Very interesting. Thank you. How long does a hit like Exhuma usually take to get to a streaming service like Netflix or Viki?

Well, I'm glad it's getting positive reviews but since it's horror, I won't be watching even if one of my top faves (Seo Ji Hoon) stars in one of the episodes. Together with Lee Joo Bin (mildly interesting after Queen of Tears).

Thanks for the update @welh640

THIS WEEK'S KOREAN WOMEN'S NEWS (CONTINUED):

(b) BLACKPINK's Jennie Makes Billboard Hot 100 History As 1st Korean Female Soloist To Chart A Song For 20 Weeks

On May 14, Billboard revealed that “One of the Girls”—Jennie’s collab with The Weeknd and Lily-Rose Depp from their HBO series “The Idol”—was now spending its 20th week on the Hot 100 at No. 97.

With this achievement, Jennie has become the first Korean female soloist in history to chart a song for 20 weeks on the Hot 100—and only the second overall, following PSY.

https://www.soompi.com/article/1661537wpp/blackpinks-jennie-makes-billboard-hot-100-history-as-1st-korean-female-soloist-to-chart-a-song-for-20-weeks

UPDATED LINK FOR THE "ESCAPE THE CORSET" ARTICLE SINCE MY FIRST COMMENT CUT OFF HALF THE LINK:

https://www.businessinsider.com/k-beauty-women-south-korea-spend-700-month-skincare-2023-5

Google has been running wild with these mess ups on accounts and locations and vpns! 😑 It is one thing to have a buggy application, completely another thing to have a bug in something as huge and encompassing as Google which messes everything and cannot be undone even by themselves!

Your beauty comment was fascinating. Some people claim about the endorsements interwoven into dramas but they are obviously VERY effective. I am a women who has never worn makeup- a minority for sure- but I love this “Escape the Corset idea.” For 66% of women to wish for surgery is alarming. I don’t think they wanted to marry any more. I have always been happy in my own skin. I would wish that for anyone, no mater who they are.

I enjoyed W: Two Worlds enough, but can't remember even the first half very well (I watched it within the last six months). For me, the reason is that the twisty-turny, timey-wimey stuff was slightly too complicated for me to keep in my mind...as well as the "other" comic-based complications that the drama interjected.

In sum, it was too complicated for me, and the resolution didn't make those complexities fall together in one satisfying "Kathunk! Ah, now I get it!" for me (like when you finally find that puzzle piece in a jigsaw). That said, I do remember "who did it and why," ...and I do remember some very striking visual scenes.

Also, apropos of nothing (🤣), I also still really like A-ha's "Take on Me" video: https://youtu.be/djV11Xbc914

I belong to a writing group (we write fantasy) and the general rule of thumb is:

If your story world is complex/has complex mechanics, your story needs to be VERY clear and easy to follow. It's all about balance. One of my writing group members is really gifted at this - they create really astonishing fictional settings and then populate it with memorable characters going on adventures that are pretty easy to follow.

I really liked W: Two Worlds and I can remember the story quite well but I think maybe they should have toned it down with the twists and turns or really leaned into some of the more effective twists. Too many twists and most people end up forgetting half of what's happened.

W: Two Worlds is a longtime favourite of mine and I have rewatched at least once or twice although it was quite a long time ago now however if memory serves me correctly there wasn't a proposal or wedding scene. We were left with the understanding that they would have an ordinary life as a couple for the next 50 years or so.

My first ever kdrama was Romance as a Bonus Book so anything with Lee Jong-Suk is a must for me except I couldn't finish Big Mouth as (throwing myself under the bus now) I find Yoona unwatchable...ouch!

I just finished watching the C-drama Parallel Worlds. The rules governing the alternate world were so random and inconsistent (at least to me) that I gave up trying to follow them, and just went with the flow. I still ended up to enjoying it.

But oh how satisfying when a show gets alternate-reality/time travel right! Those are some of my favorite dramas: Kairos, Live Up to Your Name, Life on Mars, Circle, Signal, My Perfect Stranger, et al.

