2024 or as I like to call it, The Year of stubbornly calling dramas by the wrong I mean other I mean, The Better Title.
And the year I have barely shared a single Kdrama opinion, which for the most commented beanie is definitely new.
It also means I am wildly out of every loop possible there is to be out of.
In light of this, I don’t really know if anyone cares, but I guess, here you go:
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🍈☠ AD 2024 Roundup, Melonia Recap and Complete Watchlist, in order of Started, with Mini Reviews. ☠🍈
Deduce of it what you will.
0. Welcome to Samdalri
This is a 2023 drama by one week but I have not really talked about it at all and since I meant to write an essay on it and then didn’t, I’m adding it here anyway.
I think this is unironically one of if not the best thing to have aired in 2023, easy. Not of all time, but 2023? Definitely. And I stand by this, even though I know it is far from a popular opinion. It is by no means a perfect show, and the ending doesn’t quite grasp its own point, which is disappointing after being so strong for so long, but nonetheless this, surprisingly, doesn’t diminish the show much for me.
1. The Nokdu Flower (2019)
I am stuck at Episode 11. I have issues with this that I struggle to put into words that can also be shared. I find the exploration of individual character worldviews and several key ideological concepts in this to be strangely shallow and poorly understood, despite appearing otherwise. It is frustrating, as I was looking forward to this, and it pains me to be so disillusioned yet again, with yet another highly acclaimed drama on my watchlist.
I do intend to come back to this but it will have to be at a later date because I think it will be a difficult finish.
2. Like Flowers in Sand
I enjoyed perhaps most in this the directing and the visual development of the setting, with the long shots and long takes, and multiple things happening in a scene, in the background and moving through the frame etc. I loved Kim Baek Du and I enjoyed the characters and for the most part, the story. I felt the ending was a bit underdeveloped, considering all the show’s moving parts, and it was probably trying to do too much, but it is easily recommendable.
3. Fantasy Sonata / Love Song for Illusion – Dropped Ep 1
Not worth further commenting on.
4. Flowers that Bloom at Knight
Unfortunately, I found this to be consistently the same kind of boring the entire time, and could not engage with its social or cultural conversations. I thought the leads had good chemistry together that was egregiously never capitalized on, but that the overall plot, and ending, was written poorly.
5. A Shop for Killers (Shitposted)
This could’ve been fun had they taken as much care and consistency in the plot and thriller building and the rest of the action and attention to detail, as they did in the first couple of episodes, and during the sniper scene. Alas, it resulted in yet another rather stupid and annoying dark action show instead.
6. Flex X Cop
Consistently, somehow, the best thing during its entire airtime.
It lost a lot of its upbeat crackiness and directing adeptness after the first 4 episodes, which was weird, and later it started to become a bit of a slog, and the ending made some annoying decisions, but there was a genuine thread of thought-out character development, and the characters were likable and easy to root for, which is saying something given everything else around it.
Unfortunately, I found the FL’s acting to drag down the leading couple, which is a shame because I think Ahn Bo Hyun should do one of these kinds of action shows at least once every two years because he was excels in this style of role. I don’t want a season 2 though.
But if you want a fairly enjoyable and watchable police procedural, you could certainly do a lot worse.
7. Queen of Divorce – Dropped Ep 2
*shakes head*
8. Dr. Slump
Forgettable. Trite and tacky writing. Absurd directing decisions. Started off cute and nice, and at times occasioned to have a brain and therefore an insight into mental health, but devolved into nonsense inconsistency. Park Hyun Sik too OTT. Park Shin Hye’s best work probably. Haneul was very relatable until they kept forgetting their show was supposed to be about Mental Health, they literally exposition-narrated every single conflict resolution and Mum had the best development. FFWD necessary.
I am pleased to announce however, that Park Shin Hye can now kiss. Not sure why it took her being married and being paired with PHS to get there but ok!
9. The Impossible Heir
Hate watched from beginning to end. That’s gonna happen a lot in this thread. You’ve been warned.
