#banryu x sooyeon

[kdramaaddictsblog]

So I just finished rewatching hwarang, AND I CANT GET ENOUGH OF THESE TWO!!!!!

... I like them better than the main couple tbh...

[alvie-pines]

Ban Ryu is the definition of touch-starved.

[ferociouspompom]

Hwarang OS: Always

Fury rose within him like a red tide.

A breath. And another.

But still the words rang in his ears. “You should have done it right. Then I would not have had to step in. Do you not agree?”

There was violence in his motions as he left the room at the Okta, pausing at the door to breathe deeply.

Calm.

But it would not come. Not when Kang Sung was but a symptom of a much larger cancer in his life. Not when his future hung on the whim of Master Young Shil. Defiance would cost him, and his father, dearly.

He took long strides, desperate to create distance between himself and those he called his friends, the atmosphere of the Okta suddenly stifling and wrong.

When had Hwarang House become comforting?

When had it become home?

A hand wrapped around his wrist. Ban Ryu jerked his arm, lips curled into a snarl as a sharp warning formed on his tongue, but he stilled when he registered Miss Soo Yeon as she stumbled. Anger ebbed away as he took in her large eyes and earnest gaze. He looked away from her, regretting his momentary ferocity even as his pulse quickened anew.

“Come here for a minute.”

She looked pretty and delicate in soft pink, a bottle clutched in her free hand as she gestured behind herself.

That curious lightness, a weightlessness that only she inspired, overtook his body as she led him away, her hand slipping from his wrist to wrap around his fingers. The room was abandoned. Miss Soo Yeon turned to face him, her lips curved into a smile and a blush painted on her cheeks.  Looking away, half afraid she would read what was surely in his eyes, Ban Ryu noted that their hands were still linked. He coughed pointedly.

A tremble went through her as she looked down, hastily untwining them and taking a small step back as if introducing propriety between them. The loss of her fingers against his caused a tightness in his chest.

He worried that she expected him to say something in the short silence that followed. He had not yet said a word to her, not when she had accosted him in public, not when she had slapped him, not when she had soothed the mark with her own hand. He preferred to listen, to revel in the cadence of her sweet voice and the sparkle in her eyes.

“Thank you,” she began, her smile widening into a grin, “The performance last night was nice too.”

She seemed to bounce with eagerness.

I will watch your dance from the front row. Do not stress and good luck with your performance. I shall always cheer you on.

What had started as her apology for their first meeting – and an assurance that she would explain it all to her brother – had turned into a collection of letters he carried within his clothing. He read and reread them in every private moment, imagining her expressive features as she spoke the words to him. He had studied her brushstrokes, seeing the slight tremble in her fingers when she had promised to always cheer him on.

Always.

So much promise held in a single word.

In the darkest hours of the night he had wondered at his dedication to the performance – a performance for the Queen no matter what anyone else said. But now pride swelled inside him at her praise.

Ban Ryu blinked, giving her a slight nod to acknowledge her words. It seemed to bolster her.

She held out the bottle in offering, explaining, “This is rare liquor. Please take it.”

His breath caught in his lungs as he considered her gift.

Was it an indication of how little she knew him – he usually did not imbibe alcohol – or an indication of how well she could read him – that she recognized he would need it to numb himself from the approaching storm?

And in that moment of silence, as he considered the best way to accept her gift, he heard footsteps thundering down the hall. The door burst open, and Soo Ho flew through them like a force of nature.

The punch was so unexpected that he was flat on the ground before he registered the pain. The rage that had briefly abated came back in full force. He needed to hit something and Soo Ho had just presented himself as a willing target.

Miss Soo Yeon’s gasp brought him back to his senses, and a coolness chased the wrath from his limbs as he realized that he could not hit her brother, not when she stood in the same room. So he lay there, muscles tensed, jaw clenched, as Soo Ho raged incoherently and punched him again. And again.

There was a sudden crash accompanied by the tinkle of broken glass. Ban Ryu’s eyes found Miss Soo Yeon’s as her brother slumped into him, unconscious.

In a daze, he watched her roll Soo Ho off him before taking his hand. She helped him up, her hands brushing over his back and arm and sending electricity shooting through his body. She released his hand only to clasp the other, as if she did not wish to break contact.

Her mouth was twisted in distaste as she stepped over the prone form of her brother, pulling him behind her.

