kate_xulansis

I think you are both right and wrong. I think there is more to strength than just one definition. What you explained is, of course, one type of strength and I agree with it. However, I don't think you are right about Naksu being weak for being mean in the first part.

To me, part 1 Naksu is my favourite because even after all she'd been through, she relied and trusted herself so completely and knew who she was... enough to allow herself to grow and not hold herself back in regards to her beliefs. Even while plotting revenge, she never closed herself off from the truth... she absorbed new information and changed with it while remaining true to herself. She also stood in front of others and demanded their respect when the time came to forgo her goofy acting, and people responded to it. Part 1 Naksu tried her hardest to not let love or anyone stand in her way of her goals (whether those goals were ill advised or not is obviously arguable lol) and I think a lot of dramas forgo that strength in women characters--the strength of refusing to let someone she loves choose her choices for her and become her main priority/goal. And seeing how it was received (not well, considering how much hate there is on her refusing to show her feelings at all) it's understandable why she might seem weak in part 1 (like her holding herself back from love was because she was scared or something). She has trust issues with others, she tries her best to be independent (even in her tricky situation with a body that refuses to work with her), puts herself first instead of sacrificing herself for others or even for the greater good, and would rather Uk dislike her and be strong than to love her and be useless to her. Harsh? YES. Strong though? Undeniably, in my opinion. And when she eventually succumbed to her feelings for Uk, even then she remained diligently Naksu. She never doubted or questioned herself. She just found more to believe in (Uk and their strength together).

Where part 1 Naksu ruthlessly used others to get what she wanted (survival/power), part 2 Naksu doesn't actually use anyone. She asks for their help and to be saved, and often returns the favour in some way. She clearly puts others and the greater good before herself (saving Yul and her 'sister' at the risk of herself) and that's because instead of trust issues or being raised to be independent, she's been raised (for the last three years) by a mother who clearly didn't love her and made her yearn for love and protection (in my opinion). They remain to both be Naksu at the heart of all things (they both push themselves forwards for their goals and don't let anything stand in their way), but their environments that created them created different strengths/weaknesses and fears/wants. The only thing that's missing from part 2 Naksu that would really connect her with her past self, is her trust in herself. Once she trusts in herself again, and knows who she is, I think we'll see a move even blend between the two distinctly different strengths.

oh shoot i meant Uks body *facepalm* sorry for the confusion. It could be Jang Uks body in that prison realm (since we dont know how time works there).

Yes, Naksu's body burnt, so if she does get her own separate body again that isn't JBYs body, im guessing it will be acquired like how master lee acquired his own body (putting a soul into a recently deceased body).

Yeah that’s who I was talking about when I said the mage from 200 years ago :) but knowing the Hong sisters, it could be anything! Including Naksu’s body (considering he’s able to get into that dimension).

There are a lot of parallels in the plot. So I definitely think there is something in part one that foretells part 2’s ending. Like Master Lee’s body burning and soul shifting (Naksu’s body burned too, so maybe someone will die and she’ll get shifted into that body). Obviously the 2nd ice stone will play a role. My first thought was that it was Uk in the future (idk how time works in the dimension) but it also might be the mage that was trapped there 200 years ago. Either way, I’m excited to see how everything plays out though I’m not holding my breath for a happy ending.

You raise good points but unfortunately the drama isn't about her. Meaning, she really has no personality that the watchers can become enthralled by like Naksu. Yes, Naksu is the bad guy in this, but that doesn't mean the audience is going to root for the good guy. We root for the person whom we feel for the most. Of course, thats not to say there aren't valid reasons why we SHOULD feel for JBY (and I'm sure we all feel for her a little bit at least), but there just seems to be a lot more reasons why we end up rooting for Naksu instead. And a large part of that, of course, is because we just spent 20+ episodes watching a love story unfold between Naksu and Uk--not Uk and JBY. To suddenly root for the passive girl is probably beyond what a lot of us can do. No matter how immoral it may be to hope for Naksu to win over a body that isn't even hers.

I'm not sure what you expect out of a rating system where people dictate the popularity of a show. It's not MLDs fault a lot of people like the same thing. I personally love it. But guess what? My rating doesn't represent something that is all wise and unfailing, just like any one else who isn't some film production pro lol. There's really no need to belittle anyone's taste or even the system because you disagree with the majority vote. Stats are stats, I'm not sure how it can be a joke when it's just numbers.

Love seeing how our ratings varied from each other. It's fun to see how other people view the dramas you loved or disliked. I'll definitely be adding some of these to my lists considering we had quite a few similar ratings :) I have a very small top recommended list on my profile and I think there might be a couple of dramas in it that weren't on this list of yours. Idk if you watched them and just didn't like them, but feel free to check it out since we seem to have some similar tastes!

They did it with A Korean Odyssey as well and I wanted to SCREAM. I'm almost certain it will be open. But I'm hoping for at least a *happy* or *optimistic* open ending ahhh

Maybe it's a memory of her blue marked eyes, rather than her actual eyes? Perhaps a stretch, but it could work considering it's the Hong Sisters we're talking about lol

Their souls just love each other through everything. It's so heartbreaking (in a good way) how much love they have for each other lol.

I'm rewatching the whole series and I just can't help myself... I absolutely love how dry Mudeok is. Like, I enjoy the new rendition of her in the newer season, but season one Mudeok is so cute and funny. I love how slow it takes her to warm up and even then she tries to put her goals before Uk. Like, yes, it's frustrating and I understand those that say they didn't enjoy the lack of chemistry in season one, but I seriously disagree. Her unwillingness makes it all the more special and adorable, because she can't help but love Uk even when she's hell bent on him not loving her back.

