Musings of the Obsessive Kind

It hit me that the reason I adore Bridal Mask so much is because it's pretty much wuxia in disguise. Don't believe me? Let's see:

1. Not only is the protagonist highly proficient in weapons and hand-to-hand, but a decent chunk of the cast seems to have fighting skills that would make a ninja weep and use them on a regular basis.
2. A death toll to rival that of the plague and enough emotional and physical torture of the protagonist to make a team of shrinks happy for decades.
3. Hissable bad guys with questionable facial hair and even grottier henchmen.
4. Heroine who is good at fighting and has an enemies-but-first-loves thing going on with the hero. Occasionally they work out their issues through mortal combat.
5. Secondary girl who sows death and destruction through sexy minion.
6. Families full not just of dysfunction but of of literal fighting - these two brothers cross swords on a regular basis.
7. Evil secret societies.
8. Not only people recover from pretty fatal wounds, but less fatal wounds heal freakishly fast - when you think someone should be in the hospital recovering for weeks, he/she is out in a day, kicking ass and taking names.
9. More secrets and masks and double and triple identities and vendettas than you can shake a stick at.
10. A wise old mentor with facial hair imparting secrets of the past family tragedies and feuds and nifty fighting assistance.

See? Wuxia!

Also, after the brutal misery that was ep 6 of BM, I wanted to watch Joo Won in something more cheerful so I continued with Ojakgyo Brothers ep 42. The hightlight of which, for me, was this little exchange:

Ja Eun asks Tae Hee why he doesn't want to tell his family they are dating. And TH tells her "If we reveal it, Grandma will ask us to get married. We can't do that." JE gets really pissed off and walks off but then comes back and:
JE: Aren't you going to marry me then? Are you not going to marry me?
TH: It's not that... Of course I'll marry you.
JE: Then, about Grandma making us marry...and you said we can't. What does it mean?
TH: That's because of you. You're still young.
[pause]
Did you just propose to me?





Ahahahahahahaaaaaaaa! And JE gets awfully flustered. They are so cute!

( More adorable caps from the ep )

And I stopped right there because I know the whole 'it seems Ja Eun's Dad killed Tae Hee's Dad' storyline is coming up and if I have to watch Joo Won angst in two separate dramas at once, I might rupture something.

It hit me that the reason I adore Bridal Mask so much is because it's pretty much wuxia in disguise. Don't believe me? Let's see:

1. Not only is the protagonist highly proficient in weapons and hand-to-hand, but a decent chunk of the cast seems to have fighting skills that would make a ninja weep and use them on a regular basis.
2. A death toll to rival that of the plague and enough emotional and physical torture of the protagonist to make a team of shrinks happy for decades.
3. Hissable bad guys with questionable facial hair and even grottier henchmen.
4. Heroine who is good at fighting and has an enemies-but-first-loves thing going on with the hero. Occasionally they work out their issues through mortal combat.
5. Secondary girl who sows death and destruction through sexy minion.
6. Families full not just of dysfunction but of of literal fighting - these two brothers cross swords on a regular basis.
7. Evil secret societies.
8. Not only people recover from pretty fatal wounds, but less fatal wounds heal freakishly fast - when you think someone should be in the hospital recovering for weeks, he/she is out in a day, kicking ass and taking names.
9. More secrets and masks and double and triple identities and vendettas than you can shake a stick at.
10. A wise old mentor with facial hair imparting secrets of the past family tragedies and feuds and nifty fighting assistance.

See? Wuxia!

Also, after the brutal misery that was ep 6 of BM, I wanted to watch Joo Won in something more cheerful so I continued with Ojakgyo Brothers ep 42. The hightlight of which, for me, was this little exchange:

Ja Eun asks Tae Hee why he doesn't want to tell his family they are dating. And TH tells her "If we reveal it, Grandma will ask us to get married. We can't do that." JE gets really pissed off and walks off but then comes back and:
JE: Aren't you going to marry me then? Are you not going to marry me?
TH: It's not that... Of course I'll marry you.
JE: Then, about Grandma making us marry...and you said we can't. What does it mean?
TH: That's because of you. You're still young.
[pause]
Did you just propose to me?





Ahahahahahahaaaaaaaa! And JE gets awfully flustered. They are so cute!

