#and 3) im aro as fuck boi im not interested in romantic cuteness i want hilarity or emotional depth only

[skullvins]

S4 dynamic ratings from my fave/best to my least fave/worst let's go

these are NOT necessarily as SHIPS, just their dynamic as characters. I talk a bit about ships but I'd only go for some of these in a ship sense

WITH THAT OUT OF THE WAY:

aloha + skull - absolute comedic duo. they're both kinda chill/carefree and Skull's enough of a bitch that he could defo subtly get aloha to do stupid shit and laugh at it internally the whole time. they're the more obviously practically inclined of the S4 so the idea of them just going out and doing stupid shit together isn't unrealistic. I can see aloha being like 'u wanna do X?' and skulls just like sure. Let's kill some time together. I can also see them both being super irresponsible sometimes and they just enable each other. Aloha comes up with the dumb ideas and skull is the muscle that lets them happen. He's on full autopilot with aloha whilst thinking he isn't and it's great. Catch aloha pestering the staff while they're out shopping like there's no tomorrow while skull wanders about buying whatever he likes in the bg. Most underrated S4 dynamic change my mind

army + mask - they're both huge nerds and yet no one is interested in the nerd and nerd dynamic? they've both kinda gone from being super up themselves to being more chill/humble, and also they're both the more 'responsible' ones but not really. army's responsible until you compare him to mask, and then he's actually really excentric. Having the more excentric one be the more traditionally nerdy one while the more levelheaded one is the sarcastic gamer nerd makes for an amazing dynamic. army can also strike me as the slightly out of touch rich boy and altho mask is definitely not mainstream 'normal' he could defo be like army. Get with reality.

army + skull - the 'should we be concerned' / *eats popcorn* 'nope' combo. Oh my god. Look. This will make more sense with the next point but aloha and mask are a fire waiting to happen in a good way and these two are the mutual witnesses to it, except skull is SO much more easygoing/does not care with it (and probably older/more experienced with this kinda thing) while army is like uh. Guys? Is this? Is this normal? they're also probably the two more battle minded ones and I could see them sharing notes/strats, and if you go with the idea of skull being older/more experienced then there's a bit of a 'skull helps army with his turf war homework' dynamic. not saying army can't hold his own (he's part of the S4 ffs) but I think he would be somewhat open to Skull's advice. these two are pretty agreeable compared to the other two, so I could see them casually getting along. Also, food.

aloha + mask - best contender for rivals to lovers/besties. aloha's an asshole and mask initially doesn't like him, PLUS they're both the middle S4. makes for an interesting game of one-upmanship. they seem to argue the most out of the S4 too, so a long run of them slowly getting along better or finding things they have in common could be really interesting. I also think seeing them in the arguing phase is entertaining, even if I don't think initially they'd like each other very much. also, this fuels my previous point further, so there's that

mask + skull - only S4 dynamic I'm neutral on? I could see these two getting along, if only because skull can be so passive. they're more just sit in the same room and vibe characters, so tho I think they'd get along well, I don't think their dynamic is as interesting as the last four. that being said, I can see mask commenting on skull's antics being funny. honestly this is a better combo if you make mask the chatty one, which is. Weird. Could work tho

army + aloha - ohmygod this is SO OVERRATED. Someone tell me WHY this ship is so popular???? aloha has more interesting or shippy dynamics with rider, mask, hell even scuba or skull. WHAT is this???? army also has more interesting or believable dynamics with say specs, mask, rider, WHERE does this ship get all its popularity???? I do like their dynamic as friends, but more in an 'aloha shows army how to loosen up a bit in a way that is 100% to army's detriment'. if more people played them up as friends, or army's naïvety as easy fodder for aloha to be funny and/or an asshole, then maybe I could get into it more? army probably finds aloha annoying while aloha finds army out of touch and that COULD be capitalised on for humour but I don't think taking it in a shippy way is as good for it. That being said, this isn't a review of them as ships, but a ranking of their dynamic as a whole. I still think it's the blandest of the six

bonus round: combos of three but we leave someone out, GO

leave out army - comedy gold in the sense that aloha overrides masks common sense and skull doesn't give enough of a shit/finds it entertaining. you know when army gets back he's gonna have to nag at everyone and yet you know aloha is just gonna keep provoking and the other two are gonna fall for it

leave out skull - the interpretation of the other three being somewhat intimidated by skull is REALLY interesting, although I don't think it offers as many hijinks. I honestly think it's more interesting from Skull's perspective, but also the image of them all discussing skull with each other while skull is actually just off stuffing his face with ice cream is very funny

leave out mask - leaving out the ACTUAL common sense and these three are gonna get real stupid real quickly, maybe. I like skulls dynamic with em both but not really their dynamic with each other as I feel they'd both bounce so well off mask instead. army having to deal with the force of skull n aloha and aloha having to deal with the force of skull and army is funny tho. I don't think skull would end up the victim of their mutual bullshit, however, unless they could both find something obscure to agree on

leave out aloha - aloha's the confrontation that fuels most of this, otherwise it turns into the more passive three who probably wouldn't engage with each other much unless they had a central focus. more just becomes mask + army with skull as a third wheel. COULD be fun if they all had to work together on something as I feel it would bring out both the best and worst of them without aloha as one big loud pink distraction

