When I made the vague resolution* to become more organized, this wasn’t exactly what I had in mind, but procrastination knows no bounds.
*tbh this organizational battle is just a continual thing in my life, nothing new for 2016 – just a skill my ADHD brain will probably never master yet it’s essential for being a responsible adult, apparently.
So here’s what the Dramaland forecast looks like:
Currently watching:
Remember
Imaginary Cat
…I’m not a Yoo Seung Ho stan, I swear. But Imaginary Cat is only 8 eps so why stop now, and I’m obliged to Remember (but I’m not complaining. Yet).
Currently watching, kinda, I swear I’ll get caught up eventually (curse you busy holiday season!):
Six Flying Dragons – I still haven’t gone past ep 10! My life is a failure.
Plan to watch once drama is over/is already completed:
Reply 1988
Oh My Venus – mebbe; the only draw for me is Shin Min Ah and Henry-puppy, which is never enough for get me to stick with a show, but it could make for some decent background noise while I’m pretending to organize my household.
Awl
Dramas I’m anticipating for 2016:
Signal – the only that really matters, tbh, because one of my favorite writers paired with one of my favorite directors with an awesome cast and intriguing concept, on tvN? Yeah, pretty much has “FAVE DRAMA OF THE YEAR” written all over it. Fingers crossed it isn’t as disappointing as Three Days, although I have high expectations for this director (*clutches Misaeng tightly*), so if nothing else it will be absolutely gorgeous to watch.
Moorim School – I’m iffy on the production team and cast, but I’m curious about the premise and I want to see Sam Okyere play a teacher – with such shallow reasoning, there’s a strong chance I won’t last past the first few episodes unless the show pleasantly surprises me.
Madame Antoine – I know I should probably walk away from Sung Joon forever, but I just can’t give him up. Not yet. Despite my bitterness, my hope remains that he’ll finally get the role that does him justice. At least the production team seems dependable, even though it’s about 50/50 for a hit or miss just based on their previous works.
Lightly, Ardently (or whatever the heck we’re calling it) – tbh I am only excited about this because of Im Joo² – not only do I always need more Im Joo Eun in my life, but to get Im Joo Hwan as well is just a little too much for my eager heart (and What’s Up? obsession) to handle. Pretty sure I’ll hate the drama but love them. Yep, I’m calling it now. Not even gonna take bets on whether or not I stick with it because the odds aren’t that great.
Descendants of the Sun – not planning to watch, but I am anticipating the reactions of everyone else watching, because I’m curious to know if pre-production (plus a co-writer) has tamed KES’s predictably frustrating ways.
Vampire Detective – it’s on OCN, which is where all vampire dramas should be hosted; it has Oh Jung Se, Lee Chung Ah, and Lee Joon; and it has my attention, if not an airdate as of yet.
Pied Piper – trustworthy production team, on tvN, and Shin Ha Kyun back on my screen? I’m in!
Dear My Friends – Noh Hee Kyung’s love fest starring Go Hyun Jung, who definitely deserves my attention because she’s amazing, and it also has Shin Sung Woo who’ll you’ll remember me adoring as Shin Umma during the first season of Roommate. Tbh the whole cast is excellent – the ahjummas and ahjussis deserve some prime-time lime-light. I am excite, even if Noh Hee Kyung’s dramas sometimes leave me cold.
Tyrant – there’s not much out there on this yet, but it’s from one of my favorite writers Jang Young Chul (or at least one half of my favorite writing team, because he and his wife were responsible for Giant, History of a Salaryman, Incarnation of Money, and Empress Ki), so I have hopes.
Mermaid’s Prince – again, not much about this, but it’s an adaption of a webtoon that is about a contract marriage between two opposite personalities and sounds like it could be either cracktastic or a lackluster failure, but still holds that classic rom-com potential.
Hwarang – an historical drama presumably about flower boy warriors, from the production company that brought us treasures like Flower Boy Ramyun Shop, Flower Boy Next Door, Shut Up Flower Boy Band, and Cyrano Dating Agency. My interest is definitely piqued, especially since roles have been offered to Park Seo Joon, Park Hyung Sik, and Go Ara. (And I need Go Ara on my screen some time this year; why not let her be surrounded by the pretty?)
All around, 2016 is looking much more exciting compared to 2015, and hopefully that remains true. I need to believe in Dramaland again!
I’m not going to make this an easy answer because I’m drawing blanks for specific songs. I’ve uploaded a few (but not as much as I’d thought! – or maybe I’m just terrible at tagging things, because I’m convinced I have more uploaded than just those). But like with k-pop, I haven’t kept up with the k-indie scene, either, so I mostly stick with the groups I know and love, like:
Guckkasten – can’t find their studio albums online, but here’s a playlist of a live performance, as well as their popularity-boosting cover of SISTAR’s “Alone”
Huckleberry Finn – their discography is much more extensive but I could only find their 5th album online plus lots of live performances and random MVs/etc.
