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Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Top Ten Tuesday: Freebie

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.
This week's TTT is a blogger's choice freebie. We decided to talk about some of the things we love, in the hopes that maybe you love them, too! 


Mariela wanted to use this week's TTT to talk about her favorite boy bands, but I used the TTT from a few weeks back to talk about the boy band of my heart, The Bangtan Boys. So instead, I am going to give you part two of Kdramas that should be made into books! Since I don't know a lot of people who watch kdramas, I wish that these shows could be made into books so that I could share my love of their stories with more people. 


Right off the bat I am going to deviate from the rest of this list. This is actually a Chinese drama, not a Korean one. I have only seen one other Chinese drama (Shan Shan Came to Lunch) and a handful of Taiwanese dramas. Mandarin is not my favorite language to listen to, but Love Me If You Dare was so absolutely amazing, I could hardly even notice. 


What's It About? 
This drama has a bit of a Sherlock feel. Simon is a criminal psychologist with a really dark past. He was kidnapped and tortured for months by a serial killer that he was on the trail of, and ever since he escaped has had a hard time connecting with other people. He has to hire a translator for some work he has to do, and the girl he hires, Jenny, turns out to be extremely observant and clever and he does whatever he can to ensure she stays working for him. Of course, this drama is a dark one, and there are lots of murders to be solved and danger for our newly founded couple. Turns out, the serial killer that tortured Simon had a mentor and he will stop at nothing to get his hands on the man who locked his trainee away. 

Why Would it Make a Good Book? 
This story is absolutely addictive. I watched all 24 episodes in two 13 hour stretches that kept me up until 5 in the morning. There are plenty of mysteries to keep you guessing and twists and turns to keep you surprised. Not to mention, the romance is just downright adorable. Simon is so awkward and new at relationships that it's hilarious to watch him try with Jenny. Plus, he has a pretty amazing bromance with Zi Yu and a talking car that is absolutely hilarious. 



Favorite Scene
 This is hard cause there are so many! The scene where Simon finally confesses is pretty adorable. As is the scene before that when he tells Zi Yu he is going to confess. But really, the scene that got to me the most is a bit of a spoiler, and it's a lot of scenes put together. It starts with Jenny being forced to make a goodbye video to Simon and ends with Jenny in a situation very similar to Simon's tragic fate before the start of the show. 





One of the most expensive Kdramas to make, and totally worth every penny as it quickly became one of the most popular kdramas of all time. And with such great writing and beautiful stars, it's not hard to see why. 


What's It About? 
If you know even a little bit about Asian dramas, you'll have probably heard of this one. The ridiculously beautiful Song Joong Ki plays Captain Yoo Si Jin, a Korean Special Forces Captain. He meets Doctor Kang Mo Yeon while rescuing his best friend's cell phone from a thief. His job turns out to be too dangerous for her, and they break up before they even really get started. But when she gets punished for not sleeping with her boss by being sent overseas on a charitable health mission, it's Yoo Si Jin who is responsible for her safety. Just when she is finally set to go back to Korea, an earth quake happens and she and the captain are thrust into dangerous life saving missions.  

Why Would it Make a Good Book? 
There is a lot of action, great romance, incredible bromance and absolutely zero love triangle here! The main romance is sweet and tumultuous, but there is also the romance between Si Jin's best friend, Commander Seo Dae Young and his girlfriend Yoon Myeong Joo who is a doctor for the army. And of course, there is a natural disaster that ramps up the drama, rare diseases, ambitious fathers and villains from the past to make this an award winning combination. 



Favorite Scene
There are too many good scenes in this one. I can't even kind of begin to pick a favorite, so I will just pick one that was easy to make a gif of :p Mo Yeon is drunk and Si Jin is tasked with getting her home. As they are sitting on the couch, Si Jin hears a noise, only to discover Mo Yeon's mom had brought her food earlier.  



tvN makes some of the absolute best dramas, and this one is in their top 5, easy! 

What's It About? 
Bong Seon is a painfully shy girl. She can't look anyone in the eye, she can't speak up for herself and she spends life with her head down. Enter Shin Sun Ae. Sun Ae can't remember anything about her life, all she knows is that she is a virgin ghost and if she can't inhabit someone's body and sleep with a man of virtue, she won't be able to move on and will become and evil spirit. While trying to escape a shaman, she possesses Bong Seon and then discovers she can't get out of Bong Seon's body. Luckily for her, Bong Seon's boss seems to be a man of virtue!

