#also first time i'm writing fanfics for kdramas

[0cta9on]

First ever smut

Greetings mate, how's it going?✌️😗

I'm curious, A writer's writing style is influenced by their literature exposure (in this context, you do kpop fluff, smut, fanfiction) so what's your first ever stories you ever read (or first ever kpop smut/fluff)

For me, my first ever read online story was the fanfiction of Kdrama "Vincenzo", The first smut was a shipping couple of Sehun x Sejeong because they were cast in a Korean tv show "Busted". Then the addiction grew into stumble upon @ggidolsmuts 🥴, my ult time fav stories from it is this (Wanted-Gugudan Hana) this story make up my standard of fluff + smutt combo story, blah-blah-blah and I found your blog plus other great writer (I'm picky so you and @defrosted69 suit my taste buds😜) occasionally I read other write's work @libraryoferos @octoberautumnbox to name a few.

Have a Minji's midriff to drool over🫢

Hello again mikeylo! I didn't realize you sent your ask prematurely, I was too focused on Minji midriff LMAO. I honestly don't remember the first stories I've read, it was definitely on wattpad and was probably a fanfic for cartoons I liked when I was in middleschool. I remember reading a Sehun x Yeri high school fanfic and an SNSD one that I don't remember at all, along with some wattpad original stories that I also don't remember :}

I haven't picked up and read an actual book in probably a decade atp, and I really want to read something to improve my own writing but idk where to start :p

[daydreamwhumpinc]

Please Read- Introduction

Hey, Hi, Hello, I am Daydreamwhumpinc or just DreamINC. Female (She/Her), 21 you, AroAce.

Just a little about this blog, so you know what to expect....

Content:

Whump- First and foremost, this is a whump blog. Will reblog (anything that I reblog belongs to the original poster, please go and show them some love- they have much better blogs anyways LOL) and post many whump related screenshots, gifs, lists, writing prompts, and just silly rants. WHUMP IS NOT A KINK, PLEASE REFFER TO WHUMP WIKIPEDIA IF YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE. Also, I prefer male side characters and bromance, so not going to be a lot of female whump here 0_0

Reviews- I'm always on the hunt for more media to consume. So I often get brainrots and have so many things to say about tv series, fanfics, games, movies, kdramas, manhwas, webtoons etc. So I will probably write up some reviews, recommendations, and just general thoughts from time to time.

Fanfics- I will share a fanfic recommendation once in a while. :) Will write some of my own when UNI stops kicking my ass. IF THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR WANTS THE RECOMMENDATION TO BE TAKEN DOWN, IT WILL BE DONE SO IMMEDIATELY!

Fanarts and Writing Prompts- Some fanarts will be posted (ORIGINAL ARTISTS WILL ALWAYS BE CREDITED AND IF NEED BE, THE POST WILL BE DELETED IMMEDIATELY) and will even post some of my own fanart when I am not dead inside (Although I will link my art instagram and tumblr later if anyone is interested :))

[Artwork and Character Design belongs to me. Please do not steal or trace]

Please be kind to others and feel free to interact with or reblog the posts :)

[dkakapizzaboy]

Svt Headcanon:

Seventeen 's Fanfiction Preferences (of themselves)

Masterlist

Words: 730

Warnings: Mentions of smut I guess

A/N: This is written from my POV, of course. Different opinions are always welcome!

A big thanks to @multi-kpop-fanfics and @lovelyhan for their inputs ❤️

Taglist: @junhui-recs

Feedback always helps!

Seungcheol- Honestly he would be one of the members who'd be the most down to read their fanfics. I'd say he'd be a bit smug about the fact that most carats perceive him as a Dom when it comes to smut. Would enjoy fluff once in a blue moon.

Preference - Smut

Jeonghan- Like Scoups, I think he'd be more inclined to read smut than fluff. Would be mildly offended by the sheer amount of fics that depict him as a prankster/slightly grey character. Also, would definitely leave a comment if something about his character is too OOC. Will be down to write a passive aggressive reply to the fic.

Preference- Smut

Joshua- WILL BE THE ONE TO INTRODUCE EVERYONE TO THEIR FANFICTION. I think due to his more liberal upbringing, he'd be more inclined to dive into kinky fics. Might not enjoy all, but will enjoy some, will definitely Google all of them. Will appreciate all the fics that portray him as a gentleman.

Preference - Kink-based smut

Jun- I think Jun would probably appreciate a good drabble. Something short, one and done situation, he doesn't have time to read 17.3K words. Will appreciate a good Gamer fic.

Preference - Drabbles

Hoshi- Now this man, he is a kdrama boy at heart. Will seek out something with multiple chapters, long and plot driven. Will regularly check back for updates. Might leave an occasional "update pls" ask when the author has been too inactive.

Preference - Series

Wonwoo- NOW THIS MAN WILL HAVE AN EXCEL SHEET. Let me explain. He'd be more down to read other members' fics, and keep tally of the smut to fluff to angst ratio, Dom to sub ratio, character traits etc. Will leave a crypic weverse post hinting towards the fact that he reads fanfics. Like coups, will appreciate the ratio of Dom to sub fics of him.

Preference - fics of other members/ Headcannons

Woozi- WHEN I TELL YOU THIS MAN WILL BE ADDICTED. He's going to write 10+ songs inspired by plot lines of fics. Woozi, I think, will appreciate a good angsty fic. The fighting, the will they, won't they... He'd be hooked. Will sacrifice sleep to read. Will definitely appreciate Carats' creativity when it comes to writing and plots. Also, will be giddy for days if he catches a "Shit, this is red too" reference.

Preference- Angst

Minghao- I think he'd probably not have a preference when it comes to fluff or smut, but will appreciate the number of fics that portray him in an artistic profession. Like Woozi, he'd appreciate the creative writing aspect of it a lot.

Preference - Anything that portrays him in an artistic role

Mingyu- Mingyu, I'm not super sure about, but the amount of golden retriever energy this man exudes, I think he'd be more of a fluff guy. Or maybe supet vanilla smut. Will probably not enjoy the first few times of reading smut but will warm upto it. Still would prefer fluff.

Preference - Fluff

Dokyeom- See now with DK, I would've said that like Mingyu, he'd be more of a fluff guy but idk something gives me the feeling that he'd be the biggest smut reader of them all. It's always the innocent looking ones lol. Like, he'd be apprehensive at first towards smut, will initially blush a lot but as curiosity would get better of him, he'd go deeper and deeper and fall into a rabbit hole.

Preference - Smut but no one knows

Seungkwan- I'd say, in his case, he'd be the most touched by the fact that someone took out the time to portray him as a main character of their story. On the opposite end, however, will fully fight in asks (off anon of course) with the author if they go too opposite to any of his natural character traits. Will stay on the fluff side.

Preference- Fluff

Vernon- THIS MAN WILL READ SMUT WHILE HAVING LUNCH. What, it's entertaining and has a good plotline. Will be a like and reblog with feedback type of guy- perfect reader. Like Josh, will be down to explore the more kinkier fics.

Preference- Smut (kink based sometimes)

Dino- I'm sorry but I don't think Dino will be the kind of guy who'd read fanfics. I mean he'd be down to try once or twice, but he'd probably not be into it.

Preference- None

[subdee]

9 people you would like to get to know better

tagged by @hxhhasmysoul thank you!

3 ships:

KilluGon (HxH) -

It's The Ship of All TIme, they fit together like puzzle pieces... copedence central (affectionate) as munen said.

