#the matchmakers

[clubfluffer]

Kdramas deciding to throw all the good stuff at us right at the end of the year and at the same time, and me trying to keep up with them all:

[chaiitealeaf]

Thank you for 200 kudos on the Matchmakers texting fic!! I’m so grateful that so many people found some joy in it and it was genuinely such a fun time writing it :)

As an offering and a sign that I’m alive, I drew the gang in their usual shenanigans <3 (the first is slightly a reference to the roadtrip chapter!)

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

[dangermousie]

2023 Kdramas I am excited for

We have only a bit over two months in the year left, but it looks like kdramas saved the best for last. Here is the list of kdramas I am excited for...

Boyhood/Once Upon a Boyhood (November 24) - Siwan hasn't done a bad drama and I am in the mood for a nostalgic 80s piece. I am a little amused that a 35 year old is gonna be playing a high schooler, but in a fond way.

Castaway Diva (October 28) - I am very fond of Park Eun Bin and if anyone can sell the whimsy of a tale about a woman who was a castaway and then becomes a pop star, she will. Not fond of the new trend for 12 eps but it is what it is.

Goryeo-Khitan War (November 11) - my most anticipated for the rest of the year. Every casting and crew choice, every promo makes it look like an old school politics and war heavy sageuk that does not cater in the least to youth or even fusion sageuk subgenres and I am here for it so so so MUCH!

Gyeongseong Creature (December) - not a big fan of netflix originals but I am there for the cast and the setting.

The Matchmakers (October 30) - looks like a wacky period romp with Rowoon and Cho Yi Hyun. I don't have high hopes for it because I like my period stuff angsty, but whatever else, it's gonna be pretty pretty pretty!

Moon In the Day (November 1) - except for GK War, my most anticipated for the rest of the year. Reincarnation/time travel story that flashes back between modern day and Silla - GOD YES!

My Demon (November 24) - sounds like shoujo crack about a demon who loses his powers and enters into a contract marriage (of course) with a human. Done many many times before but I am always a sucker for the trope.

Perfect Marriage Revenge (October 28) - first of all, I have a huge weak spot for Sung Hoon. He's a limited actor but between New Tales of the Gisaeng and his role in Faith, he won my heart forever. But also, this plot is so old school melo the way they don't make it nowadays. Our FL is betrayed by her sister and her husband and dies. But she wakes up before her marriage and decides to do things differently and get revenge. She gets married in a contract marriage to our ML, a chaebol (of course) played by sexy Sung Hoon and...doesn't it all sound like those delicious transmigration novels made flesh?

The Story of Park's Marriage Contract (November 24) - I love time travel/time slip stories and the fact that this is a woman who ends up in the modern day where she comes across the dead ringer of her deceased husband makes it high class Durian, plus Lee Se Young is a wonderful actress who rarely picks wrong.

Tell Me That You Love Me (November) - a remake of my favorite jdrama of all time, Aishteiru to Ittekure, this story about the relationship between a deaf painter and an aspiring younger actress is going to give me the adult love story I crave. The fact that the legend that is Jung Woo Sung is back in dramas, and is playing the ML, is just the perfect thing. (His last proper drama was Padam Padam in 2011!!! He is mainly a movie star.)

Vigilante (November 8) - I am just here to see Nam Joo Hyuk kick people in the face.

Welcome to Samdalri (December 2) - Shin Hye Sun and Ji Chang Wook in a romcom mmmmm. I don't have any pics so have:

[kdramamilfs]

Park Ji-young as Park So-hyun The Matchmakers (2023), ep.06

[samisarline]

I always wondered which Diabolik lovers characters will match with me but I’m too complex to say what I like or don’t. I NEED SOMEONE TO KNOW ME FIRST IM COMPLICATED OKAY😭😭

Trust bros trust

[whenthegoldrays]

ELLY'S TOP TEN K-DRAMAS (with songs to match!)

10. The Matchmakers (2023)

A royal decree to marry off old maidens forces uptight prince Gyeongwoonjae and professional matchmaker Soon Deok to join forces. Pride and Prejudice meets Romeo and Juliet in the prettiest show you've ever seen.

Song for this drama: People Watching

9. Doctor Slump (2024)

After both of their medical careers take a nosedive, former high school nemeses Haneul and Jeongwoo are reunited by chance, and discover they might be the people best suited to comfort each other. I do not know when I have met two kdrama leads this utterly lovable.

Song for this drama: Happy & Sad

8. Hometown Cha Cha Cha (2021)

Yoon Hye-jin moves to a seaside town to open a dental clinic and finds the home she always wanted amidst its colorful residents. So funny and the male lead is basically the perfect man.

Song for this drama: Apple Pie

7. Familiar Wife (2018)

A married couple who have fallen out of love get to see each other in a new light after the husband, Ju-hyeok, goes back in time and changes their history. You've never rooted this hard for such an infuriating man.

Song for this drama: No One Knows

6. Marry My Husband (2024)

After being murdered by her husband and best friend, a woman wakes up ten years in the past, months before her wedding, and must fight to prevent her marriage and eventual death from happening again. Swooniest male lead, cutest female friendships, and some of the most legit terrifying villains.

Song for this drama: Funeral

5. Lovely Runner (2024)

Immediately after her idol commits suicide, the devastated Sol is transported back to high school, where she discovers that the two of them used to be neighbors and begins a desperate mission to change the course of his life. Get ready for the most adorable, most pathetic loser of a male lead ever.

Song for this drama: Always Remember Us This Way

4. When Life Gives You Tangerines (2025)

From 1950s Jeju Island to modern-day Seoul, the multigenerational story of the love, grief, and determination that bind a family together. You will cry in every episode and that is both a promise and a threat.

Song for this drama: Everywhere, Everything

3. Crash Landing On You (2019–2020)

After a freak accident lands her in North Korea, Yoon Se-ri must rely on the soldier who saved her life in order to survive, stay hidden, and get back to South Korea. Rips you apart in the best possible way.

Song for this drama: If I Never Knew You

2. Live Up To Your Name (2017)

Renowned acupuncturist Heo Im falls 400 years through time and lands in Seoul, where his life and fate intertwine with that of cardiac surgeon Choi Yeon Kyung. Beautiful, unmatched chemistry.

Song for this drama: epiphany

1. Twinkling Watermelon (2023)

Ha Eun Gyeol is mysteriously sent back in time, where he meets his parents as teenagers and discovers he didn't know as much about them as he thought he did. Peak family feels, peak soft couple, and peak enemies to lovers.

Song for this drama: Long Live

[estelle-sim]

The wedding night