kdrama; Gye baek eps 3-11

[meganbmoore]

This post would be full of intelligent observations and commentary on a complex plot, excellent acting, and interesting characters, but Lee Seo Jin running around in various states of dress with a sword is quite distracting, and what parts of the brain aren't distracted by that are busy appreciating awesome ladies plotting to take over the country

Comments

[meganbmoore]

I checked out the WBDS forum at soompi and saw all the people wishing she'd died at the end of ep 13 (whereas I watched the scene where she might die raw and started drafting a break up letter if there was double fridging to fuel male rivalry...Yi Zhi Mei only skirts by with that for me because it's the backstory, and not the main story) and remembered why i don't go to soompi much. I can't remember if it was there or d-addicts where I saw people hating on Ga-Ok/Ji for being "unnecessriy cruel" to Cheon over something in the late teens (I do agree that what she does is wrong, but I also believe that she thought-and was probably right-that it was the only way to get Jin Joo to safety, and while he was upset, he understood and didn't hold it against her, so...), but that turned me off forums for a bit. tumblr seems pretty decent with kdrama posts, but tumblr's interface makes it hard for much interaction.

WBDS is interesting because stylistically and offically, it's a fusion sageuk, but the core concept and many plot elements are much more in line with traditional sageuks, but the format and execution are more along the lines of wuxia.

[dangermousie]

Soompi is hit and miss for me. I think outside of sageuk threads, it often descends into insanity (I remember all the people hating Nana in first half of CH because she wasn't grovelling at YS' feet while only knowing him as idle thoughtless playboy). All the traditional sageuk threads are usually great though. Fusion sageuk threads are more hit-or-miss for me (Chuno thread was my favorite thread on soompi and there was no shipper war or any dislike of Un Nyun at all, which, if you think of the story and usual fandom bent, is shocking). I wonder if WBDS is different because it attracted a somewhat younger audience.

Re: YZM fridging. I wouldn't have liked it as a main story (I don't always hate fridging, but it would have been pretty irritating there) but as a backstory I like it because it's in keeping with the wuxia formula of having the hero lose someone super-important (it's almost never a wife, but a parent or sibling or something) before the story starts and I like formulas :P.

WBDS makes me think of wuxia, you are right. It's a very odd beast, genre-wise, but it works somehow.

I think there is a tendency in fandom to be a lot harsher on an actress who is lacking in acting than an actor. I do agree with fandom criticism that JS' actress isn't very good in her role (and I think the say complaint was with Yeon's actress, but I didn't agree there) but that is different from being a badly-written character or bad for the plot, or a character who should die. I think at soompi a lot of it stems from love for Jin Ju and wanting DS to realize how awesome she is and not crush on JS. But you can still wish DS to prefer JJ and think JS is an interesting character. It's no different from liking DS and yet thinking YU (who is currently his enemy) is interesting and pitiable.