My Aunt Mary – Drift; same as above – extensive discography but I’d have to put together a proper playlist to make it more linkable and I’m too lazy to do that
There are loads more groups I could probably think of once I start down this rabbit trail, but these are the ones that immediately came to mind.
To find more music and (attempt to) stay up-to-date, I also follow @undergroundkpop and browse Korean Indie. Pastel Music is one of my fave youtube channels for indie since it’s where I’ve found a lot of my fave groups, as well as Happy Robot Records (which I think leans a little more towards indie rock) and soundholicENT. This is another channel with a little more variety, although it hasn’t been updated much recently, but browsing through the older uploads is worth it.
And now I kinda want to re-listen to everything here, as well as get acquainted with new indie stuff. I forgot how much I loved keeping up with everything and making sure my hipster street cred was legit.
I’m sure I have a bunch of followers who might be more happy to weigh in on specific songs, if this is post is too overwhelming. C’mon k-indie fans – got anything to add?
I love Nell – they’re one of my all-time fave groups! – but don’t think of them as indie. Maybe in the beginning, but they seem comfortably mainstream now (which is not a complaint).
I’m not going to make this an easy answer because I’m drawing blanks for specific songs. I’ve uploaded a few (but not as much as I’d thought! – or maybe I’m just terrible at tagging things, because I’m convinced I have more uploaded than just those). But like with k-pop, I haven’t kept up with the k-indie scene, either, so I mostly stick with the groups I know and love, like:
Guckkasten – can’t find their studio albums online, but here’s a playlist of a live performance, as well as their popularity-boosting cover of SISTAR’s “Alone”
Huckleberry Finn – their discography is much more extensive but I could only find their 5th album online plus lots of live performances and random MVs/etc.
My Aunt Mary – Drift; same as above – extensive discography but I’d have to put together a proper playlist to make it more linkable and I’m too lazy to do that
There are loads more groups I could probably think of once I start down this rabbit trail, but these are the ones that immediately came to mind.
To find more music and (attempt to) stay up-to-date, I also follow @undergroundkpop and browse Korean Indie. Pastel Music is one of my fave youtube channels for indie since it’s where I’ve found a lot of my fave groups, as well as Happy Robot Records (which I think leans a little more towards indie rock) and soundholicENT. This is another channel with a little more variety, although it hasn’t been updated much recently, but browsing through the older uploads is worth it.
And now I kinda want to re-listen to everything here, as well as get acquainted with new indie stuff. I forgot how much I loved keeping up with everything and making sure my hipster street cred was legit.
I’m sure I have a bunch of followers who might be more happy to weigh in on specific songs, if this is post is too overwhelming. C’mon k-indie fans – got anything to add?
Long answer: Considering that I’m approximately a week away from seeing Hobaby once again in the flesh, and I have accumulated many new followers since the last time I discussed my Hoya fangirlism, I think it’s only fair to retell the fascinating story of my journey to becoming a loyal devotee of the Hogod. Those of you who know the story can just keep scrolling, but the rest of you who wonder why I give you your daily dose of Hoya, gather around and enjoy a tale of one girl’s fateful discovery of this strange thing we call a “bias.”
I’ve been aware of Infinite since their debut due to my love of Epik High and Nell (but no love for Woolliment even if they at one time had two of my favorite groups under their label), but their debut songs didn’t really appeal to me. Their sound wasn’t the kind of sound I go for, so while they were a name I recognized in the kpop world, it was not a name that meant anything to me. Except for “BTD” most of their music just wasn’t my style.
Due to how much I enjoyed MBLAQ’s Sesame Player (the best version of this show, I say in utmost devotion), I started watching Infinite’s version, although I quickly grew bored with it after a few episodes because I didn’t know who all these kids were and it was just too much effort to keep who-was-who straight. However, I did especially like the awkward cutie who kept eluding the managers grasp during their mission to run away, would eat vinegar-filled bananas without complaining, embraced the ridiculousness of a WGM-type “rapper love-line,” wears big ol’ glasses when not on stage/camera/performing, sleeps soundly to hip-hop music, and has a photo of his family as a promise to work hard and make them proud. But I wouldn’t be able to pick that cutie out of a line-up or even remember his name.
Then Reply 1997 happened.
This perfect specimen of a drama has so many characters to love, but my beloved Kang Joon Hee became the character I was most obsessed with (and I was far from alone in that). As a side-note, this drama also marked the period when I discovered more of the kdrama fandom here on tumblr and started to interact with that fandom, so it’s even more special to me.
