#mblaq imagines

[cherrysarchives]

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🔞 - sᴘɪᴄʏ ᴄᴏɴᴛᴇɴᴛ

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Ships

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X - Reader

[waitingforminjae]

none of this would've happened if j.tune hadn't fucked up mblaq

[bubblegeon]

Hennexxi, who broke a 7-year hiatus, "I have to let go of the regret of Madtown activities" [Interview] 02.2023

“I haven’t had a chance to stand on stage for nearly 7 years. I want to quench my thirst while working as a solo singer.”

Singer HENNEXXI (real name Kim Seoul, former name Buffy) from the boy group Madtown overcomes the pain and runs again. Hennexxi, who left the music industry for a long time after the team disbanded, returned to the fans with a stronger appearance than before and released his solo debut song 'RATM' on the 28th.

As long as the blank period was long, his determination to be active is different. In an interview with E-Daily at a cafe in Hapjeong-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul ahead of his solo sortie, Hennexxi said, "It's been 7 years since Madtown released their last album in 2016, and it's my first time releasing a solo song, so I'm nervous. However, I am also looking forward to it because I completed a satisfactory result with good people,” he said with a smile.

Seven years is a long time for a generation to change in the music industry. Hennexxi started military service after Madtown disbanded, and after being discharged, he had time to build up his music skills alone while working part-time. Hennexxi looked back saying, it was a time when he seriously considered whether or not to continue with music.

The wounds in his heart made him ponder whether to walk the path of music. Hennexxi confessed, "I received treatment for depression and panic disorder until last year."

Hennexxi was selected as an idol trainee while attending Seoul Performing Arts High School. In 2013, when he was 20 years old, Hennexxi entered the music industry as a member of the duo ProC, and then started working as a member of Madtown the following year. However, Madtown disbanded in 2017 after being unable to fully expand its activities due to the issue of transfer of the agency and termination of the exclusive contract.

Hennexxi said, "I've been 'all-in' for a long time since I was young, but after the team disbanded, thinking that I hadn't achieved anything made me feel anxious," he said.

While preparing for her solo debut, Hennexxi, who said he has made up his mind again, is trying to loosen up the lump in his heart little by little in the future. He is determined to build his own territory by promoting rap metal music, a genre that is still unfamiliar to domestic listeners. 'RATM' is a song at the starting point, and the lyrics contain the message that you will go your own way without being swept away by the evaluations or reactions around you.

'RATM' also draws attention in that it is a song featuring Haengzoo of hip-hop trio Rhythm Power, winner of Mnet's 'Show Me the Money 6'. Hennexxi said, “When I felt that the song needed a featuring artist, the first thing that came to my mind was Hangju-hyung."

In addition, regarding the reason for mentioning the late singer Iron's song 'ROCK BOTTOM' through the lyrics, he said, "I don't have a personal relationship, but I liked it because it was an artist who tried rap metal music early.” he explained.

Hennexxi, who has played the bass guitar since middle school, said, “I respect the American band ‘Rage Against The Machine’ (RATM), whose song was named after them.” “My goal is to become an artist who contributes to the popularization of rap metal music.” he said forcefully.

He also commented on his thirst for the stage, saying, “I want to become a shining singer in the concert hall where I can most definitely feel the pleasure of the band’s sound.” In addition, they picked Kim Tae-won of Resurrection and Kim Do-gyun of Mt. Baekdu as the artists they want to collaborate with, and Jay Park as their role model.

The last words he said were thanks to the fans. Hennexxi said, “There are fans who have been waiting for a singer who hasn’t released a single song, let alone an album, in 7 years. Even these days, they send messages of support through social media,” he said, promising, “I will do my best in my music activities to repay them.” [Google trans]

[emeraldbabygirl]

THUNDER AND MIMI ARE GETTING MARRIED????

I DIDNT EVEN KNOW THERE WAS A MIMI IN GUGUDAN

FIRST JHEART AND THEN UKWON AND MY HYUNA AND MY MINHA AND MY KYUNGRI

IM JEALOUS CAUSE THUNDER WAS MY BIAS BUT I KNOW I WOULDNT HAVE A CHANCE WITH HIM ANYWAY OR ANY OTHER IDOL OR CELEB FOR THAT MATTER BUT IM ALSO JEALOUS CAUSE..what if I want that? What if sometimes I just really really wanna fall in love and get married so bad and have someone love me and get all those sappy gross feelings?? I’m jealous cause the more young people or idols that get married the less I feel like I have a chance in general? I know I don’t with any idol of celeb or pretty person or whatever but :(

[jjongslight]

The pic that gave all MVPs a heart attack for a few seconds. If only...  😂 😤 😭

[imisstaeyang]

some of y'all never experienced mblaq and it shows...

