Yay it's back .....
Hmmmm I can't think of anything right now

I would not write it myself, but someone could have fun dissecting the TRUCK OF DOOM trope: the good ones, the bad ones, is it useful in story telling?, do all Korean vehicles have bad brakes?, don't they teach children to look both ways before entering a street?, etc.

Theme of the Month, yay! I can't promise a write-up, but there are some ideas I'd enjoy reading about (some have already been used but are always fun):
*Pitch your drama idea (cast included);
*My Ideal Drama Found Family;
*OSTs that bring back drama feels trigger bad drama memories;
*PPL extravaganza;
*Drama therapy: dramas that helped me coping with real life;
*What if the characters played by the same actor interacted with each other? (I got this idea from the Beanie-wall, credits to who wrote it there 😋)

*Almost Great Dramas*: Which dramas did you enjoy but re-write in your head because they were a few tweaks away from greatness?

*Oh I Didn't Realize Until Now That You Could Really Act* Which actor/actress had you previously written off or ignored but then they shocked you with their amazing performance(s)?

*The Drama Everyone Hates but You Love*: This doesn't really need explanation, lol.

*The Drama Everyone Says Is Amazing but You Just Don't Get it* Similar to above, and note this isn't about dramas you hate but everyone loves, but those that you thought were ok, but you simply don't understand why so many people think it's brilliant. You could also call this the *Untouchable Dramas* theme--i.e. dramas that people avoid criticizing just because there's such ardent love for them.

1. My entry drama
2. @laurensophie the drama everyone hated except me
3. My favourite badass women
4. The drama(s) I could not stop watching
5. The drama(s) that made me feel good about the world
6. If I wrote/directed/cast a drama...

Tropes: We love them. We hate them. Would we have anything to discuss without them?

Setting: Pretty scenery, gritty streets, or the perfect rooftop room, the drama has to happen somewhere.

Drama Moms: Supportive or psychotic, a drama mom usually makes an impression.

Gateway dramas: We all have one. Are you willing to share?

Bad boys/Bad girls: Sometimes the good guys are boring. Without the baddies there's no drama.

The End: The perfect ending or the terrible ending, or maybe even the ending that did what?

Comfort Drama: Like a favorite sweater, the comfort drama wraps us up and makes everything cozy. It's like revisiting old friends and favorite places.

Here are my suggestions for the future theme of the month!
- Kdramas of the Past Decades (1990s/2000s/2010s)
- BL/Boy Love Kdramas: an essays with the different looks and even the analysis at this current trending genre on any Kdramas
- Veteran Actors and Actresses on Kdramas (or those stars under 50 years old on Kdramas): included my fave Park Seung-geun (Memorials, Private Lives, Racket Boys), Park In-hwan (Liver or Die, Mad Dog, Navillera, Lost/Human Disqualification, School 2021), Kim Hye-ja (The Light in Your Eyes) and Na Moon-hee (Dear My Friends, Navillera)
- Deaths on Kdramas
- Korean Daily Dramas: some Kdramas that mostly a regular Mondays to Fridays schedule fixture
- KDrama Miniseries: some Kdramas that limited to just only had two and even four episodes or simply Korean miniseries or simply Korean dramatic limited series
- Greatest KDrama Moments of All Time: including some historic highest-rated Kdramas and other historic feats on Kdrama history
- Foreign Locations (or Outside Korea) That Shot the Kdramas
- Best/Greatest Kdrama PDs (or Directors of Some Kdramas)
- Best/Greatest Kdrama Scriptwriters (or Scriptwriters That Wrote Some Kdramas)
- Foreign Actors/Actresses on Kdramas: e.g. foreign stars of Squid Game (Daniel Kennedy, John Michaels, Christian Lagahit)
- Foreign Songs That Ended Up Making on Kdramas: some western songs outside Korea that rarely heard on some Kdramas
- Foreign Remakes of Kdramas: while Dramabeans covered only Kdramas, there was a chance of getting a foreign remake treatment of a Kdramas (e.g. Green Rose remake into Filipino: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Rose_(Philippine_TV_series) and Oh My Ghost remake into Thai: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oh_My_Ghost_(Thai_TV_series)) but I think that F4 Thailand: Boys over Flowers should be included or not because I think the original source came from old Japanese manga Hana Yori Dango which later spreads the remakes afterwards from the 2000s onwards which gave an international official remakes including the 2009 Kdrama remake of this manga under Boys over Flowers.

