Beanie level: Rooftop room dweller

#2023 Round Up Day 18 : Favorite Villain.

Lady Park in The Matchmakers should take this title in my books. But then, I didn’t watch this drama.

I don’t think the villains in this year ticked my brains. The one that would have landed a favorite suffered from a whack script – Jo Sung-Gyun The Forbidden Marriage. My favorite villains this year are immaterial – fate and miscommunication. This two entities drove a wrench between too many of my leads that it scores top in my sheet as a villain.

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#2023 Round Up Day 14 : Best Bromance

Sacred Divorce:Shin Sung-han, Jang Hyeon-goon, Jo Jung-shik

I can’t talk about Bromances without giving credit to a drama that’s actually based on this. Just like it’s predecessor Thirty Nine, it had a character who sometimes felt to me like the third wheel in their bromance, it doesn’t hide the fact that this three are a bunch of children when they are in their element. Is it singing at the top of their voice in the dead of the night, or tag-teaming to tease either one of them, even tag-teaming to be jealous over a meal special. When I recall Sacred Divorce, the character that stays in my mind the most is Jang Hyeon-goon. This man has a heart of gold. And it finally gave me a proper introduction to Kim Sung-kyun. Definitely no regrets in this winning best bromance.

Honorable Mentions

Lee Jang-hyun and Ryang-eum : My Dearest 1&2. The dialogue in the picture for this sealed this deal for me.
Gu Won and Noh Chang-shik : King The Land. I didn’t go further than EP 5. But it was fun to watch this two quibble.
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#2023 Round Up Day 13 : Show me you learnt from your mistakes:Let\’s talk about drops

One major drop where I particularly learnt from was Trolley. I never fail to hide my disappointment about this drama. This is the drama I dropped at episode 16. It was so sad, but it helped me stay away from dramas that carried a similar tone. Like Lies Hidden In My Garden. Should My Happy Ending be anything like Trolley or try to veer towards that, I\’m sorry but I\’ll moved to want to drop it like hot potato.

Other drops are King The Land(Episode 5), Destined With You (Episode 13½) – writers hoping to sell a drama to me via visual acting will never work for me. Add in actors I\’m not necessarily impressed with their acting and it\’s another drop.

Beneficial Fraud(Episode 4) – I don\’t like the female lead. Yes. I said it. And then, the fourth wall was a big distraction. I love Kim Dong-wook. But this is his first piece that I\’m dropping. Not even the promise of Lee Tae-ran was enough to hold me down.

Big Bet – I don\’t know what this one was trying to do. So I just dropped it. I started for Sohn Seok-ku anyway and I had already seen his character from S1E6 to S2E2.

My Demon – EP 1. This seems like the drama I\’ll better follow from the recaps.

I almost dropped Welcome to Samdalri and the Story of Park\’s Marriage Contract cause I\’m choked with life activities at the moment. If by the time I am free I do not have the inclination to pick them up, it\’s a goner. I\’ll know thay by the end of this week.

Unlock My Boss – Stop killing a character I love. I wasn\’t exactly a fan of the main leads. I tuned it to this because of Park Sung-woong and his character happens to be stuck in a phone for the most of the time. But then, i fell in love for Kim Sung-oh\’s acting and then bam! his character dies. And then blop! I dropped it. But, I finished it with the recaps.

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#2023 Round Up Day 11 : The Nam Da-reum prize:Best Child Actor

I’m having two winners so…
Park So-yi and Ki So-yoo : O’PENing drama special 2:15PM

It wasn’t easy having to grow up so early in their formative years and this two equally amazing child actors captured it so well. So well in that they understood their assignment and delivered.

Honorable Mentions

Park So-yi – 19th Life(It’s not easy going alongside Cha Chung-hwa)
Jeon Yu-na : The Kidnapping Day.
Kim Ha-on : O’PENing special One Reason We Can’t Meet.
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Had My Happy End aired, this picture still of Sohn Ho-jun would have made my overall 2023 crush.
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#2023 Round Up Day 10 : My 2023 crush

All round…

Lee Jang-hyun(Nam Goongmin)

Male…

Go Eun-beom(Jang Seung-jo)

Female…

Go Ah-in(Lee Bo-young).

It was so hard to find a picture where Jang-hyun was always at peace so…
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    Nam Goongmin, no need to say more! But I almost forgot about Jang Seung-jo and those bedroom eyes… Wonder what he’s up to these days.

