Beanie level: Fan club president

It is a sad day when you know you shouldn’t get behind a ship in a book but you do anyway (before the characters even met… so all throughout the first book and much of the second…) and you then see your ship sink before your very eyes. 😭 I swear my time on tumblr has poisoned me and I start shipping couples in books where I should NOT BE SHIPPING lol.

But ah well, I love all the other things about the book (well, except for the person who inserted themselves between my OTP and made my ship sink… who I find very boring and spoiled…) and shall soldier on with a heavy heart, thinking wistfully of what could have been. This is definitely not a romance book, so I must not allow the tragedy of my delusional romance bring me down.

But anyway! The reason I am here is because, as you may be able to tell, I haven’t been super into dramas lately (although I am watching Lovely Runner, which is… fine) and I know there are some fellow bookworms on Dramabeans! So I thought of something that would allow me to stay engaged with the community even if I’m not watching much.

You know how we have the What We’re Watching threads? Well, what if I started a weekly What We’re Reading post on the fanwall? Genre does not matter! I am a fantasy girlie at heart but I am open to any and all genres and would love to hear what Beanies have to say about their recent reads, whatever they may be.

Please let me know if there is interest!

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    I have been reading this book which I’ve loved. Hope you don’t mind me posting a great review:
    “ This short review makes me want to read this even more:
    “Memoir

    Christian Cooper has been birdwatching in Central Park for decades, but a spring migratory excursion took a dramatic turn on May 25, 2020, when a woman refused his request to leash her wandering dog, per park regulations. He was hoping to spy a ground-dwelling bird called a mourning warbler and knew that her unleashed pet would make his quest impossible. After she refused and Cooper began filming with his phone, Amy Cooper–a white woman of no relation–announced that she was about to call the police, adding, “I’m going to tell them that there’s an African American man threatening my life.” Her blatant use of “weaponized racism” went viral. As Cooper aptly sums up the incident in

    Better Living Through Birding: Notes From a Black Man in the Natural World (Random House, $28, 9780593242384), “Fourteen words, captured amid sixty-nine seconds of video, that would alter the trajectory of two lives.” This encounter happened on the same day George Floyd was murdered.

    A year later, Cooper was invited to attend a birding festival in Alabama. As he walked across Selma’s infamous Edmund Pettus Bridge, he reflected on the day that bridge became a bloodbath in 1965 and on the travails his ancestors must have endured. “In that context, my incident in Central Park is just an asterisk,” he writes. “More than a year later, it remains exceedingly strange for me–the notoriety, that I’d even be mentioned in the annals of the nation’s racial strife.”

    Throughout his wide-ranging memoir, Cooper is a thoughtful, enthusiastic narrator. Growing up as a Black kid on Long Island, New York, in the 1970s, “I was rarer than an Ivory-Billed Woodpecker in the very white world of birding,” he writes. “As I simultaneously struggled with being queer, birds took me away from my woes suffocating in the closet.” Cooper gradually came out to family and friends, beginning while studying at Harvard in the 1980s. He went on to become one of Marvel’s first openly gay writers and editors–aside from birds, his other passions include superhero comics and sci-fi and fantasy–and introduced the first gay male Star Trek character in the Starfleet Academy series. In entertaining prose, Cooper reminisces about his life, writing especially poignantly about his often-difficult relationship with his father.

    Tying these multifaceted strands together is no easy feat, but Cooper does it well. He peppers the text with helpful tips for beginning birders while recounting vivid excursions through Nepal, the Galapagos, Australia and, of course, his beloved Central Park. Generous soul that he is, Cooper writes that outrage shouldn’t be focused on Amy Cooper. Instead, he concludes, “Focusing on her is a distraction and lets too many people off the hook from the hard, ongoing examination of themselves and their own racial biases. . . . If you’re lo

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      Thank you so much for sharing this book as I only heard about the incident and it’s great to hear the context of the man. I think your post got cut off.

      I am very late to the party as my access to the site has been limited due to the multiple issues with slowness and lost comments etc.

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        Thanks for alerting me to the last sentence being cut off!:
        “ racial biases. . . . If you’re looking for Amy Cooper to yell at, look in the mirror.”

        –Alice Cary

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          No worries at all☺️ It happens to us all and thank goodness for the foresight to write the essay posts offline so we have a copy to copy and paste from when this happens.