This show is a Master Class in What Not To Do.
That is the only reason anyone should ever watch it.
The OST however, is actually fantastic, and the best part of the show, and I’m mad Disney still hasn’t released it.
10. Queen of Tears
Hate watched from beginning to end. Kim Hee Won proves she’s a hack.
On the other hand, I think everything it did was actually extremely on brand for it; it could hardly have done less without betraying itself. It’s just that whatever IT was, was bad through and through.
My galaxy brain take is that a more inspired casting decision would’ve switched Kwak Dong Yeon and Park Sung Hoon. If you’re going to waste both their talents and give them nothing meaningful to do with their skillsets, then at bare minimum give them the inverse of the roles they can play in their sleep, because at very least that would’ve been more entertaining.
Kdramaland will apparently never recognisse KDY at this point nor recognize the vision I have for him. Alas.
11. The Midnight Studio
Not very good, but a guilty pleasure, and watchable, somehow.
12. War of Faith CDRAMA – Dropped Ep 5
Similar problems to Nokdu Flower but translated to a republican cdrama about finance set in the 1930s… you do the math.
13. Blood Free
☠ Memento Mori ☠ and fxxk this show.
(Hate watched from beginning to end.)
14. Chief Detective 1958 – Dropped Ep 2
I found Episode 1 and 2 to be half boring, half funny, and half not my style, and so to avoid another eventual skim or hate watch so soon after QoT, I Dropped it early.
15. Will Love in Spring CDRAMA
Painful. Had to drag the progress bar at the end. I like the two lead actors, but if this thinks it understands character development, it is sorely mistaken.
16. Frankly Speaking
Supremely average, but if that’s its greatest crime compared to the rest of this list, well… Unfortunately, I also keep forgetting it exists.
Shallow despite having some good themes on paper.
17. The Atypical Family
👀 you gotta scroll aaaaallll the way to the bottom if you want to unlock my opinions on this drama.
18. Uncle Samsik – Dropped Ep 6
Superfluous but well-acted. Not an unwind drama.
19. The Midnight Romance in Hagwon – Dropped Ep 4
I’m no stranger to the evils of education systems, its tenets, tenants, and the beasts they create, but unless it also has a much needed helping of several of my biggest catnips, I am unlikely to be able to sit through a drama about it, no matter how good it may or may not be.
20. Crash
Could’ve been a decent procedural with a fun and different approach because of the traffic crime focus, but alas it was not. She did drive a cool car though.
21. Cinderfxxkingrella
Mmmmm no. No, I hated this. Lmao
(Hate watched beginning to end)
22. My Military Valentine
So 2014, it hurts.
RIP Song Jae Rim.
23. My Sweet Mobster
*sigh* Should’ve given me this script. I could’ve made it so much better.
24. Connection – Dropped Ep 1
Mmmm unbelievable.
25. Miss Night and Day
The Howl’s Moving Castle Princess Fiona Sailor Moon-ification of Jung Eun Ji
Trash love drama till it wasn’t.
Highkey a crackship drama though, don’t even know why.
26. Our Baseball WEB DRAMA (2019)
One more episode would’ve been less depressing. I was rooting for them!
27. Dashing Youth CDRAMA – Dropped Ep 22 of 40
I appreciate, as a weapons lover, wuxia’s love for swords, especially THIS wuxia’s love of swords. TWO umbrella swords? You spoil me.
Unfortunately this was not nearly as entertaining as its counterpart, Blood of Youth (and I don’t even like BOY’s ending), and it frequently focused on all the wrong things, and just made me sad about Ruofeng, leading to a midway drop.
28. Serendipity’s Embrace
This is the second drama of Kim So Hyun’s I have spent more time daydreaming about my non-existent slice of life romance with her and Lee Jae Wook than I have spent watching the actual drama.
Also, I think it’s a crime for Chae Jong Hyeop to not play sunshine characters. If he’s not smiling, what’s the point.