Why Would it Make a Good Book? 
I think the kitchen would make a great setting for a book, plus there is the whole how did Sun Ae die mystery, and the looming deadline for her to finally lose it and move on. And it's hilarious watching Sun Ae as Bong Seon trying to seduce her boss. And all of their coworkers make for some good comedic relief. 

Favorite Scene
 There are a lot for this drama, too! One of them is when Sun Ae (as Bong Seon) finds out that her boss is a man of virtue (which just means that she can touch him without him feeling sick or fainting). She jumps on him and tries to take his shirt off, begging him to do it with her just once. His refusal and confusion that the timid, quiet Bong Seon would all of a sudden try and jump him is just hilarious. 



For the most part, all of these dramas have quite a bit of action in them, and this one is the most action-packed! 

What's It About? 
Ji Chang Wook plays Healer in this drama about murder, revenge and petty corruption. Healer is a night courier, or a guy who will delivery anything you want, anywhere you want, no matter if it's illegal or not. So long as he doesn't have to murder anyone, he will take the job if the price is right. Park Min Young plays Chae Young Shin, a reporter who has a crush on Healer, even though she has never met him. After another reporter hires Healer to get Young Shin's DNA, their paths cross and they discover they have a past that they had no idea about. 

Why Would it Make a Good Book? 
Like all of the previous dramas, there is a great romance here, a swoon-worthy lead male with a hidden identity. Healer can't reveal who he is to her, so with the help of his hermit ajumma, he creates a fake identity and starts working with her. There are a lot of cover ups and mysteries and plenty of danger, enough to make this an edge of your seat thriller. 


Favorite Scene
 Since Healer didn't exactly have a normal childhood or upbringing, he doesn't have many relationships outside of his mentor and his hermit ajumma who hasn't ever met. When Chae Young Shin finally breaks through those walls, he becomes clingy, refusing to be in the room without touching some part of her. As she is trying to cook, this becomes problematic. It's a sweet moment though, seeing all of the happiness finally come Healer's way. 




Another tvN drama on the list, but different than all of the others because there isn't a romance story in this one. However, I have heard there will be a season 2, and I am holding out hope that Woo Jin and Da Jung will get their stuff together and just make out already. 


What's It About? 
Nam Da Jung is the quintessential Mary Jane. She is up to her ears in her father's debt, is hounded by a lovable loan shark and can't seem to work enough to ever actually pay anything off. Woo Jin is a genius, haunted by his mother's death and resulting incarceration. Thanks to one man's evil plans, their paths cross during a game that is set up to have a bloody end. If Da Jung can stay in the game, she will have enough money to pay off all of her father's debtors. But she will need Woo Jin's help in order to make it out alive. 

Why Would it Make a Good Book? 
Tragic pasts, evil genius villains and smart writing make this story unbelievably good. Even though Da Jung can be naive, you want so much for her to be right about human nature and for everyone to just come out ahead in the game. And, if you are rewriting it as a book, I wouldn't complain if you threw in some romance scenes here and there :p 

Favorite Scene
All of my favorite scenes are spoilers, and I couldn't really find many gifs for this drama, anyway! I do love all of the scenes where Woo Jin unexpectedly comes through. Or when you think everything is going to go wrong, but somehow our heroes make it through! 


I apologize for all of the babbling! This is absolutely our longest TTT to date, but we wanted to share our loves with you :) 

Since this is a freebie week, I want to show the world my favorite Boy bands.
I know I am a little old for it, but I love them and I don't give a flying fudge! Hahaha, 
Maybe some of the younger bloggers will have heard of them.

My first one will be The Vamps, an English boy band.
I work at Walgreens and they always play their songs and they got stuck on my head so now I can't stop listening to The Vamps.

My favorite songs Somebody Like You and Wake Up. And Risk it All.

First of all I will introduce you the boys

James, Connor, Brad and Tristan!
I love their songs I think they are very catchy!














































Here is the video for Wake Up. 



And the video for Somebody to You. 



And Risk It All. 




These are six Irish boys! I love their voices and their songs! 