Idk, I just really enjoy her character. And I miss her. But I do love her new, innocent and unjaded version too. She's sweet. And Uk changed too, so he definitely could use the sweet version rather than the colder version of her. (But I also miss sweet Uk in season one--they totally swapped characters lol like they went and soul swapped accidentally). I hope its a happy ending for them.

For real. Season 1 was great though, and it had a good climatic scene with a well done ending that wrapped some things up--so I think there is some hope for the series as a whole to get wrapped up adequately enough. (fingers crossed!)

oh my heart, I hate waiting for episodes to drop. I just started the first part two days ago and I really thought I wouldn't binge it all the way through to part 2. This series was so much better than I imagined. Oh my heart.

While I hope this doesn't hype it to an unreasonable height where you'll feel let down when you watch it... OH MY GOD, Psychopath Diary is soooo freaking good. It's on my top of my recommendation list (that and the Crowned Clown). I would sit my laptop outside my shower just so I could keep watching it lmao. And I laughed so hard I would cry during the majority of it. And the plot was reallly fun/intelligent and suspensefully driven. It's really phenomenal. The acting is superb (the MLs are just... so amazingly played). Just don't expect romance, it's like the lasttt thought almost (and FL isn't at all the main focus). Still amazing and it doesn't feel like it's lacking anything despite the lack of a passionate romance. 10/10 ...and now I have to go rewatch it. If you watch it, I really hope you enjoy it!

I watched episode 1 with my full attention, was losing interest halfway through episode 2, lost my absolute freaking mind in episode 3 because I could not, for the life of me, pay attention to a single thing. Just found myself being very rude and rolling my eyes at characters and wanting to end everyone and everything. I turned it off before episode 3 was done.

But I'm in a foul and dissociative mood, so perhaps that's just me. I've just never been so displeased with a drama while being unsure why it was grating on my nerves. It wasn't frustrating, and I normally like silly comedy, but idk maybe it was the over-dramatics of everything? Like everything was made out to be so much more dramatic and serious than it was (imo). And so it felt.... very far from relatable or believable. Which is unfortunate because I enjoyed the general whodunnit plot idea, as well as some of the aesthetics, and thought it was interesting how they showed the culture (which in itself didn't feel believable, but I didn't mind that part). But again, maybe my head just isn't screwed on right and is making it an unenjoyable experience when it's really as great as everyone is making it out to be. Maybe I'll try it again some later date.

If you liked Psychopath Diary, you'll certainly enjoy this, as well.

My god. The ACTING CHOPS ON THESE PEOPLE. It would be one thing if they were all static characters, but so many of these characters were very diverse or changed to *become* more diverse--meaning, a lot of them had to act out like ... two or more different roles all while in the same character. And switch between those roles at what felt like a drop of a hat sometimes. And they did absolutely amazingly, given how they made these switches flow so well and believably. Wow. The speed they could go from a serious moment to a comedic, or vice-versa (or other emotions completely). I am completely blown away by this series. And another reason why you should watch this is for the writing, of course. It was incredible. Suspenseful and a lot of intelligent thought went into it to give us a very fun, deadly, and emotional chess/cat and mouse game. On top of everything, it was also so funny and adorable at times I had tears. The bromances made me swoon, I swear. I honestly just came to love (or hate) all of the characters. Brilliant!

I have no clue how anyone can rate it lower than a 9. I myself gave it a 10/10 and it feels like a very justified 10 lol. Before you let the reviews sway you, I dare you to try it out.

you are soooo right. the women were probably *made* just for those foul play endings, good gosh lmao. That is angering. my feminism i acting up lol! I agree with everything you have said, I appreciate you writing so much! if you dont already, you should absolutely write reviews!

I had the saaame thought process as you about this. Right down to needing to write something about it after finishing it.

The unresolved plots and the bittersweet open option was absolute bs. But my FREAKING GOSH. The relationships and the characters are the BEST written characters (besides the FL's irritable tendency to be too docile and a pawn for everyone else) I have EVER seen. Like, I know there was a lot of damsel in distress moments even outside the main couple, but literally all of their personalities, backstories, and watching them develop as people was unmistakably phenomenally done (MINUS THE MISSING RESOLVE FOR SOME UGH). It feels SO weird to say that given how much the plot really let you down, but wow. To be able to have SO many flaws and still stand out as one of the best dramas I've watched, is quite the feat on it's own lol. I LOVED the ML with my ENTIRE heart, absolutely *died* laughing when the Devil King was on screen, and felt my heart swell almost painfully for Richie. Even PK, Winter and Spring dude, the water king dude, Devil King's secretary (I'm terrible at remembering names if you can't tell lol), and the high priestess made my heart bleed for them. With all my heart I wanted a closing scene with them all in it, and I *still* gave it a 9/10 (i had to physically fight myself into giving it something lower than 10/10 lol). I want more of them all *sigh*

Also, I want to add, this version gave me a better understanding of the characters. I aways felt perplexed with some characters' decisions in the other versions, but I find this one made their reasoning unmissable and relatable. I really enjoyed that part--the just overall *knowing* what people are thinking rather than getting frustrated and annoyed at them for not explaining it properly and just moving on with the story.

2ML was a blessing. I typically get SUPER annoyed with his character (because in the other versions it felt unclear as to why he did things and even his selfless acts seemed loaded with expectations on the FL), but in this version I LOVED him. He was hands down the bestest friend to both ML and FL and so sweet and earnest. You didn't have to question where his loyalty was or what his end goals were--even when he tried to be mysterious or straight up lie about it, I just trusted the dude throughout the whole thing.... and he was just... So. Freaking. Attractive.

All boys over flower adaptions are practically the same! Frustrating and at times toxic and irritating (especially the antagonist cast), but sweet as you watch the characters develop to fit one another. If you didn't enjoy one version, I am very doubtful you would enjoy another version.