EndHawks (BNHA) -

Actually my instinct after watching BNHA was to ship EndHawks, bc they ARE the bratty western-inspired blonde younger guy x button-downed repressed trad japanese dark-haired older guy trope from BL manga + their issues are tailor made for each other, they fit together like puzzle pieces (derrogatory). I think this could be one of those ships where it looks extremely messed up from the outside - and it IS messed up - but it works for the people involved. BUT most people don't write it correctly, for instance in my ideal Endhawks fic the rest of the todoroki family would HATE the relationship because they would think (correctly) that Endeavor is evading taking responsibility for being a terrible father by choosing to be in a relationship with someone who has a terrible father kink. And most people either don't write Hawks as messed up enough or they write him as messed up in a generic gay slut way, and not his specific variety of messed up.

BakuDeku (BNHA) -

So because the Endhawks fic is mostly not what I'm looking for, I just kinda gravitated to BakuDeku which has tons of awesome fic, plus I'm just not as choosy about the characterization and accept all kinds of AUs that have barely any connection to canon. Haha. (I like the genderswap fic for them actually). BakuDeku is fun because they're shounen rivals who aren't purely rivals, even from the beginning of the manga Bakugou is a lot more involved than the rival character usually is (knows Deku's secret & helps with the training plan etc). It fixes a lot of the things that generally annoy me about rival plots in shounen manga... I also like the growth narrative for Bakugou and Deku's versatility as a POV character.

I'm not currently shipping anything else... maybe Cloud/Tifa/Aeris, in any combination of two or three, was the last thing I shipped but didn't really talk about on tumblr. Oh! And the main characters from the Kdrama It's Okay to Not Be Okay, Ko Moon-Young and Moon Gang-tae.

First ship: Ranma/Akane from Ranma 1/2!!! Classic ship, probably the first really big juggernaut anime ship on the internet. It's all about the genderbending with this one... I used to really like the fanfiction where they're together because Akane is a attracted to women and Ranma is sometimes a woman.

Last Song: Me and RJ are doing a version of Death Cab for Cutie's I'll Follow You Into the the Dark to sing the baby to sleep at night, so probably that? I made up a new harmony for it that I'm kinda proud of. One of these days we'll record it and I'll put it up here.

Last Movie: It was the Barbie movie, yeah. (No I haven't seen Oppenheimer.)

Currently Reading: "A Secret Princess" by Margarat Stohl and Melissa de la Cruz. It's like a fanfic mashup of The Secret Garden, which I've never read, and A Little Princess, which I've read a bunch of times and love, with a mysterious new original character added to the mix. A fanfic remix of a book I've already read is about the level of literature I can handle at the moment.

Currently Consuming Watching: I'm into this house renovation show on Roku called Old House New Home, because it's set in England and they actually talk about the history of the area and why the houses were built the way they were... there's a lot of historically listed beautiful homes... and not every renovation looks exactly the same following the exact same trends, although a lot of them are similar (combine the kitchen and dining room, raise the ceiling, add windows and glass doors and skylights - all things that look beautiful and increase the feeling of light and space, but make the house less energy efficient).

Me and RJ are also watching The Marvelous Ms. Maisel - the heavy(ish) show - and the One Piece live action - the lighter(ish) show - when we have time. Recommend both of those.

Currently Craving: Sleep

Tag 9 people (if you feel like it :D): @fury-brand @rosemochi @nautilusopus @tofucasserole @spectroscopes @fireolin @storybookprincess @autumnxsunflower @recents @applepi00

[celestie0]

HII ELLIE. Just wanted to thank you for absolutely FEEDING us this past week. First the drabble, then chap 10? I am so happy it turned out the way it did. Your writing just enunciates the greatness of the series and the side stories.

I also cant get over how incredibly supportive satoru is towards reader! I'm so happy you're really slow burning it, I hate when it's called a slow burn and then right off the bat the two characters profess their love for eachother and whatever other cliché stuff connecting it.

I hope you're taking care of yourself. Please please please have a self care day for yourself! Taking your time with your fanfics really highlights the key moments and what not. ( I know my English definitions 😋 )

AND THE CAT DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM HITTING SATORU? I CAN'T, THATS SO ADORABLE. (I have a soft spot towards kittens due to me having 4 cats. Used to have 14 but anyways 😽 )

LOVE YOU, XOXO, GOSSIP GIRL 🕶️

HI MY DEAR!! omg it’s my pleasure to share my writinf w you all :”) i’m just glad i was finally able to post something bc it felt like forever since i had xD you’re tooooo sweet <33

AH yes i am such a fan of slow burn tbh it’s my favorite. maybe it’s because i used to watch a lot of kdramas where it would take the fmc & mmc like ten episodes just to kiss ✋🏼💀 but yeahh i love the mutual pining n small interactions etc etc that lead up to a relationship so 😫🙏🏼 slow burn it is!! haha i’m happy you’re enjoying the pacing :”)

WOWW bb look at youuuu u little intellectt <33 haha yea i am taking care of myself!! going on vacation in less than a couple weeks so i started packing today 😵‍💫 i think i will have a spa day next weekend before my trip. hope you’re taking careof yourself toooooo 🥺🫶🏼

DAMN GIRL you used to have 14 cats?!?! thats crazy but also im so jealous bc i have zero cats 😪 pls give kickoff gojo some tips on how to raise a kitten bc he’s strugglin a lil w mr gta 😔

LOVE YOUU <33

- ellie 🧚‍♀️

[thedeliverygod]

hi sora! just wondering if you're still writing noragami fics? I read 'good enough' and 'more than this' recently and I'm obsessed :D but take your time, of course <3

Hey~~

so of course I'll still be writing fanfics but both my mental and physical health have been constant struggles in the past few years. Especially from symptoms of hypothyroidism which have only gotten worse over time (fatigue as well as I guess a sort of brain fog/unable to really focus on anything for long periods of times)

so I've only been managing to write small things and posting them a handful of times a year.

As much as I loved Good Enough, honestly I'm not sure if I have enough of a mix of ideas & motivations to continue More Than This. That could change of course, but that's why it's been on hiatus for however long.

I am currently working on a sort of 'alternate' ending for Noragami and I've also been passively working on an AU based on the kdrama "Doom At Your Service" which I have an outline/notes and some of a first chapter written but that's also been in the works for months so lol.

I hope as my condition improves I will have the energy to go back to doing hobbies I love because it has been tough.

[relenafanel]

@notenoughgatorade Tagged me in the 8 shows for your followers to get to know you game!

😘

Shows that shaped me:

Buffy

We're not going to talk about problematic. We're instead going to talk about how the quippy banter and how Buffy's whole cute valley girl irreverent heroism was very definitive to baby teen me's style of writing (to the point where it needs to be first on this list).

Gundam Wing

I had the biggest crush on Relena. Adult me can identify it as a crush. Baby me just thought I had a crush on Heero (which ngl I also did). Anyway, this manifested in my very first fandom / shipping / foray into writing fanfic! This was the start of it ALL.

(and, well. ☝ username)

Teen Wolf

I got into Sterek (and non-heterosexual ships) around the time I stopped repressing thoughts about my own sexuality, so I see this as an actual turning point in my life. Sterek was a lot of fun to ship, and I worked some shit out that first year I was writing about bi Stiles, so that will always be a part of me.

Comfort Shows:

Merlin:

No one is particularly surprised by this. It has fun dialogue, great characters, and while I KNOW a lot of people hated the ending, I actually consider Merlin walking in modern-day one of the best closing scenes I've ever seen.

Leverage:

A lot of what you need to know about my personality and my social ideologies is ☝✔. I've said this before, but the more time that passes since Leverage came out and the more things that were on Leverage that just get casually mentioned in the news these days is just !!!(negative) The version of me from 2008-2012 who watched this show when it was on TV was so naïve.