This is Cian! You have to love those almost see-through, light blue eyes!
And he has an amazing voice!















Dean Gibbons is my favorite! He is so super cute! I have a crush on him!


















 










This is the video for Cry for Help. I love that song! And my favorite of them is Dean Gibbons, and he is the one that sings the second part of the song, he is wearing the white shirt with some patterns on it.



Here is the video for Oh Holy Night. They all sound amazing! 


Last, but not least, here is the video for Take Me To the Church Cover they did. 


24 comments:

  1. Oh sure, give me more ways to waste my time because books aren't enough :)

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  2. Such fun lists! Mariela, have you read Kill the Boy Band? Such a funny book! And where can I watch these Korean dramas?! Sign me up!

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    1. Aww, this made me so happy! There are a lot of places you can watch Kdramas. Netflix has a couple of them, though their selection isn't of the best kdramas. They did, however, recently get a bunch of Kdrama miniseries that might be a quick introduction to Kdramas if you want something that moves very quickly. You might have to be logged into your Netflix account to see the link above with the Kdrama selection they have!

      Hulu also has a ton of kdramas. They have all of the ones I have listed above except for Liar Game and Love Me If You Dare. (Healer, Oh My Ghostess, and Descendants of the Sun.) Again, you might have to be logged in for any of those links to take you to their hulu pages.

      The other two places that I subscribe to for Kdramas (they also have free options for watching as well, if you don't mind a couple of ads!) are Viki and Dramafever. Viki has Love Me If You Dare and Liar Game, Dramafever does not. Both of these can also be added to many streaming devices, such as Roku, Xbox 360, and the new Apple TV that lets you add apps.

      A good drama to start with would be The Master's Sun. It was the first drama for a lot of my book friends, and all of them got seriously hooked from watching it. It has some scary ghosts in the beginning, but they get less scary as it goes on. You can find it on Hulu, Dramafever and Viki.

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    2. No, I haven't but I am checking it out now! Thanks!

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  3. Love Me if You Dare sounds AWESOME. I noticed it's not on Netflix or Hulu. Do you know where I could stream it?

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    1. Love Me If You Dare is seriously amazing! I cannot say enough great things about that show. The only place I know of that streams it with English subtitles is Viki. They have it raw up on youtube, if you happen to speak Mandarin.

      Here is the link to it on viki - https://www.viki.com/tv/29266c-love-me-if-you-dare?q=Love%20Me%20If%20You%20Dare

      If you have one of the new Apple TVs, a Roku, a Samsung Smart TV or an XBox 360, you can get the Viki app for all of those. Or, if you have an old apple TV or a google chromecast, you can stream from your smart phone (or computer) to your TV. Or just good old-fashioned watching it on your computer :p

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  4. I've never watched K-dramas, but some of my old roommates have LOVED them. I'm definitely interested in maybe starting one!

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    1. Kdramas are seriously amazing :) There is really something for every one in them! It's like all of our favorite books being brought to life with ridiculously handsome and beautiful actors :)

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  5. Okay, my daughter loves Korean dramas, so I am going to share this post with her. I don't remember her talking about any of the ones mentioned here, either

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  6. I don't watch a lot of K-dramas, but those ones sound really, really good! I love the sound of the first one, Love me If you Dare. Might have to try it sometime :) Great post!

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    1. I can't say enough good things about Love Me If You Dare! It's a seriously good show :)

      Here is a link if you want to give it a try:
      https://www.viki.com/tv/29266c-love-me-if-you-dare?q=Love%20me

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  7. Oh my! I have never ever read or watched anything korean/chinese but Love Me If You Dare seems so good???? Like the gifs and everyone is so pretty! I might just give it a try!
    The Vamps...one of my friends just got hooked up on them and she was just telling me about them haha pretty lads!

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    1. Kdramas are the best, visually. They are just gorgeous to watch. And Love Me if You Dare is really aesthetically pleasing! The first few minutes is really weird, but after that, it really is a beautiful show!

      Here is a link if you want to check it out :)
      https://www.viki.com/tv/29266c-love-me-if-you-dare?q=Love%20me

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  8. You have certainly taught me a few things today. Before I read your post I must say that I'd never heard about kdramas and I couldn't name a single boy band (do the Beatles count?)

