#viki

[gillsanss]

[sunlighthroughthe-ashes]

i want to talk about how tenderly and tactfully the subject of trauma has been handled in family by choice. full credit to the original c-drama for the story — but the remake is my first introduction to the show and its premise.

families can be a person's first experience of a wound: that single unanswerable ache from which each of your hurts flow and fountain forward. it's rare for k-dramas to acknowledge this: to acknowledge that the individual to whom you are born may not belong to you. may not give you the grace you require to grow. may not take your small, hot hand; hungry for solace — and instead simply cast it aside. your family can be your first sharp disappointment — your first clear shock at the sheer ugliness of the world. to some, love is freely given — to others it is nothing more than a bone flung from a scant table. you hug the hunger like it's your own bed-pillow — it becomes your only home. the only house you ever live in.

through sanha & haejun's characters; one can see how the talons of trauma can mark you forever. both actors deserve accolades for the raw desperation and confusion in their eyes at the weight they're being asked to carry — especially inyoup. there's a muted, exhausted malaise in his eyes — the gaze of an adult caged within a teenager's body. by contrast, haejun appears younger than his years — a helpless, childlike hurt and betrayal borne by his eyes. both boys carry boulders unfit for such delicate shoulders — because there is a special kind of cruelty in asking a child to bear a burden that was never theirs to begin with. in lining their shoes with the gravel of grief since they were old enough to walk.

what does it to do to a child (in haejun's case) to be told that love is not intrinsic — and that it has to be earned? that it has to be paid back? what does it do to a child (in sanha's case) to be told that you are not enough as your own self — that you will never be forgiven for a flaw that was never yours to start with? what does it mean to taste a parent's neglect on your own tongue — to have it tint every part of your speech for the rest of time?

what does it mean to be a father to such children — as juwon's appa so fiercely upholds? to treat their scars as sacred. to harbor their hurts in his own hands. family by choice is as much about trauma as it is about healing — about the people knitted to you through their knowledge of your wounds; their patience with your past; their trust that your tears are temporary. about the neighbors, friends, and forged bonds that may not be of blood, yet sustain you nonetheless; surround your spirit with warmth. the people who choose you knowing the charred heartbreak in your chest — who love and accept you knowing the latticework of your loneliness: the people who press it all away with a single touch or smile – they are your true faith. they are your true family. they are the only ones who matter.

sanha, haejun, and juwon all have their crosses to bear — but they also have each other. there is always light to temper the dark. there is always sanha's eyes; and the way they soften when he looks at juwon: the jewel-toned reverence with which he reflects on every single thing she does for him. wherever there is trauma there is also and always a tryst with hope — a heart holding on to the idea that there will be more. there will be peace. there will be resolution. there will be sunlight at the end of the black silence.

family by choice reminds me of this quote by poet and novelist ocean vuong: "we were born from beauty. let no one mistake us for the fruit of violence—but that violence, having passed through the fruit, failed to spoil it."

[xmomokosx]

i come bearing my usual dump of oscar mpreg art from twitter, feat morning sickness brainrot, him being scolded by his coworker, yummy borgor, redraw, his best friend and MORE!!!

[lovenonymously]

the importance of well-written stories

watching Lovely Runner was like watching 4 K-dramas at once lol

well-written stories are so rare, you only understand that when you watch something exceptional. something unique. a once in a lifetime experience of watching it for the very first time.

this show gave me so many feelings. in truth, it was an experience. I'm glad I put aside my fear of sad endings and watched as it aired. for once, I took the leap and discovered that's exactly what this drama wanted me to learn.

usually, after finishing really good K-dramas or stories in general, I hit a slump where I cannot function. everything feels dull and boring. a different kind of grief at realising this was just fictional.

but not this time.

all I feel is light and happy. like I'm floating. I want to carry this feeling and runaway. I want to remember how this felt and hold onto it when I get down or get bad days.

lifetimes lived.

Sol was sunlight. bright and unwavering and unforgettable. 💛

living vicariously through Im Sol, from feeling her pain in the beginning to her sunny hope that Sun Jae gave her. all her struggles as she jumped through various lifetimes, loved and lived and loved again. crying with her, laughing with her, rooting for her despite all odds. it was a journey.

beyond her love for Sun Jae, Sol's choices changed her family's life too. they were less hurt and much happier in the future she helped them create. even giving her grandmother a chance to return to the past and relive her fondest memories.

Sun Jae was midnight rain. the comfort of a sudden shower in the middle of summer. 💙

apart from being a complete loser in love, Sun Jae was in love with Sol for a total accumulated time of 45 years.

yep. my reaction exactly ^

I won't lie, when they pulled the "he fell first" trope in Episode 2, I was wary. one, because if the writers were willing to pull such a twist in just the second episode, then who knew what else was in store for us? my guess was pretty spot on, the twists that followed had me gasping and yelling out loud. this show was unpredictable from beginning to end.

and two, because I was worried that Sun Jae's character might get reduced to just him being in love with Im Sol.

in that case, I'm glad to say,

I was completely wrong.

despite Sun Jae's love for Im Sol, he had a grounded personality of his own. whether it was OG Sun Jae (ep 1), who lived in the guilt of what happened to the girl he loved, or Timeline 3 Sun Jae (ep 15), who never fell in love at all, he was positive, kind, decisive and striving to live.

and i love that about him.

for two characters whose stories are so deeply interwoven together, having shaped aspects of each other's lives, Sol and Sun Jae displayed their unique traits exceptionally well as individuals.