Yuri on Ice:

MY BABIES. Look, I really just like this because it's a cute gay anime that makes me feel good. It's not deep. I do, however, ship them deeply and love reading canon-divergence fics where they met differently.

My Current Obsession:

The Untamed:

The biggest irony of this show and ship is that when it was coming out I was making posts like "i need a new ship" and people were like "try the untamed!!" and i did not try the untamed. 4 yrs later I have tried the untamed.

uuuh that's only 7, tiktok algorithm what's my fav shows?

I have been watching a lot of kdramas recently - I think Healer is my fav so far, but Hotel Del Luna was the first I was so into I binged straight through. I'm just going to blanket statement kdramas as a current obsession.

Tagging:

@ellebeesknees tell me about your obsession with Kinnporsche.

Anyone else who wants to nerd out with me about shows you love~~

[convenientalias]

My 2022 Kdrama Roundup

Making my 2022 cdrama roundup is taking too long (...I watched so many fuckign cdramas this year) so, since I watched considerably less kdramas, I decided to just do a post of them first!

KDRAMAS I FINISHED THIS YEAR:

The King's Affection--A kdrama targeting me personally. A crossdressing female crown prince would have been enough, but did she have to be so lethal? So handsome? Did she have to be good at both archery and swordfighting? And schemey? And did her love interest have to be a bisexual Rowoon? I was Attacked. My favorite kdrama of this year!

Eve--I'm always here for a solid Monte Cristo. Just people coming back with a new identity to fuck up the lives of those who wronged them. Lee Ra-el really goes for it. The drama, the angst, the fashion! Also the femslashy tension with Han So-ra was great, I need more female archnemeses in my life. The only thing is I didn't really like the actual romance that much? Maybe I just don't understand the tango.

Alice, the Final Weapon--More of a miniseries. The dynamic is a female assassin/a kind of suicidal masochist who becomes more invested in life after meeting her. And they're both highschoolers? Honestly the only way to sell me on a teenage romance is to make it this insane, I did enjoy.

The Silent Sea--Ngl it did creep me out a lot. The lunar water, that is. Didn't feel super connected in the characters bc this show is more about plot, concept, and action than character development, but it was quite tense and I was certainly invested in whether they were going to survive.

KDRAMAS I ALMOST FINISHED BUT DID NOT BUT WILL FINISH IN 2023, OKAY? REALLY!

Alchemy of Souls--I love Naksu/Mudeok! I love her fucked up mentorship with Jang Uk, especially in the early episodes where her attitude is just "throw him at death and see what happens". Also enjoy the obnoxious crown prince lols. I have only two episodes left (of the first season, at least) and have enjoyed both the scheming and the character development, but I have to say it can sometimes be a bit slow, and I don't care that much about ALL the supporting characters that have to have their moment in the limelight EVERY episode. (Park Jin and Park Dang-gu, I'm looking at you!)

Flower of Evil--New obsession! I had to stop watching for a week or so bc I was just bingeing too fast and losing sleep lols. The suspense is way up there, the whump is a thing of beauty, and I found myself super invested in Do Hyeon-su's life of fake (but come on, it's not really fake!) domestic bliss. Just so intense. I was kind of scared off by the hype for this show when it first came out but the hype is real, this show is incredible. Just hope the ending lives up to the rest of it.

Connect--An enjoyable thriller, but I don't really see why you have to make the antagonist of a show that already has organ traffickers, mad science and mutants... a random serial killer? On the other hand I do love his weird vibe with the surprisingly normal mutant MC so. I am not immune to serial killer antagonists.

OVERALL

A good year for morally dubious female protagonists (yes, I am including Lee Hwi/Dam-yi! she comes very close to murder multiple times and I am including her!). I watched less kdrama thrillers than usual bc I was watching cdrama thrillers instead, but the ones I watched were enjoyable. I want more fanfic for all of these shows but the fanfic wants I have are immensely specific so I should probably just write some but we will see.

[sensitiveandhungry]

tagged by @svngiem <3

~~~

are you named after anyone?

not anyone but a tag on a piece of baby clothing that said "Little Lindsay", I still have said article of clothing. slightly weird to be named after a onesie tag. Can't blame my hormonal pregnant mother who saw the onesie and decided I must be named Lindsay.

when was the last time you cried?

last night lol. accidentally read an angsty fanfic that was too angsty

do you have kids?

my dog is my baby. he likes being carried like a baby too.

do you use sarcasm a lot?

yes, at work especially. i often tell people to not take anything that comes out of my mouth seriously unless i say it is

what's the first thing you notice about people?

their smile, teeth, and eyes. If they have a distinct feature like a pretty nose, then that too. also eyebrows???

what's your eye color?

a really pretty melted chocolate brown

scary movies or good movies?

it depends on my mood? i probably reach towards good movies more often but i'm a whore for horror video game playthroughs on youtube, and thats like a scary movie. so both equally.

any special talents

i can sing !!!!

where were you born?

midwest usa, yeehaw

what are your hobbies?

singing, reading, writing, watching kdramas, makeup, gaming

do you have any pets?

my dog, he's a child and a pet.

what sport do you play/ have you played?

i have never played a sport nor am i athletically inclined, but i'm half decent at softball and badminton, and i can run decently well.

how tall are you?

170cm (5'7"). ew yucky

favorite subject in school?

language arts/english. mostly just the teachers always being my favorite. i also love choir and the singular interior design class i took in high school.

dream job?

the dream dream? pop singer. the realistic dream im pursuing? radio host and interviewer.

~~~

tagging @bbujiikseu, @alyszaen, @multi-stan-jenny

[seonghrtz]

20 writing questions by @togenabi <3 thx for tagging me sweets !!

   O1   ›       it really depends , with me it happens both ways . i can write anywhere , anytime , if i have the opportunity , and if i have at least a brief synopsis of the central idea of the story i want to write . i usually like to write when i have the idea , so that i don't lose the details that i think of first before i forget or have new ideas . but if i can't write at that moment , i try to jot down as much information about the story as possible in a note.

   O2   ›       i write most of the time on my phone , but sometimes ( when writing really long fanfics like the ones i have on wattpad ) i use my pc . i find that my phone is more accessible . when an idea comes and i can write faster.

   O3   ›       i use my phone's note to write down random ideas i have , this includes a brief synopsis , summary of ideas to develop the stories , some lines i would like to have in the story , just the basics . but i really write on docs . i love docs because it's simple and easy to use.

   O4   ›       i started writing when i was 9 y.o , i always liked creating stories , so i decided to start writing them so i wouldn't lose these creations ( which ended up becoming my refuge and my escape from the world ) . but i only started posting my stories on spirit in 2018 , and it was in 2020 that i decided to move to wattpad . however , as i wanted to improve my writing in eng , since i lost the habit of writing in eng , i decided to post here on tumblr.

   O5   ›       i write for literally every fandom i belong to kkkjsjskskjj i write for anime , kdramas , kpop , western movies and series , different artists . i like to write about a little bit of everything because that way i can approach different themes and genres and not just stick to the characters of a single work . but here on tumblr i've decided to focus on anime fandoms.

   O6   ›       music 99.9% of the time i write . i don't listen to just one genre , so my playlist is pretty varied ( i even listen to funk mtg while writing kkkdjsksk ) . i get a lot of inspiration from music , so i like to have a musical backdrop . but sometimes i like to write without listening to anything , it depends on my mood.

