Who's That South Korean Idol?

Not sure if "idol" is the correct term. I made this a few years back with the intention of making a game where the readers would try to guess who the person was given clues and the above picture. Doubt anyone will actually comment. If you do and get it right, I'll give you a mystery prize! *Oooh! Ahhh!*

Based on a quick web search, here are the facts.

1. Born in 1993
2. Debuted in 2008
3. Blood Type A
4. Used to lie to her dad, telling him that she lost her money to get more.
5. Auditioned 20 times
6. Wanted to become a singer since 7th grade
7. Dabbles in acting

Going Backwards

Just when I said that this place would be my everything blog, where I talk about whatever, I make a new one within a week; my bad. The thing is that I'm applying to graduate school for a Master of Science in Visualization and it was recommended that I have a blog of some sort. While I do have this one, I did not believe it was a good reflection on my artwork or refined enough to show to professionals. This place is where I spitball things, to get it out of my head. It's for me, not the pretty version that I'm trying to, in some ways, sell.

I'll go ahead and put the link here in case somebody actually wants to see what I create.

Without A Head 

Hopefully this will be the last social media account that I create...well, here's to hoping.

Skip Beat Episode 12 and 13 - Sort of Recap

Although Episode 11's sort-of-recap went differently than expected I'll continue to attempt explaining what happened in the episode with the screen shots I saved.

I think this might be the set of Dark Moon (one of the gigs that Lian and Gong Xi are working on). I don't know why he's dressed like a student, but there he is.

Gong Xi just found out that she's adopted!! ... kidding, she's obviously upset about something. Perhaps she's thinking, 'Why is Lian not looking at me, even though I could never ever like him. He's still not looking. Maybe he'll look now? Now? Well he can go to hell!'

Episode 13

"I'm only doing this because it's my job....wouldn't do this otherwise...nope...never....wouldn't happen."

"Just breathe. Everyone loves me. Everyone loves me. Everyone loves me...."

"We all know I'm the true main character. YUP!"


Summing episodes 12 and 13: shenanigans between Lian and Gong Xi, Shang pouts , and the manager steals the show in adorableness.

-Alyssa

Skip Beat Episode 11 - Sort of Recap

Remember when I said that I had pictures for the remaining episodes of the drama, remember? Well I'm bringing them out now and will give comments on what I think happened!

Gong Xi is straight up tripping as she sees her fairy companion "Corn" from years ago. She's either dreaming or recovering from a head injury.

When you're a wealthy actor with a nice pad, being shirtless and drinking a bottle of water like everyone's looking is a must..

Maybe someone told Gong Xi she's acting a little too crazy?

Probably one of the many scenes where the two have misunderstood each other. Maybe Lian saw the previous picture?

I totally forgot that I saved these. I thought it was something odd and slightly humorous for Gong Xi to say, "I want Qin to feed me a hotdog too." while spying on her in the bushes.


And that's Episode 11! I thought for sure that I'd have some idea of what went down this episode from the pictures. All I got was that Gong Xi is still up to her usual shenanigans while Lian broods.

Laundry

   At the beginning of this blog I had a clear direction in mind, sort of. I was going to write about all the dramas that I watched even the movies, because I love analyzing things. For a short while I was a guest Korean Movie writer for Seoulbeats (this was probably two years ago, I'll list the articles below). I eventually quit, because it wasn't fun anymore and every week felt like I was writing an essay for class. Sometimes I wonder if it was the right decision, perhaps I needed a push. Looking at this site, over the past two years I've only come up with around 30 or so articles, not much.

   I created this place with the intention of writing about any movie or drama, no matter the origin, and not having to worry too much about grammar or somebody giving me the go ahead. It was my place. I always dreamed of becoming as popular as Dramabeans or any other mass Korean media sites. I'd check my stats all the time, watching the view counter slowly rise to 3,000. I discovered that a majority of the views were either from robots or people looking at pictures I've posted. I begged you guys to comment and as of now I'm at three. Not discouraged, I decided to expand my outlets, making a Deviantart and Tumblr account. I'm pretty sure I won't be using the Deviantart account, but on Tumblr I've got 4 followers and few likes, better proof that people are actually out there taking notice.

