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18 signs you are in a drama slump


 

  1. You have a dozen dramas that are sitting unfinished with just one more hour left to watch, which somehow feels like five hours too many.
     
  2. You’ve forgotten your password on all your streaming site accounts and can’t be bothered to reset it.
     
  3. You’ve forgotten your username on your streaming site accounts. Going through the effort to find it is, naturally, out of the question.
     
  4. That drama you’ve been excited to watch for months is finally here. But you just… can’t… press that play button.
     

  5.  

  6. I mean, it’s there, it would be the easiest thing to press a button, but committing to “play” feels insurmountable because that action would mean something, it would have Implications, of time commitments and mental energy and caring about fiction and that feels like a fate worse than death by a million paper cuts right now.
     
  7. You see that your thoughts are veering dramatic, but you can’t feel the drama in them because drama is dead. Nothing matters now or will matter ever again. We’re all just meat sacks trudging toward our sell-by dates. Lee Jong-seok holds one-tenth of the appeal he did last year.
     
  8. Maybe one-tenth is enough, you think. There is some appeal still alive. But… then you remember Suzy. Minus five appeals.
     

  9.  

  10. Nothing, as in the actual concept of nothingness, feels like a concrete and burdensome presence in your life, rather than the absence of Something. You sit there doing Nothing, staring off into Nothing, thinking Nothing. You consider maybe watching a drama, but decide that it wouldn’t be worth disrupting this big pile of Nothing you’re working on right now.
     
  11. You decide that maybe a good old-fashioned favorite series would be more emotionally satisfying and less mentally taxing. You look through the shortlist, and then the longlist, and then make ten more lists, until you realize you’re just stalling life with lists. (META.)
     
  12. Fine, old favorites are out. Maybe it’s prime time to finally catch old dramas that never got watched in the first place. Then you ask yourself, “If I passed up Padam Padam ten times already, why should an eleventh time be different?” And that seems like the wisest thought you’ve had all day. You return to your state of torpor and gummy bears.
     

  13.  

  14. You remember how you used to love to read. Books are what stories did before television killed our attention spans! Two pages in, you realize that your attention span wasn’t spared in the cathode-ray massacre, because what are you, special? You reach for the remote control again, even though we just did this and it was futile, remember?
     
  15. Lather, rinse, repeat.
     
  16. Oh god, am stuck in a time loop. I could literally die of boredom right now. Or in twenty loops from now. It would be the same thing.
     
  17. You figure even if you can’t commit an hour to watch a show, you can read a recap so at least you’re still following the show. Two paragraphs in, you remember that attention span thing you just realized one bullet point (and two, and three) ago. Maybe the massacre also got short-term memory.
     

  18.  

  19. Determined to watch something, anything, you scroll through all the titles of all the shows that seem even the tiniest bit interesting. After spending more time trying to decide what to force yourself to watch than it would have been to just watch that damn episode in the first place, you give up. You turn off the lights and go to bed early like an old person, because oblivion seems more appealing than entertainment.
     
  20. You realize that dramas were once so important to you that you carved out all this space and time for them in your life, this emptiness which now mocks you. Clubbed in the head with your own punishment stick, you are the creator of your own misery. This is not the most depressing thought you’ve had today.
     
  21. You go out to dinner with your parents, who ask for your expert opinion on what dramas they should be watching, and find yourself saying, “I dunno, maybe you should consider watching less television?”
     
  22. But despite everything, you retain a vague, if distant, hope/feeling/inclination that you’ll find that lovin’ feelin’ again someday, and there will come along a show that will seem sparkly and shiny, and dramas will be worth it again. Because you’re in a slump, not dead.
     

Somebody save me from myself.

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:'(

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... ... I just go back to real life... ...

Meh, if dramas don't do it I go for variety. If variety doesn't do it, I go for books. If books don't so it, I go for math. Or worse comes to worst, I just work more... or learn more. Or exercise more. Hey, kicking the shit out of a sandbag is awesome. I am Healer for once instead of watching Healer!

We are all sacks of flesh heading towards expiration dates, but I will be the best sack of flesh and fat until I get picked out of the freezer!!

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Woah, totally did not expect it is math that comes after books. Awesome.

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Wow. Finally found someone who do math if the other things don't work out. I solve math problems when I'm suuuppppeeeerrr bored and actually have a box where I keep my math stuff for easier access.

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Yay, another beanie who does math! I'm in a drama slump, and I've been brushing up on concepts and watching interesting math videos on youtube.

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Am cracking up so much on this, and on the "existentialism" tag ^^
Thanks @javabeans for letting us now that even the best drama fan has her moment of slump, and totally have faith you will recover soon!
Am currently bingeing on variety (have finished one and a half season of Knowing Bros) after watching just the final week of dramas I care a bit about...