   O7   ›       i'm a bit of a mess when it comes to writing . i have a lot of ideas written down on sticky notes or post-its or even on sheets of paper at the back of my notebooks . these ideas serve as the basic notes for my stories and define the direction and focus i want to take with the story and the characters themselves . if it's a multi-chapter story ( like my fanfics on wattpad ) , i like to make a very detailed summary of what i intend to cover in each chapter . in the docs , i like to use the font times new roman because i think it's pretty , and i only use colors to highlight the title and the main character ( for example , i use blue in all stories related to gojo ).

   O8   ›       i proofread all my stories at least twice before i post them . sometimes i also proofread stories that i've already posted and sometimes i even give the story a boost by adding a description or even a line that fits the context.

   O9   ›       i recently researched eng royal pronouns for the gojo story i plan to work on after 12 / 11 👀👀

   1O   ›       it really depends on what i want to write . if it's a one-shot , it's usually between 300 and +1k , but if it's a multi-chapter story , i try to write +1k per chapter . it's not necessarily a rule or a goal i have , it can even vary depending on my mood when i'm writing.

   11   ›       here's a little spoiler from the beginning of the last chapter i wrote from a fanfic i used to publish on wattpad called lost souls ( chishiya x oc ).

i didn't want to leave this question blank so i put this excerpt kkdjskskk unfortunately i haven't written anything for the stories i'm going to post here on tumblr , just some planning . not to mention i already gave a mini spoiler out there 🤭🤭

   12   ›       i just discovered that i have +30 drafts , putting together ideas for one-shots and multi-chapter fanfics . i think i need help kdjskskkkk

   13   ›       my best friend said that a lot of what i write is a reflection of what i've felt over a long or short period of time , and she wasn't wrong when she told me that . what i write is a way to release my feelings in a fictional universe where anything is possible . not only that , but my own character ( kugisaki mei from lost souls ) is self-critical , and not to mention that a lot of what mei feels mirrors my own feelings.

   14   ›       my safety zone is definitely fluff stories , usually focusing on romance in the romantic sense . i really like to challenge myself and write things that are different from what i'm used to , but i always end up writing something fluffy . i don't have a specific character that i feel confident writing about , i usually write about the characters that i'm obsessed with at the moment.

   15   ›       i always want to try new things in my stories , i love to challenge myself with new themes and characters , but i've always wanted to try suspense or smut , but i'm not really good at those two things kkkdjsks

   16   ›       ( i decided to answer about my own works because i'm too indecisive to choose a favorite work of other writers ) well , here on tumblr i loved writing sensei's wife ( gojo ) and memory garden ( gojo ) , even though mg was better in my head than written kkkjsksk 😭😭 as for wattpad , my favorite story i ever wrote was lost souls ( which i mentioned here a lot ) which is an alice in bordeland fanfic where chishiya is my oc's romantic partner , i think it was the longest slow burn i ever wrote ( 2 full acts and they didn't hold hands or kiss once 😃😃 ).

   17   ›       that i've already written here on tumblr was memórias ( geto ) it was my first attempt at writing a one-shot in eng and i think it made more sense written in portuguese because of the song i was inspired by.

   18   ›       was a romance that mixed adventure , action , fantasy , the supernatural , greek mythology , and k-pop.

   19   ›       was a fluff / romantic one-shot with fushiguro megumi.

   2O   ›       you can find all the information in my pinned post here on tumblr.

20 writing questions !

give a preview into your mind! how does the genius flow? how do you write? (only answer questions you're comfortable with! feel free to tag other writers to share the love ♡)

1. Is it a spur of the moment thing, or do you need a specific environment/set up to get into it? 2. Where do you write? (phone/pc/typewriter/all of the above?) 3. What apps/programs do you use? 4. How long have you been writing? 5. What fandoms do you write for? 6. Music, or no music while writing? (if music, what kind?) 7. What does a WIP look like to you? (do you take notes? is anything color-coded? do you have a preferred font?) 8. Do you proofread? 9. What's something you googled recently for writing? 10. How many words does a usual work from you have? 11. Share a snippet from something you're working on! 12. How many drafts do you have currently? 13. What's something someone said about your writing that stuck with you? 14. What's your safe zone? Is there a character or genre you're most confident writing for? 15. Is there something you want to try in your work that you haven't done yet? 16. Do you have a favorite work? 17. Do you have a least favorite work? 18. Genre of the very first thing you wrote? 19. Genre of the latest thing you wrote! 20. Last but not least, where can readers find your stuff? (your masterlist/other sites you post on/etc.)

tags! @flowerjun/@boba-at-323 @songsofadelaide @ay0nha @wolfegoddess @seonghrtz @stephisokay @manumimiii @silverinkbottle @eclidse (love you all, and all that you do! thank you for sharing your creativity, every word you write is dearly appreciated. the world shines brighter with you in it ♡)

[eunsjisoo]

the one i’ve been missing

☆drama: weightlifting fairy kim bok joo 

☆word count: 1.8k

☆genre: fluff and slight angst 

☆a/n: happy holidays @missyriver​!! (and sorry that this is so late). i hope you had a good year, and i hope you enjoy this short piece of holiday fluff (that is slightly angsty). this is lowkey inspired by the little mix song.

Bok Chicken was bustling with festive energy, the sounds of laughter, bickering and music filling the air. Bok Joo couldn’t help but feel at home as she looked around the restaurant. She watched with a fond smile on her lips as her father and uncle bickered over the stove, arguing over who was better at cooking. She watched Seon Ok, Nan Hee and Tae Kwon huddled in the corner, chatting and laughing at Tae Kwon antics. Even Joon Hyung’s family was there, cooing over Jae Yi and Ah Young’s baby girl and admiring the trophies and photos of Bok Joo from her childhood. For the first time in months, she was back home with her family.

But there was one person missing, and try as she might to ignore it, Bok Joo couldn’t help but feel his absence. It had been at least 2 weeks since she had last seen him in person. Between their training and competition schedules, they barely got to see each other. When she was in Korea, he would be on the other side of the world competing in a competition, and vice versa. Sure, they spoke to each other on a daily basis, and even video called each other when they missed each other too much, but it wasn’t the same as actually being together. This had been the longest they’ve gone without seeing each other face to face and boy, did she miss him.

“Bok Joo-yah?”

Bok Joo shook herself out of her thoughts, looking up from her glass to see who had called her.

Nan Hee looked at her, with her usual happy virus smile on her face. “Are you ok? You’ve been quiet all night. It’s unlike you.”

Bok Joo pushed the brightest smile she could muster on her face, “Of course I am! Why wouldn’t I be ok?”

Nan Hee smiled softly, knowing that Bok Joo was putting on a brave face, so she grabbed Bok Joo’s hand, “Ok, come join us then. Tae Kwon thinks he can beat Seon Ok in a drinking competition.”

“Why does he bother?” Bok Joo laughed, “She beats him at every challenge he makes.”

Nan Hee laughed along with her, as they walked over to the couple. “I don’t know, maybe he just wants to win against her once.”

“She should just let him win.” Bok Joo said, shaking her head with a smile on her face as she watched the couple line up their shot and beer glasses. 

“Seon Ok would never do that.” Nan Hee said, as she grabbed the soju and beer bottles from the fridge and placed it on the table. 

Tae Kwon looked up from pouring soju into the shot glasses, as the two women came to their table. “By the way, when is Jung Joon Hyung coming? He’s going to miss watching me beat Seon Ok.” 

“Yah!” Seon Ok and Nan Hee yelled in unison, both turning to look at Bok Joo. 

“It’s ok, girls.” Bok Joo pushed a smile onto her face, and turned to Tae Kwon, “His flight is delayed, so he probably won’t be here until tomorrow.” 

“Ah, sorry.” Tae Kwon rubbed his arm, after Seon Ok had hit him. “I’m sure he’ll be here as soon as he can be.”

