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Nov 21, 2013 04:05

I HAVE EXAMS ON IN A FEW, WOULD YOU BELIEVE. PRAYER CIRCLE FOR MY CONTINUED ACADEMIC EXISTENCE. And in the meanwhile, I don't even believe this myself.

Female (Second) Leads: Narratives vs. Tropes:
[In Defence Of] Coffee House.

When do I suggest reading this:

- If you're not planning on watching Coffee House , because you should. I think it's ( Read more... )

park si yeon = face bias numero uno, meta: television, how's that for evolution?, fandom: kdrama: playful kiss, this headache is not metaphorical, take your misogyny out of my bar, post: this is about women, i live a barthes appreciation life, meta: kdramas, i may be love's bitch, john hughes didn't pen your life story, machiavelli was not machiavellian, second lead syndrome-ing like a boss, discussion: kdramas, fandom: kdrama: boys over flowers, character: seung yeon, fandom: kdrama: my name is kim sam soon, ship: ji hoo/jan di, fandom: kdramas, the brat pack is my legit angsty bff, i'm kindasorta glad the world didn't end, fic that should exist already, jesus am i actually shipping this?, character: eun young, ship: jin soo/seung yeon, this is my actual otp, fandom: kdrama: coffee house, i love everyone in this bar, fandom: kdrama: you're beautiful, i eat boats for breakfast, freud probably has a theory on it, fandom: kdrama: coffee prince, patron saint of doomed ships, ship: jin soo/eun young, follow the yellow brick road, fandom: kdrama: heirs, friendship is the best ship, darwin married his first cousin, character: jin soo, you could be my epic love, fandom: kdrama: no such thing as nice gu, this show broke me trufax, head bitch in command, why the world should have ended in 2012, so this is a thing that exists, what even is my life?, fandom: kdrama: what happened in bali, your misogyny makes my head ache

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ever_neutral November 21 2013, 00:11:52 UTC
Okay, so I just skimmed this because I have not seen it still. Some random comments:

Which, hilariously enough, leaves us free to ship all the ships that are more openly problematic,coughYoungDoEunSangcough, but automatically become less problematic, because you already know they're not endgame.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA OUR LIVES

:| :| :| :| :| :| :| :|

WHEN WILL YOU FINISH DREAM HIGH

While I hated the show because the ship that was given an inordinate amount of time and narrative space to develop, bizarrely enough, turned out not to be endgame.
FOREVER CONFUSED ABOUT THIS. WAS THE SHOW JUST KILLING TIME IN ALL THOSE SCENES???? LIKE???? STARCROSSED LOVERS IS SO OVERRATED TOO TBQH.

LISTEN, YOU MAKE A COMPELLING ARGUMENT ABOUT COFFEE HOUSE. WHEN I EVENTUALLY WATCH IT I WILL COME BACK TO THIS POST SO IT MAKES SENSE.

ETA: Kim Woo Bin Face Day tomorrow. Bring it.
EP 13 IS ALREADY OUT BUT I HAVE TO WAIT FOR MY MOTHER TO FINISH WORK OR SHE'LL GET MAD AT ME (L M F A O @ HER CRUSH ON KIM WOO BIN).

GODSPEED WITH EXAMS, BRO

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youcallitwinter November 21 2013, 15:11:59 UTC
I so did not want to write this till you'd seen the show for the fear of spoiling you (although I had this horrible feeling you might hate it too, omg) BUT THEN I COULDN'T CONCENTRATE ON LIFE, SO I JUST DID IT ANYWAY. Actually with this show it's impossible to tell whether it's better to go in spoiled or not, it actually literally depends on the person in question.

- I WILL FINISH DREAM HIGH SOMETIME. It's good to have something worth watching in the wings, since I'm running though dramas like...Usain Bolt ( ... )

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ever_neutral November 21 2013, 23:11:35 UTC
I'll probably start some time this weekend, mmmkay?

Usain Bolt????
???????

Basically my theory is that the PD was either in awe of KHJ's face
As good an explanation as any.