Not to stick to livestreams alone, here's a stage performance – also an old one because I'm having a blast lately digging his rookie and predebut stuff, he's just so cute in his giant fetus era. Ofc there are certain limitations to it - I'm not gonna share the footage from “before fixing his teeth” period out of respect to man's image, for example (I won't hesitate to massacre anyone who mentions my looks pre-braces and he likely feels the same). Other than that, count on me to share the fun))) Song is called “A million possibilities” and while I'm not the biggest fan of the jacket, at least it's not a fugly curtain robe covering them legs, already an achievement! Why did they do that to poor drummers tho?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YVYDXTcj7c

Not to say that he ALWAYS looked funny in his early days – that's far from true. He's particularly hot in some of his old MVs – like here in “Ah tacit understanding”. I mean, damn, boy, who allowed you? This is sensually moody in the best way possible – the colors, the angles, the hands-on-face shots (that was sinful, ngl)! I don't mind to re-use that PD for his next album as well – if he ever finishes it ofc...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3qK7leJ3Sg

Bad quality version with subbed lyrics if you're into weeping hard. Love hurts indeed, huh?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKg7owaLvO0

OK, enough with sadness, even wet sexy one – let's laugh at silly dancing! First are two practice videos of his HEROES (2024) sect dancing to mandopop (I also shared it before) because why the hell not. Folks say he was the one to choose the song, hah. Guess that means he wasn't beaten blackmailed into the whole thing, right? Final cut version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6dNdzalPa4

And more of an actual learning and practicing process. Feat blink-and-you-miss-it tiny ponytail and utterly unimpressed by her dad's lack of grace Daimi)))
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvbmTlJ7R3Q

THE TRUTH S2 cast in futuristic styling from upcoming episodes doing some trendy challenge, I believe, wonderfully out of sync (he's not even the worst one, omg!):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOy8yvfaDO0

Solo practice – I don't think any additional comments are needed, the footage speaks for itself^^ Was the blatant focus on his... assets really necessary? And then WE are the ones called perverts!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmLuVdbmdJA

Happy Friday, chingu! Thanks for all the Yuning love!

Fear of competition.
More admissions at medical schools means more doctors in the market in a few years.
Yes, there are shortages of doctors in many areas like OBGYN and pediatrics because many doctors want to practice in the lucrative practice areas of cosmetic surgery and dermatology (which is not covered by national insurance.)
Even medical school professors are against the increases for a personal reason: the schools are not hiring more professors to meet the new work load.

I understood it as such: current medical workers have been asking for better pay/work conditions for a while, got none ofc and instead government now basically threatens them with "suck it up or we'll replace you with all this new blood". Feel free to correct me if I got the gist of this debacle wrong.

If I remember correctly I read somewhere that first the medical staffs started asking for better pay and work conditions, and then the medicine universities started pushing for more quota to help ease the work load. The government increased the quota so little that it made everyone angry because they basically listened neither to the universities nor the medical staffs.

Happy Dramabeans Birthday!

Is the birthday the day one discovers the site or the day one makes an account?

Oooh, congratz!))) Mine - 2 years as an official beanie, tho I've been a lurker for ~8 more before that - will be somewhere very late in December, few days before NYE, I believe. Need to go back and check - I think I still remember which article I made my very first comment under.

Regarding wishes... More watchable dramas, esp from SK. Less projects cancelled/shelved because of scandals/taxes etc. Less cyberbullying towards artists (why is it always my faves to have this particularly bad - am I some jinx or what?!). Don't see any of that easily achievable tho(((

My first DramaBeans birthday will be September 12 if going by my first comment (which I think is a good marking point). I was being my usual practical self and helping Blue (@mayhemf) find The Kidnapping Day on amazon Prime.

I popped into DB on and off for over a year, but started regularly reading sometime last summer and then finally made an account so I could start participating. The end of year wrap-up got me posting on my fan wall (thanks to how-to posts you were making last fall Seon-ha!) I'm excited to do the wrap up again this year!

Once I started posting, I haven't looked back. DB is so much fun for me and I appreciate beanies and this unique online space so much. 🤗

My K-drama wishes for the rest of this year: Less threadbare tropes, more realistic portrayals of relationships (c-dramas are spoiling me in this regard), and no more serial killers.

No way you’ve only been here a year! 🎂 You’ve accomplished so much! You made me look this up, my first post were in January 2011 (😲) but I had been lurking since the beginning.

Yay, looking forward to more years of enjoying your talents!

Happy DB Day!
How do you tell when you joined. It’s been less than a year for myself

I started lurking before there even were accounts (maybe 2010ish?) but didn't actually post anything until 2013. I haven't found this year too exciting k-drama-wise so far, so I'd love to see that change in the coming months.

Happy Dramabeans birthday. Your comment influenced me to check mine as well. It is 4/11/2022. The day I first commented and shared my thoughts with fellow beanies.

It might be a crazy idea but what if we collect all beanies' dramabeans birthday to see who was here the longest. Anyone on board?

Happy Dramabeans Birthday! 🎂🎁

Congrats on this special day I can NOT believe it's only 12 months since you joined the comments and expanded the fan wall world for so many beanies.

My first comment was 8th May 2022 so I just had my second DB birthday and it never ceases to amaze me how much time I spend on here and how great the beanies are.

mine was Sept 8, 2011... of course i had to comment on the last episode of Myung Wol the Spy -- cuz Eric was my love...

