Warning - Yu Zheng zone

1. I have no idea if this poster for Emperor's Beauties is official or fanmade (my money is on the latter), but I love it:



( Larger version and another poster here )

I always prefer more abstract posters to the typical "let's stick leads' discombobulated heads on the poster" thing a lot of dramas adore.

And speaking of EB - what on earth is with the title. I know YZ is trying to reference Schemes of a Beauty (why not call it 'Beauties of Emperor's Jade Palace' then and do a two-fer with his recent hits :P) but the title makes no sense. I severely doubt he's referring to Xiang Yu and Liu Bang as anyone's beauties :P and Xiang Yu was never an emperor so anyone associated with him would not be an emperor's beauty of any sort. Sure, Lu Zhi was Mrs. Emperor but (a) that's beauty in singular and (b) even if some other wife of Liu Bang appears, the drama's focus isn't on various wives of Liu Bang but the whole Xiang Yu-Liu Bang alliance and then civil war, presumably. Even if Yu Zheng will make Xiang Yu have a torch for Lu Zhi *shudder*, that still doesn't change the fact.

So yeah, the title makes zip sense to me.

ETA: according to kind anon, focus will be on the ladies. Which still doesn't explain the title bu, more importantly, bzuh? Not surprising, seeing what YZ's interests are in storytelling but still - it's like doing a story n Charlemagne and focusing on family in-fighting, or similar. I don't really care who Lu Zhi's true love is or about palace backstabbing. I want battles and more battles and then topped off with more battles. Give it to whoever made Three Kingdoms.

Also, I finally figured out why I am so pre-obsessed with EB. It's because Xiang Yu/Concubine Yu is the closest I am going to get to Bajirao Mastani on screen. It was going to be Sanjay Leela Bhansali magnum opus but eventually got shelved for whatever reasons. I followed it for years until its untimely demise and was devastated when it was cancelled. (For non-Bollywood aficionados, Bajirao was a warrior king of the Marathis, I believe, and Mastani was his dancer gf who rode with him into battle and killed herself when he died). So yeah, I am projecting. Though perhaps this version of XY will only have eyes for Lu Zhi (???!!!!), so it might no matter.

2. I looked up future projects, and he has a movie and at least 3 dramas lined up. How on earth is he going to cram them all in? I know script-writing goes faster when you liberally borrow from others but even copy/pasting dialogue takes time :P

3. Speaking of YZ dramas, has anyone seen 1000 Teardrops? I am tempted to get my hands on it because I have yet to see a YZ drama I didn't like (between Romantic Red Rouge, Jade Palace Lock Heart, Schemes of a Beauty and Four Women Conflict) but I am not familiar with Hawick Lau or Athena Chu, i.e. the leads (yes, I admit I am also tempted because Feng Shao Feng is in it, but I know he has a secondary role. Which leads me to a question of whether he gets his own OTP, btw) and also it's a modern drama and all of YZ's stuff that I liked have been period dramas.

4. OK, to end on a non-Yu Zheng note. Drive of Life - yay or nay?

Warning - Yu Zheng zone

1. I have no idea if this poster for Emperor's Beauties is official or fanmade (my money is on the latter), but I love it:



( Larger version and another poster here )

I always prefer more abstract posters to the typical "let's stick leads' discombobulated heads on the poster" thing a lot of dramas adore.

And speaking of EB - what on earth is with the title. I know YZ is trying to reference Schemes of a Beauty (why not call it 'Beauties of Emperor's Jade Palace' then and do a two-fer with his recent hits :P) but the title makes no sense. I severely doubt he's referring to Xiang Yu and Liu Bang as anyone's beauties :P and Xiang Yu was never an emperor so anyone associated with him would not be an emperor's beauty of any sort. Sure, Lu Zhi was Mrs. Emperor but (a) that's beauty in singular and (b) even if some other wife of Liu Bang appears, the drama's focus isn't on various wives of Liu Bang but the whole Xiang Yu-Liu Bang alliance and then civil war, presumably. Even if Yu Zheng will make Xiang Yu have a torch for Lu Zhi *shudder*, that still doesn't change the fact.

So yeah, the title makes zip sense to me.

ETA: according to kind anon, focus will be on the ladies. Which still doesn't explain the title bu, more importantly, bzuh? Not surprising, seeing what YZ's interests are in storytelling but still - it's like doing a story n Charlemagne and focusing on family in-fighting, or similar. I don't really care who Lu Zhi's true love is or about palace backstabbing. I want battles and more battles and then topped off with more battles. Give it to whoever made Three Kingdoms.

