#i will make it through we that are young ong but it is …. slow going

[callixton]

i miss a separate peace i should reread it once i get thru the books i took out of the library

[starfire-s]

here’s a list of the best, mediocre and worst kdramas i watched in 2020

no one asked for this but it’s happening because i have thoughts (also all opinions are my own if you disagree then get well soon i guess... no i’m kidding make your own posts about it don’t hate me please) ahsjsj anyways click to read a lengthy post and if you actually read the whole thing then thank you i hope you enjoy this wild ride! 

THE BEST KDRAMAS -

mystic pop up bar - this show had everything i ask from a kdrama literally i can name it all found family (to real family), well thought out characters, a mystery plot, special effects, soft romances that were well written, a happy ending! no show in 2020 even comes close to how good this one was! the writers literally guided you throughout the whole thing so you could come up with theories and didn’t do a ‘aha! gotcha’ thing where they want to prove the audience wrong but they wanted us to be right and satisfied! the worst part about the drama is that it’s still so underrated and people just brush it off as some random fantasy show but it’s so much more than that! 1000/10

flower of evil - who doesn’t want to see lee joon gi being the son of a serial killer, living with the name of a man who is in a coma, and hiding his real identity from his wife who is a detective? this show constantly had me at the edge of my seat on a weekly basis so the emotions i went through while watching this are unparalleled! the writers also did such a good job on writing a coherent story that made sense and tied up all the plot points in the end. just a really satisfying show to watch! 10/10

where your eyes linger - i literally bought a $8 viki pass to watch this show so it should tell you everything you need to know about how i feel ahsjsj the episodes were 10 minutes long but we got a good story with well written characters who got character development in a total of 80 minutes it’s insane! honestly it’s still hard to believe this show had rookie actors because they were just so emotive that you could feel all the happiness, sadness, yearning and pining! probably one of my fave kdramas this year because of the acting that i always constantly rewatch! would recommend 10/10

crash landing on you - okay so this drama was actually released on my birthday last year and it was a time in my life when i was going through a lot so maybe it’s the comfort this show provided me through that time this is why i have such a soft spot for it? like the romance was good, it was funny, there was found family, the nk soldiers were all softies, there were strong female leads, soft male leads!!! ahh!! no other show on this list made me think about the unification of south korea and north korea irl because i wanted se ri and jeong hyeok to be together 4ever! but the only issue i had with this show was the ending they gave seung jun if they didn’t do that i’d give this show a 10/10 but just for that they get a 9/10

psycho but it’s okay - this was one of those shows where you’re literally like ‘wow everyone here needs therapy’ but this show was amazing i loved the story telling and how each episode related to children’s book/fairytales! the writers also did a good job with how carefully they talked about mental health in depth without villainising their characters but actually tried to make the audience understand why they were this way which included all the side characters too who had a well thought out story in each episode! also the dynamic between moon young, kang tae and sang tae was everything to me the actors all did an amazing job portraying their characters, it truly was a healing drama. the only thing i didn’t like about this show was the whole plastic surgery plot with the mother like that was very far fetched but it provided drama so i’ll let it slide because the rest was amazing. this show is a solid 8.5/10

18 again - another underrated gem! who would’ve thought a remake of that zac efron movie could be this good!! lee do hyun stole this show for sure the way he portrayed his character and gave heart eyes to his kids (when he’s only 25 irl was the best thing i saw this year ahsjs) i loved the family dynamics in this show, i loved how it talked about what it’s like to be young parents and how society still think it’s taboo to be divorced! it’s a show that makes you laugh and cry at the same time and that’s why everyone should watch it! however, the biggest clown thing this show did to me though was that i got sls for the first time while watching a kdrama... hwang in yeop if u’re reading this i love u and u deserved better 🤡 that aside this show was a 8/10

itaewon class - i actually didn’t watch this drama as it was airing because i thought i wouldn’t enjoy the plot but when i watched it i binged the whole thing in 2 days and my biggest regret is i didn’t watch it sooner! everyone knows i have a soft spot for park seo joon since he’s my favourite actor i’ve literally watched all his dramas like he could star in the trashiest drama out there and i’d still watch it and be like wow (looking at she was pretty 👀) this show aside from the acting had one of the best revenge plots in a kdrama! just watching a character realistically hustle his way to reach the top while fighting the corrupt man whose son killed his father was so so satisfying to watch! however, the love triangle in this show was questionable idk what they were trying to do with that but it personally annoyed me! but still i’ll give this show a 7.5/10 because i enjoyed it a lot!

do you like brahms? - kim min jae and park eun bin.. that’s all you need to know about why this is a good kdrama! i’m usually not a big fan of melodramas and everyone knows i prefer rom coms but this show was just so perfectly melo that i loved all the angst and pain we got!! also just watching two introverted people awkwardly fall in love was amazing! the characters story arcs were also handled pretty well with song ah finally learning to speak up for herself and joon young learning to express how he truly feels! but... the love square? was probably the most annoying thing the rest in my opinion was nicely done! i know people had mixed feelings about the ending but i loved that after all the pain joon young and song ah went through they got a happy ending together! 7/10

find me in your memory - okay this show started off very slow and it was confusing at the start but as it progressed everything in the plot started to fall into place! i mean this show really took opposites attract to a new level where the male lead could remember every single detail from his life but the female lead had to forget some of her traumatic memories to help her cope with her life! they were also tied together through a mutual character who was a big part of their lives in a different way! just an interesting melodrama with interesting characters i liked it! and moon ga young... i love you queen!!! 7/10

THE MEDIOCRE KDRAMAS -

more than friends - was the storytelling in this show groundbreaking? no. was the acting decent? yes. also probably the main reason i stuck with this show until the end! i think we can all agree lee soo had the best character development on this show he started off as a bad boy who wore one ear stud to actually becoming a well liked character... who else did it like him? no one. also the chemistry between the mains was 🔥 but the second male lead was so annoying is there a opposite word for second lead syndrome because i had that for sure! i think the best part about this show was the people i watched it with on here... shoutout to the five of us ahsjsj also this show introduced me to a talented actor/singer like ong seong wu (y’all know my kpop knowledge is nonexistent so no i didn’t know he was in a band called wanna one) all in all a predictable show but i had fun watching it so 6.5/10

tale of the nine tailed - i didn’t actually watch this show i watched it through gifs and instagram posts ahsjsjs so am i qualified to talk about my opinion definitely no... will I talk about it anyways yes lmao. lee rang deserved better that’s all goodbye and take care. 5.5/10

start up - probably one of the most awaited opinions. y’all thought this would be in the worst kdramas section but i decided to give this show some rights. the show started off strong, lost it’s way after episode 6 and then the last episode gave me what i wanted so i have mixed feelings. the writing was not the best i think we can all agree, love triangle as a plot device? wow so groundbreaking 🤡 the characters on the other hand... i loved every single one of them i mean ship wars? i don’t know her. the show had a lot of potential that was wasted but we also got some cute moments between the characters so there was really no winning or losing with this show? but in all honesty you can’t put a talented cast together like this and then just decide to give the audience a mediocre plot but the writers did exactly that! i think i can redirect y’all to my ‘crimes this show committed’ post for a in-depth analysis. lastly nam do san was a GOOD and REFRESHING male lead and ji pyeong was also a GOOD and FUN second male lead!!! this show gave me the ugliest ship war ever that i was transported back to my high school tvd days so thank you for that!! but the cast was loveable and all had a lot of chemistry together so here’s a 5/10 maybe that's too generous but... i think the reason why i didn't enjoy watching this show as much was definitely because of the tag on here lmao

THE WORST KDRAMAS -

the king eternal monarch - i miss clowning this show so much. the amount of braincells i lost while trying to understand this plot... i should be compensated by the writers. however, woo do hwan was a treat to look at on a weekly basis... however the writers kept decreasing his screen time even though he had a dual role... make it make sense? and i cannot comment on the plot of this show because i still don’t understand anything? also in my opinion tae eul and lee gon were the most bland couple of 2020, there was no chemistry between them and there was just a random kiss in episode 5 and they randomly said i love you... where was the development? also lee gon was soooo boring and such a one dimensional male lead! literally all the side characters were so much more interesting and the cast was good... but this plot. 2/10

do do sol sol la la sol - i wanna fight the writer who decided that the plot twist on the show would be that jun is a minor? i had no expectations from this show but it looked cute and nonsensical but that plot twist made me run the other way so fast that i never looked back! just because jun is a boy they really thought this would be excused like lmao we all have critical thinking skills???? the clown behaviour. a solid 1/10

record of youth - i hate this show so much. imagine not utilising park so dam who just starred in the biggest oscar winning movie to her full potential. imagine just making her a love interest to park bo gum’s character in the year 2020. i watched it up until episode 6 and i kept waiting for her character to get development... but it never happened so i dropped this show. also this show featured the MOST useless love triangle i have ever seen in my life like what was the point? also park bo gum’s characters family was straight up annoying (minus the grandpa) but they got so much screen time like that should’ve been given to park so dam... also villainising a gay side character for no reason at all in the year 2020? this show was a waste of my time i want the 6 hours i spent watching this back. -100/10 

backstreet rookie - i watched one episode of this and literally wanted to rip my eyeballs out of my head. idk what ji chang wook was thinking when he signed this drama i think he lost his ability to read because that's the only reasonable explanation for why he chose to star in such a dumpster fire show! this show had a racist character... had a high schooler kiss an adult... sexist jokes... just the worst things you can think of in a drama... this show had it. i still can’t believe so many people watched this show to the point where it had better ratings than pbio... really made me question everyone’s taste? but sorry can’t relate my taste is excellent so here’s the rating this show actually deserves -1000/10

if you made it this far... thank you for reading. let’s continue to love some kdramas together and get clowned by others in 2021! looking forward to it 😅

[its-chelisey-stuff]

My 2020 in dramaland pt 2/4

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate it and happy holidays to everyone!! These are my favorite korean dramas of the year (I stand by these titles and I’m not ashamed of them lol). In chronological order:

My Holo Love: Say what? Who? First of all, I think this is a seriously underrated kdrama. I made a review on it here. Female lead had face blindness and Male Lead was a genius programmer. I know how this sounds but it all works for the plot, actually. Loved every moment of it (I watched it twice, and I rarely do that with dramas). A sort of sci-fi/fantasy romcom drama with a really unusual (and thus my favorite, EVER) love triangle and a nostalgic feel to it. While looking at my list of kdramas I knew I couldn’t treat Holo like all the others LOL it was special for me and still is.

OTP: They had sizzling chemistry! I honestly bought every cliche because of it. Including love at first sight.

Thing I enjoyed the most: The story was simple and had a lot of cliches but they kinda worked to the story’s advantage. This show is an example of why I fell for kdramas almost 10 years ago. Plus, the CGI wasn’t bad.  It’s ony 12 eps and they don’t really last an hour. A one day watch.

Do I recommend it? I LOVED it, but I recognize it’s not for everyone, but if you’re looking for something fun, cute and light to binge-watch that still has some drama and a lot of romance and a happy ending, this is for you.

Find me in Your Memory: Beautiful. Awesome chemistry. Very romantic. She’s an actress, he’s an anchorman. She forgets a lot of things, he literally can remember most things REALLY WELL. She falls for him first, he tries to put distance because of his terrible past in his dating life lol but she wins him over and by the end, he loves her more than anything and anyone. They overcome a lot of crazy shit, and being together it’s hard, but it’s worse being apart. I made a review.

OTP: Loved them both individually and together. And honestly, THAT chemistry was perfect.

Thing I enjoyed the most: The chemistry and the acting by the leads. I became a fan of both because of this.

Do I recommend it? You really haven’t seen it? Please do it. Hahahaha Well, do it if you want to see a good melo knowing what that involves (romance, sadness, lots of tears, some frustration, etc). A really sweet and happy ending that was very well deserved. My favorite melo of the year Sorry Brahms!.Also, fair warning, it has a stalkers’ sub-plot.

The King: Eternal Monarch: You all know what this is about. And I said everything I wanted in my posts (I was mostly fangirling like crazy). Here’s my last one about it. I loved the acting and the story a lot. But I think the drama should have been longer.  Also, I loved the energy of the actors behind the scenes, idk why, but it always warms my heart to see the actors get along on set. Sure, it could be a publicity stunt, but I just don’t think it was the case with this one. And I know not a lot of people liked the two lead characters and said they had no chemistry but imo they were great characters and the actors had LOTS of chemistry. It’s just that it wasn’t very well translated in the first eps, but it was fixed. This, I believe, was a more of a direction problem, rather than a script or acting one.

BTW if the drama was already about time travel and parallel worlds, I had NO problem believing in destiny and that the leads were meant to be. It was fantasy, you guys, not rocket science.

OTP: the main couple loved each other passionately and fiercely. He waited 20+ years to meet her and another 20+ years (practically) to see her again AND she was willing to risk getting stuck in a timeless void just to be by his side because otherwise he would be all alone. Now, that’s love! Personally, I loved their ending.

Thing I enjoyed the most: The King ahahaha I’m a shameless fan, what can I do? He was a good man and a gentleman but a ruthless king thirsty for justice and vengeance. I cheered when he killed his uncle lmao. Also, all the mutuals I “met” thanks to this drama. You guys made the experience even better with your posts and your theories!! *sends hugs*

Do I recommend it? Look the story is great in my eyes. I did understand it and the mechanics of the time travel and the parallel worlds. The King explained everything quite a few times. I say this because most people that didn’t like it say they couldn’t understand the story and/or it made no sense. To me, it did. But I can see why this wouldn’t be for all. That being said, I shamelessly recommend it lol.

More than Friends: The faces they’re doing in the poster, are the ones I did while watching the last 4 eps of this drama HAHAHA which made me real sad/angry because I LOVED the story from ep 1 to 12. So, this is on the list MERELY BECAUSE OF LEE SOO, the male lead, played by Ong SeongWu. I went crazy and wrote about almost every scene on the drama lol I was obsessed. You can read my review about the whole thing here.

OTP: Wonderful chemistry. The best either of the actors have had so far with any of their co-stars. Then again, SeongWu has only been in 2 dramas and 1 movie. And Shin YeEun hasn’t been in a lot but had really good chemistry with Park JinYoung in He’s Pyschometric. (btw that drama is superior, I highly recommend it!)

Thing I enjoyed the most: The magnificent character development that Lee Soo went through. He was a completely different person in ep 16 compared to the selfish jerk in eps 1-4 (SeongWu’s acting in this convinced me he is one of the best actors of his age, and one of the best idols turned actors at the moment). And I loved discussing this drama with the only other 10 people who were watching it hahaha Thanks y’all.

Do I recommend it?  They advertised it as a romcom, but it really isn’t. It’s more of a slice of life/melo drama. I believe this is better as a binge-watch, but do not expect mindblowing plot, since it’s a character driven drama. So, do check out my review about it and have a go at it, I guess hahaha If not, you could see my posts about the show here and still know everything, because I pretty much covered the entire drama HAHAHA.

Note: I kinda think this drama is sort of a “500 days of Summer” situation, people either sympathize with ML or FL and hate the other. Or both HAHAHA It’s all about perspective, I guess.

Tale of the Nine Tailed: Everything you could ask for in a fantasy drama. For me, it was perfect and it made me cry like a baby. I made a review on the finale. I actually liked that he got his powers back at the end. Also, the main couple was the most functional couple I saw this year in kdramas. Which is crazy if you take into acount that he wasn’t human and both had a lot of pain and traumas from their pasts. Which shows that communication and trust is key to every relationship.

OTP:  THEY LOVED EACH OTHER SO MUCH! AND WERE BOTH HOT. SO HOT FOR EACH OTHER. I kinda ship the actors now lol

Thing I enjoyed the most: Jiah, Yeon and Rang. The romance and the relationship between Rang and Yeon, which is what actually made me cry in the end. But we all knew it was coming.

Do I recommend it? Hell Yeah. Might not be for everyone, but if you like fantasy and romance, one heavily connected with the other, and the reincarnated lovers trope which I adore! then this is your drama.

