Me. I dropped it.

I haven't watched this week's episodes yet. That's not exactly the same as having dropped it, but a real difference to other weeks when I couldn't wait for the subtitles to turn up

I tried it for a week but the only good thing about it was the otp so I dropped it

The story lost me a while back, but I'm going to finish it. Though I'm glad it's ending soon because I cannot keep up with all the dramas I'm live-watching.

I was innocently enjoying Do You Like Brahms until the end of ep11, when something Song-ah said pulled me up short. She told Joon-young she didn’t know if she should be running errands for Prof Lee. I understand that her gentle soul prevents her from being snippy with her elders (and not necessarily her betters), but… how could she not know? That got me thinking that her cultivation of Prof Lee isn’t a million miles from what Oh Joo-seon, my favourite dodgy ex-judge from Forest of Secrets 2, is doing with Lee Yeon-jae. Ok, ok, I know I’m obsessed with FoS2, and our poor little Song-ah’s desire to play the violin isn’t anything like Oh Joo-seon’s plan to see his kids graduate from college then retire to some sunny island. And I’m certain that Song-ah will do the right thing later. But that was when I dropped the show. Maybe I’ll watch ep16 and work backwards from there. (PS It’s a complete coincidence that Song-ah’s dad and Oh Joo-seon are played by the same actor.)

I won't, but I am sad because 90% of the characters are evil or mean... 😭😡😭

I have dropped it too. I love the main leads but couldn’t motivate myself to continue watching it.

Already dropped Brahms. Not really bad, just tedious and not interesting enough to spend time on.

I don’t want to admit that I’ve dropped it but I have no energy to waste on watching mean characters doing shits! Sigh

I haven’t watched beyond 9. Have I dropped it? 🤔
Jeez, I’m gonna have absolutely NO beans.

I’m not sure if I’ve dropped it but I haven’t picked it up again after ep.3.

I haven't dropped it per se, but it requires a stable, tranquil mind that's not sleepy and there is an abundance of mean and self-centered people in that show.

I'm just a bit too meh at the moment to engage.

Haven't dropped it but I fast-forwarded through all of the mean professor stuff in episodes 11-12. Which means I fast-forwarded through most of the 2 episodes 😑

I did not watch ep 12 after I saw the beanie wall. Not sure if I'm dropping it, but I can't take the stress now.

Two people remain in toxic environments and passively encourage each other to continue in them. Shouldn’t they be helping each other to escape unhealthy scenarios? Being agreeable and suppressing all of your feelings isn’t a solution. No one appreciates such a meek demeanor, it just makes walking all over you easier. Meh.

@quirkycase = full recaps (after Forest of Secrets 2)

Start of October - changed few rules and a mother asks why don't you let things go. Letting things go is such an easy job to do. No struggle, no trouble, no suffering and all material benefits at your disposal. Easy and fun life. no no no. That's a shortcut, a temptation. you lose more than you get. its not fair give and take. Be stubburn and hold your ground. So I'm holding this ground for now and for immediate future. But there is a greed and good temptation. Hunger is increasing and you are aiming big. This creates desperation and you get into motion of wrong acts that turn all your efforts into a big zilch. The one who lose knows the value and taste of victory and despite so many setbacks and problems, despite all the exhaustion - I'm moving forward. No need to care about anything or anyone. Objectives matter most. This is what you can't get from fiction. You get this from real life. The real entertainment always flows in real world. Afterall, virtual identities are merely thoughts.

Cheap France or Netherlands or Indian plans. I have used all of them.
Free - many browser extensions of various vpn providers.

I had not really planned on watching Dangerous Wife. Saw the Japanese one, and it was not that great (being the usual Japanese "let's not offend anyone anywhere about anything" type plot) - it was rather boring, so much so that I don't recall how it ended. Or maybe I never finished it, don't really recall.

But the Korean version seems to be a lot better so far.

Reputable VPNs have free plans with limits on servers, speeds and data. Some may not allow good streaming quality. Completely free VPNs can be dangerous with malware and spying. Another problem is not all paid VPNs are actually safe.

As far as I know, NordVPN, ProtonVPN and Windscribe are all reputable.

I’ve used the free Opera browser VPN which was ok but sometimes very slow. In the end I’ve started paying for ExpressVPN which is stable and reputable but $$$

Best of luck on your ACT! Stay safe and have a great weekend also!

Happy Friday! Good luck on your ACT, whenever it ends up being. Fighting!

Also I started Reply 1988 this week and was gonna just watch one ep/day and.... I'll be done by Tuesday at the absolute latest :D

Private Lives Ep2: a rom-com I never knew I ever wanted, until of course that ending happened.

I mean, look at his handsome mug and earnest ways - who can say no to that? 😭😭😭

All the female characters in 18 Again are amazing. I'm loving that show

Yes, I see your point, but the drama made it clear that Eun Soo decided not to claim her daughter because she doesn't want her to grow up as the child of a convicted murderer.

I dug into this a bit, and it seems like in Korea parental and adoption rights are a total legal mess. Apparently it was very recent where the change was made where the head of the.. household/clan/whatever could just arbitrarily add or take off people from the family register.

