#i enjoyed both jang brothers' characters from the beginning

[deonideatta]

Pls the withdrawal has come to the point that I even miss han seok's deranged ass

#im a han seo stan this is unacceptable #i blame taecyeon #he has too much charsima even as a villain #especially as a villain actually #im beginning to wish we had gotten more of his backstory (and han seo's) #like their dynamics with their specific mothers #we can infer that han seok was a mama's boy (and most likely so was han seo before he was sent to his father) #then again based om what we hear about their father maybe that's a given #also it would have been cool to get some actual context surrounding the whole han seok x cha young thing #they had a v fun dynamic when he was junwoo and it's sad that the buildup to that and the effects of their eventual fallout was glossed over #bc when he confessed to her in ep 19 i was just like ???? #we knew he liked her bc they told us but they didnt show us the reasons why enough for that confession to be impactful #but yea #i enjoyed both jang brothers' characters from the beginning #still think han seok is a bitchass but i appreciate his character's role in the story #and he's played by taecyeon so there's that definite plus #vincenzo #kdrama #2pm taecyeon

[jeongyunhoed]

Past-Present-Future Black Dahlia

Two major tragedies bring Lee Mirae closer to the edge as she goes through the stages of grief in a more violent manner that would affect not only her relationships with her boyfriend Jeong Yunho and her half-brother Choi San, but also has her becoming closer with the immortal mutant Kang Yeosang. Fueled by rage, grief, and pain, along with a very rude awakening that has Mirae spiraling out of control and questioning everything she holds dear.

Group: ATEEZ Member: Yunho Pairing: Jeong Yunho / OC Genre: Action, adventure, angst, fantasy

Watch Out! : Violence, blood, death, grief and loss, major character deaths, use of weapons, some jealousy (but no cheating ofc), implied smut (not sure if there is any but i’m putting it out there nonetheless), mental illness (probably?), gambling and alcohol

Anything else? : Mentions of other idols of course as well as other characters. SuperM, Dean, Chanyeol, Zelo, soloist Park Jihoon to name a few.

Author’s Note: First chapter is here! Compared to the previous stories from the AU, this might have very long chapters, like more than 10 pages in google docs long. But anyway, tag list is open, and yeah. Enjoy the first of a rollercoaster of emotions.

This whole first chapter also, is me giving brief backstories of what happened before/backstories of many characters here. Basic plot is mine, characters are not. This is all for fun/entertainment/emotional anguish. 

Masterlist

Chapter 1

When one is at their breaking point, everything begins to change.  The lines between right and wrong are blurred, and one’s moral compass begins to spin into oblivion. 

9:00 p.m. 

Laughter filled the almost empty space of Viva Polo, having closed for the night except for a table occupied by Lee Mirae, Park Chanyeol, and Kwon Hyuk. The rest of the tables had already been overturned, marking the end of another day at work, at least for Chanyeol. The three of them had a tradition of meeting up every week, something they started doing after the previous adventures they had. 

The three of them were mutants, and to their knowledge, they were the last surviving members of the group that saved the country, if not the world during the Seoul attack. A year after that, the three of them found each other again, reuniting to save the country once again from an evil cult bent on achieving utopia through taking control of its citizens. Two adventures that had major consequences on the three of them, and events that they will forever remember. 

Two of them, Mirae and Hyuk, were classified as omega-level or level 5 mutants, with powers that were impossible to surpass by any other mutant thus far. Mirae was not only gifted in a mastery of hand-to-hand combat, both armed and unarmed, but she had the gift of manipulating potential energy into kinetic energy. She could turn virtually any object into an explosive and if channeled to an extreme extent, was able to level a skyscraper. 

With her abilities came the secondary gift of a healing factor that made her almost immortal and slowed down her aging immensely. Because of her ability to manipulate energy, she was also able to generate static that resulted in a very strong psychic block that was only made stronger by another omega-level mutant, Jang Ino. From the adventures she had on her own and even after the Utopian cult, another ability manifested itself in her; taking souls and trapping them into objects, usually her deck of cards. 

Meanwhile, Kwon Hyuk, a well-known music producer and songwriter, was a level 5 telekinetic and could move anything with his mind. His psychic abilities also gave him the gift of producing shields that were almost impenetrable. 

 In their adventure into the Utopian cult, Hyuk developed his telepathic abilities, which he used to extract memories or read into memories of others. Hyuk was nearly captured by the goons from the Utopian cult when they met again, and has since tried to use his powers as discreetly as possible with some difficulty. 

Hyuk didn’t formally join Mirae and Chanyeol until the later days of the Seoul attack, having laid low, undiscovered by Ino who was at the time, serving his father Professor Inhwan Jang. Hyuk had openly used his powers in front of the group during a time when Mirae and one of her other colleagues, a telekinetic named Luhan, were affected by the goblin king’s inducement of traumatic memories that caused their powers to manifest for the first time. 

It was there that Hyuk realized that he could do so much more with his mutant gifts, rather than use them solely for trivial purposes.

Hyuk had a cousin, the singer Lee Midam, who was under his entertainment agency, in the 10-member group called Silver. Midam was, like him, a psychic, but of a different kind. Midam was a psychic that could make the worst fears or strongest desires of another person come to life before them. Midam also had the ability to sense when a person will die in the near future. 

Park Chanyeol was a level 4 pyrokinetic, also known as an alpha-level mutant. He created and manipulated fire in all its aspects, from turning into a fire being to being able to put out and set fire onto virtually anything. In his fire form, he was granted the ability to fly and heal and even out of his fire form, Chanyeol could withstand extreme heat. 

He worked with Mirae in the Center for Paranormal Research upon his discovery by Ino, leaving his work in his mother’s Italian restaurant behind to find purpose for his abilities. For some time after the Seoul attack, Chanyeol thought he was the only one left, until he was seen by another survivor, their tech guy Choi Junhong, looking over the remains of what used to be the Center, the epicenter of the entire attack. 

From the adventures they had, the three of them still managed to continue with their lives. Hyuk stayed in his agency to work on music, Chanyeol helped around his parents’ restaurant and live club, while Mirae ran the music store that she took ownership in after the passing of her adoptive parents. Hyuk and Chanyeol also helped other mutants like them, Mirae’s old colleagues from her days as an assassin under a sanitarium, practice controlling their powers. 

With the way the events of the past years shaped them, their lives would forever be intertwined and they knew it. Even with the disagreements that occurred in the final days of the Seoul attack, with the three of them being the only survivors from that group that acted, they were like family to each other. 

“One of these days, we’ll go on a mission, do something, just the three of us again,” Chanyeol said fondly, finishing the last slice of pizza from his place. 

“Even if we don’t go on something like that, we should still do something, just the three of us,” Mirae repeated with a grin. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” 

“Yeah, someone needs to watch your back this time, you nearly got your powers taken away,” Hyuk pointed out, taking a sip of his iced tea. 

The last adventure Mirae went on involved a demon and their followers, the one responsible for a long-running conspiracy that went behind the glitz and glamour of the country’s entertainment industry. Mirae was outmatched and captured, her powers being used to channel the summoning of the demon Ose. It left her boyfriend Yunho and her half-brother San, along with her old colleagues including immortal mutant billionaire Kang Yeosang, to be the ones to save her and the world. 

Mirae shook her head. “It was only one time. Just one. But I’m starting to think I’m losing my touch, to be honest,” She looked down at her now-empty plate. 

“I wouldn’t think of it that way if I were you,” Hyuk patted her shoulder. “You still have your powers, don’t you? Didn’t Junhong say your powers only got stronger after that? You’re practically invincible.” 

“Says the person who is also practically invincible,” Mirae grinned. 

“But I don’t heal like you do. Chanyeol doesn’t even heal like you unless he sets himself on fire.” 

“Can you stop talking about injuries now? I think we’ll be late for that training session both of you promised the guys,” Mirae nudged the telekinetic. 

Chanyeol got up at the mention of the training session. All of their plates floating in mid-air, the cutlery and glasses sorting themselves out, as Hyuk followed the taller male into the kitchen, making sure nothing dropped. Mirae smiled to herself as she removed the tablecloth and the napkins. 

The boys at the safehouse would be waiting for them, San and Yunho included. Choi San was her half-brother, and had almost the same abilities as her, including her healing factor and a mastery of martial arts. Unlike Mirae, who channeled her powers mainly through her extendable staff, San channeled his into a harpoon gun. 

San’s powers first manifested in his high school years, as a result of the constant pressure placed on him by their father, who wanted him to pursue a career he himself wanted. Upon learning how to control his abilities better, San ran away from home, eventually learning the skills he knew to become a paid hitman. San also witnessed Mirae getting taken away to be interned at the sanitarium, and he looked everywhere for her.

Jeong Yunho was Mirae’s boyfriend. Yunho was also like her, skilled in hand-to-hand combat, both unarmed and armed. Yunho was also a mutant, an immortal mutant who possessed the ability to teleport, but could only do so in dark places. 

Yunho’s powers manifested when he was killed in Morocco during what would be Mirae’s final mission before she was discharged. Her memories of him were seemingly erased in the final electroshock therapy session used to alter her recollection of missions. They only found each other again when Mirae was being targeted by the Kang crime family, descendants of Yeosang who held a disdain for mutants. 

Hyuk returned from the kitchen. “What’s that smile about?” He asked. 

“Nothing, nothing, I just realized how it’s been a while since we did something like this together,” Mirae replied. 

“Lee Mirae, you’re getting sappy.” 

“Did I lie?” She laughed. 

“No, but that’s weird of you,” Hyuk laughed as well. “I mean you are right. I’ve been busy practically managing the group, Chanyeol’s busy here, we’re just busy living our lives.” 

“My point stands that we’ve never done anything together in a while, unless those goblins come up again and try to kill us,” Mirae joked. 

“Hopefully not,” Said the psychic, the table in front of them turning itself over on top of another table. “Even with the way things ended back then, I’m glad the three of us found each other.” 