Honorable Mentions:

You know, they almost made it. But something held me back. Still, it didn’t feel right to put them with the other dramas. So they got an honorable mention with my favorite ones.

Itaewon Class: This was, in general, a tragedy. But I loved it. Ooops. Dude was only stopping a classmate from bullying another and got his whole life ruined: got expelled, his dad was killed, he went to jail and had to start from the bottom and reached the top all thanks to one special and unique young girl. My eyes were full of tears when he finally got his happiness at the end and justice for his dad. Plus, it deals with a few topics that are still taboo in Korea. And the whole world tbh

OTP: SLOW BURN. Super slow lol For a moment there, I thought they weren’t going to be endgame, but they were and I WAS THE HAPPIEST.

Thing I enjoyed the most: Park Saeroyi and Yiseo. And the acting from the whole cast, actually. They did a really good job.

Do I recommend it? Yes. My brother hadn’t seen a kdrama in years and he saw this one. He enjoyed it greatly. I don’t know why I say this as if my brother were some kind of point of reference or expert in kdramas, but y’all need to trust me when I say this is impressive hahaha.

Into the Ring: This woman only wanted a job that could give her stability and a good pay check because her family was in huge debt. She ended up becoming a district representative that learned the real hard way a good person cannot live peacefully among politicians. She got the hell out of there in the end, thank God. Sera was a great heroine that really deserves to be called that. Loved her so much.

OTP: A super cute one that defied gender stereotypes in a delightful way. He was HER secretary at one point!

Thing I enjoyed the most: Listen, everything. It was really well done. I binged it in 2 weekends. I regret not doing a final review about it, but I just couldn’t find the time and if I do one now, it’s not gonna make the drama justice because I’m sure I’ll miss details. I did make 2 big posts about the sismance and romance.

Do I recommend it? YEP. Go see it now lol

Do you like Brahms?: Most people complained about the leads being way too depressed and miserable in the last third of the drama. I didn’t mind that, because you see, it’s what you’d expect from a melodrama lol What did leave this drama out of my favorites is the reason why they were so miserable in the first place and the 2 never actually had a long and meaningful conversation about their problems as individuals and about their relationship and it was SO needed. It was literally their thing at the start of the drama: the way they could be open with each other and communicate so damn well. But that was nowhere to be seen in the end. Still, they had a happy ending and after all that suffering, I appreciated that. I made posts about each ep. Here is the post about the last one.

OTP: Two introverts that kissed on a music room for the first time AND made out on a piano. ON THE PIANO, Y’ALL!! *fans self*

Thing I enjoyed the most: The leads. The only TWO decent people (and friends), everyone else was an awful person. Oh, and the team leader. Such a great lady!

Do I recommend it? OMG Yes? It’s hard to say it but I try to judge the drama overall and how in love I was for the most part rather than how much it frustrated me in the last few eps. If you want to watch a melo with classical music that instead of healing makes you sadder, a love hexagon that makes you want to kill secondary characters and an OTP that gets their HEA despite all that, this is your drama.

Live On: This is a last minute addition, but given the fact that it will air the last ep on the first week of 2021, it kinda technically counts as this year’s. And I do love it. A mini drama about high schoolers. Here’s my post about the first ep and about the most recent one (with spoilers) It’s just a really well done, romantic, cute and fun with touch of mystery, coming of age story. 

OTP: The most popular girl in high school and the smart president of the broadcasting club. Started as strangers, then went on to disliking each other, became friends and then liked each other. Also, ML is quite straightforward and flirtily honest lol

Thing I enjoyed the most: How short it is and the pace of the story. The main couple and the way the mystery was written, not a lot so it’d make the whole drama just about that, but enough to make an interesting backstory that sets FL on her journey and in the process, brings the six main characters together.TW: the whole mystery revolves around bullying.

Do I recommend it? If you like high school romances, YES. It’s only 8 eps long! You can binge it on a saturday or a sunday and I assure you it won’t be a waste of time. Kinda wish I could erase it all from my mind so that I could experience the whole story right away. I envy those who can binge it.

[irrfahrer]

Open Starter

The room seemed small, too small and past the durasteel walls was nothing but dead, airless space that creeped closer, closer, closer. The scent of sickness and sweat hung in the air of the freighter so thickly Ziv swore she would be able to grasp it if she would just reach out with a small paw. She did not reached for it but instead only pulled the by sweat drenched bedsheets of the pilot who had a few hours before developted a fever, dried the Kiffers sweat off his face and chest, before she drapped dry blankets on him again by tucking the pilot in as if he was a small child. Zivs tail twitched hectically, nervouse, hasty. The Kiffar mumbled something quietly that was barely hearable in the silence hanging in the dead ship, still the Tynnans ears turned towards him like the ears of a alerted animal and she knelt down again beside the mans bunk where she had put him to rest under layers of blankets like in a secure nest. Zivs tail twitched hastily, nervouse, hectically, restless. “Nah,”, the young woman answered, reached out and pinched the mans green tatooed cheek, she pulled her paw back just in time so the trembling could not be noticed: “You will be fine. It would have made the whole Kriffery here just easier if you would have rested and cured yourself before jumping on a starship, but there is nothing a week of kriffing rest and a kriffing fist of antibiotica will not slove here.” Gently she smacked her small fist against the Kriffers chin, not hard, not in the sligthest hard, but still enough to make a weak grin appear on the Kiffars lips that was so small, it almost drowned in his from fever hot and paled face. She forced her breathing to be calm and slow, although it hurted in her throat as if she was swallowing needles. The room seemed small, too small and past the room was nothing but cold, dead space: “And with that I mean my kriffing fist in your face, because you did not rested, Kriffer, which means we are stuck in this kriffery of a moveless ship with a pilot who can not fly. Now sleep, everythings okay.” Zivs tail twitched, twitched, twitched- hectically, nervouse, frantically. She stood up, her ears flicking back to the pilot and after the quiet mumble that drowned in a loud coughing which sounded more as if sharp nails were scratching on his vocal cords. Ziv made a mental note to add to the broiled up antibiotic root she wanted to prepare for him, also add a tea that would sooth the infection of his throat: “I said its fine. Rest now.” The Tynnan felt as if she was fleeing.

Ziv tucked the blanket closer around the Kiffar and stood up, skirts rustling like dry automnleafs. The freighter she was in was silent, the lights were out ,  the mechanic beside the life-support stystems, radar and Commlink as  dead as the ship floating like a rotten fish through the asteroidbelt. As soon as she stepped out of the pilots sleeping quarter, the Tynnan hasty closed the door and took a deep breath, her heart beating so hard she swore it felt as if it was about to just break out of her chest. Calm!, Ziv ordered in her mind, snarled in her mind, begged in her mind, yet still the door was closed, yet still the ship was silent, yet still the ship was alone, swallowed by the darkness of space. She did not calmed, her whole inside felt as if it was squashed by a brutal hand. Kriffing calm!, Ziv begged in her mind, and had to grab her paw with the other to stop it from shaking, yet still the ship was dark and dead, yet still it was alone in the middle of nowhere, yet still she was here, here, here and icy, cold space was there, there, there, inching close with every other minute she spend on the ship-

It was the beeping of the radar in the cockpit that ripped the Tynnan out of the claustophobic spiral and, huffing, gasping, wheezing, she almost just sacked down on her knees as she stumbled to the cockpit. The radar showed that another ship was flying towards them, carefully navigating through the astroidfield. A confused frown drew a line as deep as a scar between the youg womans eyes. She had send a Distres signal when the pilot had been no onge rable to hold himself in the pilotseat, but considering how abonded this partof the Galaxy was, she had not hought that it would be caught. Automatically the young womans small paw closed around the hit of her blaster as she grabbed with her other paw for the Commlink in the cockpit, going through the frequenzes until she hit the one the other ship was sending on. Her small paw lay around the blaster unmoveable like a iron vice as she asked carefully in Bocce: “   Jettoz! Demeezz bo treeza freighter WunWunFyiz! Finitez cetez detox?  Bazi batza Bazic?  “ 

[aion-rsa]

Inside the Mortal Kombat Movie’s Bloody Love Letter to Martial Arts

https://ift.tt/3sPd50L

About 10 hours into a November 2019 flight to Australia and the set of Warner Bros. Mortal Kombat reboot, I started to ask myself whether this was all worth it. I loved the original Mortal Kombat movie about as much as anyone unironically can, but the fact remains that the history of live-action video game film adaptations is paved with disappointment. Even the best movies in that field have earned their reputation largely by exceeding low expectations.

After nearly 30 years of failed attempts, it’s hard to even picture what a good live-action video game movie might look like. What is it about the transition from sprites to screen that makes this process so difficult? Is this a pursuit that is, in some ways, doomed to be dictated by those who see such films as another piece of merchandise? What will it take to finally break the curse? Those questions raced through my jetlagged brain as I finally made it to Adelaide and prepared to see what awaited me on the other side of the world. 

Shortly into my visit, I was taken off my feet by a line that hit me like an MK player mercilessly spamming a leg sweep. It came in the form of this line from producer Todd Garner that reshaped my expectations and set the tone for what proved to be something that was very much worth the trip and perhaps worthy of your own wait:

“I think it’s great that there are a lot of characters, a lot of lore, and let’s do it all well. But really, people want to fuck each other up.”

Gore and Lore

Garner was, of course, mostly joking. Yet, there is a truth in many jokes, and the truth in this one seemed to be that managing what the Mortal Kombat canon has become can be a daunting task. It’s certainly not made any easier by the fact that there haven’t been many undisputedly great video game movies for the team to work with and use as precedent. 

In lieu of notable live-action video game adaptations that made good on their ambition, the film’s production team turned to a source that most would agree has. 

“It’s like the Marvel Universe…it’s endless,” says Garner of the Mortal Kombat game franchise. “So we started from the premise ‘What would Marvel do?’”

It’s a useful question that the upcoming Mortal Kombat movie answers in fascinating ways. For instance, as Garner noted, the MCU didn’t start with The Avengers; it started with Iron Man. That film allowed Marvel Studios to ease viewers into a project that was, in its own ways, also somewhat unprecedented. Similarly, the Mortal Kombat movie uses the character of Cole Young as a kind of audience surrogate. He’s a new face in this universe who is also trying to figure all of this out. 

It’s all part of a delicate balancing act that requires the cast and crew to constantly ask themselves how this movie looks to a diehard fan and how it will look to someone who is just coming into this. 

“There are five million people that play this game religiously, but there are 100s of millions of people in the world,” Garner says. “We didn’t want the other 95 million people to go, ‘What the fuck is this. What is this tone, what the fuck is happening?’”

It’s easy to understand how fans could quickly become overwhelmed. If you haven’t played the more recent Mortal Kombat games, you may be surprised to learn that they’ve adopted a complex serial storytelling narrative that combines years of mythology as well as the events of the most recent games. If you tried jumping into Mortal Kombat 11’s interdimensional, time-jumping story, without at least an explainer of what came before, you’d probably think it was madness. Amusing madness, perhaps, but madness nonetheless. 

As it turns out, even Mortal Kombat director Simon McQuoid had a lot of catching up to do. 

“I feel like I went to Mortal Kombat university,” says McQuoid regarding the experience of learning the intricacies of the franchise. “I also surrounded myself with a lot of people who know a lot more about this than me.”

In the same way that 1995’s Mortal Kombat benefited from director Paul W.S. Anderson seeking and utilizing fan and crew feedback, McQuoid’s own desire to surround himself with lifelong MK fans is just one of the ways that the crew is determined to ensure they don’t make the mistake others have before them by straying too far from the desires of those who helped make the Mortal Kombat franchise worthy of adaptation in the first place. His efforts ultimately come down to honoring an important word. 

“The word I use a lot is ‘respect,’” says McQuoid. “Respect for the fans, respect for the characters, and respect for the canon. The execution ultimately takes that into consideration from the absolute bedrock of listening to and understanding the fans.”

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Of course, as Garner previously eloquently noted, what many Mortal Kombat fans are looking for is over-the-top violence executed with flair. That is a big part of what made the original Mortal Kombat stand out in a crowded arcade scene, and it is certainly one of the qualities that have stayed with the series as it has evolved into this surprising vehicle for complex narratives and diverse characters. 

Fatality!

Of course, you can’t talk about Mortal Kombat violence without coming around to fatalities. What began as now strangely humble decapitations and spine extractions has evolved into a bloody ballet of highly choreographed violent ends that account for the lore and ability of every character. It’s something that was largely missing from the 1995 adaptation, and it’s something that Garner admits can be tricky to get right. 

“There’s crazy shit you can do in the game,” Garner says. “The problem with the fatalities, in general, is…I’m under the restrictions of the Motion Picture Association of America so I have to live inside those rules.”

In case you haven’t seen the recently released trailer, let me assure you now that the MPAA has not scared the team away from incorporating fatalities and MK’s other, bloodiest elements. In fact, McQuoid is practically at sea with the amount of blood on set. 

“I don’t know the gallon number, but I’ve seen drums of blood sitting around,” McQuoid informs his audience of gorehounds with a smile. 

So yes, there will be blood and lots of it in the Mortal Kombat reboot, but the team isn’t relying on the presence of blood alone to fulfill their equally important mission of telling a Mortal Kombat story as compelling as the ones featured in the games. Actually, they recognize that there are times when extreme amounts of violence can work against the dark tones that help make the franchise’s universe so compelling. 

“When I wanted a serious moment I didn’t want it to get comedic because we’re swashing blood,” McQuoid says. “It’s a tonal thing…you really need to feel it all instead of having people say ‘Oh, that’s funny.’” 

Besides, there are other ways to convey the series’ violent nature and brutal style that doesn’t necessarily require a drum of blood. From the first game in the franchise, Mortal Kombat has nodded to at least the cinematic history of martial arts. Whereas that series initially struggled to convey the fluidity and complexity of the best martial arts fights, though, the MK movie team has set a high bar for themselves. 

“The first thing I said to [stunt coordinator Kyle Gardiner] was “Okay, Kyle, you have to make the best fights that have ever been on film,” reveals McQuoid.

To anyone with a passing familiarity with the best fight scenes in film history, that idea has to come across as an absurd bit of hype. However, it starts to make a lot more sense when you look at the cast they’ve assembled. 

Choose Your Fighter

For a generation of fans raised on ‘80s action films and many major Hollywood genre productions that came after, it’s become somewhat easy to buy into the idea that untrained or largely untrained actors, bodybuilders, and models are the biggest badasses on the big screen. There’s a degree to which that’s what actors are supposed to do, but anyone who grew up on Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee or later found films such as The Raid and Ong-Bak can tell you that there’s nothing quite like watching uniquely talented martial artists push the boundaries of fight scenes by translating their real-world talents into cinematic splendor. In fact, the original Mortal Kombat arcade game was partially inspired by a desire to make a game that felt worthy of a John Claude Van Damme action film.

When it comes to getting Mortal Kombat right, then, there’s little doubt that the only way to go was to cast an all-star collection of martial artists and trained fighters rather than teach a cast of movie stars to look like they can do the things these guys can. However, I can’t emphasize enough just how crazy it was to watch even just snippets of what this essential superteam of martial artists push themselves to do when you put them in a room. Even those who have spent a considerable amount of time around the cast still express awe at what they’ve seen. 

“I’ve never made a movie like this before with this much fighting in it,” says Garner. “I don’t know what’s going on half the time, but they really are the best in the business…It’s so fast and even the camera is like, ‘Guys, can you slow down a little bit?’”

In some ways, the heart of this assembly feels like Sub-Zero actor Joe Taslim. As a renowned martial artist who many of us first saw in The Raid: Redemption, many action fans know that Taslim is the real deal. What you may not know is that Taslim is something of a Mortal Kombat superfan. His name was even tossed around a few times on the shortlist of best MK players on-set, as well as by some who suggested that Taslim helped set the pace (and raise the bar) for the speed of the action sequences. 

