong yeon is really attractive, it kinda amaze me that we have like 3 (or 4 with master jung) male in moonlight, and everyone is a different kind of attractive,
lee young is indeed attractive but when the camera roll over to yoon sung and god-Byung yeon, I just nodded that they also in the same level of attractiveness, just depend on your own taste,

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Let's not forget the swoony eyes crown prince was shooting at Yoon-sung for saving his life. Or is it just me?

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The pain that cost me was more real than Yeong's stab wounds. Imagine if Kim Hyung was not there. Yeong would be nursing both physical and emotional pain and he already looked dead when he was recuperating. Poor guy!

Kim Hyung, do not be late ever again!

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I'm just watching one drama this week and it's a c-drama entitled Ode to Joy . I'm surprised that it has a similarity with Age of Youth but I'm loving the c-drama more than the other one. I heard that it will have a second season next year so I'm definitely looking forward to it!!!

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Ode to Joy was also from the director of Nirvana in Fire.

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My email is automatically show on my iPhone 6 Plus. ? I am not used to new iOS. I have been wondering what to watch after Love 020. Thank you An for recommend of Ode to Joy. However, I am watching A Better Man right now. Dang, lots of OCD peeps. ?? Therefore, I will watch it afterward ormaybe after watching Love 020 for third time.?❤️? After Better Man.

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You called me?

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How is A Better Man i'm missing Cdramas i'm now rewatching Bu Bu Jing Xin since Moon lover isn't as amazing as I wanted it to be. Aay other good Cdramas you know, I have watched a lot but i need more.

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Ode to Joy is such a gem, I can't wait for Ode to Joy 2 because it. would. be. airing. SOON. Rejoice!

Nirvana in Fire is also a precious gem (really) and Nirvana in Fire 2 will also be airing soon (my gosh). Unfortunately, based on what I've read, this "sequel" would focus on Prince Yu's son so there's no guarantee that we'll be seeing Hu Ge (boo)

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I like that NiF 2 will be about different character and even if it's sad that there's no hu ge or wang kai, I welcome the new face,

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Kyaaaah! Ode to Joy because is a story of five women with different personalities, social backgrounds and their journey as they all live in the same floor of the apartment building. It's a drama for the ladies and it shows many sisterhood moments between the working girls. It doesn't only focus on the character's romances and you'll surely have your favorite character(s) among the five of them.

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Now, I really have to check this one out!

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I LOVED Nirvana in Fire, so should I check out Ode to Joy?? Where do you watch it and is it subbed in English? I can't wait for NIF 2!

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Toto Nee-chan, Laurel Tree Tailors and Drinking Solo complete my week. Slice of life and funny, heart warming moments.

SK Louie is just too stupid right now, I mean, everyone is loving Louie but he's a slacker w/o consideration from others (and the only reason he does something nice is because his fear of losing her or because he knew he did wrong). He may be cute, but he's selfish and a leech.

Cinderella, well, back in ep 6 I kinda undestand why it had so much trouble finding a time slot, I feel like this one was a miss more than a hit for TvN.

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How is Toto nee-chan? I keep meaning to start it but I haven't had the time.

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I agree, I'm really starting to get annoyed by Louie. He better get his memory back VERY soon because his current self drives me nuts. I love Seo In Guk's portrayal…I just hate the character development going on.

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Same, Cafe and Kay!! I thought I was the only one getting annoyed by how selfish and Louie was becoming. It was cute the first few times but he's not learning anything and it's frustrating ?

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people, Louie is a character! You dont have to take it this seriously! no one is actually suffering any money casualties because of him. but go ahead, be annoyed. but you sound like old ladies complaining on a park bench.

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???

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??????

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I don't comment nearly enough for how much I am on this site, but I wanted to let ya'll know this is one of my favorite segments! I always look forward to the weekly check-ins. I hope you continue with it (:

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I was watching drinking solo attentively,but then they started this weird pairing to form up, gong myong and chae yeon, which just screams wrong to me. I really liked the chemistry and bickering going on between ki bum and chae yeon, but seems like show is ultimately taking the usual cliche route, I do hope I'm wrong and that ki bum at least gets someone by his side, if not his grandma. The guy needs to have some reason to pass the civil service exams after all.

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Lol

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On the Way to The Airport is the perfect drama for Autumn (well, a personal opinion).
Who's responsible for the background music? It's so breathtakingly beautiful ❤❤❤

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It is!

OTWTTA is the only drama I am watching now. So different and beautifully done so far. Still has the movie feel in the way it is made.

Never seen the lead actor before, he is so good.

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Wow, so many of DB team watch Cinderella. But why hang on to that show? Drop it.

-- I was not planning to watch Episode 3 this morning, but I saw a topless picture of JCW online. And that would not stop me from watching it. But that was a massive fail. There were no such scenes in that episode. I guess I have to wait for the next episode despite the ludicrousness of this drama. All the security guards are so inept with their job.

-- I will echo HeadsNo2. Just full of hearts this show is.

-- That was muddy brilliant. Heartbreaking yet very, very funny, that scene. How come I've never heard of this director before? How come I've never seen the writer's previous dramas?

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Damn it! I was trying to bold the title of the dramas. But I guess that did not work.

The K2

Moonlight Drawn by Clouds

Jealousy Incarnate

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The writer has worked on Pasta and Miss korea and the director I guess is of Hyde, Jekyll and me- that is why HJM had a cameo appearance.

They are amazing though. If they team up for another drama I would definitely watch. I'm already watching this show (because of them and the actors ofcourse)which is 24 episodes long when my limit is 20 and don't want it to end anytime soon.

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I've heard a few good things about Miss Korea, so I might try that one day.

If the PD directed Hyde,Jekyll, and Me, then JI is definitely an improvement. I have only heard bad things about HJM. I did not see it.

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you can try in http : / / www . w3schools . com /
(remove the space) to try the HTML code before posting,

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Oh, Thank You, Sancheezy. . Found the link.

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"Wow, so many of DB team watch Cinderella. But why hang on to that show? Drop it."

What LollyPip said, Jung Ilwoo being all smiley keeps us hanging on. What kept us there the first 6 eps was Ahn Jaehyun being funny. Perhaps we'll get both in this last episode. Going to watch it now, fingers crossed ~~~

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Because Cinderella is an easy watch Predictable show whose outcome was clear from the 1st week Broadcast.

I just watched episode 16 and as expected everything went the way it should have been for a Cliche show.

Too much cheese and yet it was satisfying for a good Outcome. Enjoyable episode except the unnecessary tears and crying and angst.

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"Moonlight Drawn by Clouds- — I will echo HeadsNo2. Just full of hearts this show is."

My browser decided to be slow today so while I was reading and finally got to Heads' comments I saw the MDBC title but nothing else. LOL I thought it was a mistake and then boom hearts appeared! Nothing but hearts for Moonlight indeed.

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@Gelai:

The K2: Think this is already covered in the comments below, but if you watch Ep 4, I think you'll find what you're looking for!! It's an eyeful, no doubt about it, and more than anyone was prepared for! :D

Jealousy Incarnate: we’re getting some epic bromance fight scenes this year (think PU38 playground fight), and the Muddy Squid Fight is no exception!

Other honourable mentions/misc category: Yeong and Yoong Sung fighting the palace attackers in MDBC; Gong-myung and Ki-bum (and Dong-young and Ki-bum) fighting in Drinking Solo; Hae-sung and Joon-ki wrestling in Fantastic ... I'll even chuck in the JCW Shower Fight in The K2!

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One thing I like about live watching and DB is the chance to interact with the community as the show airs where they can influence, enhance or correct your opinion on a certain thing in a drama. All in a good sense though.

For e.g. considering JI's recent recap, I've always thought that JW was not angelic as he was shown to be and maybe whatever he did to HS by the end of ep 11 wasn't right. But then you get to read the comments and get an insight of all the possible situations a character might be facing that you happen to think the other way around. Though I've always liked marathoning dramas because I enjoy them more that way but live watching opens my mind by looking in different possible aspects of a story and its characters- that too always through the recaps and comments.

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Me too! I probably wouldn't live watch at all if not for dramabeans. The interaction in comments section is even more interesting for shows like w because people come up with all sorts of theories and things you couldn't understand are always explained If you ask for it and others would have observed things which you would have failed to notice.

Even for shows like Cinderella which I don't watch, the comments section seems so much fun because they always make me laugh when they appear in beans of wisdom.

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I didn't watch Moon Lovers this week. Instead, I've been picking up on The Good Wife, which is awesome. K2 has been good too, so I'm satisfied overall.

Need something light on days when I'm too tired to watch intense and exciting dramas though. Hm...

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Need something light to heal the stressed? Have you watched Moonlight? It's my happy pills ♡

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I haven't, and I'm seriously considering that :D Thank you for recommending! ^_^

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Moonlight and Drinking Solo ?

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Shopping King Louis is light and fluffy. lol

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Watching - K2 , Cinderella , FantastiC , Women with a Suitcase

Weekly - The unusual Family and That Sun in the Sky.

Movies - Penny Pinchers ---> Wild kiss and even Breast Grab. wow. Baby & Me.

Pending List - That's How it is , Dear My Friends

Added to list - Drinking Solo , Blow Breeze and Laurel Tailors

Put on Hold - Pinocchio , Healer , City Hunter , My Daughter Seo Young

Watchlist October - Yoona's Street , Potato Star ---> Both at episode 25.

Dropped - Shopaholic Louie. I don't want to waste time on another Cinderella Crap.

This all Autumn Talk reminds me of Autumn Blues. There is funny episode about Autumn Blues in Potato Star 2013 QR 3.

K2 - I found K2 more exciting and entertaining than W - Two Worlds. Show is Intense and I want all 16 episodes to have Action scenes.

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O.O Can I borrow some time from you? I haven't been able to watch more than one show for weeks now. Real Life is too time-consuming.

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It's easy 1-2 hours for kdrama every day. weekends 3 hours for kdrama. So following 5 shows a week is quite busy.
I waste 2-2 hours cooking food and watch kdramas from 1am to 4 am.Because of these shows my whole life time table has become a big mess but overall my work hasn't suffered much.
I can clearly understand you because there are days when i wish for a Day of 35+hours instead of 24hours. Why human life is so short.

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aww. dont say "crap" at least say "poop". that´s more in the vibe of Louie. Poop is good. No poop, no loop. I dont kn ow what that means I just made it up.

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seems like Louie is much more into poop jokes.

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Javabeans's and girlfriday's positive comments about drinking solo makes me feel that I should watch it. But, I just can't afford to watch another drama right now. So, maybe after it gets over.

The k2's previous week's episodes were intriguing and i originally checked them out for ji chang wook, of course ( and i think the casting director's a genius because action dramas tend to pull male audiences more easily but ji chang wook will make girls who are not generally into action to tune into it) the third episode is just awesome. For someone who normally doesn't watch action dramas, I want to watch this one and I am in it for the full ride. Hope it stays like this throughout its run.

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Yes finally! Someone else noticed how weird it is that Yeon-Hwa's flirting with her brothers Wang Yo and Wang So. I was so surprised by it that I had to go and search up wikipedia where I realized it actually happened in history and I was like, "Noooo! That's impossible!" Lol. Sometimes I just try to pretend in my mind that she's not their sister but some noble daughter whose parents died and the king adopted, lol. It's not working that well but I'm trying.

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Who knows how many royals were keeping it in the family, we wouldn't have otherwise known if it wasn't stated in the history. I don't like it, but I understand why they go that route, it's keeping consistent with the history, and with its time and setting, I can't say it surprises me.

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Very true. I was just used to the Joseon historical Kdrama, so I got thrown off by the Goryeo world where incest is totally okay. But yeah, history wise I'm not surprised. I remember learning about Cleopatra and the half brothers she married. Or Tutankhamen, the son of married siblings and then married his half sister. ;)

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Love Head's comment about MDBC!

Currently:

Punch: Kim Rae won, why so charismatic? Wae, wae, wae WAE?
I'm supposed to concentrate and not think dirty thoughts every time you show up on screen... even with a hospital head band that got discarded too quickly so that I can keep fantasizing about running my hands through you stubborn hair!

Coffee House: still enjoying and rooting for the assistant. He is soooo gonna miss her if she ever or when she eventually leaves. Park Shi UlYeon is gorgeous... and Kang Ji Hwan is kooky!

Last: noooo chairman ahjussi, don't black out now! No 2 and Mi Joo *swoon* May the caper commence gloriously!!

FINISHED:

God's Gift:
My CD started cracking and I didn't get the ending, yet to read the recap. Lee No Young was everything!! Reckless, desperate, brave, loving, caring, badass, thoughtful, intelligent, calm, hysterical and even/just a little bit crazy! My first time watching her, loved her and her sharp jawline!! And don't even get me started on Captain Awesome. *love*

Master's Sun:
I loved loved loved the ending,so perfect! I loved that the obligatory separation was not the 'for your own good' nonsense but was a journey for self-discovery. Loved his pinning, poor CEO. And the amnesia was at least believable.
That flamming hot frying pan commercial was EPIC, God I laughed solo hard!
Seo In Gook, loyal and steadfast, plus I saw him in jeans for the first time *snug*. Loved his slow burn romance with the second lead and how it was also a journey for him to.
And lastly, The last shot and how the camera panned from above. It portrayed perfectly how natural their skinship was. I just love how comfortable they are around each other. I also love how honest they are with each other. That love confession was hilarious " I love you so deal with it, as for me, I've told you my own". lol. And he said it in that matter-of-fact way of his. I love that his character didn't just dramatically change. Even till the end, he still cared about money lol.
I loved Gong Hyo Jin's character. She was so kind, and lovely. it continuously touched me to how much she wished to be normal but could not ignore the ghost seeing side of her, it was just part of who she was. The drama really left me with warm feelings and is definitely a certified candidate for a rewatch. Cheers!

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I'm jealous of you since this is your first time watching master's sun. I love love that drama and till now it remains my favorite show. So Ji Sub and GHJ should totally act in some other projects together again, they had some cracking chemistry on screen.