After the drama ended, I still wouldn’t classify myself as a fan of Hoya. I was a fan of Kang Joon Hee, of this character created by Shin PD who just happened to be portrayed by Hoya. Infinite still wasn’t a group I cared about and while I would defend Joon Hee to the death, I still wouldn’t be able to pick out any of the Infinite boys out of a line-up or even tell you what their songs were beyond the popular “BTD” and its scorpion dance.
Then Infinite H happened.
I’m a huge fan of Ameoba Culture’s (then) artist line-up (*cries endless tears over Supreme Team*) and so I don’t think it mattered what idol sub-unit it was, I was definitely going to check-out new songs produced by Primary and featuring Zion.T, Dynamic Duo, Paloalto, and Bumkey. The fact it was the cutie who portrayed my beloved Joon Hee was just a bonus.
And that’s when I started to become a fan, because these songs were so good. I mean… how could I not love this perfection? Or this? Or this? Or this? Or just… yeah. So my love of a character slowly became appreciation for that idol-actor’s talents.
Then Destiny happened.
Like I’ve said, Infinite’s music is not generally my kind of sound. But this performance had me hooked and I immediately ordered the album, which is a compliment of the highest order because shelling out cash for a physical copy is a rare thing for me. Also I adored their MV, as followers during that time will attest due to my endless reblogs of Hoya and his skirt. (Destiny is still their best album in my opinion.)
It’s then that I realized I was beginning to have a serious fangirl problem, but I was only really a fan of Hoya, not the whole group, y’know? So I didn’t consider myself an Inspirit. I did, however, go back and rewatch all of Sesame Player (where I was delighted to discover the awkward cutie I liked best was my beloved Hoya so we are meant to be), and then any other variety shows I could get my lil’ hands on like Ranking King and all their appearances on Weekly Idol. Now, even though I might not be able to list off all their songs, I could at least pick the seven boys out of a line-up and also know which face went to what name. A triumph of fangirl devotion.
Then One Great Step happened.
So here I am, slowly blossoming in my fangirl adoration of Hoya and learning about this boy band I’d previously dismissed for years, when suddenly there’s word that they’re going to be giving a concert in the US. AHHHHHHH how can I not go? But there was the internal struggle of “I’m not a real Inspirit – I don’t even think I like a lot of their music. Will I actually enjoy a full concert? BUT HOW CAN I MISS THE CHANCE TO SEE MY BELOVED HOYA? HOOOOWWWWW?”
Caps-lock wins, every time. My ticket-ninja ways scored me a pit ticket (A PIT TICKET!!!!) and I was excited to go to kpop concert and actually be so close to the pretty-pretty faces on stage (without fear of being trampled, because yay assigned seats). Who cares what I thought about their music or my vague ambivalence about the rest of the boys. I WAS GOING TO BE MERE FEET AWAY FROM THE HOGOD.
To make a longer story just a wee bit shorter, they ended up moving a few of us who were wayyyyyyyy on the edge of the pit to behind the pit (which was kind of a bummer) but first row of the orchestra section, so, hey, still a good view, and the house managers/show producer kept promising us it’d be worth it. IT WAS IT SO TOTALLY WAS because even though we were further back, we were front row in the aisle and so when the boys walked through during a couple of the songs, they were mere feet away, maybe even less than a foot a times.
The concert was great, though, all fangirl hyperventilation aside. I learned that the boys are really talented (duh) because their vocals were live (and good) while they did all those intricate dances, and I became a bit of a Sunggyu fan because of his rock-version “60 Seconds” solo.
So now, I suppose, I could officially call myself an Inspirit, since I fully enjoyed the concert (and even liked the songs that I normally would automatically skip if they popped up on a playlist), although my devotion is still primarily to Hoya.
It was around that time I realized I was spamming my followers with floods of Hoya reblogs whenever the mood struck, and as someone who doesn’t prefer my dash to be flooded with endless reblogs of things, I needed to figure out a way to restrain myself.
Thus, “a hoya a day keeps a doctor away” was born, and the queue became my new BFF. The first time I used the tag was exactly two years ago, and I had no problem keeping it filled to the max, holding posts in reserve in the drafts until space could be made to squeeze them in. Until now, that is, when I’ve become so busy that I don’t hang out here as much and so I miss lots of Hoya posts. Now my queue is at a measly 40 posts instead of the bloated 300 it once was. WHAT KIND OF FANGIRL AM I?
A fangirl who’s going to see them in a little over a week, so I’m sure I’ll find a way to pad out that queue thanks to fancams (that will not be taken by me, obviously). And while I’m trying to not get my hopes up since I won’t have the killer-awesome seat I did last time, there’s a part of me that still desperately hopes I’ll get to touch the Hogod again. Let’s pray the daily sacrifice of reblogs has been sufficient and he’ll smile down on me and extend his hand so I can die in rapturous peace.
And that’s the story of how I fell down the rabbit hole and became a fan of Hoya.
The Obsessive Dilettante 