Also, I finally figured out why I am so pre-obsessed with EB. It's because Xiang Yu/Concubine Yu is the closest I am going to get to Bajirao Mastani on screen. It was going to be Sanjay Leela Bhansali magnum opus but eventually got shelved for whatever reasons. I followed it for years until its untimely demise and was devastated when it was cancelled. (For non-Bollywood aficionados, Bajirao was a warrior king of the Marathis, I believe, and Mastani was his dancer gf who rode with him into battle and killed herself when he died). So yeah, I am projecting. Though perhaps this version of XY will only have eyes for Lu Zhi (???!!!!), so it might no matter.

2. I looked up future projects, and he has a movie and at least 3 dramas lined up. How on earth is he going to cram them all in? I know script-writing goes faster when you liberally borrow from others but even copy/pasting dialogue takes time :P

3. Speaking of YZ dramas, has anyone seen 1000 Teardrops? I am tempted to get my hands on it because I have yet to see a YZ drama I didn't like (between Romantic Red Rouge, Jade Palace Lock Heart, Schemes of a Beauty and Four Women Conflict) but I am not familiar with Hawick Lau or Athena Chu, i.e. the leads (yes, I admit I am also tempted because Feng Shao Feng is in it, but I know he has a secondary role. Which leads me to a question of whether he gets his own OTP, btw) and also it's a modern drama and all of YZ's stuff that I liked have been period dramas.

4. OK, to end on a non-Yu Zheng note. Drive of Life - yay or nay?

Warning - Yu Zheng zone

1. I have no idea if this poster for Emperor's Beauties is official or fanmade (my money is on the latter), but I love it:



( Larger version and another poster here )

I always prefer more abstract posters to the typical "let's stick leads' discombobulated heads on the poster" thing a lot of dramas adore.

And speaking of EB - what on earth is with the title. I know YZ is trying to reference Schemes of a Beauty (why not call it 'Beauties of Emperor's Jade Palace' then and do a two-fer with his recent hits :P) but the title makes no sense. I severely doubt he's referring to Xiang Yu and Liu Bang as anyone's beauties :P and Xiang Yu was never an emperor so anyone associated with him would not be an emperor's beauty of any sort. Sure, Lu Zhi was Mrs. Emperor but (a) that's beauty in singular and (b) even if some other wife of Liu Bang appears, the drama's focus isn't on various wives of Liu Bang but the whole Xiang Yu-Liu Bang alliance and then civil war, presumably. Even if Yu Zheng will make Xiang Yu have a torch for Lu Zhi *shudder*, that still doesn't change the fact.

So yeah, the title makes zip sense to me.

ETA: according to kind anon, focus will be on the ladies. Which still doesn't explain the title bu, more importantly, bzuh? Not surprising, seeing what YZ's interests are in storytelling but still - it's like doing a story n Charlemagne and focusing on family in-fighting, or similar. I don't really care who Lu Zhi's true love is or about palace backstabbing. I want battles and more battles and then topped off with more battles. Give it to whoever made Three Kingdoms.

Also, I finally figured out why I am so pre-obsessed with EB. It's because Xiang Yu/Concubine Yu is the closest I am going to get to Bajirao Mastani on screen. It was going to be Sanjay Leela Bhansali magnum opus but eventually got shelved for whatever reasons. I followed it for years until its untimely demise and was devastated when it was cancelled. (For non-Bollywood aficionados, Bajirao was a warrior king of the Marathis, I believe, and Mastani was his dancer gf who rode with him into battle and killed herself when he died). So yeah, I am projecting. Though perhaps this version of XY will only have eyes for Lu Zhi (???!!!!), so it might no matter.

2. I looked up future projects, and he has a movie and at least 3 dramas lined up. How on earth is he going to cram them all in? I know script-writing goes faster when you liberally borrow from others but even copy/pasting dialogue takes time :P

3. Speaking of YZ dramas, has anyone seen 1000 Teardrops? I am tempted to get my hands on it because I have yet to see a YZ drama I didn't like (between Romantic Red Rouge, Jade Palace Lock Heart, Schemes of a Beauty and Four Women Conflict) but I am not familiar with Hawick Lau or Athena Chu, i.e. the leads (yes, I admit I am also tempted because Feng Shao Feng is in it, but I know he has a secondary role. Which leads me to a question of whether he gets his own OTP, btw) and also it's a modern drama and all of YZ's stuff that I liked have been period dramas.

4. OK, to end on a non-Yu Zheng note. Drive of Life - yay or nay?

Outlaws of the Marsh/Water Margin 2011

Has anyone seen this? I am dying to watch this (I love big cdrama epic series) but there are no subs and I don't think anyone has picked it up for subbing (which makes sense - it's a monster drama. I am still (very gratefully) shocked that e.g. Jiang Hu is subbing 95-ep Three Kingdoms). Maybe the DVDs will have subs? I am seriously dying for this.

