Musings of the Obsessive Kind

1. ( A little squee about ep 10 of 49 Days )

2. I continue to be obsessed with K.O. 3an Guo. It's hilarious but also knows how to tug at me. Also, my crush on Guan Yu is sort of insane now. I basically ship him with Diao Chan because I think the boy should have everything he wants, though my interest in Diao Chan herself is pretty much nil. She's tough in her own quiet way, but compared to Xiao Qiao or the recently appearing Shang Xiang (who is all sorts of magnificent), she sort of fades into the background.

( Caps caps caps )

3. A quick bit about New Tales of the Gisaeng.

( A few caps and thoughts here )

4. So, Romantic Red Rouge.

( Here here here here )

5. So yes, I had these Jade Palace Lock Heart caps forever. I confess I haven't finished the drama yet, for the oddest reason. I am hoarding - I don't want it to end!

( Some caps and thoughts )

6. So, more Legend of the Condor Heroes ( here here here here here )

7. I've only been able to watch the tragic parts of Young Warriors of the Yang Clan sporadically because - tragic. But this scene just might be one of my favorites, because I am in awe of Six's ability to forgive and his grace to PM's awful daughter. He's is amazing - under these circumstances, with his family dead, with her trying to kill his soldiers and trying to force him to kill his OTP. He can still forgive and find good in her.

( Scene here )

8. So, Doctor Who first ep of new season. ( Quick thought )

At last I get to this post :)

( Here they are, the caps )

I wish I could put them in a snow globe and keep them like this forever.

At last I get to this post :)

( Here they are, the caps )

I wish I could put them in a snow globe and keep them like this forever.

I was going to do a proper post with meta and a hundred caps but I am exhausted and sick so that will have to wait until tomorrow. Have the Cliff's Notes version:









I love this drama and Yang family with an unhealthy amount of love. So I will not watch a minute more or it will crush my heart.

It takes a really special kind of evil to tell the man who had just lost pretty much his entire family - his father and all his brothers - that with his own two hands he has to kill the woman he loves or else he's not getting the antidote for the poison with which you poisoned his soldiers.

aaaaaa


aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

My jaw.

Floor.

Pan Ying, I believe you may have just claimed the crown of the worst human being I've seen in a drama.



I mean, the term psycho bitch is in no way adequate to describe it. Especially since she seems to be operating from "I know you can't love me, but if I can't have you, your OTP can't either and I will make you suffer for all eternity in the worst way, too." That would be a psycho attitude under any circumstances, but seeing that Six was always nice to Psycho and that he has just lost his entire freaking family in battle, who does that? AAAAARGH.

( Details and caps below. Hu Ge is ridiculously pretty when he's righteous and angsty )

As you can guess, I skipped ahead to ep 42. Basically, I watched them through ep 35 which was so happy it was unbelievable and made me cry from joy and will get its own post. And I know what happens after so I decided to take a break. But not without peeking into ep 42 for whatever reason.

Seriously, what is it with Hu Ge playing characters who get tortured by psychos who insist it's his fault?

It takes a really special kind of evil to tell the man who had just lost pretty much his entire family - his father and all his brothers - that with his own two hands he has to kill the woman he loves or else he's not getting the antidote for the poison with which you poisoned his soldiers.

aaaaaa


aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

My jaw.

Floor.

Pan Ying, I believe you may have just claimed the crown of the worst human being I've seen in a drama.



I mean, the term psycho bitch is in no way adequate to describe it. Especially since she seems to be operating from "I know you can't love me, but if I can't have you, your OTP can't either and I will make you suffer for all eternity in the worst way, too." That would be a psycho attitude under any circumstances, but seeing that Six was always nice to Psycho and that he has just lost his entire freaking family in battle, who does that? AAAAARGH.

( Details and caps below. Hu Ge is ridiculously pretty when he's righteous and angsty )

As you can guess, I skipped ahead to ep 42. Basically, I watched them through ep 35 which was so happy it was unbelievable and made me cry from joy and will get its own post. And I know what happens after so I decided to take a break. But not without peeking into ep 42 for whatever reason.

Seriously, what is it with Hu Ge playing characters who get tortured by psychos who insist it's his fault?

You know, whenever the secondaries go on these insane rants as to how on earth can hero/heroine prefer OTP to them. For once, just for once, I wanted the ranted-at person to point out to them that it's because secondaries are psycho! And look what I got!