[stephaniecandywilliams]

Hwarang Female Character Appreciation Post #2

Post #1: Aro

(Oh god it’s been so long since my last post OTL sorry guys... and since Sooyeon is such a personal favourite I’m so PRESSURED to write this post well OMG)

WARNING: LONG POST + there will be an abundance of the repetition and variations of the words “cute” and “adorable” XD

I am back with my second installment of my series of meta for the main female characters of the drama Hwarang!!! Giving you all the goodness of female characters who break stereotypes and steal hearts!!! ;) This time, it’s my personal favourite female character of them all, the one and only... Kim Sooyeon!!! (I love this gif so much omg thank you op <3)

I have to admit, at first I was REALLY critical and judgemental of Sooyeon’s character (IM SO SORRY BB OTL) because we were only given the information that she’s friends with Aro and that she’s the younger sister to playboy Sooho and love interest of cool guy Banryu at the start of the drama. My mind immediately conjured up the mental image of the stereotypical nice daughter from a rich family, quiet, elegant, well-mannered, boring, background material. BUT OH MAN SHE SURPRISED ME

She’s the VERY EPITOME of bubbly, cute and endearing /heart eyes/ She can be very manly, shy, playful,funny, lovey-dovey, daring, petty, romantic, relatable, ALL AT ONCE!! She’s a very multi-faceted personality that draws us in and keep us hooked, not just for her love line with Banryu, but everything that she does <3 <3 (get ready for the onslaught of gifs coming right up!!!)

Ah~ the legendary first meeting of the two love birds ^~^ LOOK AT THAT CHEEKY LOOK OF PURE SATISFACTION ON HER CUTE FACE WHEN SHE SQUEEZED HIS BUTT, and not to mention how her expression froze as Banryu turned around XD this shows how much she’s not a pushover and that she would get back and seek revenge on her brother whenever she gets the chance ;3 i guess Sooyeon is a very HANDS ON person ;)))) (pls get used to my bad jokes, i won’t change anymore hehe) I still remember her adorable squeak when she retracted her hands in light speed and hugged herself XD not to mention how her first reaction in panic was to slap Banryu and immediately regret it (ah so cute)  

and after she used a FUCKING VASE to knock her furious brother Sooho out cold and hanging off a fence, she fuzzed over Banryu’s face where she slapped instead of caring about her brother XD we could all SEE THE AMOUNT OF WORRY IN HER FACE UGH AND BANRYU IS SO IN LOVE HAHAHAHA

After that whole fiasco and Sooho losing his memory of that night (no thanks to Sooyeon and her trusty vase ;)) she was even nice enough to write to Banryu to make sure her brother didn’t get angry and cause trouble. (ISN’T THAT LIKE THE NICEST THING EVER??? if it was me I’d just lay low and maybe disappear out of shame :’)) she got a infamous reputation around town as “the girl who got her chest molested” but she still worried about Banryu (getting killed by her brother) more than herself XD

This scene is getting on my nerves on HOW CUTE IT IS UGH~ Sooyeon actually shows up to the night club- I mean Okta to look for her lover boy /swoons/ (and not to mention with that gift of red wine which was expensive AF) judging by the way we see her barge into Sooho’s rented room and walking back out, we could see that she’s basically trying to find Banryu by walking into every occupied room to try her luck XD if that’s not the most badass, daring thing that someone could do, I don’t know what qualifies @~@ she finally finds a fuming Banryu and pulls him aside (I have no idea how she has the guts to pull him when he looks like he could murder somebody ;_;) the two lovebirds were enjoying some(miniscule) alone time when KIM SOOHO BARGES IN AND LANDS A PUNCH ON BANRYU’S FACE (he finally remembered that night Sooyeon apparently got molested (molested somebody hehe)) 

The funny thing about the next thing that happened is that we see Sooyeon getting shocked by the sudden attack, but it doesn’t stop there. Second by second just by the look on her face we could tell she’s getting angrier and angrier, until she just makes a split second decision to sacrifice her expensive gift and just use the heavy wine bottle to hit her brother on the back of his head (again). Even funnier, she just lets go of the bottle until it hits the ground with a clear resounding breaking sound (she’s so cool how to be her omg) she then pulls Banryu up and just walks over her brother’s unconscious body with Banryu XD

MAN I hold this conversation SO DEAR TO MY HEART <3 <3 it’s just so precious and protective of Sooyeon seriously

“If my brother does anything to Banryu you have to tell me right away!” said Sooyeon in a grave and serious tone. “Even if I do tell you, what are you gonna do about it?” Aro questioned. “Then I will, oh I tell you what, climb over this wall and end my brother~” Sooyeon answered, aggressively gesturing a neck-slice, “you’re dead Kim Sooho, I’m not gonna stand here and do nothing.” her eyes glinting murderously. Shocked by the words, Aro asked, “Are you really the Sooyeon that I know??” Sooyeon fired back confidently, “I protect my man.”