[golden-k-pop-trash]

gin’s Masterlist

Block B

Texts

Accidental Confession Pt.1

Accidental Confession Pt.2

Birthday Posts

Taeil

Vines

Badasses?

Reactions

Not The Bias

Bts

As

Disney Princesses

Reactions

Driving in Heels

Sleeping in Weird Places

Tattoos

Shy Girl

Shoe Collection

Being Shy

Making Him Fall

Texts

Lame Pickup Lines

Pokémon Go

Something He Doesn’t Wanna Hear

Birthday Posts

Rap Monster

Jungkook

Jimin

Imagines

V: Rough Workday

Disneyland

Suga: Trainee

Nervous Jungkook

Photo-set

Jimin: Red

Scenario

Suga

Vines

J-Hope’s Body Rolls

Eat Jin

Jin’s Laugh

Exo

Reactions

Wanting a Pet

Texts

Losing Your Pet Pt.1

Losing Your Pet Pt.2

Birthday Posts

Lay

Chen

Instagram

Pt. 1 Stupid Question

Pt. 2 Stupid Question

Imagines

Luhan: Fan Meet

Scenario

Xiumin

Photo-set

Valentine’s Day: Chanbaek

Vines

Sudaddy

Marshmallow!

NOPE

Savage Lay

He’s Gay

Chanyeol Near Death Experience

D.O’s Body Roll Face

Got7

Texts

Jealous Jackson

Birthday Posts

Jinyoung

Youngjae

Mark

Imagines

Mark Trynna Get You Jelly

Vines

No Markbam!

Markiepooh

Jinyoung Xmas

Mblaq

Reactions

Bad Dancer

Texts

Birthday Posts

Seungho

Thunder

Vines

Seungho Be a Man

Stay

Monsta X

As

Disney Princes

Reactions

Just Dance

Jealous

Texts

Texting in the Same Room

Vines

Lying Kihyun

No

I.M’s Laugh

Shinee

Vines

Ring Dong

Stray Kids

Reactions

Shampoo

Instagram

Favorite Hairstyle

Vixx

As

Disney Villains

Reactions

Medical Alert Dog

Fire Dancer

MMA Fighting

Shy Girl

Texts

Birthday Posts

Hongbin

Scenario

Hyuk

Photo-set

Ravi & Hyuk: Purple

Imagines

Winning a Contest

Leo: Idol

Vines

Done w/Leo

Collabs w/Admin Dee

Reactions

Bts ~ Your Job

Exo ~ Crush

Exo ~ Being Shy

Monsta X ~ Argument

Vine Series

Birthday Posts

Ravi

Wonho

Hyungwon

I.M

Mir

Lee Joon

Kai

P.O

J-Hope

Suga

Why I Have Trust Issues

Oh Sehun

Jung Hoseok

Monsta X

Lee Minhyuk

Park Chanyeol

Kim Minseok

Do Kyungsoo

Jeong Jungkook

Park Jimin

Sehun

Kim Jongin

Jungkook

Jackson Wang

Random

100 Thanks

Penguin JooKyun

Monhoes Unite!

True

Jams

Changkyun’s Bubbles!

Scared Ken

MX Hogwart’s Houses

FKM ~ Vixx

Hot Topic Adventure

SM Making NCT

$ugar Daddy Suho

Dating Doors

BBMA Reaction

All Around

Reaction: Valentine’s Day

[pocket-scenarios]

Dork - Mir

(Admin: Babyboiii & WS I’m soft af for Mir, this isn’t as dorky as I originally planned I was going to make him clumsy and stumble over his words n more soft stuff)

You look around cautiously when you step into the uncharacteristically quiet apartment. Usually, Cheolyong would be sitting in the living room laying on the couch waiting for you to come in so you can eat with him, but today the living room was empty. He isn’t mad at you as far as you are aware so you’re confused as to where your usually bubbly boyfriend is. Your concerns are short-lived though when Cheolyong ends them by running to the living room to great you, you let out a small laugh shaking your head at the way he acts.

“Your home,” he says breathlessly and you nod in response, “I have something to show you,” he says in the same breathless tone grabbing onto your wrist with a smile and pulling you into the dining room, that is hardly ever used since the two of you usually eat while watching Tv.

There’s a white-frosted cake sitting in the center of the table with strawberries decorating the outside of it. You quirk an eyebrow at him puzzled, but once the two of you step closer you can make out the words in the center of the cake that had been hidden by the trimming ‘Will you marry me?’ your heart skips a beat and you turn towards him wide-eyed.

“Are you being serious?” You choke out your throat feels tight he nods eagerly, pulling a ring box out of his pocket, “of course,” your words mesh together when you rush them out throwing your arms around Cheolyong’s shoulders and burying your head against his shoulder Cheolyong wraps his arms around the middle of your back swaying slightly and letting out a content sigh.