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#2023 Round Up Day 9 : Non-kdrama recommendations…

Besides my regular law and medicals, a few series stood out. Well, that\’ll be Night Agent and Bridgerton. Also, Bridgerton : Queen Charlotte Story.

To any who watched Night Agent, I\’m still salty about the death of the Chief of Staff. I don\’t know how they never seemed to understand her plight in the whole scenario.

For films, check out Tosca Musk\’s Gabriel anthology.

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#2023 Round Up Day 8 : The character(s) who most screams for mental health care…

Park Tae-soo:Secret Royal Inspector and Jo-yi

Try fighting against being cursed just because of your maternal link. Despite being the most perfect son a man can wish to birth, alas! his father only sought to use him all because he was born of a slave woman.
Throughout his lifetime he fought against the chain that was wrapped around his neck. And while I wished that he came out alive, albeit paying for his sins, I was so sad to see him die off in the most gruesome manner, this is after suffering one inhumane treatment after another at almost every point of his life. Turns out the other son, who is a definite flight risk were we in modern era, was the one born of a slave. Yeah! Mentally deranged guy\’s birth mom did a baby switch.

So I want him to get therapy, just so he can know that he doesn\’t need the validation of any member of his deranged family. That at the end of the day, when he has sift through everything, he was the only sane person in that household. H screams therapy for me cause I really wanted him to break himself free of the shackles that followed him basically everywhere.

One little minion who definitely needs therapy is Heo Yun-ok in Alchemy of Souls 2. All I can say is she needs help. Pining after a man who clearly doesn\’t see you as a woman is absolutely no appealing trait, nor is it strength.

Lee Jang-hyun:My Dearest – Why exactly does this man scream therapy? He has suffered enough. I need him to go into therapy so he can learn that he does not have to put himself in harm\’s way for Joseon when the heads themselves are weaklings who are after saving their own skin. He needs therapy so that Gil-chae won\’t become a sudden widow thanks to his selflessness. He screams therapy solely for me to be sure of Gil-chae\’s peace of mind. This woman won\’t complain for sure, but damn, you kept leaving for a \’noble cause\’. And each time, it was by tooth and nail you returned alive. I need the therapist to prescribe Jang-hyun the drug Let Joseon Crash and Burn cause his death won\’t stop it.

Royal Noble Consort Ji:Crash Course In Romance – This drama did Shin Jae-ha and Ji Dong-hui dirty. What should have been a good moment to expatiate on one area of the many mental health conditions – toxic emotional dependence – and the need for therapy, alas! they opted for suicide. So I really want this guy in a room, with a therapist. So he can learn that let Chi-yeol have his life, and by that he will be on the way to getting well as well.

Honorable Mentions

Lee Hyo-shim, Lee Hyo-shim\’s mother, Lee Hyo-jun, Kang Tae-min, Lee Hyo-do : Live Your Own Life
Han Yu-ra, Seo Jung-wook, Seo Young-kyun : Perfect Marriage Revenge
King Injo : My Dearest
Go Ah-in : Agency
Van : Island 1&2
All the cast : Pandora; Seven Escape.
Deborah : Bora! Deborah
Cheon-myung : TOT9T1938
All the moms : Happiness Battle
Kim Eun-mi and Kim Jin-hee : Not Others. I need this two to learn in therapy that they should look at pursuing having a life outside each other.

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#2023 Round Up Day 7 : The drama beanies convinced me to watch and I can’t be grateful enough for…

Cold Blooded Intern

Actually the true winner of this category for me is Il Mare, a film @mmmmm recommended on her fanwall. It is a piece I’m definitely not grateful enough for watching.

So, back to Cold Blooded Intern. Why this? First, let me establish that Cold Blooded Intern was always on my radar. Well, by the time it aired, Cold Blooded Intern fell into the category of those dramas where I skipped the premiere episodes entirely and began watching from episode 3 because from the recaps I learnt that this isn’t going to be a watch for me unless convinced or feeling otherwise later on. Well, @reply1988 made gave a well-rounded take on the first two episodes and it convinced me enough to give this a try. And yes, it was worth it. I finally sat down to binge watch the last 6 episodes in one stretch after spending 3 weeks watching episodes 3-4½, all of this was way after Cold Blooded Intern had finished airing.