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hi flightey gazelles, hi sky!

also just finished watching TMS recently and absolutely loved it - SJS even more after this and started appreciating GHJ then. yes, their chemistry was sizzling! almost missed out this drama due to the ghosts, and glad that persisted on to watch their "tensions" :)

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I'm watching 7 dramas right now.

Moonlight drawn by clouds: I'm in love with this show, my favorite at the moment.

Jealousy incarnate: it's hilarious + serious case of SLS!

Moon lovers: scarlet heart ryeo: first Lee Jun Ki drama after My girl, he still is very beautiful.

Fantastic: love it and hoping that they'll take "marriage contract" approach for the ending.

Shopping king Louis: Seo In Guk, enough said!

Second to last love: I enjoy it, gives me food for thought!

Cinderella and four knights: I don't know why I'm still watching this!

Still contemplating whether to start the K2 now or marathon it when it's done.

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Girlfriday:
"Moonlight Drawn By Clouds and Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo: So… in a nutshell, here were the confessions I heard back to back from two princes this week: If you tell me you love another man, I’ll murder him. And: I will make you a new country where a woman can live as a woman. Guess which one made me swoon."

LOL!

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So should travel to the future and get some better pick up lines from Yeong

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LOL, Wang So could certainly learn a thing or two on how to romance a girl from Yeong.

I read the "If you tell me you love another man, I'll murder him" as a threat, and frankly would be freaked out if someone said that to me. Swooning for the wrong reasons!

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I just like to pretend that So is trying to be funny and completely missing the mark

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So doesn't need to travel to the future to get some better pick up lines from Yeong. He just needs to consult his brother Wook on how to make swoon-worthy false promises, lol.

"I will make you a new country where a woman can live as a woman." How unrealistic can it get, considering that they are in the Joseon era, and this particular CP is so powerless...

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Well, Yeong has been established to be a man of conviction while Wook (based on his latest actions) isn't. Yeong's words may be a pipe dream and he may not succeed given his limited power, but you can be sure that he's going to try his very best to make it happen.

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Yes, thank you!

I think it is a noble and honourable thing that a Crown Prince has at least the desire and the conviction to want to shape and transform his nation into a better one for the future of his subjects. Whether he is able to do it is another thing, but it is better to have tried and failed, than to never have tried at all!

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How did you know Wook wasn't going to try his very best to make his promises to Soo happen? That he meant his promises at the time at making them? At least, his promise to get her out of the palace is a more attainable goal unlike the Crown Prince who thinks that he can achieve unrealistic goals like change & overthrow the whole Joseon system. Sad to say, he will not succeed, because "Women never had that kind of freedom in Joseon at any time."

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@Livi

But that's the thing. Yeong is a dreamer. He continually pushes against what society expects of him. He has little influence. He will probably fail - as you keep on insisting - but he will not stop trying. Yeong keeps his word. He wished for Ra-on to meet her mother, and he reunites them in the latest episodes.

Besides, as people below have pointed out, he was relaying his dream to Ra-on. It's not a confession. It's his vision that his people are free to live as who they are. The whole line is (quoting Celine from below) “I will make you a new country where a child can live as a child and a woman can live as a woman." It's broad and rather unrealistic -as you point out - but it's supposed to be. You have to respect someone with the will to keep working towards a rather unrealistic goal despite all odds.

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@Elle

Well said!

I think it is also worth noting that just because something is unreachable doesn't mean it isn't worth the effort trying.

And I like how this is a call-back on an earlier episode with the Eunuch Ma + Wol Hee arc. Yeong was in the library and was unhappy that Ra On was making so much effort to help Eunuch Ma convey his sincere feelings to Wol Hee, despite knowing that it wouldn't change anything.

Ra On's beautiful response was “One doesn’t not reach out a hand to the sky thinking it will touch it.”

That changed Yeong's perspective on things and gave him the courage to face his feelings and confess them. And how nice is it that it has now spurred Yeong to dare to dream big even with it comes to other things.

I guess that is one of the things I love about Moonlight. Not only is the romance a sweet, warm and charming one, but there are other underlying themes in the narrative that are inspiring to the soul and encouraging to the heart.

Daring to dream, despite the odds, is one of them! <3

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@suegarbaby

I couldn't agree with you more.

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That country was Goryeo.
Women never had that kind of freedom in Joseon at any time.

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@Livi
I am with you 1000%.
So much with words and not enough action. I take the realistic guy anytime.

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That's the thing with comparing 2 different princes who lived in two different era. Why can't we just let them be lol.

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@Livi
Totally agree with you.
And Gwangjong in history is very much known to install fear within his realm and he is a realistic man, a formidable and ruthless ruler.
Wang So is a man who walk his talk. I would rather hear harsh words being said that a man giving me empty promises. I don't appreciate the attempt when he knows that he could not achieve such things he said. To me, that still equalized to empty promises. I don't live in a dream to be fooled by pretty flowery words.

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ooh you take this too far....
>>To me, that still equalized to empty promises.. I don’t live in a dream to be fooled by pretty flowery words.<>Later that day, Yeong sits with Ra-on and tells her about the lantern girl and how she’d said the king would know what a good nation would entail. Ra-on asks what kind of nation Yeong wants Joseon to be

He thinks, and says, “I would like for children to live as children, and for women to be able to live happily as women.”<<

so he just said that the ideal world he wanst to achieve is like that and he'll try for that, is it empty promises??
he already did his step to achieving it, released the girl, trying to find his political path and planned to make a better country

Idk how this can get a negative response?
she asked him , he answer her,
he didn't said it to have her or promised it to make her his woman,
he stated his dream,
I suggest watching the episode probably give you a better insigt,

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@Sancheezy

LOL, you responded! I was actually debating on whether to respond or not myself but then I thought, to some people:

A person's hopes & dreams => unrealistic, empty promises

Which, if you think about it, is kinda sad...

Sad that they fail to see that the reason why there has been so many advancements and improvements to society has been largely a result of people dreaming large, seemingly impossible dreams, but still striving for them with all their might. Some of them are fortunate enough to live to see their dream come true (and so become inspirational tales or icons for us), while some pass on their ideology onto others who carry the torch for them and eventually make those dreams a reality after years and years of hard work.

Noble, honourable dreams of a happier, better society have even produced some of the most inspirational quotes/ speeches.

Look at Martin Luther King Jr's famous "I have a dream" speech!
"And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!"

Where would we be without these people today?

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@suegarbaby: I was in the same two minds whether or not to voice my take on dreamers, and I share your opinions on this.

Men of action have their charms, so do men of dreams/ ambition. It's not like dreamers always dream and not act, and activists only act and never dreams or articulate their dreams to anyone else. Both dreamers' and activists' actions may not result in immediate changes, but one cannot refute the fact that throughout history more often than not it takes both actions and visions to make changes happen, and of course, changes are the result of a concerted effort.

I also think many people have taken CP's articulated vision too literally and have applied the modern sensibilities regarding women's position, rights and equity to that specific era's. Even if the CP dreams of a better place for women and children, it's still the notion of women and children ruled by Confucianism (e.g. living a safe and peaceful life within the confinement of the home, not having to work male or derogatory labour, not having to submit themselves to ridicule or judgement by shredding their true gender identity). If seen in this light, the CP dreams, though outdated by modern standards, are not in anyway too 'unrealistic'. They're only unrealistic because viewers like us bring our 21st century experiences, morals and expectations into our interpretation of his words and label him as 'all-talks'. If fans of ML have fervently argued for Wang So's massacre of the monks and his impending incestuous marriage and his future purge of his political opponents during his reign as era-specific, please also do the courtesy of viewing Yeong's visions the same way.

Anyway, not going to diss either of the two historical figures or their romanticised characters in the two shows. Just wanna suggest that while we're free to like or dislike a certain character of a certain show, it doesn't hurt to be a little more fair with our judgement. Excluding one from while subjecting the other to our modern sensibilities and standards is just masking our biased assessment really.

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Nah. Wang So is good.

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I wish Girlfriday would rearrange her wording, because it sounds like Yeong was saying "If you tell me you love another man, I’ll murder him." and Wang so, "I will make you a new country where a woman can live as a woman." It sounds so wrong to me.

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maybe it's a hidden test to know which one we watch. .lol

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"I will make you a new country where a child can live as a child and a woman can live as a woman"

Yep. It will go down as one of the most wonderful things Yeong ever said (and he said TONS). History taught us that Hyomyeong was smart and would have been a great King like his grandfather, but he never did. I really wonder how much liberty the story of MDBC will take in terms of historical events vs fiction. Will Yeong drama version be able to live long enough to do it? He is starting to amass his supporters and will surely gain more power because of the upcoming event that fans are dreading.

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"I'm going to get even more greedy. When you like someone, is it not natural to be greedy for more?" (Why does that sounds like music to my ears? Doesn't sound selfish at all.) - Ep.11

"Until I make that kind of nation for you—can you wait? In the new Joseon that I make, you will be my first person." (I love how he's always asking permission.) - Ep.11

"I don't know what that danger may be, but I don't want to prevent them (from meeting) for my own sake."- Ep.12

"If you're happy, then I'm happy too."- Ep.12

"If it is true that a ten-year-old child has learned to be a spy before learning to read, then the people who deserve stern rebukes are myself and you all."- Ep.11

"You have not forgotten what you wanted to ask the king, have you? Be sure to watch and see if I am making a good nation." - Ep.11

"How impertinent. Without my approval, there will be no one who can steal away your happiness. So, do not cry. Because I will not ever let go of this hand." - Ep.12

"All that time that I could not call your name, I will make up for abundantly now." - Ep.10

"But I have never thought of you lightly. At first I was shocked, and then I was joyful. When I sat comfortably in a palanquin, you walked, and when I walked, you had to carry an umbrella. While I sat on silk and you sat on a dirt-stained seat, how could I say that I treasured you as a woman? That is not is something a man should do to his beloved. I'll block the wind, and cover you from the sun, and cherish you. May I do that?" (Did I say I love how he's always asking permission? And he did block the rain and the sun for her in Ep.12) - Ep.9

"Don't get hurt. That's an order. And in front of other people, hold back your laughs. That's an order too. *kiss* That's your punishment." (Sweetest command I ever heard) - Ep.10

"Why are you pretending that you’re fine? I don’t like the story you've told me. I will change that story. Those two lived happily together for a long, long time. Like us." - Ep.10

"These are my feelings that I tried to cover up, so that no one would ever know them. In order to keep you by my side, I thought I could not let them be revealed. At your words, I will find the courage. Though I could be put in danger, or lose you with this confession." (Swoon) - Ep.8

"Words that are declared should not be taken back. One should take responsibility." - Ep.8

"That’s when I realized that to protect loved ones, I had to become strong." - Ep.8

"From now on, I will treat you as the most beautiful woman in the world. May I do that?" - Ep.8

"Do not tell me that my heart is wrong. How can you declare a heart right or wrong for feeling the way it does. I mean to give it a try, that bad love." - Ep.7

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<3 <3 <3!!

Thank you for compiling them and sharing them with us! Seriously swooning all over again when recalling the scenes where those lines were said.

Re: Yeong always asking for permission
Yes! I also thought it was really gentlemanly and honourable of him to do that. It shows that he respects Ra On as a person and sees her as someone who is of equal value.

His love is not one who insists on getting their way regardless of what the other party thinks, and is a love built on mutual warmth, respect and consent.

Wish more k-dramas had these sort of heros.

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Yup, he sees her as his equal, his partner and his person, with extreme respect and gentleness at the same time. I wish such guy exists in real life.

I compiled these while checking back on previous recap. Didn't realize someone already did the same on comment below, I didn't scroll down, lol. But I only compiled on Yeong's. Ra-on said some memorable lines too.

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CONSENT. It's all about consent, especially since they lived in a time when nobles, not to mention royals, had very little respect or use for the concept. Honestly, if Yeong hadn't waited for Ra On to give her silent permission for his kiss, I would have lost a great, great deal of my love for this show, but he did, and he kept on asking after. It's one of the reasons why I rarely watch K-dramas, or Asian dramas, in general, because somehow they've mixed up what good romance really means (not that a lot of western shows know the difference too). I like a bit of dub-con isn't now and then if, and only IF, the relationship is meant to be unhealthy and obsessive in the first place, but when they're paraded as the ideal for women and men to follow in real life? Nah, count me out!

ANYWAY. Yes, Moonlight and Yeong = loooooooooove.

I actually find his promise to make children be children more beautiful and meaningful than the woman bit, because the show has a very deep connection to children already, and its poignant to think that Yeong was imagining himself, his two musketeers, and Ra On as children hurt and abandoned by the people and the world that should treasure them, along with the more obvious example of poor children caught up in corrupt governments and harsh rebellions. Happy, loved children are happy, loved adults - or at least, they should be.

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Yeah, I absolutely love the part where he lingered and waited for her consent before kissing her. If he dived in for the kiss, I wouldn't have liked it one bit, it would have been a forced kiss no matter how you look at it. And to quote Kiara above, "Women never had that kind of freedom in Joseon at any time," Yeong has been consistently respectful and gentlemanly to every woman (well, minus his evil stepmother) right from the start, even to Ha-yeon whom he had gently rejected a couple of times, it goes to show why he's so worth rooting for.

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This Prince Hyomyeong (Yeong) is being romanticised to the max because this is a fantasy rom.com story. It's not going to tell us who/what the actual Prince Hyomyeong was really like.
The only character that I see that's a bit consistence with the history is King Sunjo.

It's meant to be a light hearted dress-up sageuk and that's why there is "a Lot" of changes in the history.

If Yeong lives longer in this drama, it would be for Ra-on. This isn't about politics, this is about a forbidden love story.

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In all fairness, the real Hyomyeong had a reputation as a reformist and a genius, and he asserted the King's control over the court during his regency. Drama!Yeong is a very romantic person, but the way the show portrays his political aspirations may not be that far off the mark.

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The real Hyomyeong was from the Andong Kim clan. He was able to do something because he had his mother's clan behind him and their support. They had him rule as regent and forced his father off the throne.

If Yi-san or Sunjo had that kind of support, Joseon would have been a much better place for the less fortunate and lower class. Maybe even close to King Sejong's time.

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Fair point. Although I'm not sure the Andong Kims supported his marriage to a Poongyang Jo. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the two clans detested each other.