“I love you,” Cheolyong says barely above a whisper, “and now we’re getting married,” he says with a small laugh, “it’s unreal,” he says in a soft voice.

|| Masterlist || Submit A Request ||

[whatwouldyourbiasdo]

We’re still alive

Sorry for the delay, we were experiencing some personal and technical issues that have mostly been resolved. We have one request in our inbox that we’re working on.

We’ll also work on a better layout.

Feel free to send in your requests.

[kpopoutfit-imagines]

Vampire Style with MBLAQ’s Mir (Requested by @sujuloverlella) -Admin Chocolat

[imxenelle]

New Account. New Blog.

1 2 3 .. Xenia himnida! lmao just kidding! Now for real. Hi guys! I'm Xenia, and I started with a new account on Tumblr as you can see. I was thinking of posting some of my imaginations, scenarios, fanfiction/teen fiction, one shot, short stories or whatever you wanna call it, here on Tumblr as well. I published already some of my works on wattpad. Why wattpad? It's because I am, how can you say it? Still in doubt or.. unsure if my stories are good enough to be posted on Tumblr. I mean, Tumblr is a huge and successful blog website. (I ain't trying to belittle wattpad tho, I love wattpad haha) Well yeah, I am starting to take this step to post my stories here as well. I hope you can give me a shot! My stories I've published so far are: - One Shot (diff. k artists) - Almost a Love Story (BTS & EXO ff.) - What if's (fangirl/fanboy thoughts and short scenarios) - 17+ || 세븐틴 (rated one shots lmao) - Just a Tweet (Kpop ff. but this is totally trash lmao so nvm) Please look forward to it!

[harpersbizarremag]

Fly Yoo to the moon: Gong Yoo stars in dystopian space movie

What’s better than world icon-actor Gong Yoo making his mark on Earth? The actor flying to the moon, of course. The man’s been busy doing other things besides setting up his highly-anticipated Instagram page, which was later duplicated by others.

OK so he’s not sky-tripping to the actual moon but close enough. The 42-year-old will star in The Silent Sea, a dystopian movie set on our planet in 2075. Except it’s not the futuristic, tech-filled world we imagined. Earth is a desert. Gong Yoo and other members of his space team are sent to an abandoned research facility on the moon to retrieve samples of life.

The series also stars Bae Doona of Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance fame and ex-MBLAQ band member Lee Joon.

The Silent Sea premieres of Netflix Dec. 24. Happy Christmas Eve!

[hadise-the-human]

Demon bros and the kpop idols they remind me of

Not necessarily appearance wise just in general

Keep in mind that I'm second generation K-pop fan so I'm not very familiar with whatever is happening in the kpop fandoms now so my picks are from older kpop groups :P

Without further ado let's get started

Lucifer: JR from Nu'est

His sharp gaze is very much Lucifer's, he's also the group's leader which is a bonus, his beautiful jawline gives him a manly look which I think is similar to Luci, plus the hairstyle in this picture, I mean look at him and imagine the fur lining coat on his shoulder, Lucifer is that you?

Mammon: Kai from EXO + Mir from MBLAQ

Kai isn't exactly as pale as most Koreans and I think that's very beautiful, he's not as dark as mammon but with lighter hair he really reminds me of mammon

(look I know this is not his best picture but I just wanted to show the hair to skin contrast okay XD Kai looks better in darker hair)

As for Mir, he also has this beautiful chocolaty skin and has a similar trait to Mammon which is the lack of brain cells

Beelzebub: Baekho from Nu'est

The face? They hardly look alike but Baekho's juicy build is definitely similar to Beel! They are both big Bois with crazy hot muscles

Asmo: Ren from Nu'est + Kevin from U-kiss

I know there's a lot of Nu'est but come on I love these guys XD

So anyways Ren has Asmo's GLAMOROUS GIRLY VIBE and both are incredibly good looking, I managed to find this picture of Ren with similar hair to Asmo

Also Kevin from U-Kiss has a very similar vibe to Asmo and Ren!

Which one do you guys think is more like Asmo ??

Belphie: Jungkook from bts

You knew there was going to be at least one BTS member on the list right? They're not my fav but I think they're cool :P

As for Kookie and Belphie here's what I had in mind: youngest in the group, fluffy hair, can look like a cinnamon roll but can also look like he can kill you

And that's very much Jungkook

Levi: Minhyun from Nu'est

You thought I was done with Nu'est!? SIKE

They look alike

Yeah that's it

They look alike

Satan: Minho from SHINee

Tall, cute, bright smile, and has actual functioning brain cells ... I think he qualifies as Satan, except Minho is baby and Satan is .... Well ... Satan

If I get bored enough tomorrow I'll make a version for the undatables

Or y'all can do it idk

If you have any additions to this pls show me!!

[angelicamayisagan]

HELLO TO YOU!

