O.R. Melling

lol

But though you don't watch costume dramas, how could you pass up #TheUntamed?!

Do you know, that's the reason I can't rewatch it though it's brilliant. All the brothers!!! 😭

I will get back to you on this with some fave Irish poetry.

Can't remember Dilraba playing coy in any of her dramas while Zhao Lusi's comedic & dramatic roles are terrific.. Kim Go Eun, Jung So-min, Jun Ji-hyun... Most of the C dramas & K dramas I've watched have delightfully strong, complicated & unusual women in them. Wondering what you're watching?

Yes yes yes. 😍 #MoonLoversScarletHeartRyeo? 💔

But when the women are complicated and unique - Niao Niao in #LoveLiketheGalaxy immediately comes to mind & many roles Yang Zi takes on - the amount of hate against that character (see Viki comments) is astonishing.

Yes to all of them! 😍

A country without gender imbalance: Utopia.

We were discussing BL dramas and their popularity in China and Japan and then the specific question of why they are popular with girls and women. You might want to go back to the beginning of our chat and follow the thread?

Oh I was joking that as hetero women we're sort of 'cheating' in the way Jang Uk said he sensed cheating when Mudeok cooked breakfast with Seo Yul. It's a reach ... just the way my mind goes ...

#Cdrama drug of entry #AshesofLove with bar set high once again by #YangZi & #DengLun. Rewatchables where I've lost count: #PrisonerofBeauty, #TheDouble, #LoveLiketheGalaxy, #AreYoutheOne, #HiddenLove. Returning less but still: #RomanceofTigerandRose, #TheLongBallad.

Rewatchable #Kdramas: #Healer (I've genuinely lost count), #AlchemyofSouls (ditto), #WTwoWorlds (ditto). Not as much but still returning: ,#Hwarang, #LegendoftheBlueSea, #Haechi, #UndertheQueensUmbrella, #CaptivatingtheKing

It's a slow Saturday as I wait for guests to arrive so let's do this: drug of entry for #Kdrama and/or #Cdrama (wherever you started) & 5 favourite rewatchables. If you must put 6 or 10 we understand. I'll start. I began Korean #TheKingEternalMonarch. #LeeMinHo & #KimGoEun setting the bar high.

What's that line in #AlchemyofSouls about sensing cheating?

A wonderful thread on why BL genre ( #boylove ) in Asian dramas (chiefly Chinese & Japanese) is beloved by girls & women. And of course it is beloved - biloved? - by all genders & orientations.

Good morning.

You're doomed. He is obviously the worst of the worst in this one. Sympathies.

Rilke is one of my favourite poets. And yes, it's a wonderful way to explore the beauty of a language, the chief reason I am parsing/translating Dante.

You called it first, James. It is the next best thing after #PrisonerofBeauty! 🥰

The whole #boylove trend is fascinating. Apparently it's school girls who particularly watch BL series. A huge thing in Japan also, another country both patriarchal & anti-homosexuality. (Know a Japanese student doing her Ph.D on it.) You're a psychologist? Would love to hear your take.

Lol he's great at racy scenes. See #AFamiliarStranger.

I'd prefer to say it's forcing government & society to allow their natural inclination to rise instead of forcing them to be with women. In a population that size there would be a big percentage of gay men being imprisoned in the closet (also real jails) by draconian laws & censorship.

a close up of a man wearing a fur coat and a crown Alt: Chinese actor Ryan Cheng in historical costume and cloak with fur collar.

Well I was thrilled when I saw one of my two favourite Chinese actors #LiuYuning rise to well-deserved stardom after playing 2nd ML roles (first noticed in #TheLongBallad with the incomparable #ZhaoLusi) & now t'other #RyanCheng is coming into his own with #TheLegendoftheFemaleGeneral.

#MyJourneytoYou (2nd ML but outshines 1st) & ML #AFamilarStranger. He's about to become the next #LiuYuning. Underrated because, like Yuning, he has beautiful truly Chinese features instead of the rounder faced, wider-eyed (cosmetic surgery?) features of most stars.

This series is FABULOUS. The writing & editing could be tighter but it's a winner with captivating story, fight sequences & chemistry between the leads. 😍 (He stole the show as 2nd ML with 2nd FL in #MyJourneytoYou even as Liu Yuning & Zhao Lusi stole #TheLongBallad as 2nd lead couple.)

My theory: the one child policy created a huge imbalance of males & females in China as females were aborted since families wanted (needed?) a son. This has become a major unreported issue with women being abducted etc. Despite patriarchal hatred of homosexuality they know it's a solution.

Sadly yes. I saw a hilarious TikTok meme about a mother and daughter: "This is us watching an American drama where they're having sex after the first date." The two are yawning. "This is us watching an Asian drama and they've accidentally touched hands." And the two are going wild on sofa. Lol.

It was horrific. I was so sorry I watched it. Images I didn't need in my mind and which served no purpose that could be considered art.

I'm simply going by my experience, the fare that is generally on offer, and trends I've noticed from watching Asian dramas for several years now. I find them less focussed on sex and violence than programmes from the West, also with higher quality writing.