The kitchen doors opened and Chanyeol returned, wiping his hands, with his backpack in tow. “Whose car are we using?” He asked. 

Without another word, the three of them extended their fists. Both Mirae and Chanyeol had scissors, while Hyuk’s hand remained curled into a fist. “Guess it’s yours then, Mr. Psychic,” Mirae grinned. 

“Be glad I stopped for gas before coming here,” He gave them a look as they left the restaurant. 

~ 

The car pulled up in front of a brick-walled building that had a vending machine. It was the entrance to the safehouse that now became the headquarters of everything mutant-related. It was also where Mirae’s old colleagues were now staying, with the exception of two; Jung Wooyoung and Park Seonghwa. 

The three of them got out, sensing the slight change in the air as they approached the machine. They knew there was a sort of cloaking over the spot that shielded anyone from seeing that the vending machine moved to the side to reveal a secret passage. Chanyeol, Mirae, and Hyuk entered the dark passageway and stopped at the red door at the very end. 

The safehouse was similarly modeled to the recreation room in the Center for Paranormal Research, with a couch and beanbags surrounding a flat-screen television and several game consoles. There was a sleeping quarters and a shower area and a kitchen that was only stocked with instant food. Ino and Junhong’s labs and offices were in the two other doors in the kitchen area that had a small dining table where they would at least take turns in eating. 

This time, the safehouse had since expanded thanks to Ino’s ability to manipulate matter. Junhong’s lab was much bigger, more beds were added to the sleeping quarters, and there was a small training room that Junhong fortified. A shelf was behind the television, showing all the weapons carried by the group of men who now resided in the place; a rapier, a set of nunchaku, and a few axes and shurikens. Those belonged to three people: Kim Hongjoong, Choi Jongho, and Song Mingi. 

All of them were trained assassins, skilled in hand-to-hand combat both unarmed and armed. While Mirae and Yunho were no longer part of the group, the remaining members were turned into personal guards of the Kang crime family and underwent several experiments to turn them into super soldiers. All of them were impervious to pain and were a lot more agile in their movements. 

It was those experiments that triggered the mutant gene in each of them, their own mutant abilities manifesting around the same time. Hongjoong possessed superhuman speed and could be as fast as the speed of light that also enabled him to heal if wounded. Seonghwa was a telekinetic, whose powers also made itself known if his eyes and fingertips glowed green. Mingi, like Chanyeol, was also a pyrokinetic, but unlike Chanyeol, could only manipulate flames that already exist. 

Wooyoung on the other hand, possessed the ability to turn into a shadow being. His shadow form allowed him to be intangible, as well as give him superhuman strength and a healing factor. But along with his shadow form, Wooyoung developed a kind of extrasensory perception, where he could see past and future events from a person or an object, or even a name. 

Jongho had the painful ability to manipulate his bone structure, and his arms and legs would produce a sharp spike that could pierce anything. 

They immediately noticed that a few other weapons were shelved, as they were likely in the labs or in the training room; a set of sai, katanas, a bow and a quiver full of arrows, and the harpoon gun. Everyone was indeed present. 

“Hello?” Hyuk called out as they closed the door behind them. 

“We’re here!” Chanyeol called out as well. 

“Yunho? San?” Mirae spoke, looking around the empty living room. 

Suddenly materializing in front of them was Ino. “Good! You’re all here! The rest of them are in the training rooms, but can you wait a little bit? There’s something I’m finishing and I hope the three of you can test it out for me,” He said. 

Jang Ino was a prime example of a true omega-level mutant, with abilities so powerful he was almost like a god. Ino had the gift of manipulating matter, inter-dimensional teleportation, telekinesis, telepathy, duplication with sentient clones, intangibility, precognition as well as the ability to see everything as it happened. Ino’s abilities manifested much later than the rest of them despite not being much older than Chanyeol, Hyuk, and Mirae, and thus had more difficulty trying to control each of his abilities. 

“Really? What is it?” Mirae asked as Chanyeol put down his backpack while she put down her staff. 

Ino looked excited. “Another training room, or…?” 

“Another Danger Room,” Hyuk nodded. “Can it not turn into a vortex manipulator again?” 

“I can’t promise that, but it’s as safe as ever, right? Just like old times,” Ino was beaming. “Ah, well, you might as well see it for yourself. I’ll call the rest of them,” and he disappeared. 

“Are we supposed to wait for them here?” Chanyeol glanced at them, and they shrugged. 

A commotion erupted from the door that was Junhong’s lab, making them turn around. “For a telekinetic, you could’ve aimed better! You could’ve killed me!” Hongjoong appeared, shooting Seonghwa a look. 

“You sped away in time! You knew it wasn’t going to reach you anyway!” Seonghwa argued back. 

“Well I wasn’t able to, not when Mingi keeps playing with that lighter of his! It’s like having to pass by a dragon each time I’m next to him.” 

“So your situation is actually my fault, is that what you’re saying?” Mingi spoke, looking at them incredulously. “I was practicing my pyrokinesis the way Chanyeol hyung showed me, right, San?”

“Stop including me!” said the male who had a visible white streak in his hair similar to Mirae’s. 

“This was a department store-bought shirt and Jongho just had to ruin it!” Wooyoung shrieked, pointing to the tears in his sleeve. 

“Welcome to my world, Wooyoung! Live with it!” Jongho shot back.

“At least I don’t have spikes coming out of my sleeves and pants!”

Chanyeol and Mirae exchanged looks. Hyuk stifled a laugh. “Kind of reminds you how much we bickered back then, huh? I bet those guys would’ve loved to see a repeat of this,” He chuckled. 

“Nothing seems to have changed after all,” Mirae laughed, their reactions making the group stop in their tracks. “We just had dinner,” She explained. “I see training’s been going well?” 

“Not so much when the rest of them bicker more than San and I do,” out of the group came Yunho, who immediately swept her up in a hug then exchanged high fives with Hyuk and Chanyeol as he pulled away. 

The taller form of Junhong appeared from the crowd as well, with scorch marks on his lab coat and a hole in his clipboard. Ino had materialized again as well. “So, the Danger Room, Junhong?” Hyuk asked. 

“Yes, yes, the Danger Room,” Junhong led them to the pair of doors on the other side of the space. He pushed the button, the doors opening up to reveal a dark room covered in what looked like steel tiles. There was a panel of buttons near the doors from the inside and on one side of the room, was a booth. “Ta-da!” He announced, looking over at the three of them, while the rest looked amazed. 

“A little shift in elements here and there, I was able to expand this entire space of ours, make it a little more familiar, don’t you think?” Ino smiled. 

Mirae approached the panel of buttons near the side. “Ice fortress, dystopia, post-apocalypse, zombie invasion, alien invasion, gladiator arena,” She read out. Mirae turned to the next set of buttons and looked over at Junhong. “Why is my name at the top of this panel? Am I a level of difficulty?” She asked, looking puzzled. 

“The highest,” Ino spoke. “But that level’s reserved for the three of you, not that these guys can’t do it, but the three of you are more experienced.” 

“San and Yunho are just as experienced, if you ask me,” Mirae pointed out with a shrug, choosing not to argue any more. 

“Yes, but they’ve never been through the same missions as you and Chanyeol did back at the Center, remember?” Ino reminded her. “The creatures at the museum, the goblin warriors at the train station, and their throne room, and the jewelry store at night?” 

“I remember the jewelry store one,” Hyuk said, glancing at her. “We were coming from dinner when the store exploded. It was the time I found out Mirae was a mutant.” 

Mirae smiled at her friend’s recollection. “Yeah, you came from that singing competition too.” 

Chanyeol grinned. “The train station, I remember that well. Everyone hated us when they saw what was happening in broad daylight. Junmyeon got hot coffee thrown at him...” He looked down the more he remembered. 

Ino noticed Wooyoung squinting at him, the rest of them looking fascinated by their brief trip down memory lane. “Well, I thought I’d show the rest of them how the three of you would do things in these simulations. Hyuk, I know you joined us late at the time, but you still know a thing or two on how to handle non-human entities, right?” He said. 

“Oh yeah, I was with you all at the Esteholm,” Hyuk smiled. Sensing everyone else’s confused expressions, he chuckled. “It’s a hidden marketplace for non-humans, goblins, witches, warlocks, ogres…” 

“You mean those things were actually here all this time?! On this planet?!” Mingi gaped at him and they nodded. 

“Okay, okay, we’ll have a lot of time to talk about that later, but let’s have the three of you take this new Danger Room for a test run?” Ino suggested. “The rest of you follow Junhong into the booth, we’ll all watch from there.” 

“What are we taking on?” Mirae asked. 

Hyuk approached the panels. “What about…” He stopped when he read the mode at the bottom. “Evil villain mansion? What kind of mode is that?” He laughed. 

Chanyeol and Mirae laughed as well. Mirae glanced at the booth, giving a thumbs up to Yunho and San, who looked excited as did the rest of them. “It’s exactly what it is. The mansion of the bad guy,” Junhong said from the booth. 

“Alright then, put up the difficulty rate to my name, I guess,” Mirae said. 

“That’s what I had in mind. Initializing evil villain mansion, Lee Mirae difficulty,” Junhong announced. 

Hyuk backed away, until he was back to back with Chanyeol and Mirae. They heard tiles shifting and a swirling of colors all around them, bringing in a strong gust of wind. Mirae took out her staff from her jacket pocket and extended it. After a few moments, the swirling was disappearing, and they found themselves in what was the ballroom of a large, abandoned house that had some bits of modern technology on the locks of the doors and the windows. 

“Okay, so this is the evil villain mansion,” Chanyeol mumbled as they took in their surroundings. “Where’s the evil villain, then?” 

Mirae took a step forward, seeing two metal circles near the large fireplace. There was a seven-pointed star engraved on one circle, a hexagon that had the shape of a keyhole in the middle engraved on the other. The circles began to turn, until it slowly went up to reveal coffin-shaped tubes. 

