I know many of you have watched and loved Witch's Romance, the Korean remake of My Queen, but we decided to watch My Queen first, to compare. From what I heard they are very similar, so many of you will still be able to relate to this. My Queen (and probably Witch's Romance) is a role reversal story.
Shan Wu Shuang is the strong, independent character who has trapped herself in the bubble of her life, wanting love but focusing on work instead. She is the rich(er), bratty, chaebol type character who is hiding her heart of gold under a touch exterior because she's been hurt in the past. She is a powerful ice block hiding a gooie interior because of her tragic past. She is the lead man character in nearly every other drama.
Lucas is "Candy". Candy is a stereotyped manga character and represents the sweet, hardworking, poor(er), working class girl who is always cheerful despite her problems and sometimes troubled childhood. She is the working class girl who despite her cheerful disposition, works hard and needs to be saved by the rich dude. But more importantly she needs to save the rich dude by softening the icy exterior and warming up the gooie interior, letting that heart of gold shine. She is basically the heroine of every rich dude/poor girl drama. Lucas is the "Candy" character of this story.
Lucas is a hardworking "professional part-timer" who is basically the perfect man that any girl would fall in love with, and practically every girl does. I mean, look at him. Ethan Ruan is a sexy, cute man.
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He is nice, sweet, hardworking, and cheerful. He also has a tragic back story to create an even bigger reason for him to have to work so dang hard. No matter how crappy his life is, he has a positive attitude and a go get'em work ethic. Also, he wears hoodies that look so very good on him.
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Of course, because of her tough mean exterior, there is misunderstandings that make him not like her and call her Lady Voldemort. This is typical, as the rich, powerful character is always misunderstood as being way meaner than they actually are. In this case she is so focused on work that she ends up walking over people without thinking about them, or is too embarrassed to say why she does something when it actually is for someone else.
He is also a romantic, which is the reason he gives Wu Shuang a chance. Once he sees her as a 'been hurt but still believes in love" woman as opposed to Lady Voldemort, he'll be her friend for life.
He'll save her when she is hurt, despite of how she treats people. He believes she still deserves to be loved, no matter how rude she can be.
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And then fall in love with her as he tries to help her fall in love with someone else.
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The most important part of being Candy is that he loves her exactly the way she is, and doesn't want her to change. He is the perfect man.
Obviously he is not a 100% match, since he has a hot temper that gets him into all sorts of trouble, and he is a saucy little tease. He's got way too much character to be just Candy, but those elements are there.
Then compare him to the past love Polarbear, who loved Wu Shuang and is also very hot, but he is no good match for her, because he is the past and not the future. He wont help her progress, because his character fundamentally keeps her trapped in memory as opposed to breaking out of her ice shell. He'll love her, but he probably wont help her grow any more because his time is passed. He was ok, but obviously not good.
Most of all, he wanted to be the lead. Shan Wu Shuang needed Candy, not a person that would push her into what he thought was perfect.
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The most typical Candy characteristic is loving the person and not the money. When confronted with a Cinderella/gold digger situation Candy usually says she doesn't need the money and can't handle that the person is richer than her. While Shan Wu Shuang is not rich, she is certainly a well paid editor with a stable job, while Lucas is a part-time pro/med student. One of the only fathomable reason for them to be together in many people's eyes is the sugar mama aspect. Older women with pocket change for their younger men.
However, Lucas rejects that thought, and always tries to pay for things himself, despite his money circumstances. He is too proud to even tell her that he has a big debt to pay off and would reject any help offered. This causes her to sneakily help him, as is typical of this type of character, in such a way that would be seen as him earning it, or it being impossible for him to refuse, as in the time when she pushed herself so their team could win the year end bonus.
Here are some other classic Candy moments:
Shouting frustrations out at the ocean.
Forced skinship.
The accidental kiss.
The piggyback.
Running to save the day.
Shooting himself in the foot in the name of truth and fairness.
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Looking adorable while drunk.
And fighting to protect people (and because he's pissed off).
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Then, once they decide to be together, nothing is going to stop them or tear them apart. In the face of adversity in love, Candy Lucas is the one who holds on and works hard for love, while Shan Wu Shuang has doubts.
He is always the first to apologize and make it his fault.
And the one who helps her get on her feet when anything happens.
He is the Candy Star Wars Prince, aka the perfect man any noona could ask for. Wabam!