Happy DB birthday!!

So that post about you asking to get in line wasn't you after all! And you are a younger DB than me!!

Happy beanie birthday, Seon ha!
I'm with you, dramas we have fun talking about are the best. Good talk, tho. These days it feels like all I want to do is to diss shows but no, I genuinely would prefer to have something good to say.
I still have hope since the year is young.

Mine was on April 13th (first comment with an account). I'm four years old.😂

Happy DB birthday, Seon-ha!

My DB DoB is 12th April 2020. But I knew of DB before that, when I carried out my own treasure hunts. I don't remember when I created an account, but I think I had logged in to like beanies' comments for some time before posting my first comment.

I think they should have waited for the end of the drama to judge the whole message about education instead to judge one scene or one episode. There are Kdramas about school like Black Dog, so I won't see an issue that a drama focused on academies.

Their education system is far from perfect...

Given that, as I've written, there are very few favorable portrayals of teachers in kdramas, the only thing interesting about this controversy is why they bothered to protest this particular depiction. It must have been the edits of scenes appearing as memes that bothered some at the association.

Anyway, I doubt this "controversy" will gain any traction, although you never know about the policing of Korean pop culture. I'm always shocked when dating "scandals" result in issued apologies.

I can't open up to this to anyone in case they will call me crazy/selfish/heartless. But I don't see myself as a mother. I can play with kids for a while but having a kid myself isn't something I wish for or more precisely sth I am scared of.

Thanks for raising this, it is sad that the gender differences in terms of parental roles and responsibilities and the attached expectations and judgements are still showing up in this day and age.

What a lovely update! It sounds like many good things have been coming your way!! Have a great time with your friends tomorrow 🤗

Good to see you here this week. I am on my desk top typing this as it means I can use my under desk treadmill to help burn off the frustration while I wait for my comments and likes to post. If I had been using my iPad as per usual, I would have added lots of happy emojis.

How lucky for you all that the decent weather meant the first communion party was outdoors, happy memories for your niece and the rest of your family.

So happy to hear you are settling well into work so far. Enjoy the rest of May with all the fun activities you have planned.

I'm glad everything is going well at work. ^^

I hope you have a great time with your friends. ☺️

Life is moving forward in many directions for you. 😊 Hope you had a wonderful weekend and a happy working week. Take care. See you in the next OT. ❤

Thanks for the really interesting comment! I think it is an interesting theory regarding shame/wish fulfillment in rom-coms. I find most rom-coms follow very similar underlying themes that seem to cross culture and media (romantic novels). There is nearly always a very beautiful heroine that must overcome obstacles. Those obstacles will be overcome with the help of a handsome and caring man (man will become caring if not from the start). Queen of Tears follows these themes completely. The idea that it is shameful to not have a partner in love seems to have a grain of truth to me. Another possibility is the idea that the only antidote to shame is finding love. That could explain why viewers get upset with sad and/or love unfulfilled endings like Yumi’s Cells. I don’t know that the serial killer theme is a way to shame men but may actually be a stand in for the idea that the woman cannot be safe without the love of the man. Strong Girl Bong Soon is a play on this theme that I have always found very creepy. Bong Soon may be safe because she has special powers and has a man, but other women will not be safe and will end up in cages. K-drama rom-coms are my least favorite genre. I love romantic stories but I find the underlying themes unsatisfying and predictable.

With any entertaining story, there needs to be a believable journey of the main characters. There needs to be a real world factual foundation/experiences so a viewer can believe in the characters and how they solve their problems. In general, the main problem with recent rom-coms is that they lack balance and a complete story. They are either light on the romance or light on the comedy.

There will be always obstacles in the main couple's way (friends, family, work, miscommunications to now serial killers) to the finish line. Shows are having a harder time sticking the landing.

I do not buy that watching TV shows such as rom-coms is viewer "wish fulfillment." The only wish the average viewer has is to be entertained and not insulted by a bad script, bad acting or bad direction.

Rom-coms aren't my favorite genre because they tend to follow very predictable plot arcs (couple meets, couple breaks up, couple reunites), but I'm weirdly simplistic in that when I do watch one I'm looking for sizzling chemistry and a fun sense of humor (that whole romance and comedy thing), and I'm not sure how shame figures into either of those things in a meaningful way. Believable emotional beats are a nice addition as well, especially if the show has a more melo or slice-of-life vibe.