Have a clip for a character from it:

Outlaws of the Marsh/Water Margin 2011

Has anyone seen this? I am dying to watch this (I love big cdrama epic series) but there are no subs and I don't think anyone has picked it up for subbing (which makes sense - it's a monster drama. I am still (very gratefully) shocked that e.g. Jiang Hu is subbing 95-ep Three Kingdoms). Maybe the DVDs will have subs? I am seriously dying for this.

Have a clip for a character from it:

Outlaws of the Marsh/Water Margin 2011

Has anyone seen this? I am dying to watch this (I love big cdrama epic series) but there are no subs and I don't think anyone has picked it up for subbing (which makes sense - it's a monster drama. I am still (very gratefully) shocked that e.g. Jiang Hu is subbing 95-ep Three Kingdoms). Maybe the DVDs will have subs? I am seriously dying for this.

Have a clip for a character from it:

Dangermousie's Dozen Most Anticipated Cdramas

For some reason, I am more excited by upcoming cdramas than twdramas, kdramas, and jdramas combined. So, behind the cut is a list. The only order is alphabetical.

I am sure you have figured out that out of all dramas, period cdramas are my favorite, so it's not surprising that this list contains so many. But a few modern dramas did sneak in.

( List with summaries, vids and pics, behind the cut )

Dangermousie's Dozen Most Anticipated Cdramas

For some reason, I am more excited by upcoming cdramas than twdramas, kdramas, and jdramas combined. So, behind the cut is a list. The only order is alphabetical.

I am sure you have figured out that out of all dramas, period cdramas are my favorite, so it's not surprising that this list contains so many. But a few modern dramas did sneak in.

( List with summaries, vids and pics, behind the cut )

Dangermousie's Dozen Most Anticipated Cdramas

For some reason, I am more excited by upcoming cdramas than twdramas, kdramas, and jdramas combined. So, behind the cut is a list. The only order is alphabetical.

I am sure you have figured out that out of all dramas, period cdramas are my favorite, so it's not surprising that this list contains so many. But a few modern dramas did sneak in.

( List with summaries, vids and pics, behind the cut )

(no subject)

ockoala has just posted very spoilery synopsis and character despriptions for Best Love (formerly Discovery of Affection), the Hong Sisters' drama with Cha Seung Won and Gong Hyo Jin.

All I can say is: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!

This sounds so perfect perfect perfect beyond amazing perfect.

I want this now, dammit!

(no subject)

ockoala has just posted very spoilery synopsis and character despriptions for Best Love (formerly Discovery of Affection), the Hong Sisters' drama with Cha Seung Won and Gong Hyo Jin.

All I can say is: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!

This sounds so perfect perfect perfect beyond amazing perfect.

I want this now, dammit!

(no subject)

ockoala has just posted very spoilery synopsis and character despriptions for Best Love (formerly Discovery of Affection), the Hong Sisters' drama with Cha Seung Won and Gong Hyo Jin.

All I can say is: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!

This sounds so perfect perfect perfect beyond amazing perfect.

I want this now, dammit!

JPLH 25 - in which there is lovely common-sense

How much do I love Qing Chuan's confrontation with Eight's Mother. I don't particularly blame the mother because she's under the impression QC is playing Eight and Four and is a super-schemer (but this being the palace, can't come out and say it openly and thus tries to appeal to who she thinks QC is - evil schemer). But I love love LOVE Qing Chuan's response. She's probably one of the most logical heroines out there. It took her forever to decide she liked Eight (and she analyzed it to death and thought it through from every angle, though ultimately emotions like jealousy and missing him were what pushed her over the edge into realizing she loved him) but now that she did, not only is she going to stick by him whatever comes, she is rational and can back up her emotional attachment with some awesome arguments which show why it's good. It's not just her heart but her mind that thinks this relationship is the best. Rationalizing everything has its advantages :) She's never done a grand declaration because it's not her style, but at this point, does she really need it?

Another thing I like? Jealous Qing Chuan. So enjoyable.



But the thing I like the most is Eight telling his mother off, because I always wanted kdrama heroes to do that with their psycho parents and they never did. Just once, when crazy parent was trying to break up them and their OTP and claiming it's for their own good, I wanted someone to point out to their manipulative evil folks that this isn't how you start showing your caring. When Eight told her "Mother. I was afraid of thunder when I was a child. When I needed your comfort, where were you? When I fell from a horse, and needed your care, still, where were you? All those years, you were never there for me. What right do you have to decide what's best for me?"



Preach it, Eight!

