[Staff Spotlight] Get to know mary

162 June 27, 2017June 26, 2017

by mary

Explain your username (and/or avatar).

It’s my real name! Fellow mary beanies will know the struggle of registering this username without having to add 3 letters, 25 special characters, and the square root of your high school crush’s phone number divided by the birthdate of your pet hamster. So I love this username and I’m not giving it up! (Sorry to the other mary beanies!) My avatar is nothing special. Just a picture of some Random Guy sending a cheesy heart out to the world.

What is the first drama that you watched (or the first drama that made an impression)?

Lovers in Paris was my first marathon but it was Delightful Girl Chun-hyang that really hooked me. Before Chun-hyang, most of the dramas I’ve seen were set in haciendas where the poor girl gets chased by a lecherous landlord while she falls in love with a rich guy from the city whose parents hate her for being poor (basically, every Thalia show ever). So a K-drama where scholarships were important and some adults are prejudiced against underachieving kids seemed groundbreaking to me. Who knew you can use the teenage phase of a drama for anything other than setting up Tragic Separations and Fauxcest?

Tell us about a job or two that you’ve had in the past.

Outside of web development, I’ve never had another job. But the first one (a student assistant role) was memorable because I coded as a hobby and never met anyone in real life who knew HTML/CSS before that. I expected to be interviewed by a strict, senior professor who will throw me out with “We only take Computer Science students, how dare you step foot in our office?” So I was gobsmacked when the door was answered by a cute “student” who turned out to be the teacher in-charge of the web team. Five minutes into the interview, he cracked a joke about CSS and laughed this nerdy laugh… and I was a goner. I credit that first job for teaching me “dedication.”

Have you ever lived a moment that you thought belonged in a drama?

Very often! Our family life resembles loud, sprawling weekenders. I want to swap it for a rom-com but I’m scared I’ll get a daily makjang instead.

What drama genres do you especially like?

Something with comedy in it and/or an opportunity for shipping of any kind, regardless of whether it floats or sinks.

What drama genres do you especially dislike?

Occasionally, I’ll make fun of some shows for being craptastic, but I don’t really have a specific genre I hate, I just avoid shows where the main character is an absolute doormat. I also used to avoid shows that advertise themselves as “smart” from the get-go because it puts me in the poke-holes-at-everything mindset, and most shows won’t stand up to that level of scrutiny. Later on, I learned to accept that dramaland is on a different plane of logic, and I learned to love the good parts if they weigh more than the bad. *cough*Mystery Queen*cough*W…

Is there a drama character you’ve ever strongly identified with, and why?

Not to sound like a broken record but… Chun-hyang! She could handle her fights. She had okay grades but wasn’t a stickler for rules. She even got in occasional trouble at school. Heh. She also worked on her dream job even if she couldn’t go to college for it, and at the end of the show, she didn’t forget about that dream!

What drama character would you want to be?

Girl friends. They’re funny and awesome. They have a less stressful life compared to the heroine AND they get their own cute happy ending without 15 episodes of angst.

What was your major in school?

“Just” Chemical Engineering (I didn’t try for my license and I never practiced it).

What’s a random skill you have?

Average pen-spinning. Both hands. At the same time.

I say average because when I looked up what it’s called, there’s a whole ‘nuther level of pen-spinning out there, complete with special pens for balance. O___O After an ego-crushing hunt on Youtube, I learned that my favorite ~~party~~ school trick is called a Harmonic thumbaround.

Favorite non-Korean movie and/or TV show?

Ever After and The Walking Dead. But I hurt my back last week and was stuck watching HGTV so my sister thinks I’m getting a tiiiiiny bit too invested in Love It or List It (Team Hillary!) and Brother vs. Brother (Team Jonathan!)

Which Hallyu celebrity would you actually want to meet and spend an hour with?

Random Guy from #1.

Which of the 7 deadly sins would be your undoing? (Pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, or sloth.)

I’m an infinite ball of wrath. I get ragey about lots of things like the way people cross the street, the energy people waste on fandom wars, and the shortsightedness of blanket bans on plastic bags, to name a few. If not for the internet training me to think twice and keep my rants to myself, I’d be murdered in an intersection by an enraged fan wielding a “Paper Bag Oppa ♥” sign because I told them off for not waiting for the green walk signal.

Your favorite drama has an unholy alliance with your most hated drama and produces a mutant baby drama. Describe the plot.