SPEAKING OF SECOND LEADS. I am so conflicted over Heirs so just let me scream at you for a bit. I haven't seen ep 14 yet so these thoughts are not definitive, but mostly fresh and unfiltered: I am genuinely feeling your distrust about the portrayal of Tan now. I think ep 13 was the first time I actually felt like he was being portrayed as a ~hero?? E.g. ~Saving Ye Sol (?) from the evil ~Rachel, declaring he needs to ~make up for the past, etc. etc. Which I do not buy at all, because he is yet to show, like, ACTUAL REMORSE about the things he did in the past. (And he has shown ZERO remorse over what he did to YD just a few eps ago, since he seems to think that was completely justified on account of him being the good guy and YD being the bad one, &c. &c ( ... )

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Part 1 youcallitwinter November 22 2013, 10:41:30 UTC
WHY IS THIS SO LONG, APOLOGIES.

I'll probably start some time this weekend, mmmkay?

YES, SO EXCITED ALREADY \o/

???????

Since I was talking about running, I thought I might as well go all out *kanyeshrug*

As good an explanation as any.

You know that was it.

DUDE, ALL YOUR Heirs THOUGHTS ARE MINE TOO, OBV. Because idk, I kind of have no doubt now that it's being played straight. In fact, this is the kind of problem that I feel these kind of narratives almost inevitably tend to face, unless the point of them is a deconstruction. Because it's very easy to go from self-awareness right into romantic territory, so that once the romance is played straight, most people don't even deem it necessary to go back and address the problematics that had been raised earlier, you know ( ... )

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ever_neutral November 22 2013, 11:25:52 UTC
OK JUST SAW EP 14 AND HAVE EVEN MORE FEELS

In fact, this is the kind of problem that I feel these kind of narratives almost inevitably tend to face, unless the point of them is a deconstruction. Because it's very easy to go from self-awareness right into romantic territory, so that once the romance is played straight, most people don't even deem it necessary to go back and address the problematics that had been raised earlier, you know?
I fear you may be right. SUCH A SHAME. Like, this show is near perfect to me except for this one GAPING FLAW IN ITS CENTRAL ROMANCE. GRRRRRRRRRRRRR.

young!Young Do (lol)
lol.

Yeah, I wash my hands of both those flashbacks and Tan's character tbh. Again, such a shame the show's main flaw surrounds its MAIN CHARACTER.

I mean, it isn't even addressed that the only real reason he revealed his illegitimacy was because he wanted to break the engagement and date the girl he wants to date, not because he ~couldn't ~bear to see his mother treated the way she was, considering this is the same guy who ( ... )

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youcallitwinter November 22 2013, 15:05:31 UTC
LOL, I HAD ALSO REPLIED JUST POST WATCHING EP14 AND HAD HAD A LOT OF FEELS.

I fear you may be right. SUCH A SHAME. Like, this show is near perfect to me except for this one GAPING FLAW IN ITS CENTRAL ROMANCE. GRRRRRRRRRRRRR.

AND the romance is probably going to ~heat ~up because we're entering the final stretch. I MEAN. JUST. WHY.

Yeah, I wash my hands of both those flashbacks and Tan's character tbh. Again, such a shame the show's main flaw surrounds its MAIN CHARACTER.I cannot understand the point of those flashbacks tbqh. Like, I know we're supposed to see how the YD/KT relationship soured and what they had been like before, but we basically see them behave almost exactly as they do now, except KT seems even less culpable and YD basically responsible for all their ~relationship troubles. Each flashback basically depicts y!YD being ~mean to y!KT because of his mom, post having found out about his own dad...which is pretty much their dynamic now. (Also, which is completely different from how everyone keeps picking on YD about ( ... )

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Part 2 youcallitwinter November 22 2013, 10:43:22 UTC
Like. "I'm sorry for saying no before" ? ? ? ? ? WHAT ARE YOU DOING. And now apparently their main source of conflict comprises of YD being the ~villain trying to ~tear them apart. Which, NHFT.

DUDE, SAME. Like, I've been viewing their interactions as straight-up romantic for a while now, so Ep13/14 just solidified that belief. IDK, it seems they're constructing a parallel around the fact that KT and ES are both ~social ~outcasts because of their family situation, which, WATCH ME LMAO@THAT.