Sawatdee kha! Annyeonghaseyo!

Kamusta? I hope you are doing well today. If not let me give you a *virtual hug* everything will be alright *pat-pat* I am a newbie here so I am still trying to explore how this app works, but if you know how just message me and let’s be friends. :>

If you’re still reading this post, Let me introduce myself:

I am Angelica May C. Isagan a STEM student from the University of Perpetual Help System DALTA-Molino. You can call me 'Ge or Angge' just don’t call me 'Angel or May'. 

* To be honest with you, I still don’t know how to describe myself fully. But, I hope that through this journey you’ll learn something from me. :>

FUN FACTS ABOUT ME!

> I love writing free verse poems. ( I am not good at it but as long as I am enjoying it, I think there is nothing wrong with that :)) )

According to Luke 1:37 

“For with God nothing shall be impossible.”

*I shared this poem to you to make you realize that it is not too late to take risks what you want to do in life. I know that within you there is something in your heart that you still wanted to get or achieve since you were a kid.

> I love dancing :)

> I am recently into BL and Thailand series (If you are babii, peraya, polca, MyBlue, NineHearts, Broccoli Nation, BrightWin, mii2, Waanjai, J9, Trigon, and 99 others haha char) Feel free to message me—let’s be fujoshi together. haha!

> I am also a k-pop fan and biggest fan of EXO but I also stan Treasure, Bigbang, Blackpink, BTS, NCT, SuperM, VIXX, MBLAQ, Monsta X, Red velvet, Mamamoo, 2PM, Got7, and 99+ more. 

> I also love collecting and reading novel books. 

> I am currently learning piano. 

> What is my stress reliever?

 watching Documentaries'. :>

I’ll end this with a quote:

 “Believe in yourself. You are braver than you think, more talented than you know, and capable of more than you imagine.” ― Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart

That’s it, thank you for stopping by. ;)

[obsessivedilettante]

20 in 10: A Drama Retrospective

Since I’ve been all quiet on the drama front this year because of life reasons, I thought it would be fun to go back and pick out 20 of the most memorable dramas of the last decade. Maybe not necessarily the best dramas or even my favorites (although some are!), but two dramas each year that were somehow notable moments in my drama-watching timeline.

2009: Gateway Drugs

Boys over Flowers (KBS)

This is not, by any stretch of the imagination, a good drama. It is not one I think I can ever really rewatch (although I will happily revisit the 2005 Japanese version, and I had a hellava fun time watching the latest Chinese version). But! It was the first kdrama I remember watching, and the first step on the slippery slope of eventually becoming a Drama Addict. I mostly remember it being crazy popular on places like mysoju (RIP), and so I checked it out due to curiosity, and the rest, as they say, is history. Or, should I say, almost paaaaradise!

You’re Beautiful (SBS)

This one I also watched because it became crazy-popular online, and curiosity got the better of me. I really didn’t know much about k-pop prior to dramas, so I had no idea until after this drama that k-pop was more about pretty people in crazy fashion, dancing in syncopation in bizarrely lit rooms, rather than playing instruments. Because it was thanks to this drama that I got my crash-course on k-pop as a phenomenon -- both the fandom side, and the crazy things that artists have to go through to claw their way into the public’s view (nevar 4get the glorious ramen dance). Since Angel was a group that played instruments, and Hongki and Yonghwa were also from groups that played instruments, I assumed that all kpop were groups that played instruments. Oh, sweet summer child...

But it did get me started on my k-pop journey, first falling in love with FT Island and CNBLUE, before falling into the rabbit hole of the other prominent groups of the day. (SNSD! The Wonder Girls! Super Junior! DBSK! SS501! Kara! 2PM! 2AM! Shinee! BEG! Epik High! U-KISS! All the debut groups, like 2NE1, MBLAQ, B2ST, 4Minute, f(x), T-ara, After School... basically 2009 was a magical year in k-pop.)

If I had just watched Boys Over Flowers, I don’t know that I would have become a Drama Addict. But You’re Beautiful pushed me closer to the edge, with the zany humor of the Hong Sisters (and the desire for a pig-bunny of my own!). It would really be Coffee Prince that would push me over the edge, but that aired in 2007 so it doesn’t count for this list. But I had to mention it anyway, because, well, it’s Coffee Prince and where my love for Handsome Oppa began.

2010: More Than Candy

The Woman Who Wants To Marry (MBC)

A lot of the dramas I watched at first had that typical “Candy” character, the poor-but-scrappy girl who would somehow be saved by the guy and become the Cinderella she never knew she wanted to be. So it was a delight when I encountered women who were not only older than high-school-age or early twenties, but in their thirties, with rich full lives! Plus, this was one of my earliest introductions to the concept of the “noona romance” (a concept that I’ve since heartily embraced, of course). I started it primarily because Kim Bum was my favorite of the Flower Boys, but I stuck with it because I fell in love with the women (and I still have a girl-crush on Bu-ki).

