Beanie level: Eunuch in drag

Welcome to Samdal-ri E7. “That scene” when your heart breaks for the 2nd male lead…. (and yes, your friendly ghost is still here haunting you…)

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    Hello Ghostly Chingu! 👋
    Wish you Merry Christmas full of ghostly treats you enjoy!! 🎄 ☃️ 💕

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Daily Dose of Sunshine E10. Aigoo! Here I go again with an eccentric crush, this time for Gong Min Jung. Her many fantastic supporting roles have accumulated to win my heart.

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Daily Dose of Sunshine E2. @radily is right, this show is the Real Deal. I see a combo of Hospital Playlist and It’s Ok Not to Be Ok. Also: who is this cameo? Suzy?

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Castaway Diva E3. Oftentimes my eccentricity inexplicably draws me to the shining talent of a rising star – even someone in a supporting role. This time, it is Moon Woo-jin.

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Strong Girl Nam-soon E8. Ah, such magical ghostly beauty! Just what I needed to drive lingering images of Suzy from my brain. What a Halloween treat! 🎃

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🎃 Happy Halloween 🎃 from your friendly ghost. Yes, my bluish-purple eye is still here, watching and learning, from beneath my new Eunuch in drag attire. 😉

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Some beanies (myself included) really liked seeing the band Nerd Connection in E8 of Doona. I finally found a video of “Hollywood Movie Star”, the song they performed.

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Castaway Diva E1. I was hoping this guy waiting for Mok-ha at the station was wearing a military uniform, but upon closer study it appears to be a professional work uniform. 😞

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    Oh. I thought it was military uniform too.
    I don’t expect them to be accurate but I assume they wanted to say he finished his mandatory military service.

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      Yes, I thought the same thing. It still could be a military uniform, but the 4 buttons on the sleeves lead me to believe otherwise. I hope I am wrong, but it probably doesn’t matter for the story. I just sometimes find myself getting eccentrically anal about this type of detail. 😣

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        The uniform read “Navy Band” to me.

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          I also thought it was Korean Navy, but didn’t we see Bo-gul get seasick on the ride to the island? It would seem odd for him to have served in the navy and suffer from seasickness.

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            Wasn’t Woo-Hak the one who was sea sick? Which made logical sense to me that he isn;t Ki Ho

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            No, it’s Woo-tak who gets seasick – Bo-geol is the one who regularly volunteers for the island clean-ups and voluntold his brother to come along. And it’s Ki-ho, who for the moment we are assuming is now Bo-geol, who waited at the train station.

            People who tend to get seasick can and do still serve in the US Navy – I don’t know about S. Korea.

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            *Woo-hak. It always takes me some time to get used to a new set of names, for both actors and characters. Woo-tak was Jung Hae-in’s SML character in While You Were Sleeping from the same PD.

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            @mayhemf @Elinor you are correct, I got the character names switched.

            We are being thrown lots of bait, but how much of it are real clues? Too little info to connect the dots (yet), but it’s fun to speculate.

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            @mayhemf @Elinor @Seeker here is a thought: Bo-gul is really Ki-ho, but he had to change his name when he eventually ran off to live with his mother’s family in Seoul. He had to change this name to elude his abusive, ex-cop father – who he knows is trying to hunt him down. He wants to reveal his identity to Mok-ha, but cannot, because he knows it could eventually lead to his father finding him. This is my Halloween-enhanced ghostly prophesy (but don’t put alot of stock in it!!) 😜

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            @GhostofTim It’s an entire shoal of red herrings. There are lots of fishy things going on here, not least of which is the repeated use of fish as something other than food. On the land side, that deodeok wine is a real thing! 😖 I wonder if it’s going to be a continuing metaphor for Ran-joo or if that was a one-time (PPL?) cameo.

            I do love this stage of a drama, when there are far more clues than answers and we’re madly scrambling to figure out what’s significant, and it’s being done well here.

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            Comment was deleted

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            @GhostofTim I agree you’ve got hold of the right end of the stick with that theory (to the extent that a ghostly hand can grasp anything). Do your prophetic powers always increase at this haunted time of year? Can you take advantage of them to make a few won in the stock market?