AND TA ON ALL YOUR YOUNG DO THOUGHTS. Like, I think he's one of those people who would like to be redeemed by the ~love of a good woman. As in he would like to have a reason to change, to move past hating himself, so how amazing is it that his arc centers around him not having any reason? ES, by now, has outright rejected him, so all his actions, as much as he tries to make her the catalyst for them, are not guided purely by that consideration. Besides what's fascinating about him is that he always ascribes the worst possible motives to himself ( ... )

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ever_neutral November 22 2013, 12:00:04 UTC
IDK, it seems they're constructing a parallel around the fact that KT and ES are both ~social ~outcasts because of their family situation, which, WATCH ME LMAO@THAT.
L M A O, RIGHT? NHF THIS "US AGAINST THE WORLD" NONSENSE. Seriously, this analogy does not fly. KT might have oodles of man pain about his sad life but he is still ten thousand times more privileged than ES. And he's nudged ES into a state of mind where she believes he's ALL the support system she has? (Since she has to spend a lot of time/energy looking out for her mother ( ... )

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youcallitwinter November 22 2013, 15:57:20 UTC
He's ALL the support system she has?.)

IT’S TRUE, RIGHT? LIKE THAT IS HOW IT SEEMS SHE FEELS? Which is so bizarre considering Chan Young and Bona (her friend with the “pretty heart”. I DIED WHEN THAT HAPPENED AGAIN. HOW ARE THEY FOREVER THE MOST ADORABLE? AND BONA IS EUN SANG’S SAVIOR. MY BEAUTIFUL CHILDREN <3). I mean, she seems really isolated, and KT initially brought her into that isolation with his New Money lie and the effort to maintain it. Also mainly because KT always makes it sound like he’s giving up so much for her, that she should at least be ~courageous ~enough to be with him in return. But, I think, post the “welfare student” reveal, I’m REALLY interested to see whether this changes, because she no longer has anything to hide and may not be so isolated.

To take the decision out of her hands is perversely appealing???

OH MY GOD, Y E S. DUDE, I THINK THAT’S TOTALLY IT?? That’s such an important part of her characterization, that she resents being in the position she is in now. She’s never had that “I have too much ( ... )

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ever_neutral November 23 2013, 02:09:34 UTC
Which is so bizarre considering Chan Young and Bona (her friend with the “pretty heart”. I DIED WHEN THAT HAPPENED AGAIN. HOW ARE THEY FOREVER THE MOST ADORABLE? AND BONA IS EUN SANG’S SAVIOR. MY BEAUTIFUL CHILDREN <3).
I K R !!!!!!!!! HOW MANY TIMES HAS EUN SANG CALLED BO NA PRETTY NOW ( ... )

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youcallitwinter November 24 2013, 14:06:30 UTC
LMAO, MY FAVORITE THING APART FROM THAT EVERYONE TREATS BONA LIKE A PRINCESS, AS THEY SHOULD, IS THAT THEY'RE ALL SO PROUD OF HER. When she does something nice while bitching endlessly, everyone/Eun Sang is just like *stars in their eyes. BONA MAKES EUN SANG SMILE JUST BY EXISTING.

I think Eun Sang perceives Tan as being her main source of support

Oh man, so DNW that Stockholm Syndome-ish dynamic if they're not going full-on wrong!ship with it. But I like the construction, that he has this ability to make everything that he does so appealing. He uses his power and lack of power almost equally to get emotional leverage. Like, in the school scenario where he has actual hard power, he plays it as going against the system. While, in private, he's all about his illegitimacy and his brother hating him and how he isn't who he used to be. So basically, the whole thing DOES come across as Him Against The System, even though it actually isn't- at least at this point. Man, he could be such a perfect character.

Now that he’s looking out for ( ... )

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ever_neutral November 25 2013, 01:35:05 UTC
So basically, the whole thing DOES come across as Him Against The System, even though it actually isn't- at least at this point. Man, he could be such a perfect character.
I wonder if this is part of the appeal for Eun Sang?? (LISTEN, I AM CONSTANTLY TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT SHE SEES IN HIM, OKAY.) It's no coincidence that the more Tan breaks away from the social system, the more inclined she is to be with him. Since the upstairs/downstairs thing was the main reason she didn't want to get involved with him in the beginning, the fact that they are seemingly more on equal footing now means she can "trust" him more??