Harvest Villa (tvn)

This show is insane. But in the good way, the way that the writer intended, and not in the “are a bunch of monkeys typing this script?” train-wreck way. There was basically no buzz about this show, and I feel like I somehow accidentally stumbled over it, but it was love at first sight. I’ve never forgotten the late hours binging it, being so sucked into the story that I absolutely had to finish it as soon as I could, disappointed that there wasn’t more of it to enjoy when I finally finished, bleary-eyed and sleep-deprived, but satisfied.

I then later gobbled down this writer’s next drama, and her next drama, and the next, until everyone else finally realized thanks to Signal that Kim Eun-hee was as amazing a writer as I kept insisting to anyone who would listen (aka no one).

2011: To Binge or Not To Binge?

White Christmas (KBS)

I did not watch White Christmas in 2011. I actually watched it in 2013. I was always a steadfast binger, preferring to wait until the buzz about a show would sway me into spending my precious free-time watching something that would be worth my while (not that my drama choices were always good, but at least I tried to avoid the duds). I still prefer to binge, since waiting weeks for new episodes is vaguely frustrating when I want to know what happens next, right now! Plus, I’m very good at forgetting that I’m watching a show in the week-long wait for new episodes, and then just... never picking it back up again.

Despite watching White Christmas a couple years after it aired, it remains one of my favorites, and one I love to rewatch, even though I’ve already experienced  whodunnit cliff-hangers and psychological rollercoasters. It became a tradition of sorts here on tumblr for a bunch of us to rewatch it over the holiday season -- alas, I haven’t joined in that tradition for the past couple of years, but I hope that somewhere in this blue hell hole that there are a loyal few keeping the tradition alive.

At least we have this drama to thank for bringing us all the model-actors that were new and clueless in White Christmas, but would later go on to be leading men in their own right. Of course, some of them haven’t exactly made the best drama choices (*cough*SungJoon*cough*), but then there are others (*cough*SooHyuk*cough*) that I’m impatiently waiting for to pick up a new drama so I can see those post-army abs.

Tree With Deep Roots (SBS)

This is the first drama that I recall live-watching. I vaguely remember regretting it at the time, since it was agony waiting for new episodes, but it was also fun to have a week to speculate and ponder the show. And what a beautiful show to ponder! This was also one of the few sageuks I actually watched, being generally intimidated by anything longer than 16-20 episodes, and my historical knowledge was a little shaky (before embracing my inner nerd and diving into mundane historical stuff just so I could better understand whatever drama I was watching at the time).

I don’t think I intended to continue live-watching shows, preferring the ease of binging at my own pace and schedule. But that was when I was still a casual, innocent addict, and not someone who would eventually make dramas a huge part of her life.

2012: The Joy of Overthinking

Gaksital (KBS)

Having had a taste of live-watching, I started to live-watch enough dramas to the point where I began to make notes about the premiere weeks. It was only a couple at a time, and binging was still my preferred way to watch, but now I was delighting in being part of the fandom, sharing in speculation each week, posting my thoughts on dramas and analyzing them to my heart’s content -- even though I knew no one except me would read my ridiculous essays.

But I started to feel more comfortable sharing my opinion with the world, interacting with fandom and not merely content to be a consumer, but gradually becoming a producer as well.

Reply 1997 (tvN)

This is it. This is when I went full-on Drama Addict. This is the tipping point from casual fan who quietly kept to herself, to becoming someone who stood on the mountain top yelling about ALL THE DRAMAS ALL THE TIME. I began to interact with other fans! To swap theories and share squee-worthy moments! I even watched episodes RAW just because of how desperate I was to know what happened, and even though the Busan accent stumped me more than once, it made me realize that my casual study of Korean was something to take seriously since I understood more than I gave myself credit for.

It was also the first time any post I made got more than a handful of notes, since I’d mostly hovered in the “less than 10 notes per post” category at the time. I was so proud of myself back then!

(This drama also notably marks the start of my Hoya obsession, which continues to this day.)

2013: Tumblr Friends (and Foes)

Flower Boy Next Door (tvN)

Having made myself comfortable on tumblr as a Drama Addict, I then discovered some other dedicated fans -- many of which I still follow to this day and who are now just a permanent part of my dash, no matter what their current interests may be -- in the FBND squad.

But I also discovered Kim Seul-gi as the Webtoon Editor (who I still love and adore and continue to use as my avatar), and her adorable romance with Dong-hoon remains one of my forever OTPs. As much as I enjoyed the drama romances, I’d never fallen so deeply for one to be so obsessed by it as I was Webtoon Editor and Dong-hoon. And tbh I still am. They’re just so adorable and pragmatic and she buys him a bag. Ugh. I love her so much, you guys.