Writers often take liberties with facts to serve the story.

I used to try fact-checking historical dramas for my own "education" Learned much more varied stuff than from textbooks. Also seemed to contribute to better retention. Less so for legal dramas because they tend to be melodramatic.

I would note that in ep11/12 there was a TV show background that noted that the evil grandmother did NOT have custody rights.

It's Okay to Not Be Okay : Kim Soo-hyun and Seo Ye-ji from Gold Medalist

FNC Entertainment is infamous for their 1-plus-1 deals.

You're Beautiful : Jung Yong-hwa and Lee Hong-ki

Heartstrings : Jung Yong-hwa and Kang Min-hyuk

Marry Him If You Dare : Lee Dong-gun and Jung Yong-hwa

The Three Musketeers : Jung Yong-hwa and Jung Hae-in

Blood : Jo Jae-yoon and Jung Hae-in

Orange Marmalade : Kim Seol-hyun and Lee Jong-hyun

I think it's expected of these agencies to push for as many of their talents in one project. That being the case, production looks forward to better chemistry between their actors.

Nam Joo Hyuk joined SOOP in April of this year, and was already cast in The School Nurse Files and Start-Up. The School Nurse Files already finished filming before he was with SOOP.

SOOP has a YouTube video with Jung Yoo Mi during a photoshoot for The School Nurse Files with Nam Joo Hyuk. SOOP's video footage focuses on Jung Yoo Mi, and in the IG description they have a sentence saying that it was before Nam Joo Hyuk joined SOOP.

SOOP has posted other photos from what I'm guessing is a more recent photoshoot, and both their photos have SOOP in the corner.

Agencies sometimes do incentive deals to add more of their people. The exposure might be more important than the income.

IONTBO with KSH and SYJ from Gold

Its very much like Hollywood. CAA/UTA/WME. UTA is prob. #3 here in agency power, but b/c there's not many big film stars, it helps get their actor a role they want more than a bigger agency.

Also Hyena was produced with KeyEast (Ju Ji Hoon was the ML there). That is why agency power is so big because it is who you know that can help one lead a role. Thats why so many idol actors get a lead role off the bat due to their agency power/amongst other things.

I'm glad you brought this up because its something I been curious about in K-entertainment. Being apart of a respected/big agency opens doors, Park Sung Hoon got ITR b/c of the Justice team but also being apart of BH (Lee Byung Hyun's agency).

Woohoo! Congratulations on passing the exam! My goodness, that was a tedious employment process. You deserve to celebrate 🥳🎉

Congratulations! Sounds like quite the adventure!

Congrats to you!

Congratulations @turtuallysarcastic! That is great news!!!! Even if you don't know the results just yet!
It sounds like maybe you didn't pass some of the tests - but they saw the character that you are inside and decided you are worth it.
So, GO YOU!!!!

Well done! Congratulations! 👏👏👏

Wohoo Congrats!!!

TURTIE OMG CONGRATS!!! u deserve it :-) cheering for you like the r88 gang did for taek on his bday

This sounds like a step in the right direction.

Gah, voting - you're ahead of me there. My ballot arrived by mail, and I'm planning to go over the whole thing tomorrow. Some races are obvious (*cof*), but we have some local referendums (referendi? referenda?) that are confusing. Cue study montage... Kdrama style, I'll probably end up with a nosebleed by the end. But I'll have earned my Reply 1988 binge!

YES, we all need to reset and just enjoy the blessings in life, no matter how small or seemingly "unimportant" - i have been trying to locate/see a bird that has been chirping in my tree, a very unusual birdsong...

and that FLY was almost the best 2 minute 3 second contribution (very considerate fly, keeping to the time limit) to that VP debate wednesday night! personally, i think it was a russian spy drone on assignment....
; )

Great approach! Hope everything that is bothering you gets sorted!

Got my mail-in ballot on Wednesday. Took over an hour to fill it out. Judge retentions are always a pain. Walked to nearby courthouse hosting early voting then dropped the ballot into the dropbox. I'm all done. Too bad wasteful campaign flyers are not done.

i love your positive attitude and outlook-- i will try to adopt some of this! (and that fly was the best thing to happen HAHAH) i hope things will look up for you regarding employment, hwaiting !

Thank you everyone for your kind words. No matter how much I try to have a 'pity party' just for myself I can't get them to last long as the birds or flowers distract me.
That or my neighbor's little dog Seymour who is ALWAYS thrilled to see me and jumps all over me with joy. I mean, who can NOT be happy when greeted like that.
love to everyone!!!

I didn't know you'd been offered employment. Congratulations on that! Boo to the letter about unemployment though. You'll need it until the new job begins.

I've been entertained by a neighborhood cat that makes the rounds several times a day. Once it discovered me, it walked up to the front window, stood up on it's back legs, bugged out it's eyes (they were HUGE) and stared at me from about 3 feet away. I think I was dismissed as uninteresting after a few minutes since the cat then turned and slowly walked across the porch and down the sidewalk.