“Yah, yah, yah, let’s just start this competition.” Seon Ok said, pushing her boyfriend towards the drinks.

“Ok! Let’s start.” Tae Kwon said, in his usual hyper tone. “Nan Hee, you count down.”

As Nan Hee counted down, Bok Joo couldn’t help but get caught up in the fun of watching the couple competing against each other. She cheered at the top of her lungs with Nan Hee as Seon Ok moved onto her 2nd drink, while Tae Kwon was still on his first drink. Her stomach hurt from laughing so hard when Seon Ok finished her last drink and started doing her victory dance around her boyfriend. Even though he had lost, Tae Kwon looked like he was having the time of his life, as he watched his girlfriend dance around him with a smug smile. 

Once Seon Ok had settled down, she wrapped her arm around Tae Kwon’s shoulder, and said, “Face it, you can’t beat any of us three at drinking.” 

“Ok, ok, I accept that. You three are the queens of drinking, and I will never get to your level.” Tae Kwon jokingly bows down to them. 

The three girls looked at each other with smug smiles. “Swag,” they chorused, making their signature arm movement as they said it. 

After a while of chatting with her friends, Bok Joo saw her dad wave her over. She excused herself and walked over to him. “Bok Joo-yah, can you go outside and get the present I left in the motorbike compartment?”

Bok Joo raised her eyebrows, “What present did you get?”

“It’s a surprise, please get it for me. I need to look after your uncle, otherwise he will burn everything.”

“I heard that. I’m a better cook than you, hyung.”

Bok Joo’s dad rolled his eyes, “According to who?”

“My girlfriend,” Dae Ho smiled, with a lovestruck expression on his face. Bok Joo shared a look with her dad, both cringing from her uncle’s expression. 

“I’m going now.” Bok Joo grabbed a jacket from the hook, and made her way to the front door. 

She stopped outside the door, pulling the jacket closer to her body. The snow crunched under her shoes, as she made her way to where the motorbike was parked. As she opened the compartment at the back of the bike, she felt arms around her waist, causing her to jump and elbow her attacker.

“Oof, yah, it’s just me.” Bok Joo whipped around to see Joon Hyung hunched over, clutching his stomach. 

She stared at him in shock. “Yah, you said you won’t be here until tomorrow.” 

Joon Hyung stood up slowly, as he recovered from the pain of being elbowed by his weightlifter wife,  a bright smile gracing his lips as he took in her appearance. 

“I wanted to surprise you.” Joon Hyung wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close to his chest. He nuzzled into her neck, taking a deep breath as he said, “I missed you.”

Bok Joo smiled, deciding to let go of her annoyance and bask in the moment of being with her husband. “Me too. But you should know better than to scare me like that.”

Joon Hyung pulled away slightly, to look at Bok Joo with a sheepish expression. “Sorry. I must have lost my mind because of the jet lag and hunger.”

Bok Joo giggled, shaking her head. “That’s ok. Let’s go inside and get you some food.”

Bok Joo pulled away from him, and grabbed his gloved hand. As she pulled him towards the door, he couldn’t help himself from saying, “I love you.”

“You should be glad that I love you, otherwise I would have killed you for surprising me like that.”

The two of them dusted the snow off of their jackets, and hung them on the hook, before entering the restaurant. As soon as everyone noticed Joon Hyung trailing behind Bok Joo, they all yelled out in surprise, and rushed to greet and hug him. Bok Joo stood next to him as he hugged each of his family and she couldn’t help but feel like her family was finally complete. A warm feeling settled in her stomach as she watched him carry his niece for the first time, her tiny body completely enveloped his long arms. He would be such a good father, she thought to herself, as she saw the adoration in his eyes when he looked at the child in his arms. Next were their friends, and she laughed as Tae Kwon teasingly punched Joon Hyung for not telling him about his surprise. But her laughter stopped as soon as her friends decided to tease her about how “devastated” she was that Joon Hyung wasn’t going to be there for Christmas.

“Yah, what are you saying? I wasn’t devastated.” Bok Joo defended herself, “I was just a bit sad.”

“But you’re happy now, right, Chubs?” Joon Hyung asked, with a teasing smile on his face.

Bok Joo glared at him, playfully, “no, not at all.”

Before he could make another comment, Bok Joo’s dad interrupted, “Ok everyone sit down, the food is ready.”

Everyone took their seat, and looked in awe at the food the Kim brothers were bringing out, and as soon as everything was set, they all dug into the food.The sounds of laughter and chopsticks hitting against plates filled the restaurant, as everyone caught up with each other, and reminisced about past memories. By the time the plates were cleared, everyone was blissfully full and some were even bordering on drunk. Bok Joo rested her head on Joon Hyung’s shoulder as Nan Hee interrogated Seok Ok and Tae Kwon about their relationship, which they had kept a secret from the rest of the group until a few months ago.

 “Did you know about their relationship, Joon Hyung?”

Bok Joo raised her head slightly to look at Joon Hyung, raising her eyebrow at him. He better not have known and kept it from her.

“I didn’t know, I swear.” 

Bok Joo narrowed her eyes, as she looked for any sign that he was lying. When she was satisfied, she put her head back on his shoulder, and wrapped her arm around his. Joon Hyung held her hand, interlocking their fingers, as Nan Hee turned back to their traitorous friends. Though it wasn’t like Joon Hyung and Bok Joo could hold it against them, since they also kept their relationship a secret. But considering the crap their friends gave them when they found out about their relationship, Bok Joo felt like she should tease Seon Ok and Tae Kwon just as much as they teased her. 

“I thought that we agreed that we won’t keep our relationships a secret from each other, especially after what you said when you found out about my relationship.” Bok Joo sighed dramatically, winking at Nan Hee discreetly, who wholeheartedly joined in on Bok Joo’s teasing. 

 Bok Joo laughed at Seon Ok’s exasperated expression, and she could feel Joon Hyung laugh along with her. He turned his head slightly, to whisper, “Should we make them buy us food like they did to us? Let’s drain Tae Kwon’s bank account.” 

Bok Joo giggled and nodded, “They deserve it.”

Bok Joo looked up, and she felt her heart swell as she locked eyes with Joon Hyung. How he could still make her swoon like a high schooler, after they had been together for years, was a mystery to her. But, boy did she love that feeling: the feeling of home. Because that was what he was to her. Her home. And now that she was home, she didn’t want to leave.

[saintobio]

Hi dearest Saint! Hope you had a great day and sending you all 💕 I have a question and not sure how to ask u after all the recent things that happened on ur page. Forgive me I don't want to give off bad vibes, I'm just worried.

It kinda worries me these few days after an anon reader of mine slide in a message, nothing dramatic tho, but just politely asking me if I'm inspired by SN/SY. And then I also saw this Ask of yours and I get a bit more concerned. So I decided to let you know first.

I'm currently writing a jjk fic in a form of otome game styled with different endings. Similar to fate series and Mystic Messenger game with diff endings. But at the moment it started off with Gojo. In contrast to SN/SY, it's the FL that is amnesiac. And also their marriage was a marriage of convenience, consented and not arranged. I do understand that amnesia and arranged marriage genre are quite common in romance melodrama.

So, I think I understand why the anon reader send me the message. Fortunately, the reader is quite polite though, not toxic.

I read sn and sy and followed the entire journey last year. I'm not gonna lie, your writing inspired me to write again. I used to write fanfic about 8y back when I was in college and then I stopped and deleted my acct because of lack of time and work but, I still sumtimes read on Tumblr. I didn't write until last year as I was going through so many things and I found SN. Omg how you wrote it just brings back the fire in me, and I tell myself, you used to love to write,just why don't u enjoy ur old hobby again.