OMG I CANNOT EXPRESS HOW MUCH I LOVE THIS CONVERSATION UGH it’s this conversation and what Sooyeon had expressed here that made me fall deeply in love with this character /sobs/ why is she so precious 

Ah, this makes me think of the sweet times being with siblings XD this can’t get more real than a real sibling relationship, and I applaud the producers for including this amazingly realistic interaction between these two :3 

Yes, they fight. Yes, they get really physically brutal with each other. But Sooyeon finally told(screamed) her brother the truth and stopped the situation from worsening. ^~^ She’s really honest, I’ll give her that. She clarified everything and left no detail out, even the part about grabbing Banryu’s butt. Owning up to something like that needs a lot of guts, even towards a family member.

Oh and how could I forget the amount of trust she puts in her crush??? She’s courageous and adorable and all, but she does get blinded by love sometimes (a LOT of the time XD) But judging by the limited contact that she could get with Banryu in that ancient time period, and how they started off getting to know each other by letters, it’s quite easy to understand why she isn’t weary of what Banryu is doing in the Hwarang house. 

Up until the most recent episodes, she still did not show any sign of fearing their opposing family backgrounds, and that is simultaneously a good thing and also a bad thing. The relationship can blossom under the ignorance of threats, but when the problem really emerges to break them apart, it’ll result in serious heartbreak.

THIS SCENE BROKE MY HEART UGH. Sooyeon was waiting outside Banryu’s house, excitedly adjusting her hair trying to look good in front of him (LOOK AT HOW CUTE SHE IS), but Banryu just walked past her. She was SO IN SHOCK and started crying, and I STARTED CRYING TOO I AM SO WEAK FOR HER MY POOR BABY... T.T 

Even when her brother tried to get back at Banryu for making her cry, she didn’t let him go after Banryu. If she was sassy enough she could just let Banryu get beaten up, but she didn’t, and held on to her brother as strongly as she could even while she was crying her heart out... 

Oh man. This was when it was announced that Banryu was going to go along with the others to protect Princess Sookmyung. Sooyeon was so worried about  Banryu’s safety. Meeting Aro at their usual place (the short wall where they both put up ladders to talk to each other XD), she cried and cried, saying how Banryu could make such a decision without talking to her about it first :( the funny thing about it is that Aro’s going as well but Sooyeon wasn’t worried about her at all XD

Then Sooyeon wiped away her tears and made a grave decision. She wants to give Banryu a snip of her hair for him to remember her by. Why is it serious and not creepy at all? Because in the olden days, in Chinese culture (it extends to Japanese and Korean culture but maybe not completely on details) it is a token of serious commitment in a relationship, where the woman gives the man her hair as a sign that she would wait for him to return from their separation. But the fact that Sooyeon still decided to give him such an important token when all of them know how serious it meant, really shows how determined she was to wait for Banryu. 

THIS SCENE IS SO CUTE AAARGH!!! Sooyeon actually wraps up a cut section of her beautiful hair in an elegant pouch and handed it to Banryu before he leaves for the escort mission, and how she worriedly asks if it was burdensome makes me go “aawwww”~ I can still see the slight awkwardness between the two of them though, the kind of awkwardness when you like each other a lot but aren’t well acquainted enough that you could be comfortable in front of them yet. 

AND YOU KNOW WHAT MY LITTLE DARLING BABY WENT AND DID?? SHE KISSED HER LOVER BOY ON THE CHEEK THAT’S WHAT!!! ASDFLJALS;DFL;

I REALLY love how she took the first step in most of the stuff they encountered, the first fateful meeting (butt grab), the first letter she wrote him, the first gift (liquor, which didn’t really become a gift but rather a weapon), THE FIRST KISS /screams/ and Banryu finally gets the guts to pull her in for a real kiss /swoons/ AND THAT KISS IS THE REALLY SMALL AMOUNT OF TIMES I’VE ACTUALLY SEEN GOOD KISSING IN A KOREAN DRAMA OMG most of the time the female leads would just pause there and stare with their enormous eyes in shock through the whole kiss XD

and that wraps it up until the things that happened up until episode 14 (I think I’ll make another post on Sooyeon when the series ends, since I love her so much XD)

Ah seriously I spent half a day typing this XD (if it adds up the days this has been in my drafts, I think it’ll be over a week), but I love Sooyeon so much this post deserves nothing less than PERFECTION <3 <3 (jk I know it’s not perfect, there’s SO MUCH MORE TO TALK ABOUT ON HER PERSONALITY) somehow I wish that there’ll be a spin-off series that has Sooyeon as the main character, but I kinda know that it’s not possible... (I can still dream can’t I? /sobs/)

p.s.: I have no idea when the next parts will be up (for Princess Sookmyung and Queen Jiso), since I take REALLY LONG to type up each post T~T but thank you for reading!!! Love Hwarang with me!!!