And in that moment, he knew he would follow wherever she led.

This was my first Hwarang piece :D I’m very happy with how it turned out!!

[arrwen-a]

Banryu x sooyeon scene today 💜💜 She contradicting him when he himself said he is a bad person I love her so much💕💕

[gustingirl]

another one

rules: answer the questions and tag people you want to get to know better

tagged by: @trashlord-007

top 4 ships:

yumeko jabami x mary (kakegurui)

no jiwook x eun bonghee (suspicious partner)

captain hook x emma swan (ouat)

park banryu x kim sooyeon (hwarang)

last song: something by girl’s day

last movie: bad boys 3

reading: nothing lol

what food are you craving right now?: mmmm something salty for sure

Tana´s question: do you believe in astrology and if you did, have you ever checked your chart compatibility with someone else’s?

i do but till a point lol i’m not the biggest fan and i don’t agree with some things but from time to time i check it (i check compatibility a lot but just for fun)

My question: what’s your favorite country’s folklore and why?

tagging! @peachy-101 @christina-dh @jihooncultist @ughustd @gotjaeb @pico-conlawea @blueberryandrose @100akerwood-s love you all

[sooryuu]

i miss jihan tho. I hope he’s doing well aaaa i wanna see him in a drama asap i hope the kdrama gods out there would cast him im :(((

[estelle-sim]

Hwarang (KBS, 2017)

Banryu & Sooyeon

[theadultbrat]