To be very honest, I've read so many manga/manhwa and watched kdrama/jdrama, played otome games and read light novels so I mix and match some stories from here and there, to come up with a plot for my fic and I'm worried if other readers might try to exaggerate and create a drama of a copy/plagiarism issue.

So, I want to be honest, I'm not trying to copy sn/sy, I love your touch in the fic so much I don't want to have a bad relationship with u. If you don't mind, I might want you to see if what I have here right now can cause a problem in the future, which I really want to avoid. If you have suggestions I'm open to amend, even if I have to drop this and start a new one. I really don't mind.

I'm so sorry, Saint. I know recently there's too many things going on. I don't want to add on any so that's why I come to inform you because I don't know, I just have a bad feeling if I continue on writing and then one day, baam someone just had nothing good to say and then boom drama happen. TQ for your time to read this. I can't send you a message so I send in an Ask, I'm sorry for that. You don't have to post this Ask, you can also drop me a message. Thanks Saint 😘.

that’s okay!! thanks for reaching out to me. keep writing as long as it makes you happy <3 what i just don’t particularly like is when people copy the flow of sn/sy’s plot, copy direct dialogues and quotes, and basically use my series as a template for their series (without credit and/or speaking to me abt it first).

sn/sy has lots of inspos too and i make sure to put that on the series masterlist as well as the faqs page. i guess you can do the same with whichever inspos you have for your series :)

[leporschespam]

i've been on tumblr for over two years now and i haven't even introduced myself, so here's an introduction post

⤷

➱ nia (tumblr name)

➱ she/her

➱ sapphic

➱ my mbti changes almost every time i do it, but it tends to stick around infp, intp and infj

➱ i speak english, an okay-ish bit of german, i'm learning thai, and then i have a whole list of other languages i want to learn (literally, there's about eight–)

➱ i swear a whole lot, so if you're not comfortable with that, just lemme know

➱ my main interests are asian tv shows, particularly::

⇢ kinnporsche

⇢ strangers from hell

⇢ the stranded

⇢ happiness

⇢ little women (the kdrama)

⇢ money heist: korea

⇢ till the world ends

⇢ vincenzo

⇢ gap

⇢ i told sunset about you

⇢ all of us are dead

⇢ bad and crazy

⇢ alice in borderland

➱ my music taste::

⇢ mother mother

⇢ måneskin

⇢ gldmth

⇢ jeff satur

⇢ imagine dragons

➱ i write stuff!

@sapphicnia is my fanfic sideblog if you're interested :)

my ao3 is linked in my bio and right here:

⇢ i can also be found on wattpad @//SpaceSeagull

and that's all there really is to say about me

absolutely feel free to drop me a message (please do, i really need kinnporsche friends n moots)

as a note: i am very socially anxious, so the chances of me messaging *anybody* first are very very low

⤷ nia <3

[sam-t-a]

First of all, I really want to highlight how much I appreciate this whole conversation. I really love the show and I was so touched by Nohobal in particular, so it means a lot to be able to talk to someone approaching it with such sincerity and taking the time to explain their thoughts and feelings.

While I think this kind of ending was inevitable, I would have to disagree with those calling it "a hollow love between people who didn't know how to love themselves". I aways thought it was a very sincere love in the sense of that quote that makes the rounds every once in a while along the lines of "the love was there. It didn't change anything, it didn't save anybody, but the love was there." I think the reason it resonated so much with us was that it really was such a beautiful love story that even if you approached it as pessimistically as I did, you couldn't help rooting for them, and I don't think their flaws or problems outside of the relationship take away from the warmth that was there within it.

No matter how much BH might like his story, one thing we have to admit is that it's a risky story to tell. I have so much respect for people who know how to tell hopeless, light-less stories without indulging in the darkness or turning it into corruption porn, but they are just taking such a huge gamble because what if you just end up sending just the worst possible message to someone at the worst possible time?

I have a friend who got into a terrible depressive spiral after reading Dostoevsky's Letters from the Underground. And just because I think it's a brilliant book doesn't mean it isn't a total punch in the gut that people have the right to hate for how it makes them feel.

I've also been in that place before with a kdrama that I thought was a comedy, but that ended up being about killers never changing, with my favorite character eventually getting killed by his brother, my other favorite character (two nickels, weird that it happened twice, etc, you know the drill, lol).

I ended up writing my only ever fanfic and it was a 75k monster with not 1 but 3 redemption arcs because the actual ending had me weeping through the night. TMI moment, I now know it was because a very abusive break-up I was having at the time was kind of draining my faith in humanity and people's ability to be better than they are, and I just needed to hold on as steadfastly as possible.

So while it's not really the writers/producers/makers' responsibility to only ever write sunshine and roses and happy and/or hopeful endings, I firmly believe that you really are taking a terrible risk when you go with a "the cycle cycles on" approach and I don't think it's a decision that I would personally ever make.

By the way, it's doesn't have to be the "last one I promise" if you have anything else you want to say. This has been lovely and very enriching for me, and I do appreciate what you have to add, but either way, I just have to say I'm very glad (and low-key impressed) that you're able to articulate and validate how the experience of the show made you feel and look at it through a bunch of different lenses.

Cheers!

One of the reasons Hank and Cristobal seem to have been Not On The Same Page with the sand thing is probably how differently they approach other people.

Cristobal is community oriented almost to a fault. On our very first introduction to him, he's telling Goran that they should have been working together, and when he ultimately dismisses that option, the reasoning is "you killed a bunch of my guys. I have to stand by my people," rather than "you attacked/insulted me".

We see the same "we're stronger together approach" with Esther, and the same "you killed my buddies" grievance with Barry, always in terms of the group, rather than a direct personal or even business concern. Aside from Hank, we never see him get particularly attached to any one character. Even his kids never get mentioned once he leaves Bolivia because they now belong to a community that he's left behind, rather than one he also actively belongs to.

So when Cristobal decides to go "legit", it's natural that he doesn't pick an actually legitimate business, just a less violent kind of shady business. Right and wrong aren't the governing concerns here. What matters is that "the killing must stop". He has a strong desire to belong to a group and Zero willingness to lose more "buddies" in the process.

Hank, by comparison, has zero group-oriented concerns. Like Cristobal, he cares more about the people than the business, but it always comes down either to the specific people to whom he feels personally connected or the image he projects to those around him.

We're first introduced to him as Goran's right hand man, but in a task that has to do with Goran's personal affairs (cheating wife), rather than anything to do with the business. When Barry was building him an army of assassins, he was more focused on Barry than that group. Even when he was "opening up" to them and apologizing, he wasn't aware of what was going on with them. That's the joke, but it's also the rule with Hank.

Compare that to the lengths he would go to when he felt like Esther was replacing him or when he felt like the specific people he cared about (Barry/Cristobal) were at risk, and you see just how important "50/50" situations are to him. He isn't picky about what his "50" would entail as long as it's with someone he cares about.

That's why I don't think it was possible for them to remain in Santa Fe. However few Hank's personal connections are, he guards them jealously and doesn't give up on them easily, even when they end up on opposing sides. He couldn't NOT come back for Barry. And however much Cristobal loves Hank, he functions best as part of something bigger (and not necessarily better) than himself. He can't do 50/50 in a vacuum.

So it's natural that killing their partners in order to save themselves would be a move that's totally consistent with Hank's needs and priorities, and that he wouldn't understand why it's so fundamentally opposite to Cristobal's or why it would be a deal breaker for him.