Heirs (SBS)

Ah, yes. This hot mess.

I don’t know what possessed me to live-blog each episode. But I did. With snarky commentary and terrible screencaps. And suddenly I went from maybe 200 followers to over a 1000. That was a total shock! I met a lot of people because of that (and made some friends, as well as a few enemies who didn’t appreciate my opinion of certain characters), and ensconced myself as part of the drama-blogging crew.

It was from this that someone suggested I apply to be a minion at Dramabeans. Back then, I had a lot more free time than I do now, and I was watching a lot of dramas that Dramabeans didn’t cover, and wished they did so I could read more opinions about those shows. So I thought, “Eh, why not? It can’t hurt to submit something because the worst that would happen is I’d waste their time making them read my take on episode 10 of Let’s Eat.”

I fully expected them to turn me down. No one was more surprised than I was when I found myself agreeing to dive into the world of recapping.

2014: It Was the Best of Times, It Was the Worst of Times

Trot Lovers (KBS)

Recapping. It seems so easy when you’re reading the recaps. But actually creating them is a bitch. Hours out of my life were spent on this disaster of a trope-laden show with no plot. This was the third show I worked on for Dramabeans, and I hated it to the point where I seriously considered handing in my notice. (Immediately following up this show with the mediocre My Secret Hotel certainly didn’t help matters!)

However, it turns out that what I actually hated was being forced to watch a terrible rom-com and pretend to come up with insightful-or-at-least-neutral thoughts about it (since we were still new and couldn’t go full-on snark yet).

Misaeng (tvN)

This is what saved me. Being given the chance to immerse myself in such a unique, ponderous, thoughtful show restored my faith in dramas and the drama community. I loved spending hours on this show, soaking up all the little details, and then sharing that love with the world.

Misaeng made dramas magical again.

2015: Fight Me

Valid Love (tvN)

Realizing that I only seemed to enjoy rom-coms at arm-length, I discovered that my tastes often ran counter to the general drama-viewing public. Not all the drama-viewing public -- I’m not a “not like other fans” kind of fan -- but enough that I began to realize the whether a drama was popular or had good buzz was not necessarily the primary reason to watch it.

I began to have more faith in my own taste, based on past experiences with various writers and directors. Even if the premise (or first couple of episodes) seemed kind of weird and out-there, I at least wanted to give these artists the benefit of the doubt that I would enjoy their work, like I had previously.

So many people seemed to hate Valid Love, but I adored it. Still do (and still desperately wish Kim Do-woo would come out with a new drama -- it has been too long, writer-nim!). There were a lot of opinions about this show, even among people who seemed to enjoy it, but I vividly recall having to repeatedly insist that it wasn’t about the romance and argue that  the knee-jerk infidelity-is-BAD opinions should make space for something more nuanced.

Ho-gu’s Love (tvN)

DramaFever was a pretty great site. It brought together so many drama fans and gave them a place where they could legally (and without fear of downloading random viruses) watch dramas to their heart’s content. Yes, there may have been some lingering resentment that they were the primary reason that so many amazing other sites were shut down (RIP mysoju and daebaeksubs), but dramas were more accessible than ever!

Eventually, DramaFever started to sub shows themselves and upload them weekly (instead of just using fansubs and uploading older dramas), and while they weren’t the best translations, they were at least better than machine translations from the Chinese subs. As I became more and more familiar with Korean, I found myself more likely to migrate to Viki since I liked the extra detailed translations. I could get the gist of a show without any help -- I wanted to instead delve into the nitty-gritty of the language.

But I never really hated DramaFever or felt they were particularly awful. Until they mistranslated something so terribly that it changed the entire meaning of a scene and ruined people’s perception of a drama, forcing me to continually defend the true translation.

That was the molehill I died on that day, and never again did I touch DramaFever. I feel bad that it eventually got unceremoniously shuttered. But I don’t think I’ll ever forgive them for the “condom” incident.

2016: Free Solo

Dear My Friends (tvN)

For two years I’d been happily working on one episode a week, sharing a show with someone else, until I was asked if I’d like to tackle a show by myself. I wasn’t sure how I could handle it, but I had the time in my schedule so I said, “Sure, why not?”

I was originally going to recap Another Oh Hae-young, but there was a last-minute switcheroo, and I’m so incredibly glad because this is perhaps my favorite recapping experience of all time, even more so than Misaeng. There was something so special about the luxury of having an entire show to myself, especially one with such a fantastic cast of characters and thoughtful themes. I didn’t have to try and figure out if I agreed with another person’s take -- it could all be my opinion.

Is that arrogant? Perhaps. But it was also therapeutic, as it reminded me once again how incredible and amazing dramas could be, and the privilege I had to share such an exquisite and thought-provoking drama with the rest of the world.