Oh. trust Six to nail it. I felt like clapping. You are inferior because you are a murdering psycho, the end.

Seriously, Pan Daughter - you picked about the worst Yang to fall for and try to manipulate seeing that Six is the smartest and the most analytical. No way could he really fall for your traps and lies. I think the only brother as bad a target for her tricks would have been Four because of his cynicism and street-smarts, though after she tried to kill Princess Chai in front on Six because she didn't realize Six was there, even the dimmest, most unworldly guy would have found it hard to swallow her protestations of innocence. Ooops, indeed.

In other news, I am drowning in period dramas. I am actively watching 10. 10!!! (Romantic Red Rouge, Four Women Conflict, Legend of Condor Heroes 2008 rewatch, Three Kingdoms, Chinese Paladin 3, The Holy Pearl, Jade Palace Lock Heart, Young Warriors, Warriors of the Yang Clan, Heaven Sword 2009) plus an ever-growing number prepped for short list. It's insane.

I need a break. So rec me a chirpy romcom set in modern times. Korean, Chinese, Taiwanese, Japanese, do not care. I need it badly.

Because I am an obsessive individual (this livejournal is a years-long testament to that fact), the very fact that I am in the middle of and loving Young Warriors of the Yang Clan ensured I'll check out Warriors of the Yang Clan, the other drama take on Yang story that is available with subs and which stars Alec Su and Chae Rim. I have just finished the first few eps of the latter.



Short verdict so you can know if you want to read on - I like both but prefer YWotYC (I am going to refer to them as Young Warriors and Warriors, for my own sanity).

Both dramas deal with the same basic legend - the Yangs are a family of tragic, famous Song dynasty warriors who get betrayed and killed in battle except for Sixth Brother, who avenges his family, Fifth Brother who becomes a monk, and Fourth Brother who gets captured by the enemy and, losing his memory, joins them.

This said, naming the Alec Su version "Warriors of the Yang Clan" is a bit of a misnomer. Unlike Young Warriors, which is a sprawling family epic, with equal focus given to Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh brothers, their OTPs and their parents, Warriors is strictly about Yang Silang - the tragic Fourth Brother - and his doomed love affair with the evil Prime Minister's daughter. The drama isn't really hiding it - when you look up the stars it's always Alec Su and Chae Rim, as opposed to Young Warriors which lists a long list. I suppose the title "One Sexy, Angsty Yang Warrior With The World's Worst Luck" was too long.



This is both Warriors' strength and weakness. If you are looking for an epic, tragic romance with an awesome OTP (their first meeting is a battle!)



Then this is probably much more your bag than Young Warriors which, while it does have romance, is basically a period family drama wrapped in an epic wrapper.

OTOH, I like that Young Warriors has politics, I love that the backbone of the character interactions and relationships are complicated family bonds. I love that it showcases many different characters and their OTPs and not just focuses on one. Because it's an ensemble piece, Young Warriors has an overall stronger cast - in Warriors, everyone outside of Four and his OTP basically fades into the background. Compare it to Weng Jia Ming , Amy Chan, Yuan Hong, Hu Ge, Eddie Peng, Chen Long, Peter Ho, Liu Shi Shi, Lee Jia, etc. There is no comparison. The latter is a hell of star-studded and powerful cast. Overall, I would compare the two to a period epic novel vs. a period romance novel. Whichever one you prefer will depend on your mood.

A special note on Alec Su. I have never found him particularly attractive before. He looks too boyish for my tastes. When it comes to him vs. Peter Ho who played Four in Young Warriors, I am basically the anti-ockoala - I swoon for the latter and can't be bothered to give the former the time of day.



Until Warriors. Umm, this is embarassing but I literally yelled at the screen at the above point "I want to do him!" Ahem. Clearly, give a man a Song dynasty hairdo and a spear, bloody him up and imbue him with deadly warrior skills and a bucketload of angst, and I am a goner.

Because I am an obsessive individual (this livejournal is a years-long testament to that fact), the very fact that I am in the middle of and loving Young Warriors of the Yang Clan ensured I'll check out Warriors of the Yang Clan, the other drama take on Yang story that is available with subs and which stars Alec Su and Chae Rim. I have just finished the first few eps of the latter.



Short verdict so you can know if you want to read on - I like both but prefer YWotYC (I am going to refer to them as Young Warriors and Warriors, for my own sanity).