“This is oddly specific,” She muttered. 

Hyuk and Chanyeol stared at the tubes as well. The closer they looked, they saw bodies, blackened and as if they had been mummified. “This is very specific,” Chanyeol nodded, feeling a chill down his spine as they approached the tubes. 

Back at the booth, the rest of them stared at what was happening. “Can they see us?” Jongho asked curiously. 

“I don’t think they can, can they?” Hongjoong glanced at Junhong, who was looking at the panels of controls. “But the surroundings look so real.” 

“I know I should be used to this, but this is something I’ve never seen before…” San was staring at the tubes that were opening up in front of the three. 

“Me neither, and I thought I’ve seen everything,” Yunho nodded. 

From the side of the room, Wooyoung could suddenly see flashes of scenes in his head. He looked back at what was happening, seeing Hyuk, Mirae, and Chanyeol nearly destroy the surroundings they were in as humanoid demons with large talons began to attack them. The flashes kept coming. He could see people he hadn’t seen before having been inside the very booth they were in. Yet, Wooyoung wasn’t sure if this had already happened or it was about to happen. He stayed watching the simulation that Mirae, Hyuk, and Chanyeol were in. 

~ 

“Kind of familiar, isn’t it? The train station,” Mirae’s eyes and fingertips were glowing as she sent shockwaves towards the two demons, but to no avail. Instead, the demons clapped their hands, sending similar shockwaves towards her. “They’re parrots.” 

“What do you mean parrots?” Chanyeol had transformed into his fire form, dodging the attacks that were coming towards him. 

“They’re copying everything we do,” Mirae spun her staff a few times before hitting the demon, only to be sent back by the other, who had turned into a fiery figure as well. 

“Can they copy this?” Hyuk waved his hand, sending the two demons in mid-air. His eyes widened when the figure also raised their claws at him, lifting him up and off the floor. “This is impossible-” He crashed into the wall, moving away when some of the decor fell down. 

“Looks like Junhong had his work cut out for him,” Chanyeol tried to burn down the doors of the room until the surroundings changed into what looked like a massive dock full of zeppelins and tables full of volatile chemicals in test tubes and beakers. “Yeah, now I can see why Mirae turned into a level of difficulty.” 

“Let’s try not to touch anything, or interact with anything on those tables,” Mirae looked around on alert. 

They heard a blast from all the way on the other side of the room. “Looks like they found us,” Hyuk said, trying to move the zeppelins as carefully as possible towards the source of the blasts. 

“Those might explode if you let them get blasted,” Chanyeol called out at the telekinetic. 

“Would you rather we get out of here with those? We don’t even know what to use these for” Hyuk pointed out, still trying to move the airships as the blasts grew louder, the impact exploding the tables closest to it. “At least they get blasted and we don’t-” 

Boom. 

There was a blast on their side of the dock, sending the three of them to the floor, as bits of shrapnel and the chemicals on the tables exploded. A large cloud of smoke enveloped them, soon revealing that they were no longer at the dock. They were back in the Danger Room, or at least what was left of the Danger Room.

Mirae opened her eyes, feeling considerably beaten as she looked around, surprised at what she was seeing. Her clothes were scorched, her staff was gone, and from the gust of wind that hit her, she realized what happened. 

The safehouse seemed to have exploded. 

Mirae looked around for a sign of Chanyeol and Hyuk. Was she still in the simulation? “Mirae! Mirae! Mirae! Are you alright?” She turned around, seeing Junhong, Yunho, and Hongjoong run up to her. “The machines overloaded when I was about to take you three out of there,” The tech guy explained. 

She nodded, a feeling of dread suddenly overcoming her as she looked around the area. “Chanyeol? Hyuk?” She called out, kicking away a few bits and pieces of the rubble that surrounded them. “Chanyeol-” She stopped, feeling her heart sink. 

Chanyeol was lying on the floor, a puddle of blood near his head, and bits of shrapnel having hit his sides. Mirae looked around for a sign of the telekinetic, only to realize that he was also lying on the floor, eyes glazed over. A piece of shrapnel hit his head.

“Chanyeol, Hyuk,” Mirae bent down, moving the rubble away from her best friends. She refused to believe it, refused to think that what happened really happened. “Chanyeol, Hyuk,” She took one of the sharp rocks and cut open her wrist, pouring some of the blood into where Chanyeol was hit. “Come on, both of you, this isn’t funny,” She saw that they weren’t moving while her wrist had already healed. 

Junhong bent down to check Hyuk’s pulse, only for his expression to fall when he realized there was none. “Mirae,” He tried to say. 

“No, I know what you’re going to say, and I don’t believe you,” Mirae shook her head profusely, crawling up to Hyuk. Tears were already falling from her eyes as the reality was hitting her bit by bit. “No, no, this can’t happen, not here, not now, no,” She patted his face, but no response. “No, Hyuk, no, don’t, please-” A sob escaped her as she held his body. “Hyuk, no, no, no, no, no,” She sobbed, reaching out to hold Chanyeol’s hand that was going cold. “No, please no, Chanyeol, Hyuk, you two can stop it now, please…” 

“Mirae,” Junhong said again. 

Hongjoong and Yunho exchanged looks, hearing the rest of their colleagues including San appear, all of them had traces of the smoke from the explosion on them. 

“No!” Mirae shook her head again, until she broke down. They were gone. Her best friends. Gone.

#kdiner #ateez #ateez au #ateez scenarios #ateez timestamps #ateez angst #seonghwa #park seonghwa #ateez seonghwa #hongjoong #kim hongjoong #ateez hongjoong #yunho #jeong yunho #ateez yunho #yeosang #kang yeosang #ateez yeosang #san #choi san #ateez san #mingi #song mingi #ateez mingi #wooyoung #jung wooyoung #ateez wooyoung #jongho #choi jongho #ateez jongho

[tianqius]

Jang Hanseo, my personal thoughts.

As the puppet of his brother that would eventually be cast aside, Hanseo took a leap of faith to fight against the puppeteer and the strings that tied him up. While he used to be a coward that would run away with his tail tucked between his legs, he matured into a young man who could stand for what he wished for and what he believed was right. Overall, his character leaves behind a message that left many thoughts for me to ponder and write about. Buckle up, and hopefully enjoy.

(PSA:

This will be less wordy than my previous draft, which tumblr ungratefully destroyed. It's okay. You are saved from my wordiness.

PSA 2.0

This is somewhat of a character analysis. It pretty much is. I'm not perfect at character analyses, so hopefully you get what I'm trying to say. If not, my bad.)

Jang Hanseo's first impression on me wasn't that memorable. He appeared somewhat snobby, much like typical CEO rich men, but he lacked confidence. It was almost like he wasn't the one pulling all the strings - like someone was pulling his own.

Almost immediately after, he's revealed as a puppet of the real figurehead of Babel - although their identity is not revealed until a few episodes later, his interactions with his puppeteer highlight his cowardice and weak attempt to stay on their good side. His cowardice makes up the foundation of his character.

When Hanseok - the puppeteer - is revealed, his relationship with Hanseo can be examined with much more depth. Hanseok has obviously caused Hanseo to fear him, in order to prevent him from acting out of line. But Hanseo still has some bits of resilience left in him, even after Hanseok thinks he's smoothed it all out.

Hanseo is seen voicing his wishes to be free from his brother multiple times. Of course, he is afraid of what his brother might do to him, or he's fearful of what he might lose if he turns away from his brother's side. Even so, he shows enough resilience to want to break free from his brother's control.

Hanseo finds an ally in Han Seunghyuk, a friend who resembles him when it comes to cowardice. Hanseo probably knows but doesn't acknowledge that Seunghyuk is not enough to break free from his brother, but he still follows his advice and acquires the necessary means to take his brother out once and for all.

Although Hanseo has the determination, he lacks the confidence. He does a shabby job of injuring his brother, which is nowhere near a successful kill. He doesn't have the confidence to kill his own brother, which can be seen in his hesitation throughout their hunting scene. A part of him still considers Hanseok part of his family. It holds him back, which is why is he is unable to kill Hanseok that day.

His failure only makes his brother more aggravated. Hanseok is now aware that his puppet's strings are starting to become loose and thin, to the point of breaking. He reins his brother back in, using the tactics he's always used, and decides he needs to come out from the shadows.

Now, Hanseo might think that he's finally been tossed aside as a puppet. But deep down, he realizes that he's nowhere near safe yet, because he's under his brother's radar, and who knows what Hanseok might pull in retaliation for his stunt during their hunting trip. While Hanseok might talk sweetly and make him believe that he won't be harmed, both brothers know that can be changed in an instant.

Even with Seunghyuk on his side, Hanseo knows that he needs something else to grab on. His final straw.

Vincenzo Casanova Cassano.

When Mr. Consigliere intereferes with Hanseok's intitiation ceremony, Hanseo looks at him with awe. He knows that Vincenzo is the enemy of his brother, the enemy of him, but he needs to find a method to keep himself safe and free from Hanseok's iron control.

Seunghyuk's suggestion to meet Vincenzo is the lifeline that Hanseo grabs onto with his dear life. He won't let go after this.

While their first meeting is unsightly and particularly rude on Vincenzo's behalf, Hanseo most likely believes that Vincenzo is the only way he can be free. He even offers to deliver his brother into Vincenzo's hands, to which the mafia man says he doesn't interfere within family matters.

Even so, Hanseo does not give up. Instead, he becomes one of the moles that Vincenzo wisely utilizes. In some instances, his quick thinking got Vincenzo out of some sticky situations - particularly the situation with the INTERPOL. Hanseo's actions reflect his decision to follow Vincenzo and support him, which is something he may not have even done with Hanseok.

Hanseo's bond with Vincenzo is special. He regards him as a brother, someone he feels much more comfortable with than his actual brother. His bond with Vincenzo allows him to shrug off the strings that his brother placed on him, and he starts to grow out of his own shell. He begins to spread his own wings, and become more confident in his character.