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      Cooper’s ordeal got a lot of press coverage—not only for what happened to him, but for what happened to his accuser, a woman named Amy Cooper, in the aftermath. What she did was truly reprehensible, but the response was way out of proportion to the offense. She lost her job, received death threats, was subjected to doxxing, and was driven nearly to the point of suicide. Christian Cooper himself said he felt sorry for her, refused to cooperate with the criminal investigation against her, and encouraged people to focus on the problem of systemic racism rather than on the actions of this one individual. If only there were more people with his objectivity, compassion, and strength of character!

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    Last month I read a few books, including The House in the Cerulean Sea. And I liked it so much, I re-read it this month.

    I’ve been trying to decide if I should read Conversations with Friends, or the series Six of Crows, or Ace of Spades, or what. But because I keep trying to figure out what to read next I end up reading nothing (and go back to webtoons).

    And what are you reading, mindy?

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    YES YES YES to this!!
    I
    Honestly, I’ve been reading mindless webtoon a lot more than I have been reading actual books— probably why my “to be read” list of actual books is ever growing, why there’s a pile of biographical books sitting on my desk (wherein I’ve only cracked open 2). BUT!!! I did recently get back into the book, “Anxious People” which is on my Kindle, but honestly, this one has been going real slow, like a snail’s pace

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    I had bought this book when it came out but somehow I never got around to read it. Just picked it up – A brush with shadows.

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    I haven’t started them yet but I have both Funny Story by Emily Henry and Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez on my kindle. Both Romcoms. Oh and trying to slowly catch up on Apothecary Diaries and Yona of the Dawn, Mangas, that are so good.

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    I watched Lockwood and Co on Netflix, it wasn’t renewed so I was curious about the whole story, so I started the books. I’m reading the second one, I have ordered the 3 and 4 and learnt that the 5th was translated in French yet…

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    A great idea Mindy!

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    Mindy this is such a great idea and I look forward to having this space as I just add them to my WWW post. Unfortunately, I only do audiobooks at the moment and have burned through my credits 6 months early! So I have to rely on what is available for free until I can get some more credits. It will be great to hear what other people are reading though and see if there are some to add to my list.

    I have had site issues for a few months now and I wonder if others are experiencing it too so may have missed this post like I did. It may be worth flagging the idea on an Open thread so others can be made aware. There was a request for a group read and that lead to the DB book club membership I have tagged in the current members who may be interested in your weekly hosting of current reads post:
    @indyfan @mellowarmadillo @attiton @elinor @ahjummaaa @toomuchtv @wonhwa @jls943 @cayong03 @babylilo @ruhi0101 @petrolia @acacia @dramaforever
@zindigo @linarrick @ndlessjoie @sonai @kdramajoy

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      This week, I reread Deadeye Dick, a Kurt Vonnegut novel I got in 1983. I was at my parents’ house, clearing out my bookshelves! Yesterday I read Rental Person Who Does Nothing by Shoji Morimoto (did I get the rec for that on here? I can’t remember who told me to read it.) I also read the DB bookclub book The Sense of Wonder which I won’t spoil except to say it was PERFECT for us. Also a graphic novel called Gaytheist by Lonnie Mann.

      I wonder if there is a way for you to borrow audio books from the public library. We can do it through my library. It’s worth exploring. I don’t listen to books very much, but I have borrowed some when I couldn’t get the book in print or when I had to drive somewhere. Hearing a book in your ear is so intimate–it’s really unforgettable. Especially if the book starts with a graphic sex scene, which did happen to me once–walking through my neighborhood with my face on fire.

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        I read Rental person who does nothing a few months ago so maybe you saw it in my WWW one week.
        I am impressed you have read this quarter’s DB book club read already! I hope you made notes for when the questions come out.
        I need to join the library I am sure they do have audio books available I didn’t think of that.
        That unfortunate episode re the raunchy opening scene must have been a real eye opener😳 poor you.

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          I listen to audio books from the library but find that I have to use Audible for more recent books like the ones chosen for the DB book club reads.

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          The book was really good. I finally found an actual paperback of it in a Little Free Library. It’s called The Argonauts, by Maggie Nelson. I think it’s not for everyone, being a combination of explicit queer sexuality and a ton of academic allusion and name-dropping. Yet I really loved how the memoirist wrote about her relationship with her partner, and some of the names she dropped were people I admire.