   So why mention all of this? Why go on and on about stats and popularity and being just like everyone else. Well, since creating my tumblr I've also made another one centered around lesbian fanart and the occasional fanfiction. I didn't want to turn away some of already gained audience with things that might not interest them. I have been thinking about creating yet another account to talk about my life and things and sexuality and stuff. Today it hit me; this place is mine. I seriously doubt anyone is reading this and though my page view counter is now hitting 8K, fuck it. I'm going to write about what I want.

   Clarifying things, I don't identify as lesbian or straight. Maybe I'm confused or in denial, but at this point in time I don't think it really matters what name I put on it. I tried the word bisexual when coming out, for the first and only time, to my best friend and it felt weird. I just know I like people and one of my favorite things in a person is when he/she seems nice, genuinely nice.

  To think this whole post was a result of wanting to post a picture of Hush Puppy from Beasts of the Southern Wild. I was contemplating if this was the right place to put it and the dread of creating more and more places to categorize where my things go was dreadful.

Seoulbeats Articles : Take Care of My Cat, Baby and Me, The Man from Nowhere, The Aggressives, Finding Mr. Destiny, A Million, Hellcats, You're My Pet, The Wonder Girls, Sunny, Silenced, A Brand New Life, and Blades of Blood.

Hush Puppy

 

While I didn't LOVE the movie, I did find it memorable. I'd love to check back in on Hush Puppy years down the line. 

From Beasts of the Southern Wild, reference used.

White Christmas Episode 1 and 2 Mini Recap

Scary shit has never been my cup of tea. You know that movie Disturbia with Shia LeBeouf? The boy finds out that his neighbor is killing people, stashing bodies in his garage. Well when I saw it in theaters I had a jacket over my head with a small hole to peek through. Granted that was many years ago it's the gist of how much of a wimp I am, not that I mind. Another time I was watching The Woman in Black with a group of friends and a lovely cat sitting in my lap. At one part this bird pops up out of nowhere which caused me to jump in surprise which probably scarred the once content cat for life as he bolted up the stairs not to be seen for the remainder of the day. Knowing this about myself, for stupid reasons, I have put myself in the line of fire by deciding to put my declaration against scary/thriller media to a temporary end. It started with the French zombie-type thriller Les Revenants moving on to the South Korean drama White Christmas. What I’m willing to watch for six handsome boys…

You might counter that the series is not that scary. Well, I’m a scaredy-cat.

  

 EPISODE 1:

The episode starts with the talk of monsters and my man Baek Sung Hyun looking stoic. I’ve followed him since Tree of Heaven, a time where getting hit by cars or cancer were the norm. There was no such thing as a happy ending. It’s Christmas break at the most prestigious high school ever. We’re talking about the top 1% here. Seven students and one teacher decide to stay behind. The first episode spends a majority of its time setting up the characters, revealing that they have all received an anonymous letter foreshadowing death. Some students speculate the meaning, but for the most part they don’t take it too seriously. One creepy night they discover a bloody man at the school’s gate. Not thinking hey this man can be dangerous because this is pretty much how all horror themed media goes, they let him in. Out of the seven students there is only one girl (Eun-Sung). At the end of the episode she attempts to commit suicide, exactly where the letter predicted. Coincidence? Maybe not.

EPISODE 2:

Eun-Sung lives another day. The creepy man is still there. My gosh, just looking at him gives me the chills. More character development is done, which I would love to share with you, but well I’ve sort of got a life now. You should just watch it instead, it’s worth it…DO IT NOW! The whole episode revolves around finding the person who wrote the mysterious letter, back stories, scary looks, and the start of teenage angst. I’ve got to say this was the first episode in the series that I had to pause the show and take a breather due to the creepy factor rising. One moment you think the boy is all alone in his room and the next BAM there’s a hand on the chair. The episode ends with the viewer discovering that the teacher has a note as well. No one is safe.  

