so i’ve only been following you for about a month, so i don’t have all your nuances/faves/history down yet, so: question time! (for things not covered in the faq) favorite actress? fave kpop groups/artists? when/how/why did you get into dramas? Favorite pieces of media outside of dramaland? how quickly can you do the Vessel With the Pestle bit?

Hi! And welcome! Tbh I’m not sure I even have all my nuances and faves down myself, so I’d be impressed if you figured that all out in a month.

On to the questions:

  • favorite actress?

I’ve been on an Im Joo Eun kick for Woozily reasons, but she’s definitely a long-term fave and I’m hoping she finds a break-through eventually. (Fun fact: my twitter/DB avatar is Dong Ah from Wild Romance)

  • fave kpop groups/artists? 

Big Bang; Brown Eyed Girls; Wonder Girls; MBLAQ; CNBLUE; FTIsland; Infinite; 2NE1; miss A; f(x); B1A4 (basically anything pre-2012 bc I’m so out of touch)

  • when/how/why did you get into dramas?

I’ll watch just about anything tbh and a friend introduced me to jdramas, where I promptly fell in love with the high-school manga adaptations (HANA KIMI 4LYFE). Then there was this Hana Yori Dango remake that I kept hearing about, and the rest is BoF gateway drug history (no I don’t know why I latched onto kdramas instead of jdramas when normally I seem to prefer the jdrama versions but life is a mystery, y’know?)

  • Favorite pieces of media outside of dramaland?

Like, other tv shows that aren’t dramas?

Veronica Mars; Parks & Rec; Gilmore Girls; Arrested Development; Pushing Daisies; RTD-era Doctor Who; Slings & Arrows; Psych; The OC; Lois & Clark; anything that remotely resembles a cooking competition

  • how quickly can you do the Vessel With the Pestle bit?

Depends on whether or not it’s before or after they broke the chalice from the palace.

What are your favorite dramas involving magic, mystical beings and the like? ^_^

Apparently I don’t watch a lot of dramas that fit this genre because I was all gung-ho to answer, but could only come up with Arang and the Magistrate.

Wait, there’s also Surplus Princess (mermaids!).

I don’t know that I would list Padam, Padam as a favorite drama, but I adored Gooksoo.

I’m curious how much the cultural importance of marital fidelity will impact the direction of The Good Wife. It may be a very different show.

I’ve already tempered some of my expectation once Nana was cast, since even on cable, I doubt they’ll let her be a kick-ass bisexual morally-grey investigator.

But the central premise is the affair and Yoo Ji Tae’s character cheating on her and dragging his family into a scandal. Nothing from the teasers indicates so far that this will be drastically different from the American version and the fact they’re playing up Yoon Kye Sang’s character pretty hard as a main lead seems to indicate they’re willing to have that “old flame” be rekindled.

Part of the fun of this drama might be the Korean take on an intelligent, spirited woman who refuses to accept her husband’s scandalous ways and will fight to have a life on her own. I’m sure there will be societal blow-back (and I betcha Park Jung Soo aka Jackie will have plenty to say about being loyal to her husband).

I think I’m just encouraged by the fact that Jeon Do Yeon, a huuuuuuuuuuuge name in Chungmuro and who could probably take any role she wanted for the rest of her life because everyone would be falling over themselves with giddy joy that she signed on to their project, specifically agreed to take on this role because of how much she liked the American version (of course I bet the money is nice, too, considering she’s broken records for being one of the highest paid actresses in a drama).

Maybe I’m being blindly naive, but I don’t think they’ll be changing things up too much. I feel like there’s a lot of respect for the original version, and what I’ve read from statements from at least the actresses, they’re all excited to portraying such awesome roles.

Which networks do you enjoy watching dramas from?

I seem to generally prefer the cable channels over the network channels.

Typically there will always be at least one tvN show on my “currently watching” list with perhaps another one from JTBC or OCN. I’ve also enjoyed all of Mnet’s original dramas and would probably watch everything from them if they decided to create more.

I don’t have specific loyalties to any of the three network channels and will watch anything from them that interests me. It just so happens that tvN/JTBC/OCN generally have shows that are more appealing to my tastes.

Can you recommend some dramas with strong sassy female leads?

Ooooh, this could be fun! Some may lean more towards strong and others more towards sassy, and some may have a few ladies I consider strong and sassy even if they aren’t the lead, but here goes:

  • History of a Salaryman
  • Protect the Boss
  • Dalja’s Spring
  • Miss Korea
  • Reply 1997
  • Don’t Ask Me About the Past
  • Ex-Girlfriend Club
  • My Name is Kim Sam Soon
  • Wild Romance
  • I Hear Your Voice
  • All About My Romance
  • Coffee House
  • Me Too, Flower
  • City Hall
  • When It’s At Night
  • (basically anything with Kim Sun Ah, because even if her dramas aren’t great *shakes fist at Masked Prosecutor* she’s usually awesome)
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