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Me too, I clicked the tag to see what else. :)))

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Me too, and thought how fitting it was that there was nothing else there.

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If there's nothing there, wouldn't that be nihilism?

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I clicked on the tab to find reasons for my existence. I felt annihilated seeing that there was none.

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I'm wondering if all of Korea is feeling like this. The ratings are so low all the time now. Me, I'm surviving on variety, both Korean and HGTV. Singing shows, Yoon Kyunsang's cats, and Chip and Joanna are keeping me from dying of boredom.

Waiting for the next big drama to snap us out of it! Hopefully soon!

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"Shiplap!"

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Moongie and Koongie.

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Our lives seem to be defined by drama cycles - boom and slump. We need to strike Drama Life Balance.

Whichever stage we are in, we are never going to get out, are we?

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Yes, I don't think we can ever get out. I'm in slump, but checking dramabeans to see news, and headlines of recaps, and ratings,... Most importantly, I keep looking forward to the next huge one that help me out of the slump.

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Javabeans, I am also in a kdrama slump. Might I suggest a really, really good Cdrama -- Nirvana in Fire??? It totally revived my interest in historical dramas again. 2017 hasn't been a good kdrama year -- I only liked the offerings in the summer.

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Is it the dramas?
Is it the cliche plots?
Is it the army who taketh my oppas?
Is it me?

Why can't the dramas be more addictive?
Why can't the plots have more hearts?
Why can't the actors be more swoony?
Why can't I get more invested?
Why am I doing this to myself?

I question myself
and I question my life.

#theslumpisreal

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OMG - this is me....and has been for the past year or so. I keep hoping each new season of dramas will appeal to me - something will bring back the love/addiction/excitement of waiting for new episodes and alternately spazzing/squeeing about every OTP milestone. Ugh.... now it's all I can do to read the (awesomely well-written) recaps. Ok, confession time: my drama slump has been so bad, I haven't even commented in months..... This post drew me out of my self-imposed comment moratorium. THANK YOU Javabeans!! The good news is dramas are not dead.....my attention span is not dead....... I'm cautiously optimistic about 1 or 2 new offerings and 1 or 2 things coming soon(-ish). The bear is starting to stir....I'm waking up from my hibernation. Here's hoping I'll stay out of my cave for a while.....

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Oh dear oh dear. Never in a million years have I thought that I'd actually would not want to watch any drama at all. Dunno if it's a good thing, but Mum and Dad certainly noticed my newfound commitment to our garden—as in the full on weeding, buying compost and fertilisers, preparing seed beds, sowing seeds, trimming plants, etc. complete with the requisite ajuhmma clothes—not that they are complaining. It's just that after the first round of dramas this year ended (i.e. Seven-Day Queen), I just lost that urge to watch anything.

It's just ironic and frustrating since at the beginning of the semester, full of anticipation for the next round of dramas, I even shaped my whole schedule around drama-watching. And just as I have managed to make my semester schedule to be free on Fridays (no classes whatsoever), it would be the time that I don't really have any dramas to look forward to. GAAARRRRR.

But methinks I've found my gateway back to dramaland—after reading the recaps on Age of Youth 2, I would first like to watch the first season then move on the the current season, and then there's The King's Case Note (which isn't a drama but a film, but hey), and A Taxi Driver (which though was screened in our country, was not available at our local cinema!!! The Inhumanity!!!). And then there's Rescue Me, which methinks will be best watched in conjunction with Seasons 3-7 marathon/binge-watching of The Walking Dead. HEHE. So there.

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HAHAHA! This is ME, ME, ME!!

P.S dunno whether to laugh at the uncanny similarity in our situation or curl into a ball and cry my eyes out!

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Yassss... When can we get out from this slump? I can't remember when was my last drama marathon or the drama that had me refreshing for subs - lurking in forums.. maybe Goblin? that was ages ago it felt >_< 2017 been a slump most of the time. i think i only managed to watch Fight My Way and Forest of Secrets (this one is fantastic though - it wasn't addictive or hype like Goblin, but the story, acting, production was so on Point! saving grace of kdrama 2017) ... Here is to hoping While You Were Sleeping has potential - even if I wished they picked a different actress (no offense suzy fans) - but first 4 episodes show got potential! So here's to hoping Kdrama 2017 Second half of Year gets better.

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This is so frigging real!
Also, #19 You watch more variety shows than you have ever done in your life.

#20 You discover that kpop is a thing too.

#21 You realize that you just don't have the energy to read the 'theme of the month' posts that you were so excited to read (and which are actually amazingly written)

(P.S. I feel that this post came mainly because JB is questioning her loyalty to Lee Jong Suk and how/why she can't pick up While You Were Sleeping... It literally could read as a love letter to LJS and kdramas in general- "it's not you, it's me")

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#19: that happened to me. I started watching "Let's Eat Dinner Together" and I love it!