What I love about the show is that by prolonging the inevitable death the viewer is constantly on defense wondering when it’s going to happen. And it’s not like the romantic comedies that string you along for ages wondering when the two will end up together, because the character development and the environment they live in are fleshed out enough to keep you invested.

 

Glamorous (Extravagant) Challenge a.k.a "Skip Beat!" Episodes 9 and 10 Recap

EPISODE NINE:

      After seeing Gong Xi getting kicked out for going ballistic at the sight of Shang’s poster, Lian reprimands her. And from here on out a cycle of them getting along, Gong Xi screwing up, and Lian scolding her ensues. One of their nicer moments is at restaurant, where Lian amusingly watches Gong Xi chow down. At some point Lian gets sick and Gong Xi steps up to the plate and does everything within her power to remedy situation. Unfortunately he still has to work and one of his scenes requires a prolonged amount of time in the “rain”. When things wrap up, he collapses onto Gong Xi. To her surprise, she learns that he only responds to lines from the drama and in order to get him back home she has to utilize it. As she puts him to bed he calls her “dear” (or something close to it) and she is left confused; she had always assumed he hated her. Lian wakes up the next morning surprised to find that he is all comfy in bed. He walks to his kitchen, notices Gong Xi cooking away, and ponders why she is putting so much effort into things. With a few more scenes that showcase Gong Xi’s earnestness and sincerity he concludes that that is just who she is; revenge on Shang doesn’t define her. Oh, yeah, by this time it is pretty much established that Lian knew Gong Xi as a child. He was “Corn” (Episode Six).  

     Later, Gong Xi learns that she and Moko have been asked to perform in an upcoming music video; their commercial had tons of success. However, when she learns that Shang will be the singer she becomes apprehensive. While she is pondering over accepting the part, Moko approaches her, concerned as well. Apparently she had been asked to do a small part in a drama special, but she feels guilty because the part had been given to someone else previously. Gong Xi tells her not to worry about it; after all she got it fair and square. Moko brightens up by the support and accepts that she will sometimes have to step over people to get to where she wants. Upon hearing this, Gong Xi realizes that she should do the same with Shang. In order to improve she will use Shang as a springboard. She runs to tell her manager that she will take the part. Meanwhile Shang is looking at the commercial with Moko and Gong Xi, pondering if it really is Gong Xi. In his eyes (definitely not mine) she looks way different.

Favorite Moment (s):

I liked when Lian falls on top of Gong Xi, because…well…because Choi Si-Won (Lian) is just hot; ah, if only I were Gong Xi.

Yeah I know, kind of flimsy, but this episode wasn’t particularly a favorite of mine.

EPISODE TEN:

     When Gong Xi and Shang finally meet, he is still uncertain of her identity. She decides that in order to move forward it would be best to take on an alias and act as if she is big fan of his. Yeah, okay, that makes sense…Her new name? Come on, guess….Gigi! I don’t know why I find it funny, but I do. I think it’s just the whole situation. He knew her since childhood and all of sudden he can’t recognize who she is; lame. Somehow she manages to fool him for some time, but screws up when she gives him salt to help his food taste better; only something she would know. He of course picks this up, lamenting on how she is the only one who knows his likes and dislikes. It’s a miracle he hasn’t realized that he is in love with her though…For some reason Shang is still not satisfied with his deduction and decides to test her by pulling out something she had showed enthusiasm for, when they were together. She responds as he expects, and he becomes certain on his conclusion. Before anything is done though, she is called in for makeup. 