Mermaid Girl enters the human world and steals apple wine from the set of a Famous Chef’s cooking show. She gets drunk on the stolen wine and grabs his butt thinking it’s another apple before passing out. The next day, Thispatch News releases exclusive footage of the scene and calls it a dating scandal, so Famous Chef signs a marriage contract with Mermaid Girl to save his career. They move in together and bicker endlessly before bonding over their love of cheesetastic puns. In episode seven, we find out that Famous Chef is the second lead. In episode eight, the show gets cut because of the low ratings, but the producers make vague excuses about having a second season so as not to disappoint the show’s dozen fans.

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Tags: Staff Spotlight

162

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26 Carolina

June 27, 2017 at 11:46 AM

Immediately practices pen-spinning for about 10 minutes before finishing Mary's Staff Spotlight

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mary

June 27, 2017 at 3:04 PM

It's fun, right?

Err not so fun for the pens :'D

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27 bbstl 🧹

June 27, 2017 at 11:47 AM

I remember complaining in advance that I hoped mary joining the DB staff wouldn't mean less of mary in the comment threads ... but it did mean that ? because she got so darn busy. Our win was our loss. We love you, mary!

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mary

June 27, 2017 at 3:21 PM

I remember your comment :(
I miss the comments section too! But busy-ness is temporary. Kdrama is forever (that's tvN's motto, actually).

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28 spazmo

June 27, 2017 at 11:55 AM

@mary - i'm still wondering if the moniker "Mrs SJR" ever answered your (careful to not sound threatening) reply of, "Ummm, can I ask what SJR stands for?"
: D

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29 korfan

June 27, 2017 at 12:07 PM

So great to know some more details about you, mary! ..... Oh my gosh, the "shortsightedness of blanket ban on plastic bags." Yes! A fellow Beanie understands! Heh.

Love your humorous contributions in the comments sections ..... and all your answers here ("Random guy", riiiiiiight!).

Thank you for sharing with us, for your work on the DB Team, and for letting us know the awesomness of your guy, Song Jae-rim.

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30 Saya

June 27, 2017 at 12:11 PM

Effortless wit every single time, that's our mary <3

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bbstl 🧹

June 27, 2017 at 7:40 PM

how does she do it? Is what I was always left saying after mary comments ... ?
And still am!

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31 silvermists

June 27, 2017 at 12:38 PM

LMAO at random guy!!!

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32 vannerie

June 27, 2017 at 12:45 PM

Awesome as expected.

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33 jillian

June 27, 2017 at 1:35 PM

Hi mary!
Such fun reading your answers.
The "random guy" is lucky you want to spend an hour with him.
?

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34 cherkell

June 27, 2017 at 1:37 PM

... and Brother vs. Brother (Team Jonathan!)
NUH-UH. Team Drew TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH!!! ?

Nice seein' ya again, dahling. Now don't be a stranger, ne? Apple Butts RULE!

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blnmom

June 27, 2017 at 2:02 PM

No way, Jonathan is the best! Drew doesn't do anything except look pretty. (Unless I'm thinking of the wrong twin-- I keep mixing them up.)

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mary

June 27, 2017 at 3:09 PM

LOL Drew is the real estate guy and Jonathan is the renovation guy. They're both prettyyyyyy.

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mary

June 27, 2017 at 3:07 PM

Huiiiiii! Why are you Team Drew? I just like seeing Jonathan's work in Property Brothers and I think that made me side with him in BvB. Hehe but really, it's like choosing between Healer and Bong-soo. :D

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blnmom

June 27, 2017 at 4:05 PM

Hmm in this case, I choose the guy who does nothing but look pretty -- Bongsookie! He's so cuuuuuuuuute.

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🍙 kimbap noona

June 27, 2017 at 3:17 PM

When in doubt, go with the magician.

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35 katasu1996

June 27, 2017 at 1:42 PM

I know surplus princess is one drama but I can't figure out what the other one is! Does anyone know?

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Ek Ladhki Thi

June 27, 2017 at 9:48 PM

Surplus Princess is playing a double role.

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36 Playstore, Okay Or Not Okay

June 27, 2017 at 3:00 PM

I'll never be Able to get over thispatch! WHY MARY WHY? WHY YOU GOTTA BE SO WITTY IN EVERY REPLY?

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37 purplesheesh

June 27, 2017 at 3:08 PM

I'm also a mary beanie but i'd gladly give you all the mary-related usernames in the world just because you're the best! Thanks, @mary!

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mary

June 28, 2017 at 5:25 AM

Hehe I wonder how many marys there are on db ^___^

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38 PakalanaPikake

June 27, 2017 at 3:09 PM

Pleased to meet you, mary!