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            Bo-geol as Ki-ho has definitely more merit because “drama logic”. Also as you rightly said in order to hide from his father he is afraid to even give a hint to Mok-ha.
            As he said earlier, be so successful that no one can touch you. I have a feeling that we will get more clues and he may hint or Mok-ha may find out when she interacts with him some more.

            It would be highly improbable for Woo-hak to be Ki-ho. I put down her “you have the same vibe as Ki-ho” comment to be how brothers give similar vibes.

            That look on Bo-geol face in the epilogue when Woo-hak said he would do for Mok-ha what Ki-ho would do was quite telling.

            Why is no one one comparing the writing of Ki-ho on that note with the Kang brothers. Surely, as a reporter first thing Woo-hak would do is to compare his or his brother’s writing. Maybe it will be revealed later.

            For now Bo-geol as Ki-ho seems more plausible.

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            @GhostofTim

            Sold. I nomu nomu chuae your theory.
            Please allow me to add my two penny and let us go down this rabbit hole:
            – Woo-hak is actually Ki-ho… but amnesia.
            – Bo-geol is helping to secretly look for Mok-ha by volunteering to clean islands.
            – Woo-hak falls for Mok-ha but misunderstands that Bo-geol is Ki-ho and respectfully withdraws.
            – Bo-geol falls for Mok-ha but feels guilty because he is not the real Ki-ho and respectfully withdraws.
            – Mok-ha becomes a famous singer and lives happily ever after with wait for it Ran-joo because she is her mother or sister!!

            Ottoke??

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            Comment was deleted

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            @seeker I delete my comment just previous to this one because it wasn’t what I wanted to say. First, to your very interesting speculation of:
            – Woo-hak is actually Ki-ho… but amnesia.
            – Bo-geol is helping to secretly look for Mok-ha by volunteering to clean islands.
            – Woo-hak falls for Mok-ha but misunderstands that Bo-geol is Ki-ho and respectfully withdraws.
            – Bo-geol falls for Mok-ha but feels guilty because he is not the real Ki-ho and respectfully withdraws.
            – Mok-ha becomes a famous singer and lives happily ever after with wait for it Ran-joo because she is her mother or sister!!

            I think (as was suggested by some others) we are probably over-complicating this plot, but nevertheless I really like your scenario here. It explains the clues we have seen and feels right for this kind of show. I just hope if this is the direction we are headed, we do see “respectful withdrawals” and not Trucks/Boats of Doom.

            I never expected this simple post about a possible military uniform to lead down such a Rabbit Hole!

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            @GhostofTim

            Hahaha. Moral of the story – ask Beanies for theories at your own peril. 🚩 🚫  🐂

            No worries, its all good. See dramas you like, chat about what you want to discuss and just have FUN!

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          I think it’s pretty clear that Woo-hak can’t be Ki-ho if he really lost his memories before high school, because why would he keep going to the spot Mok-ha was supposed to meet Ran-joo even as an adult if he didn’t remember!

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            @mindy this is great analysis, and is most likely a solid clue. However, let this ghost play Devil’s Advocate for a minute. It’s possible that we see two different men going to the station to look for her. It is Woo-hak who goes up until the time of his injury, then we see Bo-gul taking his place. Why? Well, Woo-hak has confided to Bo-gul of the need to periodically look for Mok-ha at the station, and after his injury Bo-gul feels obligated to help his (foster) brother continue the search.

            Your explanation does make more sense, but we are discussing a kdrama…

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            @ghostoftim Oh god.

            I’m just gonna sit back and let the drama do its thing 😭

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            Comment was deleted

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            @mindy @Seeker @Elinor @mayhemf Mindy, I know, right? It’s a mess. I was just prophesizing to you guys that “Bo-gul is really Ki-ho” and then you triggered something that led me to the thought “What if Woo-hak really is Ki-ho, but he told Bo-gul the whole backstory, and Bo-gul has been secretly helping look for Mok-ha after Woo-hak lost his memory?”

            Moral of story: don’t buy stocks based on what a ghost shares on the internet! >😄

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            LOL, Tim.. I don’t know how to react to the beanie theories and analysis. I honestly don’t think the writer wrote this to be so intelligent. Most of me thinks that beanies are over thinking and over analysing things that the writer themselves might not have thought about ; )
            Don’t get me wrong, it’s fun to read all this. But, I am just going to go with the flow.