      While waiting, Shang’s costar (another girl, Mei Sun) tries to put the moves on him. He doesn’t pay her mind, because at the moment Gong Xi enters the scene decked out in full angel garb. She stuns everyone with her beauty and Mei looks on pissed. I would be too, if someone put a white cotton ball atop my head. The theme for the video is Angels and Demons. Mei’s character falls in love with Shang (a demon) and Gong Xi ends up killing him, in order to save her from her eventual demise. Unfortunately Gong Xi gets a little too excited when the time comes and almost ends up actually murdering Shang. After a bit of pep talk from Moko (on the phone) and time for her temper to settle, she tries again with much success. As she kills him however, Shang looks at her with love and everyone notices. They redo it though and call it a day. Mei finds Shang and complains about a fever, he comforts her while Gong Xi watches in the background.

Favorite Moment(s):

I loved the whole concept of the video. The moment Gong Xi (the angel) kills Shang (Mei's lover) she in essence ends her friendship with Mei, while losing her Angel status as well. I am sucker for the whole scenario.

Comments as the Author: Okay! This is the last recap I have for the series. After this I breezed through them, skipping half the fluff. I did take screenshots for each episode. I might post those along with my interpretation of what happened. Or not.

-Alyssa

I've gotten me a tumblr account now, follow if you want...no expectations or anything....it's whatever....yeah...

 

 To think this was made in 2011...

Werewolf Boy Summary

Been working on this for a while, finally finished!! I've written movie reviews before, but thought I'd try this idea I've had of summing up things in 15 panels or less.

My Opinionated Rating: 7.5/10 + 1 (for Song Joongki being so cute!)

The Jay Park Conundrum

Now I’ve known about Jay Park since he debuted with 2PM. Those weeks where all that stuff about him hating on South Korea and cussing and not fitting in, that was my current event news, not who was President (if that was around the same time period…look, I’m not going too much out of my way to get facts, this is purely an opinion article) or what was happening within the country, etc. Basically, if they had smart phones back then, it would have been glued my hand. When he left the group I was shocked, not seeing it as a possibility. I was sure his career was over and that he would return to his normal life, because that’s what he wanted. I know; a lot of assumptions over a person I’ve never met.

Sometime later he came back into the limelight with his YouTube channel where he did a cover of “Nothing on You” by B.O.B. That one I did look up, wanting to reminisce by watching it again. That led to him singing for the Korean version, which kicked off the rebuilding of his career. In between he was participating in B-boy dancing, which I thoroughly followed.

I think as of now he has come out with two albums and one mini-album (Take a Deeper Look, New Breed, and JOAH). There was also his mix tape “Fresh A!R: Breath !T”, which in a lot of ways led up to this post. I loved a majority of both albums, though I usually skipped over the heavy rapping tracks. It’s not that I don’t like rap, I do, but whatever type of rap he uses is not pleasant for my ears. With it being in Korean it’s harder to get into, so I have to rely on sound, like all the other Korean music I listen to. I guess a good example of rap that I like is “Epik High”, even some of their non-streamlined pieces. This is actually a great tangent into the topic at hand; The Jay Park Conundrum.

So during his time in 2PM, a time that a lot of people like to move past, he was Mr. Handsome. He sported a nice trim look and the ABS! That was his biggest gimmick. Returning back to the U.S.A. he went to a more casual look (oh goodness, I sound like some fashion writer) and that was nice as well. It was when he made his comeback that that the tattoos started showing up and he exposed more of his “bad boy” image, which was okay. The thing is he never really let go of Mr. Handsome, the guy that you wouldn’t be too wary of bringing home to meet your parents. That’s where I get confused, because in my mind you can’t have both. You can’t sing me a love song that melts my heart and then rap about “bitches” and “hitting that” (the gist of “Fresh A!R: Breath !T”); it’s too much of a change.