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      I’m often unable to load this site, or it loads so slowly that I move on to the things I have to do for the day. I guess I’m glad to hear it’s not just me. I’d be here more often if this weren’t an issue.

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    I’m on board with a “What We’re Reading” conversation! I’m always interested in learning about books that other people have enjoyed.

    Like @mindy I’ve been watching fewer dramas these days, especially the Korean ones. I read a lot—both for my own pleasure and as part of a book group I co-lead. I loved our most recent book—Ann Patchett’s Bel Canto. It’s about a group of people from around the world who have gathered for an opera recital at the home of the vice president of an unnamed country in South America, and who are taken hostage by a terrorist group. It was inspired by an actual hostage situation at the Japanese embassy in Peru in 1996.

    I’m not a big fan of the fantasy genre, but I did enjoy the parallel-world novel Piranesi, by Susanna Clarke. Some of my other recent favorites:
    A Gentleman in Moscow, by Amor Towles
    Nothing to See Here, by Kevin Wilson
    Shadow Divers, by Robert Kurson
    Deacon King Kong, by James McBride
    The Orphan Master’s Son, by Adam Johnson
    Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir

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My final exams finished today and I have two and a half weeks until my summer semester begins, yay! Which means I finally have time to watch stuff, yaaaaaaaaaay!

Between classes and my tutoring job (as well as some other personal projects I have started–and becoming a bookworm again) keeping up with TV of ANY form has been difficult the past several months, sadly, so I\’m really going to cherish this time. And lately I\’ve been really wanting to catch up on jdraams, because I sense a bit of a jdrama renaissance beginning lately.

I just started Brush Up Life (also called Rebooting on Doki, the service I am watching on) and I find it so delightful! I\’m 3 episodes in and during episode 3 my parents came home and I explained the premise to my dad. He kept trying to leave the room and then would circle back to see what is happening, so I think I\’ve got him hooked, too (which is rare for non-crime shows).

So, Beanies, what\’s up in dramaland? What\’s good? What\’s bad? What are you looking forward to watching each week? What did you drop?

And does anyone have any recent-ish jdramas I simply have to watch? I used to be SO into them in high school, but I got tired of how much Japan was gatekeeping them. I am THRILLED that so many are being carried by big streamers like Netflix now and really want to dig my teeth in! I think the only recent-ish ones I have watched are Why I Dress Up For Love and Unnatural–and NigeHaji but that\’s EIGHT YEARS OLD NOW?!? Anyway, I love all those shows if that gives you any indication for my preference. Would love any and all recs!

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    Hi, mindy! I hope you enjoy this break and have a nice rest.

    I’m not the best person to make a recap of dramaland since I was away for a few months too. But right now it seems like beanies are enjoying shows like The Midnight Studio, Lovely Runner, Queen of Tears (this show is a big hit in Korean and here, and everywhere?), and I think I’ve also seem beanies enjoying Hide.

    Sadly, the only jdramas I’ve watched are BLs so I can’t recommend you anything. 🙁 but I hope you find something good to watch!
    I do feel like Viki keeps bringing more jdramas than new kdramas to the platform lately, so maybe you can find something there.

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      Hi, Tabong! Welcome back to you as well, then!

      I actually watched the first two episodes of Queen of Tears with my friends! We honestly were not sure what to think, and haven’t had time to get back to it. 😅 We’ll see if anything comes of that!

      Ooooo, I would love to have a Joo Won drama to like, so Midnight Photo Studio might be calling my name! Lovely Runner doesn’t speak to me from what very little I have seen about it, but since Beanies like it I might have to try it.

      Thanks! And if there are any particularly good BLs, do let me know! It’s not my usual choice just because I find many of them to be quite cringey/juvenile/verging on fetishizing, but I haven’t seen any Japanese ones and am super open-minded. I would hate to overlook an actual good drama with queer lead characters because of my personal prejudice against the BL label, haha.

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        I haven’t started The Midnight Studio yet, but according to beanies it is really good.
        QoT is like a refreshing old drama? 😆 And Lovely Runner has Twinkling Watermelon energy.
        I hope you enjoy the shows!

        BLs recommendation: To My Star (Korea), Our Dinning Table (Japan), My Love Mixed Up (Japan), and Cherry Magic (better to skip the secondary couple, tho).
        These dramas are cute, except for To My Star season 2. That one is just real. Real couple angst. But it’s GOOD real couple angst. I like season 2 more than 1.