Dramas with teen leads where the adults suddenly seems very irresponsible and 2 dimensional upon rewatch after 10 years.

yay, it was my favourite feature in DB community. Welcome back!
(i was lurking for 2 years but this news managed to make me respond.)
Themes which features in-depth character analysis were the best!

Yay! A chance to get my (hypercritical, rambling-prone) writing juices flowing!

Hmm... I'm sure I'll have to add to this list as we go, but off the top of my head:

~ Dream Adaptation
Inspired by a conversation I had with a fellow beanie in the comments about our dream cast for a kdrama adaption of Killing Eve. Whether a book, or a non-kdrama film/tv show, what would you love to see adapted to a kdrama format? Who would make up the cast? Would you be like be and put Shin Hye-sun into everything? What changes would you make to the story/setting/etc. to suit the kdrama format?

~ It Should Have Been Gay:
As a bi beanie, other than just a general desire to see more (positive) LGBTQ+ representation in Korean media (and media in general), there have also been a number of kdramas I've seen where queerness just. made. sense. Whether because of chemistry, or framing, or narrative sense, what show/pair/character hit you with that sense of missed opportunity (a.k.a. disappointed, but not surprised).

~ Me? Is that you?:
Which kdrama character truly sung to you? That you related to more than any other character before or since? Was it empowering? Traumatising? Did you feel called out? Vindicated? Everything at once?

~ A Thing of the Past
Times are a'changing, and so too are our dramas. What is something that used to be oh-so-common in dramas, that you never see anymore? Do you miss it, and want it back? Or is it something best left in the past?

~ Put That Thing Back Where It Came From or So Help Me
A potential extension on the previous theme; what's a trope that's making a comeback, and why should it absolutely not?

~ The Dream Team
You are compiling a team of kdramas to help you... do something (fight aliens? Run a restaurant? Take down a shady conglomerate?). Who's your dream team?

~ Type Cast
We all know what one actor that has been confined to a specific archetype? Who immediately comes to mind for you?

-If I could have your wardrobe
-Reincarnating: same face and name?
-(like above) Favourite/Most hated [romance, suspense, horror, etc.] trope
- Favourite Cliff of doom or Pool of vast depth

For now here's one topic that I've been personally feeling lately: Unpopular Opinion
It's a bit borderline risky thing & ofc db is a place where people unite over mutual likes so it's just a suggestion.
Not saying that it needs to be killjoy but one can state a different opinion/pov from the majority grp in any hot takes: popular dramas, tropes, characters, otps in their articles (while being respectful of the fanbeanies)

Just one thought. To poke fun at rom-coms or melos: "How to Know You Are a Character in a Kdrama"

E.g, "if you so much as sniffle in Seoul, they rush you to the hospital and put you on an IV drip"

food humor. my next korean club is food + humor and our opinions in the library are very split. should you use food for the sake of humor?

then, human and technology, representation of technological achievements in dramas (sci fi or other) and which ones you´d actually want to exist

who is the best zombie (zombie detective is best abs anyway)

workplace harrassment and bullying in dramas and the best way characters have dealt with it

the weirdest dresser

A drama you loved but will never rewatch

Maybe Beanies could review dramas they watch that aren't covered here if they like.

-What makes you love the drama that most don’t love
- comfort drama
- if you could be a character in a drama for one day, who would you want to be?
- Drama with the best cooking/ food scenes
- Which Korean dish from which show do you want to try the most
- Whose house in Kdrama would you wanna live I , and why so?
- Whose romantic relationship would you like to happen to you the most, and why?
- Which breakup BROKE your heart?
- Which one is the WORST Kdrama that you have finished? Why?

Parent-children relationships in dramas - the ones that were especially memorable for you.

I think we need another, “fix that k-drama/fix that ending.” There have been several dramas in need of rewrites in the last couple years. And then, “dramas with the perfect endings”—those that you wouldn’t change and why.

Hi Dramabeans team! For the theme of the month, I would like to suggest for something like "Pets (or Dog & Cats) in Korean dramas." I think this would be an interesting read especially for the drama fans who are also pet lovers. Some pets specifically dogs really caught the attention of the viewers. Thanks!