Eventually though, I accepted that Jay Park was never going to just be Mr. Handsome, he had moved on. It’s when he released “JOAH” that I did a double take and knew that I had to say something (even if I’m the only one to read it, which at this point is a high probability due to the length of this post).The first song “1HUNNIT” was definitely a letdown, Jay Park acting bad ass isn’t my cup of tea. I just don’t think he can pull it off without looking like a total douche with lyrics like “I’m getting mixed up with too many girls”. He then released “JOAH” and I fell back into his fandom. He was cute (handsome) and I would have felt lucky to be that girl. At the same time I was perplexed at this man being the same person to come out with “1HUNNIT” or any of the songs from “Fresh A!R: Breath !T”. It almost had me not liking the song. Lastly, the video for “Welcome” came out, a mix of the first two. He pretty much sings to this girl about how he is going to give her some great sex that night with lyrics like “I’ll fill you all up, all night, all night” and “Welcome to my bed baby”. It felt really intimate and awkward for me watching the video, because I felt like a creeper intruding on two people having sex. I can’t really see the song making it on my playlist either. Imagine walking down the street with some nice pop music or hip hop or whatever and then the “lovemaking song” comes up. How am I supposed to react to that? Grab a boy and “welcome” him to my bed?

In conclusion, a change of image is fine. It’s when we extend beyond things like cute to beastly and start transitioning from the man of your dreams to some cocky ass player (all within a month) that things go awry. Still, I give Jay Park props for maintaining a spot in my heart and for years to come. 

Dream High (the good one) Men

I don't know if this is a universal feeling or something felt by artists, but sometimes I don't want to post something because I don't like part of it. Then I will keep it on my dash or whatever until it eats at me and I either throw it away or finish it knowing that I still don't like it. For this picture I had thought it was good, so for the longest time (a year or so) I had meant to finish it up, but looking at it with fresh eyes I don't feel the same. Regardless it's complete enough for me to send it off into cyberspace and move on with my life.

Damn, I rambled too much.

-Alyssa

Don't forget about my giveaway!!!

Giveaway!

Its official, I have surpassed 3,000 page views!!! This is by no means extraordinary, seeing as of now I have a total of three comments, but whatever I feel like celebrating and having a flimsy excuse for a giveaway. Yes you heard me, a GIVEAWAY!!!! 

This thing is going to be pretty open-ended, whereas I am not putting an expiration date nor am I putting a set amount of recipients. For one, I doubt that there are that many people reading this blog other than for the recaps I did of Dream High 2. Unfortunately unless I suddenly feel inspired or somebody asks me to cover a specific series, that might not happen again. I’ll still continue with mini-reviews and I have plans in store for different outlets of recapping. So if you exist, look forward to that. Secondly, with things so loose I will not feel too pressured to get things done. One day you may or may not receive the prize.

I know, not very promising..but who cares it’s a GIVEAWAY-ish!!!
  

So how to get the darned thing!

All you have to do is comment and I think the system leaves an email for me to follow up with, but if you want to include that, do it! I will email you if you are a winner (a totally random process), asking for your mailing address. If your uncomfortable sharing your information to a complete stranger write down your Grandma’s house for all I care. And that’s it! Be creative with your response if you want, but I doubt that enough people (if any) will reply for me to be picky.

The prizes!!!

•  A signed autograph by me!! …Kidding, I will write you a nice letter; anything ranging from life in college to how the sky is blue. If you have a specific topic in mind that’s cool too, we could even be pen pals <3
•  I created this cheesy Valentine’s Day card type thing that I never sent out, because I missed the date. Still, I feel like sharing it to the world. You’ll get a tiny low quality print of the thing along with a very belated Valentine’s Day message.
•  I will draw almost anything you ask that’s within reason. Keep in mind that I am not the best cartoonist, so it might come out childishly cute or wonky. If it’s something realistic, I’ll need a reference. The drawing won’t be that large though so don’t go expecting a masterpiece to hang up on your wall.

I’ve been inspired to send out mail and thought this would be a good side project /outlet to do so. I have very low expectations on how this will turn out, but I am going to do it! So comment, comment, comment!!

  

…I think that’s it! 

-Alyssa