My review of Hwarang

A story of wasted potential: a review of ‘Hwarang’ This essay is about ‘Hwarang’ and how I feel about it (Spoiler: It will not be very positive). Although it had some good moments and developments, most of it was plainly bad and wasted potential. I will not talk about the historical errors though because it even says at the start of each episode that's it is just and adaptation of history. It also needs to be added that this review can feel incoherent for some as it is similar to a rant. But enough of the foreplay, let us start this review/rant with the characters and their individual plotlines: Sunwoo easily is one of the most bland and boring characters I have ever seen on screen (and I have watched The Walking Dead) because he just does not have any personality except for being a prototypical stern hero. Now, if he had at least shown some kind of development over the course of these 20 episodes that would have been ok. But he did not change at all except that now he loves Ahro but that hardly is what I would call good development. It also needs to be noted superhuman abilities made Hwarang way less entertaining than it could have been. Learning a huge number of Hanja in a matter of days is just one illogical ability that made me shake my head in awe. The others are learning how to ride a horse properly in a week and then how to successfully shoot arrows from it, which I would say should take at least two years of training. But he not only becomes an expert in shooting in no time but also sword master because even though he says all the time that he cannot fight well he survived multiple fights and two duels, with the one against the Prince of Baekje being the most laughable. The Prince even says that he grew up in times of war and even though fighting in a war is not the same as duelling that should give him an enormous advantage. But not only that should have meant the death of Sunwoo but also his multiple injuries, with an arrow hitting him where the lung is being the top of it. Even in modern medicine it is pretty hard to save someone with a pierced lung but in the early Middle Ages it is impossible. And as the tip of the arrow, which is around 7cm long, went all in, it is not possible for the arrow to not have hit the lung. Therefore in other sageuk dramas when someone gets hit by an arrow and survives, it is always in the arm or leg, because that creates a flesh wound which is healable in most instances. While I am already talking about this situation, let us get some context. He gets hit by the arrow because he wants to save Ahro. Having mentioned Ahro now brings me to her storyline and how in almost every pair of episodes she needs to get saved by Sunwoo (and/or Jinheung). Yes, I understand that she somehow needs to feel closer and attracted to him but please be more creative and write more simple romantic/bonding scenes instead of repeating the same pattern again and again and again. This would probably not even help as the OTP has incredibly bad chemistry so I never bought the idea of them loving each other. This is also the reason why I liked all the other pairings more (Banryu x Sooyeon, Jinheung x Sukmyeong and Sooho x Queen Jiso – with two of those not even being real pairings). What cannot be left unsaid as well is that Ahro later saves Sunwoo too because of throwing herself in front of an arrow, which again hits a lung. It was already stupid the first time but to repeat this excuse of a plot device is ridiculous beyond reason. My main point of criticism for Ahro herself though is that she also does not show much character development. More importantly she just does not come off as likeable as she ignores almost all the people around her to focus on Sunwoo. The person who suffers the most from that is of course Jinheung, as he (for some reason) falls in love with her too and constantly makes advances towards Ahro (and saves her from his mother) and all she does is look at him like he is creep (which he can be at times but never as much as Ahro's gazes suggest). The "best" thing is that after he has saved her multiple times she asks him if he wants to kill her. Because the obvious conclusion is that the person who clearly cares about me and does everything to help me does all that just to kill me in the end. That must be it – not. Ultimately, she gets her way as she and Sunwoo plan to marry and the king lets her go (to hopefully marry his sister after they realized that they fit each other off-screen). Talking about Jinheung, he started off as a fairly interesting character, a king suppressed by his mother and living in hiding for almost his entire life that now comes back to emancipate himself and take the throne. This sounded promising but starting from episode 8 onwards he becomes a love-sick puppy that always comes back for Ahro even though she treats him like he is nothing (even for k-dramas, that tend to this is beyond stupid and unrealistic) and at one point he wants to give up his right to be king – something he fought for all his life – just for this one girl that ignores him all the time. What a compelling story. In the second half of the drama he starts talking how he will take the throne. The speeches that he holds when saying "I am the king […]!" are in fact awesome but as he does this multiple times over the course of almost 10 episodes he too becomes boring – as well as reluctant to change his life, although his willingness of taking control was his major motivation earlier – and lacks any development. It is almost as if the writer wants us to feel engaged but also tries to delay the payoff to the very end of the drama through repetition. Just like Sunwoo saving Ahro every two episodes it is – excuse my harsh words – boring as hell. Just in the last 30 minutes we get to see a glimpse of why Jinheung is considered one of the most important kings in early Korean history, when he tells his mother what he plans for his country and speaks with Sunwoo about future expansions of his realm. Going back to his unexplainable love for Ahro, why does he not fall in love with his half-sister Sukmyeong (who in real life became one of his wives, which is also the plan their mother has in mind in Hwarang)? The scene in which he gets his old toy – from the probably worst hidden place ever (how can only the Royal family find it, it's just an open square within the palace) - shows how much they like each other and how much they want to want to become a family again so that would've been a great starting point for  a second lead OTP. But no, Sukmyeong also has to fall in love with Sunwoo (because he saves her from a snake and tells her not to kill it... Let that sink in for a while) as he is apparently the best person in everything (although in reality he is just as arrogant as Jinheung but at least the king seems to become a bit humbler at some point) and everything in ‘Hwarang’ has to be about the fake siblings and their love for each other, even though they are the worst characters of them all. In the end, the purpose of her character never became clear (By the way, was ‘Hwarang’ not supposed to be about bromance? Weird that these scenes always fall short). But enough of Jinheung and Sukmyeong, let us talk about the other Hwarangs, starting