And I conclude on this because it was so hilarious and cute. He's mad she didn't show up last night when they were supposed to elope and ignores her and she's cranky he's not paying attention to her, so she bites him. LOLOLOLOL. I love you guys so much. She tells him she meant to come but got locked up with Four, which is why she couldn't meet him to run away with him and she only got away from Four by biting him. And came to him right away without any rest. And then he asks her if she bites every man she sees. ROFL. ILY.






You guys are so perfect.

JPLH 25 - in which there is lovely common-sense

How much do I love Qing Chuan's confrontation with Eight's Mother. I don't particularly blame the mother because she's under the impression QC is playing Eight and Four and is a super-schemer (but this being the palace, can't come out and say it openly and thus tries to appeal to who she thinks QC is - evil schemer). But I love love LOVE Qing Chuan's response. She's probably one of the most logical heroines out there. It took her forever to decide she liked Eight (and she analyzed it to death and thought it through from every angle, though ultimately emotions like jealousy and missing him were what pushed her over the edge into realizing she loved him) but now that she did, not only is she going to stick by him whatever comes, she is rational and can back up her emotional attachment with some awesome arguments which show why it's good. It's not just her heart but her mind that thinks this relationship is the best. Rationalizing everything has its advantages :) She's never done a grand declaration because it's not her style, but at this point, does she really need it?

Another thing I like? Jealous Qing Chuan. So enjoyable.



But the thing I like the most is Eight telling his mother off, because I always wanted kdrama heroes to do that with their psycho parents and they never did. Just once, when crazy parent was trying to break up them and their OTP and claiming it's for their own good, I wanted someone to point out to their manipulative evil folks that this isn't how you start showing your caring. When Eight told her "Mother. I was afraid of thunder when I was a child. When I needed your comfort, where were you? When I fell from a horse, and needed your care, still, where were you? All those years, you were never there for me. What right do you have to decide what's best for me?"



Preach it, Eight!

And I conclude on this because it was so hilarious and cute. He's mad she didn't show up last night when they were supposed to elope and ignores her and she's cranky he's not paying attention to her, so she bites him. LOLOLOLOL. I love you guys so much. She tells him she meant to come but got locked up with Four, which is why she couldn't meet him to run away with him and she only got away from Four by biting him. And came to him right away without any rest. And then he asks her if she bites every man she sees. ROFL. ILY.






You guys are so perfect.

JPLH 25 - in which there is lovely common-sense

How much do I love Qing Chuan's confrontation with Eight's Mother. I don't particularly blame the mother because she's under the impression QC is playing Eight and Four and is a super-schemer (but this being the palace, can't come out and say it openly and thus tries to appeal to who she thinks QC is - evil schemer). But I love love LOVE Qing Chuan's response. She's probably one of the most logical heroines out there. It took her forever to decide she liked Eight (and she analyzed it to death and thought it through from every angle, though ultimately emotions like jealousy and missing him were what pushed her over the edge into realizing she loved him) but now that she did, not only is she going to stick by him whatever comes, she is rational and can back up her emotional attachment with some awesome arguments which show why it's good. It's not just her heart but her mind that thinks this relationship is the best. Rationalizing everything has its advantages :) She's never done a grand declaration because it's not her style, but at this point, does she really need it?

Another thing I like? Jealous Qing Chuan. So enjoyable.



But the thing I like the most is Eight telling his mother off, because I always wanted kdrama heroes to do that with their psycho parents and they never did. Just once, when crazy parent was trying to break up them and their OTP and claiming it's for their own good, I wanted someone to point out to their manipulative evil folks that this isn't how you start showing your caring. When Eight told her "Mother. I was afraid of thunder when I was a child. When I needed your comfort, where were you? When I fell from a horse, and needed your care, still, where were you? All those years, you were never there for me. What right do you have to decide what's best for me?"



Preach it, Eight!

And I conclude on this because it was so hilarious and cute. He's mad she didn't show up last night when they were supposed to elope and ignores her and she's cranky he's not paying attention to her, so she bites him. LOLOLOLOL. I love you guys so much. She tells him she meant to come but got locked up with Four, which is why she couldn't meet him to run away with him and she only got away from Four by biting him. And came to him right away without any rest. And then he asks her if she bites every man she sees. ROFL. ILY.






You guys are so perfect.

One of my favorite songs

Is this Russian song (the title, translated is "if there hadn't been a war"). It makes me think of one of my great-aunts, who was married to her husband for a month, until he went off to fight in WW2 and was killed. She never remarried.

One of my favorite songs

Is this Russian song (the title, translated is "if there hadn't been a war"). It makes me think of one of my great-aunts, who was married to her husband for a month, until he went off to fight in WW2 and was killed. She never remarried.

One of my favorite songs

Is this Russian song (the title, translated is "if there hadn't been a war"). It makes me think of one of my great-aunts, who was married to her husband for a month, until he went off to fight in WW2 and was killed. She never remarried.