#Kingdom (2019)

[nibeul]

do I still have Star Wars people following me

[id: it’s a poor-quality photo of two drawings on a tablet. They are both done of the same character who is a Tholothian man with brown skin, moles, and heavy blue pigmentation around the eyes and temple. In the first, he is biting something held in his hand with his cycler rifle resting against his shoulder and in the second, he is looking off to the side with the rifle slung over his shoulder by a leather strap. He is wearing a white jeogori (layered with a loose grey shirt in the first drawing), a blue vest, and tan pants. Additionally, his hands, calves, and head tendrils are wrapped in cloth. /end id]

[toastinthegrass]

[haveyouseenthisseries-poll]

[brainmoss]

finally watching kingdom to finish it but oh my god its giving me so much anxiety i NEED this to have a happy ending please

[alongwaytostar]

Now that’s a sword fight.

goddamn @nibeul you’ve done this to me. Anyway you should all go watch Kingdom the color palette is amazing.

[redsamuraiii]

Kingdom (2019)

“Once a slave, always a slave. Only the sword will set you free.”

Based on the bestselling manga series of the same name is the live-action adaptation of a historical film about the warring states of China during 475-221 BC. The tale follows two boys orphaned by war, Shin (Kento Yamazaki; Alice in Borderland) and Hyou (Ryo Yoshizawa; Gintama) who grow up as slaves.

They’re determined to one day break free and become the greatest army generals the world has ever seen! They’re working towards their dream but the now young men are suddenly separated when Hyou caught the attention of the Chancellor who summoned him to serve the Emperor. 

Turns out, Hyou serves as a double for the Emperor due to his close resemblance. When he dies protecting the Emperor who was overthrown by his brother, Shin is determined to seek revenge to hunt the Emperor and the ones who killed Hyou which brings on a journey meeting several individuals.

Individuals such as a mountain girl named Ten (Kanna Hashimoto) who survives the unforgiving world by disguising as a boy and a mountain chieftain warrior (Masami Nagasawa) who commands the formidable mountain army that could turn the tide of the war depending on which side she serves. 

I cannot believe I do not know about this movie until now. It’s definitely worth watching if you’re into historical fiction action films like Rurouni Kenshin, 47 Ronin and Red Cliff. 

Masami Nagasawa (Shin Ultraman) is absolute badass warrior queen in this one. There is a sequel, Kingdom 2: To Distant Lands (2022) which features two new female warriors, Seino Nana (Kyō Kara Ore Wa!!) and Chihiro Yamamoto (Alice in Borderland).

Kingdom 2 Trailer : 

[chuuyasoup]

It’s a near thing, imprisoning Physician Lee in the wooden trunk before he can sink his maw into her and Yeong-shin’s flesh.

head full of the historical zombie show. please watch kingdom (2019)

[dykesbites]

fellas is it gay to train with your best friend for your whole life to share your dream of becoming the greatest general on earth. is it gay for one of you to leave in service to the king and tell the one left behind that your dream will one day come true for both of you. is it gay for your last dying words to your friend being that your spirits will soar together. is it gay that every time youre in battle you think of your dead boyfriend i mean childhood best friend

[wuxiaphoenix]

Worldbuilding: To Zom, or Not To Zom, Be

Zpoc this, end of the world that... why can’t we just have a good old-fashioned Undead Horde arising, terrifying the living because it’s an army that can’t be normally killed, instead of an existential threat to Life As We Know It?

No, seriously, why not?

(Yes, this writer is feeling cranky and contrary.)

I have a lot of gripes with zombie apocalypse stories, especially World War Z - movie or book, take your pick. That one specifically pulled a lot of... people needlessly being idiots and cruel, in order to punch up the horror factor. Did not like.

Oddly enough the Zombie Survival Guide by the same author has a lot more optimistic outlook in its several “recorded outbreaks”, including the memorable zombies-vs-gang-war that ended decisively in the gangs’ favor. Which if you look at it logically makes sense; after all, if humans throughout history hadn’t been able to end those outbreaks before they reached zpoc status, the book couldn’t have been written in the first place!

The problem is that the author doesn’t translate the human factor in the historical bits into a viable human response in the zpoc book. Almost nobody writing a zpoc does. And this is... highly frustrating to me as a writer. I don’t write tragedies. I don’t write grimdark. I write stories where bad things may happen to good people, yes, but said good people use their heads and sheer unalloyed grit to try and find ways to come out alive. Because stories are about people. If the stories are about the zombies and life-threatening despair instead, then your story has already failed.

I grant you, there are some people who find catharsis through drenching themselves in a horror that is Not Real. I am definitely not one of them. (For one thing I know too much biology; and guess what, in real biology zombies exist. Mostly on the insect level, but still.) I do like reading about human responses to disaster, but instead of humans pulling together to survive, almost all zpocs are about horror, gore, and the dying of the light.