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The real Hyomyeong seems to have it all, especially with the Andong Kim clan having his back, except he was probably as Elle said, a reformist and a genius, and his aspirations may be true because he did try to control his maternal clan by having the influence of his wife's family clan in the court, but that backfired on him because rumor has it that the Andong Kim clan poisoned him and had his son replace him.

Yeong is still very much the romanticized version of Hyomyeong because that's the whole point of the drama, but I believe his political aspiration is still true. As much as I hate to see them derail from history, I'd love to see Yeong becoming a wise king that truly knows what his people need and how to achieve that.

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Yeong being poison is someone's speculation based on the show. It is possible but it doesn't make much sense from what's written in the history. Those Kims were calculated but not stupid.

Fact is Yeong died young and all his siblings did too. The one who lived the longest was his sister Princess Myeongon who died 2yrs later at age 22. His cute little half sister Princess Yeongon who is part of the show didn't make it pass age 12.

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@maryxiah

With this drama, I wish they'd pulled a TMEtS and made the Crown Prince completely fictional. At least then we'd have a happily ever after without the caveat of completely departing from history (not that the drama has not already done that, but still).

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@Kiara I was basing that from what I read in Korean wikipedia. That when he was made regent, he tried to contain Andong Kim clan political power to strengthen his kingship by bring in more Pungyang Jo clan into the court. I don't know how much of Yeong's character resembles the one in the web novel, but the web novel writer did mention that she does her research before writing, so some of the things about Crown Prince Hyomyeong could still be true. If the crown prince is stated to be such a reformist (according to history), I believe even with the Andong Kim clan backing him up, he'd have wanted to rule with his own ideals and he wouldn't want to be their puppet, and thus his wife's clan is the best way to control Andong Kim clan.

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I thought The Moon Embracing the Sun was completely fictional? They didn't based them on real people from the history. When I first read Crown Prince Hyomyeong's profile, I thought he only lived till 20, turns out he lived till 22, so as of right now, we still have 4 years before his death in the drama.

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@maryxiah

It's what I said. I wish MDBC had followed TMEtS's footsteps and made completely fictional royals instead of pulling from history, just so we can have a perfect happy ending.

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Ah, I misunderstood you. But I like the fact that they based it on Crown Prince Hyomyeong, who is a real figure, but not much is known about him so the writers have the liberty to be creative with his character. And the history part is just an extra bonus of conflict for us viewers.

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@maryxiah

My mistake then. I thought you said it was someone's speculation from another website.
It doesn't make much sense since he was only ruling as prince regent for only a few years and he was still a teen imo.

I think his marriage to the Pungyang Jo clan was expected. The Andong Kims were not the only powerful nobles in Joseon who provided queens for the kings. There were around 10 clans and most if not all were originated from Goryeo and some existed since the 3 kingdom era. (Hwangryeo Min clan, Papyeung Yoon clan, Cheongpung Kim clan, etc).
Monopolizing power for an extended period of time would not sit well with the other clans.
Some historians are blaming the Min clan for the downfall of Joseon.

I read about her research but haven't read her novel. I'm only commenting on the drama since it the one we are watching and what I learnt from the history.

TMEtS was popular on it's own without being linked to the real history.
Even though Moonlight is far from being authentic. People are curious enough to look up the actual history.

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I don't doubt there were other clans vying for the same political power as the Andong Kim clan, but Pungyang Jo clan was stated to be the only true rival of the Andong Kim clan in Korean politics, and they did manage to take over the political power from Andong Kim clan when King Cheoljong died without a male heir, and Queen Sinjeong (Crown Prince Hyomyeong's wife) took regency.

I think it makes perfect sense why Andong Kim clan would be the one killing off Crown Prince Hyomyeong. They probably thought it'd be easy to manipulate the young prince as they did with his father, even if his in-laws family was their greatest threat. But when the prince started shift things around and try to contain them, they made the first move and killed him off, plus the prince had a son whom they could control, and with Queen Sunwon (Andong Kim clan) on their side, they were basically unstoppable. I also think that it was the work of Andong Kim clan that most of the House of Yi heirs died young, they wanted the power to stay within their clan by all means, and they only want people they can control, so Crown Prince Hyomeyong was out of the question.

Actually, I haven't read the novel myself. And I'm not going to compare both version of Yeong. But I believe since this is an adaptation, his character couldn't be far off from what was written in the novel.

I don't have much interest in all those political wars and whatnot, though it's interesting to learn about their history while watching the drama, and I love that aspect about Moonlight, it draws you to understand the history behind it more. And because of this drama, I've been doing a lot of reading on their history as well, and it's been fun. ^^

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Oh God, I didn't realised how much shows I am watching until I started to list them out in my head.

2D1N - it's unfortunate that JJY had to leave the show (they're not sure if he's gonna come back, I think they're still waiting for the verdict) cos I really love the dynamic energy he brings and who's gonna be the lucky guy in the show now? ☹️️

Running Man - I don't know why that I always pity Kwang Soo and always wants him to win every single time, but he never would.

Moonlight - bring on the bromance! But I bet next week will have more heartbreaks than bromance.

Drinking Solo - oh pooor puppy Gong-myung! But I love his brother equally too.

Woman with a suitcase - love the 2nd episode more than the 1st. Love it when Joon plays a bright character!

Jealousy Incarnate - Oh Hwashin, what do we do with you? It hurts to watch him, but you can't help but laugh at how pitiful he looks.

Shopping King Louie - Seo Inguk is such a gem. I will never want him to leave dramaland ever. Will be dreading the year he has to leave for the army. I will probably break down and cry at the thought of it.

On the way to the Airport - me: "please don't" everytime Seo Duhwoo asks Soo Ah to meet him. but this drama is so beautiful and I have never been this conflicted over a drama before. I want them together but you know, not like that. Why does it have to be so hard?

Cinderella - things are finally getting more interesting! And less Hyeji "moping around" scenes! Yay?

Fantastic - I cannot wait for Seol to leave that awful family! I want her to join her friends and be happy and free again! I honestly don't know how she could stand all those treatments from them.

K2 - have yet to start thisssss but dunno if I should. Contemplating about it cos I have exams in less than 2 months! Eeeppp!!

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<I want them together but you know, not like that.

Yeah.... I was thinking I just want a time jump – them recognising they are feeling something, then distancing themselves from each other and a leap forward in time (1-2 years?). To when they have already divorced from their current spouses and are in a situation where they are vulnerable from they have recently gone through but at least available. I think there is enough in the aftermath of their situations for a story about their challenge of getting together without having the adultery element – lots of baggage to work through after separating from a controlling husband that makes all the choices and lets you pick up all the pieces while he plays the Sydney gentleman (I'd be livid if someone "moved" me to another house) and separating from a woman who obviously has serious mental issues and that the guy seems to have married not for love out of pity? the child? (I just don't see any love in that marriage, not even love that there once was).

Because, at the moment, I can only look at them and think, Why? Why do you want walk into a mess of a situation like that?

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I blame u for starting watching yet another drama. I really wanted to see Jun Ki and decided to watch Moon Lovers because it was around 11pm and I had only time for one episode and you were not swooning over it so I thought it will be ok..... I'm on 11ep.... ( still don't know whats with these closeups. are they trying to hide something in the background?)

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LOL this should be the bean-spilling of the week. You marathoned 11 episodes from 11pm until the next day's afternoon?

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Watching 10 currently airing shows (basically every weekday prime time show on the big 3 plus all cable dramas)...this. is. insane. ?

Woman w/ Suitcase: Only watched Ep.1 which felt disjointed and confusing but good to hear Ep.2 is a lot better. I'm probably one of the last people here who's never watched CJW in anything before.

MDBC: Who started this stupid trend to have songs with some English lines in sageuks? And as if it's not enough "Love is over"? Gimme grand ballads a la Lyn's "Back in Time", dammit.
Btw KYJ deserves an award for self-control. The way she manages to not have a face as red as a beet during her scenes with PBG is a bigger mystery to me than how the W world works. I'm way older than them but damn the way Crown Prince gazes at Ra-on makes ME blush like mad and squeal like a teenager. ☺️

Moon Lovers: Finally! Show, where have you been the first 10 episodes? Now this is the drama I was expecting from the beginning.
And can't we just screw history and have Yeon-hwa become the next Queen Regnant? I see a Wu Zetian in the making lol. Girl has more ambition and drive than all her brothers together.

Drinking Solo: Jung-suk ah, why so cute? I could watch him all day coming up with excuses that whatever nice thing he's doing is for the joint class. But show, don't hurt Ki-bum, you hear me.

On The Way To The Airport: This show is shot so beautifully it's insane. It's great to have a quiet but by no means boring, mature and so thought-provoking show amongst all the cute, fun or tense dramas.

Shopping King Louis: Louis really is a human puppy, he'll make you want to pull your hair in frustration but then he's so damn cute again that you just can't stay mad at him. And they're always making me hungry with all the eating but I can't eat while watching this because I burst out laughing all the time, man, this is just mean. ?

Jealousy Incarnate: On paper Hwa-shin is a jerk, a man-child and a backstabber, yet I've been rooting for him ever since Ep.1... all the credit goes to JJS. ❤️

C4K: Step, step, where do we go now? to Paris, Ms. Wooden...to Paris, chebal. One episode left, himnae chingus, we can get through it.

The K2: I don't know, after Ep.3 I'm becoming more and more wary of the plot and directing. Maybe I just had the wrong expectations? Right now I'm struggling to take this drama serious but I love the cast of veteran actors. Eottoke. Ep.4 better be good. And I've come to the conclusion that I just don't like the camera work.

Fantastic: Oh, another man-child, that makes it three in a week for me. And all of them are great in their own way.
I'm glad dongsaeng-ssi is well but hope they make his character bedridden or something.

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Wow! That is awesome, angeiya. I am currently watching four shows (JI, MDBC, k2, fantastic) and I feel like I can't watch more shows because I don't intend to drop any of these shows. And I also rewatch parts I like in each episode and the number of times I do that is proportional to how much I liked it. Then when the recaps is up in dramabeans, I read it, comment on it, read other people's comments, reply to some of it and read new comments as well!(but only till it reaches 300 in case of MDBC after that I start feeling guilty for neglecting actual work) ;)

So, I feel like I do too much work for dramas and that I should put this energy to do something else and become rich or something! :D

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yes, SKL will make you suffocate on food when you suddenly laugh. dont eat. just put a towel on the keyboard to catch the drool.

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I want to watch On the way to the airport as soon as I got time cause I watched A good wife, a TW drama about affair's theme and broken marriage but so touching cause you see everyone perspective and how it just doesn't work and now I am not that sensitive to that kind of story line since I already has one story that fulfils the theme,

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aah my grammar sucked above ,

I want to watch On the way to the airport as soon as I got time cause I watched A good wife, a TW drama about affair’s theme and broken marriage.
AGW is touching cause you see everyone perspective and how it just doesn’t work,
now I am not that sensitive to that kind of story line since I already has one story that fulfils the theme,

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I agree that the TW drama, "A Good Wife", was good. That ending was so touching!

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"And can’t we just screw history and have Yeon-hwa become the next Queen Regnant"

It's too bad she had so many brothers. Queen Seon Deok and the other 2 queens of Shilla had no brothers so they were able to rule.

I like the fact that she is ambitious. Just because she is a woman doesn't mean that she has no desire for power or to be treated equally as her brothers.
Only in Goryeo and the 3 kingdom era can we see women rule the country, go to war (General Park's daughter) etc.
They are often overlooked and under praised like the majority of actresses in this forum lol.

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Have to agree that the Goryeo women in MLSHR are quite awesome ~ Lady Hae, Queen Yoo, Jeon Hwa, Seon Duk etc. They get to marry the men they want, manipulate the men in their lives, and are probably the true power behind the men & the throne.

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"I’m way older than them but damn the way Crown Prince gazes at Ra-on makes ME blush like mad and squeal like a teenager."

Me too! I absolutely love how Yeong lovingly gazes upon Ra-on, and how her face lights up everytime he sneaks up on her and calls her Ra-on ah. Mmm...I just love it when these two are together. It reminds me of a song from Dream High 2, "Together".

The lyrics go:
Living day by day, clashing in this world – when these things get hard
When you feel like you’re just one single person out of the countless people
When I see your eyes, looking at me lovingly, I feel special
When you hold me in your warm embrace, all my scars on my body heal

When we’re together when we’re together
Everything becomes alright, painful memories disappear
When we’re together when we’re together
I get happy again, without knowing, I put on a smile

When bitterness washes over me, when I suddenly feel like I’m alone
At the moment when everything feels strange and I suddenly have no confidence

Your voice that believes in me and gives me courage allows me to go out in the world again
The fact that you are a step behind me, always watching over me, is so precious to me

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All these similarly named shows seem ideal for combining into one story:
Woman with a suitcase, on her way to the airport... ends up drinking solo, while Cinderella and four knights... experience love in the moonlight, hoping to avoid jealousy incarnate that rules over moon lovers?
Does anybody have a better combo of titles?

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Damn. That's fantastic!

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Wow! :D How did you come up with this?

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Or: Cinderella and the four knights who serve Shopping King Louie incarnate jealousy for a woman with a suitcase full of moon lovers. You oK2 with this Law of the jungle in the moonlight?

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I seem to be in the minority in that I would rather they explore the Yeon Hwa/So angle than just sort of erase it from history. Mostly because I'm up for shows trying new things and it would be very interesting to see a meta modern perspective and dilemmas surrounding a now-taboo subject such as incest. I felt the same about the Wook/Su relationship while Lady Hae was alive, and LOVE how the show had Baek Ah call them out on their flirting and how we then got a perspective re: a relationship such as theirs, presented as a moral dilemma even in an age where it may not necessarily have been one. I wish more shows explored history as it was (and more people were up for it) instead of trying to whitewash it to fit modern sensibilities, but had a modern perspective through other means; writing, direction, framing, etc.

