The "Viki Original" you haven't seen yet

[entwyfhasbeenfound]

I was thinking that if “our” FL had a very rare last name and a beautiful personal name, that would say something about her uniqueness, but I like the idea that she would be a hidden beauty with a very common family name and a striking personal name.

To be nit-picky . . . my specialty . . . if her family name in “Western/Roman” script were transliterated Gim, Pak, or Yi, then I would “hear” it much more softly. There would be more flow to the name.

With the name Boo (or Bu?) for the ML’s family name, there are some great possible jokes about . . . ahem . . . poo. And also the idea of being easily startled or having phobias. And yet the ML needs some inherent dignity. There is nothing wrong with being second in command, serving faithfully and quietly.

There actually could be a sub-theme about names. The more I read about how “non-Western” names have been transliterated over the years . . . by Westerners . . . for the convenience of Westerners . . . the more ashamed I become.

My own personal name, Edith, is derived, as I have come to understand it, from an Anglo-Saxon name meaning “rich gift,” spelled in current English characters/script as “Eadgyth.”

Anglo-Saxon and related languages were originally written in runes, very simple characters that could be hacked into stone (which the Anglo-Saxons and their cousins had a lot of). The language system as it developed was called “futhark.”

Anybody watch the Vikings stuff on the History Channel? You know what I am talking about.

My personal name back in 300 CE would have been something like . . .

(Valhyr)

Now, “rich gift” is a beautiful meaning, and my fathers’ mother, for whom I am named, said when I was small that there was an medieval English queen named Edith Swannick, or Swan-neck. Cool, right?

Well, apparently back in the mists of time, when the Northern European types were busy raiding the heck out of each other, Eadgyth was a name given to women who were captured by Group A–perhaps raped if they were sexually mature–and taken home to serve as slaves for Group B.

“Eadgyth” at some point was the name or descriptor given to women presented by raiders of whatever Northern type to those with whom they were trying to curry favor. “Eadgyths” were indeed rich gifts. Cheap labor, bearers of children who would be cheap labor . . .

Of course, as I may have already mentioned somewhere, the story of human history is that Group A raids and takes over territory, Group B raids back and takes revenge, this goes on for a few hundred years, and then everybody gets married and ends up with families so large that buying birthday presents, graduation presents, and wedding presents is a staggering burden.

So, to wrap up this disquisition (look it up), I think that our characters need names that

• Say something meaningful about who they are
• Allow both friends and foes to reveal who they are in relation to our characters
• Give non-Asian Viki fans (yes, even Korea-boos) some fun and sense of inclusiveness

I think we’re on the right path. (Whether it is an eight-fold path or not, who knows?) However, I have a good feeling about what @vivi_1485 is proposing. How does everybody else feel?

And what about the “other” guy? The eternal K-drama triangle needs that other guy. And he needs a cool name, too.

(Only please do not let him be either worse or better than the ML in his various qualities; let him be about the same because I believe in SML liberation!)

(Giphy)

[vivi_1485]

Okay, WHICH drama are we doing? The ugly duckling one or the cross-culture slavery one? I’m confident about one culture but blending two is a little too much for me.

Koreans would shrug and wonder what’s wrong with that

In @entwyfhasbeenfound’s post above, the author of that article specially mentions that it’s a name that is “very easy to make fun of”. Imagine your surname meaning “Dog”
and Koreans also use it as a slang superlative…
Haven’t you heard the phrase “gae-jashika” (meaning SOB)? It’s just plain mean to name a person that.

With the name Boo (or Bu?) for the ML’s family name, there are some great possible jokes about . . . ahem . . . poo.

That is English. No one would think of making poo jokes in a Korean setting. In general, it’s pretty hard to think English when immersed in Korean. I never noticed the play with English words on the name “Kim Young Goon” in the drama Watcher until someone pointed it out in the reviews.

the ML needs some inherent dignity

that’s why I tried contrasting the two names. “Dae Hyun” means “great” and “shining”. Perfect ML material. Now I just have to come up with the ML and FL’s strengths and weaknesses; I’ll have to make a rough character sketch. I’ll do that after I finish my 1500-word essay on the theme of the poem “The Spider and the Fly” by Mary Howitt because I REALLY need to submit that to my Literature teacher tomorrow

eternal K-drama triangle

please NO, I hate that trope with all the fire inside me(and there is a LOT in there). I like second leads with their own stories, romances and mishaps. I also believe in SML liberation. Complete liberation. I believe in a good bromance between the SML and ML and a normal, platonic friendship between SML and FL.

