Rosie Writes Fiction Now

How's my title for the post? Catchy? Do I have your attention now? I'm a little ashamed to admit this, but my blog feels dead. I can't coax the words out from my fingers to pen drama reviews. Same 'ole story, but for one thing I'm not watching dramas as fast right now. And for the few airing dramas I do watch a season, I think y'all and the rest of the blogosphere got us covered. The second reason, which I've hinted before, is that my writing feels a little dead. Without inspiration, there's a limit to the things I can bring myself to type about the dramas I'm watching, or the music I'm listening to.

Earlier last week, somehow, I mentioned to Jane how once upon a time I used to try my hand at fiction. Silly things, crack fantasies, romances more about life than love even. My last notebook that I've actually kept dates me back to about 12 or 14 years old. The stories were crap of course. I cringe now when I read through them. After that phase I moved on to essays, and by the time I was in college, essays were my jam!

Well here we are now. 2014, and I'm 26 almost 27 years old. In my head I don't feel older than 22. I've always had an active imagination. Halfway realistic stories of myself and people more famous than myself flit in and out of my brain at any hour of the day, and every month or so I consciously change up the scenarios, and the people, and do something freshen up my daydreams. Unlike the dreams of my youth though, these aren't exactly the go-to fantasies that rescue me from the daily depression of life. Far from it, because I don't need such diversion. But my creative mind never seems to shut up, and I've got to acknowledge that I've essentially been writing fanfiction in my head. So to make at least one person in my life happy (my sister, thank you for the support!) I'm bringing one of these stories to life.

Not Another Exo Fanfic... Seriously, it's not. My character seems very much like myself. I've deemed it 'slice of life' - whatever that may be, and put myself my character in as realistic a situation as I can muster - a visitor, roaming the streets of Seoul. It's my story and it's not. Less wishful thinking, more a creative vision of bringing scenarios to life, if such situations were to actually happen. Namely, if I a young woman ran into three members of Exo: Xiumin, Luhan, and the surprising lead to this story... Chen.

Strangers on the Street

Read the forward below if you're curious, or follow the above link to my story's home spot on AFF.
Kindly enjoy, and/or don't judge. Lol

Kdrama Review: Que Sera, Sera (2007)

Que Sera, Sera
케세라, 세라
8/10 ♥♥

My tastes in dramas have surely been wandering. I can't keep up with the hype of modern dramas, and while 2007 isn't technically that long ago, for a Kdrama there's a world of difference between this dark melo of the past and the world of today's trendies, including some of the more recent melodramas I've been able to sit through. So while everything I tend to start these days ends up perpetually 'on hold', something about watching this class act from the not so distant past took me back to the days when I had just discovered Kdramas - when every thing was new and wondrous, when dramas could shock me. Unlike my encounters with the first Kdramas of personal experience though, this one even made me a little bit scared.

Que Sera, Sera is sometimes listed as having one of the darkest, twisted plots you can find. Let me tell you something: it fits the bill. Okay maybe not as far as totally sicko, disgusting, or morbid. There's no gore or psycho killers. But there's no villain! And that's kind of the whole point. Our lead man Kang Tae Joon, played by Shinhwa's Eric Moon, is poor. Our lead girl Eun Su (Jung Yu Mi) is also.. get this.. poor. The second leads are not-exactly-siblings Ji Soo and Joon Hyuk (Lee Eun Soon and Lee Kyu Han respectively), the richer duo, and not a single person in this whole drama is happy.  Poor man falls in love with poor girl, but dates rich girl so he can take care of poor girl's debts. Rich girl gets a fake boyfriend to taunt her not-a-brother former lover, and not-brother genuinely falls in love with poor girl. Seemingly standard fare except the cross mixing of these four's relationships with one another are simultaneously exhilarating, and downright disturbing.

Here's just one small reaction hint: It's a kiss scene. Our girl is running out of a hotel room in the rain, trailed by hot Eric Moon who spins her around violently, and she gives in initiating steamy smooching.. I'm sitting on the floor in front of the TV while all this is happening, and my husband just comes in from work through the front door. He finds me, Rosie, sitting stunned, hands covering my mouth. "Good scene?" he asks with a mistakenly placed smirk. "No!" I answer with a horrendous squawk and burst into tears of rage over the events on screen. When did ever a kiss scene go wrong? You'll find out when you watch Que Sera, Sera.

I still have nightmares.

Note to readers - This drama is kind of amazing. Sure it's old and the cinematography and production values are a bit lacking. The second girl a plastic nose identical to a dozen other same era actresses, and every character in the show will at some point make you want to rip your hair out - except where in most Kdramas where it's cliches and crappy plot twists or character non-development that make you want to end your life, here it's because Que Sera Sera has a raw edge to it that I've rarely seen even in the movies, let alone television. And whether or not you like the characters, the actors' portrayals sell the whole thing, and it's impossible to quit and not wonder what on earth is going to happen to them all.

Read for more some SPOILERLY thoughts rambles on the story, the pairings, and the end.

Apply to Write for Mydramalist.com

Just a note to any of my followers, friends, or lurkers - anyone with an urge for creative writing of the Asian drama sort:

MDL Writers Wanted! Yes, you... We want YOU!