Despite all its flaws, I personally think this show is brave and I like that about it. Even the forced kiss wasn't romanticized, but it highlighted how our identification with So was as equally problematic as his banishment from the family circle-- because he always has that potential for violence, and the show has never shied away from it. I don't think that the confession was supposed to make us swoon anyway, quite the opposite (while the Moonlight confession obviously WAS supposed to make us swoon, and did.) Which is what I like about this show though, it takes its characters to dark places and then leaves it to us as to what we feel about their actions, without trying to exonerate them. Just as we'd begun to feel awful for So and his outsider status, the show gave us scenes which made us rethink how completely we tended to identify with him.

This is an incredible time for dramaland, I am drowning in great shows, what a terribleamazing situation to be in.

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I love how you can be perfectly sober and clear-headed. When Wang So said that I was a bit taken aback as well (like many viewers and girlfriday I guess) but your comment now helps me to reflect and understand why I felt that way. Someone mentioned their aversion to incest (between the princes and princess) in one of the above comments too. But, that was what happened in history. The royal family back then was not really a "family" in my opinion. Half-siblings were far from brothers and sisters; they were suitors for marriages because the princes and princesses were not supposed (or even allowed) to marry anyone else outside of the bloodline anyway. They probably did not grow up together either (So was away from Yeon Hwa for maybe 15 years?) and therefore did not develop any emotional & moral barrier to sexual relationships. That they could marry each other was actually not that offputting if we take into account how things were *back then*. So yes, I also totally applaud the show for not "whitewash it to fit modern sensibilities".
By the way, (I dont speak Korean and I am not sure but) the translation of what Wang So said was not "If you tell me you love another man, I’ll murder him" in the version that I watched. It seems that he said "I dont know; I might kill that man". So was a warrior, he killed many people and - as Wook explained to Su - it was not like he wanted to kill but he might need to kill I guess. In any case, it is repugnant when we think about how it is in our time but it is not ill-fitted given the historical context.

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+1 I agree on the royal bloodline theme. I feel like if that is a historical truth, then it can and should be presented as such. Especially considering that keeping the bloodline pure was such a concern of the early kingdoms. And I do remember reading about the Westermarck effect in psychology, where it was basically implied that the reason that most siblings do not develop a sexual attraction to each other is not because of their genes, but because of their domestic proximity. Were the siblings to be separated for a majority of their childhood and lives and to meet at a later stage, they'd be MORE likely to develop feelings towards each other because of their strong genetic attraction. The theory of reverse sexual imprinting may or may not be true, but it supports what you said about how So and Yeon Hwa did not grow up together.

As for So's statement about murdering the man she liked, I kind of found that frightening. It reminded me again that this man has the capacity to be dangerous. It's true, it's no big deal in the historical context-- especially since we also know that it's presumed that whoever is king will probably kill their siblings to maintain the throne, and casually talking about killing siblings seems even more of an issue than killing the man the woman you're obsessing over loves-- but it's still frightening, lol.

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How would you like them to explore that? If So seems only interested for political reasons and only vaguely, there is not much room to explore that story. I am not against it, I really like that they are brave enough to show she has a crush on him and he does not even seem to dislike the idea of marrying her, at least not in the early episodes.

I also loved when Baek Ah called them up on their flirting but I thought maybe that was a bit too modern? Would a prince really think that much about some flirting when they could have several wives?

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Hmm, I'm not actually sure, I'm just hoping they don't do away with it entirely, especially since they have set adequate base for it. Like I never felt So was interested in Yeon Hwa for political reasons, he did seem to be attracted to her in that one (strange) scene we had of him talking about how she's grown up. I feel like because I'm not really shipping anything in this show-- or at least not to the point where I would put the ship over the story-- I wouldn't mind even if they go wholesale on the issue; show both So/Soo and So/Yeon Hwa. Which I doubt is going to happen because kdramas are usually so fixated on the idea of One True Love that it's difficult to have the hero be interested in two women and for the audience to find it palatable. I, on the other hand, would love it, lol, I think it makes for a good story.

I think what was great about Baek Ah's scene-- and what saved it from being modern, while simultaneously being a meta-modern commentary-- was that he had an agenda for it. It wasn't that Baek Ah was averse on principle to the idea of multiple wives or would universally condemn some flirting outside of marriage, it's that the person getting shunned in question was the woman that he loved; Lady Hae. Which is why it was very smart of the show to use Baek Ah to call them out. Any other prince and it would have been unnatural for the prince to be so concerned about this-- especially, as you mentioned, having multiple wives was common practice. But because it was Baek Ah, it was more about Lady Hae the individual, than the general practice. And because Su has a modern perspective on it, while Wook has a tendency to be conscientious, it hit them both hard, and thus the show itself commented on how it WAS a moral dilemma for all involved, and they'd been ignoring it while living in their fantasy world, and thus we got a modern perspective on something that could easily have been seen as inherent to the times.

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Yes, there was that comment from him. I'm not sure if he was a bit interested in her of if he felt someone so desirable like her could never be interested in him and that alone was enough reason to want to know if she would consider him an option. Later he had some conversation with her and Yoo that pretty much said as much or that was what I got from him on that scene.

I think if the show had 35 eps I would like the to explore more this political marriage, though it is not romantic it could be interesting. Since it has only 20 and for me already feels rushed, I'm ok with them ignoring it. I'm already glad they dared to show as much as they have about this.

Yes, I agree that Baek-Ah having feelings for Lade Hae does explain how he could say all that. I wish we had more from the other princes like that scene, they don't have enough story. When I finally find a sageuk to love, even a crazy one like this, it is just too short.

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Most of the older conventional sageuks are not sugarcoated for our liking. This is the era of fusion fantasy fairytale sageuks.
I wish there was at least a good balance between the old and new or more sageuk specials like "The Dirge Singer." So true to the time period and culture. The chemistry between Kim Yoo-jung and Seo Jun-young was fantastic. Not your usual lovey dovey kind of chemistry.

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OMG, finally someone mentioning that, when I watched that I remember Kim Yoo-jung was only 15 and she was bringing raw emotions about being the daughter of a dirge singer, I cried watching that. I absolutely love their chemistry too, but I think he's a little too old for her.

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It was perfect because it wasn't about age or romance. I cried like a little baby when she cried.

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No, but I tend to romanticize everything in my head, and he felt so wrong for me, but I still like that one very much. I didn't even know dirge singer existed before that.

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That's the beauty of it. We can interpret it however we want for our enjoyment.

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If you haven't seen "The Story of Hyang Dan" you might want to check it out. It's a light hearted rom.com based on a popular folktale during the Joseon era and there is only 2 episodes.

http://www.dramabeans.com/2007/09/hyang-dan-jeon-the-story-of-hyang-dan/

I think Joseon does the light-hearted rom.com well despite being a strict patriachal society.
There is something about going against all odds like Moonlight.

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Yeah, I'll definitely check that out when I have the time. After reading about The Dirge Singer last night, I ended up watching KBS Drama Special on youtube. I love most of their drama special.

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Ah, really? That's good to know! Maybe then it's a difference of audience? Like maybe the audience that watches the older conventional sageuks are already inured to all that that the newer audience of the fusion sageuks wants changed to fit the modern times. Because I am surprised by how many times I see the point about Yeon Hwa and So come up, although historically, she was his wife. I can imagine that the show may-- as it says at the beginning of every episode-- take creative license with dramatizing events or even changing them, but I wouldn't expect there to be such a demand for changing history itself.

I looked up The Dirge Singer, it looks v. interesting, I shall check that out!

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Yes, our generation are not into stuffy sageuks but it's still popular among the older folks and sageuk/history fans.

Dawn of the Empire (2002-94 eps) would be the closest one to the actual history.
The Iron Empress (2009-78 eps).
Then it goes fusion with Shine or go Crazy (2004 - 24 eps) and it's based on a novel by Hyun Go-woon.

Here is an article on the history of sageuks in Korea by MrX.
http://www.yesasia.com/us/yumcha/sageuk-koreas-80-year-long-love-for-history/0-0-0-arid.125-en/featured-article.html

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The Dirge Singer only has one episode but powerful.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6FCzlOh3mA

I wish KBS would do more.

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Yeon Hwa/So angle would have made a better story. Unfortunately, this director had a simple minded agenda = BOF+BATMAN?? :(

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I thought it was just me but it's the case with everyone. No matter what you say about moon lovers, it's close ups, it's acting, it's very very obvious flaws, it's still somehow a show I'll come back to no matter what.

I tell myself that I'm better than this and MDBC is enough to satisfy me and keep me perfectly happy on Mondays and Tuesdays and yet I'll click on Moonlovers no matter what.

I tell myself I'm not doing it again but still I'll come back. *Sighs*

Oh god, this just proves that I'm in a relationship with Kdramas.

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same lol I keep finding so many things wrong with it, and yet.... and yet

it's like Moonlovers is my on-off boyfriend I'm telling myself "ok we're never hooking up again" and then it calls me, looking all sexy, taking off its mask to show off its new bb cream covered face and I'm just staring at it with this vague expression that for some reason gets interpreted as pity when no, I just feel uncomfortable when the camera is all up in my face why does this keep happening

where am I going with this

*whispers* Moonlovers, I don't know what to do with you.

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Love it haha

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Goryeo BB cream ingredient list
Uncomfortable closeups, little bit of incest, worst mother ever lived, baby baby baby boy, sexy scar, caffeine, heroin, nicotine, cocaine
Strangely irresistible, cannot stop 'say yes say yes' every week.

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Moonlight drawn by clouds: i have 1st, 2nd, and 3rd lead syndrome. Plus a bit of ra on-ah syndrome, and Teacher syndrome. Love them all. Except that damn king.

Moon lovers: Lee Jun Ki/Wang So. That is all.

K2: wasn't going to go there, I was massively disappointed in the first two episodes, but I trust in the Four Episode Rule. Now I'm staying for Song Yoona. She's wonderful.

Rewatching Healer: because of the romance and Ahjumma.

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"So… in a nutshell, here were the confessions I heard back to back from two princes this week: If you tell me you love another man, I’ll murder him. And: I will make you a new country where a woman can live as a woman. Guess which one made me swoon."

This! This is exactly my problem with Moon Lovers. Just like the forced kiss, this line was supposed to make us swoon but it had the opposite effect on me. Some may say the kiss is not romanticized. I'd agree if So had looked confused, regretful perhaps and go away. Instead, he pulled her along and went to the beach. Whatever he did and said there showed nothing of that sort, in fact quite the opposite.

I might have a lot less problem with ML if I hadn't watched and loved the Chinese version. Although Moon Lovers went up a notch higher last week but when I compared it to the C version, it paled in comparison.

On surface, the beautiful shots and high drama makes it entertaining. However, at this juncture where characters are required to show depth and politics ramp up full speed, the quality difference is stark.

In the latest podcast, Javabeans and Girlfriday think that ML was too caught up in adapting the story but I disagree. I think they were too caught up in making the story they think fans will love. Adaption is secondary, in fact they took creative license so liberally to suit their purpose that it may end up looking not like Korean history either.

My biggest beef is how the characters are written. Here, they are written to make fans love or hate them. I think that's the reason why they are so one dimensional.

Yes, I say that even of Wang So, the supposedly most interesting character here. The amount of hurt, injustice, pain both emotional and physical that have been inflicted on Wang So is unbelievable. Wang So is your typical Kdrama wounded male hero who has to be healed by love from no other than that small slip of a girl a.k.a our heroine.

Wang So’s behavior towards Soo in the past couple of weeks reminds me of Kim Tan in Heirs. I get put off whenever he pulls Soo towards him at the hip and smile at her discomfort. Shudders. Mine is probably not the reaction the writer/PD had in mind because they basically romanticized Wang So’s behavior and I can’t say it didn’t work judging by how fans are delighted with him.

I've come across several such characters especially in idol dramas. The characterization is usually heavy-handed and lack subtlety. Everything that happened to Wang So or what he has done is portrayed in the most dramatic fashion. His scarring and everyone's obsession with it, the killing of the monks, the rain parade, the swallowing of poison for his beloved and most recent, the sheltering of Soo from the rain.

The rain scene is almost identical to the C version except that it had none of the latter's nuances. Here, they made Wook a despicable coward who literally turned his back on Soo. How more obvious can show get?

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As for Soo, I don’t know if she’s dumb or not. So far, she is like a reaction button to the guys. In C BBJX, Ruo Xi chose to leave 8th Prince but here, Soo was dumped in the worst fashion ever. Ruo Xi was also an equal partner in her relationship with the 4th Prince as much as she could be considering their status. Sadly, it’s something I can’t say of Soo and So.

I continue watching in hope that show will improve once it gets serious. If they force So/Soo’s romance any further or Wook turns into a crazed bat, it will be difficult.

Other shows:

Fantastic made me cry when Mi Sun found out about Hye Soo’s illness. I always cry at such scenes, last one was Marriage Contract.

K2 – am I the only one who finds it boring? I just watched ep 3 and it felt like very little happened except the car chase.

Drinking Solo – I have not caught up but almost there. Like JB and GF, this is the brightest sport in my drama watch right now. There are so many likeable characters. And I love the two brothers, Mr Grumpy and Mr Happy.

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I like the K2 because I like action and I am enjoying action scene, it also likes game story but I agree that the plot is just like what happen in the 1st episode, we already knew it all and we just added some backstory of Kim Je Ha,
but again, I am an action fan and I like that kind of show,

in regards to Scarlet Heart, I also think they didn't try to adapt the original but they adamant in using their iconic scene for the fans,
the love line is disappointed, the things that baffles the 14th about Ruoxi is how she can't die for the 8th but will die for the 4th which make it clear that the break up is because the heart changes, it's the theme that modern people can agree but so taboo in the era, just like Ruoxi's sister Ruolan that choose to marry the 8th even knowing that her heart can't choose him. Here in the Korean version, it's like they didn't want to make hae soo have the flaw, it's all the situation and her always the scapegoat.

I watch the poison scene raw and Idk what the hell happen then I watch it with sub and I am more confused, I know what happen but I don't know why it needed,
it's too dramatic for the dramatic sake and it doesn't work when the show is over, cause when you take the time to think about it, how did it happen?
even the lady sacrifice, how's that makes sense? she is not even there to put the poison, she always nice to the crown prince, how she suddenly want to kill everyone? that just luck that the queen hates her and agree,

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LOL. As a fan of BBJX, and as someone who is now watching ML, I understand your sentiments here.