[kpoptrashlord-007]

I'm actually quite surprised that you're not into romance!!! I mean, considering you write x reader fanfics, i thought you would like it 😅

But!!! Since you like The Guest, i was wondering if you can recommend me kdramas like it?? The only one i've seen is Daebak Real Estate which is pretty similar but just less scary (in my opinion)

Or you can just recommend me any kdramas you like!!! The current on-going ones doesn't pique my interest that much, except for Yumi's Cells, it looks very cute!!!

-Qtie anon ●v●

Qtie Anon, my lovely ♡ so glad to hear from you once more!

Yes, it's kind of an odd thing to not like. It makes watching shows with my sister really difficult 😅 but I'm not 100% opposed to romance, I just don't want it pushing the plot. Romance in life is inevitable so of course shows will have it, but I don't want my horror or thriller or sci-fi show to focus on a romance plot, y'know?

I'm not really good at romantic / fluffy fics, though. It's definitely my weakest point! That and dialogue haha.

Kdramas like The Guest 🤔 well... I don't watch too many kdramas 😅 but I think The Divine Fury will be an amazing watch! It's a movie with Park Seo Joon and Woo Do Hwan and the clips I've seen look quite fun! Svaha: The Sixth Finger is a movie too, and it was pretty good. Also OCN shows in general. A lot of them have that grittier feel to them.

I haven't seen Daebak Real Estate. Is it good? I'd love to watch another show like The Guest!

One of my all time favourite shows right now (kdrama or otherwise) is Strangers From Hell!! I've watched it 3x and am on another watch-through right now. Absolutely love, love, love it. I even made a post about why people should watch it on my main! I'll try to find the link.

I'm not very good at finishing shows... but the notable kdramas I've actually finished are Save Me (spoiler alert: I'm obsessed with cults), Sweet Home, Alice In Borderland (jdrama), Kingdom (I'm obsessed!!), and the first season of Voice.

Save Me and Strangers From Hell are both OCN shows like The Guest, and I'd recommend them both! Save Me is about a family that, after facing tragedy, gets lured into a cult. It's such a ride from start to finish and the more I think about it, the more I enjoy it.

You might have heard about Sweet Home and Alice In Borderland. They're both based off mangas/webtoons and they became quite popular on here! AIB's premise has a sliver of similarity to Squid Game, which I just finished a few days ago. I preferred AIB but Squid Game was also really fun and I rec them both! The ending of both Squid Game and Sweet Home disappointed me (don't hate me y'all) but I'm holding out hope for the next seasons to make up for it! Plus Song Kang is my son so he can do no wrong. Seriously though, Sweet Home is absolutely amazing and I plan to rewatch it even if the ending wasn't my cup of tea.

Kingdom... oh wow 😍 Kingdom, The Witcher, and Strangers From Hell are rare because I actually binged the shows. I recommend all 3!

I know you asked for kdramas, but Animal World is a Chinese film I've watched multiple times. It's like AIB and Squid Game in that you have to play games to survive. It's also like AIB in that it's based off a manga (Kaiji).

And if you like depressing films about nuclear disasters (I LOVE disaster films, especially nuclear / radiation-based), then I highly recommend Pandora! And speaking of disaster films, The Wandering Earth is a Chinese film that I've rewatched a few times. I lovelovelove sci-fi so this one is an absolute hit with me.

And to lighten the mood... Secrets in the Hot Spring is a hilarious Taiwanese film! I've watched it so many times and it's never not funny. And I also wanna throw Pee Mak in as it's a fun Thai comedy.

As for shows I'm currently watching... I feel pretty confident that Life (medical kdrama with the loml, Lee Dong Wook) and Psychopath Diary (pretty light-hearted dark comedy) will be shows I end up recommending. The endings would have to be really bad for me to suddenly stop liking them 😂

. . .

WOW. I am SO sorry!! I didn't mean to make this post so long 😭

Anyway... these are my recommendations 😱💕 hope you are well, qtie, and have a blessed weekend! ♡

[convenientalias]

Some Dramas I Watched in 2021

At some point I will have to make a post of all the dramas that came OUT in 2021 that I've watched, but I'm gonna put that off until I've finished a couple more dramas. So it'll probably be in January or February or something. Who knows.

But since a bunch of y'all I'm following are doing it, here's just a list of some shows I watched this year (and what I thought of them!)

First, some rewatches:

I have now watched White Christmas three times. It's still really fuckign good, still my favorite kdrama thriller. @trifoliate-undergrowth watched it with me and convinced me to get more into Choi Chihoon and Lee Jaekyu, but Park Mooyul and Kang Mireu are still bae. But honestly I love all my boys. and my girls. and everyone in this show. Pacing--eight episodes, tight and frantic but never too fast to process. Feels--a rollercoaster, perfectly grim and perfectly hilarious and cheerful when it wants to be. Aesthetics--prim and claustrophobic and utterly on point. If you haven't watched this show, why the fuck not? Also, why the fuck haven't I written more fanfic for it?

Similar to White Christmas, I rewatched Circle: Two Worlds Connected with @trifoliate-undergrowth as well, and discovered new appreciation for Professors Park and Han, while continuing to adore Lee Ho Soo and Kim Woo Jin. (When I watch new shows with Yeo Jin Goo in them, like Beyond Evil, it also makes me appreciate Kim Woo Jin more. Was that sass directed at Beyond Evil? ...maybe so.) Circle is probably my second favorite kdrama thriller of all time but there's some hot competition for this position so idk.

Finally, I convinced my mom to watch Save Me with me. Now you may be thinking based on the progression of this list that I am about to say Save Me is my third favorite kdrama thriller of all time. Not really. Its pacing is kind of a drag sometimes and it's just so damn dark, both in mood and cinematography. (Again, a similar vibe to Beyond Evil. Sorry BE I'll stop sassing you eventually.) But listen. Save Me has Woo Do Hwan in it! and Seo Ye Ji! Two of my favorite actors, and it introduced me to both of them. For that reason I will always love it. It also has some great suspense and boyish shenanigans. My mom kind of hated it but I offered several times to stop watching it so we could watch something else and she refused so she can't have hated it as much as she claimed. Also she likes Woo Do Hwan now.

Obviously, though, rewatches are easy mode bc of course I like them, I bothered to rewatch them. So it's not surprising I really like these shows.

Cdramas I watched:

I only watched two cdramas to completion in 2021. These two were Winter Begonia (which I started in 2020) and Weaving a Tale of Love (which came out this year).

Of the two, Winter Begonia stands head and shoulders above Weaving a Tale of Love. In fact, it's one of my favorite watches of both 2021 AND 2020. It combines piercing melancholy with dumb slapstick with intense homoerotic friendship with traditional Chinese opera with political and financial intrigue with petty opera company one-upmanship. Its plot does tend to wander in one direction and another, and its central friendship would undoubtedly be better as an uncensored romance, but if you're okay with an un-focused plot and typical Chinese censored bromance, it's a really really good show. One of those shows where I have only been able to write one fanfic for it, for the simple reason that it doesn't really need fanfic. The melodrama, the angst, the humor, the intense bonding... it's already there, you know? I find it satisfying.

Weaving a Tale of Love, on the other hand, is a show I watched largely for the pretty clothes, the identity porn, and the cheerful, unstoppable female lead(s--the second female lead is also pretty good. For that matter, there's a great female villain and a loveable henchwoman who becomes the lead's ally instead. The women in general are pretty good). The men in this show are actually pretty boring unfortunately, and the crossdressing is... I like that within the show's world, the lead is a convincing eunuch, but as an outside observer, the female lead is pretty obviously dressed and made-up in a feminine manner. And the plot, while it doesn't exactly wander, has an ending that feels a little too easy tbh. I prefer my revenge schemers to get their revenge fully by their own efforts, preferably as the climax of long-term plans coming neatly together. But since most shows can't pull off a full NIF with neat revenge-planning, I will say Weaving a Tale of Love doesn't have the worst revenge plot I've seen either in terms of resolution, not by a long shot (cough Sword Dynasty cough Risky cough Lovers of the Red Sky cough). Honestly I'd recommend it as a light and bingeable watch, though it's nothing great.