When Jipuragi reunites with Wusang in court, Hanseo makes clear whose side he's on. Seated next to his "Vin hyung", he flaunts his relationship with the Italian lawyer to his associates and a very peeved Choi Myunghee. He's happy to be by his side, and he doesn't regret it one bit.

(I found this interaction between Vincenzo and Hanseo absolutely precious. They're just two brothers looking out for one another.)

To the very end, his loyalty towards Vincenzo never wavered. Even as Hanseok promised to spare Hanseo if he just followed his orders, Hanseo ignored his brother's potentially false words and retaliated - he's ready to be finally free. He knows that once he goes down this road, there's no turning back.

As Hanseo calmly says, he "will make a choice that [he] won't regret". (This is my favorite quote ever. Not even gonna lie to you.)

In his tussle with Hanseok, Chayoung becomes one of the injured. With quick thinking, Hanseo sacrifices himself and fights with Hanseok for control of his gun once more. He sets himself up as the sacrifice so his brother won't harm the other two, which is completely unlike his character thus far. Hanseo has always feared his brother and his abuse, but he now places himself in the way of bullet in order to protect Vincenzo and Chayoung.

In the end, he takes the bullet. He's free from his brother, but at what cost? His own life. It's an ending that Hanseo knows was coming.

Hanseo's character has always had to make very difficult decisions. Whether it was to follow his brother's orders, betray his brother, suck up his pride and plead to his brother for a second chance, follow Seunghyuk's advice, or even take to Vincenzo's side, Hanseo has had multiple decisions that affected his growth as a person. If Hanseo hadn't taken the leap of faith to follow Vincenzo and break free from his brother, he might've been stuck at the strings of his brother's doing for much longer. He might've died at his brother's hands as nothing more than a pawn waiting for its removal, rather than die in his attempt for freedom.

Hanseo is a character that endlessly struggled for what he wanted, and some might say he died in vain. He would probably disagree with that. While he still feared his brother, he didn't let that fear overtake him; he looked death in the eye as he was willing to sacrifice himself for his loved ones' sake. He no longer cowered in fear; he bravely stood for what he believed was right.

All in all, Jang Hanseo was not a character who died in vain. His story of redemption leaves behind a reminder to viewers that struggling may be necessary to move onto a life that is much more fulfilling; you don't always get the easy way out. Hanseo was scared, he was always scared of his brother, but he also summoned the courage to stand against his own brother, simply because he wanted to be free. He was strong enough to fight against his brother, rather than sit by and let him do what he wanted.

Hanseo didn't die with regrets. He was happy to finally be free.

#vincenzo #jang han seo #jang han seok #kwak dong yeon

[4seasonswithiu]

[TRANS] 190707 IU’s China Fanclub ‘OnlyU-IU China’ showers IU, her team and Hotel Del Luna staff with love and gifts

It was revealed on July 6 that IU’s China Fanclub ‘OnlyU-IU China’ (@onlyIUcn on twitter) sent a coffee truck, buffet catering service and many gifts to the set of Hotel Del Luna. OnlyIUcn then shared some details of the thoughtful presents that they prepared specially for IU, IU Team and Hotel Del Luna’s staff members.

“As soon as IU confirmed her role in ‘Hotel Del Luna’, our staff members started preparing for this fansupport which took us months of effort. Previously, we predicted that they would kick off the production in April so we prioritised IU’s birthday gift first (in May). Other than organising charity events, we chose GUCCI’s A Kiss from Violet perfumed oil from ‘The Alchemist’s Garden’ collection. This perfumed oil is said to emit the purest, nonirritant and long-lasting scent due to its significantly lower alcohol content as compared to other perfumes. Since this collection has yet to be launched in China, South Korea and Japan, so our Uaenas from ShenZhen travelled to Hong Kong to purchase it for IU. We chose this perfume because it’s violet scented and also symbolises our ‘flying kiss’ to IU.

The second birthday gift was carefully decided after taking Man Wol’s character into consideration, which is Diptyque’s limited edition ‘The Legend of the North’ series’ candles. We purchased Sapin de Lumiere (Pine Tree of Light) (Green) and Baume d’Ambre (Amber Balm) (blue) candles and candlestick to match with Man Wol’s aloof aura ^u^ What’s special about this series is that the candle jar is deigned by HERMES’ scarf designer.

Sapin de Lumiere (Pine Tree of Light) Candle – Green – This is a staple in all Diptyque Christmas candles. It carries the unmistakeable green scent of pine, warmed and evoking crisp air, pine cones and a freshness of pine needles.

Baume d’Ambre (Amber Balm) Candle – Blue – A warm, spicy scent of benzoin, lavender and vanilla. Not too strong, with a freshness of lavender.

'A Kiss from Violet’ and ‘The Legend of The North’ on set~

Our certificate of making donation, including common ingredients and necessities to the Welfare institue of Xuchang, Henan Province.

“To Miss IU Lee Jieun:

We have received 544 baby pampers, 100 boxes of colored pencils, 100 drawing blocks, 35 big bags of rice, 35 packs of flour, 24 bottles of oil with the total amounted to 6092.40 yuan from your China fans.

We hereby express our gratitude for your act of kindness!”

A Chinese poem about the moon for IU

Poem: The Moon Festival by Su Shi

When will the moon be clear and bright? With a cup of wine in my hand, I ask the blue sky. I don't know what season it would be in the heavens on this night. I'd like to ride the wind to fly home. Yet I fear the crystal and jade mansions are much too high and cold for me. Dancing with my moon-lit shadow, It does not seem like the human world. The moon rounds the red mansion stoops to silk-pad doors, Shines upon the sleepless Bearing no grudge, Why does the moon tend to be full when people are apart? People may have sorrow or joy, be near or far apart, The moon may be dim or bright, wax or wane, This has been going on since the beginning of time. May we all be blessed with longevity though far apart, We are still able to share the beauty of the moon together.

Even though we are thousands of miles and oceans (Yellow Sea) apart, nothing can stop us from surrendering our hearts to the full moon (Man Wol) C-Uaenas present president Jang Man Wol this poem And may the opening of Hotel Del Luna blossom 

*Yellow Sea is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean located between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula. *Full Moon is pronounced the same way as Man Wol in both Chinese and Korean.

밝은 달은 어느 때나 떠오를지 술잔을 잡고 하늘에 물어본다. 달 속에 있는 궁궐은 오늘밤은 어느 해인지 모르겠구나. 나는 바람을 타고 돌아가고자 하니 달 속의 궁궐이 높은 곳이라 추위를 견디지 못할까 두려워라. 일어나 춤추니 그림자도 따라 도는데 어찌 인간 세계와 비길 수가 있으랴 달그림자가 붉은 누각 빙 돌며 곱게 조각한 창문에 드리우니 달빛에 비추어져 잠을 이룰 수 없네. 더 이상 번뇌가 있을 수 없는데 무슨 일로 오래도록 이별할 때에 이렇게 둥근가? 인간에겐 슬픔과 기쁨, 이별과 만남이 있고 달은 흐리고 맑고, 둥글고 이지러짐이 있으니 이런 일은 예전부터 완전하기가 어려워라. 다만 바라기는 멀리 떨어져 있는 이가 오래 살아서 천 리 밖에서도 이 밝은 달을 함께 구경했으면.

Note: This is a famous Mid-Autumn lyric written by Sushi(a poet in Song Dynasty) for his brother Zi-you(1039-1112) when the poet was away from the imperial court. According to some commentators, "the palace on high" might allude to the imperial palace and therefore, after reading this lyric, Emperor Song Shen Zong said that Su Shi was loyal.

We also prepared Voluspa aromatherapy candles for IU Team and the staff of Hotel Del Luna.

Shuijingfang liquor for director Oh Choong Hwan.

Long Jing and Taiping Houkui tea for the Hong Sisters (scriptwriters)

As for actor Yeo Jin Goo, we prepared Scent Library X White Rabbit fragrance product gift set (perfume, hand cream, body lotion)

(We forgot to take a picture of the actual gift, but it’s within the black paper bag. The other bags included tea bags, liquor, candles and IU’s Gucci perfume)

For the Hotel Del Luna team, we also prepared the HDL customised towels, Forbidden City imperial kitchen’s fridge magnets, Ghana chocolate and greeting cards

(This Forbidden City imperial kitchen fridge magnet symbolises our food support and the ghosts that we sent from the Forbidden City to check into Hotel Del Luna hahahah)

We included a greeting card in each gift bag with the message “Thanks to your hardwork on such scorching hot weather, we get to enjoy a nice and cool summer. Thank you! Hwaiting!”

We started preparing for the buffet since long ago, and we especially requested them to prepare IU’s favourite tteokbokki (stir-fried rice cakes) and Tangsuyuk (sweet and sour pork)! We tried to match the decoration with president Man Wol’s extravagant style by adding the golden chairs~ The banners and pictures on table were all specially designed by our art team. 

We also sent a refreshing coffee truck to the set for Man Wol and the HDL team~

No gifts can fully express our support and excitement for Man Wol. So we hope our sincerity can be conveyed by at least a bit! We only wish for our Man Wol to be truly happy!

Source: OnlyU-IU 中国首站 @ weibo Translated by IUteamstarcandy

#iu #translation #fansupport #Hotel Del Luna #OnlyIUcn #190707

[swordsandparasols]

The Crowned Clown: A crash course in Joseon kings

For all that The Crowned Clown is an AU historical that long since left actual history (and, as I understand it, the source movie) behind, it does still assume a lot of familiarity with the history surrounding it, much more so than other sageuks with young casts, which is why I’m hesitant to classify it as a youth fusion sageuk, even though it probably technically does fall into that category.  The youth fusion sageuks that have been dominant in recent years range from history-lite (but still decent) to window dressing history. A general knowledge of what’s going on and societies rules are helpful, but you aren’t really meant to sit and think about the larger historical and cultural contexts of the events.  One particular place The Crowned Clown assumes knowledge is when the court officials start having vapors anytime “King” Ha Seon starts actually thinking for himself and tries to get things done on his own.