The Good Wife (tvN)

Surprisingly, this was what I had really wanted to recap that year, and the true reason I got Dear My Friends, since it aired just prior in the same time-slot as The Good Wife. I was desperate to have this show, willing to do anything to get it because I needed to see Jeon Do-yeon back on the small screen, to see Yoo Ji-tae smolder, to know how Korea would adapt such an ambitious show.

And I wasn’t disappointed! This is, perhaps, my favorite adaption of another work of art that I’ve seen in dramaland. It remained true to Korean sensibilities, but it also properly felt like The Good Wife. The cast was phenomenal. The costumes were exquisite. I wished I could spend more time in that world.

But I was also thankful, because without The Good Wife, I would have never have had Dear My Friends. 

2017: Serial-Killers Are Cool

Voice (OCN)

I can’t remember how I got assigned to this. Maybe it was a scheduling thing. I do know that I really, really wanted it, since it would be Handsome Oppa’s first drama appearance in three years.

But it started me down a road of recapping a lot of serious and serial-killer-centric shows. Except for the times when I’d beg for a break and tackle something lighter, I was generally assigned the darker mystery shows with meaty plots, since apparently I had a knack for condensing complicated shows into something that made sense. (Also literally darker, and I eventually learned to automatically brighten every screencap I posted. You’re welcome.)

Not only did I love working on something with Handsome Oppa, I also had fun recapping the start of what would eventually become OCN’s stock-in-trade -- creepy serial killers. At the time, Voice shattered OCN’s viewer ratings (which would then be shattered again and again as more people would tune in to OCN shows). But Voice really helped put OCN on the viewership map -- as well as catapult Handsome Oppa into the public eye and lead him to a path of getting to choose whatever script he wanted to work on.

(Okay, maybe I made that last bit up, but he did begin to garner a larger following and remind everyone that just because he was gone from dramaland for so long, he hadn’t lost his acting chops -- or charisma -- or cheekbones.)

Black (OCN)

Oh, this show. It was basically my whole life while it was airing (well, the non-day-job part of my life). Each episode was over an hour long and jam-packed full of details that were pertinent to the story, and I had to somehow condense that all into 3000 words or less (I was not always, ah, successful...). It felt like I was back in recapping bootcamp, but the dial had been turned up to 11.

I’m weirdly proud of what I produced (although you’ll never get me to reread my old work). It was one of the most challenging shows to work on, but in the good way, not the Trot Lovers way.

Until the ending, that is. Sigh. That ending will live in infamy. I still, to this day, will get a few comments on the finale from people who watched it on Netflix, went searching online for an explanation of the end, and then discovered that they were not alone in being confused by the utter wtf-ery of the last twenty minutes.

2018: Fighting For My Love

Misty (JTBC)

So, Dramabeans kind of disappeared for a few months. Well, the site was still live. There were a handful of recaps. But... it basically just... stopped. 

Those of us on the other side know about as you do as to why that happened. Minions are kept in the dark just as much as anybody, it seems. All we knew is that we weren’t being assigned anything and we seriously wondered if the site was going under, since adsense has become worthless these days.

But Mary and I kept talking about how much we adored Misty and were sad that we couldn’t talk about it with the world (and convince them to watch it with us), so we pleaded and begged and got the go-ahead to do a kind of chatty “open thread” which has apparently been a spring-board format for other shows. We didn’t get paid for this, and we were totally fine with that. We just wanted to provide some kind of content (while swooning over Kim Nam-joo’s pantsuits!).

Let’s Eat 3 (tvN)

This was my first real assignment after the dead period, and I once again got to do full recaps (with pay!). I started watching, thinking I’d merely tolerate the show (since I loved the first season vastly more than the second season), but it turned out to be my favorite of the three. Plus it felt fortuitous that the series I had submitted my application would be a series I’d work on four years later.

Sometimes it’s nice to spend time with a character you met years ago, to see them grow, to see how they became what they became. Drama trends (and love interests) will come and go, but Goo Dae-young’s love of food (and love of explaining the proper way to eat food) will never change. It was a really comforting drama for me to spend my summer on, and I’ll remember it fondly, even if I’m forever sad that it had to suddenly wrap-up two episodes early.

2019: Ten Years Later

Item (MBC)

This was the Trot Lovers of 2019. It was a nonsensical disaster.

I also had the added chaos of my real-life job -- one very different from the one I had when I was working on Trot Lovers -- as it began to increase exponentially in responsibilities and in stress. I reached a breaking point where I began to hate opening my computer where I’d have to spend hours attempting to explain a show that I wanted nothing to do with. I was miserable and depressed and couldn’t do it anymore. I never before asked to be taken off a show because I hated it so much, but there’s a first for everything.