When analyzing my favourite rom-coms, I find that the journey the leads have to make is more on the mental than the physical side. They grow up, but in a way that make them richer emotionally but not necessarily in terms of money or caréer advancement. This I can relate to, even though I'm neither candy nor chaebol. I Am Not a Robot comes to mind.
Dramas I haven't liked (or liked but have difficulty remembering) take the route of happiness equaling successfulness through changing your outer circumstances. I dunno, every work place has its challenges, the process just starts over. It leaves me hollow. A good rom hurts at some point. The ending might be bad, but life is too. I can forgive this (mostly) - and more importantly, forget.

Have you watched "The Idea of You," btw? I did a few days ago, so I found it interesting to read that excerpt--which I guess is more or less persuasive, even though I'm not sure I completely see his argument because the FL herself is not a fan of the boy band here eventual lover is in when they meet. (Hot Take: I liked it, found it poignant and affecting in the angsty bits, and thought Anne Hathaway was really good in it, but I can't say I'll go back and rewatch).

Anyway, I ended up liking the movie more than I expected to, and after reading your question, I think it's probably due to the same reasons that explain why I like romances more generally. I used to think, as many do, that it all came down to wish fulfillment--that is, the tendency to see oneself in the FL and imagine that the handsome, talented, brilliant, young, sexy, whatever ML is in love with you by proxy. But when I really think about that, I don't think it's at all true for me and never really has been. I like a relatable FL, but not because she's like me or could be me, but that she seems like a normal person. And I never imagine that the ML is or could be in love with me or someone like me. Is this because I'm content with my own romantic life or because maybe the idea that people love romcoms because it's playing out their fantasies is just way off base?

Either way, I think I've always loved romance because when done well, it hits on all the major aspects of human existence, including but by no means limited to finding the ideal romantic partner. The best ones incorporate a variety of relationships, conflicts, humor in the everyday, and professional struggles, and then, some measure of triumph on all fronts by the end. No other genre does that or, at least, not in a way that is as meaningful to me.

Kdrama romcoms or romances (I do prefer the more melo ones, to be honest) are appealing because they do this kind of integrated storytelling so well. On a shallow note, I also tend to find them more successful in terms of finding, casting, and directing leads who have more reliable chemistry than many Western shows do. It may also be that Western romances often include more explicit sex than you'll find in any kdrama and although I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing (for instance, I thought the sex in "The Idea of You" was well done and necessary to the story), it does mean that kdramas have to spend more time cultivating attraction between the leads than maybe Western shows do.

As far as your question there at the end about serial killers standing in for male shaming, I'm not exactly sure what you mean. But I see it more as a reliance on the patriarchal trope of women needing to be rescued by men and/or protected by men in order to be truly safe and happy in society. That's the underlying message I find to be present most often. That said, I do admit that I don't hate these kinds of scenes, likely because as much as I might want to...

In my case, this is pretty much impossible because (1) I don't know what shame is, and (2) I usually think the reward isn't worth the trouble.

I relate to the characters in a personal level, but it never has anything to do with the romance (getting the guy/girl). I like watching the character's journey more than the result itself.

That's why shows were the focus is all in a underdeveloped romance (like Lovely Runner, Wedding Impo, Sam Dal, QoT), don't hit that hard to me. I sometimes even end up hating the couples or one of the leads (usually ML), because of how little growth they had, and how much the show only cares about making the two be together just because cute. And a show making you feel like someone is too good for you, or that your worth is in someone choosing you, is definitely not my type.

The romance is just a bonus, imo. Like watching a kid on the street smile, or hanging out with someone with good vibes. Just additional positive energy? 😂
The romance only becomes the prize when it has a firm ground to stand on. But I feel like that works better in melodramas than romcoms. TMTYLM, JBLovers, FoEvil, for ex.

Same on love-hate with romcoms, kdrama ones in particular. My main problems are that I: a) often disagree with their definition of funny/swoony personally and culturally; b) find the traditional investment in relationship gender imbalance where ML pines/loves/desires/sacrifices for FL way more than she ever does for him rather off-putting and not romantic in the slightest (unpopular opinion, I know). Ofc there are examples of the opposite, sometimes even extreme ones - for the record, I do NOT like those either. If my OTP isn't mutually ride or die for each other, I couldn't care about them, sorry. Which is why I prefer my romances in - ha! - either historical dramas and/or dramas where romance isn't the main genre, because those usually give me stories where OTP have to fight to be together very literally and struggle with getting there NOT due to petty reasons that only make me doubt the supposed greatness of their love. I also have a raging dislike for libido-free FLs because what's even the point of narrative to "reward" them with hot as hell MLs if they aren't gonna properly appreciate their luck? But that's a topic for another day...

Extreme beatdowns of FLs - or MLs, for that matter - in modern shows aren't very funny, I agree. I'll take 100 blood spitting torture-filled crappy days for the hero/heroine over 1 with office coworkers from hell anytime, tyvm.