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    Hi Mindy! Congratulations on finishing your exams! I hope this break between semesters is restful and peaceful for you. Since you liked Behind Your Touch, I would HIGHLY recommend Chicken Nugget. It was really weird and quirky and funny and surprisingly heartfelt in quick snatches. @attiton has an awesome series of posts about it on her fanwall.

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      Hi Hopeful! Thank you so much! I’m hoping to get plenty of drama watching in. 😊

      Omg I was SO looking forward to Chicken Nugget, ever since it was announced, because it seems so wacky and ludicrous! I’m happy to hear it actually seems good and will def check it out!

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        I don’t want to oversell it, but I think you’ll like it! I LOVED the two leads – their comic timing together was GOLD! Ryu Seung-ryong and Ahn Jae-hong are just fabulous. Have fun with your drama watching!!! 🥳❤️

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    If you have Hulu/Disney+ I would definitely recommend Flex X Cop. Funny, cool, mystery drama with great cast of cops trying to save the day

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So, while I was planning an epic trip to see my friends in DC to go to IU’s concert in July, reality kicked me in the face and turns out I have a mandatory exam that very day, so no-can-do.

But even if it means having to go to her concert in my region solo, I’ll do it without a second thought. If the energy at her US concerts is even 10% of what it is in Korea I know I’ll be anything but alone.

I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that finally, after over a decade of being a fan, my dreams are going to be able to come true with her US tour. I was convinced it would never happen and I couldn’t be more glad to be wrong! The only thing that could make my kboo heart happier in this life is if Taeyeon followed suit.

Anyway, if anyone is planning on going to her Chicago/Rosemont concert, feel free to hit me up!!! Would love to grab some lunch or pre-concert boba.

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Omg congrats to my girlie Karina for shedding all of her creepy delusional incel fans in one go!! I knew you could do it girl!!!

Please take a moment to appreciate what a pretty hot girl she is Lee Jae-wook is so goddamn lucky

…this is relevant to this kdrama blog site because ummmmm the song is called “Drama”

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I’m giving myself the hardest time, don’t you?

But I will not submerge…

Because I’ve made it look easy.

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Castaway Diva: I. LOVE. THIS. And I truly hope the show doesn\’t waver too much from focusing on our two female leads.

@saturtledaisy pointed out to me that it\’s probably actually unrealistic that TV shows wouldn\’t be clamoring to have Mok-ha on their show given her crazy story even if she is 31, but I love the show tackling ageism in the industry and the fact that so many men are afraid of successful women because of what it might mean for their own power. Ran-joo\’s treatment by her supposed \”friend\” is disgusting and I can\’t wait to watch him suffer. Her putting her trust in the wrong person is definitely reflective of what happens to entertainers, especially young women, all the time.

When Mok-ha overheard Ran-joo talking to President Lee and basically saying, \”Can\’t you at least pretend to listen to her? Don\’t you pity her?\” I was afraid she would get mad at Ran-joo, but instead she was sad about the fact that Ran-joo basically had to grovel to this person whose job should have been to help her succeed, not cast her away. Mok-ha is surprisingly emotionally intelligent for someone who supposedly has the maturity of a 16-year-old.

I just love seeing women supporting each other. I was teary-eyed seeing Mok-ha sing that song that Ran-joo wrote for her at the end.

While I support their little lip-syncing scheme because it means Ran-joo will gain the power she was denied for so long, I am worried to see it blow up in their faces (which it definitely will). Hopefully it will be after she hits that 20 million mark.

The show is moving along at a nice clip, and I was surprised to see it laying the groundwork for Ki-ho\’s father causing trouble already. I get the feeling that the show is going to continue making Bo-geol mysterious until they do the big reveal to Mok-ha, but I hope they don\’t put it off for too long simply because I worry the audience won\’t connect to him as well as they could if they don\’t reveal more about him soon.

Anyway, I\’m loving this show and can\’t wait for tomorrow!

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Moon in the Day: Okay, for some reason I had a lot less fun in episode 2.

Kim Young-dae is like a charisma black hole to me. His “acting” drains all of the life from the screen. It’s a pity because I think Pyo Ye-jin has some promise.

It’s a drop.