 Rewind the clock about a century in actual history and you have Yeonsangun, most recently seen in Rebel: Thief Who Stole the People” and “Seven Days Queen” (You get a much more accurate and less romanticized Yeonsan in Rebel, but even he’s tamed down from the real guy.) the first of only 2 kings in Korean history to not have a temple name. Yeonsan actually started out pretty decent, showing concern for and attempting to aid poorer citizens, strengthening national defenses and whatnot.  But, as a beginning to one of the most terrifying examples of the “cool motive, still murder” meme, he learned his mother, who had been exiled and forced to kill herself by drinking poison, had essentially been set up and murdered, kicking off a revenge spree that led to two major purges of the court and things like beating his father’s consorts to death and effectively antagonizing his granny into having a stroke and dying.  Somewhere along in there he realized that he could pretty much get away with whatever he wanted and no one could stop him.  “Whatever he wanted” including but not limited to making whatever laws he wanted, killing officials and doing fun things like hanging their heads off the castle walls (the Chief Eunich  got shot by and had his limbs chopped off by Yeonsan personally for criticizing him), converting Sungkyunkwan and the Wongka-sa Temple into  his personal pleasure courts, taking custody of horses from across Joseon and forcing hundreds of women-primarily singers and dancers-into his harem.  He also intended to turn palaces into brothels, but I don’t think he actually got to that part, though he did get to forcing thousands of citizens into unpaid labor for these “renovations.”

 Anyway, eventually enough nobles and officials both got fed up with this and had spines and staged a coup to oust Yeonsan and replace him with his brother, King Jungjong.  Joseon law held that the king’s brothers, nephews, husbands of his sisters, etc, could hold official office.  Usually this is relatively useful in that it makes it harder for ambitious relatives to overthrow the king and made for easier succession.  Not that it was a flawless system, as King Sejo was happy to prove.  Anyway, for King Jungjong, this was also something of a hindrance.  Jungjong was, by all accounts, a pretty decent if average dude.  He had spent the last several years off in the woods with his wife chilling in his powerlessness and hoping his brother didn’t decide it’d be fun to hang his head from the castle walls to.  When soldiers showed, up, he, quite understandably, thought they’d been sent to kill him.  Instead, they came because he was the one they chose to make king, a job he had no training for, and was wholly unprepared to do.  Jungjong was a pretty decent king all around, but due to only being qualified for the job by accident of birth.  For the most part, he followed the advice of officials in most things (including, sadly for him, being forced to depose his first queen and wife due to her family supporting Yeonsan) and pretty much devoted his reign to lying low and trying to clean up some of his brother’s mess.  Unfortunately, his somewhat forced passivity (no one on or in front of the throne wanted anything like a repeat of the last guy) allowed corruption to start thriving again, which blocked many of the reforms he wanted.

 Somewhere among the later days of Yeonsan and Jungjong’s reign, the nobles and officials also conveniently ended up getting quite a bit of the wealth and land Yeonsan had taken, instead of the people it was originally taken from.

 Jungjong was succeeded but King Injong, who was the son of Jungjong’s second queen.  Much more ambitious than his father, he went to work on trying to clean up the corruption and get some of his father’s reforms passed. Unfortunately,  he always wanted the acceptance and approval of Jungjong’s third queen, Queen Munjeong, which, unfortunately for him, made it fairly easy for her to poison him less than a year into his reign and make way for her own son, King Myeonjong.  Myeonjong was only 12 at the time, so his mother served as regent.  Queen Munjeong actually ended up a pretty good regent and actually managed to be a bit more successful with some of the reforms and got some of the land redistributed to citizens.  Part of why she was able to do this is that she enabled her relatives to take power.  Unfortunately, said relatives also introduced a lot of new corruption into the court. In the long run, people seem to have more problems with Munjeong getting her girl cooties all over the throne than the regicide or corrupt relatives, proving nothing ever actually changes. When Myeonjong took over on reaching his majority, Munjeong still retained more power than was technically appropriate, and he didn’t properly completely take power until some years later when Munjeong died.  He reclaimed some power by reinstating the sarim scholars, who had effectively been royal and court punching bags since Yeonsan’s purges, but died only two years later.  During his and his mother’s reigns, Joseon’s defense was also becoming increasingly unstable due to attacks that the destabilized government wasn’t really able to defend against as well as it would have pre-Yeonsan.

 Myeonjong died without any living male offspring, and his nephew, Seonjo, became king,  King Seonjo  was only 16 when he became king, and while he wasn’t as wholly unprepared for the job as his grandpa, he still didn’t have as much preparation as he should have. Anyway, that largely catches us up with this post .

 So, by the time Gwanghaegun takes the throne, we’ve had roughly a century of well intentioned but ultimately not overly effectively rulers.  Instead of a king doing whatever he wants we largely have a court doing whatever they want.  Then along comes Gwanghae like a middleaged 17th century Korean royal version of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez saying “ok, so, you know, if we made the absurdly rich just slightly less absurdly rich, it would actually hugely benefit EVERYONE” and it’s VAPORS! VAPORS ALL AROUND!  All of the reforms Ha Seon has introduced or tried to introduce in The Crowned Clown are only some of the reforms the actual Gwanghae introduced.

 To be fair, the vapors weren’t JUST because Gwanghae wanted to redistribute some of both the wealth and power to the lower classes.  Remember, Yeonsan initially started out doing some similar reforms and then went completely off the rails.  So along comes Gwanghae, who, unlike Yeonsan, also had quite the impressive military background, doing some of the same things as Yeonsan and also the first king since (aside from the very brief reign of Injong) to go “Nope, we’re doing this. The end.” on a regular basis.  The last guy ended up a terrible tyrant and ended up overthrown, so the new guy also ended up labeled a tyrant and was overthrown.  Yeonsan and Gwanghae are the only Joseon kings not to be given temple names, one is still regarded as one of the worst tyrants in Korean history, if not the worst, while the other is now largely regarded as having  been a good king and having had the makings of one of the most progressive kings, if not really the nicest guy.  (They also traded up considerably with Jungjong, but choosing Injo over Gwanghae was like those people who were all “Look, I know Hillary is qualified but I just don’t think she’s likable enough so I’m voting for Trump even though I know he’s completely unqualified for the job.” during the 2016 US elections.)

 For some sageuks pretty  good with the actual history over this period (and that I’ve seen):

 Rebel: Thief Who Stole the People Dae Jang Geum Mandate of Heaven The Flower in Prison Hwajung

 Caveat that while these are all shows I enjoyed (or more than enjoyed), the quality ranges from “ok” to “amazing” and are listed primarily for having reasonably good accountings of the key historical points.  I’ll also give Saimdang: Light’s Diary an honorable mentions because, for all the liberties it took with the main character’s life, I thought it had a really interesting take on Jungjong that’s different from others I’ve seen.

#the crowned clown #kdrama #sageuk #gwanghae #as always people who's knowledge of korean history extends further than a tendecy to fall deep #deep into wikipedia and google black holes when watching historical dramas is welcome to correct me on anything i have wrong #anyways #i'm behind on most shows #i haven't even started haechi yet #woes #it's mostly the fault of trying to watch at least one episode of endeavour a day so i can catch up before the current season finishes airing #and can successfully check that tag after watching the new season

[idontwanttowhy]

Review: My Secret Romance (2017)

Short and sweet, one night stand turned full-blown romance

Synopsis

Cha Jin-wook, the son of a CEO, meets Lee Yoo-mi, the daughter of an erotic film actress, at a resort. They hate each other based off of multiple bad first impressions, but end up by the beach drowning themselves in a bottle of wine. In a moment of passion they have a one night stand in Jin-wook’s car, and Yoo-mi leaves before Jin-wook wakes up. Three years later, they meet again at a company where Jin-wook is CEO and Yoo-mi has been hired as a nutritionist. 

AC Overall: 8/10, would watch the first few eps again with some soju

I binged this drama over a weekend. Very lighthearted and funny rom-com, with a side of sex-related shenanigans, which I appreciate because it can be rare in a kdrama. Classic from enemies to lovers and rich guy poor girl story, with the added awkwardness of having had a one night stand years ago. Honestly, the one night stand aspect was the reason I wanted to watch it, and I stayed for the shenanigans that ensued because of it. The plot isn’t very complicated, so its perfect when you don’t want to focus too hard. Also, Sung Hoon is gorgeous.

AC Review (Spoilers)

So like...I think I liked this drama because I really needed something dumb, funny, and random to watch. At the time, it definitely fulfilled all my needs. Is the plot surprising? No. It follows every classic kdrama trope ever. But is it silly? Yes, and I enjoyed that. Jin-wook is on his dumb shit 90% of the time and I’m here for it. In the back of my head the whole time, though, was the thought that the reason he hates Yoo-mi in the beginning is because he got ridiculed by the early morning ahjummas about how the sex probably wasn’t good--but I managed to overlook that enough to keep watching. The romance happened kind of fast. It was almost like there was a switch that was turned on and all of a sudden they were having a romantic dinner, but it was forgiven because I didn’t care too much how it progressed. But I still don’t understand why he had to keep the bra padding? Was it that traumatic for him? Male egos 🤦🏾‍♀️. But he cute so he gets away with a lot. Both of the leads’ acting was meh but the chemistry was really good.

The second leads were appreciated, especially Jung Hyun-tae, the book-bar owner. He actually considers Yoo-mi’s happiness and grew to be okay with her and Jin-wook’s relationship. I appreciated that he didn’t throw himself at her or try to prevent their relationship in a cliché way. The female second lead, Joo Hye-ri the announcer, however, did the most--but I wasn’t mad at her. I actually started to feel sorry for her toward the end, though not sorry enough to excuse her sabotaging the relationship. Usually I don’t like when second leads get together, but it seemed natural, and I ended up rooting for Hyun-tae and Hye-ri to be together in a casual way. And they didn’t get together until the very end, which was a plus. 