Oh no, she deflated you with a comment she probably thought was “cute”. I hate when that happens. Although I used to say the most important word I learned from kdrama was 가지마 (kajima!) “don’t go/don’t leave me” 😁
Maybe ask her a question or two about specific foods or culture that you’re curious about, if you think she’s not taking you seriously. Good luck learning Korean and btw, it’s Hangeul Day today!

That is a bad teacher.
After I visited Korea in 2018, I decided I wanted to go back but with some basic language skills so I can converse with people I would meet. I started off with audio courses. Then I did some textbook lesson. Then this year I went back to my old audio courses which helped my comprehension. Retention of knowledge is the hard part.

she was being snarky, that's not good for you as a student...
: (

my first memorized phrase was Jugeullae?
: D

I know how influential a teacher is in classroom. I once started French and Chinese but I wasn’t very motivated by the teachers so I dropped them. On the other hand, I’ve had a fair share of great English teachers so I learned to love th slang I age early on. I also had good German lessons so I’ve liked the language ever since (though I think I forgot most of them because I haven’t used it for so long.)

Perhaps you should find another place to learn? Or some good online lessons. Learning should be fun and motivating.

i'm sorry that you had a teacher say that, it's like she was making fun of you. i've had i guess similar experiences? i used to talk a lot about dramas with my friend group (at the time) in feb/march but they would make fun of me for watching shows or if i'd write something in hangul they'd call me a koreaboo or ask if i thought i was korean, which made me feel really bad abt what i liked

first, i have distanced myself from those people bc they're just close minded and don't get it. and second, it would be AMAZING to live in korea, but i know that i am not korean, i just find the culture and language FASCINATING, mostly because there's so much i don't know about it. and if someone doesn't understand that, you can try explaining it to them but if they still don't get it, don't waste your time on the teacher. and NEVER, ever feel bad about liking something-- life is too short to feel embarrassed abt what you like.

Oh, so frustrating! I hope you can get your sweet revenge by thoroughly enjoying your dramas again.

Drama has gotten me started learning Korean too, and it's so fascinating. It honestly has been kind of a lifesaver to have something to get really interested in during these weird and difficult times. I've been using Duolingo mostly, and then supplementing by dipping into a free Coursera class online. I adore the Coursera professor, and that is so motivating. I'll work hard for you, Professor Kang! But it would be so hard *not* to have that, but to have the opposite :(

Now I'm gonna run around sarcastically saying "kenchanayoooooo" and laughing like a madwoman, in your hono(u)r. Sending good vibes your way! Fighting!

Don't let her steal your enjoyment. I'm curious about what she said to the other students.

I don't know if this teacher was trying to be amusing or funny, but it certainly didn't come across as such. I don't know what she said to the other students, but if she made similar comments this woman shouldn't be teaching anything at all.

That’s pretty much what I thought - it was nice and light, bit silly and over the top in places but I find that quite fun. I’ll keep going with it for now.

I sorta get why he did. He was the IT boy in WWWS/SITR/OSN, but after dismal ratings for APOYM (So many abbreviation titles lol). I think he wants to get away from those sweet nice roles, and into a bit darker territory?

His Netflix drama also has him as a solider, so I'm curious to see how he'll pull it off. Altho his leading ladies have all been very solid, so him/Ji Soo (Main couple), better bring it. The writer wrote Bridal Mask/Sky Castle, so I've faith in her abilities. The North Korean solider played by him is sensitive territory, so we shall see...

Lie After Lie has a makjang story and has been really fun and compelling to me so far. It's about 10 episodes in (12 after tomorrow) and I am loving it. It's got a lot of great makjang tropes - birth secrets(ish), eeeeeevil mother-in-law, revenge, and of course a lot of coincidences. And murder, because what makjang doesn't have at least one good murder?

The description fits My Golden Life but it’s pretty long as it’s a family drama.

World of the Married
Word From Warm Heart
I Have a Lover
My Wife is Having an Affair
The Thorn Birds
SKY Castle
and of course.... *drum roll*
Stairway to Heaven -- all makjang, every trope ever written...
; )

sorry, i don't pay attention to screenwriters/directors, so i may have recommended some?

Have you watched Money Flower? It's the type of drama that things happen that would be makjang in any other drama. It's hard to describe. It's the way the story flows, that pit of vipers of a family in it, and the excellent actors that just sell it as normal life for them.

Lol just watch Penthouse coming out Oct 26 on SBS. That's makjang heavy written by makjang writer of The Last Empress. Plus it's female centric too.

Can You Hear My Heart (2011)
Brilliant Legacy

HI i am obsessed with reply 1988 and junyeol oppa!!! i did not see his other drama, lucky romance, but i saw a few other movies he was in such as the king and a taxi driver. he had supporting characters in both which were very different from kim junghwan, but i liked him in both. based on reply 1988, i would recommend the other reply shows as well as hospital playlist and prison playbook. i have trouble finding tsunderes that actually get the girl, but if you haven't seen crash landing on you, i'd HIGHLY recommend that show. my love from another star also has a tsundere lead.

ps. what did u think abt r88?