My Dad is a retired chem engineer, and my kid sister is a biochemist by training. Our maternal uncle was a chemistry professor. Alas, I have no talent for chemistry or mathematics -- but became a pretty okay kitchen chemist. ;-)

My hubby is a techie nerd whose idea of a good time was reading core dumps -- until we watched TIMESLIP DR. JIN together on Hulu. Don't throw stuff at me! If it weren't for that doggone gummi brain fetus, I wouldn't be here fangirling on DramaBeans! Our next show together was THE KING'S DAUGHTER, SU BAEK HYANG -- all 108 episodes of it. I've since seduced him into a mild but persistent fling with Kdrama, having hornswoggled him into watching SIGNAL, REBEL, and currently, LOOKOUT. He's even found a few shows on his own. We just finished MY ONLY LOVE SONG. Boong Boong FTW!!

Back in the day, we were devotees of HERCULES, XENA, BUFFY, ANGEL, and FIREFLY and a bunch of shows on SyFy and USA -- once we finally broke down and got cable in our terrestrial-TV-impaired neck of the woods. Whereas he continues to watch a lot of current American superhero and sci-fi shows, I've lit out for greener pastures in Kdramaland nearly exclusively.

I always get a kick out of seeing you pop up like a meerkat at the mention of Random Guy. ;-)

Thanks for all the behind-the-scenes stuff you do to make DramaBeans.com the cyber home-away-from-home it is for so many Kdrama fans. The new & improved iteration is the bee's knees. ;-)

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Ally

June 27, 2017 at 4:24 PM

STEMs unite! And God bless husband's Woo watch kdramas with their wives. My hubby still watches Shield and Flash. I'm done with American tv as well. My win was getting rid of cable tv! LOL!

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Ally

June 27, 2017 at 4:25 PM

Haha! I've been typing Kim Woo Jin much that my autocorrect chose that instead of "who!"

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PakalanaPikake

June 28, 2017 at 4:14 AM

When we were dating, I worked as a word processor operator. Hubby was a UNIX programmer with a PhD in computer science. He had a VT100 terminal at home, and we'd log on to read Usenet newsgroups. It was the epitome of techie nerd romance. Now we log on and watch Kdramas. ;-)

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Ally

June 28, 2017 at 6:06 AM

Ang I have no idea what any of that means and will simplify it to...Hubby ?You ?Kdramas.

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PakalanaPikake

June 28, 2017 at 6:40 AM

Ah, you and yours are in the medical field, IIRC. No wonder it didn't compute! ;-)

mary

June 28, 2017 at 6:14 AM

Wow O___O (I also barely understand most of that, so I'm more impressed...)

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PakalanaPikake

June 28, 2017 at 7:15 AM

I did some recreational web programming myself, circa 1995 -- when Netscape had a built-in HTML editor.

I'm not a fossil -- I'm backwardly-compatible. ;-)

mary

June 28, 2017 at 7:33 AM

Aww I didn't mean it that way! I'm impressed that you were doing tech stuff when it wasn't everywhere yet.

Today, it's very rare not to be familiar with a computer/phone so the learning curve is less steep.

PakalanaPikake

June 28, 2017 at 2:27 PM

@mary,

"Aww I didn't mean it that way!"

I know you didn't mean it that way. LOL! ;-)

I was highly motivated to learn word processing because my typing wasn't that great -- and messing with computers made clerical jobs more interesting. ;-)

Ally

June 28, 2017 at 6:50 AM

My hubby did major in engineering before medical school, though!

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PakalanaPikake

June 28, 2017 at 7:22 AM

I love it! Mechanical engineering? The ankle bone's connected to the leg bone...

One of my physicians did, too. Electrical engineering first, then internal medicine. Then acupuncture. I always had the feeling he had a good handle on ch'i. ;-)

blnmom

June 28, 2017 at 8:27 AM

Ha, I remember those VT100s. I worked some with UNIX too, but I certainly didn't have one at home! That's hardcore. ?

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PakalanaPikake

June 28, 2017 at 10:58 AM

@blnmom,

Cool!!! Pleased to meet a fellow nerdette who remembers -- and is also a Kdrama fan. ;-)

Hubby was a member of the technical staff at a telecom research center, and needed it for work.

One of my bosses at another company -- where email ran on DEC VAXes -- called that terminal a "fish tank." LOL! Eventually we got a PC at home and that did away with the need for the VT100.

