° recommendations — korean.

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seven Baeksang nominations. three wins. finalist for the Daesang Grand Prize for television. Shin Ha Kyun. Yeo Jin Goo. my murderous, manipulative, mind-bending, gaslighting work husbands. sympathy, tenderness. gentle hand-holding. hot, evil men wearing (semi) designer clothing everywhere and driving expensive cars so i have no choice but to simp. (Yeo Jin Goo in turtlenecks and Rolex watches and leather jackets and trench coats is just *italian hand emoji*) age gaps. height differences. enemies-to-lovers. strong women. 

the fact that i loved this drama so much i went ahead and rated it a non-existent 11? y'all better go ahead and watch this sh*t bc i refuse to shut up about it

• favorites from the OST — full OST. — the night, dongsik knows

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four Baeksang nominations. one win. Namgoong Min. (this man deserved every inch of the Daesang that he won for this performance, in this house we do not entertain anyone who thinks otherwise) Park Eun Bin. Cho Byeong Kyu. Oh Jung Se. supporting roles from some of the actors that are nearest to my heart. 

go and watch this Taxi Driver/Goblin tier sh*t, y'all, and then come back and go feral with me

• favorites from the OST — full OST. — 찬바람이 스쳐가면, stove league, in case of rain, a poor evil, dead end, earned run, a little wait, a squatting audience, not a through street, white smog, another confession, the devil is weaker than he looks, error, the day of the contest, here we are, 155km, glass work, full power

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Gong Yoo. (the kind of power that this man holds? it's fine. i'm fine. my life is fine. somewhere along the line this man went from oppa to ahjeossi and tbh i am not complaining. i refuse to complain. f*ck.) Lee Dong Wook. Kim Go Eun. (actress of the century, fight me on this) Yoo In Na. Yook Sung Jae. Lee El.

the fact that i may or may not have gone into this show knowing how truly and thoroughly f*cked i would be bc of my tendency to hyperfixate if i ended up enjoying it and that is exactly what ended up happening? i would sell every organ in my body for this, this show is now my entire life, and it is the year of our Lord 2021 and i am unable to function. halla.exe has stopped working (courtesy of my failure to see the melodrama tag on MDL and the ugly sobbing that followed) but my mouth is still working so you will never get me to shut up about this show for the rest of my life, i'm sorry

• favorites from the absolute masterpiece that is the OST — full OST. — round and round (incl. full version), stay with me, heaven, stuck in love, and i'm here, i will go to you like the first snow, the first snow, who are you, beautiful, hush

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Han Ji Min. (ma'am you are living proof that God has his favorites) Park Hyung Shik. (blind or not i would do literally anything for this man. any shame i should probably have had while saying that is non-existent rn) photography. music. disabilities. Studio Ghibli references. the Aesthetics. ™ two people falling in love with each other's souls. Samsung going all out for a product ad in the year of our Lord 2017 and destroying me in the process. someone said the poster reminded them of the masterpiece that is Goblin (seen above) and i— i am trying rn but y'all are not giving me a chance to breathe, damn

the fact that i did not expect to 1. have my heart ripped out of my chest and stepped on in 30 minutes of screentime by two visually-impaired MLs when i have yet to recover from Hot Stove League or 2. simultaneously fall in love with said 30 minutes of screentime, but apparently did anyway? this is a conspiracy and i have no way of countering that so at the least if i do end up surviving i think it can be counted as criminal assault. brb about to go and find a lawyer real quick bc i'm going to have to sue for damages (*cough* additions to my unattainable standards *cough*)

• favorites from the OST — love theme,  바둑이와 고양이, moonlight sonata, 1st movement

favorites from the OST — full OST. — run away, silence, escape, rainbow corporation, model taxi, do ki move, tactics, collision, murderer

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Lee Jun Ho. (Lord, forgive me for i have sinned—i am a hard-core member of the 2PM fandom with Jun Ho as my bias [Taec Yeon is my bias wrecker for,,,,, obvious reasons] and yet i somehow neglected to take interest in his acting career up until now? the way i am almost guilty of sabotaging my honorary membership bc of this oversight? i am taking this as a chance for redemption and have begun to mend my ways) Lee Se Young. (my wife. y'all can sue but it is not looking pretty in court) Kang Hoon. (the SLS hit me like a train wreck and with it came the moral ambiguity of his role bc if [possibly] evil why hot? he was the definition of “be gay do crimes” but pls do not speak to me, i am still recovering) p&p vibes. yearning. want. slowburn like you've never seen it before. 

i could sense the funeral hearse on its way to snatch my soul from the first five minutes and tbh that should have been a warning as to how the rest of this series would go

• favorites from the absolute masterpiece that is the OST — full OST. — i wish, my wonderous miracle, every step you take, i'll leave you, san & deok im themes, young jo & court lady jo themes, prince's themes, the way to be happy