The ending was predictable, and the last few episodes really did drag on, but not enough for me to not watch. The plot of the little brother Dong-goo being mistaken as the son was actually kind of hilarious, I liked it. The will-they-won’t-they was frustrating, especially when their one night stand became public and Jin-wook didn’t have the balls to go after her. But of course, they end up together in the end, and we even got to meet the mom, which was sweet.

The side characters, specifically Jin-Wook’s assistant Jang Woo-jin and Yoo-Mi’s coworker Kang Je-ni were who I LIVED for. Their little romance was so funny, and I wish they had shown more of it.

Good light drama to watch when you want *proper* kiss scenes, if you can get over the male lead being a man™. (I know there’s more to be said about this drama in terms of social commentary, but it’s so lighthearted its not even worth it)

#mysecretromance #kdramareview #k-drama #k-dramareview #mysecretromancereview

[sobdasha]

i got caught up with this not because i did better but because i’ve had no time/watched some tv

War for the Oaks, Emma Bull I began reading this book at the same time as The Innkeeper's Song, listed below. I started out dragging my feet on this one and racing through TIS. But one book got progressively more amazing while the other book got progressively less impressive and my better book is this one. This was the roomie's first brush with urban fantasy, and one of her friends got her a second-hand first edition paperback, and so she talked about it a lot until I finally picked it up and she said "Uh but also I haven't read it in forever so I uh. Don't know how it holds up." (She rightly fears me because as you will have noticed I am a Very Particular Reader.) Reasons I disliked this book at first: - fashion choices that scream "1980s" and fashion choices that scream "lesbian" are incredibly similar and guess which of the two I am not getting, seeing as this was published in 1987. - Eddie is breaking up with her garbage boyfriend which is good but she has an incredible amount of chemistry with Carla which is disheartening given that I know I won't get sapphics and Eddie will end up dating some other boy with whom there is no chemistry. - This is a book about rock-n-roll bands I don't know any of these songs (okay I might know these songs but I don't know artists or titles so I may as well not know any of these songs) it's kinda wasted on me. - oh boy I'm so excited to watch her and the phouka fight like Kagome and Inuyasha or any other pair with this dynamic yaaaaay /sarcasm Reasons this came to be a Good Read: - Everyone dresses so goddamn queer in this book that you know what, everyone except that jerkass Stuart is queer. He's garbage so he can be straight or whatever. It's my reading experience I do what I want. There's no way these people aren't bi. Also it's canon because everyone takes one look at the phouka and assumes he's gay. …………………………with slurs but still. - Good supporting cast. - I both failed to give the phouka a deep voice and also to sustain a Stereotypical Gay voice (which, the dialogue will totally 100% support), but I did accidentally voice him with Tatum's dub of Tomoe from Kamisama Kiss which was completely appropriate in the "vaguely gay vaguely British unambiguously prissy" department, and also entertaining because it reminded me of the dynamics in that anime but, y'know, better. - I almost gave up when the romance hit hardcore but it turned out later that was actually a fake-out that was meant to be garbage and set us up for the endgame much later, by which point Eddie and the phouka actually had the same level of chemistry as Eddie and Carla, so I could actively enjoy the ship. A win! Anyway it was fun. It may not have aged the best in the sense that it strove to be accurate to time and place (see: homophobic slurs), but the character dynamics held up pretty dang well. I would definitely read this again and enjoy myself; in fact I plan to.

The Innkeeper's Song, Peter S. Beagle I was very excited to read this because I was so blown away by The Last Unicorn but the more I read the more disappointed I got. Half the time I feel like that weeb who is like "hello I only like your fanfic you wrote when you were 13 and high on pixie stixs, all your stuff now sucks", and half the time I tell myself, "Maybe there is a reason I've only ever heard of The Last Unicorn and had no idea he'd actually written other books." As you have probably picked up by now, I have a knee-jerk dislike of first person PoV where it must prove itself worthy to me first, despite the fact that I like plenty of things written in first person. I also have a knee-jerk dislike of "I will change the narrator every chapter and announce loudly who it is instead of doing it subtly but unmistakably in the content of the text itself." This book had both. Despite all my harsh judgment, it would be incorrect of me to say that this writing choice is not valid. That this writing choice cannot be used to amazing effect. I do not believe that is what happened here. I did not feel it was adding much to the story to begin with (other than being the shortest and straightest path to advancing a narrative with many fronts), and I was definitely unimpressed when we got to the string of chapters, all of them less than a page and some no more than a paragraph, during the orgy scene where the 3 women have sex with 1 teen boy who's been thirsting after them, and they pay him a lot of worshipful attention in the orgy even though none of them actually like him, and also this is when we reveal one of the women is a man in disguise in the most confusing way possible so my cringe got even deeper as I waited for Beagle to fuck up a trans storyline. (It was literally just "I'm on the run so I'm magically dressing as a girl" but it took a really long time to clarify that after.) In addition to not liking the narrative structure, I just wasn't interested or invested in the actual plot. It didn't feel very urgent or important and at the end I was like "what even happened and also why did it happen." I was underwhelmed. I was definitely the wrong audience for this book. Oh also because I was not enjoying myself I started to get really irrationally annoyed by the way fantasy fauna and flora would have fantasy names and they would be italicized. In a first person PoV. Where the narrator is literally speaking the language that this word is native to. It half felt pretentious, and half highlighted what felt like a loose thread: everyone is literally narrating to someone (presumably collecting the story, after everyone has gone their separate ways) and this has all been woven together into a proper narrative, but our story collector is absent despite addresses to such a person. What purpose does this serve? Does it make it more ~authentic~ fantasy? Because I don't buy it. Now my suspension of disbelief is snapped; I'd have preferred it was either left out entirely, or made into a brilliant framing device like in The Name of the Wind.

Giant Bones, Peter S. Beagle This one was short stories "set in the same universe as The Innkeeper's Song", which basically meant some city names were reused, as well as all those italicized fantasy names and the "I am narrating my story to an audience in-story" frame. You know, all the things I didn't particularly care for. I pressed on to see if there was anything I might like, but since I can't remember, I assume there wasn't. Because this left me wanting, and the title was Giant Bones, I went to reread Conservation of Shadows by Lee instead, starting with "The Bones of Giants," which was greatly preferable, so much more my speed. That's when I did the write-up for the last round of books lol.

Nimona, Noelle Stevenson This has been on my list for Forever but I'm bad at reading new books. Anyway! Nimona was very good!! It felt, hm, very self-indulgent in the way that is amazing, where the creator gives themself whatever they want and the work turns out brilliantly because of it. I didn't think I was into friends to enemies to lovers but apparently I love it wen Stevenson handles it (see: She Ra reboot). Speaking of She Ra, I probably would have figured out where the end game was going if I'd read Nimona before looool. I know people referenced it when they talked ships but I just….didn't...pay enough attention. There was found family stuff I enjoyed, dad stuff, I'm finding that I am liking a lot of takes on monster girls, etc. Anyway it gave me a lot of feelings, it was funny, it was good, I need to get a copy.

The Dragon Pearl, Yoon Ha Lee The first time I talked about this book I mentioned something about the pacing and suspending disbelief or whatever, but I want to note that this time the pacing felt perfect and the plot didn't seem weird at all, it flowed very smoothly. I don't know if that's because it was a reread and I knew where it was going, or because I just read it awkwardly the first time. Anyway. Something that stood out to me this time is that, near the end, I realized this story is a bit animated Disney Mulan. There's even the "you broke this you broke that you impersonated a soldier but also you saved China so thanks" bit. Where The Dragon Pearl is wildly different from other Mulan-type stories that I like (see: Monstrous Regiment) is that it is entirely ungendered. (There are some mentions of gender in the book. These amount mostly to, "most foxes choose to be female because Tradition but one of my cousins decided to be male like my brother and no one mocks him for it" and "official name tags also include handy signifiers of which personal pronouns a person prefers.") What I'm trying to say is, a lot of other stuff when dealing with/trying to deconstruct gender stereotyping, ends up reinforcing it in a way. In order to illustrate why the stereotypes are wrong, they end up repeating the stereotypes a lot in order to argue against them. The Dragon Pearl, on the other hand, is genderless in a way that doesn't reinforce the gender binary. There are no gendered clothes. There are no gendered bathrooms. There are no gendered hairstyles or accessories. There are no gendered actions or emotions or stereotypes. There are no gendered bodies (the differences highlighted between Min and Jang-who-she's-shapeshifting-into are of build ie, height, center of gravity, not of private bits). No plot points revolve around the maleness of the person Min is impersonating; no plot points revolve around the femaleness of Min. And they/them? It's never explained why any person uses that pronoun. They just do so that's just how it is. I just think this is amazingly neat and I wanna applaud Lee for this finesse.

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue, Mackenzi Lee I put this on my list because Queer and people were recommending it, but it was not well-advertized to me. I was expecting shallow teen romance, but dressed in historical clothes and unsubtly, unabashedly, unashamedly GAY. So I was expecting some gay. I was not expecting gay pining I actually enjoyed, I was not expecting call-outs for privilege of wealth and class and sex and color, I was not expecting the drama of the romance to not be stupidly fabricated misunderstandings but instead be driven by the need for character development and personal growth, I had forgotten I was expecting people of color, people with disabilities, badass women, I was not expecting a nuanced call-out of ableism ("I don't believe I need to be well to be happy", etc). I was not expecting a reversal of gender stereotypes that avoided saying "X gender is bad." Like, Monty is the team weakest link. Monty faints at the sight of blood. Monty is romantic and emotional and swoons at the slightest provocation. Monty uses his wiles to seduce people, that's the main skill he actually brings to the party. Monty cries. Aside from probably Monty's asshole dad who hates him for being gay, no one else nor the narrative calls these traits out as being Feminine (And Therefore Bad). Like, haha, We All Know These Are All Stereotypes Of Women At The Time, but no one says it. I find there's something really nice about no one saying it. Meanwhile, Percy and Felicity are competent and cool and I heart them. (What the hell, I heart Monty too. He really grows on you. He's so soft and in love and pathetic.) Anyway going back to the privilege thing, I love that Percy and Felicity and others constantly call Monty out on his privilege and refuse to coddle him over it. But they also care about him and they are very tender to him, not because of his privilege, but because he is a person who deserves basic person things, when he has his own issues. Your issues don't excuse your behavior, but yikes we deeply underestimated the sheer depth of your PTSD and we're gentler with you because of it. So try to stop being an ass. This book is just super wholesome and I can already tell this will be one of my new go-to's when I need a comfort book. Like Ancillary Justice etc.