Then you have Tadanobu Asano as Raiden. As a legend of the Japanese film scene who has garnered more international acclaim in recent years by virtue of his work in 47 Ronin, Battleship, and the Thor films, Asano feels uniquely capable of playing the thunder god whose abilities sometimes set the standard in a universe of powerful fighters. He embodies the character so clearly that he’s already got his eye on the out of universe competition 

“Yeah, I can fight [Chris Hemsworth],” suggested Asano with a smile at the prospect of a Thor vs. Raiden film.

There also Max Huang who portrays Kung Lao: a beloved fan character who was sadly missing from the previous live-action adaptations. For him, the chance to finally bring that character to life echoes his own desire to further his transition from a celebrated stunt coordinator to a bonafide action hero.

“People like Bruce Lee were my heroes,” says Huang. “The ultimate goal was to become an actor, but there were few chances. A lot of times, it would just be a one-liner and that was it. These last few years I figured ‘you only have one life,’ so I just went for it.”

Few people are more qualified to speak on that subject than Liu Kang actor, Ludi Lin. As an advocate for representation in Hollywood, Lin has previously said how a lack of representation or even the wrong kind of representation can lead to feelings of shame and even isolation. For Lin, working with this many talented martial artists on a major Western production isn’t just a chance to showcase his own abilities; it’s a chance to help millions feel like they’re being seen. 

“Look, 60% of the world is Asian. A quarter of the world is Chinese,” says Lin. “I just don’t understand why there can only be one [in Hollywood films].”

Increased representation is always important, but at a time when violence against Asian Americans is on the rise, it stands to reason that the portrayal and prominence of Asian actors on film may be on more minds than ever before. So far as that goes, Mortal Kombat is uniquely positioned to not only showcase Asian heroes but pay respect to the clear Asian influences on the Mortal Kombat series in a way that the MK titles (especially the older installments) didn’t necessarily do before.

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“From my experience working with Simon [McQuoid], I’ve never worked with someone that’s so serious about being that authentic for another culture,” says Lin. “Just walking on set…on this film, there are so many different types of people of different ethnicities, different origins, and different backgrounds. It really represents the world.”

I could go on. Legendary Japanese action star Hiroyuki Sanada as Scorpion, the beloved Chin Han as Shang Tsung, rising star Mehcad Brooks as Jax…even non-action stars or martial artists like Kano actor Josh Lawson have found how they fit into this legendary assembly of cast and characters. 

“I was just saying to Asano-san, ‘Kano, he’s only funny because he’s balancing you guys,’” notes Lawson. “On his own, it’s nothing. But as a see-saw, the more seriously these guys take the mysticism and the power, the less seriously I can take it. That’s where the comedy exists. He can walk in and tell them, ‘Fucking hell.’”

Who is Lewis Tan?

With so much of the fun for fans coming from watching their favorite MK fighters come to life and battle on the big screen, it’s hardly a surprise that it’s one of the new characters, Lewis Tan as Cole Young, who has attracted so much early attention. How will he fit into a roster of such established characters? It’s a question that Tan is relieved to finally be able to answer.

“It’s just nice to even be able to talk about the character because there was so much speculation and hype up until this point about which character I’m playing,” Tan says with noted relief. “I wear Ray Bans a lot so people were like, ‘Oh, he’s Johnny Cage. [laughs]’”

He may not be Johnny Cage, even if Tan’s effortless charm and movie star looks make him a prime candidate for the role, but it’s incredible how easily the Cole character seems to fit into this universe of iconic characters. Along those same lines, Tan seems to have quickly established himself among a roster of top-tier martial arts and action actors. In some ways, his vocal enthusiasm for the project best captures the set’s general vibe.

“I don’t want to jinx it either but I can truthfully tell you, I felt magic when I got here and it’s been crazy ever since then,” says Tan of his experience until that point. “It’s crazy because I’m really hard on myself and I’m really hard on the work that I do. Sometimes I’m like, ‘Oh, this wasn’t it.’ And then I’ll see a little of a rough cut of what Simon was doing and then I’m like, ‘Oh. It’s amazing.’ There’s some stuff that I wasn’t on set for and then I saw that stuff and I’m like, ‘That’s the best thing I’ve ever seen.’”

Of course, it’s hard to talk about bringing Mortal Kombat to life without the people who quite literally help do just that. 

Exploding Heads and Blown Minds

At one point during my set visit, I found myself standing on a stunning recreation of the bridge that crosses the chasm on the iconic Mortal Kombat stage known as The Pit. It was a massive construction impressively built to serve as both a showcase piece and an actual set practically designed as the stage for one of the film’s fight scenes. 

The team informed us that the general philosophy was to ensure that (almost) anything that could be done practically was done practically. A green screen was used sparingly to solve otherwise impossible problems. It’s an approach that appeases the old-school movie fans among us while honoring the raw nature of the older Mortal Kombat games which typically emphasized visceral visuals over more refined sensibilities.

The Mortal Kombat movie actually finds a fascinating middle ground between those concepts. For instance, the film’s costumes showcase the kind of wear and tear that you’d expect to see in outfits worn by warriors locked in an eternal battle, but they’re also designed to not only honor cultural concepts but the idea that some of this armor was designed to be somewhat ornamental at one point in time. They’re refined but appropriately ugly.

The film’s weapons are really on another level. Weapons have become increasingly important to the Mortal Kombat fighting styles over the years, and this film honors that concept through an arsenal of carefully constructed instruments of death that somehow treat even the most seemingly impractical of weapons with a logic that has perhaps only previously been dwelled on by the series’ biggest fans.

No detail was overlooked in pursuit of making sure every character had a weapon that the actor could hold in their hand and feel the power of. From ornate katanas to swords made of ice, the props team clearly fell in love with the opportunity to make even the absurd a reality. We even saw a garden gnome suspiciously snuck into the small arsenal they had crafted. 

Again, though, what stood out most is the prop team’s insistence that many of these weapons didn’t just need to look good on-screen. Many of them needed to be balanced and practical enough to be used in battle simply because many of them were actually going to be used in the film’s fight scenes. I don’t know how the weapon designs will come across in the final film, but my gut feeling is that the fight scenes that they allow for will immediately be appreciated.

One other area where those efforts will almost certainly be immediately appreciated by everyone watching the movie is the makeup and practical effects. The makeup trailer I stepped in was loaded with masks, body parts, and the carnage of many early morning marathon makeup sessions. It looked closer to a horror movie than an action film or video game adaptation. That should be music to the ears of any fans that recognize that one of the things that helped the Mortal Kombat series stand out over the years are the horror tones that were used to help craft characters, stages, and most certainly the fatalities. 

While we weren’t treated to a fatality viewing while on-set, the team was good enough to describe an exploding head that they were working on for an upcoming shoot. Where that exploding head will rank among the best of all-time (a list that includes films like Scanners, Maniac, and The Prowler) remains to be seen, but their approach sounded fascinating. By utilizing a silicone glass head filled with blood and guts and triggered by an air cannon, the scene figures to pay homage to the techniques of the best such effects of old while utilizing modern advancements designed out of necessity and perhaps a desire to help raise the bar. 

It wasn’t long into my trip that the cast and crew emphasized the number of practical effects being utilized, and I certainly understand why. They not only look great, but the fact that so much effort went into ensuring these design elements offer something so much more than good looks seems to perfectly capture the spirit of the movie’s mission to make something that is so much more than it has to be.

Flawless Victory?

If the biggest “advantage” of low expectations is the idea that even lesser efforts can somehow exceed them, then the biggest disadvantage of the expectations set by many live-action video game movies to date is getting people to genuinely feel excited. There’s a big difference between crafting something that makes you think “That could have been worse,” and making a movie that inspires the genuine belief that this isn’t just going to be something different; this is going to be something special. 

The highest compliment I can pay to Mortal Kombat is that the genuine excitement expressed by everyone on-set went well beyond a cast and crew that were just happy to be there or felt that what they were doing was good enough. From those who couldn’t wait to play some of their favorite characters to those who were eager to finally showcase what they do best via a production that’s scale equaled the scope of their talents, there was a smile on everyone’s face as they told you what they were working on with the full knowledge that what they were about to say was something so far beyond what you expected. 

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

I don’t know if Mortal Kombat will “break the curse.” I don’t even know if it will satisfy a legion of MK fans who have had their expectations forever raised by the recent games’ own increasingly cinematic efforts. What I can tell you is that it’s ok to feel excited about Mortal Kombat. Actually, you probably should be excited about Mortal Kombat. I can assure you that everyone working on the film very much is. That, in and of itself, is a victory.

The post Inside the Mortal Kombat Movie’s Bloody Love Letter to Martial Arts appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3kGV41W

[failsona]

Recovery - Chapter 5

Warnings: KnucklesXSilver/Knuxilver, hinted sonadow, something bad happened to timid little brother Silver. Over protective big brother Shadow, emotional trauma, emotional breakdown, boyxboy. More may be added. 

Support Me With A Warm Green Tea ~<3 https://ko-fi.com/A8333GVJ

Chapter 5: Promises

Silver's mood had brightened, he felt better, now that he had his friend back.

He knew things wouldn't go back to the way they were before though. He knew they'd both be facing challenges and sometimes things may be awkward, but right now it was perfect.

Currently he was rather amused. They couldn't decide what they wanted to watch on t.v., so Knuckles suggested flipping through stations until they found something they both might like.

Flipping into the 800 stations and so far nothing, and Knuckles was getting very frustrated, and repeatedly threatened to just turn the t.v. off. Something he still had yet to do.

Stubborn guardian.

Silver couldn't help but chuckle as Knuckles began to mutter “One-thousand channels, and there's nothing on.”  “Knuckles, um, you might wanna just settle for a music channel or something. You're um, heading into the 900's”  “Yeah, and there's still nothing.” “That's not-”  “Not even a Rush Hour movie. Those are always on.”  “Umm, you might wanna-”  

The next channel that came on, made Silver cut himself off.  

On screen was a human woman wearing see through underwear, laying on her back, rubbing her hands along her chest, while sitting in between her legs, was grey a vixen in a trashy school girl uniform that barely left anything to the imagination, playing up to the camera, licking her lips and leaning forward to show off her cleavage.

Both friends just stared at the scene for a few moments, trying to register what they were seeing.

Knuckles finally came to his senses and quickly changed the channel back to a rock music station.

“O-oh look, um, eh, it's you're favourite band! Empire Of Dirt! Eh-heh.” He stuttered, he felt like the sweat was pumping out of him as tried to keep talking about the music that was playing.

God this was awkward.

After a few moments of nervous babbling, the guardian finally noticed Silver had yet to say  anything.

Looking over at his friend, he saw Silvers head bowed, ears pinned back against his head, fingers digging into his thighs.

Shit! He upset him!

Panicking, Knuckles scooted closer to his young friend and gently placed a hand on his shoulder. “Kid? Hey, I-I'm really sorry! I didn't mean to upset you!”

Silver finally lifted his head to look at his guardian, and Knuckles was surprised to see his face so flushed, and was that a grin?

“Wh-what are you grinning at?”  “That lady, the vixen, she lives down the road.”

Well that was unexpected.

Trying to stop himself from laughing, Knuckles coughed into his hand. “Ehem. O-oh really.”

“Yup. She works part time at the fruit and vegetable shop.”

“No way, you're messing now. She doesn't work there.” The guardian sniggered into his hand.

Silver shrugged, his huge grin still present on his flushed face. “Fine, don't believe the truth. All I know is, I don't think we'll be able to buy cucumbers there any more without being embarrassed.”

Oh that was it!

“Shut up you little brat!” the guardian laughed and pulled the younger hedgehog into his lap, one arm wrapped tightly around his waist while his free hand rubbed up the boys side, until the boy started to giggle.

“Found it!”  Knuckles declared and tickled Silver, making him squirm and burst out laughing, and gasping trying to catch his breath.

“S-stoHEHEHAHA! C-CANNNNNN NYAHHEHEHEE! BREEEHEEEEAATHEEE!”

“Fine, I'll let you breathe.” The guardian sighed dramatically and let Silver go.

Falling back onto the couch, face flushed, fur a mess, he tried catching his breath, but he couldn't stop giggling.

Grinning the echidna gently flicked the tip of Silver's ear, earning another set of giggles. “Heh, c'mon. Calm down now. Calm you're breathing, you sound like you're going into labour.” “Haha, shut up!” Silver laughed and playfully hit him with the couch cushion.

Knuckles look down at the young hedgehog, a small smile gracing his lips. “Heh, didn't realise I'd missed hearing you laugh so much.”

The white hedgehog winced and slumped down in the couch, mood suddenly darkening.“Don't say things like that.” He muttered, looking away from his friend.

“What? It's true though. Silver?”

“Don't say things you don't mean.”

Knuckles shuffled closer to him, and gently put a hand on his shoulder. “Hey,” he spoke softly “I do mean it. I know things have been.......well, I haven't been there for you, and even today I was pretty reluctant to come here.”

The echidna panicked when the boy began to shiver. “B-but, I realised I was wrong for not being there for you. I was too busy mourning over the friend I thought I lost. I was too focused on how I felt, instead of being there for you. I thought, what we had was gone, I thought you were gone.”

Knuckles gently took hold of the boys chin, tilting his head back to look at him. His heart dropped when he saw his eyes welling up with tears.

“I was so wrong. You're not gone, you're still there, you're still YOU. Just, you're hurt.”

The dam broke, and immediately the guardian wrapped his arms around the hedgehog, pulling him close against his chest as the boy began to sob, his body shaking.

“Wh-ahat took yo so l-lo-ong! D-dumm-mmy!” The white hedgehog cried, gripping his friends shoulders and nuzzling his face against his chest. “M-missed. Sooo much! Missed t-this! Missed Youuu!”

Patting the back of his head, the echidna cooed to the boy “I know, I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. I'll never abandon you again. I promise.”

Silver stiffened “Don't!”

“I don't care what you say, or believe, I will protect you. I'm not going back on that, I'm not going to abandon you.” The guardian growled, as his hold on the boy tightened a little, as if to emphasize his promise.

Silver whimpered, but nodded his head. “A-alright.”

The pair remained like that for a few minutes, Silver had calmed his, his breathing soft and slow, his body no longer shaking.  

Silver felt drained, he was struggling to keep his eyes open.

Knuckles noticed Silver's struggles to stay awake and he chuckled lightly and leaned back against the cushions, bringing the hedgehog with him and allowing him to lay on him and use him as a pillow.

“There, that better kid? Comfy?” No response. “Eh, Kid? Silver?” Knuckles looked down and saw Silver's eyes were closed. Sleep won.

“Get some rest then.” He sighed, and turned his attention to the tv, that had some music video of some band in a garage and a woman dancing exotically on the hood of a car. “Really?” He grumbled and grabbed the remote and switched to a nature station that had a show about building ridiculous fish tanks. “They'd turn anything into a show these days.”

Despite his complaints, he never changed the channel,  and just lay there, partially paying attention, while he pet the back of the hedgehog's head as he slept.