I can't help but think of the current dynamic between Wang So and Hae Soo as those we read about in those teenage paranormal romances, or even in some adult romances where the hero tends to be this flawed, broken and tormented individual who is somehow drawn to a girl who eventually succumbs to his deep dark character, and who puts up with his domineering, possessive way of handling her and doesn't seem to care that it robs her of her own agency.

The fact that the hero is incredibly good-looking is probably the only reason why the readers salivate and swoon and think that this kind of obsessive dominating behaviour is romantic. If such behaviour was enacted by an old, ugly, fat and balding man, it would be labelled as stalkerish and disgusting and universally panned and vilified!

Sadly, those teenage paranormal romances or adult romances which follow such an outline are really bestsellers. So it doesn't surprise me in the slightest that ML, which appears to follow a similar formula, appeals to the masses.

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+ 1000 :)

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idk, it sounds a little bit strange to refer to people who like Moon Lovers as "the masses" in a way that is clearly meant to be derogatory as to their inability to understand abusive relationships when they see them. As if they're all people prioritizing a pretty face over problematics of consent and violence, while the "classes" understand the true issues. This is probably why the Moon Lovers fandom is constantly on the defensive, because it's not the show that gets questioned as much as the people who like it, who constantly get negatively characterized.

Also, such a statement fundamentally misunderstands the nature of appeal that So/Soo had for the viewers. I wonder if you've been reading the comments of Scarlet Heart? I don't even particularly ship them, but even I, on reading the comments, could tell that what the viewers till now liked the most about the So/Soo relationship was that it was built on mutual understanding and friendship. After their initial clashes, they didn't share an overtly romantic dynamic for a large part and most people were ecstatic that they were so low key and sat down and had quiet moments together and built on a genuine friendship, rather than any kind of alpha-male showdown.

In fact, the recent developments (which have only come in the last two episodes-- the forced kiss was the end of episode 10) have almost universally disappointed the viewers. It has made them question the ship that they were fully on board with. This is exactly what they were hoping wouldn't happen. There are people who understand both So and Soo's side of the story as to why the scene played out as it did, and there are some trying to defend So's actions, but I definitely haven't seen the majority characterize the kiss as romantic. Everyone watching knows it's problematic. And the show itself didn't present it as romantic; it showed Su visibly protesting, and even crying. And this coming right after her visions. The obsessive, dominating behavior is seen AS obsessive and dominating, not romantic. In fact, Lee Junki, in a previous interview mentioned that his character gets obsessive in a negative way.

On the other hand, just because the scene was awful for the ship doesn't at all mean that it's not a good narrative. It was terrible to the ship, but it was great for the story. Because it highlighted that inherent dichotomy of Gwangjong that the viewers & narrative has to deal with. That this man who has been abandoned so many times and has had a traumatic past as is therefore largely sympathetic to the audience also carries with him the potential to be cruel, the potential to be the Gwangjong that Su sees in her visions. I don't think the scene was meant to be romantic or that the show presented it as such-- the fact that most people could recognize how problematic it was kind of highlights that. But that doesn't mean scenes like this should never be used, they just shouldn't be romanticized...

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@suegarbaby

Zoe and others have written eloquently why they disagree with you.

I will echo what Zoe said; I find that generalising fans of Moon Lovers as "masses" who are unable to see beyond a good looking face to appreciate issues of consent and violence against women, is, frankly, quite condescending.

His relationship with Hae Soo didn't follow the usual template. Far from the tropey one-sided jerkwad treatment of the female lead, they began their relationship as friends and it was totally non-romantic on both sides for a good 5-6 episodes. His behaviour was more akin to that of the typical supportive second lead while the swoony romantic loveline played out between her and the more textbook male hero. This was refreshing.

When his feelings turned romantic, he forced the issue by kissing her. Much has been written about that, and I can only speak for myself. I'm GLAD he didn't apologise and in fact kidnapped her to the beach. It makes sense narratively for Wang So's character to act this way. Would I want my husband to act this way? No, and he wouldn't, not if he knows what's good for him :D But Wang So's actions remained authentic and true to his character's motivations and his time. Kudos to the show for keeping him dark and consistent by the character's own standards.

What is telling to me, is that Hae Soo didn't get swayed by the kiss or what he said at the beach. She still, at that point, loved Wook. Even now, after seeing how Wang So is willing to sacrifice his life for her, the show hasn't made it clear that she's falling in love with him. And I would argue that if indeed she is experiencing a change of sentiments, a large part would have come from the firm foundation of friendship and trust built between them in the earlier episodes, cemented by proof through his actions in the last episode that this is indeed a good person, whatever his outward persona might be.

Again speaking for myself, I'm not sure if I would have appreciated a character like Wang So when I was in my twenties or even thirties. I'm a happily married mother of two now and after having experienced all sorts of drama heroes, I'm revelling in watching a character like Wang So unfold in front of me. The fact that he might in fact marry his half sister only adds to the fascination of his character and makes him one of the least typical of k drama heroes.

Production flaws aside, I can't wait to see what happens next.

(Whew, that was long)

Moon Lovers is plagued by lots of problems. Direction and questionable music choices aside, i wish Hae Soo was smarter, the acting from the lesser princes less raw and the pacing and tone more even.

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Wow. That comment of yours is really getting out of line and seem to imply that those loving Moon Lovers as shallow, who could look at beyond nothing and blinded by the prettiness.

You are generalizing the viewers just because we don't share the same sentiments as you are.

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Some may say the kiss is not romanticized. I’d agree if So had looked confused, regretful perhaps and go away. Instead, he pulled her along and went to the beach. Whatever he did and said there showed nothing of that sort, in fact quite the opposite.

It's always interesting to me how differently we all read the same things! Those aspects that you mentioned as romanticizing the story are the exact same that I would cite as reason that it is not, in fact, romanticization. Had So looked confused or regretful then I would call that romanticization. Because that would have made it easy for the audience to say "well, at least he's regretful, so it's okay" or "his reaction is understandable considering what he's been through, but at least he knows he's wrong," and it would have made it easier to forgive his actions or at least to defend them. Here, none of that happened. People will continue to defend So, sure. But at least the show isn't making it easier for them by exonerating him. It's presenting him as he is, with a streak of violence and brutality (that we've already seen, but somehow it's a human tendency to assume that That One Special Girl will be spared from it, and that's what makes her special-- which I always think is a toxic narrative, despite how often shows employ it), and then telling us to take him or not. The fandom was completely divided on the kiss, and even people who love So found it hard to defend his actions and reactions. I would actually consider that a successful portrayal of a forced kiss. Nobody at all, as far as I could see in the comments, swooned over it, including So/Soo fans, so I don't see how it can be assumed that that's what the show was going for.

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Zoe, you always write so many things I am thinking about the subjects but you explain them a lot better. :)
I agree with all you said about ML.

I don't understand how that kiss could have been romanticized either. I was fully expecting him to apologize, even if it was just to please modern sensibilities, and instead he kidnaps her. I loved it. No, I don't agree with his actions but I love that the show was brave enough to make him, at least so far, a dark character and remain true to his personality and to how a guy with that past, in that period of time, would have acted.

I love when shows surprise me showing that absolutely makes sense in their story, So making jokes about killing some guy she would be interested was perfectly fitting and yet unexpected.

When he said he made no difference between friendship and love that was so right too. She was going on and on about friendship with a man like this was the most usual thing in those days. It wasn't and it would be even more strange for a man like him.

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Yes! That's precisely why I didn't see it as romanticization, because the show took his actions to their logical conclusion and showed that his dark side is very real and not something that is contained to simply killing monks to please his mother, which we can easily ignore because it's so far removed from reality. Forced kisses and threats to a loved one, however, hit very close to home and turn people off. And I liked that after the audience, almost as one, was starting to identify with the wounded hero archetype, the show threw a spanner in it and reminded all of us that this man has the potential to be dangerous. Also, growing up in the way he has-- no company, killing wolves-- is not only pitiable, but has also imbued him with certain anti-social elements. He is clearly v. unstable, and the show needs to capitalize on that to show how this man, who, despite everything, seemed fairly harmless till now, carries with him the potential to kill all his siblings for the throne.

I feel like what I like about the show is that I understand the POV of all the characters and where they're coming from, and then it's up to me whether to like them or not.

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@Zoe Agree 10000% with all of your commentary. Moon Lovers may have a lot of issues, but a female lead falling in love with an abusive suitor is not one of them.

I have been reading the recaps and comments from the first episode and the viewers are smart and insightful. We cringed at the desperate non-romantic kiss and beach scene. Hae Soo did not accept Su. Instead she was thinking of how to deal with her premonitions, So's turmoil and possible turn into the darker side of his character as well as trying to keep the other brothers safe.

Moon Lovers has many complex relationships, all different due to the nature, upbringing, and experience of each character. Hae Soo learning to love and trust again after being cheated on and lied to.. Wang So learning to love and trust after never having those options growing up.

Their relationship was first dislike/hate and mistrust. They grew to respect each other's opinion and skills. Conversations developed a natural friendship. Was it easy? Not at all. Is it perfect? Not at all. Example the kiss and Wang So's possessiveness. As of episode 11, the love Wang So feels is still one sided. Hae Soo still needs to sort through her relationship/ending with Wang Wook. What I love to see is the growth of each character and their storylines. How will the decisions they make effect their behavior and relationships?

Also, the show has been about Hae Soo and the women of this drama. They all have to save themselves the best way they can within the limits allowed in that era. Hae Soo, Lady Hae, Court Lady Ho, the Queens and even Yeon Hwa; each of these female characters is trying to survive.

The drama has depth and I am loving it. :)

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I think the problem is the show's message

"that the guy that forced kiss you but didn't do more, didn't apologise is also the guy who loved you so much that will stand in the rain and takes poison for your sake " like it always happens every time,

this sound romantic by summary but the point is the show forced the romance, it's obvious that the pairing is so/soo no matter how abusive he is, she'll fall for him and that what the commenter above try to point out,
so no matter how violence a guy is, it's worthed to be by their side because they just so hurt inside and they'll not do anything bad to you, they'll protect you even by killing his competition, but rest assure, it because he loves you, and with this kind of guy, your life is assured.

it's the direction of their love story people like to call out but of course people will always point out about the supposed chemistry between the characters who can see through each other eyes that probably happen in near episode, or the trauma the male lead has so we need to excuse him and wait for him to change but don't need to call him out or outed him from the ship before,

the show doesn't give out the good message but always excuses themselves because the male lead is worth as accomplishment than having some logic, he is beautiful, badass , only love one woman and acted with passion, we should be grateful for the present of him than called him out on his lack of thinking, lack of apprehensive and lack of acknowledgement that he is not worth it all /s

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+ 1000, the romance feels force, like no matter what had he done wrong, she'll eventually love him anyway & she had to forgive him no matter what since he was broken/hurt inside, & that's definitely sent a wrong message to the viewers

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I feel like I would consider that a problem only if I thought that was the show's message, which, honestly, I don't. The reason is because both Court Lady Oh and Su were terrified when they thought that So had misread Su's intentions and friendship. Court Lady Ohopenly said that the 4th Prince was interested in Su because she was kind to him and that was a problem. They, and the show, did not say "oh, poor guy, he's had a traumatic past, so of course he'd latch onto the first bit of affection he got," instead, they highlighted how helpless Su was in this situation because if a prince was interested in her, there wasn't much that she'd be able to do to ward it off. I found it interesting that the show focused much more on Su and Court Lady Oh's fear than it did on So and his traumas. Su did not fall in love with him (in fact she's still not in love with him) or take his violence and forgive him on the ground that he had a traumatic past and therefore was understandable and forgivable. She does not forgive him because he is hurt, but because he stands by her (and we don't know if she forgives him at all, we haven't reached that stage yet.)

And while I agree with your point about the romanticization of abusive relationships in general in pop culture and how much POV misunderstood, abusive heroes get and how much erasure there is of their abuse, why I would be hesitant to apply it in this case is that this is inherent to So's character. It is not about having a traumatic past and being saved by the love of a good girl and having all your abuse forgiven, it's that we're dealing with a historical character who has this potential for violence. In fact, to erase that for the sake of the romance, would be a disservice. We are supposed to see this man as having a penchant for violence and the potential to be Gwangjong and kill all his siblings in cold blood. That is who the character is. It's not the show romanticizing abuse, it's the show characterizing a historical figure. It's entirely different from if this had been a regular modern drama where the male lead acted like this and it was supposed to be romantic. Here, for the moment at least, it's not supposed to be romantic. Su was positively terrified.

I take your point in good faith and I agree it's always problematic to imagine that Su is going to fall in love with So despite all that has happened. But till the story progresses further, I cannot be certain how they're going to handle it, so I wouldn't want to comment on that. But I do think that the violent scenes were meant to be violent, not romantic. But I wouldn't agree that Su will forgive him because he's hurt (she's already shown that she wouldn't), but may forgive him because he stands by her-- i.e. it's about her, not him. Of course that may be an equally problematic thing, and you're welcome to read it as you want.

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Idk what's the problem if Haesoon turns out falling in love (which we all know she will) with Wang So, who has already shown the signs of being possessive and brutal. Is there no real life figure like this? I don't see that the romance is forced, instead it's rather natural because humans are flawed, in this case, we all know it's wrong but the main theme here is that, some things no matter how wrong it is, it is just fated to happen.

We are still halfway thru the show and what matters will be what action would she take once his possessiveness getting out of hand? Will she still love him? Will she walk out on him? Will she not do anything for herself, to not act against her conscience?

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"Just like the forced kiss, this line was supposed to make us swoon but it had the opposite effect on me. Some may say the kiss is not romanticized. I’d agree if So had looked confused, regretful perhaps and go away. Instead, he pulled her along and went to the beach. Whatever he did and said there showed nothing of that sort, in fact quite the opposite."

But all that WASN'T romanticized. Neither the forced kiss nor the beach scene. After So's totally unromantic 'if you like another guy, i'll kill him', Soo was obviously thinking about this when she told Wook and Jung that she'll go back to the palace with So. Here she was trying to hide from So which prince she loves (or loved), which means she did take that threat pretty seriously.