The Gentleman's Guide to Getting Lucky, Mackenzi Lee This is not a fanfiction in the sense that is it written by the author and not a fan, but you need to understand, as part of me selling this to you as earnestly as I can, this is a fanfiction set after The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue which involves hijinks as Monty and Percy try and fail hilariously to have their first time having sex together, Felicity tries to wingman, there are miscommunications and nervous breakdowns and tender resolutions and it is absolutely a perfect indulgence. Because it was written by the actual author everyone is 100% in character and the narrative voice is spot-on. Kudos!

The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy, Mackenzi Lee Ace/aro Felicity???? ACE/ARO FELICITY!!! TBH I only vaguely remembered the descriptions for this one, ie "this time it's lesbians," and I was reading this going "there is a suspicious lack of lesbians but so much platonic vibes and also…..maybe…..maybe…????" and like I got both lesbians AND ace/aro Felicity????? Lee wrote this book? As a gift? For me???? I cannot believe I was blessed with "not like other girls"!Felicity as a vehicle for calling out the internalized misogyny inherent in the Not Like Other Girls mindset, and it is glorious. You can like pretty dresses and running around doing science, or you can hate dresses and only love science, or you can only like pretty dresses, or you can like whatever the heck you want in whatever combo, doesn't matter you're still a girl you're still valid and this shit isn't mutually exclusive. Much as I don't wear makeup (I've slowly learned to wear dresses again) in real life, gosh I love Johanna for being like "I love dresses and I love science and what if I was a badass adventurer but also got to be rescued a lot" because that was bitty me. Gimme a princess dress and a sword and a bow and arrows but also a tower to be rescued from and then various adventures. I want it both ways! And that's okay!! Also this is a critique I have apparently wanted since at least 3rd grade, see this proof from my daily journal prompts, I apologize for my lack of attention to spelling and forming letters: "Girls are what ever girls are. Girls like different things so I con't judge them all. Some girls like barbies. Just becaus you my not like barbies dosn't mean those girls aren't girls, it means they like more things that hove barbies. I like nintendo and I'm a girl." Apparently I was a Not Like Other Girls who thought Other Girls were still extremely valid. (that's kind of hilarious though because like, child, you had Barbies and didn't hate Barbies, you are just bad at playing with dolls and props. You're also bad at playing Nintendo.) Other stuff specifically, hm, it was refreshing to not have "I am skinny and perfect and clearly ugly" or even "I am legitimately ugly." Instead we have, "You do realize my torso is a solid rectangle, it laughs at this corset which I guess we are going to put on anyway, also my football player shoulders are going to literally pop the sleeves off that dress" and "I am built like a corgi dog, this is simply a fact of my proportions." Like, Felicity definitely has Issues with her traditional femininity and lack thereof, but I feel like it was never specifically tied to "my body shape is ugly." Also to go back to this book being written for me personally. You know they always say to write things that only you could write, that are self-indulgent, write what you want to see? It's really hard to do without a template to follow. Right before I picked up this book I realized that maybe The Thing Only I Would Write would be saying "a Skadi-and-Njord marriage is in fact a valid happy ending," but I've never seen that before and I don't know what it would look like even if I kind of understand the concept. All the media I consume, if not ending in romantic soulmates, is at least found family. If you are a loner, if you like being alone, your happy ending is to get a manic-pixie-dream-anything (girl, grandson, grandma, dog, whathaveyou) and integrate back into being social. There are no happy endings where a loner stays alone, where you get married but live separately and see each other very rarely because you love them but can't stand to live with them and you need to be alone to exist as you. And Mackenzi Lee just up and wrote it. It's valid to want to live in a house by yourself filled with bookshelves and have friends. It's valid for a girl to marry another girl who is a pirate and sails around most of the time and only comes to visit on occasion so you don't get sick of her and you keep loving her. This is an okay thing for an ace/aro to want, and it's valid to be happy with this. I can't even, y'all. I'm still marveling. I finally have seen a picture of the life I know would make me happy, and it's finally been acknowledged that I can be happy. (The amount of time I've spent, knowing I hate being social, and wondering--how many years down the line, when I'm living alone and content, will the switch suddenly flip? How many bridges will I have left behind when it turns out that I actually feel loneliness, and I'm miserable and unable to make friends and it turns out there are no manic pixie dream whatevers in real life and I fucked myself over forever because I was wrong and I should have been maintaining these social ties now and turning into someone I'm sure I'm not? What if people like me, who don't really get lonely without people, don't actually exist??) Anyway representation matters. Also Felicity being blindsided with Callum's proposal was, wow, okay I should have caught on to ace!Felicity then because that was so very accurate to my life experience minus people cutting fingers off. Look I was quoting stuff at the end to a friend and she was like "maybe that's why there's aces on the cover" and I am a very stupid ace okay. Felicity and Johanna's intense queerplatonic friendship that they keep trying to take up again in among the same sort of "you need character growth" drama that Monty needed re: Percy is also just, chef kiss, god I love this book. I need to buy this book. I haven't yet so what I did is I renewed all the books so I could immediately reread them after I finished them the first time.

#sobdasha booking

[showbizprofiling]

20 Best Korean War Movies of All Time

While most of us choose tarnished war movies that distort real-life events slightly and invoke a spirit of nationalism in us, others are more likely to see the battlefield more accurately depicted. Whatever one's choice may be, it cannot be ignored that some of the popular films in cinema's history have been offered to us by the war movie genre. We are all very much aware of all the standard English war movies which have been released for over the years, but we do not know that several high-quality films presenting the Korean War have been made even by the South Korean film industry. This means that Korean war movies about such conflicts still exist. So are you interested in Korean War movies or movies about Korean war? You are lucky! We cover all these categories, which have a wide overlap, with this list of the Best Korean War Movies. So here's our list of all the Korean movies that are going to give you an insight into the Korean War.

Best Korean War Movies Ever Made

20- Northern Limit Line

Korean title:       연평해전 (Battle of Yeonpyeong) Directed by:        Kim Hak-soon Produced by:      Jung Moon-goo Cast:                   Jin Goo, Kim Mu-yeol, Lee Hyun-woo Release date:     June 24, 2015 Running time:    130 minutes Box office:          US$38.9 million With a Budget of  US$6 million Ratings:             IMDb (6.6), Rotten Tomatoes (71%) Why: I thoroughly fell in love with the characters and how they interacted with one another. The film was a little slow-moving initially as we get to know the names, but it was all right. The climactic battle scene was hard-hitting and quite emotional. A maritime Korean war movie, well done!

Plot: PKM 357 perceives the trawlers and their crew, allowing the spies to become acquainted with the superstructure of the ship. Because of the government's Sunshine Strategy, the North Koreans are finally released upon orders from the South Korean higher command. North Korea's Navy will regularly reach South Korean waters over the next month to identify and survey the patrolling strategies and protective steps of the ROK Navy. The South Korean Ministries of Defense is informed of this but the Blue House is again told not to engage first. The Second Battle of Yeonpyeong began with a surprise assault by a North Korean patrol vessel on PKM 357. Until reinforcements from the South arrive, the coming war badly cripples all ships and forces the North's patrol ship to withdraw. Nineteen wounded and four deaths from uncontrollable fires are reported before PKM 357 sinks. In the Republic of Korea Navy, whose bravery and comradeship the film brings front and center, you'll also develop a new appreciation for sailors.

19- White Badge

Directed by:        Chung Ji-young Produced by:      Chong Nam-gook Cast:                   Lee Geung-young, Ahn Sung-ki, Shim Hye-jin Release date:      1992 Running time:     124 minutes Box office:           Unknown Ratings:              IMDb (6.7), Letterboxd (3.3/5) Why: The film gives hints of how the war in Korea was depicted (a lot of gov't censorship), the grievances of the "poor" Koreans competing for the "rich" Americans as proxies, and the reality that several of these Koreans turned to their own country where there is a constant presence of US troops. Even, I suppose it's worth your time watching this Korean war movie to get an insight into the experience of Vietnam that you may not be able to get anywhere else.

Plot: WHITE BADGE, based on a book, deals more with the consequences of human massacres in battle than with war itself. This gives a seldom-seen view of the Vietnam War from the participation of Korean soldiers in that unjustifiable proxy war; it juxtaposes the misery of the Vietnamese with the exploitative relationship between South Korea and America. At one point, the main hero, who is a novelist, recalls the involvement of the American army during his childhood in the Korean War. Otherwise, the top Korean war movies mostly switches between two periods of time, the horrific scenes in the late 1960s Vietnam War and the turbulent present with the uprising against martial law in late 1979 and early 1980. He had PTSD, an attempt at writing a serialized Vietnam War novel. Han receives several calls from his old friends during the war, despondent and living in isolation. The film gradually exposes their experience of war and shows the degree to which these two men are affected. In the first half, the film has some pacing problems, and the message is open and often artificial, but clear and evident. Even for watching this under-seen south Korean war movies , the cathartic end alone is worthwhile.