29. Romance in the House
Sometimes I watch dramas for the barest hint and suggestion of a theme I like, and this will get me through an Entire Drama.
Even when the drama does NOTHING to suggest its actually going to do anything I like with t…[Read more]
It really was! It has it’s own distinct personality and style. I loved the colours as well, it just really felt like a real location, and somehow comforting despite the subject matter sometimes haha.
I love that every time I wanted it to do something specific or say something more on a subject, it gave it to me!
I have discovered in recent years that this is one of the special points that makes me fall in love with a drama.
I hate watched Freaking Fairytale too. I don’t hate watch. I drop shows that I hate. The only reason I do it is if I like one thing about it. I wanted to watch Jun, because he, like KDY, is phenomenal in acting.
And you are not alone in hating No Gain either. I hate-ff’ed-through to the end and wrote a shit post about it.
A special point to be sure, one that happens often? Nooooooo~
Undoubtedly you will not agree with this but Confession: I thought Jun was terrible in the Impossible Heir, and not very good in Cinderfxxkingrella either. I think he needs to go back to playing just Normal Guys because he can’t really do anything else. 🤣🤣🤣
Don’t ask me why I hate watch, but if there was one thing I watched that show for it was his umbrella. 😆
Where is your shitpost on NGL! I must have missed it! That was one of the few dramas I actually came out of my hole to write words about this year haha. I forgot to post the mini essay on my wall, but it’s on the final recap.
Not often at all! It has happened to me maybe two or three times in 20 years.
I didn’t watch Impossible Heir but have you watched Class of Lies or Brave Citizen? Disclaimer: I’m not recommending them!! I found huge plotholes in CoL on rewatch, and BC gave me nightmares for weeks. But both were worth it for him.
I didn’t post my shit post! 😂 I kept it in my notes and just go read through it whenever I feel particularly violent! 🤣
I hated the show too much and it was too soon after it ended so most people were still talking about loving it I didn’t feel like posting it at all. And the other reason is that as I didn’t finish the show properly I didn’t edit the post either. It’s just a collection of things I hated, from mostly the first half.
You dodged several bullets in Impossible Heir.
I have not! The only Jun projects I have seen are Please Don’t Date Him, Imitation, May I Help You, his cameo in D.P. and this years fare. I think his favourite role of these was May I Help You. But there’s every possibility I haven’t seen his best work haha.
Oh! Hahahaha! I relate. I have lots of unpublished writing 🤭
I hated that show so much the love it was getting was driving me to the edge so I finally said something and then everyone wanted my list of reasons for hating it. Walked right into that one, woops.
I LOVED MIHY too. I’m not saying those other shows are his best work, but seeing him in villain roles was a serious eye-opener for me. Me, as a person who nearly never fall for the villain.
I didn’t hate Freaking Fairy Tale but didn’t like it either. Everything in the show just felt too easy, and that’s why it felt bland to me. They could have made it into a movie and I would have enjoyed it more.
@midnight Upon request, would you post your NGNL review? 😅 Doesn’t need to be on your fanwall, would it be alright for you to post it somewhere on my fanwall, in a comment? I’d love to read it. Because I didn’t like that show either (I didn’t hate it though). When someone said it’s the best romcom of the year, I always wondered what I missed that I couldn’t see the same thing.
@midnight
The middle section of MIHY was such a comfort drama watch for me. I liked him and Haeri together too, they had a great chemistry. I have yet to be convinced of him as a villain! Maybe one day he’ll surprise me.
@claire2009 I would’ve hated it as a movie too. It thought it was being clever by trying to be subversive and it was not.
Yay, some of your favourites were my favourites too!
I loved Atypical Family, and every word you have written about this golden drama is gold (agree 100℅ 🤝🙂)
Actually, my “some” means exactly two of our favourites overlap (Flex x cop that I recently finished, and Atypical Family that I had live watched). But that’s considerable amount of overlapping coz I only finished 4 dramas this year, with other two in the sleep-watch or skip-watch category 😂
hahaha so unhinged
I was one who started liking Atypical Family maybe episode 3. Then went back and watched first 2 again and loved from the start and then realised WTF, this is the second drama of JKY that is among my favorites.
