sweet, sweet fantasy (tv shows), baby
sweet, sweet fantasy (tv shows), baby
i told myself i wouldn’t wax poetic about k-dramas, but here we are. also: house of the dragon, lol
I have a confession to make, and I’m tempted not to make it because I think like, two people will be mad at me but here it goes: I do not like House of the Dragon.
Where, pray tell, is the damn zhuzh? The heart? The ALL CAPS EMOTION!? To me, it largely feels like the whole thing is just going through the motions, relying heavily on the idea that people really loved Game of Thrones, so they’ll automatically like these tangentially related characters too, right?
This is not a judgement, necessarily. I too lack zhuzh. I too find myself going through the motions, especially because I basically no longer know how to socialize. But you know what? I’m not a multi-million dollar television show, so I get a pass.
But really and truly, I just… don’t find myself caring about these characters, or their journeys. And it feels like I’m supposed to care, because I cared about the Game of Thrones characters, and their excellent wigs, and their GROWTH or lack thereof. But I don’t! Also, it’s too damn dark, and I barely know what’s going on all the time, but that’s also because I’m rolling my eyes every 30 seconds, so I’m probably missing a bunch of shit anyway. All that said, I will continue to watch it and be slightly miserable but not miserable enough to stop watching it because that’s life, baby. And I’m resigned to my fate.
Besides, I’ve been getting my fantasy fix elsewhere: Alchemy of Souls on Netflix. Yes, I’m into K-dramas now. No, liking K-dramas isn’t my full personality (yet) because I am a grown up with some amount of self-restraint. However, living off of severance money I got from a job because of *~*racism*~* means I have a lot of time to figure out what I want to do with my career, and write, and read… but mostly just binge watch K-dramas. Oops!
Now would I recommend any of the 20-odd K-Dramas I’ve watched? For the most part, no! But I would recommend Alchemy of Souls if you’re into like, fantasy stories with a not that crazy amount of magic and shit. There’s mystery! There’s mages! There’s hijinks, baby! It makes me feel EMOTIONS, you know? And while it’s all pretty lore heavy, the characters are well-defined from the get go, with straightforward, very human motivations. Even if the other characters don’t know what drives them, *I* do, which can’t be said about all shows… as we all well know. Besides, the actors have Very Good Chemistry™, it’s pretty funny, and as a low-key romance fiend, I am very fond of the very many long stares that are always happening. Nobody’s fucking but everyone’s fucking if you know what I mean. With like, their eye balls. If that wasn’t clear.
[ALSO, APPARENTLY, Black women being into K-dramas is a… thing? According to this WaPo article. I don’t know. I both understand where this whole thing is coming from and it also gives me, how do you say, a slight ICK. I DON’T KNOW.]
TLDR: Alchemy of Souls makes me feel emotions. My only gripe is that I can tell that the translation is getting lost sometimes, but it’s still mostly a good time, and that’s all I can really ask for. I guess I’ll just like, have to learn Korean, LOL. Easy peasy.
And also, importantly, the costumes are good. Many beautiful gowns.
BTW: If you’re new to K-dramas and you’re interested but you don’t know where to start, watch Business Proposal and prepare yourself for the (delightful) ridiculousness. I’ve watched it three times and I’m only slightly ashamed because it’s that good, and apparently if something is good, I have to watch it three times in a calendar year. I told y’all one of the themes for this newsletter was mental illness, so stop acting surprised, okay!?
Okay, that’s it, because I’m OUTSIDE (I hate outside) and the people talking behind me are ANNOYING (I hate annoying) and if I don’t walk away right now, I will… not confront them, obviously, because I hate confrontation, but I’ll be really anxious and mad, so um. Yeah. We don’t want that. BYE.