[wanna-17]

ong seongwoo first meeting! AU

summary: in which you meet a handsome guy and his friends while in line for a rollercoaster 

length: 1.7k

a/n: the next one in my first meeting! au series! sorry that it took so long! honestly a lot has been happening in life and everything is uncertain and just life is hard and decisions too. but did you guys watch mama? how beautiful were wanna one? and i can’t get over how handsome seongwoo is and congrats to wanna one for winning 2 awards!!! everyone has worked hard and everyone is equally deserves an award, spread love and not hate im so annoyed at “fans” complaining about how some groups don’t deserve an award or another group deserved an award more...everyone is deserving!!!!! but there are only so little awards to give out :(( anyways hope you guys enjoy this scenario :) 

you were an only child 

while you always had your parents attention and you were super close to them 

sometimes you really wish you had a sibling

to rant about life with and to do fun things together with 

so now you are on a holiday with your parents 

and today was the amusement park which you were most looking forward too 

the last time you went to an amusement park when you were like 8 so you couldn’t go on all the big scary rides :(((

so you were keen for this time as you were able to go on every ride due to your height 

you and your parents arrived at the theme park 

and well obviously you and your parents had different ideas about what was fun 

they were into slow rides where they could see the scenery like cable cars and towers that slowly rose up 

while you were into thrill rides like rollercoasters or haunted houses or those rides where you drop down 

so you and your parents decided to separate for the day and meet up again just before the amusement park closed 

while walking around you couldn’t help but be envious of all the young people around you 

there were couples or siblings or people with a big group of friends 

you decided to push those thoughts out and make the most of the day 

you went on some rides with shorter lines and screamed your lungs off without a care in the world 

but these rides were medium level and not too scary   

at this amusement park there was also the second fastest ride in the world so it was obviously popular 

you really wanted to go on it so you joined the line,,,even though it was a 1.5 hr wait lmao

for the first `10 or so minutes you scrolled through your phone 

until the group of ppl in front of you caught your attention bc they were so loud especially this one guy with a hyena laugh lol jaehwan my boy 

you realised that those group of boys were actually behind you in line for the first ride you went on this morning 

and you may or may not  have found them cute 

but anyways you continued on with your business continuing to scroll through your phone 

....until suddenly there was pushing for some reason and you were shoved against this tall guy in front of you 

his nice and firm back was the first thing that came to mind

the guy turned around and smiled at you and as he slightly held onto you 

“omg i’m so sorry” you said flustered “i dont know why they’re pushing behind me” 

“hey don’t be sorry its fine!!” said the guy really nicely as he continued to hold onto you to keep u stable not even sure if that makes sense but lets go with the flow 

while you slightly tried to hide your blushing 

bc his voice was so ??? nice ??

the pushing went on for a little more and it finally stopped and you heaved a sigh of relief

“hey i’m so sorry what’s your name?” asked the guy

“im y/n! and you?” 

“i’m seongwoo, ong seongwoo, not hong seongwoo, not kong seongwoo, not wong seongwoo but ong seongwoo. nice to meet you” 

you nodded and laughed at his response 

he laughed as well glad that you found him funny bc he lowkey found u cute as well 

“are you here yourself?” asked seongwoo

“i’m with my parents but they’re not really up for this ride” 

he laughed and his eyes crinkled cutely 

“lol yeah makes sense, im with my crazy bunch of friends but you can join us if you like” offered seongwoo 

when he said that, his friends all turned around and started greeting you enthusiastically trying to shake your hand and talk to you and you were overwhelmed by their keenness

“hey hey guys BACK OFF i talked to her first” joked seongwoo

you all  laughed and then he introduced you one by one each of his friends providing a funny description for each person 

they all seemed tight and you found out that they’d be friends for a long time bc they were the only younger boys who lived in their neighbourhood so they all naturally became friends even though there were age gaps 

suddenly lining up for this ride was fun and the time went so fast 

you listened to them talk and found it cute how they always talked over each other and tried to get your attention whenever you asked them questions 

you laughed along with them and learnt that they all learnt dancing together and hoped to form an entertainment agency and they joked that you should be the ceo 

while lining up though you couldn’t help but be most attached to seongwoo 

he was super nice and when no one was talking to you he would strike up a conversation 

you noticed he had these three moles formed like a constellation under his left eye correct me if im wrong omg

and they were so pretty and unique 

basically not only was he very handsome but had a fun and down to earth personality 

in no time you guys were at the front of the line however the ride was in pairs 

and his friends obviously had a plan bc they noticed the secret and not so shy glances you and seongwoo stole at each other 

so they all paired up  at the speed of light even daniel left ong to pair up with jisung 

and seongwoo was left with you 

but you both were secretly happy heheh

you guys got on the ride and buckled up 

soon the rollercoaster started going up and thats when it hit you 

“omg omg omg” you chanted excitedly 

seongwoo laughed at your cute reaction and chanted along with you 

you raised your hands as it got to the peak 

and woosh the rollercoaster was going down steeply at the speed of 160km/hr 

you and seongwoo screamed in delight

and unconsciously he grabbed onto your hand as he continued to scream and wail and shout 

at that moment when you felt his hand grabbing yours 

it didn’t feel like you were on a rollercoaster anymore

rather your heart was on a rollercoaster of emotions that you had never experienced before 

then he suddenly let go and raised his ups as the ride reached another peak 

you were slightly disappointed but decided to enjoy the ride so you continued screaming and enjoying the thrill 

when you all got off you all passed the section where the photos from the ride were on the screen

and you didnt even know  there would be photos 

“guys lets look at the photos” shouted jisung as he tried to gather all the crazy boys 

you guys looked through the photos as they were presented on a slideshow

and when it got to you and seongwoo’s they all burst out in laughter and began to tease you 

“hahahah omg look y/n’s expression is frozen” said guanlin seal clapping 

“y/n must love it so much” shrieked jaehwan 

“they’re in love oooohhhh” teased daehwi 

you and seongwoo exchanged shy glances as they continued to tease you two 

from then on for every ride they would make sure you and seongwoo were next to each other 

and the two of you didn’t even protest 

and y’all were both secretly enjoying it 

the last destination for the day was the ferris wheel 

when you guys were lining up you and seongwoo were at the end of the group 

when you guys reached the front of the line you noticed daniel and sungwoon whispering to the guy who worked there 

but you didn’t think much of it 

the limit for the ferris wheel was 4 ppl max per but daniel and sungwoon were begging the guy to let them go in 2 groups of 5 so that seongwoo and you could be together lmao

which obviously you two didn’t know

when the next ferris wheel came down 5 of the squished onto the ferris wheel and straightaway the next 5 did too 

leaving you with seongwoo 

“looks like i’ll leave you two to have a date” smirked the guy who worked there as he ushered you two on the ferris wheel 

now you were alone with seongwoo on the ferris wheel and you were feeling shy 

it was already dark outside and you could see the stars outside

it was silent between you guys but it was like a comfortable and peaceful silence

sudden;y seongwoo spoke calling out your name

“yes?” 

“you know this might be reaally random but i’d like it if we continued to hang out as today was really fun” said seongwoo 

“same here” you nodded in agreement “i’m really grateful that you let me hang out with you and your friends even though we only met today” 

seongwoo smiled

“this might sound cliche but i think i fell for you at first sight” said seongwoo shyly as he rubbed the back of his neck 

you gasped in surprise not sure what to say 

“you don’t have to give me an answer i completely understand but i hope you’ll give me a chance and that we can get to know each other more” 

you felt your heart beating at his sincere words

and you agreed with him 

even though you were pretty sure you liked seongwoo you still wanted to know him better and be good friends first 

“sure of course i like you too but i want to know you first as well” you responded 

seongwoo smiled as he pumped his fist 

the two of you looked at each other and laughed happily 

this amusement park trip was so unexpected and you had gotten a crush 

bonus: seongwoo walks you back to meet your parents after the ferris wheel and your parents are smitten by him heheh

please let me know what you think! also i reached 1k followers!!!!! thank you all SO SO MUCH <3 i’m in the progress of making a thank you so that will be up soon. but i’m so happy bc there are more than 1000 of you that like my scenarios where my ideas are just based off my imagination or experiences and im so glad that you guys are sticking around :) 

[bambyeol]

Beats.And.Melody (B.A.M!) (p.2)

pairing/s: band! park jihoon x oc  genre: angst, fluff, music (band) characters: kang daniel, ong seongwoo,kim jaehwan, bae jinyoung, park woojin, lee daehwi, yoon jisung 

prompt: why were you crying over a pop rock party song?

previous : part 1 // part 3

wanna one masterlist

“Oh yes that’s good.” Jinyoung turned his head towards her while the four of them were bundled together in the music room, each respectively practicing their own instrumentals. Once in a while, Jinyoung and Woojin would stop and sit with them and listen to her progress.

She was a naturally shy person and had limited number of friends in school. It didn’t help that she just transferred in their school during high school when most of the students had their own set of friends whom they found during middle school, so she enjoyed interacting with the boys. 

“You’re a prodigy, Riseul-ah” Woojin hung his arm on her shoulder, and she smiled meekly as she shook her head. “It’s thanks to Jihoon.”

“No, you’re seriously scaring me with your progress. You might just replace me in the band, you know.”

“Is it compliment-giving day? Wow, Jinyoung you’re the best. Really, you play the keyboard so well.” Jinyoung tapped his own shoulder and recited his words. Jihoon and Woojin threw the empty food wrappers and bottles to him. “This is why you don’t have a girlfriend.” Woojin dissed.

“And you’re a redhead mistaken as a pyramiding scam by women.”

“Points to Bae Jinyoung.” Jihoon couldn’t contain his laughter and so did Riseul. “Riseul-ah, I thought we were a team!” Woojin feigned disappointment and moved away from her. She tried to woo him back by stretching her arms and inviting him for a hug.” Oh, you’re cut with your red hair. Don’t listen to him, Woojinie~” she pitched her voice higher than usual like an adult consoling a baby.

Woojin was about to hug her back when Jihoon leaned on her chest and wrapped his arms on her waist, and stuck his tongue out to Woojin. Jinyoung casually snapped a picture of the two without their notice.

“Anyway.. Have you decided about the tune already, Riseul-ah?” Woojin cut their horse playing. Riseul was entrusted by all of them with the melody of the song because they needed to compose a song that would fit her voice and at the same time be unique, While they always performed lively and fast-paced songs, Riseul couldn’t seem to bring forth the same effect Jaehwan pulled off, and she was well aware of it.

“About that... I thought if it would be alright if we could stray from the usual style you guys did? I mean... can we try something like soft-rock?” She raised her forefinger and expressed her opinion. The three of them nodded with interest. “Also, I thought that it could attract the audience because most bands would stick to upbeat style, but if we start our song with a mellow sound and then gradually build up until the chorus..”

“Then it goes like BAM!” The three chorused, and Riseul clasped her hands when she was affirmed that they got the concept. “Right? It’s like the band’s name. The tune goes like this..”

Riseul hummed a slow, lengthened and rising melody, and sustained the tempo while humming it in a tone that fit her soprano voice then the beat fastened and Woojin grabbed his bass and strum one low chord. “This is lit!” Jinyoung couldn’t hide his awe. He rolled his hand and covered his mouth.

“That’s the tune you’re always humming.” Jihoon bent further and craned his neck to gaze upward after she finished singing. Woojin and Jinyoung were too busy rejoicing in the background. Riseul shrugged her shoulders, “I modified it a bit, but yeah.”

“It’s a pretty melody. Feels nostalgic,” Jihoon complimented and turned away to diss the two that he wasn’t able to catch the sad smile that landed on Riseul’s face.

“Yeah. It is.”

“Ri. Ri. Ri. Riiii” Younchul repeated and repeated until Riseul finally turned, annoyance still visible on her face and a cluck on her tongue as she pushed Youngchul’s face off her shoulder.

She was pissed. And sad. And confused. It was a swirl of emotions inside her at that moment, but she knew she shouldn’t be angry. Still. She couldn’t hide it, or even begin to understand that response she should project.

“You didn’t tell me,” the words venomously left her mouth with a sharp feeling. Youngchul just smiled at her, and massaged the lines on her forehead. “It’s nothing threatening,” he assured her, and the lines burrowed further on her forehead, glaze reflected on her eyes.

“Nothing threatening?” She spat out with disbelief. “Youngchul, you fainted! You were shaking and running out of breath. And I didn’t even know you were sick for a long time now. I didn’t even know you weren’t allowed to be exhausted. Youngchul, why didn’t you tell me before?” Riseul frowned and wiped the tears on her eyes.

She felt betrayed, and incompetent. She didnt understand the extent of his condition, but remembering all the days when she dragged him to accompany her, or to exercise with her, or to go on an adventure with her. It hurt. It hurt to know that she placed his life in danger for so many times, and she wasn’t even aware of it until it was too grave.

“I didn’t want you to know, Riseul.” Youngchul replied softly. “I told them not to tell you. You were the only one who didn’t need to know.” She sobbed and Youngchul hugged her.

“I wanted to be normal. Everywhere, they were careful around me, like I was a ticking bomb. But, when I was around you and we’d just do things like every normal child would. Play in the sandbox, get scraped knees, argue over the smallest things. Of course, I wouldn’t want you to know.” He massaged her knuckles popping out because of her clenched fists and kissed them.

“You’re not dying right?” She asked while crying and it was a stupid, insensitive question really, but she wanted to cling to that affirmation that came out of Youngchul’s mouth. 

“Yah! What’s with that. Of course, I’m not.” He stretched out his pinky and interlaced it with hers. It was a childish thing that they didn’t grow out of.

“Promise.”

Two weeks has passed since Riseul agreed on becoming the substitute vocalist, and their practices were going smoothly. She was halfway through learning the chords of the song, and the others were busy in properly mixing the instruments. They had a talent where they knew how to accentuate the instruments needed for a certain part of the song. Seongwoo liked to call it musician sense, one that would come naturally to her as she continued learning, he said.

They were all busy cleaning up the practice room and polishing the instruments. “Hyung, do we have a practice on Saturday?” Jihoon asked. Riseul’s ears perked. Seongwoo shook his head. “That’s good. Let’s go to the water park that day?”

“Why? Something happening that day?” Woojin’s and Jinyoung’s eyes lit up, and their hands stopped from wiping the floor. “You can’t have forgotten that it’s Riseul’s birthday that day, right?” Jihoon glanced at Jinyoung and Woojin who pointed to each other to act like they didn’t forget.

“We were just about to say that!” Woojin shook his hand in the air. “You guys didn’t tell me!” Seongwoo touched his chest to feign hurt. “Well?” Jihoon turned his attention to Riseul with expectant eyes, but she shook her head with a sad smile.

“Uhm, I’m sorry, but can we celebrate it on Sunday instead?”

“Oh, that’s okay too. You had a plan already?” Seongwoo broke the heavy feeling from Riseul. She nodded and bowed apologetically. “I’m sorry, Riseul. I tried making plans...” Jihoon pouted and Riseul flicked his forehead.

“What’s with that? Don’t try to act cute with me.” She laughed as they faced each other while locking her gig bag. “Oh, it didn’t work?” Jihoon sent her a wink this time. Riseul smacked his eyes with her palm and covered it.

“Not today, wink boy.”

Birthday. The special day of every person, and people specially children want to spend it alone because people are specially kind to them on that day. They get whatever they want, no matter how ridiculous it was. Parents pay huge sum of money to make that day perfect. She never really understood that while growing up because she spent them all with Youngchul. 

Even the money she received would be halved with Youngchul, and even if she tried to hide it from him, he’d be informed by her parents. She spent that special day with someone else all her life, so it felt strange to celebrate it today. She paced back and forth inside her mind about what she should do, but she only found one resolution.

“In front of your apartment.” Daniel texted her. She opened the door and stepped out of her apartment, the gig bag hanging on her back. “Let’s go buy flowers on the way,” she reminded Daniel and he nodded with a soft smile.

The four band members were walking on the shopping district when Jihoon caught a glimpse of someone walking with a guitar case on his back. Instinctively, he turned his head to the direction of that person hoping to see Riseul. Instead, he saw a tall, lean man with pink hair carrying the bag which he swore was Riseul’s. His eyes landed on the person beside him and immediately recognized her.

They were by the flower stall, the young man pointing to several flowers and Riseul adding several others. When the florist finished arranging the bouquet, the pink haired man gave it to Riseul and she smiled and smelled the flowers. The man adjusted the straps of the bag, and his eyebrows furrowed.

Riseul didn’t let others touch her guitar bag. At least, she didn’t let Jihoon touch it when he offered to carry it for her becase he didn’t carry anything that day after practice.  He always noticed her guarded attitude towards the guitar, and he knew it held sentimental value to her that’s why it confused him how that man she was with on her birthday casually adjusted the straps.

Woojin turned to him when he noticed that Jihoon stopped walking. “Gonna buy something?” Jihoon swiftly turned his head and shook his head. Woojin tried to peer where he was staring, and Jihoon pushed him to walk forward and joined in the conversation again, only glancing once or twice back to the direction of the two.

“Let’s hurry up. I’m hungry.” 