So, basically, this:

All she probably sees re: them is the shine, while Tan seems different because she knows his secrets, so he seems special that way, more vulnerable, one of "them" but not really.Plus, come to think of it, it was kind of inevitable since they've been in such close proximity ever since America. Because he's around ALL THE TIME (and the people in Eun Sang's life usually VERY MUCH ARE NOT), you can see ( ... )

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youcallitwinter November 26 2013, 14:45:16 UTC
L M A O FOREVER@THE FACT THAT "I wonder if this is part of the appeal for Eun Sang??" IS YOUR STANDARD LINE RE: KT/ES. But I am in fact completely sure that that is part of the appeal for ES. On the one hand she knows it's doomed to failure and that she's projecting (thus her "I know" to YD), but that doesn't make the alternate possibility any less appealing, the sort of continuation of her "midsummer night's dream", so to speak.

And I think she feels like Tan is burdened by his status because she's seen the whole forced engagement, business ventures substituting familial love, brother turning against brother, him being thrown out of the house, etc. (while I think Tan is clearly a princess who has no measure of reality in his entitled existence.) And imo she sees a lot of these actions arising out of her relationship with him (which is a streak of vanity also, and he specifically addressed this in the last episode in the "it's not your fault" "not your fault either" bit) so it definitely increases her ~trust in him.

Because he's ( ... )

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ever_neutral November 27 2013, 01:00:12 UTC
L M A O FOREVER@THE FACT THAT "I wonder if this is part of the appeal for Eun Sang??"
THIS SHIP WILL MYSTIFY ME FOREVER YO

Tan isn't pretty enough to be a princess tbh.

btw I was talking with Eleonore yesterday and she agreed with us that Tan proving his reliability is what made Eun Sang come around. His promising to ~protect her wasn't just an empty fantasy, because he's followed through. So to Eun Sang it's as though it's stopped being a fantasy and is becoming the ~real deal. Him starting to lose his status is also persuasive in this sense because that kind of thing doesn't happen in fantasies, right?

DUDE, I HOPE SO. BECAUSE IF AT SOME POINT THIS CONVERTS TO THE TAN-AND-EUN-SANG-SHOW, I WILL BE SO DISAPPOINT and bored.
LOL, IT PRETTY MUCH ALREADY IS THO?

GUH, YOU ARE MY DREAMCATCHER. /random.
YOU SAP ( ... )

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youcallitwinter November 27 2013, 09:08:05 UTC
THIS SHIP WILL MYSTIFY ME FOREVER YO

LARGER FANDOM SEEMS TO LIKE THEM?? I'm beginning to think that larger fandom tends to like whatever the OTP is, regardless of any and all considerations. Like, THAT THOUGHT PROCESS IS SO BIZARRE TO ME. I have a far lower standard for liking non-OTPs than I do endgames. :O

lmao, you are correct, princesses with hair like that are disallowed as a species to existLOL, Eleonore disagrees with us in general about Tan, though. (Although tbh, I wish I could also see it that way because it would make watching the show so much more enjoyable that way.) But I am in total agreement on that point, because Tan HAS been very persuasive about sticking around, even when it results in him being thrown out of the house, so that is definitely something that is throwing her for the loop, because if he had to leave, wouldn't he have left by now? And it's confusing the reality/fantasy dynamic that she initially had such a clear delineation of in her head, which is why her reactions are so markedly different, and she's ( ... )

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ever_neutral November 27 2013, 10:00:20 UTC
LARGER FANDOM SEEMS TO LIKE THEM??

UM?

... Are you serious, though? WHAT HAS GIVEN YOU THIS IMPRESSION? I mean, I have no doubt people like them because FANDOM GONNA BE FANDOM but I was literally just stalking fic for the show @ AO3 and ff.net (lol) and so on and dude, nobody is interested in Eun Sang/Tan, it's hilar tbh.

lmao, you are correct, princesses with hair like that are disallowed as a species to exist.

Where are the lies.

lol no, Eleonore is pretty much in agreement about Tan the person. She just has an ADDITIONAL desire to have meta parties about him, whereas I basically want him to be eaten by his ugly sweaters.

BUT THE HORRORS OF IT BECOMING EVEN MORE SO.

Dude, I just remembered you mentioning that the show nearing the tail end means things are gonna be ~heating up~ and l literally choked on my ramyun. LIKE. THEY HAVE NO SEXUAL CHEMISTRY WHATSOEVER, IT'S LITERALLY ENRAGING? PSH and LMH, I WANTED MORE FROM YOUUUUUU. /o\ /o\ /o\ PRAYER CIRCLE THEY BREAK UP AGAIN NEXT EP.

(so one-sided this triangle is, lmao, ( ... )

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