At the end of the day, thanks to reply1988, I got to see Cold Blooded Intern deliver exceptionally one particular arc Agency, another drama built around the same setting, choose not to or failed to accomplish.
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    I’m so happy you loved Il Mare! It’s my favorite K movie. I just think it’s so gorgeously quiet and beautiful. It’s a classic.

    😊

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#2023 Round Up Day 5 : The character that deserves a kimchi slap

Lee Hong-ju:Destined With You

There are many contenders for this position cause there are many people who are worthy of honorable mentions but I don\’t think they\’ve earned the bid to become the prime kimchi slap to be collected. Haonha, there\’s someone taking the crown and that\’s Hong-ju. 🤦🏽‍♂️🤦🏽‍♂️🤦🏽‍♂️🙄… this character was the death of me that time of the year. Between her and her equal who I\’ll mention first in the honorable mentions, I don\’t who gets title for being such a pushover to the point where I no longer react to her bullies any longer cause I know I\’m only wasting my kimchi. So instead, she gets the kimchi for being such a disappointment.
Hong-ju was so deserving of a kimchi slap that I have I wished she swapped places and become the backstory so i can spend more time with Aeng-cho, who was the backstory. That\’s how much she was deserving of my kimchi slap.

And now, to the honorable mentions and the list is long so brace yourself…

Lee Hyo-shim : Live Your Own Life
Han Yoo-ra, Seo Jung-wook, Lee Jung-hye, Han Jin-woong : Perfect Marriage Revenge
Jin Mu : Alchemy of Souls 2
Kang Yong-ho : Agency
Han Ba-da : Red Balloon
Kim So-bin, Jin Seung-hee, Lee Yoo-shin : Trolley
Han Gye-jool : Kokdu : Season of Diety
Kimchi Spirit : The Heavenly Idol
Jang Ho-woo : Numbers
Sleazy Eunuch Pyo – My Dearest 1&2
Seven Escape : War of Survival – All 7 of them.
Lee Eun-sung : Durian\’s Affair

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    I thought Yoon Hae Young as Jang Se Mi in Durian’s Affair is the more slappable of the two.

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      Jang Se-mi does deserve the kimchi slap. But whenever I think about how much she deserves it, it doesn’t make my pissed. I’m laughing instead. So she gets a pass for making me laugh instead of feel angry at her unending annoying antics.

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        Aigoo ! Lee Eun-sung suffered greatly 😂
        Her husband ran off and went back to Joseon with the Joseon Lady 🥰

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    Not about this actual character, but I would like to see a kdrama titled Sleazy Eunuch Pyo.

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#2023 Round Up Day 5 : OTP you didn’t think you’d adore
Kang Chan-wook and Jung Da-jung:Recipe for Farewell

I knew I was going to watch this drama. But for a drama that informed me right fron the start that it would bid farewell, I didn’t expect it to handle its leads story in the way it did. They were a couple who were tethering on divorce. They were already living separately. And the need of outpatient care had her husband coming back to provide care and support for his wife.
From a man who knows absolutely nothing about the kitchen or taking care, we get to see him learn, put effort and by effort I mean great effort +practice without complaining, always ready to acclimate to the next drama his wife’s terminal illness brings up with respect to her meals, until these actions become a part and parcel of him.
I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to this OTP when it finished, cause their story continued after her demise – there was a recipe she left for him to prepare. Just as Chan-wook hesitated, a bit of time passed before he made that particular meal, I could resonate with why – he wasn’t ready to finally bid farewell.
Somehow despite the heavy tone of Recipe for Farewell, I look back on the OTP’s story with a smile plastered ony face. I actually watched a few favorite scenes some hours ago and I must say that feeling hasn’t changed.

Kim Myeong-jun x Ro-hee:The Kidnapping Day

I’m sorry but I can’t relegate this to an honorable mention.

Once again, had they dangled the world as a prize to get me to watch this drama, there was no way that I would. It had all the ingredients I liked…
Yoon Kye-sang ✅✅, a chance to finally watch the wonder that is Kim Shin-rok✅(All I’ve known is praises about her excellence), Park Sung-hoon ✅. What immediately soiled my mood for the drama was one of the teasers… Ro-hee hitting Myeong-jun’s head with a back scratcher.
Do I regret the fact that this teaser would have made me miss out on this gem? No. It was a harrowing experience having to sit through that scene so the forward button helped.