I loved the unpredictability and weirdness.
But unlike most beanies I was not a big fan of the child actors and didnt quite get what was there to gush about THAT much. I just liked that it was an off-road drama and exploration of possibilities – like a freeflow writing exercise. which it actually could have been, it had a freshness of “just some project I made as a student for fun”. Usually I don´t feel from dramas that the writer had fun. But here most certainly. it tingles!
and I have to add they balanced dark scenes with brighter clothes or props or lights so I could actually see whta was on screen unlike some very good kdramas where you can use a telescope and it is still too friggin dark. AF was well filmed.
Oh yeah no, I liked it from Episode 1.
I liked the kids, but I liked the father daughter relationship more.
Hmmmm it didn’t feel free flow to me, haha felt like it knew what it was doing even if what it was doing appeared wild af. It also felt more intelligent than a student project, although I definitely think the writer had fun here! And yes, it was also well directed.
The Atypical Family is my favorite show this year, and even though I thought few beanies liked it, now watched the spreadsheet of bean distribution… I guess I was wrong. It is one of the most “beaned” dramas.
I agree with everything you said about it. It’s a little gem in my book.
I liked this post but dramabeans told me I can’t do it because I already liked it before.
Anyway, I am now on my desktop and the read more function finally worked. I teared up reading your thoughts on Atypical Family. It is also my best drama of the year (although I only finished a measly 7). None of them were likeable and I even thought it was boring at first but the more I watched, the more I got hooked and I found myself loving all the characters by the end of it.
I also don’t like time travel stories much because they’re usually bad. Going back to the past just messes the timeline so much and dramas tend to just wing it towards the end because they can’t fix what they’ve messed up. This is why the only time travel I completely liked is the one used in One Piece (manga) because they can only jump forward; what’s done is done and you can’t change it. Like you, I don’t like superheroes too so I was really against Gwiju in the beginning. Stop playing hero, dude! But wow *cries*
It’s so hard to explain my feels for it but I love Atypical Family so much ;A;
Awwww! Cute.
Boring at first. My goodness. Glad you came round!
You see but that was the entire point, wasn’t it! or one of them, that he had a hero complex and it was killing him. But the show wasn’t against saving people at all, just in the right way if you will and it recognises it as a strength, but also when it can go wrong; his desire to save people had become corrupted, an obsession, a demon, and so he got stuck in the past, and then in his own head. vs. the end where he saves those he loves in selfless sacrifice.
Two of the only other time travel stories I like are Your Name (animated movie), which is only technically time travel because there are two timelines that overlap and interact with each other, and The Map of Tiny Perfect Things, which is a time loop movie. Both of these and Atypical Family, I think succeed in their TT, for me, but also in general, because they treat their TT not so much like a sci fi, which is what a lot of people like it for, and not like a social commentary metaphor, which is another common approach, but like a fairytale, like a fantasy writing tool, and like the story elements of a Myth or Folk story. Undoubtedly this will be one of the reasons why some people won’t like it, but as I think adhering to Myth is one of the Truest forms of Story, I think it is great.
Yes! That was the point indeed. I went from not caring to cheering them on. It was also nice to read recaps on db. Beanies were not liking it at first and some were even thinking of dropping it but if you read the finale comments, a lot had come around and liked the show.
Ohh I’ll check out MoTPT. I haven’t seen that one yet. Thank you!!
If done right, chatacters who are supposed to be unlikable at first are one of my catnips, so I can get behind them easily, not condoning them but get behind their story.
When done right, you get something like Atypical Family, Extracurricular and Lookout.
When done wrong, you get something like Queen of Tears and To My Hyeri.
Tell me what you think when you do! Remember: it’s a Fairytale!