Both dramas deal with the same basic legend - the Yangs are a family of tragic, famous Song dynasty warriors who get betrayed and killed in battle except for Sixth Brother, who avenges his family, Fifth Brother who becomes a monk, and Fourth Brother who gets captured by the enemy and, losing his memory, joins them.

This said, naming the Alec Su version "Warriors of the Yang Clan" is a bit of a misnomer. Unlike Young Warriors, which is a sprawling family epic, with equal focus given to Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh brothers, their OTPs and their parents, Warriors is strictly about Yang Silang - the tragic Fourth Brother - and his doomed love affair with the evil Prime Minister's daughter. The drama isn't really hiding it - when you look up the stars it's always Alec Su and Chae Rim, as opposed to Young Warriors which lists a long list. I suppose the title "One Sexy, Angsty Yang Warrior With The World's Worst Luck" was too long.



This is both Warriors' strength and weakness. If you are looking for an epic, tragic romance with an awesome OTP (their first meeting is a battle!)



Then this is probably much more your bag than Young Warriors which, while it does have romance, is basically a period family drama wrapped in an epic wrapper.

OTOH, I like that Young Warriors has politics, I love that the backbone of the character interactions and relationships are complicated family bonds. I love that it showcases many different characters and their OTPs and not just focuses on one. Because it's an ensemble piece, Young Warriors has an overall stronger cast - in Warriors, everyone outside of Four and his OTP basically fades into the background. Compare it to Weng Jia Ming , Amy Chan, Yuan Hong, Hu Ge, Eddie Peng, Chen Long, Peter Ho, Liu Shi Shi, Lee Jia, etc. There is no comparison. The latter is a hell of star-studded and powerful cast. Overall, I would compare the two to a period epic novel vs. a period romance novel. Whichever one you prefer will depend on your mood.

A special note on Alec Su. I have never found him particularly attractive before. He looks too boyish for my tastes. When it comes to him vs. Peter Ho who played Four in Young Warriors, I am basically the anti-ockoala - I swoon for the latter and can't be bothered to give the former the time of day.



Until Warriors. Umm, this is embarassing but I literally yelled at the screen at the above point "I want to do him!" Ahem. Clearly, give a man a Song dynasty hairdo and a spear, bloody him up and imbue him with deadly warrior skills and a bucketload of angst, and I am a goner.

I got to ep 31 and you give me this? This? Young Warriors, you are ON NOTICE. Leave seven alone or I am going to...well...there's nothing I can do but still, please? Leave him alone?



To make the long story short, Seven gets caught and dragged to idiot Emperor who listens to Pan Ren Mei instead of...you know...anyone trustworthy or with a logical explanation for things and decides the best thing to do is to have Pan Ren Mei use some sort of super-special super-powerful whip to whip Seven? What? Huh? The hell? Has the maker of this been hanging out with whoever made Four Women Conflict? Do they like going to fetish clubs together or something? Because, guys, quit it, for the sake of my own sanity.




(Still, nothing is ever going to top the disturbing of that sequence in LOCH2008 with Yang Kang putting metal hooks through his own shoulders and dragging a ginormous boulder as a sign of penance to his evil stepfather as a crazy psychotic way of trying to get back into his books so he can get his revenge. Ugh. I shudder just thinking of that. Ah, wuxia. I never could really hate Yang Kang turning to the dark side after all that crap he went through - it's to his credit he snapped out of it at all and/or didn't just randomly start walking through the city killing people at will and gibbering. He chose to find agency through becoming a villain because it was better than being a victim. Anyway, how did I get on LOCH2008?)

And then, Papa Yang, being the amazing amazing man he is, sees his kid isn't going to last the full punishment but is going to die, and volunteers to take the last two lashes for him. Pan Ren Mei is happy to oblige. Die die die pig person! But seriously, how do I love the familial relationships in this drama? They are the core of the drama, even more so than the romances.




Bonus cap with Four, because he's still my favorite brother and because I totally love the big bro-little bro he and Seven have going. Out of all the siblings, Four is closest to Seven - and it so so makes sense.



In other news, PRM's daughter has finally shown her true murdering psycho colors. Poor Six, he doesn't know what a horror show is about to come after him. Seriously, the whole Pan family is genetically diseased! Too bad it's not deceased instead.