( More adorable caps from the ep )

And I stopped right there because I know the whole 'it seems Ja Eun's Dad killed Tae Hee's Dad' storyline is coming up and if I have to watch Joo Won angst in two separate dramas at once, I might rupture something.

Re: the knife thing and who was it who gave Dan the knife. Not like I had much doubt that it was Kang To (because that is where the dramatic tension would be and the long preview more or less spelled it out) but character descriptions confirmed it for me. Dan's character synopsis says, in part, about her childhood: "And while Dan hovered between life and death, she was saved by the young man, our hero."

Yay!!!!! This is going to be goooood. And by 'good,' I mean 'fucked up in the most delicious way.' I mean, doesn't this say it all:




Oh, and I am about to continue with my Ojakgyo Brothers watch. Let's see if I can cope having Joo Won be a tortured bad guy in BM while being a sweetheart in OB, or if my head is going to explode.

ETA: It is a little weird - I keep expecting him to go evil :P. But, this sequence was pure adorableness:



( Whole sequence )

Oh, why did I stop with Ojakgyo Brothers on ep 36? I am so glad I continued because if I hadn't, I would have missed one of the most perfect shippy tender wonderful moments ever.

( Mutual comfort, romantic confessions, hugs, and wonderfulness )

Btw, I am getting the sense the drama wants me to feel mildly sorry for Tae Hee's dead Mom, but sorry, not buying, she was a horrible horrible woman to ditch Tae Hee forever. Ooooopsies, lady, guess what, you don't get takebacks from that sort of thing.

Oh, why did I stop with Ojakgyo Brothers on ep 36? I am so glad I continued because if I hadn't, I would have missed one of the most perfect shippy tender wonderful moments ever.

( Mutual comfort, romantic confessions, hugs, and wonderfulness )

Btw, I am getting the sense the drama wants me to feel mildly sorry for Tae Hee's dead Mom, but sorry, not buying, she was a horrible horrible woman to ditch Tae Hee forever. Ooooopsies, lady, guess what, you don't get takebacks from that sort of thing.

I realized I never posted this...



( MOAR MOAR MOAR )

This is ep 36 and this is where I stopped because I was so happy Jae Won and Uee finally got together and I just knew angst was coming so I needed a break before more angst hit (same with Family Honor - I am stuck on ep 32 forever because the OTP is so happy and I know misery is coming).

Bridal Mask teasers left me in a Joo Won frenzy, though, so I will probably continue now...The MV below is certainly convincing as clearly there is a ton of shippy deliciousness I have yet to see:

Go die die die die die die die you annoying Korean Jeff Goldblum-lookalike!!! I hate you!!!

If I got into why, we'll be here all night. So let me just say, who the hell blackmails someone into going out with them (go out with me or you don't get your farm back!) merely because he knows TH and JE have a thing. WTF, psycho, you want to join the cast of Sealed with a Kiss or something?

Annoying!!!!!

DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Go die die die die die die die you annoying Korean Jeff Goldblum-lookalike!!! I hate you!!!

If I got into why, we'll be here all night. So let me just say, who the hell blackmails someone into going out with them (go out with me or you don't get your farm back!) merely because he knows TH and JE have a thing. WTF, psycho, you want to join the cast of Sealed with a Kiss or something?

Annoying!!!!!

DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am on ep 32 which means we had solid 8 eps of Tae Hee angst!

ARGH! I am not watching Stairway to Heaven, so gimme some happiness, drama!

Also, oh good Lord, why are all Tae Hee parental figures such major fail? Birth dad - dead so not fail but out of the picture. Birth mom remarried and dumped him on his paternal family and never tried to see him (don't get me started on the whole 'paternal family didn't want her to see him/take him with her into second marriage.' She just totally accepted it as "OK, whatever"). Adopted Dad didn't ever think of telling TH that his Mom did want to take him along (what, he needed to be explicitly told by TH at 20+ that TH is fucked up due to parental issues? Is Dad dumber than an amoeba?). Grandma same as adopted Dad. Adopted Mom stole the contract and thus wrecked TH's chances with the first girl he ever loved. Jeez. At this rate, he might have been better at the orphanage. Well, except for adopted bros being awesome.

( Some caps and thoughts )