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Castaway Diva E1. The superb acting of 14-year-old Moon Woo-jin is stuck my brain. I really, really hope we see more of him via flashbacks in the remaining episodes. 🤞

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Castaway Diva E1. I cannot remember an episode 1 that ripped me open this much with its beauty and horror. This ghost needed tissues, you may too.

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Eccentric ghosts do silly things at Halloween (like sing bad karaoke). I tried an old song with lyrics that make me think of a Won-jun singing to Doona.

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Doona! E9. Is this scene at the start of E9 a big clue? Read my comments below and decide for yourself (spoiler alert).

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    That scene abruptly cuts to Won-jun waking up in bed. Was it just his dream? If so, is he able to dream of future events? Notice he is wearing the same clothes as in the last scene, in Japan.

    Future events? How can we verify that? Here is how: I found a Reddit thread discussing this show, and user Turbulent_Culture679 shares the following: “The opening scene of ep 9 at the “flower park” is at Oishi Park near Mt Fuji in Japan. You can see the distinctive pink bushes and the base of Mt Fuji in the background.”

    If you are interested, here is the full thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/KDRAMA/comments/17bzifi/comment/k5xegqt/

    So think about it. The last scene of E9 shows us Doona and Won-jun are both in Japan, but not together. We do see Doona turn for a moment as if she recognizes him. With the foggy, surreal, and non-linear editing we see throughout E9, is it too much of a stretch to believe that first scene actually happens later, and the two are deciding to rekindle their relationship? Won-jun arrives at Oishi Park wearing the same clothes we saw him in at the shopping mall. He gives Doona a half smile. I, for one, will embrace this interpretation of the ending.

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      Gosh I wish the editing were better near the end of this drama.

      I’m gonna offer that you can have your wish, Tim!!

      However (하지만), I have a different preferred ending–the glory of an open ending!! I sort of hope that these two got what they needed out of their time together and that now they can both move on instead of getting stuck in old habits.

      I liked it when she said (ambivalently), “I don’t need you anymore,” and he shouted back, “I KNOW.” That was the perfect release of their relationship’s tension for me. She admits that she was using him, he admits that he knew that and didn’t mind it (but does now)…but to get out of this bind, either SHE is going to need to accept him on his own terms (as his own person) now–which she can’t because, ahem, IDOL–or they need to move on from what they had.

      I mean, your way’s fine too, but yeah.

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        I agree your preferred ending seems to be the most logical one. I am actually ok with that ending of them going their separate ways, each with the closure they needed. I’m ok because the writers did a good job of explaining that to us. Nevertheless, my eccentric nature inexplicably pulls me toward the other possible ending…

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        I think the scene where she breaks down in her apartment after meeting him contradicts her claim that because she is surrounded by people so she doesn’t need him anymore. It’s an emotional statement in the heat of the moment and Won-jun counters that with his emotional plea to leave him in peace.

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          Mmm. Interesting. I do think she cries in her apartment before that interaction–but I take your point. I suppose I’m making a slightly different claim. I think that there’s a difference between “needing” him–like in a co-dependent support sort of way which is how it clearly started (and what I think she’s saying when she says she doesn’t need anymore, and he agrees)–and wanting to be with him as two independent agents (actual love), which I do agree she eventually wants (hence the tears you rightly bring up).

          BUT, the problem is that she can’t really have that, because “idol.” I definitely don’t want to leave the impression that Doona doesn’t love Won-jun. She does. I don’t think she did when she said those words back in the middle of the show, but I do think she does come to that eventually.

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      I watched it and it’s not the same coat. The collars are different.

      So if they wanted to make me understand the scene happened after, the last scene, it missed.

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        True, the collars are different, but that isn’t enough to invalidate the importance of the Oishi Park scene. Did they really meet in Japan? Or was it just Won-jun’s dream of a possible future?

        We may never really know the writer(s) intent, but it does provide a more open ending that can appeal to more viewers.

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          I don’t know… Why choosing to show this scene at the beginning? People have to remember the exact place? The clothes? Etc when they didn’t speak and there were a lot of things between?

          Again, the editing was really bad. It took off a lot of the story, character’s development, etc.

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            Agreed – the editing was lacking in this last episode.