[ninjas_with_onions]

I was thinking of giving the ML a name that could be made fun of. Giving him the surname “Gae” is just too cruel

For the purpose of being made fun of, why not? To compare someone to a dog because their name is dog would be a given.
To westerners who can’t tell Chinese, Japanese or Koreans apart, the far east and dogs don’t go. The UK has a saying that they are “a nation of dog lovers” (and quite true) so I must go about my business looking at the walking menu everywhere!
You’d be surprised how many times I’m asked straight up “Do you eat dogs?”
Some of my replies:
“Only with special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, all in a sesame seed bun.” (doesn’t always work as the slogan has slowly faded with time)

“Only sausage dogs (dachshunds) in a hotdog bun.”
“Yes, I particularly like greyhounds, but I can never catch the blinkin’ blighters!”

“Only poodles and Chihuahuas because I can never finish a Saint Bernard”

[porkypine]

@ninjas_with_onions

Or perhaps a lighter drama where the Kami is causing supernatural happening as a protest to be returned back to Japan where it got accidentally removed from.
Is the focus mainly on the couple and what they do to find out what is causing the events, what they do once the source of them (the Kami) is identified.
Do they the battle against the Kami if it’s an evil one or how they try to get it safely back to Japan if it’s a benevolent one.
They could seek the aid of a shaman because they only know laundry and is beyond their job description, as they either battle or try to find what is causing chaos in their lives.

Morning light filters down through the new spring-green canopy highlighting a small stream dancing down a mountainside. The rippling water gurgles and laughs as it cascades over the rocks. (continued below pics)


In the hollow of an ancient moss covered tree, tiny eyes look out at the approaching clumsy human tourists who were making such a racket slipping and sliding on the mossy rocks and falling into the stream, disrupting everything. One of them had a small pick ax and was taking whacks at the trees every now and then. The trees bled. The kami cried.

One of the noisy intruders slipped on some rocks and fell upon a small stone lantern, bruised and enraged, they spitefully took a swing with their pick ax at the hapless lantern breaking off one leg. The lantern fell over during the assault.

Inadvertently the tourists knocked over the tiny stone house that a Shinto Priest had made for the kami in this forest stream. Furious about suddenly being homeless and the damage done to their home several kami hopped into the pockets of the intruders who unknowingly brought the kami out of the forest and into the city at large.

Havoc ensues upon the intruders lives.

Kami names:
Moss: モス
Stone: Kesseki - 結石
Water hyacinth: - Hoteiaoi ホテイアオイ
Bamboo: - Taki 竹
Pebble: - Koishi 小石
Leaf: - Ha 葉

The suddenly troubled tourists find themselves missing tickets, and busses and tripping over everything. But, being the determined tourists who want to squeeze every last dime out of their vacation, they went to visit a Shinto Shrine where a Shinto priest saw them and also saw what troubled the bejinxed tourists.

After observing them a moment, the priest rang a bell, bowed twice and clapped his hands twice and then was silent for a moment. The Kami took notice of him. The priest bowed again and the kami came over… The priest bowed again and made a sweeping gesture with his arm toward the honden for the Kami to go there and rest.

Where do the Kami go after this? And, what do they do? Do they take up life in the city? Do they settle in at the Shinto Shrine? Do they ask the priest to take them home and repair their home?

[vivi_1485]

For the purpose of being made fun of, why not? To compare someone to a dog because their name is dog would be a given.

Yeah, but “gae” is just too harsh… if they talk about a normal dog, they usually use “kangaji” or something. “Gae” is almost always derogatory.

You’d be surprised how many times I’m asked straight up “Do you eat dogs?”

Oh dear At least it isn’t “Do you eat insects/worms?” Idk why they think that’s a Far-East Asian staple food

[ninjas_with_onions]

I see, yes, in context which word would work better for which level of mockery. So you would have two very mean parent characters setting their kids up for a life of misery naming them that way. Evil!

Oh dear At least it isn’t “Do you eat insects/worms?”

Oh, I don’t know where these people get these ideas from…

(funny though, Mmmmm, protein.)