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  9. THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! I was recently(ish - last couple years) introduced to K-Dramas and am SO excited to get some recommendations. They all sounds really great and are not ones I had heard of which considering how popular you indicate they are, I'm not sure how. This may be a stupid question as I haven't read your about page but how do you access the K Dramas you watch? I know HULU and Netflix have a few but is there anywhere else? Thank you!

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    1. I love meeting Kdrama fans who also love books! It seriously makes my day :) i don't talk as much about kdramas on here as I'd like, since my blogmate doesn't share my obsession. But I am happy to run down what I use to watch kdramas!

      There is Viki and Dramafever that I have subscriptions to, but they also offer up free options if you don't mind watching ads. The subscriptions aren't expensive. Dramafever has a lot of options, I use their $50 for the whole year plan. Viki, I believe, is $3.99 a month. It might be $4.99 now, I'm not sure. But of course, they do both offer free options with ads and increased waiting periods for certain dramas after they air.

      I like Viki better than Dramafever. Viki is faster at subbing, and their subtitles are way more accurate to what is being said. I've found that Dramafever waters their subtitles down to make it easier to understand for people new to dramas. Which is fine, that doesn't bug me! Til I rewatch something on Viki and understand a joke I missed the first time I watched it on Dramafever :p

      If you haven't already heard of it, I recommend checking out My Drama List. It's the goodreads for dramas. It's an excellent resource for reading reviews, keeping track of the dramas you have watched and talking with fellow drama watchers. And of course, for finding new dramas to check out! If you create a profile there, I'd love it if you added me :)

      Oh! Viki and Dramafever both have apps for a lot of streaming devices. You can get Viki on Roku, Xbox 360, Samsung Smart TVs and the new Apple TV. Dramafever is on Roku, PS3 and 4, Amazon Fire, the new Apple TV, Samsung Smart TVs and is coming soon to the XBox 360 as well :) you can also cast from a smart phone or computer to the chrome cast from their apps or from an iPhone to the old Apple TVs :)

      Here are some links -
      www.viki.com

      www.dramafever.com

      To my MDL profile so you can check the site out and add me if you join up ;) - http://mydramalist.com/profile/allyson

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    2. Thanks so much!! I will definitely sign up for MY Drama List - that sounds super helpful. I am also super psyched to explore Viki and Dramafever - my streaming is apparently not automatically set up for either but I'll explore. It feels like my birthday:). So many new toys! And Dramas!

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  10. Aww man so such a great list! So many awesome K-dramas. I totally agree that they would be cool books.

    Liar Game is my number one choice - what a fabulous story that would make. And I'd totally be good with some extra romance thrown in there. ;)

    Descendants of the Sun and Healer would also make cool books. I can totally see Healer as an awesome YA novel.

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  11. Wow. Interesting. I've never heard of kdramas. Maybe you should write the book? :)

    And I love me some boy bands, but I've never heard of these. Now I just feel old.

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  12. I haven't gotten into kdramas, but have watched a lot of Kpop music videos when we had exchange students. As far as boy bands I'm more of a throwback, *NSYNC and Back Street Boys, plus the British West Life.

    My Top Ten Tuesday: http://books.thetechchef.net/top-ten-tuesday-5/

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  13. I can't say that I've watched many K-dramas but I know a lot of people that have watched and love these shows. I love the sound of Love Me If You Dare. I'm always drawn to those dark and mysterious characters haha.
    I can also say that I've listened to a few of the Vamp's music and they're not bad and they're very talented but I wouldn't call them a favourite.
    - Lois @ My Midnight Musing

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  14. I see commercials for kdramas all the time on Hulu and I've always planned to attempt to watch one, but I just haven't yet. I will look for one of your suggestions. :D

    I have absolutely no frame of reference for modern day boybands. I only know who One Direction are because the world won't let me ignore them, but I still can't name any of them but Zayn because HELLO.

    Elle @ Perusing Pages

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  15. I've never watched any K-Drama, but one of my fellow contributors (to our "freelance" contributing gig at Silver Petticoat) loves them and she reviews them frequently. Perhaps with all of the K-Drama's I'm seeing around the world wide web, it's a sign to go watch them. ;)

    Thanks so much for visiting Finding Wonderland. :)

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