(Also, is it just me, or does Kim Young-dae have a bit of a lisp…?)

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    This drama has some very trite directorial choices. The background score and the zoom ins seem to be telling the audience how to feel about stuff which is one of my least favourite things for a visual medium to do

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      I think the director is trying to compensate for the acting, lmao.

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        This show is a jumbled mess. I thjnk thr director seems to realise that wleven the writing isnt good

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Moon in the Day ep 1: OMG WHAT IS THIS SHOW????

This drama is already throwing everything but the kitchen sink into its plot and I find it absolutely HYSTERICAL. This has even more WTF-ery than any of the makjang/melo dramas I have watched lately, and that\’s saying something.

I can\’t believe I started yet another reincarnation romance. Do I never learn? At least they were enemies in the past. Spices it up a little bit.

I haven\’t seen Pyo Ye-jin in much but something about her endears me to her immediately. I really like that she\’s a firefighter and that she\’s strong while he male lead is weak AF (or, was). She\’s got spunk and I love that she tells him how it is.

I\’ve certainly never seen Kim Young-dae like this before. He\’s overdoing it, but I much prefer this to the constipated rock he\’s been the other times I\’ve watched him. But considering the fact that present-day KYD is now actually dead and is being possessed by past KYD, I worry the constipated rock is coming back.

Speaking of the weird ghosts, how creepy are all of those scenes omg. Just seeing ghost KYD looming over people while they SLEEP.

I like how they have this absolutely insane plot, then feel the need to add cardiac tumors on top of it, then just use that to make him randomly pass out to then ROLL HIS VAN INTO THE WATER. This is so dumb I was screaming with laughter. And then the dude\’s past self somehow comes from above and gives the female lead oxygen??? And then the male lead DIES??? AND THEIR FINGERS BRUSH AS HE IS ROLLED TO THE MORGUE AND THEN HE JUST GETS UP FROM THE AUTOPSY TABLE AND WALKS OUT WHAT IS THIS SHOW.

Ummm, I\’m having fun??? There is so much tonal whiplash and it\’s making me scream with laughter. We\’ll see how long I hold out haha.

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    Its all a wild ride as long as you’re having fun. 🤣👍

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    I’m also having fun in a baffled kind of way! 😁 Many ‘wait, what?!’ moments

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    Maybe this show will be as cracktastic as Born Again with Lee Soo-hyuk, Jang Ki-yong, and Jin Se-yun. LOL

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    HYSTERICAL is the right word! I’m definitely not dropping this one yet, either! 😂

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    Definitely a turn your brain off, enjoy the pretty, and just go with it kind of show.

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    LOL 🙂
    Is this a parody of all the time travel shows that have been airing lately? That’s is what it looks like to me after reading all of your comments. I mean, it cannot be that bad?

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      Oh, I think it is 100% genuine about everything. It really is that bad! 😂

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A Good Day to Be a Dog: Cute!! I’m not in love with this show, but it’s a pleasant watch to have during my week.

I really like how open and honest the leads are with each other (besides her whole dog secret) and my favorite parts of each episode are always their conversations.

I really like how the ending of this episode reflected the ending of last episode, too! It’s always a rare treat to have the female lead “protect” the male lead in such a cliche way.

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Twinkling Watermelon: Eun-yu using modern slang and terminology to confuse Chung-ah’s stepsister, LOL. She deserves it!

As savvy as Eun-yu is sometimes, I’m surprised by how little she thought through her plan. I wondered if maybe the real Se-gyoung would show up for the festival somehow, which would at least make Eun-yu’s plan make sense, but… nope. Why did she think that HER seeing and falling for mom’s first love would affect the present timeline?? It hasn’t made sense since the beginning, but I had hoped the drama would do something to make it make sense. Are we supposed to just think Eun-yu is a fool who barged ahead with her plan without thinking about it? I guess so. It just seems very unlikely lol. She has been there for WEEKS.

I LOVE the twist of Yi-chan not being upset that “Se-gyoung” wasn’t there, but instead was worried about Chung-ah. Finally we are past the silly love triangle business! And him trying so hard to learn sign language is adorable. Too bad we went right into the angst phase with them.

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    Yeah, Yi Chan looks absolutely adorable when he tries to use sign language with her. I’m sad they don’t get more screentime:(

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The Matchmakers: Yawn. I was hoping this PD could make even your most run-of-the-mill fusion sageuk concept with an uninspiring cast entertaining for me, but alas, I only found this incredibly dull. Definitely no Into the Ring, although I can see the director trying.