[leerla73]

Oh dear At least it isn’t “Do you eat insects/worms?” Idk why they think that’s a Far-East Asian staple food

Oh, I don’t know where these people get these ideas from…

For the curious above, brace yourselves, this was posted a year ago and for the not so curious, NO he did not eat it, he just sat in front of it it has english subtitles.

. Furious about suddenly being homeless and the damage done to their home several kami hopped into the pockets of the intruders who unknowingly brought the kami out of the forest and into the city at large.

Yessss! Home run!

So far we’ve mulled several plots, and stories, I think we could incorporate some of the ideas from each that fly, into the Kami story, there is so much room there! ‍♀ to be honest I can’t wait for you’all to tag some unsuspecting fans with their character. They’ll suddenly be front, and center, producing dialogue that rocks!!! !!

[vivi_1485]

nothing wrong with being second in command, serving faithfully and quietly.

I meant “always-second”. There’s nothing wrong with being second-in-command, but it’s a reflection of the character… always second at everything. I’ve been there so I can relate. Never first, never on top. Just second. So I like the symbolism for his ugly-duckling development

If we’re going the Japanese route, I will have to pull out… I don’t like writing about things I don’t know. I’ve watched only two anime(Noragami and Doraemon) and one J-drama(Shanai Marriage Honey). I won’t be able to write a thing about the Kami. I have a very rough idea of Japanese folklore… I find it interesting and that’s why I don’t want to put my inexperienced hands on it.

[leerla73]

I won’t be able to write a thing about the Kami. I have a very rough idea of Japanese folklore… I find it interesting and that’s why I don’t want to put my inexperienced hands on it.

If they are in Seoul Korea, why wouldn’t you be able to write. They are in Seoul now

[vivi_1485]

Lol no

You can take the Kami out of Japan, but you can’t take Japan out of the Kami I also don’t like meddling with religion. I don’t like it when others misinterpret my own faith based on things they’ve watched, so I wouldn’t want to do that with another religion. That’s why I don’t want to write a word about shamanism either.

I’m sorry I’m being so particular @entwyfhasbeenfound and @ninjas_with_onions sunbaenims have the authority to fire me!

[leerla73]

@vivi_1485
Write about what you know, throwing in the name Kami, will let us know they are a-foot. . . just get creative with your beloved fluffly SML/SFL romance loving the FL/ML angle, and let those creative juices flow! !!

[leerla73]

Let the show begin!

I hate rehearsals, but it’s a necessary evil
I see crumpled up balls of paper everywhere, this writing, and churning out ideas, main plots, and side plots. Yikes! Where is the Segue Cafe owner, and self appointed hostess when you need them they had a deal with the Badger Production to provide Snax, and Snax! Especially that imported Kamite something that a certain someone keeps pestering our hard working PD-nim to get, they were having it shipped 🦧 the very least! they could make sure we have some Segue Cafe specialties

[porkypine]

If we’re going the Japanese route, I will have to pull out… I don’t like writing about things I don’t know.

It’s ok. Just write parts that you do know about and leave the Kami to others. Kami is just the Japanese word for nature spirits. They exist everywhere and have different names depending on where they are.

To westerners who can’t tell Chinese, Japanese or Koreans apart, the far east and dogs don’t go. The UK has a saying that they are “a nation of dog lovers” (and quite true) so I must go about my business looking at the walking menu everywhere!
You’d be surprised how many times I’m asked straight up “Do you eat dogs?”
Some of my replies:
“Only with special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, all in a sesame seed bun.” (doesn’t always work as the slogan has slowly faded with time)

That reminds me of one time when I was in the Philippines, last century. We were driving somewhere or other out in the boondok and I saw these two guys trying to coax a very sad dog into a sack. That dog was hunkered down and did NOT want to move. Our car passed by so I didn’t see the end of that story but I smiled and told my hubby, “Someone is having adobong aso tonight.” Curried dog.

Oh, FYI. Dog was a ceremonial food for many tribes in the Americas.

[entwyfhasbeenfound]

So, my “thing” about Bu/Pu obviously has nothing to do with traditional Korean culture.

It has to do with Viki. It has to do with the fact that “young Korea” is very Western, “out-Westerning” the West with K-pop and the manufacture of incredible cars and the production of lines of clothing and accessories that rival England, France, and Italy, and European-style restaurants, pâtisseries, and boulangeries that rival those of Europe.