with Sooho and Banryu. Even though they are only secondary characters they go through more development as the leads - even though Sooho is just there for comic relief. Although predictable, the approaching of these two completely different persons which results even in a sort of awkward friendship and mutual respect is heart-warming. And Banryu's inner conflict between being on the side of his friends or his family is very interesting too, but this too isn't of interest in the show as we just get this about 5 minutes every two episodes to make more room for the love story, resulting in this side plot feeling dragged out (or even forgotten). Moreover, Sooho's admiration and love for the Queen Regent Jiso is a good example of the mindlessness privileged adolescents like him have (something he loses partially over the course of the drama as a way of growing up - I'm kidding, he does not get that awesome development). Furthermore, he and the Queen Regent have more chemistry in the few scenes they have together than Sunwoo and Ahro, even though Jiso is ignoring him most of the time. This shows again how badly written and acted the main OTP is. As with Sooho and Jiso, Banryu's growing love for Sooyeon, Sooho's sister, is also absorbing, as in contrast to Ahro, Sooyeon is likeable. She may seem helpless at times too, but in other moments she kicks ass (literally her brother's). In a confession scene, she opens her heart to Banryu and allows herself to become vulnerable, gifting him a lock of her hair, a very meaningful present. This is a great example of writing a relatable and interesting romance in which the two characters have chemistry. Just look at the insecure glances Banryu throws at Sooyeon whenever they interact, you can literally see how he is torn apart between the duty to his family and his love for her. Sadly, we only get very few scenes between these two (one per episode tops) because again – who would've thought – everything in ‘Hwarang’ is about Sunwoo and Ahro. At least they got the happy end they deserve (I will personally tell her father off, should he try to separate the two). The other two somewhat important Hwarangs are more worthwhile than the leads too. The story of Hansung, the last True Bone of his family with large needs to meet, is compelling because when he appears it is either about how bright of a person he is or how he suffers because the responsibility he has at such a young age. This struggle is also signified through his “half-brood” brother and his grandfather, both of who are also trapped in the Bone system. But again, he is just a secondary character who does not get much chance to shine so these – seen from a writing point of view – positive aspects are rarely seen. Additionally, his death scene is ludicrous too, or more precisely it is how he dies, as his actual death in Sunwoo's arms and funeral is almost heartbreaking, if it were not for the prior scene. The idea of saving Sunwoo from his brother Dan-Se – who could have just told Hansung that their grandfather wants him (Dan-Se) to poison Sunwoo and if he does not comply, he (the grandfather) will kill himself and his grandson. Warning Hansung of that would have resulted in both of them being safe, as it is almost impossible to kill somebody weary in Hwarang house – is a noble one, but every normal thinking person would not jump in front of a blade or, God forbid, even grabbing it with bare hands, but tackle the person instead – this applies to the jumping in front of an arrow scenes too. So even if the blade was not poisoned, the idea of jumping in front of it is beyond reasonable and suicidal. The last of the Hwarang bunch, Yeowool, cannot even be called a character. He is just there and smiles sassily. As with Jinheung, he seemed to be interesting in the beginning. As a True Bone with his mother probably being the sister of the dead king he could have developed an interesting relationship with Jinheung (who apparently knows about Yeowool’s parentage) but after teasing the viewer in one episode, he is thrown under the bus for other storylines. The last characters I want to talk about are the villains. First, there is Minister Youngshil or stereotyped evil old dude, as I like to call him. His ploys are the reason of almost all the calamities the main characters must endure. He is not a compelling villain though, as his only motivation and characteristic is to get his family on the throne. That is it. Nothing more is explained to the viewer. While overcomplicating a character’s motivation is bad too, not giving the main villain – the person we are supposed to be afraid of – any real traits makes him less menacing as, even though he should be part of the main narrative, he gets to play the second (or fifth) fiddle to make room for the most boring love story of them all. His change of plans to make himself king instead of Banryu is pretty idiotic as well. In a time when everything is about family and securing your legacy becoming king at an old age without having any heirs – except Banryu but he apparently dropped him – isn't productive at all. His later alliance with Sunwoo and Hwikyung is a slightly better plan as he would still be able to control the ministers, but his failure to see the honourable side in people becomes his undoing when Sunwoo turns on him and stands on his friend’s side. Nevertheless, he only was a typical baddie without any hidden surprises and failed as an antagonist. The secondary villains are mostly lacklustre too, especially the two street gang members who later work with Youngshil, but as they are not supposed to play a big role, it is excusable. Far more disappointing is the Prince of Baekje who with his cruel way of thinking was a dislikeable person straight from writer's school (in a good way). But then to drop him after a two-episode arc that did not even have any lasting consequences while having a worse main villain with Youngshil felt like wasted potential, something I talked a lot about already. The arguably second main villain is Queen Mother/Queen Regent Jiso, the most intriguing character of the whole drama. She has everything a great antagonist needs to have, first and foremost compelling and understandable motives (defending her family against the opposition led by Youngshil while being a “weak” woman). This means she is not all about being evil, her heart just got hard as stone over the years trying to protect the Royal family from her opponents (I personally would've liked more scenes of young Jiso that show how she became that cold and embittered, but of course the tedious love story got in the way of it). In contrast to her intelligence you have the dumb likes of her ex-lover Ahnji, Ahro's father, who somehow gets the idea that trusting first Youngshil and then Hwikyung, the Queen Regent's more than shady brother whose motives and ways are not any better than hers (I would argue they are worse as he tries to overthrow her and Jinheung, just because he wants his own son on the throne. Who is embittered now? By the way, the fact that Sunwoo could not just be an orphan but had to Hwikyung’s son, a reveal that announced itself weeks before it actually happened, is one of the most boring tropes applied in Hwarang). Yes, Ahnji has a lot of reasons to hate