Riseul and Daniel reached their destination by dusk, the sunset’s orange hue about to disappear from the horizon. She immediately ran towards his grave and set up the candle, the bouquet and their gifts. She bent her legs until she was face to face with his tombstone and she wiped away the dust that formed on it.

Daniel bent down too and on his hands was a lighted birthday cake, and Riseul began clapping. “Happy birthday to you ~ Happy birthday to you ~ Happy birthday, dear Youngchul ~ Happy birthday to you.” She blew the candle with the numbers 2 and 0.

Closing her eyes, memories of their birthdays together flooded her mind.

At sixteen, the second birthday they spent in the hospital but not because of upset stomach from too much watermelon. Youngchul’s heart was beginning to fail. They escaped the hospital to light up handheld fireworks on the empty lot beside the hospital, the lights illuminating the cold and dark lot.

“Youngchul-ah!” The nurse shouted from the entrance of the hospital, and they quickly looked at each other and stomped on the fireworks. Youngchul dragged her towards the nurse and they apologized with little sincerity. Of course, they received scolding, but when they reached the hospital room, they laughed it off.

“I told you we should have just lighted the fireworks here,” he stood on the empty space inside the room and grinned. Riseul threw him a pillow which hit his head.

At eighteen, they spent their birthday in Seoul because Youngchul was advised to be sent to a better facility. Another birthday spent in the hospital as he was getting more frequent attacks. 

“You wouldn’t believe what I just saw! Youngchul storied. “They were the best out of everyone in that room, Riseul. And their band name is BAM! They fit their band name, their performance was like BAM! It was like thunder from the first beat. You’ve gotta visit the Underground.” he swung his hands animatedly as he gushed to her about it.

“Bam!” He jolted back when she mimicked the sound he made as she pulled out her gift. “Happy birthday, Youngchul.” she kissed his forehead.

“God, that’s not good for my heart.” 

She sat on the grass and Daniel handed her the guitar Youngchul previously owned. “Hey, Youngchul. You suck.” Daniel greeted his younger brother. He was so used to teasing Youngchul. “You said you’ll compose your own songs, but Riseul managed to pick up the tune you made and provide an accompaniment for it in 2 months.” 

Riseul strum the guitar and hummed along. There was no lyrics in it, but Youngchul always understood. They needed no words - from beginning until the end. There was Riseul, the brave, and Youngchul, the courageous who like their names resonated with each other.

Maybe that’s why it scared her to face the reality without him.

He was her Youngchul.

He was her courage.

She stopped strumming midway through the song, and scratched her head. “Ah. I still haven’t learned the other parts of it, Youngchul. I met a lot of good people this year. Daniel-oppa keeps worrying about me these days, so please tell him not to and that he should focus on finding a girlfriend instead. I asked Jihoon to teach me how to play the guitar, and it’s fun. I became friends with Jinyoung, Woojin and Seongwoo, and we’ll be performing this song in two weeks. That day, I hope you listen to me.” She pressed her hands together and prayed.

They stood up and left the cemetery but Riseul couldn’t help but keep looking back to Youngchul’s grave as it got farther and farther from her.

“Are you sure you can take the train alone? Also, I’ll be sure to watch the competition.” Daniel hung the guitar bag on Riseul and patted her head. “I’m 20 now, remember?” She joked and he ruffled her hair with a warm smile she was used to seeing.

“You’re still a kiddo for me.” He waited until she boarded the train and he waved her off before he proceeded to his own business. Riseul then walked towards her apartment and was surprised to see Jihoon by the bench before their apartment complex. 

He was busily looking at the sky with his hands on his jeans, and right foot crossed on the other. “Jihoon?” Riseul squinted her eyes to check as she approached towards his direction that was directly in front of her apartment complex. He greeted her with a wave and bent to remove something from what seemed to be a large paper bag.

When he turned around again, there was a cake sitting on his palms with lighted candles.She couldn’t hide her surprise as she looked around to find the other band members who must have probably hidden themselves to surprise her. “I know we’ll see you tomorrow, but I thought it’s still better to celebrate on the day of your birthday. Also, the other guys had other plans, so I came here as a representative.” He walked towards her because she stopped moving when she tried to find the others.

The candle illuminated Jihoon’s face whose gentleness delivered a strange sense of comfort.

“Happy birthday to you ~ Happy birthday to you ~ Happy birthday, dear Riseul. Happy birthday to you ~” he sang to her and tears couldn’t help but fall from her eyes. She tried wiping them away but they kept on pouring, and she saw the panicked expression on Jihoon’s face.

“Ahh -- did I do something wrong?” His frantic movement and heavy breath blew away the candles. “Ahh -- the candles. Oh no, wait, let me just light them up again.” she held onto the sleeve of his shirt and shook her head as she wiped the tears with the collar of her shirt.

Jihoon sets the cake onto the nearest bench, and outstretched his arms. Without thinking about it, she rushed into his arms, and wrapped her arms onto his waist, leaned onto his chest and listened to his heartbeat. A slow, steady and rhythmic beat. Gentle and light like how he plays his guitar.

He hummed the birthday song while he rubbed her back as she cried. “What do I do? I don’t know why you’re crying.”

“Just felt weird to hear you singing that song for me.” She replied, her words softened because of his shirt. “That’s what you told me too when I asked why you cried back then. You and your cryptic explanations.” He pushed her gently away from him, and raised her chin by his hand.

“Since I blew that candle, that means I get to make a wish right?” Riseul continued to wipe her tears with a laugh. “What’s with that?” Jihoon squeezed his eyes shut as he thought of something and opened them again.

“I wish that the next time Riseul cries, they would be tears of joy.”

part 3 !

Jesus, I typed this whole part because Tumblr was being a bitch again and does not accept me copy pasting from my document. 

wanna one masterlist

[sapphired17]

It was 2 AM early at dawn when I finished watching the last episode of At Eighteen drama. Beautifully-painted in a nonchalant but painful atmosphere, I laughed and cried with the characters that resonated pains through their eyes. My eyes, too, were swollen and red after having shed unbearable tears as I came near to the ending scene and listened to the heartbreaking monologue from the main leads. Everything had been melodramatically irresistible and I didn’t want it to end. At Eighteen was initially a mere web-drama I happened to come across when I was scrolling through iflix, but then it has become one of the lifetime dramas that I felt grateful for discovering.

AT EIGHTEEN / 열 여덟의 순간 (2019)

The struggles I have been facing at work are rough and exhausting. It might be that I am still starting to pave a way ahead for myself  in the future that I need to deal with constant pressures and anxiety, but I thought it was too burdensome. I keep looking for light-hearted series that tug into my heartstrings to relieve my stress. At the very least, those series help me momentarily erase the bad memories I have experienced in real life. It might sound cliche to people who are not so fond of watching dramas, but for melancholic introverts like me, the existence of dramas feel like sugar sprinkled on top of my dessertㅡit temporarily sugarcoats the reality. And when I watched the first episode of At Eighteen, I know that I will love it. A lot.

INITIAL IMPRESSION

I was being too emotional on my writing above, but never mind (it’s already ten to three freakin’ AM in the morning and I haven’t slept at all just to write this piece since the feeling still lingers there). At Eighteen is a melodramatic web-drama that tells the life of South Korean high school students at the age of 18 and their relatable struggles in coping up with the hard times.

Choi Jun Woo (Ong Seung Woo) is a forced transfer student after a theft case in his previous high school. At first, he was very quiet and reserved and didn’t even try to acknowledge his existence. Jun Woo comes from a poor family with a single young mother that works very hard for the living. He also works part-time after school to earn more money, so I can somehow grasp the situation that leads to his overly-passive manner when he first transferred. Nonetheless, Jun Woo is originally very kind and caring. He isn’t embarrassed of his current circumstances, but working very hard to do well on his own. These qualities shine a lot especially when he is around his mother.

I have never heard of Ong Seung Woo before since I didn’t know much about Wanna One, but he surely is indeed alluring with his handsome face and good acting. Jun Woo feels real to me in each episode, so albeit I don’t have a high standard in defining a good actor, I believe that he was doing a great job there.

Yoo Soo Bin (Kim Hyang Gi) is just like your ordinary pretty classmate that hangs out with everyone. She is outgoing and bright, but not stupid or overly clumsy like the majority of the heroine in Kdramaland. Her mother is a Seoul University graduate who sets the bar very high, sometimes too high for her to handle. Nonetheless, Soo Bin is both a good student and a good daughter that doesn’t rebel despite the anger or sadness that she feels.

 Kim Hyang Gi started off as a child actress, so I find her acting comforting. Not going overboard, but also not lacking in any aspect. It is adequate, and it is good enough to be enjoyed. And I didn’t think that she would become so pretty when she was a child actress, but it turned out that she really did.

Ma Hwi Young (Shin Seung Ho) is the typical smart role model student who also happens to be the class president. He is pretentious and cunning in front of everyone, but keeps doing evil things behind everyone’s back. Such a behavior is most probably nurtured as a result of the anger and burden at home with a dad that never thinks that he is good enough. He is bestfriends with Soo Bin ever since they were little, but now he thinks he likes her more than just a friend.

I also have never encountered Shin Seung Ho in any other drama, but I think that he is very talented in portraying Hwi Young and his multi-faceted expressions.

Oh Han Kyeol (Kang Ki Young) symbolizes a teacher who personally takes care of his students. He was the homeroom teacher’s temporary replacement, who then upgraded to the real homeroom teacher. At first, he grovels in front of the students out of anxiety and lack of self-esteem. This kind of struggle feels so relatable especially since I also used to be a teacher. Regardless, he stands strong in what he believes in and gains self-confidence by trusting his students, two of which makes him an amazing teacher.

Kang Ki Young is on dramas a lot as a side-but-important character so I don’t need to doubt his acting skills. He always delivers the scripts well, be it in comedic or melodramatic scene.

ALLURING STUFFS

The plotline is not slow-paced but the development doesn’t feel forced at all. I began watching with interest that grows into an anticipation. Every episode contains captivating charms and led with meaningful titles.

EP 2. I didn’t talk much about the first episode as it was merely the beginning and they were just starting off with introductions so that the viewers may get a grasp of the whole circumstances, and the second episode marks the arising conflicts.

Here the drama showcases Jun Woo’s genuine trait, which allows him to stay true to himself without being a jerk. [SPOILER ALERT] When Jun Woo was confronting Hwi Young after he was falsely-accused of stealing a teacher’s watch, I really thought that Jun Woo spoke up his mind so eloquently in a way that made people reflect on themselves. He saw Hwi Young take the watch with him and managed to retort Hwi Young’s accusing pretentious words. Another thing was when Teacher Oh ordered him to write an apology letter for stealing the watch. He insisted on his belief and put a drawing on the paper instead. When the watch somehow ended up inside his locker, Jun Woo told the teachers that he didn’t need forgiveness as he was not guilty of anything. [END OF SPOILERS] Jun Woo indeed takes his rebel on the next level, and I think it’s cool. 

EP3. The way Jun Woo and Soo Bin got closer to each other feels natural and the drama did a great job in setting the right atmosphere between them. It warms me seeing how Soo Bin trying to help him and that she thinks that Jun Woo is a decent person at heart. They started meeting more often to discuss school assignments and texted each other with cute simple messages. Jun Woo feels like a little doggo that obeys his master a lot, sometimes by wiggling his tail to express happiness, and Soo Bin is just like a mom that wants the best for her kiddo. They talk about simple things without complications or mind games, which indeed draw them closer to each other.

EP4. I learned my new favorite pick-up phrases from Jun Woo when he was encouraging Shin Jung Hoo, his bestfriend since they were little.

“Our lives are not that messed up after all. No, who cares if we were born a bit miserably? We can just overcame it. Don’t you agree?” – Choi Jun Woo

EP5. [SPOILERS ALERT] Right after Soo Bin quit a tutor class that her mom tried so hard to admit her to, Soo Bin’s mom even did as far as barging into her classroom and scolding her at school. I could see Soo Bin’s frustration when she asked if her mom gave birth to her only to brag to other people. [END OF SPOILERS] She feels tormented and heartbroken that I keep reminding myself that becoming a parent requires a great sense of responsibility and maturity to take care of your children well, in a way that doesn’t inflict wounds on them. 

EP7. Here is a cute picture since I always like the portrayal of a tall guy and a petite girl that showcases the height difference, which somehow I find heart-fluttering. [SPOILERS ALERT] When Soo Bin had a bad stomachache during the math test, Jun Woo took the first initiative to carry her to the infirmary despite not having finished the test himself. On top of that, he asked the teacher if it was possible for her to take the test there. [END OF SPOILERS] I am touched by his sincere affection and consideration towards her.

EP7. There is a saying that many adults wish to go back to their high school days, when the most difficult obstacle is only about solving math questions. [SPOILERS ALERT] After Hwi Young discovered that he failed a number in his math test, he became restless and devastated. Teacher Oh tried to comfort him that this is not supposed to be a life-changing matter. “You should know how to let things go for a change,” to which Hwi Young replied that Teacher Oh understood nothing since he wasn’t pressured to attend Seoul University like him. [END OF SPOILERS]

There is a clear line between adolescence and adulthood. As someone who has gone through school and university, now I certainly see high school problems as trivial things that are not worth getting stressed over. There are bigger problems in life that revolve around finance, relationships, marriages, and school grades are merely a tiny bit that own no power to define one’s life. However, students living in competitive situation like Hwi Young take everything seriously at school, starting from the grades even to the seating arrangement in the classroom. And that strengthens the notion that nobody is capable of judging anybody even after they try to put themselves in one’s shoes, because one pair of shoes may fit me but may be ill-fitted to you in terms of qualitative values such as comfort or feelings induced.

EP10. This is one of the most heartbreaking scenes throughout the series. It brought me tears and made me realize another thing. [SPOILERS ALERT] Hwi Young lied to Soo Bin that Jun Woo was just using her to get on him. It got Soo Bin so confused and slowly walked away from him out of fear. When they finally met and Soo Bin told him her confusion, Jun Woo painfully asked, “Do you believe it, more than you believe me?” [END OF SPOILERS] It hurts me so bad just like how Jun Woo was hurting, like what would hurt more than getting doubts from someone whom you trust? 

That made sense to me that Jun Woo needed some time for himself to think about everything, knowing that Soo Bin would be waiting for him.

And there couldn’t be any greater happiness than two people who find themselves in each other’s embrace after going through storms together. Period.

EP11. Unlike Kang Ki Young’s usual roles in his previous dramas, Oh Han Kyeol is portrayed as a righteous and smart teacher that really longs for the best for his students. During the initial episodes, Oh Han Kyeol faltered a lot because he didn’t have much confidence in himself. However, I always admire his thoughtfulness for the students, unlike the previous homeroom teacher who received bribery in favor of some particular students.

In this episode, Oh Han Kyeol bravely confronted Hwi Young’s mom who was somehow trying to bribe him as well. He stood firm in his belief despite the risks he might be facing in the future. Such a fearless character isn’t just anywhere in this corrupted world.

EP12. Nobody is one hundred percent an angel, or one hundred percent a devil. [SPOILERS ALERT] When Hwi Young was falsely-accused of cheating or rigging his grades, he told Teacher Oh that he wasn’t behind it and faced his classmates and their skeptical suspicion about the truth. Later on Hwi Young spit out the disappointment towards his parents for committing such a crime. [END OF SPOILERS] After learning about Hwi Young’s behavior, I understand that deep down, he was just doing the best he could in order to please his parents. Kids like Hwi Young grow their evil deeds due to the constant pressures and inferiority resulted from the parents’ lack of acceptance. My heart hurts for kids who experience bad parental unacceptance like him.

EP15. This is another tear-jerking scene that sinks my heart so deeply it hurts. [SPOILER ALERTS] Since Soo Bin’s mom & Jun Woo’s mom have become friends, it feels heavier for Song Hee to tell Yeon Woo that she doesn’t want Soo Bin to have a boyfriend now. It breaks my heart that Yeon Woo talked about how she respected Jun Woo’s feelings and didn’t want to trample on his emotions. [END OF SPOILERS] It is well said indeed, that no mothers in the world will want their children to have it less.