My favorite “foreign” film of all time has got to be Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi with Sharukh Khan and Anushka Sharma. A lot of its sweetness and charm and a lot of its heart-grabbing tears come from geeky Surinder scheming to win the heart of his wife who ends up as his wife in a VERY arranged marriage.

His process of transformation from geek to hunk (with the aid of barber friend Bobby) is hysterical. When he emerges as a cool dude wearing blue jeans, cowboy boots, a flashy shirt, aviator sunglasses, and a wild mop of shiny black hair, you can tell that’s who he truly wants to be–bold, confident, and totally there for the love of his life.

And in the scenes where Real Love is working in both their hearts, and they are both praying to be worthy of each other, the movie becomes a timeless storie; it shows rather than tells how important values persist and transform throughout generations. We may be modern and cool and ashamed of being thought out-of-touch, but Real Love doesn’t, as the saying goes, give a toss.

(Free Dictionary)

The number of jokes in K-dramas on Viki about poo, about farting, about having to go are innumerable. (And I have read several places that constipation of the kind complained about was not an issue in Korean culture until the introduction of Western . . . cuisine? . . . during the Korean War.

As for the “eternal triangle,” you have to remember that, in the process of discussing any story development . . .

when there isn’t any story yet . . .
when there aren’t any characters yet . . .
when they don’t have names yet . . .
when nothing is written in stone . . .
when nobody has committed to anything . . .

It’s all just concepts, ideas, food for thought.

And the reality is that . . . every good story I can think of that has stayed with me has two males who are bound together in one way or another by the love and concern of a woman.

Day Five of Tihar is Bhai Tika, right? Sisters show their appreciation for their brothers. It’s rooted in cultural, historical, and genetic realities in a lot of palces across the world.

The most foundational of which is, in order to maintain genetic diversity in human populations, it has been the case since the dawn of time that communities send young women out to be brides of sons, and they welcome young men in to be the husbands of wives. And in this situation, if a girl has strong older brothers, she’s more likely to be respected by the family that she marries into.

Plus, a family with brothers AND sisters ends up (in my view) being more socially at ease. Guys with sisters are not quite as clueless about women as guys who have no sisters.

And who are the peacemakers in families? Mothers.

A Nepali family I knew about ten years ago, very recently arrived in the US and managing to deal with culture shock fairly well, invited me for a meal (oh, major yum), and I discovered that the mom was the absolute rani in her home, in charge of seeing that her kids were properly prepared every morning with books, papers, pens, pencils, signed forms, whatever they needed.

She prayed to Laxmi, Parvati, and Saraswati for their success; she prayed for her husband’s success at work and favor in the eyes of his supervisor and boss; she took care of her mother-in-law; she cooked meals to stuff a whale for her family . . . and she absolutely bristled when I told her what modern American women thought of how she spent her life.

She was “old-fashioned,” but she was absolutely loved, honored, and respected. Her two sons especially treated her with respect because if they screwed up . . . oh, dear. The yelling, the finger pointing, the “how can you do this to our family” and so on.

The point is that one can be, I think, modern and timeless, silly and solemn, spiritual and earthy. That’s life. And jokes made in love never harm; they heal and bring together.

And it is the interplay of men and women, of human beings, in a variety of relationships–family, school, marriage, work, even just interactions in passing, that are at the heart of every human story. Otherwise, Viki would be all about cooking . . . robotics in industry . . . how to harvest seaweed for making gimbap . . .

[leerla73]

It has to do with the fact that “young Korea” is very Western, “out-Westerning” the West with K-pop and the manufacture of incredible cars and the production of lines of clothing and accessories that rival England, France, and Italy, and European-style restaurants, pâtisseries , and boulangeries that rival those of Europe.

Don’t forget their homeless, and neglected elderly, and abandoned babies born out of wedlock.

[vivi_1485]

The point is that one can be, I think, modern and timeless, silly and solemn, spiritual and earthy. That’s life. And jokes made in love never harm; they heal and bring together.

I love this! I believe that too and you put it into words so well!

write parts that you do know about and leave the Kami to others

All right.

has two males who are bound together in one way or another by the love and concern of a woman.

but they don’t have to be rivals in love! Moonlight Drawn By Clouds had a triangle but there was the third guy, the ninja who was best friends with the Crown Prince. He just grew to love the FL like a sister.
Suspicious Partner, DOTS, You are My Hero, Oh My Venus, Flower of Evil, and Tomorrow With You were great romances that didn’t have love triangles. But they did have SMLs who had their own stories and were also good friends of the ML.