her, but looking at the alternatives it is way safer to root for her (or better, her son) to rule because that would not cause an uprising likely to come with a coup détat. As mentioned earlier I really like the idea of Jiso becoming gradually more embittered and cautious over the years. This climaxes in her not wanting to let go of the throne as she cannot see anyone capable but her on it – looking at how Jinheung is characterized as a not forward thinking love sick puppy I cannot even blame her – thus signifying how good persons can become bad because of their venomous surroundings. In the end, her harshness pays off though as Hwarang secure her son on the throne, so it was all worth it in the end. It would not be ‘Hwarang’ if the writer did not offer something to criticize though, namely the side plot of her getting slowly poisoned by her lady in waiting that serves her tea with poison in it. Poison. It is beyond stupid as firstly, we never get to know what kind of poison it is (which therefore feels like a deus ex machina) and secondly, after this plot point is introduced and she faints once, it is dropped for 6 episodes only for her being on the verge of death, with hallucinations setting in. The fact that the poison took ten years to have an effect, only for these symptoms to rapidly grow is also something I cannot and will not believe. A silver lining here is that she knows she is getting poisoned, but does not interfere as she knows that her adversaries would find other ways to kill her, so why do not let them kill you in a slow and mostly painless way. At least she can still govern the nation until her son is ready to take over her burden, which he eventually does. Jinheung’s and Jiso’s bonding over her sacrifice for him, their understanding of each other’s actions and their small reconciliation in the end are as good an ending for her storyline as is her eventual death near the persons who love her. Sooho’s short, but touching time as her personal Hwarang ends with her collapsing in his arms and him helping Ahnji to finally accept his feelings for her, realizing that, even though he hates the Queen Regent, he loves her still. Sadly, this is Sooho’s last appearance as he is not seen in the last shot with all the important Hwarangs (Sunwoo, Banryu, Yeowool, and even Dan-Se) and the king, one of the many inconsistencies in the drama. Which brings me to the overall problem ‘Hwarang’ has: the writing and pacing. Every week new side plots are introduced and in the next week they're either already finished or treated as if they never happened. This not only undermines the main arc which is often hidden somewhere between the lines but also makes the drama seem like a collection of singular stories instead of an overall narrative which it aims to be. In addition to that, every time a side story is ignored the following week, so is the limited character development of the three main characters. It really would not matter character wise if someone were to skip half of the episodes because they are still at the same place, physically and mentally. This also shows how the overall narrative is not well thought out as the side stories often become the main plot for an episode which just ends up being filler material. If the writer had cut all this story fat away and instead focused on the main plot and the character development it would have been possible for ‘Hwarang’ to be 20 episodes of enjoyable sageuk but it should not be like that. What is also important for a TV series is the ending and how the viewer is led to it. The big conflict between Jinheung and Sunwoo and who should be king is actually much easier solved than what the drama tries to make us believe. Sunwoo’s father said himself that he got excluded from the Royal family because of his polio (and Sunwoo seemingly has some sickness too as he constantly faints) which automatically means that his children are ineligible to sit on the throne, not even if they do not have any physical disabilities. If your father gets disowned, the son gets disowned (also it is very likely that such disabilities were seen as bad signs so he would not even have the common people on his side). Having this in mind the final plot twist of Sunwoo being on Jinheung’s side could be seen from miles and miles away and completely unnecessary. It could have been more effective for the plot to crown Jinheung sooner, only for Youngshil to try and launch a coup, a risk he would have certainly taken. The way this plot twist revealed itself was also an uninspired one as the drama took the viewer back to already visited scenes to add two or three sentences that were not shown before in that situation. Decisions like this straightforwardly hoax the viewer so that they probably feel betrayed in a very cheap way. That we are told that the Hwarangs get to decide on who is king is ridiculous and not even believable for one second too. The reason for all this impreciseness and wrongness probably is that this is the first real K-Drama of writer Park Eunyeong. Before ‘Hwarang’, she only wrote 90-minute-long drama specials which do not require as much character development and story as a fully-fledged drama. This is also seen that ‘Hwarang’ is at its best in the first few episodes and the very last one, everything between that is mostly an overwhelming mess. But not only the writer was not the best at her job, the directors were terrible too. Their choice of music – although that might have been a producer decision – being K-Pop took away what seriousness the drama had and added only more goofiness. Resulting in their awful direction, most of the actors’ performances were bland and dreadful. Only a few ones of the extended principal cast managed to act well consistently, for example Park Hyungsik (Jinheung). Once the writers give him something to act (eg. the throne room scenes), he is able to show us his talents and leaves no questions on why he is a rising acting star unanswered. Others that considerably well were Do Jihan (Banryu), whose acting in his scenes with Lee Dain (Soohyeon) – who also gave a strong performance – I already mentioned, Seo Yeji (Sukmyeong), and Kim Jisoo (Jiso), who already has experience playing in a sageuk, an advantage she knows to handle throughout the series. On the other side of the spectrum, Park Seojoon (Sunwoo), Go Ara (Ahro), Sung Dongil (Hwarang instructor Wihwa) and Jang Sehyun (Kang Sung, Banryu’s Hwarang trainee) were probably the worst, be it for their lack of emotions or their over-acting. To end this on a high note I want to recap the few things I liked about Hwarang: the relationship between Banryu and Sooyeon, and to an extent – although most of it is wishful thinking on my side – those of Jinheung and Sukmyeong and Sooho and Jiso; Jiso herself; how the drama started off and how the characters were introduced, and for the most part how it ended; and lastly the sets and costumes which I did not mention before. Especially Hwarang House and the throne room look gorgeous, an advantage of filming the whole drama before it airs, as the sets can be more elaborate and do not need to be built with the thought of being easy to dismantle and rebuild. And thus ends my overlong review/rant about ‘Hwarang’. I hope you had fun reading it.