            Here is a hypothetical scenario (just my musings). Stay with me here…Netflix HQ calls the Doona! production team and says something like “we have budget constraints, wrap up this show in 9 episodes”. The production team is forced to comply, yet they are deep into the production of the show, and already have shot much more footage then can be shown in 9 episodes. What do they do? Answer: they try their best to get creative, albeit within their new working parameters. They have to make hard decisions to condense important parts of the story, which includes deleting scenes (some already shot). They look to their editing team for salvation. Can the editors splice together an episode 9 ending that (while short of the original vision) is still appealing to viewers? The editing team does their best to “think outside the box” and comes up with the time fast-forward/out-of-sequence presentation we see in E9. It’s not perfect, but it gets the job done within their production constraints. We, the viewers, are expected to understand the shift in their narrative presentation, and flow with it.

            As with all hypotheticals, this is just my speculation.

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            @GhostofTim

            They had very bad editors. Even if they had to reduce the show, it was a director’s choice to make a clear or not ending. They put this scene after the hotel one and the end is full of hopes. At the beginning, it’s just interrogations.

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            Bad editing or lazy writers? This show didn’t have an “ending,” rather, it had a “stopping.” The secondary characters all had a reasonable ending to their arcs, but the narrative for the leads was not wrapped up.

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      It’s bait. Bad dramas will do that sometimes. Good ones too.
      If somebody is upset they didn’t not end up together they can imagine that was a sort of prediction dream if they are not, they can just ignore it.

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    Fyi: all the rail road crossing scenes in the intro were filmed in Japan.

    The crossing reminded me of Japan and scenes from jdrama when I watched the intro. Looked closely and saw Japanese letters/words in the background. Not sure the location of the railroad crossing had anything to do with plot or it’s just for aesthetic purposes hahaha 🤣

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    Maybe……but it is SO OBSCURE if that is true.

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Doona! E5. It’s doomed. He knows it. I know it. Nevertheless, he decides to live in the moment. Beanies, any single guy would do exactly the same thing, trust me.

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    This hair. I keep thinking about it, it’s so distracting. Crazy people.

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    Oh hey, @ghostoftim? I hope you don’t mind that I keep responding to your interpretations with my own “contrary” ones (I don’t think of them as “contrary” or “pushback,” at all, for what it’s worth, I just think of them as contrasting alternatives). I’ve been enjoying our back and forth on Doona! but I know that such things aren’t always clear “through the internet.” I think many folks dismissed this drama—but neither of us did and I appreciate the chance to talk about it.

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      Thank you for the nice words. I am comfortable. I did recently decide to modify my moniker here, because I realized my participation level was increasing. I felt a little more transparency would help my interactions.

      I decided to come back here to DB because I missed the participation, and a platform to share my (oftentimes) whacky ideas and feelings about dramas. I am aware my viewpoints will sometimes stir up discussion. @attiton you have been understanding, thought-provoking, and sweet. I enjoy reading your comments, whether directed to me or other Beanies.

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        Well, thanks right back to you, Tim, for your kind words! You aren’t the only one to stir up discussion (a trait I appreciate). I happen to know that I piss off as many people as I amuse here on DB, and so I sometimes like to check-in when the conversation has been particularly productive from my POV! 😁

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    Thought so! Thanks for putting it out there!

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I just finished Turn to Me Mukai-kun (Hulu & Netflix). This Jdrama is pure gold, with one of the best scripts I’ve ever seen. Kdrama writers should learn from this! Highly recommended!

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    Oh this is good to read, it keeps popping up for me but I’m in the midst of binging Hidden Love and so I’ll watch this one next. It looks really cute!
    Thanks for saying it’s as cute as it looks!

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    “Climb over my corpse and find happiness for us, brother.” 😂 Such a gem of s drama!

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    The first ep was nice! This actor is adorable, I remember him from Cherry Magic. I wasn’t a big fan of the script but it was still interesting.

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Turn to me Mukai-kun E2. Netflix just released this jdrama. I see excellent direction, editing, and a very quirky and charming script (notice the ML sees himself as a clown with girls).

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I am really looking forward to Doona!. I hope I am not disappointed.

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Here is the japchae I had at a restaurant recently. Do you see the problem? I think it is visible without tasting. Alas, I was hoping for the Reply 1994 or True Beauty version.