One of my friends worked as a tech writing contractor -- and hacked away on nroff and troff for years. Did you?

I worked on WANG dedicated word processing systems before switching to DOS-based text editors. But the most fun I ever had was on Macs. My right brain loved it, especially the graphics. I used to say that the only time I was in my right mind was when I was on a Mac. ;-)

Even so, I sometimes miss DOS. I cracked up to see that the alien's workstation on CIRCLE is running FreeDOS.

Gimme that good ole' command line. ;-)

blnmom

June 28, 2017 at 7:34 PM

@pakalanapikake No, I didn't use nroff or anything. I was in chemistry and we just used the computers to run some simulations (in Fortran!), other than that I didn't do much with them. My first personal computer was a Vic 20, replaced by the wonderful Commodore 64, which used a cassette tape recorder to save and load data, haha. After that I got PC's which ran DOS. Ah, the 5-inch floppies, those were the days.

gaeinalee

June 27, 2017 at 5:04 PM

Oh, you watch MOLS too? Cool! Now I have friend to rant about it. ^^

I envy you. My hubs is a nerd too. He's chem eng who went to petroleum eng grad school. It's either textbook, golf, news or spoil the girls (not wife) for him to relax.. *sigh*

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PakalanaPikake

June 28, 2017 at 4:39 AM

@gaeinalee June 27, 2017 at 5:04 PM,

You have my sympathy. Truth to tell, prying my computer geek away from his workstation (he telecommutes from home) can be quite a challenge at times. Perhaps you can finagle your petroleum engineer into watching Kdramas by getting your offspring hooked on them first? Bwahaha. ;-)

We finished MY ONLY LOVE SONG a couple of days ago, and both loved it. Totally goofy. I love Boong Boong to bits. Do you know if his name refers to menboong / nervous breakdown?

I experienced a drastic whiplash moment earlier tonight when watching LOOKOUT. Prosecutor Park is played by the same actor as the flower-like General Ko.

The opening theme song is great, but for some strange reason, it is not included in the MOLS OST. Wae??? It's an epic spaghetti Eastern track, for Pete's sake. ;-)

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mary

June 28, 2017 at 5:29 AM

I wonder if hubby was drawn to Dr Jin because it's as difficult to understand as core dumps...? LOL

I've only ever watched Xena among the shows you mentioned. That was back when our parents only gave us 30 minutes of tv time each night and only the shows they "approved of" aka those they wanna watch! :D

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PakalanaPikake

June 28, 2017 at 8:39 AM

It's a pleasure to meet you, mary! Thanks again for your tech support of DramaBeans. ;-)

LOL re: comparative difficulty of reading hex dumps versus understanding the "plot" of DR. JIN. Har!

We didn't know any better when we started watching DR. JIN, that's for sure. But miraculously, it somehow failed to prejudice us against Kdramas. Thank goodness. ;-)

Dr. Jin's appeal for my husband was that he was like a medical MacGyver. I, too, found the show to be anachronistically entertaining. Plus the handsome Mr. Hand Towel could give Richard Dean Anderson a run for the money in the eye candy department. IMHO, not my husband's! ;-)

We both like sci fi, so STARGATE SG-1, BABYLON5 (absolutely top-notch!), the reboot of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, and all the STAR-TREK iterations were fair game, too. And everything by Joss Whedon. BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER and its spin-off ANGEL -- and the short-lived intergalactic horse opera FIREFLY -- are particularly noteworthy for their terrific character development as well as their highly-detailed and consistent worlds. James Marsters as peroxide blonde Spike and David Boreanaz as tall, dark, and brooding Angel are my all-time favorite sexy vampires.

If you enjoyed XENA, you should check out HERCULES, THE LEGENDARY JOURNEYS. Xena first appeared as a recurring character in that show. If you are a sucker for epic bromance, Kevin Sorbo and Michael Hurst are terrific as Herc and his sidekick, Iolaus -- along with Kevin Smith as frenemy Ares, the baddest bad-boy who ever lived. I still mourn his premature passing. I loved Hades, who was portrayed as an overworked bureaucrat, and Aphrodite, the epitome of a Valley Girl/surfer chick. Oh, and Bruce Campbell as Autolycus, the "King of Thieves." HERCULES and XENA had comically anachronistic elements, along with heart -- and a moral to the story, which I appreciate. ;-)

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39 Ally

June 27, 2017 at 4:19 PM

Hi Mary!!! Thank you for being so approachable! I appreciate that you've answered so many of our questions with the DB update! And HGTV was my previous guilty pleasure before kdramas ruled. Team Jonathan all the way! I would much rather have a handy man than a sweet talker any day.