Not to mention, in a later scene, she clarified to him again that she sees him as a friend, not a romantic partner. Then when So attempted to kiss her (or pretend to attempt, whatever), she immediately looked down and put her hand over her lips. This tells us Soo wasn't won over AT ALL by the way he confessed - she may not have been freaked out as the rest of us because they're still close friends, but it's hardly her idea of a romantic gesture, and there was certainly no swooning on her part.

Episode 11 presented the turning point in Soo's heart from Wook to So, and notice how her feelings only start to waver/change after So risked his life to drink his poison for her. Amongst other things So did for her, like coming down to save her or shielding her from the rain. (Yes, what So did was useless at saving Soo in the grand scheme of things, but it's clear that he was there for her when she was most vulnerable.)

I think the show made it very clear that the way to Soo's heart wasn't forced kisses or nasty/possessive threats, but selfless acts of love.

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100% agree. I don't even think I care too much about whether or not the kiss was romantic/his words of choice during that confession. We've seen plenty of dramas where the female leads eventually come to love jerkwads, and others where they don't. I don't want to extrapolate and make any statements about how a relationship should be or shouldn't be... not my place to judge.

However, as a drama, Moon Lovers just doesn't satisfy. It doesn't do well enough in any particular point to justify the obvious fact that the production team dropped the ball/ were too lazy to respect the viewers (yes, viewers should be respected for the time/effort made to watch).

LJK as an actor slays. It would be a dream for the stars to align so that our Moons embrace the Sun (aka LJK x PBG x SJK.... alright it was a bad pun I'm sorry). Anyways, Wang So as a character has been confusing for me. Same goes for all the other characters as well. What drives him? What does he want? What/Who does he value? It's so hard for me to identify the motivations behind the characters, which I think is the main reason why I can't really relate/understand their actions. I can't seem to follow the thread of growth/maturity in each character because they just seem all over the place. The only people who are moving the plot along are Queen SMS, Yeonhwa, and Yo, while everyone else merely reacts or sits around doing random things.

Plot-wise, I think the drama does well enough, except for the awkward juxtaposition of emo and fluffy. Would like to give the credit to the drama, but since this is the second adaption of the novel... I can't really say the plot is original by any means.

Prettiness alone, the camera zooms are still killing me. Other than that, two thumbs up for the pretty (even though sometimes it's a little TOO much - or can there ever be too much pretty?).

All in all, I'll be seeing this drama through til the end. When it's in the groove, it's really owning the screen and giving me all the feels. Unfortunately, I'll probably remember it as the drama that could've been. It has all the right ingredients there, but the preparation is lacking.

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so . . . I just watched K2 episode this week and I like the story and the action, finally action for action sake and not for wooing someone who saw it, they literally fight cause it just happened to be,
kinda sad that I started the K2 cause I really want more of it, I just want to see how the story unfolds, how they gonna interacted and how they gonna choose their life, I want to see ji chang wook and yoona interaction cause it always implied that they care about each other, they just haven't met,

Moonlight : I should make the quote compilation from this show. They probably testing the sentence 1st because it's so good and delivers really well. I also like that the characters have potential to become the antagonist if the story needs it. God-byeong yeon can easily change with the little hints here and there, the look at yoon sung when he just killed the messenger and the guard give me different perception on him and Lee young definitely can be the bad guy cause his revenge eye is frightening but I also like the show direction to focused on their path for the rightness.
It makes me feel good for the romance, the things that kdrama usually do very well but executed with more sense, more appropriate approached that doesn't make asking why? or why is that romantic?

Moon Lovers : I need to see how they deliver their storyline, I feel like they could have made something better for Wook's love story cause it feels like the easy way to outed the 2nd lead contender, story wise it was a good direction but direction wise, timing wise, it showed like he had no hope and the break up is forced by the situation,
maybe I hope too much cause the breakup probably wasn't such a decision for Hae Soo since it wasn't on her except if she still chooses Wook, and that sounds more intriguing for the angst sake.
The story is complicated and the show didn't help much. It's like civil war captain America Zemo's plot, his plot is elaborate and the reason has depth but executed mostly by luck timing (don't believe me, it's on honest trailer civil war youtube channel and how it should have been ended).

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In regards to MDBC quotes compilation, trueee... someone compiled it on Soompi & it's just too beautiful to be missed so I saved it on my notes (credit to owner), here you go:

BEAUTIFUL QUOTES FROM LOVE IN THE MOONLIGHT DRAMA:

❤️Its easy to help those who are hungry, but difficult to help those who are heartbroken

❤️You have no appetite but its not because of food. You have no strength, but its not because of an illness. There's no cure for love sickness. Instead of thinking that you loved someone you cant have, think about the good memories you made together

❤️No one likes the palace. But when you start like someone in the palace, The palace simply becomes bearable

❤️It is my wish to make your wish come true

❤️To put to bed this impossible chaos, every night i have questioned myself endlessly, and i found the answer. That before I am the crown prince, I am a person, I am a person, and a man. That I love you - that is my answer

❤️Yeong: Do not tell me that my heart is wrong. You said that one cant judge a heart that has gone its own way.

Raon: but even with love, There is good love and bad love. And this love, is obviously forbidden.

Yeong: I know that. However, i still plan on giving it a shot. That bad love.❤️

❤️I dont take back words that i have spoken, i take responsibility for them

❤️I want to treat you like the most precious lady in the world. May i do that?

❤️I like you, No, i love you. So please, do not leave me. Stay with me.

❤️Just because i cant stay beside you, doesnt mean i will stop loving you.

❤️If you ever need to let go of something in the middle of a tough situation, can you promise me that it wont be me?

❤️Im scared because im so happy. What if happiness meant for someone else has come to me? And what if it will be stolen again?

❤️Please never let go of my hand. And i will never let go of yours either

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thank you, big thanks for the reply . . . .

❤️It is my wish to make your wish come true
- this line always gets me because I didn't see this coming from the directing, I thought it gonna be something about the country but no . . . . they got me there,

❤️If you ever need to let go of something in the middle of a tough situation, can you promise me that it won't be me?
- and this line worth to said in marriage promise or companion promise,

reading all this line tempted me to play the background special OST

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❤️If you ever need to let go of something in the middle of a tough situation, can you promise me that it won’t be me?

Does anybody get confused and/or worried about this line? What is Yeong taking about? He doesn't even know what kind of danger he was putting himself in, so how did he come up with this request? Does he know something we don't? It's a lovely quote for sure, but I found it a little out of place in between promising his lady a better country and making her wish come true.

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yeah I get worried,
it kinda implied that he knew the situation already and he hopes that she'll never abandon him,

she is the strength he needs and that's probably why he asked her that

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WOW! There are so many wonderful lines in MDBC and these are just the most memorable ones. /screencapping Thanks for sharing! We'll have a huge compilation when the drama ends. hihi I think these wonderful lines from MDBC should be put together and made into a song.

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Squeeeeee... These lines are romantic in its own, props to the writers!!

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<3 <3 <3

Thanks for sharing these beautiful lines! Reading them recalls the scenes where they were said and my heart is moved once again!

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@Sancheezy @Celine @suegarbaby My pleasure ♡
Tbh, I found it so rare to find a drama had this much quotable lines which not only beautiful but also meaningful, & everytime I heard/read those lines again, it brings back all the feels & emotion I felt like the first time I heard it. And to think the one compiled above was just a few of them, Whoaa.. Am seriously need to rewatch all of Moonlight episodes again (like maybe for the 5th time already-at the minimal ?) to compile all of those beautiful lines & It's definitely gonna be worth it ♡

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'I dont take back words that i have spoken, i take responsibility for them.'

Maaaaaaate, this line is probably my favourite of the show because it transcends every stereotype out there. GAH. Such a wonderful line.

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"I often find myself exclaiming out loud over how stupid their characters are (they’re very nearly the literal example of “too stupid to live”), and yet, these actors make them seem earnest and lovable, rather than aggravating."

- Shopping King Louie is just so unapologetic about how dumb the characters are that I can't even get mad at it. It's like they're trying to prove just how charming & endearing Seo In-guk and Nam Ji-hyun can be by making them play the most naive and, in Louie's case, useless characters imaginable. But I just adore it to bits already.

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All i'm gonna say, if that shower fighting scene in K2 wasn't a definition of fan service i don't know what is lmao.

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Well, let me tell you that I thought that was in episode 3. So I decided to watch that. It wasn't there, so guess what I'll do tonight.

Forgive me dramagods for craving into temptations. I promise, the next drama I'll watch is something worthy and to be proud of.

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definitely a fan service for action's fan . . . right??

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K2 episode 4 is by far the best episode for me IMO.. Fan service done right!Haha! ok im gonna stop drooling, but honestly this drama is getting better every episode..

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OK! Off to watch K2! *powerwalks to TV*

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@Sancheezy - I agree. All that fighting and movement was so complicated that I had to rewind and replay it a few times to follow everything.

definitely the best fighting scene so far!!!

But I think the story is getting a little better with each episode as we learn more about the characters. I just had to say something about the plot to get my mind off that fight. *cough, cough...*

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I am not a JCW fan and certainly wasn't bothered by the abs.

However I did rewatch the raw and subbed and felt absolutely horrified for the poor stunt man who did the somersault onto tiles. A tile is a tile. How softly can you land?

Actually I thought it must be horrific to film with fogged up lenses, water everywhere and I still don't know if they wore flesh coloured briefs. I felt sorry for all the guys filming this with like probably 50 ppl watching.

I think I prefer the gratutious shower scene.

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Holy mother of god what did I just watch... ?
This really takes fan service to a whole different level. I'll definitely need to change my approach of viewing this drama now. lol

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I haven't watched K2 and only see glimpes of scenes from Instagram, and this post made me look for the said scene.

OMO!

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I find Woman with a Suitcase interesting because even though it's her perspective and she's the main character, I get this feeling that I know so little about her. This is probably intentional, but I like the feeling that I'll slowly discover her as she has small cracks in her outward appearance.

I actually find her to be a sad character too, partially because I know so little and feel she has a facade of everything being okay - not because she is playing people, but because she believes it. There is this grayness/melancholy to her character whenever she's on screen.

I hope her character evolves in the way I want it to - not to much exposition right away but not too much mystery for a long time as well.

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Wait, "I will make you a new country where a woman can live as a woman" was something actually said in MDBC?!?!

I'm not watching it and now I'm wondering WHY AM I NOT WATCHING IT?

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Lol, yes, they're at the ending scene of ep 11, Lee Yeong said that to Ra On before he reveal that he found her mother ♡.
As for reasons why you're not seeing it, hmm.. Is it maybe you're swooning on PBG eyes so much? Kkk.. Cause I do ♡

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Sometimes, ok most of the times, PBG's mesmerizing eyes and micro-expressions distract me from the subtitle too.

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YES why are you not watching it? Watch it! :D

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Yes. And there is a bit more to that line. He first said, "I will make you a country where a child can live as a child..."

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Which followed by “Until I make that kind of nation for you—can you wait? In the new Joseon that I make, you will be my first person.”

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There are more swoon worthy lines like that in Moonlight, but that's topping the chart right now.

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The full quote is even better: “I will make you a new country where a child can live as a child and a woman can live as a woman."

That's how a proper Crown Prince is supposed to think and what he should want. Idealistic? Yes. Difficult? You bet your arse. Impossible? Probably, and isn't it so sad that that's what is impossible, to make any country safe for children and women?

I'm having modern politics feels at the moment over a fusion sageuk haha

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so true about Louie. It doesnt make sense to give a shopaholic access to your bank account...yet, is it how Bok Shil the countyr girl would think? yes it is, that´s why it is only Louie, she also falls for Ma Ri´s charm. but one is true, and one is false. One is a cunning, calculating fox. the other - a baby animal who made a mess. Do you hit baby animals? Does it help yelling at them? Nope. all they do is nudge and cuddle. and when this baby animals says sorry so earnestly! How many guys even say sorry like THAT? all bab y animals grow up though. and Louie will hopefully grow into someone who can support Bok Shil.

I really miss the Louie-Cyborg Butler interactions too, but I also enjoy Cyborg Kim snooping out secrets and ploys on his own. But what was he looking for in louie´s room when L. was a child...? Possible defect in cyborg programming?

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I think the bank account is because his phone is under her name, like paying with your SIM card and can access the ATM by your phone,
that kind of service existed so you don't need to be worry when you forgot your wallet,
and the mistake is she makes his phone with her name

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ah, ok. well, still chinese to me, I know less about smartphones than Bok Shil.

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Oh. Well. Dear me. Sorry, my brain just went into cuteness overload.

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You can't handle the cute! *points finger*

(I'm tired okay.. Please don't make fun of my poor jokes *Louis puppy eyes*)

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Haha, it took me a minute to reference that, because you didn't say it loud enough in my head. But it was pretty good, so I'll give you 500 won.

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This is the cutest thing I've seen since Kim Woo Bin holding a baby series.

Is it weird that my new goal in life is for Seo In Guk to hold my baby? maybe the one I have with KWB *who said that?*

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And to think I don't even want children ??

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me, I am also watching Law of the jungle Mongolia and regretting it....because what will I have left to watch when Gkukkie goes to the army? I should have endured... stupid, greedy fox!

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rewatch AM1997. again, and again.
; )

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Everybody is different. I don't buy this ' make you a new country' line. You do it because it is the right thing to do as a king, not because you want to win a woman's heart. So if this woman doesn't love you back, this new county thing won't happen?

But of course this line is so romantic and it satisfies every girl's dream. Wow.. If not for me, this new country won't exist. I am THE woman behind the sucessful man!

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it's not really like that,
he just realised that he also need to build a country when a woman can live like a woman, like adding the criteria of the ideal country he'll build,
it's the right things to do and he just discovers it as reason and he also wants to wow-ed her, so he said it to her, 1 line for 2 purposes,

it happens not just because of the female lead but also because of a little girl he met in the lantern festival that charged for tried to poison the kings and get punished,

he wants to build a country that will make the women can have a better life,
it wasn't to win her heart cause he already got the heart way before,

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I will make YOU a country...That's what he said? Maybe a new country is not for her, it is for all women and it is for himself to be a wise king? However by saying that gives the girl ultimate satisfaction. This is just the type of lines the writer can't afford not to use because people love it..