...Here I’m going to point to Kingdom (2019) as a known exception to that almost. There’s humans being stupid, there’s humans playing politics, there’s humans who try to use the zombies and unleash disaster, sure. But there are a fair number of people, especially the heroes, who are simply trying to make the best of the bad hands they’ve been dealt. They fear the zombies. They dread them. But they also think.

And if you think, and have a little time to prepare, zombies can be handled.

The advantage zombies have is swarming you as a horde. Control the terrain; make it so they can only come at you one or a few at a time.

Zombies only have the weapons they had in life, and human teeth are really not that effective at tearing into a person. Wear armor. Leather is good, but wear even several layers of cloth, and it might be enough. Don’t let them break the skin.

Zombies don’t feel pain. But they also don’t heal. If you can’t immediately kill them, disable them. Break bones. Break joints. Dump rocks on them, preferably from a high distance. Use a freaking boar spear - it’s designed to keep a thrashing body from punching the spear on through so it can kill you before it dies. Humans are tool-users. Find tools. Use them.

I want to see stories that give readers hope. I want to see canceled zpocs. Think about it. It can be done!

[nibeul]

anyway, a big reason why kingdom is so good (aside from the fact that it was obviously a very skilled team working on this + the cast is some of the best casting I’ve seen a while) is that it's a TV show that was shot as a movie. the seasons are pretty short for k drama standard because of how meticulously it was filmed and prepared for. on top of that, it's essentially six two hours movies back to back; each two episodes go together in terms of plot/main conflicts and the conflicts that come from the current "movie" are wrapped up by the beginning of the next "movie". at the same time, each episode flows nicely into the next, so it doesn't really feel like a long, dragging film, but rather a cohesive story that keeps you on the edge of your seat the entire time.

[toastinthegrass]

Thugs on the street can do so. However Your Highness may not. The Crown Prince must always look decent and confident.

[welcometothejianghu]

Fandom: 킹덤 | Kingdom (TV 2019) Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Lee Chang/Yeong Shin (Kingdom), Lee Chang & Seo Bi & Yeong Shin (Kingdom), Lee Chang/Seo Bi/Yeong Shin (Kingdom) Characters: Seo Bi (Kingdom), Lee Chang (Kingdom), Yeong Shin (Kingdom) Additional Tags: not a zombie in sight, Accidental Exhibitionism, sex with someone in the same room, Voyeurism, So much trauma, canon-typical mentions of horrible things, I'm really doing a terrible job of tagging here, Emotions, approximate knowledge of medieval korean stuff, Literal Sleeping Together, seobi ships it, Slow-ish burn, Post-Canon Summary: A year in motion.

Part 9 of Small Fandom Summer '23 clocks in as the 218th work for this entire fandom in any language, what the heck. I guess I figured that a Netflix property with handsome Korean men covered in dirt and fake blood would have a bigger following? Well, whatever, here’s my contribution to the pile.

[mistbornthief]

yoo the two kingdom movies were added to netflix...now i can legally get mad at the sequel for having so little of the best two characters

[sandu-zidian]

Kingdom so good but I need to take a break oh my god. Oh My God.

[alongwaytostar]

Live cam of me watching episode three. I really thought they were going to kill Mu-Yeong.

[redsamuraiii]

My Favourite Dynasty Female Warriors

What I love about them is that they were not born special, gifted with powers, blessed with unnatural abilities or chosen by destiny but normal people who accomplished great things through discipline, training, hardship, challenges and years of experience becoming wiser, stronger and kinder. 

Something which I feel lacks in modern films today, not all but most that I have watched, where the characters became powerful overnight and let their hardship turned them into a bitter person, looking for someone or something to blame instead of putting in effort to improve themselves.

These warriors that I love started out normal like you and I, vulnerable and powerless, but they trained hard to overcome their “weaker” self to be better. They do not became strong to prove a point but to survive, lead and protect, which eventually earn the respect of everyone around them.

Yang Duan He, Kingdom (2019), Qin Dynasty (Masami Nagasawa)

The Mountain King who lead the formidable mountain warriors is later revealed to be a woman behind a mask. Her people were betrayed, persecuted and discriminated, driving them away from the city into the mountains where no other Dynasty dared reach out to, until the Qin Emperor sought her help.

Kyou Kai, Kingdom 2 (2022), Qin Dynasty (Seino Nana)

A former member of the legendary assassin Clan Shiyuu who left the Clan to avenge her sister who died due to treachery. She participated in the battle against the Wei invasion of Qin where she proved to be a ruthless warrior fighting alongside others and protecting the weak from the strong.

Lin Mae, The Great Wall (2016), Song Dynasty (Jing Tian)

A member of the Nameless Order tasked with defending the kingdom from mythical creatures known as Taotie beyond the great wall. She rose through the ranks and assumed command of the army garrison through field promotion, and leading the final assault on the monsters infected capital. 

Hua Mulan, Mulan Rise of a Warrior (2009), Northern Wei (Zhao Wei)

A warrior’s daughter who learns to fight in her spare time in secrecy who eventually joined the military to save his ageing father from being drafted. She rose through the ranks through field promotions from being a foot soldier to a commander, leading her army and protecting the men under her charge.