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this is technically a prequel of sorts to the !!! that is TRS, but. Song Kang Ho. Yoo Ah In. ([possible] queer icon but an icon nonetheless, tell me this man got every Daesang/Baeksang that he deserved for this movie bc he was unhinged! & unstable! and that terrified me but it also made me Very Very Sad, honestly—the way i needed his cameo as Sado in TRS but did not receive it? no hate to the actor who played the role [and did it beautifully] but that is a crime). honorable mention to So Ji Sub who obliterated everything that was left of my heart during the last half hour of the film but the fact of the matter is i am not recovering from this any time soon. (see y'all i was doing so well until the fan. Yi San brought out the fan and opened the tap for the waterworks and no, i did not see properly after that, do not ask when you already know the answer) 

attempted to prepare for the knowledge that by the end of this film i would most likely be this close to just rewatching TRS and calling it a day—despite all of that? i was not ready. no other words to describe this sh*t other than two hours of pure agony. once again i saw the tags but did not pay as much attention to them as i should have and my non-existent mascara being ruined is the result

• favorites from the absolute masterpiece that is the OST — full OST. — 아모리 - 만조상해원경 (萬祖上解寃經), 사도, 너를 생각하며 슬퍼하노라, 꽃이 피고 지듯이

favorites from the OST —  full OST. — mouse, an unpleasant sound, blood taste, black and white city, emotionless, only head, predator smile, find you, lord of evil, drinking investigation, memories of murder, the wanderer, eternal evil, whispers, fierce, premeditated murder, sorrow ending

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Ji Sung. (sir. this man aged like fine wine. i think that's all that needs to be said.) Jinyoung, one of my many babies from GOT7 (Ahgase + #OT7forever) who is out here absolutely g l o w i n g after leaving JYP. Beyond Evil meets court drama set in an (slightly) alternate universe. religious symbolism. the Rainbow Taxi corporation, but legal. mind f*ckery. yearning and hunger and want and suffering. bisexual murder boys with scars, impeccable tastes in clothing, choking kinks (!!! — *nervous chuckling*), panic attacks, nightmares and anger management/daddy issues who understood the assignment. you and me both, fellas

the fact that i came for the reported gays on screen and stayed bc i realized i might be one offscreen? let's see what that says about me and my priorities, sfjsfdnkjsdnj. in short, perpetual assaults on both my eyes and my sexuality, 10/10

• favorites from the OST — full OST. — tempest, different from the outside, something stronger, hope of dystopia, enemy of truth, i am the abyss, gnossienne 1 (incl. Devil Judge variation)

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Yeo Jin Goo. (this man could run me over with his sports car in Beyond Evil as Han Joo Won and i would probably end up thanking him—here in TCC he could stab me and i would also probably end up thanking him for several reasons, none of which are fit to put down in print. that aside, half of my brain is convinced, however, that Yi Hun is what Joo Won would look like if he had gone batsh*t crazy during BE) Lee Se Young. (my wife? once again she is my wife, apparently, but i did not know that? i loved her in TRS hence the already offered marriage license mentioned in my recommendations list but her here,,,,,, sapphics where tf are you, it's time to pine) Kim Sang Kyung. (he f*cking carried this series with YJG, fight me) honorable mentions/supporting roles from so many talented actors across the industry. (Jang Gwang! Yoon Jong Seok! Jang Young Nam, [otherwise known as one of my MILFs] stealing the show as always with her role as the Queen Dowager—main role for this woman when, Korea?) the crew. all of the crew, i bow before their thrones bc female directors hit different, istg

me holding off on watching this is quite possibly the worst mistake of my life up until this point but i have attempted to rectify that bc in the words of Tumblr user thoresque: #i love a slutty! & unhinged! despot #probably says something about me personally #that i'm not gonna unpack ever

• favorites from the absolute masterpiece that is the OST — full OST. — my reflection in the lake, snow field, to be seen or not

favorites from the OST — full OST. — feel you

favorites from the OST — full OST. — reason (incl. searching for reasons why, reprise), stay with me

favorites from the OST — full OST. — the secret not revealed, 

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i feel like i should clarify that this rating is mainly for the sageuk storyline of this drama, but. Lee Min Ho. (the way he literally dropped this and then headed off to the military for the next two years [and only returned to the small screen in 2020]? wild, and tbh i'm glad i'm only seeing this now bc i'm not quite sure i would have survived that kind of hiatus at my current age when my standards are already too high bc of unattainable men *sigh*) Jun Ji Hyun. Lee Hee Joon. Shin Won Ho. (Tae Oh is the softest boi on earth and i will protect him with my life despite the fact that he is 14 years older than me) a cameo/supporting role as the younger version of the ML to warm my Ahgase heart from my (other) soft bby Jinyoung who, apparently, has not aged since 2016. mermaids. (!!!) conmen. expensive watches. the "and they were roommates" trope (aka cohabitation). 

the fact that i only started to watch this for the iconic scene that is Lee Min Ho's "dIsGuRsTiNg sHaT" but proceeded to fall in love with the rest of the drama? i was left with the remnants of an emotional train wreck but i regret nothing

• favorites from the OST — full OST. — lean on you, why would i do like, if only, windflower, my name (incl. reprise)

favorites from the OST — full OST. — set me free (night & day versions), reverse, daybreak, a place unknown, disappearing, disclosure, scene of the crime, truck chase, the truth

favorites from the OST — full OST. — i will never, with you, corrupt memories, chaotic time, train is coming, beyond the border, another time, reversed fate, dad lost two children, stay alive, in the darkness, libera nos ab igne inferni (save us from the fires of hell)