Many fine things

[maggie33]

Happy holidays, everyone. It’s Christmas and luckily we have a proper, white, sunny and cold winter here. It’s such a pleasure to look outside my window and see the pure white snow shining on rooftops.


Another pleasurable thing is reading Yuletide fics. I got two fics for The King Eternal Monarch, one short and funny and super adorable about Jo Yeong discovering chibi fanart about himself. Even the summary is delightful: “Jo Yeong + fan art = Enemies to lovers?” :D

Chibi

And the other one is a long post-canon fic full of pining and complicated relationships, but with the happy ending, with Jo Yeong/Lee Gon and Jeong Tae Eul/Lee Gon pairings.

let us flow stream by stream


I’ve already read around ten other fics and some of them were excellent. For now one quick rec, because I never expected to find a fic about Syrenka Warszawa (Warsaw Mermaid) in Yuletide. And it’s beautiful.

said the river: imagine everything you can imagine, then keep on going (1260 words)
Fandom: Syrenka Warszawska | Warsaw Mermaid Legend, Undisclosed Fandom
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Den lille Hafrue & Syrenka Warszawska
Characters: Syrenka Warszawska, Den lille Havfrue | The Little Mermaid
Additional Tags: Mythology References, Polish Mythology, Warsaw, Environmentalism, Epistolary, Sisters, Yuletide Treat, Sirens, Hopeful Ending
Summary:

Perhaps I am foolish for trying, but the world is far bigger now than when we parted ways at the Baltic Sea that fateful day. I cannot defend the city on my own, as I hoped I could, nor even just the river.

It has been a long journey to admit that I cannot do it alone. But pride does not save the river from falling further into disrepair.
---

(A siren writes to her sister.)

Kdramas:

I finished Life on Mars. I enjoyed it a lot, Jung Kyung Ho was fantastic as the main character, but I had the same reservations about the ending as I had with the original show.

More with spoilers below.

I didn’t like the ending of the original show, I remember that I was even quite angry about it.

Here I didn’t feel angry, but I just couldn’t feel happy about Han Tae Joo being back in 1988, either. I know the drama presents it as the happy ending and expects the viewers to be happy about it. What is the message then? That running away from reality is good actually?

But it was easier for me to accept this ending in Korean drama, because for me, in this version it was easier to interpret it as Han Tae Joo’s awaking in 2018 again not being real. He was still in a coma, and it was just a dream within a dream, and a way for Han Tae Joo to come to terms with everything that happened in 2018 and a way for him to say goodbye to his mother and his friends in his mind.


I also watched episodes 7 to 12 of Secret Royal Inspector & Joy. This is such a feel-good drama for me. And Taecyeon and Kim Hye Yoon make such an adorable couple.


And then I found out that The Fiery Priest would be on Netflix here only until the 9th of January, so I dropped other dramas for now and started that one so I would have enough time to watch 20 episodes before the 9th. And there will be no problem with that. I enjoy it a lot and I’ve already watched 11 episodes.

I’m not going to get fannish about it the same way I did with two other dramas written by Park Jae Bum: Chief Kim and Vincenzo. But I do like it, it’s entertaining and it makes me laugh. Villains are boring and I fast-forward a little bit sometimes. But heroes are all great, and especially Kim Nam Gil as Kim Hae Il. He’s a wonderful actor, he’s handsome and sexy, and he makes a very pretty woman. The proof is behind the cut below. :)

Also, I never noticed many similarities between Chief Kim and Vincenzo, but wow, The Fiery Priest and Vincenzo look so much alike to me when it comes to the main characters. Vincenzo Cassano is so similar to Kim Hae Il, and Choi Myung Hee is basically Park Kyung Sun (the female lead in The Fiery Priest), just older and more ruthless and villainous.


And here are my watching plans after I’m done with The Fiery Priest:

1. Secret Royal Inspector & Joy – episodes 13-16

2. The Silent Sea – a sci-fi Kdrama on Netflix

3. The Witcher season 2

4. Sword Snow Stride – a Chinese wuxia drama on VIKI. I haven’t watched any Cdrama lately, and this one looks interesting and I like Zhang Ruoyun a lot.

Comments

[china_shop]

Happy Holidays!

And then I found out that The Fiery Priest would be on Netflix here only until the 9th of January

Oh, how did you find that out? I wonder if it's true here, too. (Should I get back to that and finish it ASAP??)

[maggie33]

When I click on Info button for this drama there is a note saying "Last day to watch on Netflix: January 9." But it can be different in your country.

I'm glad I found out in time to watch it. This drama is on VIKI, too, but there it is not available in Poland.

[china_shop]

No, I just checked and it's the same here, so thanks for the heads up! :-)

This drama is on VIKI, too, but there it is not available in Poland.

:-( (Have you tried a VPN? I think one of their uses is to get around geoblocking.)

[maggie33]

I'm looking into this VPN thing, but slowly. Even without that I still have a lot of dramas to watch. :)

[china_shop]

Yeah, same. :-)

[no_detective]

thanks for the notes on LoM. the ending will never be easy to watch, and i have yet to hear of an adaptation that does a good job fixing it (and my heart). sigh.

secret royal inspector continues to be a delight <3 i'm a little behind your viewing schedule. btw, i am surprised at how much i'm enjoying the villains in it. those half-brothers are... wow.

yay, the fiery priest! one thing i enjoyed more about that show than vincenzo is that the lead is not all-powerful, so the stakes in the struggle against the bad guys feel pretty legit.

[maggie33]

have yet to hear of an adaptation that does a good job fixing it

I haven't read any spoilers about Korean version before watching it, so I did wonder if they would keep the ending.

btw, i am surprised at how much i'm enjoying the villains in it. those half-brothers are... wow.

Ok, I have to admit that I find Do Soo a bit annoying, but I like Tae Seo. He's so troubled and angry and complicated, and that loyalty to his father in the beginning - I do like all those things. :)

one thing i enjoyed more about that show than vincenzo is that the lead is not all-powerful, so the stakes in the struggle against the bad guys feel pretty legit.

I love that, too. At first I couldn't really believe it, I was all "Surely he won't loose again, will he?" And then he did and it was great. :D

[no_detective]

lol, i realized that i see do soo as a sort of a sidekick to an old batman villain. that laugh! but yeah, that can def be annoying.

my list of to-watch shows is too long for any rewatches, but i am so tempted by the fiery priest... plus someone on my tl is currently watching sell your haunted house (which is excellent)... ah, so little time, so many dramas.