Well, I suppose I have enough dramas on my plate already, anyway.

Points for the female lead pulling the man out of the way, though! It was especially hilarious seeing her hold him considering their ridiculous height difference, haha.

Minus points for the male lead being a lewd peeping tom… I guess I just don’t find the poor sexually repressed man thing funny.

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    peeping was in his dreams.. people here in real life fantasize about their idols/actors or make comments

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      Fine, a wannabe peeping tom. Doesn’t make it any more endearing to me lol.

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        Say that for everyone then.. women in dramas, and women in real life

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          I think I can say what I want on my fan wall.

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            ofcourse but that doesn’t make a wrong a right or hypocrisy will still continue to be hypocrisy

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Twinkling Watermelon: Not gonna lie, Eun-gyeol constantly saying things that make no sense to Yi-chan gets on my nerves. If it were only once in a while, it wouldn’t bother me so much, but he makes saying crazy things his whole personality. 😭 It was funny at first buuut…

With Eun-yu being so much savvier about that stuff, it surprised me that she was the one to make the anachronistic mistake before him, haha.

Also, I feel for Eun-gyeol, I really do, but something about the way he phrased the loneliness he felt in his family for being a CODA rubbed me the wrong way. He may feel like he’s on an island in his family, but his family probably constantly feels that way about literally all of hearing society. I know both things can be true, and I know he is a teenager, but it really bothered me hearing him say that. This is exactly what irritates me about centering a story with so many deaf characters around the hearing character’s angst. Eun-gyeol’s feelings are valid, and him having them doesn’t necessarily mean the show is placing his experiences above his family’s, but I hope the drama interrogates those feelings in the future.

The ONLY thing I ask of this show is to not make Yi-chan hearing again as an adult, and I’m growing worried that that’s exactly where we are headed.

This drama can do better than that, and I hope it does in the end. After all, we still have 5 episodes.

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    in a twisted way, if dad starts hearing again.. mom will be more lonely

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    I do not still know what the writer is trying to convey. As much as the scene was emotional, I don’t think he learned anything about his parents being happy in the future despite the shortcomings.

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Perfect Marriage Revenge: This is so cheesy and trashy, it made me think \”This would make a great webtoon\”. Lo and behold, it is a webtoon adaptation! I knew it.

So far it\’s not quite as entertaining as I hoped, but I think I\’ll stick around for now. I could use something soapy in my current plate of fairly light dramas (you know, if you ignore the trauma of Castaway Diva).

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    OMG. I’m hooked too. I can’t believe it. Like @seeker said, maybe this sheer amount of OTT is what I’ve been looking for for a while???

    Fave interaction so far (episode 1):

    Her: “Oh, thank YOU for coming!! You said you’d only come if you accepted my feelings!!”

    Him: “Uh…um…well, you said you would wait until I got here…so, I guess, yeah, whatever?”

    LOLORAWRthisistheBEST

    @emsel I think you also said this gets better in episode two, and I can’t wait…it may not be until tomorrow–who am I kidding I think I’m staying up late 👀

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      Yes Seon-ha – the prince – he may be the one needing rescuing.

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        Oh, I don’t think so….I’m looking forward to HATING THE CRAP out of that weak-chinned so-and-so 😉

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Castaway Diva: Park Hye-ryun saw everyone foaming at the mouth over Start-Up and was like “Next time I’ll just confuse EVERYONE” and I find that hilarious.

The show continues to be fun and ridiculous and fizzy. I have a feeling it’s potato boy who’s Ki-ho just because he’s so mysterious so far and I don’t think the drama would be so obvious about it upfront, haha. I don’t really care who it is as long as they have a good explanation to go along with it.

But of course, what I’m really excited for is Mok-ha and Ran-joo. I’m really glad the show has this relationship as a main plot line just so that the romance hopefully doesn’t completely derail every discussion about the drama like Start-Up. I was one of the few people who was fine with the drama but found the fan behavior absolutely MISERABLE to experience. I hope that doesn’t happen to the same extent here.

Also, does anyone know who is singing in this drama?

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    I don’t care about any “good, bad or ugly” explanation about Ki-ho. Rooting for N as Ki-ho / ML.