18- Ode to My Father

Korean title:       국제시장 (Gukjesijang) Directed by:       Yoon Je-kyoon Produced by:      Park Ji-seong Cast:                   Yunjin Kim, Hwang Jung-min Release date:     17 December 2014 Running time:    130 minutes Box office:          US$125 million With a Budget of  US$30 million Ratings:             IMDb (7.8), Rotten Tomatoes (71%) Why: Realistic portrayal of a common man who thrived for all miseries to keep the promise he gave to his father. This Korean war movie walks you through the history, life, love, and sacrifices of forgotten people in this present. The actors, the cinematography, story all give us a rollercoaster ride of emotions. I encourage others to watch this movie when you feel life is hard and you are lost. If you watch this with your heart open, you will get to know many lessons.

Plot: During the Korean War of 1950, when a lot of refugees were brought to the south by the U.S. A boy lost his sister, and his father keeps behind to look for her, advising his son to take his two younger siblings with his mother to the port town of Busan, where his aunt operates an imported goods shop. The father vows him to be the caretaker of his place before leaving the family. He becomes his family's breadwinner from an early age, doing all sorts of odd jobs to support the family. In 1960, he traveled to Europe with his best friend, where they find dangerous work in German coal mines to pay for his brother's University Fee. He falls in love with a fellow, survives a mining accident, and leaves Germany after his visa expires. They have a modest wedding, begin a life together, and eventually have two sons. Find the remaining story after watching these Korean war films.

17- My Way

Korean title:      마이 웨이 (Mai Wei) Directed by:      Kang Je-gyu Produced by:     James Cho Cast:                  Joe Odagiri, Jang Dong-gun Release date:     December 21, 2011 Running time:    119 minutes Box office:          US$16.5 million Ratings:              IMDb (7.7) Why: I found this in Korean war movies list as entertaining for a Korean audience and focused on the Korean people's pain and suffering. If that was its primary target, it was successful, but An international audience also enjoyed the movie. There were plenty of characters that could have been grown more through the film and had their direction. It is really the best war movie to be enjoyed.

Plot: Young Kim (main Character), along with his father and sister, worked on the Hasegawa family farm in Japanese-occupied Korea in 1928. Both brothers are skilled in running and become strong competitors by the age they are teens. In a bomb attack, a Korean war criminal kills his grandfather, and a Korean runner then wins a full marathon against Japanese competitors. He later began working as a rickshaw driver, and Koreans were barred from engaging in sports at that time. Even though he has been admitted by a medical college in Berlin, Tatsuo chooses to stay in Korea to run a marathon in an All Japan Trials. As punishment, they were drafted into the Japanese army. With 100 other Koreans, they fought in the battle on the Mongolian border, where a Chinese sniper—this film itself a war mystery and a must watch movies about the Korean war.

16- The Bridges at Toko-Ri

Directed by:       Mark Robson Produced by:     William Perlberg Cast:                  Mickey Rooney, William Holden Release date:     December 1954 (U.S.) Running time:   102 minutes Box office:         $4.7 million With Unknown Budget Ratings:             IMDb (6.7), Rotten Tomatoes (80%) Why: This Korean war movie is about fear and the potential loss of life, liberty, and family. Fact is often stranger than fiction, and characters similar to some shown here exist; the bowler hat is no stranger to war zones. This film shows carrier ops in some detail, which adds to the realism, and the flying sequences are good. I am surprised by the storyline in some areas; that's why it makes up for an outstanding war movie.

Plot: The Bridges of Toko-Ri is a weighty drama that unveils the grotesque underbelly of war. "Forney" had also been in trouble brawling and wearing a green top hat and scarf that was non-regulatory when flying his helicopter as an aid to downed water pilots. The Carrier commander took an interest in him, back on board his ship as he remembers a Navy pilot murdered in World War II. The Savo Island heads to Japan's port, where Brubaker and his family are granted three-day shore leave in Tokyo. Whenever anyone comes to him looking for his assistance in bailing Forney out of the brig after a brawl, the reunion is disrupted. When his wife hears that he had to drop his jet at sea, Nancy gets angry and threatens her when we return to Korea. The Bridges at Toko-Ri are brilliantly filmed, and the once-taboo subjects of fear and tension in battle are confidently discussed.

15- Sayonara (1957)

Directed by:       Joshua Logan Produced by:     William Goetz Cast:                  Patricia Owens, Marlon Brando Release date:     December 5, 1957 Running time:   147 minutes Box office:         $26.3 million With Unknown Budget Ratings:             IMDb (7.1), Rotten Tomatoes (93%) Why: I enjoyed Korean war movies as I thought the main character did an excellent job and showed a kinder, softer side of his acting ability. The Japanese actresses performed well, and the costumes, choreography, and scenery as breathtaking. I watch this movie a lot and enjoy it every time as the plot seemed contrived. This movie portrayed the contrast clearly between the Japanese and American cultures and compellingly. To me, the film Sayonara meant "sad" rather than "goodbye."

Plot: The main character, "Ace," is a U.S. Air Force Fighter, the son of a U.S. Army General who is stationed at Itami Air Force Base, near Kobe, Japan, and has been rehired from combat assignments in Korea. Despite the opposition of the United States military establishment, another soldier, the enlisted crew chief of Ace, is about to marry a Japanese woman, who would not accept interracial marriage because it is usually illegal under American law. The Air Force is against the marriage, so Both Air fighters argue, but later Ace apologizes and becomes his best man at the wedding. Ace falls in love with a Japanese entertainer who works in a theater company. She suspects that Ace is in trouble and heads towards him to warn, but when she learns that Joe's house has been under Army surveillance, where she discovers that he has been seeing a local woman. These types of movies about Korean war story is exceptional, and hard to find any unrealistic scene.

14- Men in War (1957)

Directed by:       Anthony Mann Produced by:     Sidney Harmon Cast:                  Aldo Ray , Robert Ryan Release date:     January 26, 1957 Running time:   102 minutes Box office:         $1.5 million With Unknown Budget Ratings:             IMDb (7.2), Rotten Tomatoes (89%) Why: It is one of the Best directed or the imaginary best Korean war movies; it seemed as though you were in the scene yourself watching from a tree. The movie is relaxed, quite soulful, so even though you might argue that the soldiers were stereotypical, they were so credible, and that they behaved so well, they also seemed to be part of that world. The actors are superb, totally reasonable, and the scenes are heart-breaking. I recommend this film to anyone; it's merely the best largely unknown war film ever.

Plot: Because of losing radio communication, an isolated and tired platoon is cut off and harassed by unidentified North Korean snipers who secretly kill the American soldiers and take their weapons. There are just unclear directions for the platoon leader to hit a specific hill to meet up with American forces. The patrol stops a jeep with shell-shocked passenger "the Colonel," who cannot speak and is tied to his seat. The squad is on its way to the mountain. Montana shoots a surrendering North Korean sniper, who points out to have a hidden weapon inside his cap. Montana turns the platoon back into a combat unit and proceeds successfully through sniper assault, artillery fire, and minefields, during which Sergeant Lewis is killed. As all the deaths are depicted as essentially meaningless, it is a classic example of the meaningless cruelty of war. Another well-made feature of the south Korean war movies is the scenery, whose dullness and peace contrast with the anticipation and suspense that war brings.

13- Wolmido

Known as:          Wolmi Island Directed by:       Gyong-sun Cho Written by:        Lee Jin-woo Cast:                  Gyong-sun Cho, Hyun Chang-Gyeol Release date:     1982 Running time:    92 minutes Box office:         Unknown Ratings:             IMDb (5.4) Why: Naturally, it is an exciting film as it gives the impression of the Korean War from the side of the North Koreans for a change. This is a comparatively small-scale movie in which the plot focuses on the efforts of North Korean soldiers to protect their island territories from the colonial villains' overwhelming power, the USA. I went into this not knowing what to expect, except maybe some funny cheesiness. Well, I got what I expected from top Korean war movies but also a lot more.

Plot: To spice up this list, we've added Wolmido—one of North Korea's most popular war movies. This North Korean vividly represents the tragic fate of the coastal battery unit that fought to the last man protecting the Wolmi Island in September 1950. The North Korean commander and his team men tested the UN landing activity for three days by showing remarkable courage and a more fantastic standard of self-sacrificing faith, countering 50,000 soldiers and over 500 warships. This film also portrays the role of women in participating alongside men on the front line and to the rear in the Korean War.

 12- Fixed Bayonets! (1951)

Directed by:       Samuel Fuller Produced by:     Jules Buck Cast:                  Gene Evans, Richard Basehart Release date:    1951 Running time:    92 minutes Box office:          $1.45 million With Unknown Budget Ratings:             IMDb (6.9), Rotten Tomatoes (100%) Why: This is an exciting Korean war movie to watch on themes of responsibility and its inevitability. The role is to be the leader of a guerilla war in this film to prevent the North Koreans from shutting down in on a battalion to withdraw. The chain goes from the regimental officer, who we see as the film begins, a sort of one of the guys" with a wad of chewing tobacco, grouped in a tent with other men, to a younger lieutenant who is the group appointed to replace the guerilla war.

Plot: The Korean War was fought in one of the world's most unforgiving conditions. The story is set during the Red Chinese Invasion during the first winters of the Korean War. The tale follows the fate of a lone 48-man platoon left to protect a choke point as a rearguard, to cover the retreat of their division over an exposed bridge. The plotline alone shows what a crazy film this is, going where no film had gone before. Fixed Bayonets! is as thrilling as it is depressing, as most war movies tend to be; it's a grim reminder of what war does to men.

11- Operation Chromite

Korean title:       인천상륙작전 Directed by:       John H. Lee Jae-han Produced by:      Lee Kyu-chang Cast:                   Lee Beom-soo, Lee Jung-jae Release date:     27 July 2016 Running time:    111 minutes Box office:          US$50.9 million With a Budget of  US$50.9 million Ratings:              IMDb (6.2) Why: Patchy and half baked, but worth a onetime watch. These movies about Korean war does tell an important story that would otherwise fade away. The Korean War isn't something considered particularly pivotal in a global context. Read the full article

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