[all-that-kstuff]

Honestly, Hwarang is one of the dumbest k-drama of 2017. I don't get mad, even when I watch the dumbest k-dramas, since they make me laugh. But Hwarang's stupid and messy plot is on another level, lmfao. That scene of Moo Myung revealing himself as the king instead of the raging real king holding himself is dumbest scene of k-drama in 2017, because both of them make up their decision when Ah-ro's life is on knife edge, after 3 or 2 innocent people were killed for nothing.

Hey anon! I don’t necessarily think that Hwarang is the dumbest kdrama but I do agree the plot and characters are very messy. I think the idol actors just made me expect more from the drama. Banryu x SooYeon and Ji Dwi are the only reasons I’m still watching tbh. Thanks for sending your opinion!

[beautifully-hwarang]

Hi! I really enjoyed your writing! Could I request for a Banryu x Sooyeon scenario?

Hi! Done! I hope you enjoy it!

[alvie-pines]

Fuck, I want more fanfictions about Ban Ryu and Su Ho that aren’t just hatesex. I want to see fanfictions about how they’ve grown and helped each other grow since becoming Hwarang. I want to read about how they both realized that they don’t really hate each other. They really just like competing, but they don’t hate each other. I want to read about how Su Ho’s family asked him to do something, and when he was uncharacteristically quiet that day, Ban Ryu was the one who noticed. How he immediately recognized the conflict swirling in Su Ho’s eyes, because it’s the exact same conflict that he felt every time his father asked him to sabotage his friends. How he almost called out and asked him what was wrong. How he bit his tongue because he was the last person who ought to give a lecture about this. I want to read about Ban Ryu realizing that both Kim siblings have loved him in their own ways- Su Yeon loving gently but passionately, Su Ho being his balance and other half. Ban Ryu healing from the loveless childhood that Park Young Sil gave him, finding comfort in Su Yeon and letting Su Ho push him uncomfortably onto self-discovery, and finally letting them give him the compassion and acceptance that he needs so badly. Eventually letting them forgive him. I want to read about how Su Ho brings out the things he’d rather not think about- when he did those awful things that Park Young Sil asked of him, in secrecy, he buried his one values deep in his heart, and the person who challenged his apparent heartlessness was none other than Su Ho. Su Ho made a mess of him and forced him to think about the friends he was hurting. Su Ho forced him to follow his own heart.

Ugh I just want to hear more about how much Su Ho and Ban Ryu’s character development hinges on each other, a push-and-pull motion.

I know this mostly became me ranting about Ban Ryu but he’s my favorite character and I have feels.

[sooryuu]

we’ve waited for banryu x sooyeon to happen but he just.... :(