myulmangg

[myulmangg]

THE WOLF

flirty ji chong // ep. 12

[myulmangg]

[myulmangg]

Killer Paradox is brilliant because the characters are all messy. Everyone is doing good stuff and shitty stuff. And the show leads the viewer to repeatedly ask themselves Do i like this character? Do I agree with their actions or their motive?

As the show builds and new information gets revealed the viewer will probably change their answer to those questions a few times depending on where they are in the show.

The writing shifts everything and everyone into a morally gray zone. Including the viewer.

And it makes you wonder If my idea of who is right and who is wrong keeps shifting what does that say about my own morality? Can my judgement be trusted?

The show manages to present these questions, plus many others, while still being very entertaining, stylistic, and not overtly preachy. I think it's a masterpiece.

[myulmangg]

XIANG LIU: Lost You Forever

“my life is like dancing in the snow, step by step towards the loneliness”

[myulmangg]

CHUBBY in Lost You Forever

[myulmangg]

Fangirls, every time they have their favourite villain ML or an anti-hero...

Video credit: Elizabeth Whitney

[myulmangg]

“If you can somehow turn fear into courage, that courage will be infectious.”

— Yi Sun Shin  Roaring Currents

[myulmangg]

insp in notes

[myulmangg]

[myulmangg]

Michelle Yeoh as Eileen Sun The Brothers Sun | 1.06 "Country Boy"

[myulmangg]

My Journey To You · 2023

[myulmangg]

How to be a more interesting character than the Main Hero (Pt.1)

Introduction

I think the best cdrama of 2023 for me is MJTY. It has got a perfect picture, a very unusual and catching atmosphere and a plenty of handsome men and beautiful women. And some problems with the male lead. Although the main hero of MJTY is formally Gong Ziyu, his character falls apart if you look at him a little bit closer: he is extremely naïve but at the end is unbelievable sly, he needs to grow up but everyone around indulges him his childish behavior and helps him like deus ex machina, so he is some kind of Marty Stu and his story is quite boring. But MJTY contains the secondary male lead, Gong Shangjue, and I have watched MJTY only because of him.

First of all, his entering the story looks like one of someone important: a viewer can`t see him firstly, but through some dialogues we already know that: • he is a great warrior who is in charge of Gong clan affairs outside the mansion;

• his arrogant didi admires him (unlike he is towards their other cousin, the Main Hero);

• and a higher rank assassin aims him as her target.

When he arrives, his appearance is arrogant and cold, and a viewer understands: there is a Main Hero`s rival.

But the second impression of him is totally different: he is obedient to the elders, values his didi as much as didi values him and is hard-working.

And at this moment I felt strongly related to him. Everyone fools around instead of work and the only one character who cares for clan affairs is shown to the viewers as some kind of villain! WTF?

Just look at his reaction to Clan Leader`s praise: he is obviously pleased, but the next moment he says that praise is not deserved. During my first watch of the drama I doubted that he is honest in his denying of (even verbal) rewards, but it appeared to be true – he is selfless and does everything to bring wealth and glory to his clan, not to himself. An ideal Chinese drama main hero (even for Chinese censorship), isn`t he?

After a sudden Clan Leader’s death the Main Hero becomes a new Clan Leader which makes Shangjue get frustrated (because MH is really unqualified for this position) and, as a true rival should do in the plot, Shangjue tries to overthrow him. Being a rival, he could use some dirty tricks to achieve his goal, but he does it strictly according to the rules. He searches for evidence, not falsifies it. I paid attention to this fact almost immediately as Shangjue took action and because of that liked him even more.

As a secondary male lead he has got very interesting relationships with his didi (sworn brother/cousin Gong Yuanzhi) and his assassin fiancée (Shangguan Qian), which I would like to analyze in following parts.

[myulmangg]

My Journey to You Ep. 1-2, 24 visuals: Portraits of power and masculinity

I'm doing a rewatch of My Journey to You and I just can't get over how well the show introduces its two male leads, Gong Ziyu and Gong Shangjue. In under two minutes, these two scenes brilliantly establish one of the show's core themes around masculinity and power without a word of dialogue.

Ok, so I gasped when the first glimpse we get of Ziyu's character, the protagonist of a wuxia drama, is a delicate shot of his bare feet. He's a nobleman's son in a sect that is revered by the rest of the martial arts world and yet look at what he's (not) wearing: no military regalia, weapons--just a thin robe and his bare feet.

He's also shown napping, sprawled across his seat like a Victorian woman on a fainting couch. And then when he wakes up, we see him staring longingly out of the brothel's window, his face gently cast in the morning light, like a fairy tale princess locked away in a tower.

Visually, the show immediately communicates to us that Ziyu represents a softer, more romantic image of masculinity, which is reinforced over and over again throughout the show with other feminine-coded symbols (e.g., Ziyu playing music, wearing a red couple bracelet, carrying a bunny lantern). He’s not meant to be seen as a strong son ready to lead his sect but as an overly sensitive playboy wasting his time away.

And then we're introduced to Shangjue.

The music thrums menacingly as Shangjue rides into the Gong residence, his uniformed men carrying spoils of war behind him. As he passes through the main gates, we see each guard bowing in respect. All of this fanfare and the solemn blackness of his riding gear signal the important political role he occupies within the Gong family.

(Side Note: Ryan Cheng's side-eye is magnificent and one of the sexiest things to hit Cdramaland in 2023.)

But what I love most about this scene is the use of high and low-angle shots and central framing. At 6'2’’, Zhang Linghe (the actor playing Ziyu) is a giant, and yet the high angle and surplus negative space around him makes his character look small, almost pitiful in comparison to Shangjue.

In contrast, the zoomed-in, low-angle shot for Shangjue communicates his intimidating persona. There’s something ruthless (even kind of malevolent) about his character, and the show tries to convince us of this first impression with repeated use of shadow and animalistic imagery in its early episodes. He embodies the type of masculinity a powerful sect like the Gongs would want representing them in campaigns with the outside world.

From the jump, Ziyu and Shangjue are set up as antagonists, both by how the characters dismiss one another in the script and also by the show's visual storytelling.

Of course, as the show goes on, both characters gradually change their opinion of one another, and this change is mirrored once again in the visual storytelling. Their final scene in Episode 24 is a near reversal of what we saw in their intro scenes (many thanks to @kingsandbastardz for pointing out the costumes!):

Shangjue's hair is up in a ponytail, neck bare, his rich blue robes nipped in at the waist. He's no longer dressed in his villainous black robes and he doesn't look as physically imposing without his signature cloak. He is finally Ziyu's ally. And check out how the camera angle is also reversed, with Shangjue being shot from a high angle so he looks less dangerous--even fragile--while Ziyu is shot from a low angle to look more powerful.

Despite audience expectations about what type of man would make a strong leader, he has officially grown into the role of Sword Wielder.

[myulmangg]

i’ll be your executioner.

the glory, 더 글로리.

[myulmangg]

Lee Ji-eun (IU) as Jang Man-wol in Hotel del Luna (2019)

[myulmangg]

the category is pulling the sword deeper into his body just to hug his beloved as reassurance that he loves her despite the blade she pierced into him and she comes to her senses and realizes what she’s done

[myulmangg]

Tantai Jin x Li Susu + being that ship