Getting to watch the dynamic between Ro-hee and Myeong-jun unfold was sweet and bitter. Sweet because it was a long time since kids struck great chemistry with adult co-stars. Bitter because it was not easy to see Ro-hee finally experience what it means to be a child. And whilst this two had a sometimes parasitic sometimes symbiotic until it became an entirely mutual relationship, it was fun to Myeong-jun help her navigate and grow as a functional member of the society. And when it all the love, bond, emotional attachment had been layered in properly, it was all let loose in the emotional scene of Myeong-jun’s arrest in Episode 11, a way I didn’t feel since Ji Sung’s character’s arrest in The Devil’s Judge EP 15. It was raw. Such was the kind of OTP that they created.

And now, to the pictures…
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#2023 Round Up Day 4 : Dramas I loved but beanies didn\’t…
Cold Blooded Intern

Perhaps because of Ra Mi-ran\’s stint in The Good Bad Mother(I didn\’t watch this), and of course the knowledge that she was reprising the good bad guy part again in CBI, plus, it was a corporate world themed drama without the visual selling faces, I really don\’t know why beanies missed out on this. If you liked Agency, I guessed that you\’d like this one too.
Believe, I got angry at Ra Mi-ran\’s character too.

Drama beanies loved but I didn\’t…
King The Land.
I think have many beanies loved but I was indifferent to than I didn\’t love.
King The Land however, is definitely the one I didn\’t love of the season.

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    So far, number of Beanies who did like King the Land don’t seem to pass single digits.

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      🤣

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      Yeah, many Beanies have chosen this one as their “Beanies loved but I didn’t”, but my impression was that almost no one else (besides us) loved it! (and I chose it for the opposite category hahaha)

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    Awww … you were indifferent to the drama, sure perfectly understandable. But how could you be indifferent to this.

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#2023 Round Up Day 3 : Side Character Who Stole the Show…
Ma-pi : Unlock My Boss.

Based on intro, Ma-pi is the tough guy you’d not want to mess around with. First thing you should know about him : Never owe Ma-pi money cause Ma-pi will ensure he collects his money to the last penny. Infact, that’s the introduction I remember of him. He fought off the minions attacking our female lead so he can ask how far she is trying in sourcing out the money she’s owing him. For as long as she owes him, she’s an asset and nothing better happens to his asset.

As Unlock My Boss unfolded, there was so much to love and learn about this guy. One thing, he’s loyal. As loyal as you can define. And for those he regards as family, he goes to any length for them(this sentence is bring his painful to watch demise back to memory🤧🤧🤧). I didn’t bother watching episode 11 &12 after he died. I just couldn’t. But I did follow through with the recaps.
Back to the task at hand, as I said earlier there was so much to love about him. There is a way kdramas tend to show us this tough exterior fluffy interior that kinda tones down the tough exterior and make us forget he’s a tough guy at heart as well, like they are trying to tame the tough person in a character. Ma-pi was written differently in this regard. Whilst giving us unending tastes of his tough exterior, we get to meet a tough man who has a child’s palate and can’t eat spicy food 🤭🤣(I was shocked as you are at the oxymoron); whilst keeping his tough exterior, we get to meet a man who accumulates money but has never wondered about what he’s going to do with it(this part especially left me thinking out loud); whilst never losing his tough exterior, we meet a man who decided to try to smile for a cute little girl and believe me, it was very funny to see.

All these foils were gently peeled off Ma-pi but it didn’t change the fact that he is and remains a tough man. It didn’t tone down his toughness, neither did it miraculously vanish his tough exterior. Instead, this foils help to provide a mirror to the emotional part of him that he, and I as an audience, didn’t know he could emote.

Plus, do you think you can’t fall for Kim Sung-oh’s delectable iris.

Honorable Mention…

Secretary Kim who rocks spectacles the best in this second half😎:Perfect Marriage Revenge

To the pictures…enjoy🙃
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    Awww this was sweet.

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    Kim Sung-oh is really an awesome choice. Also so very well expressed. 👏
    While we have been watching him since his Secret Garden days when he was Secretary Kim, Ma-pi was indeed special.

    Your honorable mention of Perfect Marriage Revenge’s Secretary Kim is not only coincidental but also very apt. He was also in Unlock My Boss. This definitely seems like Byun Jun Seo’s breakthrough  performance.

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    I love both your picks!!!!

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#2023 Round Up Day 2 : Male Lead I’ll never forget…
Pyo Jae-hyun : Pandora : Beneath the Paradise.