Ok. No big deal.. I really just refer to K-drama, maybe all rom-com in general, not specific to this one. I am pretty sure I heard this kind of line before somewhere.

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the line is not that revolutionary but the timing is good and makes it memorable,

here's from the recapped EP 11 and my memory in the reply above is not the words he exactly said,

>>Later that day, Yeong sits with Ra-on and tells her about the lantern girl and how she’d said the king would know what a good nation would entail. Ra-on asks what kind of nation Yeong wants Joseon to be

He thinks, and says, “I would like for children to live as children, and for women to be able to live happily as women.”<<

as for ---the type of lines the writer can’t afford not to use because people love it.. - - - implied that this is not that worthy of a line in your opinion cause it's no brainer to come up with this (in my assumption),
well, my comment ...
nice words and nice gesture are always felt the same, that's why people will always appreciate it, one by using the line and another by appreciating it

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You are absolutely right in your last paragraph.

I always wonder why there are so many loss of memory, reconnect with childhood first love plots in k-drama, because people love it.
It is so beautiful, so romantic, so touching that people fall for it every time.

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This is not the first it has been used (I lost count) and it's not going to be the last time.

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I am definitely hoping it won't be the last time this line, and this line of thinking, especially, will be used because we need more people in dramaland to want to make their nation, or even their immediate environment, be safe for children and women. Hopefully, that'll influence people in real life as well.

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Actually it's not like that, the reasons why we're loving it is because Lee Yeong said that words not for trying to win over Ra On's heart, it is simply because Ra On asked him what kind of world he'd dream of when he rule as a king, then he said "I want to make a world when a child can live as a child, a woman can live as a woman, etc"
That is one of the reasons why I loved MDBC so much, it's because you can feel the sincerity of each characters through their words & their eyes. I believe their words because they felt so sincere, it's not artificial nor felt like it was intended to be made as fans service.

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Actually, Raon asked what kind of country Yeong dreams of and he said, "a country where a child can live as a child and a woman can live as a woman." So it is not solely for Raon.

"You do it because it is the right thing to do as a king, not because you want to win a woman’s heart. So if this woman doesn’t love you back, this new county thing won’t happen?"

I'm not sure if you are watching MDBC, but the above statements do not apply. First, Yeong has been wanting to do great for his country/make a great nation even before his love story with Raon began. He had been working towards making things right before he even got together with Raon. Second, he said those lines not to win Raon's heart because Raon already loves him. It was not to woo her. He was simply stating his dream.

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"But of course this line is so romantic and it satisfies every girl’s dream. Wow.. If not for me, this new country won’t exist. I am THE woman behind the sucessful man!"

They were actually talking about how a king should know best what kind of nation is the best nation (for his people). Which led to Ra-on asking Yeong what kind of Joseon (nation) he dream of.

The exact line was "What kind of Joseon do you dream of, Your Highness?" He replied, "I don't know. I wish it to be a world where children can live as children and women can live as women. Until I make that kind of nation for you, can you wait for me? In that new Joseon I make, you'll be my first person."

So here, he wasn't referring that he'd BUILD that nation just for her, but he was going to fulfill what he THINKS best for his people, and for her sake as well, that's why he asked her to wait for him. This drama doesn't strive on originality, but it strives on perfecting what's been done and nailing it down.

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I'm not sure if you're watching the drama, but I think you've missed the point of his words. He did say that to Ra On but not because he wanted to win her over (he already has her heart) but because he knows the difficulty, pain and danger of being a woman in his country, not to mention a woman pretending to be a man. He said that because he knows the suffering of his people through the petitions he gets as he sits on the throne on his father's behalf and through his wanderings in the village where he met the little girl hoping for a better country for the first time. He said that because he saw, first hand, how his country accused that same little girl of treason when she couldn't even read or write. Even women and children of rank, like the Consort and his little sister, aren't exempt from being tremendously wronged. Yeong has been working hard to change the status quo because he IS the Crown Prince and the hope of a hungry, disillusioned country, and he knows and readily accepts that responsibility.

And he said it TO Ra On because out of everyone else, he loves her the most, and he entrusts his hopes and dreams to her out of that very love, because, in the end, what use is an intelligent, bold, ambitious Crown Prince if he doesn't have love in his heart?

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I could not agree more. Well said.

That's one of the things I love about Moonlight so far - it is (amongst other things) a coming-of-age story which shows the growth of a boy-man from being a trouble-making, ill-tempered prince to one who, through having weighty responsibilities being thrust upon him and through finding love, matures into a Crown Prince who cares for his people and wants to build a nation where they can live freely and securely.

The Crown Prince's dream is the sort of utopian ideal which we all wish could come true even in this day and age, and so such sentiments resonate deeply with a lot of us.

I liked that Yeong shared such a dream with Ra On. It speaks of an intimacy and closeness which one only has with those nearest and dearest to us. Beautiful!

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K2 just set the bar very very very high for shower scenes!!! (and that car scene was pretty impressive for a drama. It felt something from a movie!)

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+1million

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OMG!!! T_T
*teleports to TV*

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or set the bar for "watching you from CCTV" scene

*this is not creepy, wanna know why? check the ep 4, haha

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I'm on a K-drama high! This is the first time that I'm watching dramas that are currently airing, and it's not only one, but three dramas (Moonlight Drawn By The Clouds, Moon Lovers, and The K2)!

I started watching MDBTC because I just finished Reply 1988 and have gone to really like Park Bogum. And i must say, I don't regret watching it. It's just a really well-balanced show. That's the word that perfectly describes it.

Moon Lovers was the show I was kind of hesitant to start watching at first. I heard a lot of buzz about it, especially because it's star-studded. But because I was already watching and was so into MDBTC, I thought I'd just skip it an watch it when MDBTC is over (also because I thought I'd get them mixed up because their both sageuks). But THANKS to my officemate who recommended it, I started watching, and was HOOKED instantly. Yeah, the editing ( there's 2+(?) versions of the show like wtf?), and sometimes the background music is off. But I don't know. I really like it, no, I love it. Maybe it's because here in the Philippines, there aren't TV dramas that are like in Korea -- big budgeted, well-researched, believeable, not super cringeworthy, goes deeper than petty love problems, has intricate plots, has great fighting scenes, has lines that are supr great you wanna quote them, and a thousand more reasons. Plus I love history. These dramas got me into Korean history, sometimes I think I know it better now than my own nation's history. I really like the actors too! of course there's LEE JUN KI!! heart heart. If there's Lee Jun Ki, I'm sold. And I think IU's great. I mean, here in the Philippines actors far decent in acting and so far from IU's capabilities are getting big roles. So I just can't complain.

With K2, I initially started watching it because of Im Yoona. Because I'm a Sone. Ha! But now I feel like I'm watching because of Song Yoona and Ji Chang Wook. I mean, are they going to be the pair here? 'Cause I'd love it ha ha! Back to Yoona (of GG), I was doubtful of her acting even if I really liked her because I've watched her other dramas before, but so far I think she's doing okay.

With all these Kdramas I'm watching, I'm getting really inspired to write my own stories, I hope I would not get lazy to start it, and I hope I would be able to send it to TV/production companies here in the Philippines. lol

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Yes, lolabellez. Please, magsulat ka. ??? Be inspired by Korean dramas, but write it using our values, history and culture. Change the status quo in TV production in Philippines. Good luck!! I hope to see one of your dramas in the future.

I'm not a writer, but I do enjoy watching good dramas. The last drama I truly enjoy from Pinas was OTWOL.

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Amaya was actually a very well-researched and accurate show. (Historically speaking, the traditions and mythology incorporated in it weren't just random musings by a writer.)

But yeah that's just one show. It's still not enough. When I watch the dozen sageuks and fusion and fantasy sageuks from SK, I also wish it becomes a habit for PH to dramatize its own history or myths more.

Imagine what a Noli Me Tangere show would've done to boost interest in the actual novel. I know my favorite episodes in Bayani were when they were in Pepe's timeline. I cried buckets when they returned a decade or so into the boy's future, only to witness Rizal's execution.

Then again my pop culture prof told us that Noli/Fili in media experiences a bit of friction from religious groups because Rizal didn't exactly portray the friars as lovely people. And we all know PH is a predominantly Catholic country.

I will settle for a Heneral Luna show though. I'm surprised no network capitalized on that popularity by piloting a historical drama.

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There must be something wrong with me. I feel like I cannot connect emotionally AT ALL to any of the characters in K2, and all this after watching three episodes. This is a first for me. Usually, after the first few episodes, I either like, dislike, hate, am indifferent to, despise, in love with or am indignant about something in a drama. But, not this empty feeling as if I'm watching a B-list Hollywood action flick. Maybe it's the background music, or the gratuitous use of fight scenes which feel redundant at times and sometimes oh! so unnecessary, or maybe I feel that some of the actors are miscast... anyway, I'm hanging by my fingers hoping that episode 4 is the turnaround magic episode that will bring some empathy in my feelings for this show, otherwise not even my love for Ji Chang Wook can keep me watching it.

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It's the music, the unrelenting faux sacred chorale that Javabeans pointed out. That sound is just so annoying. grrrr

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Lol , what you just described is pretty much feeling of indifference .The drama is not your cup of tea. Move on.

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There is nothing wrong with you, my dear. Don't think too much about this drama. Don't look for substance. Don't look for meaning. Don't expect it to improve either, you'll be highly disappointed. Just enjoy the ride. Enjoy the last drama of Ji Chang Wook before he goes to military. Enjoy the fan service. Enjoy the action sequences. Go to the restroom if you don't see JCW on screen.

Or did what I do, Watch this in the morning while you're having breakfast. It's a good way to pass the time.

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I actually watch it for the action scenes, but then I've always been an avid watcher of action movies/shows. There isn't really a whole lot to connect with, especially with Yoona's weeping willow. But some of it I feel is on purpose due to the fact that everyone is being manipulated/manipulating yet they're all aware of it. They all have a facade as thick as a week of old makeup and so we're not given anything to grasp onto quite yet. Maybe it'll come later when the cracks start to show, maybe not, but either way at least I finally get some fun action which isn't the most common of things in dramaland lol :)

The background music is kind of throwing me off too lol, enough with the choir music...

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You dont have to feel bad, it's not your cup of tea, so you can either drop it or whatever. Everybody experiences that, it's not a big deal.. I on the other hand like it alot, there might be a lot action scenes, but it gets better every episode. I Like the Bgm, and I know Im not the only one who loves it.. So dont waste your time on a drama you dont really feel like watching.

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Don't force yourself to feel something. It's OK. Let it go. I lost count of the dramas I've dropped even when I loved the majority of the cast.

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Just finished the newest episode of SKL - not liking the direction the plot is taking. NJH and SIG as Bok Sil and Louis are golden and pretty much make the entire show with all their cute adorkableness. They need to get back to that and either cut all the villains and YSH from the script entirely or seriously reconsider how they're written. Cause right now they bring zero to the table. And YSH... I love ya, but why does it feel like you don't care about your character?

I'm all in for The K2. Had literally no expectations and didn't expect to watch it, but the action and politics are so much fun. I love the amount of action in here, also makes flawed acting less obvious. Yoona apparently only knows how to cry and scream and she's not even good at it. Love the little twists the hostage situation in ep 3 took! Can't wait to watch ep 4 tomorrow.

Finally got around to watching ep 9 of MDBC today. I'm bored. out. of. my. mind. The romance just feels dated and the court intrigues aren't leaving an impression. The little girl is adorable however! And I love Jinyoung and KDY, plus it's gorgeously shot with a lush instrumental OST. But the plot is such a big part of a drama and it's just not grabbing a hold of me. Don't know if I'll keep watching or not.

Took up Surplus Princess per mary's advice and I love it! Only watched the first ep so far, but it's so wacky and doesn't take itself seriously at all which is just perfect. Yay for cute fluff! (and cute guys)

Tried watching Prince of Wolf this week as my second ever attempt at a Taiwanese drama. Yikes. Those are not wolves, they're fluffy dogs. And nothing makes sense. And nothing ever happens. And everything is predictable. And the lead couple is making me cringe.
Gave it up after only a few episodes (and this is coming from someone who loves the ridiculousness of plots like Tarzan).

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Taiwanese dramas in recent years are seriously so so so bad. Especially compare to how good they were back in their like "golden days". They lost so many acting talents to the lucrative paychecks of the Chinese market and have been total sell outs to PPL. I've almost completely swore off them. Only good one in the last 2 year was Marry Me or Not. If you still wanna give Taiwanese drama a try, I recommend Autumn Concerto or In Time With You.

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i second In Time With You! chen bolin is a doll....

the kdrama remake was a disaster (The Time I Was Not in Love With You, or whatever it was called), nothing like the original. should have been titled The Drama We Should Not Have Remade.

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I know right! When they announced it I already knew it would be a mess, In Time With You worked the way it did because everything fell into place perfectly, Ariel + Bolin are great actors and had so much chemistry, the writing was flawless and the director shot the show with such beautiful realism. Every character in ITWY were so real, from the second leads down to their colleagues. A remake would've never worked because the show was so heavily character driven and was so much more than a conventional love story, it showcased family, friendship and coming to terms with ageing as well as learning to love yourself.

I gave the kdrama a shot and dropped it after 3 episodes or so. I just can't come to terms with the characterisation of the main leads. Sorry if it seems like I'm overselling the original, but for me it was flawless, I related to it more ways than one and it's still one of my fave dramas ever.

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+1000

I only watched ITWY to prepare for The Drama We Should Not Have Remade. It was a short watch. I think I watched the k-finale just at some point that week. Not on the edge of my seat. A few weeks ago, I was reading the recap on DB for it. And just no.

Idk how I watched that drama. Actually, I do know. I hadn't started dropping dramas yet. Only reason I'm thankful to it is it got me more into Taiwanese dramas. Oh, and the little brother's story was cute. That's the end though.

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Thanks for the recommendations. I'm not really that interested in Taiwanese or Chinese dramas as the language(s) kind of throws me off, but I've been recommended some in this week's OT for some fluff dramas, so I might giving some of them a try - at least now I know which ones should be any good :)

It's so sad when that sort of stuff happens. I hope it picks up again and gets another "golden era".