STUFFS THAT IRKED ME

#1 Soo Bin’s overly aggressive mother

Being a single mother is surely one of the toughest jobs in the world, but being a mom that doesn’t trust her child and enforce her own goals without considering her kid’s perspective is surely much exhausting, isn’t it?

I myself grew up in a regular Asian family environment that thankfully, isn’t so strict with grades. My parents let me study on my own and choose my own future path, so the image of a parent making a very bug fuss over grades towards an already smart daughter is a bit uncalled of. I strongly detest how Soo Bin’s mom was trying to dictate Soo Bin’s life according to her own will. Nonetheless, this is quite a common sight in South Korean competitive society and I am not to judge it.

Thankfully, Soo Bin is a truly loyal girl to her mom and who, just like Jun Woo, expressed her kind of rebellious acts that didn’t lack respect towards her. She tries to be more mature and understanding, and I think it wouldn’t have been possible without her strong love and respect towards her mom.

#2 Hwi Young’s evil deeds

I don’t have words for Ma Hwi Young. I tried so much to understand him, but I couldn’t manage to tolerate his evil deeds. [SPOILERS ALERT] From stealing a watch and perfectly covering it up so Jun Woo was falsely-accused, to the hatred towards Jun Woo that somehow led to the death of Shin Jung Hoo, and even causing another misunderstanding between the newly-born couple Soo Bin and Jun Woo. [END OF SPOILERS] I could fathom that he probably turned into somebody he didn’t want to because of the constant parental pressures, but Hwi Young’s arrogance and pride also get on my nerves a lot of time.

Hwi Young’s sincere smile was revealed when he was around Soo Bin. That might probably because she has known him for long and he feels comfortable being around her. But I do believe that such a background story shouldn’t justify Hwi Young’s pestering towards Jun Woo out of jealousy.

#3 Possessive and self-centered Ro Mi

There is this girl who acts cocky and arrogant at school, pretending she doesn’t need friends at all. Then this is Hwang Ro Mi and her indescribably annoying behaviors towards almost everybody. [SPOILERS ALERT] I don’t exactly understand why she would feel overly jealous towards Soo Bin when she should actually be thankful that Soo Bin still asks her friends to hang out with Ro Mi albeit they don’t like her, but her aggravating move towards Jun Woo started from a simple thought, that Soo Bin should not have it all. It disturbed me that Ro Mi began the whole Jun Woo-likes-me scandal from her own delusion, which was then spread to the rest of the class, because then Soo Bin misunderstood and thought that he didn’t like her. [END OF SPOILERS] I despise misunderstanding so much as it generates groundless suspicions that shouldn’t have been there in the first place. 

LOVELINES ALERT

Choi Jun Woo & Yoo Soo Bin

This is the kind of high school couple I am forever rooting for. They are mature enough in dealing with arising problems and both aren’t the type to hold prolonging grudges that destroy the relationship, sometimes too mature to me as well.

[SPOILERS ALERT]

After the whole unpleasant misunderstanding between the two, they had to be separated again since Soo Bin’s mom was strictly against their relationship. It took me by surprise seeing how the two managed to cheer each other to hang on even during the hardest times. Soo Bin didn’t rebel when she was told to cut off the ties with Jun Woo, not because she feared the threats, but because she didn’t want her mom to hate Jun Woo, thus completely vanish their relationship into thin air. Jun Woo kept his promise with Soo Bin’s mom in order for Soo Bin to be free. Both are being genuinely considerate towards each other, which wouldn’t have been within reach if either of them hadn’t sincerely been in love.

Their efforts didn’t go in vain as Soo Bin’s mom learned to be more trusting towards her own daughter. Whatever progress made between the two was all thanks to their patience and maturity in handling the matters. Soo Bin and Jun Woo focused on studying and upgrading themselves amidst the separation instead of whining about their problems and not doing anything. I’m proud of themㅡI will forever be rooting for them.

[END OF SPOILERS]

I love how the drama emphasizes the notion of endurance and patience in order to get to where one aspires to be. While it may not work out for everyone, I believe that confronting the situation harshly, or even with bursting anger, doesn’t make things better. Resentment and outrage drain your energy without ever resulting in anything positive. It might be because they are still at eighteen, but I also yearn to face life with such innocence and radiant passion.

Apart from the main loveline, I am not particularly interested in smaller lovelines like between Pil Sang & Ro Mi, or between Teacher Oh and the part-time noona. However, I kinda find Oh Je and Da Heen’s relationship somehow cute and adorable.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Let’s take a moment to appreciate the scriptwriter’s writing skills that put me in an awe. Everything was beautifully-written and the dialogues are heart-rending indeed. It taught me about appreciating life better.

“It must be so easy for you adults. Sometimes you tell us that we know nothing because we are too young, and that we should do nothing but study. But other times, you say that we’re all grown up now, we’re old enough to understand everything. You change your words whenever you want to suit your needs.”

Through Soo Bin’s lens of perspective, she insisted on showing her mature side since her parents expect her to do so. Watching shows like this makes me realize that human beings are indeed very selfish and complicated. Words are easily twisted without the consideration of other people. Why is it so easy for us to inflict wounds on others? Why do we allow our actions hurt people who are as fragile as us?

“Your child is not your property. “Study.”; “Get into a good university”; “Win by all means.”; “Hang out with this kid.”; “Don’t hang out with that kid.” You suffocate them and intrude into their lives. You even censor and judge their emotions. This place is not a prison. I’m not a prison guard. When are you going to stop telling me to monitor and control those kind-hearted and beautiful kids?”

I really want to direct this message to all parents around the world, who still believe that grades matter more than the happiness of the children. This statement might come off as too idealistic and less realistic, but I believe that everyone needs to hear this. I don’t want my future kid to give up on studying just because it’s pressuring, but I also don’t want him to lead a stressful life ever since he was a kid. As if adulthood is not devastating enough, do I need to let him live in misery without ever having made great childhood memories?

“If the skies look down on us, they will probably think we are so pitiful. Annoying each other all the time over our greed and hurting those who are precious to us. Let’s stop doing that!”

This is what Teacher Oh said after he saw the somber atmosphere in the classroom. It was unexpected and I was honestly touched. Do we spend too much time spouting nonsense on the media, while forgetting the beauty that transverses across the horizon?

The drama left a bittersweet feelings inside me, allows me to reflect on my life so that I may not spend another year with lingering regrets. Life is the greatest gift one can ever have, that is supposedly spent by cherishing one another and giving more love instead of hatred, encouraging more people instead of saying hurtful words, saying more positive words instead of negativity, and, most importantly, inspiring more people to live a better life instead of looking down on them. That way, the world may become more beautiful.

GRADE

10/10

At Eighteen: A Review It was 2 AM early at dawn when I finished watching the last episode of At Eighteen drama.

[murderincrp]

PROFILE LOADED...「ONG SEONGWOO」「UNAFFILIATED」「NINETEEN」

“Nineteen-year-old HEIR TO AEGIS ENTERPRISES and UNIVERSITY STUDENT. No known allies.”

✘ THREAT LEVEL LOW. NO PRECAUTIONS NECESSARY...

WARNING: MENTAL ILLNESS, PARENTAL DEATH, GUNS, BLACKMAIL, MURDER, BLOOD

[ BACKGROUND... ]

Ong Seongwoo was born into privilege. He was the only son to the CEO of one of South Korea’s largest weapon manufacturers, and from a young age he was groomed to become his father’s successor. He attended the finest schools and studied under the most qualified tutors. It was no surprise that he consistently ranked in the top 3% of his class from the time he was young clear through high school. His education was equally well rounded, his studies ranging from classic literature to latin, from soccer to fencing. There was never a doubt in his mind that he would go on to learn the family business from his father. It wasn’t until Seongwoo was ten that he began to suspect that there was more to that business than met the eye. It was around that time that the mob’s hold on the city began to tighten its grip. He couldn’t turn on the news without finding reports of some new instance of gang violence that occurred in the city overnight, a new suspect’s photo playing on loop across the different stations as the police added yet another name to their ever growing manhunt. His father grew distant as the city divided itself. The mob’s influence only grew with each passing day, and the police were helpless to do anything to slow their ascent to power. Seongwoo began to recognize the faces from the news as the business associates he saw coming and going from his father’s office late at night. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what that meant. Seongwoo’s father was working with the mob. He was thirteen when his mother first began to display early signs of schizophrenia. She had always been fragile, her moods swinging from one extreme to the next in the blink of an eye. His father said she was sensitive. She was fiercely protective of Seongwoo to the point that her concern was sometimes smothering, and she was so often overwhelmed by crowds that she rarely attended business functions alongside his father. It wasn’t until Seongwoo was older that he realized his father was actually hiding his mother away like she was something shameful. She wasn’t a recluse by choice, but by his father’s design. By thirteen, the parade of unsavory characters through their house had become commonplace. Seongwoo pretended not to recognize the men from the wanted posters as they came and went from his father’s study. Instead, he did his best to keep his mother tucked away on the opposite side of the house, not wanting to risk her crossing paths with such dangerous men. He kept his own head down and busied himself with his studies. No good could have come from confronting his father. That he was sure of. However, try as he might, Seongwoo couldn’t shield his mother from reality for long. As her symptoms worsened she became more unpredictable, harder to control and impossible to pacify. There was no way to keep her from seeing the city burning on the news, not when she only had her books and the television to keep her company while Seongwoo was away at classes. The city’s anxiety only exacerbated her own. She began to have violent outbursts, hurting herself and even Seongwoo during the worst of her fits. His father turned a blind eye to her worsening condition. He was too busy, too important to be bothered by her spiral. No matter how many times Seongwoo approached him about getting his mother the help she needed, his father wouldn’t hear of it. He was too concerned for his reputation. What would his clients think of him if he couldn’t even keep his own wife under control? Perhaps if he’d worried less for his image, his father would still be alive today. Seongwoo was fourteen when he came home to find his mother frantically scrubbing at a pool of blood on the sitting room rug. Her hands were covered in pink suds that smeared clear up to her elbows, and her dress was stained a deep crimson where blood soaked into the fabric where she knelt. Her movements were jerky, near violent in their haste, and her rambling was nonsensical as she muttered about the dinner guests that would soon arrive to find the carpet such a mess. Seongwoo stood frozen in place as he watched her work. When his mother twisted to rinse her brush in the filthy bucket of soapy water beside her, his eyes caught on a shoe peeking around the corner of the sofa, and his stomach dropped. He threw out a hand blindly to brace himself against the door frame as his knees buckled beneath the weight of what his mother had done. His father was dead. He wasn’t given time to grieve, though. He barely had time to even think. It was only a matter of time before someone realized his father was missing and he needed to get his mother cleaned up before that happened. Focusing on his mother was the only way that Seongwoo found the strength to move, the strength to stand and coax his mother to her feet and away from the blood stained rug, to help her upstairs so she could shower and wash away the evidence of what she’d done. But by the time he returned downstairs where his father’s still-warm body lay, it was to find that they were no longer alone in the house. An all too familiar man in a suit stood beside the couch, inspecting his father’s body with lazy curiosity. He went so far as to tap the toe of his perfectly polished shoe against his father’s own just to watch his father’s foot loll to the side. The low chuckle he made at the sight made Seongwoo’s blood go cold. Before he could gather the courage to speak up, to say anything to try and take control of the situation, the man in the suit beat him to it. “So the old lady finally lost it,” he mused aloud, doing nothing to disguise the amusement in his voice as he lifted his eyes to meet Seongwoo’s. “I don’t know how many times we told him to handle her before she snapped on his sentimental ass. Poor bastard wouldn’t hear it, though.” His lips curled into a sharp smile. “He always did think he was the one in control.” Seongwoo swallowed thickly. His pulse was racing in his ears, heart pounding so hard and fast he was sure it was about to beat itself right out of his chest. The house was too large for it to be possible, but in that moment he swore he could hear the shower running upstairs where his mother was frantically washing away the evidence of her crime. There was no spinning this, no outsmarting this trap. Not when his father’s blood was still drying on his hands. “What do you want?” he finally asked, voice stronger and more steady than he felt. The man’s smile grew. “I’m sure we can work something out.” In the years to come, Seongwoo would learn the full weight that a single word could hold. Something meant signing away the operating rights to his father’s company to Vanguard. In exchange, they covered up his father’s murder. They staged it to look like a robbery gone bad, even provided a patsy to take the fall so that the case was neatly closed and soon forgotten. Seongwoo and his mother were never so much as questioned. Instead, they were forced to continue living their lives as the grieving son and child of one of Seoul’s most powerful men. Though Seongwoo was next in line to head his father’s company, he was too young to assume control of its operations. He was an heir in title alone. An interim chief of staff would need to be appointed to run the company until he became of age– and Vanguard made it clear that the appointment would go to someone of their choosing. To keep his mother safe, Seongwoo was forced to sign away the safety of the city itself.

[ BEHAVIOR... ]

Despite his tragic past, Seongwoo is an optimist. He believes that there is still good in the world worth fighting for though he’s so rarely been afforded a glimpse of it. He has a big heart that he wears on his sleeve far too often. He’s incredibly mature for his age– his past forced him to grow up faster than was fair.

He does his best to make the people around him smile, even at his own expense. He doesn’t mind looking like a fool if it means he can draw a laugh from someone who looks like they could use it. He’s also a pro at handling people when they’re at their worst– his experience helping his schizophrenic mother over the years has given him both patience and practice in doing so. If his future hadn’t been decided for him so many years ago, he’d probably be in med school by now.

[weekendwarriorblog]

WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEKEND March 22, 2019  - US

Of course, the big movie of the weekend is Jordan Peele’s US (Universal), his follow-up to his Oscar-winning mega-hit Get Out, this one starring Lupita Nyong’o and Winston Duke from Black Panther. Right now, from the reactions and rave reviews out of its SXSW premiere, Peele is not going to experience a sophomore slump and the world will continue to be his oyster. (As of this writing, I personally haven’t seen the movie yet, but I’ll be attending the New York premiere on Tuesday night and hope to have a review done and posted some time Wednesday.)

You can read what I think of the box office prospects for Jordan Peele’s Us over at The Beat, and here’s MY REVIEW OF US.

A24 is also expanding Sebastian Lelio’s GLORIA BELL, a drama starring Julianne Moore which I loved, into more theaters on Friday, and that could also make an entry into the top 10 as solid counter-programming to Peele’s movie.

But let’s get to what hopefully you’re reading this for… and that’s the other stuff in theaters this weekend.

LOCAL FESTIVALS

I’m gonna start with this section this week, because I’m so excited about something going on at the IFC Center -- not the first time and definitely won’t be the last --  as it’s the 2nd annual WHAT THE FEST?!, which I sadly missed last year. This year’s line-up is slammin’, opening on Wednesday night with the World Premiere of Larry (Habit) Fessendern’s new movie Depraved, his take on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Later on Wednesday is the NYC Premiere of the Swedish film The Unthinkable and then on Thursday is the NYC Premiere of Pollyanna McIntosh’s Darlin’, a sequel to Jack Ketchum’s 2009 movie The Woman, which was in turn a sequel to Offspring.

I have seen a couple of the movies including Penny Lane’s doc Hail Satan?about the Satanic Temple’s fight against theocracies in the form of states trying to put statues of the Ten Commandments on government sites. It’s a movie that has humor as well as politics, and it’s part of the all-day Satan-themed Sunday that will include my buddy Grady Hendrix doing a presentation in conjunction with his novel We Sold Our Souls. Friday night is the New York premiere of Emma Tammi’s The Wind, an amazing Western horror film set in the desolate wasteland, starring Caitlin Gerrard (Insidious: The Last Key) and Julia Goldani Telles (Slenderman).