Who says your male lead has to be a likeable guy? Pyo Jae-hyun said hell no to that. He was bad. Real bad. Power✅. The brains ✅. Name it ✅✅. Master manipulator ✅✅✅. Loving husband? Also ✅✅. Loving father? Feel free to hate it but ✅. He loved his daughter. That’s was never a doubt. But was for as long as his wife wasn’t interfering with his plans, he remained a loving husband.

Inasmuch as his backstory hurt real bad, the people he set out to punish were the ones who created him, I didn’t expect him to go the lengths he did. If you’re looking for a villain ML who did his homework perfectly, Pyo Jae-hyun is the one you should call.

Honorable Mentions…

Lee Jang-hyun:My Dearest
Yoon Hae-jun:My Perfect Stranger
Han Dong-jin:Call It Love?
Kim Myung-joon:The Kidnapping Day

I can’t help but have a pictorial representative of each of my leads so…enjoy🙃
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Day 1 : Female Lead I’ll never forget…
Choi Ji-won : Cold Blooded Intern

The reason for this isn’t far-fetched. I like corporate shenanigans. It’s my equivalent for a saguek palace politics. I most certainly was indifferent to Ji-won upon introduction. However, as time went on, the more I learnt about her from CBI, the more I empathized with her. She was never this way. Infact someone made her this way, her immediate world made her this way. So it was excruciating to see her fight to show that she’s capable all because of her sex, even though she has proven over and over and over that it’s not going to be a barrier. For it to take a health situation to leave the situation, it was very sad.
So, when she decided to let it all crash and burn, her resignation was the greatest statement. She was going to leave. There was the greatest chance that they won’t feel the impact of her leaving, so she made the best decision for herself. She doesn’t have anything to prove to them, she’s not in doubt of her capacity and capabilities, and she’ll leave when the ovation is high.

Truthfully, it was the best decision she made, cause you can guess the devil they brought in to replace the devil Choi Ji-won sacrificed her likely promotion and health to kick out – the boss who created the situation that caused her sweet self to be a Cold Blooded Boss. So, yes, they never learnt.

Eom Ji-won really did great as Choi Ji-won. It wasn’t easy at all.

Honorable mention :
Go Ah-in : Agency
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What\’s Up With Secretary Kim? He\’s team Yi-joo cause he\’s been team Haraboji all along. And the moment Haraboji showed a longing for Yi-joo, he became team Yi-joo too.
This guy rocks the spectacles here in PMR the best. Hell no he seduces someone with his glasses on.

And, Do-guk emotes this deep baritone dreamy voice, it is soothing to hear.

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All hail the current queen of dressing down…
That side eye laced with scorn look…glorious👌🏽
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The realization as it slowly dawned on me

BB Kim Seon-ho🤭🤭🤭😍😍😍😘😘
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    I keep thinking that’s him too…or that the role was written for him. What do you think @mmmmm ????

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      There’s no way I won’t recognize my BB. emo, he looks so young and adorably squishy here that I had a hard time figuring who’s face that was.
      The nature of the conversation sold it that it was a cameo🤣🤣🤣, aso all I had to do was narrow down who owns the face.

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        Who is your BB WHO???? *fakes being shocked*

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          I’m done policing and all I can say is : the similarity is uncanny💔💔. I was thoroughly deceived

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            😅 It’s ok it can happen.
            You need more practice. Jerry.
            😉

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      I don’t think it’s BB??? He looks similar to him, but he isn’t my BB???

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        There is no way I can’t recognize my BB??

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          🤣 🤣 🤣

          This actor is Lee Won Hee, who as per mdl is playing “Kim Seon Kwon [Vice president of Do Guk’s company / Do-guk’s friend]”.

          This is the photo on hisnprofile at mdl.

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And I\’ve just got back from Wikipedia to learn that a number of the protagonist actions I thought Empress Cheonchu embodied in Iron Empress (2008) were actually not the fact. And that Goryeo-Khitan war is more true to history than IE about the kind of person she was with respects to the succession issue.
I have decided that in order for me to be able to sit and watch Goryeo-Khitan War, I must conveniently develop selective amnesia and forget that I\’ve watched Iron Empress, or else, I\’ll always be at war with GKW.

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Perfect Marriage Revenge is running on full throttle and I love it. 12 episodes is just so perfect for this. But, we are already halfway through 😭😭😭
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Currently RecapPing

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