I cannot emphasize how happy this makes me. Sun Jae is his own person, Sol is her own person, and they are destined to be together. beyond their desperation for each other's safety and well-being, Sol and Sun Jae are genuinely good people who deserved to be together. even fate and time bent to their will to make it happen.

"As you wait for the rain to stop, live another day."

when a story makes you feel happy, hold onto that feeling. bottle it up. write it down. come back to it on the days the world feels against you and when the times feel too bleak.

fictional though it is, for what it's worth, at least the story exists. it means there are still people out there writing and bringing such stories to life. it means artists and creators like you and I haven't yet forgotten what it's supposed to be like to live. it means there are still people who connect to such stories and learn good things from it.

and as you wait for more such great stories, live another day. perhaps, if you get bored, write the story you want to read.

in the end, it's quite simple.

as for me, I'll be here. crying, laughing, screaming, giggling and kicking my feet while being up to my eyes in second-hand embarrassment (because goodness, these two idiots are COMPLETE LOSERS IN LOVE) throughout these past 8 weeks was the highlight of my year ✨ I will always remember that I watched a beautiful modern fairytale romance in the summer of '24 that reminded me that I was young and full of love to give.

good stories truly do make a difference 🤍

[xxtraspoiledfujoshi]

I need more of them!! Please don’t let Kiseki be the end 😭 I want to fall in love with them all over again

[tortibomb]

The effing subtitle team name of Until We Meet Again on Viki. I switched over during episode 13 from iQiyi and it just had me flabbergasted. 😯 😢

[kdram-chjh]

Tdrama: Meet You at the Blossom (2024)

Let’s dance a funny version of Trouble Maker with Jin Family! 🥳Xiaobao and Zhaocai are here! 😎😎✨✨

Watch this video on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/C-AO9t6p49U/

[bl-bam-beyond]

THE ON1Y ONE (2024, TAIWAN)

Episode 2

Stepbrothers. Tension. Classmates. At a school basketball court, some students are playing truth or dare.

New student Sheng Wang (LIU DONG QIN) chooses dare. His dare: Kiss the first person that walks up. As luck would have it. Jiang Tian (BENJAMIN TSANG) his newly acquired stepbrother is the one.

The kiss happens and Jiang Tian let's it happen as the other students cheer, ooh and ahh.

Later Sheng Wang tries to talk or perhaps reason with his angry (?) stepbrother claiming it's no big deal. And this happens...

@pose4photoml @just-another-boyslove-blog @wanderlust-in-my-soul are you guys watching?

[frances-and-the-moon]

More Beyond Evil + Viki comments

[ctrb92]

The last months have felt like a little bit of a drought for kdramas and bls. And now everything is coming out all at once. I don't have enough time to watch everything.

[afza147]

October2024 Kdrama Watchlist

Since it's 2 days before October start..decide to share my watchlist as there are many drama I currently watching

1.Love Next Door ep14

3 more episode to go ..hopefully it's going to be a good and happy ending

2.What Comes After Love Ep3&4

This drama just air and have 2 ep release every Friday..so far the 2 episode release has been very2 good..let's hope for a wonderful journey ahead

3.The Judge from Hell ep5

This drama has been awesome and I just anticipating every ep of it..will romance be alive or death is the question .

4.Dear Hyeri ep3

This drama also good with the changing mystery personality and no one knew..except the doctor and herself maybe

Well that's it..all ultimately have romance and I'm so well fed

[gillsanss]

[sunlighthroughthe-ashes]

honestly the entire episode was complete perfection — but the highlight for me was most definitely sun-jae's face just LIGHTING UP every time he sees sol / thinks she's being adorably wacky.

byeon woo-seok does such a wonderful job expressing utter adoration through his eyes and eyes alone — it's the mark of a great actor to be able to communicate volumes with just your gaze and he's absolutely acing it: the infatuation, the tenderness, the sheer wonder in his face every time he really looks at sol — all of it is just flawless!

there's this phrase in my native language that roughly translates to "my own little piece of the moon," and that's EXACTLY how sunjae looks at sol — like she's his own little piece of the moon. 🌙🤍

everyone deserves to be looked at that way at least once in their life. 🥰

my heart gets so full every time he hides his smile from sol when she's giving him the attention he quite literally CRAVES from her. he's so helplessly in love!

(sun-jae scribbling out how many januarys it'll take to reach the one in 2023 was such a cute little touch — the rivalry between him and tae-sung was funny too.)

of course we also have the attempted murder/serial killer plot underway (would it really be a rom-com kdrama without it??) but i'm glad they only spent a few minutes on that and the focus of the episode was on our soljae couple.

something tells me since tonight's ep was so wholesome, tomorrow's will rip our hearts out ;_;

but i have high expectations for this show and really hope that they're able to keep this momentum and quality until the very end.

[lovenonymously]

I'll be here re-watching and making edits if you need me 🥹🤭💛💙🤍

[lalarubyss]

Ig acc:yaooruby

[xmomokosx]

oscar art dump from the last few months :)