Jdramas I watched:

Risky--The less said the better. I coughed about it above--yeah, as a revenge drama it was a disappointment. The ending was just too wtf, and the twists were half predictable and half "just why, that ruins the whole plot actually". Please don't watch this.

I also watched one much better jdrama, which is to say: Cherry Magic! A very cute little gay romance drama, with telepathy and office crushing. When you have a telepath, one character at least knows for sure how the other character feels. Now when your telepath is a very anxious dude who has yet to go through a sexuality crisis OR in general just accept that ANYONE COULD BE INTO HIM, you still end up with a slow burn and some miscommunication. But it's never too frustrating, and there's genuine affection and fluffiness, and it's just cute.

Kdramas I watched:

This was mostly a kdrama year for me. I watched more kdramas than anything else.

I finished two historical dramas. The first, Mr. Sunshine, I can't decide if I love or hate. The characters in it are complex and will stick with me for a long time, the acting is superb, and the aesthetic is magnificent, especially the frigid winter scenes and the melancholy nights. But the ending is kind of "rocks fall, everyone dies". And apart from the central romance, I felt like none of the other relationships were allowed to have as much depth as I wanted them to have. Everyone is stoic. Conversations are brief and clever and to the point; they lack the intimacy of a show where you get characters just sitting around bantering with each other or discussing their past or their beliefs at length. There are scenes where you get the sense Mr. Sunshine is trying to do this, trying to make you believe friendships between characters actually exist, but you never get a sense that "oh, these two people have talked to each other since I last saw them together", and the onscreen conversations are not sufficient to really build relationship. The exception here is Eugene and Kyle, who one hundred percent fuck around in the American Embassy every day, gossiping about their coworkers and their love lives, discussing the relative merits of life in Korea vs. America, and trying to find ways to embarrass each other in public.

Anyway I actually liked Mr. Sunshine. Eugene, Go Ae-sin, Kudo Hina, Kim Hui-seong, Gu Dong-mae... they're all really complex characters and the acting is so good. But when a show is good, you just kind of wish it could fulfill its potential, you know?

The other historical drama I watched is Lovers of the Red Sky. Less to say here, and also I already wrote a full review so I don't really have to go into detail. It's really fun. The romance is cute, the painting is beautiful, and the whump is whumpy. Both male and female leads are great, well-acted and interesting. The revenge subplot is bullshit and doesn't go anywhere, the political intrigue is shallow, and the villain wants to be Bang-won but will never be anything close to Bang-won. The supernatural elements are sometimes fun and other times are like "go away, I want to focus on the painting or literally anything else right now". Overall, similar to Weaving a Tale of Love, would recommend for a light watch but it's not going to end up on my list of favorites.

I finished three new 2021 thrillers. Of the three, the best was somehow Mine? Don't get me wrong, Mine has its flaws. The solution to the whole murder mystery still annoys me even now, and I think its turning Ji-yong into the only real villain of the show kind of flattened some character dynamics. But the femslashiness was <3 <3 <3 so good. And in fact, all the female characters were excellent. Hi-soo and Ja-kyung were my favorites, but canon lesbian and supportive sister-in-law Seo-hyun? Amazing, show-stopping, incredible. For her haircut alone I would have adored her but she also has the character arc to back it up. And the centrality of motherhood in the conflict between Hi-soo and Ja-kyung has ruined me for all other infidelity-related thrillers (yes, I know, I don't usually like infidelity-centered thrillers anyway, but that just makes it more impressive that Mine was so good for me personally). It's a good show. Also, just, the clothes. Hi-soo makes me want to wear dresses, and that's saying something. (full and somewhat more critical review here. I think I grew less critical of Mine after seeing what other thrillers 2021 had to offer lols.)

Beyond Evil--I wrote a long-ish post about it before. TLDR: Yeo Jin Goo is hot and his character is probably the most complex. The show annoys me on a thematic level and I found the consistently grim tone to be wearing and a little bit boring. I think I'm supposed to like Manyang in general more than I do. However, I did still write two fanfics for this show, which is more than for any of the other dramas in this post (except the rewatches) so it clearly did something to me. or for me. Idk. It has some genuinely dramatic and exciting episodes! Too bad that's only like half of them. I want a show with more verve.

The Devil Judge, my third 2021 thriller watch, has the verve. I really need to write an actual full review of it soon tbh. On a shippy, fanfic-writer-y level, Kim Gaon and Kang Yohan have a very fun dynamic, wobbling between "I don't trust you an inch" and "you may be my new (replacement) adoptive family" and sometimes just "looking at you with affection <3 <3". But I don't watch thrillers for fanfic potential! (convenientalias said, lying through her teeth.) I watch them for thematic coherency! And on a thematic level, The Devil Judge is really interesting. It has this whole discussion going on of what proper punishment/justice looks like, how a focus on "law and order" politics can lead to an increase in prejudice, hate crimes, and a lack of due process, and how a tooth for a tooth isn't actually the right course of action when pursuing justice. However, it lacks follow-through on the latter. Gaon continually calls Yohan out on his vigilante-level lack of due process or honest judging, but the show's opinion is that Yohan may be a bit shady, but listen, (says The Devil Judge,) he's really cool, okay? And don't we all kind of want criminals to get flogged or sentenced to death, in some part of ourselves? Don't we all want to blow up the big bads in a grand finale, with no due process whatsoever? The Devil Judge KNOWS that fighting fire with fire ultimately leads to more injustice, but listen, fighting fire with fire is cool, okay? Okay I'll write a full review of this soon bc I clearly have a lot of feelings. Final note--Jeong Seon-ah is really, really cool!

I also watched two BL miniseries this year, Color Rush and You Make Me Dance, about which I can only say, if you're gonna watch only one of them, watch Color Rush. I'm not saying it's better but also it's better.

I also started and didn't finish any number of other series. I'm going to cheat and mention one of them--Mad Dog is quite fun. I only have 3 episodes to go on that one so I think it's fair for me to take a moment to recommend it for anyone who wants to see Woo Do Hwan be sassy and reckless and nearly get murdered all the time while even his newfound team hates on him for half the show before finally coming around and realizing he is a treasure and needs to Take Better Care of Himself and Be Protected. For the rest, I'll talk about them some other time, in some other post. (If they came out in 2021--yes, I'm going to write that post eventually! There's just a few dramas I want to finish (or start) first!)

If you're wondering which of these shows you should watch:

-Watch White Christmas and Circle, obviously! If I can watch them three times you can surely watch them once.

-After that, I'd recommend Winter Begonia.

-After that, all these shows have their own high points and flaws. If you want some cheerful fun, I'd recommend Weaving a Tale of Love, Lovers of the Red Sky, or Cherry Magic. Thriller-wise, I actually think The Devil Judge is the easiest for me to rec. I consistently enjoyed it, every episode has something actually happening, and while Mine is a bit more to my taste, I think a lot of ppl want more violence and intrigue in their thrillers than Mine has to offer. Mine is a pretty good all-rounder though. I'd recommend Mr. Sunshine if you want a drama that's more serious (...but I'd also recommend Winter Begonia, except I already recommended that above) or if you want a show where you can literally ship any two characters with each other, those being its main attractions. And Beyond Evil, well, if you want to watch Yeo Jin Goo be a brat, it's certainly good for that.

In short, I had a lot of fun with dramas this year :)