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40 rentenmann

June 27, 2017 at 4:43 PM

This meet the staff member for @mary is just as awesome as the comments! Nice to meet you!

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mary

June 28, 2017 at 5:37 AM

Beanies are so sweet :'D

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41 merry

June 27, 2017 at 4:46 PM

Hi mary. You're wit shines through, as always. Thank you for all the behind the scenes work that you do here in DB. Half of the year i'm in your time zone; so all good. The other half, you make me break into laughter when my neighbourhood is still asleep. Thank you for the joy you bring to this community. I hope you meet 'random guy' as i, too, did dream that.

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42 merry

June 27, 2017 at 4:49 PM

Hi mary. Your wit shines through, as always. Thank you for all the behind the scenes work that you do here in DB. Half of the year i'm in your time zone; so all good. The other half, you make me break into laughter when my neighbourhood is still asleep. Thank you for the joy you bring to this community. I hope you meet 'random guy' as i, too, did dream that.

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43 gaeinalee

June 27, 2017 at 4:55 PM

From Chemical engineering to web development and in process you learned about "dedication"... wow! Now I can understand where the spunky dry humor and dedication to Random Guy from #1 came from.. ^^

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44 MMMkitty

June 27, 2017 at 5:10 PM

Nice to know more about you , mary.
You are one of my most favorite admins on dramabeans.
@mary

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mary

June 28, 2017 at 5:39 AM

You're the first cat to like me! *heart arms*

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45 makoto

June 27, 2017 at 6:36 PM

(((Thalia)))
I spent a part of my childhood watching her, too.
Don't be too sad about Surpluss Princess, Mary. In real life, the main couple ended up dating. If your Random Guy got the girl but she dated the other guy in real life, that would be more heart breaking. So, take it as blessing in disguise. He has Kim Soeun though... and is unbelievably happy with her. Forget SP. Mary, fighting!

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46 imbuk

June 27, 2017 at 6:52 PM

Omo! You majored in chemical engineering and do web development! Awesome! I majored in electrical engineering and now work as a database administrator. Though just started out recently, so still learning. Haha, I would like to be the girl friends in dramas too. Witty as always, mary! <3

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mary

June 28, 2017 at 5:41 AM

O___O database admin! Lots of terminals! *runs away screaming*

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imbuk

June 28, 2017 at 8:28 AM

Lol! I am only a trainee now. So, it's not that scary so far but still scary enough. :P

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47 Nancy

June 27, 2017 at 7:51 PM

Hello, mary! It's nice to know someone who has the same work as you! :)

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mary

June 28, 2017 at 5:42 AM

You're a bunny doing webdev? <3

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48 yayabean

June 27, 2017 at 8:18 PM

Omo! Thalia?!

My two worlds, novelas and k-dramas, have collided!
?

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49 kooriyuki

June 27, 2017 at 8:50 PM

Oh my dongseng, I've been waiting to read this! Trying not to LOL in office about your mutant baby drama. Poor apple butt

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mary

June 28, 2017 at 5:50 AM

Unniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii~ Poor applebutt but he keeps doing it to himself. LOL I almost wish Mo Il-hwa didn't exist because it made me fangirl Song Jae-rim so hard but he keeps choosing shows that make me suffer T____T

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kooriyuki

July 4, 2017 at 12:10 AM

don't even attempt to watch our gab-soon. i suffer for us both n tt's the best one unni can do =X

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50 shamrockmom

June 27, 2017 at 10:03 PM

Loved your "Hitler Meltdown" parody video for Surplus Princess. Truly the gold standard in making an angry rant about a Kdrama ending side-splittingly hilarious.

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PakalanaPikake

June 28, 2017 at 2:03 AM

Dang! I hadn't realized that I have mary to thank for the Hitler rant over SURPLUS PRINCESS. Ausgezeichnet! Daebak!

Hitler Reacts to Surplus Princess Episode Count Cut
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zq4n5mJvfNo

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agassi

June 28, 2017 at 5:52 AM

How did I miss this Hitler video? Hahahahaha ? ?? It made my morning. I've been comparing myself with all the minions, but definitely @mary is a LOT like me. Those Thalia references didn't go unnoticed (discovering kdramaland was a blessing!)

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PakalanaPikake

June 28, 2017 at 2:40 PM

So glad you enjoyed it, agassi! ;-)

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