If there’s one movie you ABSOLUTELY MUST SEE, it’s Shinichiro Ueda’s horror-comedy One Cut of the Dead, which is very hard to describe without spoiling but imagine if a film crew making a zombie movie is attacked by real zombies… and then throw any conceptions you might have about the movie out the window. I have to thank my pal David Jaffee for recommending the movie so highly, as it’s a very clever take on zombies. (And honestly, at this point, I have no idea if and when it will get U.S. distribution.) I probably won’t have a chance to see Roxanne Benjamin’s Body at Brighton Rock but Magnolia is opening it in April so hopefully I’ll see it before then.

LIMITED RELEASES

Opening in New York and L.A. on Friday before a wide release on March 29 is HOTEL MUMBAI (Bleecker Street), the directorial debut by Anthony Maras, which looks at the 2008 terrorist attacks on the Taj Hotel. It stars Dev Patel, Armie Hammer and Jason Isaacs as part of the ensemble cast dealing with Muslim terrorists who attacked the hotel in order to take Western hostages for ransom. It’s a solid debut by Maras, one with a lot of moving parts but handled sensitively and tactfully due to the nature of the events. I definitely recommend the movie if you have a chance to see it. It’s not quite United 93 but still very good.

Oscar-winning Hungarian filmmaker Laszlo Nemes (Son of Saul) returns with his new movie SUNSET (Sony Pictures Classics), set in Budapest 1913, as it follows Irisz Leiter as she arrives there to work as a milliner (hat salesperson) at the popular hat store that belonged to her parents, though she’s sent away by the owner Oszkar Brill. When a man shows up looking for Irisz’s brother Kalman, she begins to look into her lost past. I have to be honest that I wasn’t much of a fan of the movie, maybe because it was very long, slow and confusing to the point where I really didn’t understand much of what was happening. Clearly, it’s not a film on par with Son of Saul, although I guess some people might like it more than I did. It probably will open in New York and L.A., as that’s the way Sony Classics usually does things.

Filmmaker S. Craig Zahler (Bone Tomahawk) returns with his latest genre film DRAGGED ACROSS CONCRETE (Summit/Lionsgate), a police thriller starring Mel Gibson and Vince Vaughn as disgraced police officers who decide to hijack an ambitious heist, stealing the bars of gold that were stolen by a group of robbers. It’s a decent movie if you’re into this sort of thing. Zahler keeps improving as a filmmaker and here, he makes a movie with the weight of Steve McQueen’s Widows, although I thought Tory Kittles was far more interesting than the two leads, even though they do have good chemistry together. This will open in select cities Friday.

Opening at the Film Forum on Wednesday is a wonderful doc by Dutch filmmaker Heddy Honnigmann called BUDDY, which looks at a number of people and their relationships with incredible service dogs who help them get through everything from blindness to PTSD. This really is a wonderful movie, especially if you’re a dog-lover because all of the dogs have personalities as interesting as their masters.

Also opening at Film Forum Friday and at the Lammle Monica Film Center  is Nancy Schwartzman’s new documentary Roll Red Roll (Together Films) looks at a 2012 incident of high school sexual assault in Steubenville, Ohio where a young woman was raped by the football team. It’s a harrowing story but if you’re interested in the type of true crime docs that are all over Netflix, this one should interest you as well. (It’s particularly struggling for me to watch it, having one nephew in high school not too far away from where this happened.)

A movie that I saw and reviewed out of the Tribeca Film Festival last year was Robert Budreau’s STOCKHOLM, which reunites him with Ethan Hawke from Born to Blue, this time playing a bank robber who robs a bank in Sweden with his partner (Mark Strong) and takes a bank manager (Noomi Rapace) hostage before she falls for him … leading to the term “Stockholm Syndrome.” No, I’m not making that up. I don’t remember hating or loving this but just thought it was okay, probably elevated by the presence of the cast.

Patricia Clarkson, Jacki Weaver, James Caan and Toby Jones star in Carol Morley’s thriller OUT OF BLUE (IFC Films) about a New Orleans detective (Clarkson) searching for the killer of a renowned astrophysicist (played by Mamie Gummer), who was shot to death in her observatory. I’ll try to watch this and write more about it soon.

John Travolta and Toby Sebastian star in Karzan Kader’s Trading Paint (Saban Films/Lionsgate), playing a fat her and son racing duo who have a falling out, something that a rival racing company uses to drive a wedge further into the relationship. The movie has been on Ultra VOD for the last month but it will open in select theaters and regular VOD Friday.

Following a one-night theatrical release in 150 theaters on Tuesday, Jesse V. Johnson’s action-thriller Triple Threat (Well GO USA), starring Tony Jaa (Ong-Bak) and Iko Uwais (The Raid) will be available in select theaters and VOD. They are part of a team of mercenaries sent to stop a group of assassins from killing a billionaire’s daughter. It also stars Scott Adkins, Tiger Chen, Michael Jai White and more.

Joel Proykus’ video game comedy Relaxer (Oscilloscope) stars Josh Burge (who previously starred in Proykus’ Ape) as Abbie who is trying to beat the impossible 256thlevel of Pac-Man with no food or water and a bunch of friends and acquaintances showing up. The comedy also stars David Dastmalchian (Ant-Man) and it opens in select cities.

Eric Khoo’s Ramen Shop (Strand Releasing) also opens in New York at the IFC Center and Landmark at 57 West. It follows a young Ramen chef named Masato who leaves Japan to go on a culinary journey through Singapore where he discovers family secrets and new recipes. It will expand to L.A. and other cities on April 5.

As far as streaming, we get our third Western in three weeks with Scott Martin’s Big Kill (Cinedigm), starring Christoph Sander, Jason Patric and more. It involves a Philadelphia accountant who travels West to join the family business who meets up with two rogues who have been run out of Mexico.  It’s on VOD now.

REPERTORY

METROGRAPH (NYC):

Harmony Korine will be on-hand Friday for the start of a special seriesshowing his films, including 2012’s Spring Breakers, as well as showing 1995’s Kids, which he wrote. (It’s all to prepare for the release of Korine’s latest film The Beach Bum, starring Matthew McConaughey, which will screen for members only.) Film Society of Lincoln Center director Kent Jones ventures downtown to promote his new movie Diane with a “Dream Double Feature” of Westerns The Shooting (1966) and Rio Bravo (1959) on Saturday afternoon. Late Nites at Metrograph will show Catherine Reillat’s Fat Girlon Wednesday night and then Masahiro Shinoda’s 1969 film Double Suicide on Friday and Saturday nights. This week’s Playtime: Family Matinees is Ken Kwapis’ 1996 monkey comedy Dunston Checks In, starring Jason Alexander from Seinfeld.

THE NEW BEVERLY (L.A.):

Weds. afternoon shows a singular screening of The Three Faces of Eve  (1957) starring Joanne Woodward. This week’s double features are John Ford’s Fort Apache  (1948), starring John Wayne, with Robert Aldrich’s Ulzana’s Raid (1972) on Weds. and Thurs, the comedy double feature of Monty Python and the Holy Grail  (1975)and Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life (1983) on Friday and Saturday, and then the Paul Wendkos double feature of The Mephisto Waltz (1971) and Special Delivery (1976) on Sunday and Monday. This weekend’s midnight movies are Tarantino’s Kill Bill Vol. 2 on Friday night and Woody Allen’s Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Sex But Were Afraid to Ask on Saturday. The weekend’s KIDDEE MATINE is Clarence Brown’s 1944 National Velvet, starring Mickey Rooney and Elizabeth Taylor. On Monday, the Bev shows the amazing Parker Posey breakthrough film Party Girl  (1995) with director Daisy von Scherler Mayer in person, then Tuesday’s GRINDHOUSE double feature is two from Hong Kong, The Tattoo Connection (1978) and another “Bruce Li” movie Exit the Dragon, Enter the Tiger, also from 1978.

FILM FORUM (NYC):

The ongoing Bob & Wray: A Hollywood Love Story series continues this week with the Fay Wray double feature of The Clairvoyant (1935) and Black Moon  (1934) on Weds, the Bill Riskin-penned Mister 880  (1950) and Broadway Will (1934) Thursday, then even more Frank Capra with American Madness (1932) and The Miracle Woman (1931)on Friday (and again, next Tuesday). The weekend sees a 35mm print of King Kongshown as part of Film Forum Jr., as well as in a double feature with The Most Dangerous Game (1932) on Saturday and again on Monday. Also showing this weekend is The Four Feathers ( 1929) – with live piano accompaniment--on Saturday and Magic Town (1947) and Capra’s Meet John Doe  (1941) on Sunday. Also Sunday is a single-showing horror double feature of The Mystery of the Wax Museum and The Vampire Bat, both from 1933 and both starring Wray.

EGYPTIAN THEATRE (LA):

Before coming to New York’s Metrograph, Harmony Korine will be here in person for a Thursday screening of Trash Humpers and Spring Breakers, plus “Bruno Ganz Remembered” continues as the Egyptian also shows Wim Wenders’ Wings of Desire on Sunday. (At one point, the theater was also showing a double feature of Nosferatu, The Vampire and The American Friend, too.) Old movie fans might also be interested in “The Musketeers of Pig Alley” and More Films of 1912, which a series of shorts by D.W. Griffith that run on Saturday and Sunday.

IFC CENTER (NYC)

Waverly Midnights: The Feds  wraps up with Steven Spielberg’s 2002 movie Catch Me If You Can, starring Tom Hanks and Leonardo DiCaprio. Weekend Classics: Early Godard also concludes this weekend with Pierrot Le Fou (1965) while this weekend’s Late Night Favorites is David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive.

MOMA (NYC):

MOMA continues the series Modern Matinees: B is for Bacall with the 1953 filmHow to Marry a Millionaireon Wednesday, Vincente Minelli’s 1955 film The CobwebThursday and Jonathan Glazer’s more recentBirth (2004) on Friday.

BAM CINEMATEK (NYC):

For whatever reason, BAM is screening Michaelangelo Antonioni’s 1970 “classic” Zabriskie Point on Friday night – I’m not really a fan -- as part of BAM and Triple Canopy: On Resentment, but already sold out is Mathieu Kassovitz’s 1995 film La Haine, starring Vincent Cassel, and other interesting films in the series, like Steve McQueen’s Hunger, starring Michael Fassbender.

MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE (NYC):

The museum’s Tribute to Bruno Ganz will screen Wim Wenders’ Wings of Desire on Sunday, and it’s showing this year’s Oscar-Nominated Animated Shorts as part of its ongoing family program.

LANDMARK THEATRES NUART  (LA):

The Nuart’s Friday midnight offering isJohn Waters’ Polyester (1981)starring the late Divine.

QUAD CINEMA (NYC):

The quad continues its Bertrand Blier series with the 40thanniversary restoration of his 1978 film Get Out Your Handkerchiefs.

AERO  (LA):

The AERO is booked up this week with the West Coast version of the Canada Now!Series.

STREAMING AND CABLE

This Friday’s big Netflix streaming debut is Jeff (Bad Grandpa)Tremaine’s Motley Crue biopic THE DIRT, starring Douglas Booth, Iwan Rheon (Ramsay Bolton from Game of Thrones) and more. I haven’t seen it yet but I’ll probably watch it sometime this weekend.

That’s it for this week, but next week, we’ll get Tim Burton’s Dumboand more.

[its-lifestyle]

It has been madness in Little India in Klang these past few weeks. Traffic has slowed to a crawl and parking is impossible to find.

But people are in a good mood because they are all happily shopping for Deepavali.

The shops along Klang’s Jalan Tengku Kelana are buzzing with activity. With lively Deepavali songs blaring in the background, last minute shoppers fill the five-foot ways as they go in search of Deepavali must-haves: traditional outfits, festive decorations, lights and delicacies that are only available during this festive season.

To attract customers, textile shops display sarees in all shades of the rainbow on mannequins. Shoppers bargain for better deals and discounts as harried sales assistants patiently show saree after saree for their customers to choose from.

Among the shoppers is Shamala Selvarajan who is braving the frenzy with her whole family in tow. She has brought her husband Dr K. Siva Kumar and his brother Haresh Kumar Kaliaperumal, her sister Shalini, their mother Ong Hoon Luan, her father Selvarajan Muthiah and her two daughters along for the family’s annual festive shopping trip.

Shamala (in dark blue) and her family shopping for Deepavali clothes.

To beat the crowd, Shamala and her family arrive well before 10am.

“Deepavali shopping can be chaotic. Shops are usually packed towards late afternoon. It can be difficult to shop, especially with young children. We try to wrap up our shopping within two hours,” she says.

For Dr Siva, 45, it’s a happy outing for their family.

“Though it can be tiring, it’s a nice to shop with the entire family. We usually spend about half a day buying new clothes and accessories for the entire family. Thankfully Shamala is a very organised and fast shopper. My eldest and second daughter also help us choose clothes for their grandparents and aunts and cousins,” he says.

The atmosphere is festive and everyone – even the menfolk – cheerfully try on outfits to find the ones that best suit them. After deciding on their outfits, the women and girls head off to the accessories section to select earrings and bangles to match their outfits.

The men, on the other hand, sit and wait patiently.

Preferred colours for this Deepavali include pink, red and green.

For many years, Shamala has made it a point to buy traditional outfits not just for her family but close relatives too. This year, she has purchased 20 sets of clothing for her kin. For her, Deepavali is about creating happy memories and buying gifts for family to spread joy.

“When I was young, my parents used to buy Deepavali clothes for my siblings and I, as well as our extended family. After I got married, I decided to continue this tradition with my husband. It makes us happy to present our loved ones with new clothes for Deepavali,” says Shamala, 42.

Her siblings and in-laws also buy gifts like clothing and jewellery for Shamala’s family.

“It’s always nice to receive gifts from my relatives. My daughters are the happiest as they usually receive several sets of clothing, including kurtis, lehengas and salwar kameez,” says the mother of four children between four and 14.

Also known as the festival of lights, Deepavali is observed by Hindus, Jains and Sikhs. It is the time of the year where families splurge on clothing, jewellery and gifts. Outfits are often in bright colours that represents light and illumination, and attract good fortune and prosperity for the coming year.

“Deepavali is all about bright colours. I usually pick colourful shades like pink, red, yellow, purple and green for my children. Black and dull colours like grey and brown are a no-no during Deepavali,” says Shamala, who lives in Petaling Jaya.

One for the camera. Naqkullan takes a wefie as his sisters (from left) Sharannya, Kannyaa, and Kharmisha, pose with their megawatt smile.

Women, especially, are spoilt for choice with the wide range of outfits on sale – from sarees to ghagra cholis and lehengas in a wide array of prints that come in silk, cotton, georgette or chiffon, depending on one’s taste.

To keep up-to-date, Shamala turns to social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook to determine the hottest trends and colour choices for the festive season.

“Last year, the trend for women’s traditional outfits was a fitted blouse and patiala salwar. This year, the Anarkali salwar suit, comprising flared kurta, fitted pants and shawl, is trending. Another popular design is kurti with palazzo pants,” she shares.

These days, she says, the older women in the family opt for kurtis (indian-style blouses) instead of elaborate sarees or suits.

“In the past, I used to buy sarees for my mother-in-law and mother. But times have changed, and now they prefer wearing kurtis maybe because they are more versatile and comfortable. They are also more affordable compared to silk sarees, lehengas and salwar kameez.

“These days, sarees are more for weddings and special prayers in the temple,” says Shamala.

(From left) Dr K. Siva, Selvarajan and Haresh Kumar try out matching cotton jippas for the festival of lights.

Shamala, Shalini and Ong spend some time at the cotton silk kurti section shopping for their relatives. Each one has a different preference and it takes a while before the trio agree on the designs and colour choices to get.

“Thankfully, Mummy and Shalini are around to help me shop,” says Shamala who bought a salwar kameez, two kurtis and leggings for herself.

At the children’s section, Shamala starts to look through racks of traditional Indian suits for her children.

The choices are aplenty and it isn’t an easy feat to find something to please each child.

To save time sieving through the racks, Shamala flips through a booklet, containing the latest traditional costumes for children. She then selects pink dresses for her three daughters, Sharannya, 14, Kannyaa, 12, and Kharmisha, four.

After awhile, Shamala’s son Naqkullan, 10, and two young nephews start to get a bit restless. That’s a sign she needs to shop faster. It takes her only five minutes to choose matching jippa suits for them.