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Since my drama slump I have started watching Weekly Idol, Knowing Brothers, Night Goblin, Wizards of Nowhere, Running Man (though I watched it earlier too) and old shows like Half Moon Friends- which I highly recommend if you like kids (I actually don't like the idea of watching kids in variety shows but this show is too precious!)

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19. YES. After Forest of Secrets (and before I decided to watch Rescue Me, which put me in ANOTHER sort of semi-slump -- there's a lot of things I say I want to watch, but I will never get to them... anyway), I was watching 1N2D episodes like crazy. Hours and hours every day!

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Something similar happened to me when I experienced my first drama slump around 2 years back..
I found Running Man around that time and proceeded to finish watching around 200 episodes out of the 250 that had aired till then!
Yes, I went a bit crazy. Clearly.

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I could read @javabeans writing about (8) “nothing” all night long. Do you even want advice at this point? Or just solidarity? It looks like a lot of solidarity here. I’m not in a slump; everything is still so new and shiney, as in a certain shining Goblin. Will that ever lose it’s shine? I don’t think so. And I think I will always go to that drama and keep rewatching it even when in a slump. Does anyone else have that one drama that is their go-to— the one that made you fall in love with all this nonsensical, trope-filled, beautiful actors/actresses, with their contrived, but sweet stories, the one that you can count on to pull you out of a slump? Anyone?

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I do not have one go to. Instead, I rewatch my faves like WFKBJ, Coffee Prince, Reply 1988 etc. Goblin was the last drama I was hooked on (and technically it was a 2016 drama) and I plan on rewatching the scenes of Grim and Shin. My faves.

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For me it is she was pretty and another oh hae youg. Thou I can say that I'm only on a "semi" drama slump. Hwaiting to all of us beanies! Lezz keep praying to Drama Gods that this too shall pass. 😊😊

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Wow!
Should this post be worrisome to DB followers?

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It's got me worried.

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Me too! It could be read more as depression rather than just a drama slump.
I hope that it's exaggeration and nothing more worrying, or that getting help is looked into, if more serious.

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Hope that's not the case. In my experience, I've used kdramas to try to make the gloomy cloud go away (or at least pretend it's not there). I don't know what will happen if my rut coincides with a kdrama slump.

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This was me in 2015 when Healer ended. I was in kdrama slump for months. It only healed when She Was Pretty aired.

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YESSSS. I recently got back into dramas after crashing at the start of the year, so that's a good 8 months ish. I don't know what happened...but here I am, renewed, eager and can't wait to start anew.

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HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.... I'm having slump in anything lately: drama, reading books, studying new things, etc.

All I need is vacation, and it's just around the corner! Yay!

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atm, I guess I only relate to no. 1..

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I'm feeling very attacked by this post rn

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Whoa. I didn't realize that others felt the same way! It used to be that I'd be watching 2 or 3 shows at a time and now...I've started binge-reading books.

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Me too! I'm reading romance dramas recently. I figured with my drama slump, I should finally check smartbitchestrashybooks for book recommendations. Romance books I like isn't too far off from my kdrama romance preferences.

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reading romance books*

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Me three! At least my Goodreads is happy--I've already completed my reading goal for the year.

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me too! But I started small this year, only 30 complete reads. I started listing them all in the beginning of the year but then got lazy when I reached the 20th book. I also learned to not finish a book when it just won't click for me, rather than waste my time and effort when I know in my heart I'm going to be disappointed in the end.

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ME. ME. ME.

Since July. This never happened before. I usually get a slump from my other hobbies but never with my dramas. Help.

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When you commented here and said "Can't wait!" The drama already ended and you didn't watch it.

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#1
Proof: Hwarang, Oh Hae Young, Goblin, Secret Garden, K2, MDBC... and the list goes on.

I think I have commitment issues, not just in life, but in drama-watching too. Take me a week from the drama that I'm currently following and that drama will end up unfinished, even of there's only 2 episodes left like Hwarang. These days I banned myself from starting a new series until I finish the currently pending/unfinished drama (which will never be finished due to my procrastination and lack of commitment). Now I'm stuck in this loop.

#11
Proof: The 3 big boxes of unread books in my room, and the other 1 big box in my parent's house. I used to finish up a book in less than 2 weeks from purchase date. Nowadays, I can't even finish up a volume of manga

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HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.... I thought I'm the only one. I was struggling to finish "Stories from Nowhere." As the articles are written by several people with several stories, I read them in random. I'm not sure if I've already read all the stories.

We're at our "bad shape", my friend... :(

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This is it. That's all my drama related feelings summed up and then some. Drama slump for two weeks now where I don't feel like watching anything. All that seems to be working right now is Supernatural re-runs. Its a tedious path but I'm determined to forge on!

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