Mydramalist.com is recruiting volunteers for General Topics, Currently Watching, Movie Reviews, and Drama News writers. Whether you have your own blog or not, we'd love to feature an original post of yours on our website. I say "our website" because I'm the Editor in Chief.. So, if you know me, chances are I'll show some favoritism ;) Just kidding. Or maybe I'm not.. But seriously, apply if you want! *Must have an account on there. But then again, that's not hard and it's one of the coolest ways to organize your drama watch list. No, this is not just a shameless plug. I just really love the site and want to find as many awesome writers as I can. :)

Less Liebe, A Little More 'Thoughts About Blogging'

Read through my First Liebster Award Here

Every couple of days for the past few months I find myself staring at my blog page. To me it feels a little dead, a little stale, like it's shut down for the winter with only the occasional, increasingly sparse entry marking the fact that Rosie the Blogger is still alive and active. Even less frequently, I update the currently watching/recently watched sidebar. If my blogging has become stagnant, the dramas I watch even more so. Is this how drama death feels like? I can't tell. Very little in in the Dramaverse has captivated me (even that's not true, because I have recently watched several dramas that made my heart spin...) Rather, I think it's my attention span, shortened to increments of barely 40 minutes. If only Kdramas in particular could tone down the length! 

So I'm just going to pretend that my lack of consistent blogging is less about my waning interest and general drama slump, and more laziness. How am I going to get out of this? By answering the questions of two fellow bloggers who nominated me (ages ago now!) for another Liebster award. Maybe this will entice me to get back into writing?

So thank you for, Love Bug's Obsession and Asian Addicts Anonymous, and the several other bloggers who've given me a nod in the right direction, to return to blogging. P.S. I may answer the following drama-related questions, but I kind of feel like talking about myself for a change. So hah! Bear with me if you want. :)

Un-reviewable Dramas 5: Heirs and Two Weeks

One I live-watched, the other I pseudo-marathoned. The first 5 episodes at least, and then I got overwhelmed and simultaneously bored. Is that even possible? Turns out it is. I watched Heirs and Two Weeks purely because I knew everybody else was. Oh, and maybe for their casts. All of Heirs was going to be a golden mixture, even if the drama turned out ill, and Two Weeks - well, as an occasional Lee Jun Ki fangirl, I try to at least sample every project he's done, even if I never finish *coughs*Arang*coughs*.

Moah? It's the second drama of mine Rosie hasn't liked..
I'll have to try harder next time.

Sadly, neither grabbed my attention so much- and now that they're over and done with, it's kind of annoying me that they're sitting in my 'Recently Watched' box all happy and content, surrounded by other more well-deserving dramas. Stricly my opinion of course. And since I haven't been in a frame of mind to write up brilliant and stunning reviews for Flames of Desire and Que Sera Sera, I'm going to start by knocking a few little things off my tally of things-to-discuss. This is what I call productivity. Oh yes, Rosie's being so productive right now. 

Read on for the lamest reviews ever of Heirs (2013) and Two Weeks (2013).

[Blog Fun] Traffic Source Keywords 2

It hasn't been quit a year since the first installment of one of my favorite things about blogging - the weird and bizarre search words that bring in viewers to Shine a Light Rose. And these aren't just those random ad sites that blatantly hype up your stats via computer generation in hopes of making me follow them back to their shady sources. No, it's the key words that proove that REAL PEOPLE occasionally pop on by. Lurkers who probably got lost. Welcome all! And I hope you stay! But uhm, what were looking for in the first place??

By the way, can I just get this off my chest? I'm a little embarrassed that the number one search that repeatedly crops up, and has kept this post in the No 1 spot for months(!) is my review of Taiwanese drama Easy Fortune Happy Life. Why? Because I completely skewered that show, and now that's probably the only impression some people have of me. Not that I care... *you lurkers you* Okay, but I do feel bad. It makes me want to cover more Twdramas and do it better. But, that requires watching better Twdramas, and at this point I'm not sure there are that many of them out there that I haven't already watched. Of those, I'm too intimidated to write a less than stellar review (I'm talking about you, Autumn's Concerto, and In Time With You).

Okay that's over with. Let's resume with my favorite 10 search words of the 2013.

# 10 Block B The Most Talented Group

Why what a great query. Yes they are the most talented group. Nope, I'm not biased either. Why is this here though, former lurker? Did you just need confirmation? If so, please check out my totally not biased assessment of them. 

Courtesy of "Honest Thoughts About Block B: Part 2"

#9 Crack Summer's Desire

At least this person got the whole point of the show. Indeed it was crack. I'm not sure how good a quality crack it was, but to each his own. Would you like to find out a little more about this 'crack drama' now? 

Courtesy of "Twdrama Review: Summer's Desire"

Continue on, please! More silly stuff to follow. 

A Touch of K-Pop: December '13

There's something about holidays - A time when I technically SHOULD have more time for fun things like writing and watching drama, and listening to concerts and Kpop, and... I don't. When by myself I sit around in more of a stupor, mindlessly browsing Tumblr or the internet, and when family and friends are around, I still sit around in a stupor, except I don't get anything done then.

Where am I going with this again?

Oh yes! So, in the past 2 weeks I've probably watched less than 5 hours of drama, and kept up with barely anything in Kpop. I don't know what happened. So let me recap the few things I do remember doing/watching/listening...

Sweet Flower, Deep Flower

My husband says that after everything Block B came out with, Junhyung's solo "Flower" is his favorite song of the year. That was, until I pointed out the Engrish. You know what, I'm not sure Beast is or ever will get their act together with the Engrish. It was bad in the past, it's still bad now, and Junhyung's solo endeavor is just as spotty. But so what because I love it. I'm ad-dic-ted to this song, and to the choreo of whatever fantastic backup dancers Cube had the brilliant idea to include. The MV for "Flower" is cool of course, but I can't stop rewatching the Practice version for its incredible CGJ-less imagery and amazing technicality.

I'll admit it - but I never expected this to be one of my favorite songs of the month. It's a little nice to be surprised though.

So you want to know my shallow thoughts on The Boss, Exo, December stuff, and a late as hell Christmas roundup? Read on, friend. Read on.