Apart from their new outfits, Shamala bought other Deepavali must-haves: diyas (clay oil lamps), toran (door hangings) and ready-made polystrene rangoli kolam for their home.

Kharmisha and her older sisters Sharannya (left) and Kannyaa with the wide range of accessories available for the festive season.

“Ready-made kolams save us time and cost. The rangoli kolam is placed in the porch to invite Lakshmi (the goddess of wealth) into the house,” explains Shamala.

Keeping traditions alive is important for Shamala and she makes sure that her children are involved in preparing traditional Deepavali snacks with her extended family.

Recently, about 15 family members gathered at Shamala’s parents’ house in Klang to prepare delicacies like muruku, nei urundai, athi resam and chippi.

“These annual cookout sessions allow us to catch up with each other.

“My grandmother is in charge of mixing the muruku dough, while my aunts are tasked with shaping it into spiral coils.

Mummy is tasked with frying it. It took us about eight hours to prepare the muruku and other traditional snacks.”

Making the traditional palaharams (snacks and cookies) may be a lot of work, but Sharannya doesn’t mind.

“It’s really fun as everyone helps out to prepare a range of snacks. Our aunts and grandma usually handle the more difficult tasks like frying muruku. Kannyaa and I are assigned simpler tasks like packing the items in tins. We enjoy making ghee balls, especially wrapping it in glass paper.”

Everyone is in a happy mood and Shamala hopes the younger generation will understand the meaning behind the traditions.

“During Deepavali, it is important to have a sense of togetherness as a family. We bring our children along for shopping as we want them to learn our family traditions. We hope they will carry on these traditions,” says Shamala.

from Family – Star2.com https://ift.tt/2qBnyCf

[cheepenggg]

Strong, or weak?

As humans we find it incredibly difficult to be who we are ( i mean who we really are ) , with the same imperfections flaws and hurts we carry in every place and every time. Two months back, i sat on my work desk - grieving the loss of a 3 year relationship. It’s not a normal sight for my colleagues ( who just knew me ), and neither i believe it is normal to pen in a live ( literal ) journal with such unfiltered honesty.The breakdown was inevitable, but at the same time the younger-me would have run into the toilet, to have that long deep wails ( which i did )  Growing up in a environment where seemingly strong, leading church groups and being able to juggle responsibilities handed down from authorities have placed me in a position where life seemingly soaring. ( At least the age from 12-23 ) At the age of 12, I have gone to a mission trip where the limelight was shone on me a Saturday service as I learnt a song ( genuinely ) from 1 of the rehabilitating drug-addicts up in KL, there was a exchange in my young age where I will never forget in my entire life journey. From 13-23, there were tons of promising positions or roles offered to me within the scope of where God have gifted me the ability to love the strings, and i say love because skills to me were birthed out of passion, more than a talent. I would be the guitarist serving from the mission trips all the way down to villages and to the Boys Brigade / Girls’ Brigade & to the cell groups. Life was hectic, time seemed to slip away more than we could watch it tick slowly.  There was a natural tendency to be a better example, as our age goes up to the young ones then in the ministry and we ( in this case, Me ) would wound up with the need to conceal ( in which case, the female make-up concealer is a good example to cover the scars / lines ) the parts of my fractured self ( inside me ) in a projectory of our perfect lives to protect ( or in human effort ) attempt to prevent someone from stumbling. Little did we know, we have not only stumbled little ones watching, but we have slit a part of us and allow it to remain wounded in hopes - it would never be noticed. 

When a child falls, and find himself in need of bandage ( but in fear of what his or her parents might think ) he starts to pretend that the wound have been healed and be about walking normally. Unknowingly, the wound left exposed is a wound untreated. He starts to wear jeans, and 3-quarts hoping there would be nothing - nothing to be scolded or reprimanded, in fear of the punishment. This is all going through his mind, not knowing he was scolded in the past, because of a loving parent dashing towards him ( worried ). I found myself splitted into many fractions of me - The ( Sinless ) me, The me who-always-get-blamed for seemingly stumbling, the me who struggles to overcome Sin and me where i fail as a student in my studies ( but could expand up to 90% of my energy in church )  ( These fractions are real, and they are what represent the stop of development in that part of our Character / Personality )  The open wound, in need of healing represented the split fractions of me. They are concealed, in good intentions to protect people from seeing it. However, unknowingly it can be seen. Ever gone to a place, put on a face ( you need for that event and environment ) and head home thinking you looked like a hypocrite? That to me, actually is not condemning - but a start of a healthy ( honesty ) that kickstarts the life God created us to live. Honesty with what we struggle on the inside surface things - not to harm us, but instead it’s a pipeline leading to hope and dreams. Over the time of 10 years, i slowed down one day to think to myself - I can’t go on like this, with nothing changed, and a fear came to me. This fear, will be expounded in my next prose.  Good to be back’ Andy Ong prosed. 

Ps. Journal has nothing against Church, and is fully relational to being part of my Journey. 

[thanhvietanhdavidvo]

Theory of Writing: Final

Hi Dr. Kt,

Since we usually do a reflection in the form of a letter, I’ve decided to use it again on this one. First of all, thank you for making this class as amazing as it was. Although there were times I was struggling and frustrated with the assignments, I think they taught me a lot about myself and my character. Again, I thank you for that. Anyway, let’s do our final reflection for this class. 

So, I have chosen my four topics that I would be focusing on presenting in this reflection, and here they are:

1.     Predict the future – based on readings, discussions, projects, and so on, what might the future look like for literacy practices?

2.     Based on the NCTE definition, please define 21st century literacies. You should revise your position statement that we’ve worked on a few times based on how you understand 21st century literacies. Please make sure to ground your definition in at least 2 theorists, 1 of which must come from this class.

3.     Define your theory of writing.

4.     How might your theory of writing transfer to other writing situations both inside the classroom and outside the classroom? 

Let’s begin:

      I.         What is the future for literacy going to look like?

I predict in the future, writing and reading will remain similar to today. We will still have physical books to read. The only main difference is that we will use new technology more. For instance, we will use e-books more often (or something equivalent), and we will use digital pens or keyboards to do writing. In a more distant future, I can imagine a case where technology will record people’s lines, meaning there might be a possibility where writing will go extinct; however, I’m not committed to that future, and therefore, I’m not going to talk about it. I think writing will remain, probably in different form compared to our generation.

In my post, “Reading is Inevitably Changing!,” I wrote (in the perspective of a Vietnamese elder): “When I was young, I used to be able to read all day without any struggle; however, my grandchildren seem to be incapable of doing so.” I believe our reading ability is currently becoming worse, but I think this is because we haven’t perfectly adapted to our situation yet. Hundreds of years ago, when humans first learned how to read, they were slow readers; however, through time people’s reading skills improved, till the point where our grandparents were/are. Computers and new technological devices have been around with us for less than a century. I think in the future, probably not in this century, people’s reading skill will become better again. Then, they will “be able to read all day without struggle.”

In “Orality and Literacy,” Ong mentions how Plato view writing as a harmful tool, one that messes with our brain and memory, and thus keeping our society from prosper. By now, we know that he was more incorrect than correct. Practice makes perfect. By relying on writing to keep our records, we practice memorizing less than people in Plato’s time; therefore, our memory is not as good as them. This Plato got right. However, he was wrong to believe writing would affect our society in a non-beneficial way. Writing has let us do our jobs (i.e. how many jobs are there that do not require writing?), store information for long-term use, communicate (e.g. King’s telepathy). Plato’s part in Ong’s book is an example of how history of literacy has shaped. Literacy did not stop spreading, nor did it become a bad thing; literacy has helped human civilization prosper, benefiting us in many aspects of life (i.e. jobs and pleasure). No matter how unpredictable the future is, unless humans go into extinct, literacy in the form of writing and reading will not be easy to get rid of.

    II.         Definition of 21st literacy practice

So how can we define literacy in general? The NCTE’s definition of 21st literacy practice (found on http://www.ncte.org/positions/statements/21stcentdefinition) can be summarize as that a literate person needs to be proficient in using new technology, to make cross-cultural connections and share information across global to solve problems, to analyze information, texts and give critques on them, and to take responsibilties for doing so. Based on this definition, I believe a good definition of 21st literacy is that a literacy person should be able to handle tasks connecting to communication issues, which includes analyzing and critiquing other people’s writing in a proper and accurate manner, communicating efficiently across cultures to either solve a problem or satisfy a need, and taking some kind of responsibility in handling the task.

In my “Literacy Statement #1,” one part of my definition of 21st literacy was: “Communicating at present through oral, and preserving and protecting (i.e. memories and history) through writing.” This I believe can be improved by saying that communication does not need to be grounded in oral alone, but also in writing. In fact, like King said in his “On Writing,” through the use of writing, “we’re not even in the same year together, let alone the same room… except we are together. We’re close. We’re having a meeting of the minds.” Writing is a great way to communicate through time. Oral is another great method of communication, especially when speaking in front of others since oral creates an inspiring environment when one knows how to speak persuasively. Literacy is about communicating effectively, about knowing and understanding the audience.

In my first project, I talked about how “literacy saves lives everyday.” One of my examples was that mothers who are more educated are better at raising their children since they are more knowledgeable on health care system, compared to mothers who are illiterate. Like in my definition above on 21st century literacy, a literate person is more likely to solve everyday problems through communicating with, e.g., doctors or medical personnel who can give them what they need.

In TEDxManchester “Creative writing, why bother,” late-20th, begining 21st century creative writing specialist Anthony Lishak says that writing is “to speak through your pen” and “to put your voice onto paper.” A literate person needs to be able to communicate indirectly through papers in a concise and accurate description, effectively expressing their beliefs, thoughts and opinions. Literacy is a form of expression, a part of communication; being able to communicate well does not mean only to provide accurate information and data, it is also to successfully give the audience a (new) perspective, and to give them the speaker’s or writer’s own personal opinion on those information and data.  

Literacy is also about power, in which one has to take a responsibility for it. In Lindquist’s “Literacy,” she asks about “whether the first responsibility of a writing teacher ‘should be to help students accumulate the things they need to gain entrance into cultures of power and access, or whether teachers should encourage these students to learn to exert some control over those cultures in the first place.’” We need to take some kind of responsibility, and in this case, it is the writing teachers who need to take responsibility when making the decision that affects the future of their students. In the past, a literate person is only found among rich and high social status families; however, in the 21st century, this is no longer the case. Education is about creating literate people, and in developed countries in this century, most people are now literate.

  III.         My Theory of Writing

Having said that, when talking about education and literacy, an interesting topic arises which is the “Theory of Writing.” When I first heard the term “Theory of Writing,” I got confused since even though I knew the meaning of each word within that term, I could not link them together to get a sense of what that term meant. That said, you must have heard the word “theory” in your science classes, e.g., Newton’s theory of Gravity, Einstein's theory of Relativity, and so on. But what exactly is a theory? In general, I say a theory is a well-tested and have-been-proven to be correct explanation of a phenomenon. A Theory of Writing, therefore, could function as a way to explain what or how one could write, and thus why one should write. My Theory of Writing is divided into three ideas, which are presented below:

For starter, what or how can one write? To say that one can write anything that he or she desires to write is a naive statement, a statement that does not tell us much. Personally, I think one can only write what he or she is taught to write. By taught, I mean in either taught by someone else or self-taught through books and observation, or both. A person can only write a poem if he or she knows what a poem is, i.e., what makes a poem a poem and not something else. This is important since one cannot write, e.g., a law book without the knowledge of what the format or the structure of a law book is. Same with a lab report in a science class, one cannot write a lab report without knowing the instructions on how to write them. I implied this in “My (seuss) Theory of Writing” when I wrote: “My planning is the creation, for doing things needs duration. Even if you have a perfect mentation, you ain’t gonna produce a masterpiece without a good preparation.” Preparation is basically the part where I ask myself: What am I writing? If so, what is my plan? “Proper planning and preparation prevents poor performance” (quote by Stephen Keague). It is about reconstructing the image/goal beforehand, and we do it in our writing all the time (e.g. writing a draft, writing out ideas, making a mind map). The first part of my Theory of Writing is therefore: Before writing something, one needs to know how to write it. 

So, why do we write? In my post “My Theory of Writing = “Why do We Write?” (WWW),” I gave a quite simple explanation and that was we write because we can. We, those who are capable to write, are blessed with having the ability to communicate through writing, compared to those who cannot do so due to illness or disease. Therefore, it is quite wasteful and disrespectful not to utilize such an important skill, especially since it helps one uses it as a memory tool (i.e. write it down to remember it) and/or as a general efficient communication device (i.e. emails and letters). The second part of my Theory of Writing is that: The particular reason why one writes is often different for each of us, except the fact that for those of us who are capable of writing, what should motivate us to write is simply because we can.

The last part of my Theory of Writing is that: One should write for content, but in a way that fits for the chosen readers. One of the facts which Brandt mentions in her book “The Rise of Writing” is that good writers think before they write. They think about the audience, the ones who is going to read their writings. This part of my Theory of Writing emphasizes on the importance of those who is going to read your work. Writing is a powerful tool for influencing others, one that can change people’s opinions; therefore, a writer must consider who her audience is. For instance, if her audience are children, the author needs to consider which words to use in accordance to social standard. A writer should think about the word choice, the content, and the aim of her writing in a way that “fits for the chosen readers.”

IV.         Application of my Theory of Writing

If one wish to, my Theory of Writing can be considered as an universal Theory of Writing. I personally find the theory fits in many cases both at school and in life. Below are the three parts in my theory of writing:

(T1) Before writing something, one needs to know how to write it.

(T2) The particular reason why one writes is often different for each of us, except the fact that for those of us who are capable of writing, what should motivate us to write is simply because we can.

(T3) One should write for content, but in a way that fits for the chosen readers.

Within a classroom such as literature or history class (where writing is required a lot), one usually applies T1, T2, and T3 most of the time in his or her writing. (T1) When we write lab reports in science classes such as in physics class, we have steps to follow, e.g., introduction, hypothesis, methods, data, and then conclusion. (T2) Students in physics class write for the purpose of showing what they have done and got from the experiment, and these students should be fully capable of writing it (using the instructions given before hand). (T3) It is obvious the content is about what they have done and the results they have acquired, and that the chosen reader will be their physics professor or TA. 

One of the first questions asked in this WRIT class was whether there is a job that does not require writing; the answer we could all agree on is that there is but not a lot. Most jobs require some type of writing. Even if those jobs are not specialized in writing, the individual who performs the job is required to be able to write in some ways. Especially in the 21st century, people from any social status should be given a chance to learn how to write (and read). T1, T2, and T3 can be applied in jobs outside of classroom. For instance, a secretary’s job requires a lot of writing. (T1) Before he could start being the secretary, he needs to learn how to do the job properly, including how to write in an acceptable way so that his boss does not fire him. (T2) The reasons for him to become a secretary varies, but no one can deny that all secretaries can and need to be able to write. (T3) Again, the content of his writing serves his boss, and his audience is no one but his boss or whom his boss refers to.

In addition, I did not mention this above, but preparation also implies revision. One needs to be able to know how to revise his/her paper if he or she wants to produce a well written paper. In Sommers’ “Revision Strategies of Student Writers and Experienced Adult Writers,” we have learned how students should revise their paper. Taken from T3, one not only write for content but also revise by looking at the content, and not just grammar and equivalent. In any type of writing, one should never consider revising a waste of time, since one cannot improve their writing without revising (a form grounded by T1). In “My (Seuss) Theory of Writing,” I wrote: “Rethink about what you have done, be cautious, be simple, don’t have things undone. Have fun, but don’t get stunned. Since your audience might be everyone.” Revising is not only for the writer to put/take information in/out, it is also to successfully give the audience a good presentation of what one wants to give.

I believe this is the end of my reflection. This is basically a summary of what I have learned through this WRIT class. Thank you for reading my reflection. I wish you a wonderful year ahead.

Best,

Thanh Viet Anh Vo (David Vo)