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Just finished watching Ballerina on Netflix. It’s a rather dark action film, but Jeon Jong-seo is quite entertaining. I never saw Burning, so this is my first time seeing her.

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    She’s an impressive actress and picking edgy projects. It’s hard to believe Burning was her first acting project. Then so good as Tokyo in Money Heist. Yet to watch Ballerina.

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I am quite annoyed right now. My review of Behind Your Touch posted on the show\’s Discussion tab was deleted. This has happened to me before, with no explanation from DB staff. >:(

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    @Ghost of Tim: I’m sorry to hear this. Their moderating decisions are disheartening at best and appalling at worst in my experience. For instance, there is a commenter who only posts in the Open Threads every week without fail. They include irrelevant and frankly bizarre things, and often say the most offensive things as well but their posts have not been deleted except once when they expressed horrific and callous views about the invasion of Ukraine, were confronted strongly by a number of beanies and the DB solution was to remove the entire thread. Not to deal with this problematic commenter but to sweep it under the rug.
    Why don’t you post it again in this week’s Open Thread?

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      Based on my experiences here, I have to agree with you about the moderating decisions. If they would just tell me why they deleted some of my reviews, I could understand and choose my words more carefully, but they are silent. All I can think of is that I did type “he11” in that review (using 1 instead of l). I used it in the context “what the he11”. Maybe that is what got it deleted, and maybe they have some bot they run to search and destroy based on these keywords.

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        Hopefully, it is something benign such as “he11” being singled out without cause but as they never respond to queries, there is no clarity.. Maybe replace those words that might trigger a bot and repost it

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    😡 That’s disappointing. You’re not someone I think of as posting inappropriate comments – quite the reverse.

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    I say tag dbstaff on the discussion page and ask them about your review disappearance. It Could be a bug and unintentional Or atleast you will get an explanation.

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      Good idea, but guess what? For some reason, I am now blocked from leaving a discussion comment on the show. Apparently, after removing my original comment, they have blocked me from re-entering a new one there. Same thing happened to me on the A Time Called You discussion page. I guess this will be the last year I purchase premium subscriber status here. @dbstaff

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    @ghostoftim Just popping in to defend the team and the hardworking spam filter to let you know that your review wasn’t deleted — we are seeing it in the discussion tab for BYT here: https://www.dramabeans.com/shows/behind-your-touch/#comment-4125066 If you are still having issues feel free to email the hello address and we can take a deeper look.

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      I believe there is some confusion in how we access the page. Eg, if I search for a show and click on any link and then click discussion tab I see a different page, Which doesn’t have many reviews including Tim’s. But if I click on the link above I see the comment!!
      May be the way I come to this page matters?? Or there are two different discussion tabs.

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        @missvictrix @mayhemf Yes, I am experiencing exactly what Blue described. I do see my review when I click on the link provided by missvictrix, but when I follow the steps Blue mentioned (which is how most people will check out a show), the older comments are not appearing (the last comment I see is by Cay_sbtgoG). So the problem appears to be not one of removal but rather not displaying the full list of comments for a show. Hopefully the staff can fix this.

        I apologize for thinking my review comments were being removed, but honestly if they don’t appear for people to read, it’s almost as bad.

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          @ghostoftim @mayhemf Thank you both for this thread — it helped us realize there is a bug going on with how the Discussion tab gets fed. I won’t bore you with the technicalities but yes, all the comments/reviews are not turning up properly in the Discussion tab. We are on it! Please email the inbox if you find another case where this is happening, as it might help them figure out what’s up and fix it faster. And since we’re all on this old, heavy, beloved, worn out site together, we appreciate all the grace we can get from the Beanies 🙂

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    Can you share it as a post on your own Fan Wall for us to read? I know it doesn’t solve the issue. But this could be a great way if this keeps happening to you.

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    Update: thank you @db-staff for adding the new “Show More Discussions” link after scrolling to the bottom of a Drama’s Discussion comments. It is working nicely to “unhide” the older comments, like many of mine.

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Destined with You E14. Buckets of ghostly tears…this is Sageuk at its best, plus past-lives storylines always deeply affect me.

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    He surpassed my expectation in this scene. His heartbreak oooff!

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