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No problem (: I'm a mandarin speaker so I started watching Taiwanese dramas way before venturing into kdramas. I've been so disappointed over the overall quality of Taiwanese dramas in the recent years, it's also partially cause they swapped to the live shoot format like the kdramas whereas last time they used to do everything pre-production, so the tendency of the story tanking after the first few episodes is very likely. Ironic though how kdramas are preferring the whole pre-production thing now.

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I can't agree with you more. Being ethnically Chinese, I've watched Taiwanese dramas all my life, and they were sort of my gateway into kdramas. The quality of their dramas in the recent years have been such a let down. The only ones I loved in the recent years are Marry Me or Not, for its sharp and witty dialogues, strong female characters and tongue-in-cheek humour, and In A Good Way, for its earnest characters and that hit of nostalgia. Nowadays I only check out Taiwanese dramas if theres no good kdrama to watch, but thankfully there's been plenty of good ones recently.

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for recent years, I really like In a Good Way and A Good Wife , but have you watch back to 1989??

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Some of the Taiwanese dramas I've watched and liked:

The Fierce Wife
What is Love
Rock n Road
Fated to Love You
My Queen
Autumn Concerto
Black & White

They are flawed but enjoyable. I actually prefer the way the Taiwanese do their romance dramas when they get it right. However, there's just so many terrible and cheesy ones you've to go through to find one gem.

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No go on Prince of Wolf? Aw, I'd been thinking of watching it. I'm a Tarzan, Mowgli, George of the Jungle fangirl.

And, Kaybee, I promise to reply on OT one of these days. Just been so busy with school and such. I'll write it during the week, hopefully for this Friday.

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Every week after finish watching Moon Lovers, I ask my best friend slash roommate slash the devil that got me hooked on kdramas: why do I keep coming back to this mess? There's just so many things that's wrong with it, but I'm so hooked to it its crazy. I swear this is like my Twilight episode all over again. *sigh and crawls into my hole of shame*

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"Every week after finish watching Moon Lovers, I ask my best friend slash roommate slash the devil that got me hooked on kdramas"

LOL *rubs hands* excellent, excellent... we are multiplying.

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@mary :) ;)

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Major cut down on the shows I'm watching because Uni has started (I know, URGH).

Moon Lovers: I definitely did not enjoy ep 10, but episode 11 made up for it (and the whole series for that matter). The ending scene was perfection. I was bawling. And the song - wow. Good job, show. Also keep this flow up. Pretty please with a So-picked hairpin on top? This is probably my 2nd fav show right now despite its flaws (maybe because of the acting and the show's potential?).

Jealousy Incarnate: I love how there's a reason for everything in this show and also love how the characters are so well written (Hye Won anyone?). I've never seen a show pull out comedy from devastating and tragic scenes so effortlessly before. This show leaves me to deal with a bag of emotions in a 1 hour time frame - all with a smile. I love it. #1 fav show right now in all of dramaland.

Shopping King Louie: I live for the chemistry between the two leads. SIG nails his role - didn't think he was that great of an actor but wow, he's superb with his body language. Thank goodness the plot isn't slow either. This show is my much needed weekly fluff.

The K2: /*SPOILER EP 3*/ That confession and kiss in episode 3 was cringe worthy... I stopped the scene 8 times before it was finally over. /*END SPOILER EP 3*/ Also, this writer pisses me off with his use of weak female characters. Yoona has gotten less screen time than the JSS security guards! I just might drop this show if the writer doesn't pick the character up soon. Right now, I'm only here for the action scenes and JCW.

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probably you need to watch ep 4 of the K2,
the kitchen scene is so sweet and cute and it has Yoona, totally cute IMO

I think Yoona screen time will increase in ep 5 cause we already explore a lot of thing for other character but not her,

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Jealousy incarnate is the only drama I follow every week at the moment and I love everything about it. This director-writer combo is just awesome. I love the really funny little touches with the sound effect, the serious moments with funny comments or sounds in between. The director's humor sense seems to match mine. The Ost is amazing.
I was having Sls until Hwa-shin crush starts and deepens. Jo Jeong-suk being in love is so good. I went from eye-hearting Jeong-won throughout to totally on board the Hwa-shin ship now. Just ended up re-marathoning Oh My Ghost just to get more of jjs.
Hang in there Hwa-shin!

Moon lovers: been loosely watching this show in an on-off-fforward mode. haven't watched this week eps but I guess I'm losing interest.

K2: looks like too much action for my taste. Looking forward to more romance. I think Yoona and jjw would look cute together.

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Moon Lovers: I think I've finally realized why I'm so invested in Moon Lovers.

You know how you can have two children: One's a mostly well-behaved, no-trouble-giving imitation of an angel and the other is a troublesome, sometimes headache inducing imitation of the devil? And because the first child is almost perfect, you tend to give most of your attention to the troublesome one, and you're always wondering if that child got into trouble or did something bad when you weren't looking. Making it almost impossible to even think about anything other than that child.

Yeah, yeah, Moon Lovers has a whoooole lot of issues (which is honestly not as bad as people are making it seem, just not something that was expected). But I'm always wondering what kind of issue an episode will bring, what kind of comparison it will elicit, what kind of discussions it will cause, WHY THE HECK IS IT NOT MONDAY YET, that sort of thing. This makes me completely unable to focus on other dramas that I KNOW have better editing, and not so much closeups.

At this point, I've just accepted that I'm obsessed with it. The differences from the Chinese version makes me really excited to see how it will go.

Cinderella and the Four Knights: I'm about to watch the last episode of Cinderella and the Four Knights. I liked it. It was a very low stress show to counter the high stress of Moon Lovers.

Moonlight Drawn By Clouds: All caught up now, yay. Is it weird that I haven't caught the dreaded SLS? I mean, Yoonsung's cool and all but once I know who the male lead is, I almost never ship the female lead with anyone else. I don't even understand the point of SLS: is it the hoping (despite knowing) that the heroine will end up with the 2nd lead that makes it appealing? Is that the draw of SLS?

King's Daughter Soo Baek Hyang: Rewatching, another saguek that was plagues with low ratings and I'm remembering just how much I loved it back then. It was honestly one of the best sagueks made, story-wise.

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I don't think there's SLS in moonlight, it was closed by ra-on herself, but I think some people used the term SLS when they like the other guy more than the lead.
Not just the term for another contender for the love triangle, but the guy I like more than the lead,
and I don't think the story put him as the love contender since I think he cares more about Lee Young than Ra-on recently,

SLS IMO is when you want the character to end up with the female lead cause it's a syndrome that shouldn't happen,
The purpose of second lead is like the 2nd important male lead in the drama, the 2nd male character that changes the drama dynamic, not necessarily for love but like the 2nd important character after the male lead,
the love comparison is because Kdrama more often is about love ,

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Ah, we have the same sentiments with Moon Lovers. Despite its flaws, tge story is compelling enough to make me come back and watch the new episodes... And read the recaps and comments and rewatch the episodes.

I loved King's Daughter Soo Baek Hyang and marathoned it in three days. Production value iss not great but the story and the actors made up for it.

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"Is it weird that I haven’t caught the dreaded SLS? I mean, Yoonsung’s cool and all but once I know who the male lead is, I almost never ship the female lead with anyone else. I don’t even understand the point of SLS: is it the hoping (despite knowing) that the heroine will end up with the 2nd lead that makes it appealing? Is that the draw of SLS?"

It took me awhile to understand what SLS mean, I keep seeing it on comments, but couldn't place my finger on what it'd meant till I read your comment, lol. I feel stupid. The problem with SLS (in general) is that sometimes a show focuses too much attention on second lead that drives our attention from the main lead, and makes us fall for the second lead, and the bam! We go back to the main lead, while crushing every hope there is for second lead. I get that we're supposed to feel conflicted by second lead's presence, but I don't understand the point of making us love or care so much for second lead, but then not satisfied that...craving?

I haven't caught SLS in Moonlight, mostly because I think Moonlight is so good in calibrating everything, so our attentions are never pulled away from the main OTP, the second leads are all nice and good people, but I'm glad we don't dwell on them for long, because they're not the one I'm watching for. And I have to give credit to our main OTP, they literally shut close every possible door SLS might creeps in.

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I think comparing k2 with young pal or whatever the name is, is killing it. normally people here like sth or hate it. I clearly remember from the very beginning they said it is going to be full of action scenes so i guess they are doing what they have promised and story is just unfolding. I dont know how many korean dramas have followed logic that some keep saying where is logic in this scene or that scene. If u dont like a drama its fine but dont kill it for others. It was like from the day this drama was announced and the writer and director many got against it. what if there was no yong pal to compare. Based on what i have seen it is getting praise from everywhere. I am not saying every one has to like it but keep repeating it is the same shit over and over kills it for others. I never got what was all the hype for DOTS not that it was bad but nth extraordinary but still it was record breaking which means many loved it . same goes to yon pal. it was a big hit even it wasnt loved here. so plz if u dont like to watch it again its pretty fine but plz dont spoil it for others. and dont kill the hard work of actors and people in drama by having a default in mind

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and as for acting i hear yoona is not good but she is quite fine. song yoona is awesome. and about ji chang wook people keep talking about his action scene which i think are great but they guy is speaking with eyes. many emotions in one scene like in elevator from epi 3 the anger the control the revenge which i think is just elevating him more than healer

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I'm loving all the Drinking Solo love and It also quickly became the highlight of my kdrama viewing week!

I think I'm watching more currently airing dramas than I ever have in years right now and it's awesome. I was actually very close to dropping kdramas completely very recently.

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The only dramas I'm caught up on are Moon Lovers, Drinking Solo, The K2, and Woman With a Suitcase. Out of these four, Drinking Solo is my favorite. It's so funny, and puts a big smile on my face.

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With more work coming my way I have had to resort to reading recaps for most of the shows now *eyeing the titles wistfully*. Yet I still need some emotional crack for some occasional distraction from work, so I've found myself rewatching Bu Bu Jing Xin, and feeling as emotional as ever.

What makes this drama endearing to me is that it has never been a shipping game to me, despite its having a similar setup to many other K-dramas in which a girl is surrounded by many awesome men, if not in looks then in their charisma and intellectuality. I don't even swoon over any of the princes and what they do for Rouxi. Instead, I appreciate the show for telling a story that allows me to go deeper into the motives of each character when it comes to the struggle to find balance among romance, historical moral values and politics, even if that means I don't agree with all of the characters' actions. To be honest, I wouldn't befriend someone like Rouxi in real life, and I understand why many people do not care for her, but personally I have come to care for her trajectories. She is not your morally correct heroine, the one to be victimised and glorified for her moral values and choices (not that doing morally correct things is bad). She makes mortally wrong choices that many of us would at least once in our lives make or have made, such as letting her temper get the best of her, or her rationality reigning over her emotions. This might not sit well with some viewers, but it is this very same reason that makes the ending so bittersweet and satisfying for me. Every character gains a little and loses a little with every choice they make, and Rouxi herself cannot escape the consequences of the choices that she made, nor can she use love to change the men that she wants to change (both 8th and 4th). Ultimately, you learn that love is not the key to everything, and sometimes it can be as destructive as it is soothing and development-inducing.

BBJX somehow reminds me of Gone with the Wind and Wuthering Heights. A far cry between them, I agree, as I do not see BBJX more than a literature-wannabe. Yet the way the characters are portrayed is somewhat similar: I've got to see them as flawed human beings, rather than flawed characters due to lazy or problematic writings.
*Sigh*, now that I've brought up Gone with the Wind and WH, I might as well read them again when this busy period is over.

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>>She is not your morally correct heroine, the one to be victimised and glorified for her moral values and choices (not that doing morally correct things is bad) <<

yes I agree with your assessment in BBJX, it wasn't really about shipper game but more about them,
and this is why I really adore BBJX cause they all make the wrong choice that just can't be solved by having the love together, I appreciate the show because what they did linger on me for a long time, even by re-watch

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I just watched ep 1-4 of K2 in one hit yesterday. Ep 4 as raw. Think I am bit shell shocked as I am not a JCW or Healer fan. It wasn't until I read JB's comments about the director that I understood why there were so much action scenes. Don't get me wrong, they were good. But wasn't there too many? Or maybe because it was 4 episodes in a row.

Look I started this because I was holding off till there were more episodes and I heard good things about it. I think it is because I am not a JCW fan that I felt sorry for the actor who had to do all that. It is true that he is bulked up but I kept wondering- does he have the stamina for all the long distance endurances real SF have? He took on a heavy role.

I watched bits and pieces of Yongpal and would admit to laughing at Anna running through the streets. In which European country would you think it's normal for an Asian woman to run barefoot looking terrified is normal? Without someone calling the police? It happened twice. And the bored ticket teller- so cliche I burst out laughing. Talk about cliches. Also I never ever realized that Yoona runs flat footed. It is something you are born with so you can't do anything except surgery. And it's not as if she is a soldier needing to march. It's just that after seeing her in SNSD I sorta expected hee to run like a gazelle for some reason. Not in a splaying manner. Acting wise- this has the most intense acting I've ever seen her in.

Like I said I laughed at all the wrong momentd in the drama. I guess some fans may have swooned at the ep 4 shower action scene. All I did was go- heck were all the stunt people in nude coloured underwear? And did they used up all the spare black suits for the whole studio. Or all the fit stunt guys in the industry?

I do hope Anna grows some character in the upcoming episode. Otherwise it would be painful watching a helpless female for whatever episodes there are. And after knowing ppl who worked with soldiers with PTSD I am doubly sad its yet another mental health issue Koreans don't deal with well in dramas. And knowing as well how it affect soldiers decades post service it is actually hard to like him as a hero and more of seeing his character as a patient.

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Watching ?

Monday - Tuesday : MDBC, scarlet, drinking solo, woman with suitcase
Wednesday - Thursday : JI, Shopping king Louise, Otw Airport
Weekend drama : K2, Cinderella and 4k, fantastic

I watched all, my real life full of drama.. Keunyang heol

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It's nice to have more recappers chiming in again this week. It feels like a family gathering.?

Laica-- Sorry to hear that you've been having a rough time. I hope you're feeling better soon-- hugs and hwaiting!

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