[meonmyown]

Penthouse 3 has only 12 Episodes !!

[leerla73]

This is not the thread for:

Penthouse 3

@perspective_of_life @shraddhasingh
You may want to segue to either one of these threads:

• Segue Cafe - meet up with friends to chat about whatever strikes your fancy

• Wanna Segue but can't? (☞*❛ ͜ʖ❛)☞Bring That Discussion's, Post's, Link Here 😉!

[entwyfhasbeenfound]

Well, unfortunately, those aspects of Korean culture are both timeless and modern.

There is a saying from the Christian Scriptures, “the poor you will always have with you.”

Meaning on the one hand, that human existence since the beginning has been full of circumstances beyond the control of us all that can plunge people so unexpectedly into hardship. The United States is preparing even now to receive appro16,000 Afghani immigrants, many of whom will arrive here with . . . nothing.

(I know a couple, husband and wife, who are medical personnel in the USAF stationed at the base in Germany that is receiving ; even as I write, those immigrants on the first leg of their journey to a home they do not desire to have; they are working double shifts to give each person arriving a complete medical exam.

https://www.facebook.com/86thcommandteam/posts/1137857933411934

The brief message from the Ramstein Air Force Base commander is touching indeed.

And we all know of circumstances wherever we look; who can forget the ongoing work of St. Teresa of Calcutta and her Missionaries of Charity?

And I also find it immensely touching that, when “making puja” in very special circumstances, one of the things that Hindus do is offer clothes to God as a means of teaching their children the importance of compassion and self-sacrifice for those who lack material advantages. (At least that’s how my Nepali friends–both Hindu and Buddhist–explained it to me).

On the other hand, people fall on hard times because of deliberate choices they make–out of pride, out of ignorance, it doesn’t matter. They still experience suffering and loss.

I actually find Korean culture much more compassionate than American culture toward its members who experience these kinds of troubles.

The Drop Box

(I have yet to see this particular movie online; it is such an unusual type of movie that it’s possible its niche market has been deemed too small to generate “useful” income. Whatever.)

But the “trope” of suffering humanity is not merely Korean; it is universal and therefore inevitably compelling.

Hate to be a broken record, but Devil Judge is gripping precisely because, IMHO, it addresses not merely Korean but HUMAN issues. It’s not everybody’s cup of tea, but its power derives from its universality.

[entwyfhasbeenfound]

Because of the way I was raised, my parents were truly fierce about me presuming to think I could know anything about anybody through just skating on the surface of their lives.

I have a friend who is Japanese-American and grew up in Hawai’i. She is married to a Swedish-American computer programmer. Her father was a Senator in the Hawaiian [sp?] Senate BEFORE Hawai’i became an official state of the United States. Her family adopted Christianity as their belief system at some point after her immediate ancestors arrived in Hawai’i but were Buddhist before.

When she turned 60, her oldest daughter compiled a scrapbook of photos and letters and whatnot from friends, family, and other well-wishers.

I did a “script” for a Tom Baker Dr. Who episode that never got aired that involved the Doctor and his female companion from Hawai’i. She investigated strange happenings by shape-shifting (as the Shinto kami are supposed to do) into various innocuous items. She became a teapot at one point and a Coca-Cola vending machine at another point.

I have joked for quite a few years that, when I leave food out for the neighborhood cats who do excellent work keeping the rat/mouse population very low, it is like leaving offerings for kami.

If I don’t have the “patio” (it’s not exactly that) in my back yard swept clean, with food set out at specific times, one particular cat will sit in my driveway and wait for me to come out with trash for the trash toter or the recycling toter. And she will stare at me as if to say, “You’re late! Snap it up!”

There is certainly NO WAY Badger Productions could EVER fire someone who has such concern for presenting human beings in their best light and for treating all people with dignity and respect. That is, in my opinion, the response we need to the mess that the world has been in for the past few years.

Love, humor, cats, Kit-Kat bars, questions, poetry, a belief in the inherent value and dignity of all human beings . . . all part of a unique peace movement. Seriously.

People who live their values quietly every day, who don’t just talk loudly and then do essentially nothing, can have, IMHO, more of an impact than a thousand presidents and prime ministers.

(Giphy)