    For the first time ever I may have (surely, truly, really ..!!) got a genuine case of SLS which may explain my over-enthusiasm. ☺

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    I also want to know who’s singing!
    Also will N get a chance to sing too!!

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Perfect Marriage Revenge: You can tell immediately that this director did one of the seasons of Love ft. Marriage & Divorce, hahaha. It\’s melodramatic and soapy and I was honestly bored for much of it, but the ending got me. I\’m here for this girl growing a spine and getting revenge.

As usual, though, Sung Hoon is doing absolutely nothing for me. I honestly liked him better in Love ft. Marriage & Divorce, lol. I can\’t take him seriously in roles like this. He\’s better when he\’s being pathetic.

3
0

Castaway Diva: Man, only Park Hye-ryun can do a story like this. The whole idea of it is so ludicrous, but she injects so much heart and gets you so invested from the very beginning and you’re along for the ride before you even know it.

I was SO happy to see my daughter Lee Re and I’m so happy to see Park Eun-bin as grown-up Mok-ha tomorrow. The kids really made me feel for them, both individually and as a duo. I am super excited to see them reunite and for Mok-ha to finally meet Ran-joo. It seems like the relationship between the women is going to be the real driving force for this drama, and I am all for it!

15
1

The Kidnapping Day: Oh, show! You may have been idealistic and unrealistic, but I love you all the same. After all, this is art and not real life.

I expressed disappointment at the direction they were taking Hye-eun’s character, but I do think it made the absolutely scathing exploration of child abuse all the more powerful. Between Ro-hee, Hye-eun, and also Byeol, we saw all of the damage that can be caused when we hold children (and people in general) to an impossible standard, even when we think it’s “for their own good”. Also, Kim Sin-rok knows how to do a mental breakdown, my god.

What makes this more interesting is that it takes the idea of moulding our children to perfection—especially academic perfection—to the extreme, right? This issue is especially prevalent in Korean society at the moment, with all of the controversy over hagwons and working kids to the bone in school. I would love to read some Korean analysis of this show and novel. I think it is more powerful in a Korean context.

I’ll miss our chaotic Myeong-jun and Ro-hee duo and I’m happily imagining them reunited in the future. I’m glad that she has Hee-ae for now. The show wasn’t explicit with it, but I’m assuming Attorney Choi is the guardian for both of them now, huh?

That epilogue was TERRIFYING and I sure hope it makes Dr. Mo realize that what she thinks she wants for her child is not what she actually wants, yikes.

13
1

    That confrontation between Kim Shin Rok and Yuna was the highlight of ep 12 for me. An acting duel — and there was no clear winner for me there, they both rocked.

    3
    0

Me @ my TV while watching Pushing Daisies and staring at Lee Pace and forgetting that kdramas exist.

Yes yes rewatching was a good idea.

Me at 13: Olive Snook you are a little insane aren’t you huh kind of going overboard
Me now: Olive Snook I understand you I understand you more than I have ever understood anyone

Ned >>>>>>>>

11
5

    I have never watched Pushing Daisies. I searched it, but it seems it’s not available in any of my streaming services.

    0
    0

    This is my #1 American show that I want them to make into a kdrama. It was plagued by so much uncertainty during its run, and I think a single season of 16 episodes would be so perfect. Kdramas do whimsical, brightly-colored, fantasy-oriented stories so well, I wish they would do this one.

    5
    1

      Yeah, it’s a shame that the show was cancelled and that there was no closure to the story.

      3
      0

    I loved it too. It’s kind of amazing that a drama so quirky and whimsical without big-name actors even got made for American TV.

    2
    0

    Reminded me of this great comics anti-heroin

    0
    0

How do Choi Hyun-wook and the director even think of doing stuff like this fjsjsjdjd

9
3

    I think the director did his job well and letting his actor play his character perfectly. YC is so high energy and funny!

    7
    1

      Definitely, the directors trust in his actors and Choi Hyun wooks ability to adlib.

      5
      0

    you’d be amazed what being sleep-deprived and running high on caffeine can do to your brain cells 🙂

    0
    0

Ryeoun has such a brilliant smile! I love how absolutely sweet he is in this role. I admit, I was skeptical of him in the beginning and he still isn’t always the most natural, but he portrays Eun-gyeol’s good natured character without being cloying. He’s adorable.

9
0

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