Her Private Life (tvN)

I actually haven’t finished this show -- I’ve yet to watch the last two episodes. But I’m including it because, well, I didn’t finish any other show in 2019 except for Item.

As some of you may know, this has been a difficult year. It started with the unexpected stress of my job, when we suddenly lost one of our directors who passed away, and another director was let go (in a complicated situation that is ongoing, but the important thing is that it was during our busiest time when we really couldn’t afford to lose anyone), and another director left for a different job and I was basically the one to pick up all the pieces she left behind. It was exhausting and we were all past the breaking point but somehow miraculously holding it together.

I was looking forward to finally getting a much-needed vacation in September, and then, well, you all know how that went: the first night, on our layover in New Zealand before what was supposed to be three weeks in Australia, my father was taken to the hospital, and then, two days later, he passed away. Life has gotten even more chaotic and stressful and bizarre since then.

So no, I haven’t finished this drama, but it was one of the most wonderful moments of the year for me, watching this fizzy rom-com with my favorite actor, where he got to be charming and handsome and charismatic and finally kiss the girl he loves and have her love him back (and not die or be dumped, as he had been in so many dramas that had gone before). Lion Oppa was everything my heart could desire, and living in his world helped me endure the insanity that I wish I’d known would seem so much more tolerable than what would eventually befall.

Her Private Life reminded me of when I first fell in love with dramas ten years ago, when I would giggle and be delighted by the charming nonsense on screen -- of beautiful people falling in love and fighting against the obstacles between them (some more ridiculous than others, perhaps, but there are always obstacles), and ending up happily ever after. Pure escapism, of the frothiest kind.

A Drama-filled Decade

So, after ten years of dramas, what is the takeaway? What have I learned?

I suppose I’ve learned to trust my instincts and put more faith in writers and directors than actors. That analyzing dramas is fun, and it’s even more fun sharing it with others, and sometimes even more fun if you get paid to do it -- but everyone eventually reaches a breaking point. That I’m too earnest and optimistic to embrace a life of snark. That I want every drama to be good but most of them aren’t, except sometimes they are. That I’m not even sure which genres are my favorite; I just know what I don’t like.

That dramas are best as escapism, and not as work.

I don’t know how many dramas I’ll watch in 2020. I haven’t paid any attention to what’s airing, and I’m okay with that. Perhaps I’m entering a new phase in my life, or perhaps I just don’t have the capacity to escape right now.

But I am pleased to have had dramas in my life, and to have eventually made them my hobby. I’ve met a lot of amazing people and made some genuine friends through a shared love of dramas (or, at times, a shared hatred). I’m honored that all of you are still here and following me, even during this period of fandom silence.

May 2020 treat us all better, and may Kim Do-woo finally write another script.

[grand-line-library]

💭 🕺 a3! summer troupe if youre down for that???

Of coURSE I’M DOWN ok summer bois lets gobtw thank you for the a3 ask i love these bois

Tenma Sumeragi

💭 - daydream headcanon

He doesn’t daydream regularly

But when he does, it has to do with the roles he’s had and it’s all about his acting

Hm, maybe he should have said the line a little lighter for a better effect, ahhh too late now

The times he daydreams the most is when he’s tending to his bonsai

🕺 - dancing headcanon

this boy, such a middle aged man for a teen i swear, thinks he looks cool but damn, he looks cool but also dumb

Yuki Rurikawa

💭 - daydream headcanon

Fashion is on this boy’s brain, 24/7

Oh, this pattern seems to be in style right now

Damn Sakyo with that stupid budget, gonna have to think of new ways to get around it for materials

Sketches outfits for the next play’s wardrobe while he thinks

🕺 - dancing headcanon

tries to stay looking cool, claps along to the beat

Muku Sakisaka

💭 - daydream headcanon

Shoujou manga brain

Is that new volume out today???

I wonder if this happened, or that happened, uwaaaa do they get together???

Daydreams about the future volumes of manga/episodes of anime that he’s been going through because he’s so invested in the cute storyline

🕺 - dancing headcanon

this lil shoujou weeb would def learn some sort of cute dance from either an anime or a girl band like omg

Misumi Ikaruga

💭 - daydream headcanon

TRIANGLES

Need I say more?

This soft boi loves triangles too much to not think about them so they’re in his daydreams too

Ahhh that looks like a triangle, there’s another triangle!!! so many!! triangles!!!

🕺 - dancing headcanon

something random, makes no sense, so basically anything

Kazunari Miyoshi

💭 - daydream headcanon

Ooo, she’s cute~~ really really cute

Really daydreams scenarios about asking girls out and going on an awesome date

But of course it’s just a daydream and ahhh damn that wasn’t real??? aw mannn

🕺 - dancing headcanon

there is no way that I don’t imagine kazu as dancing to kpop, particularly smoky girl by mblaq idk man blame my brain for that i really don’t know why i just see him dancing kpop