"You can tell he's an epic warrior because he jumps off his horse and shoves it at the enemy"
Ah, Korean historical costume drama... so much crazy crammed into.... well, it's actually quite a lot of time. Time and hair ornaments.
Also the Hwarang ("Flowering Youth"). Who were an actual historical thing: a group of noble-born young men who were trained in fighting and ethics and poetry and the appreciation of nature and so on.
Comically stupid servant girl:* They are so pretty! And they were all in the shrine, painting their faces! I peeked!
The king's young pregnant wife: Wait, what? They were what?
CSSG: Face-painting! I'll show you!
TKYPW: Ohnoes! Don't you know anything about the Hwarang? They only paint their faces when they are GOING INTO BATTLE!!!!
Hwarang: This is some very fierce blush!! Rarrrr! This eye shadow? Absolutely vicious!!!
TKYPW: They want to be sure that they will still look pretty, even in death!
Me: Okay, I can see that; that's actually interesting, and the take on masculinity and fighting; very interesting... but I have one question. You put your hair up and get it out of the way... and then you go with the long dangly silver earrings? Because that just seems to be asking for trouble...
*No, really-- if this were "Iron Man," she'd be following Robert Downey Jr. around with a fire extinguisher; she's that kind of comic relief character. Works in her favor sometimes, though; when she has to sneak a Plot-Relevant Secret Baby out of the palace when it's in lockdown, she's freaking out so badly that she keeps trying to hand the baby off to the guard who catches her... which makes him assume she's trying to avoid scandal, so he sternly tells her, "You play, you pay!" and shoves her out the gate.
Also the Hwarang ("Flowering Youth"). Who were an actual historical thing: a group of noble-born young men who were trained in fighting and ethics and poetry and the appreciation of nature and so on.
Comically stupid servant girl:* They are so pretty! And they were all in the shrine, painting their faces! I peeked!
The king's young pregnant wife: Wait, what? They were what?
CSSG: Face-painting! I'll show you!
TKYPW: Ohnoes! Don't you know anything about the Hwarang? They only paint their faces when they are GOING INTO BATTLE!!!!
Hwarang: This is some very fierce blush!! Rarrrr! This eye shadow? Absolutely vicious!!!
TKYPW: They want to be sure that they will still look pretty, even in death!
Me: Okay, I can see that; that's actually interesting, and the take on masculinity and fighting; very interesting... but I have one question. You put your hair up and get it out of the way... and then you go with the long dangly silver earrings? Because that just seems to be asking for trouble...
*No, really-- if this were "Iron Man," she'd be following Robert Downey Jr. around with a fire extinguisher; she's that kind of comic relief character. Works in her favor sometimes, though; when she has to sneak a Plot-Relevant Secret Baby out of the palace when it's in lockdown, she's freaking out so badly that she keeps trying to hand the baby off to the guard who catches her... which makes him assume she's trying to avoid scandal, so he sternly tells her, "You play, you pay!" and shoves her out the gate.
tired