Guess what Park Sung Hoon was offered Kwak Dong-yeon’s role in Queen of Tears. 😂 He rejected it in favor of Eun-delulu because he thought villains get more attention. 🤦♀️🙈🤷♀️
Well after Squid Games he will do a timeslip fantasy drama as the ML playing a king who is a tyrant but also a gourmet who will fall for the charms 🙄 of the timeslipped chef Yoona.
I’m generally very supportive of artists and their need to put food on the table but yes sometimes it is difficult to cheer them on in their career choices. 🙈🤷♀️😂
Oh I meant more… PSH can obviously pick his own roles, to which your comment is accurate 😂, but the other two might not be able to (not all actors can), and it wasn’t their choice to cast themselves against each other in those specific roles, in that specific cast hierarchy, in this specific plot either… which is more what I was getting at hahaha.
Happy New Year to you too!
Hahhhh noooo I don’t watch variety any more except on very rare occasions.
You said the same thing in 2023 about cdramas except I watched way more then haha. The cdramas have no been going well lately. RIP.
You should check it out when you get a chance. Dong Yeon is even better irl. I didn’t know he could sing. 😎
I can’t seem to finish anything K or C-dramas. I’m enjoying ” Star Wars: Skeleton Crew” with the family, and that’s about it.
I can’t believe I missed this when you originally posted!! Great list and great comments/insights!! Samdalri, Like Flowers in Sand, and Flex x Cop were my favorite 2024 watches 👍
I was thinking over the last couple of months how I haven’t really done many shitposts this year (one, in fact. and only two essays. shock horror. actually, I haven’t really been on dramabeans very much at all … 👀), and I haven’t done any new entries into the Royal Kiss Analyst Files, and that particularly felt rather remiss, and that I should at least get one written before the year’s end.
For a long time, there were none that I felt like writing about. I was getting desperate, even. And I wish it was a different one, I really do. But there is, unfortunately, only one kiss scene I can possibly write about this year.
The proof I needed. The hypothetical kiss scene I say every kiss scene could be, and many should be. This is it. This is that one.
And trust me, nobody is more shocked than me that I am doing this for THIS DRAMA of ALL things.
*steeples fingers. deep breaths*
Frakking Gyeongseong Creature Season 2: Episode 5
Let us break it down.
Time:
total shot 1:29
just kiss 35 seconds
Cuts:
…
None.
There are None.
There are. No cuts. In this kiss scene. A great big whopping. 0.
Mmm yeah, you read that right.
The bane, of Kdrama Kiss Scenes. The thing I like to make fun of, all the time. The thing that makes these files what they are, the counting of cut scenes. And there are none. Blissful, sweet, none.
Who would’ve thought.
You can take a moment if you need to.
Shots/Camera Angles:
It’s … it’s 1 take. Because there are no cuts. So, it’s one shot.
But because the camera still moves, both in position and focus, there are probably half a dozen ways you could write this in a script depending on your scriptwriting teacher and the director.
I’ll break down the specific camera movement for you anyway though.
It starts with a behind the shoulder medium shot.
Park Seo Joon moves through the shot, and the focus follows him, and changes to a long shot when he reunites with Han So Hee. The camera is mostly stationary at this point, with only a little bit of panning.
And then there is a very long and slow tracking shot, as they hug, and then eventually kiss, and the camera slowly but continuously gets closer and closer.
It ends on this time a slight low angle medium shot, and the tracking stops briefly.
And then it ends.
The actual camera frame doesn’t change, just the focus and the position of the camera.
So if you want to be pedantic there is 1 shot/take, and 4 camera positions: Medium stationary, long shot stationary, tracking, low angle medium stationary.
Hence why I am tempted to count the time of the whole take as the Kiss Scene. But it really doesn’t matter because…
Cuts to Time (cuts per second) Ratio:
If there are no cuts, did I mention that already, that there are no cuts? Then the ratio is…
0:35 or 0:108… lmfao
The ratio is redundant.
It’s not even worth creating a new tier for this on the Cuts Per Second Ratio Ranking, because that tier would just be “One Take”.
I talk about this all the time. About how too many cuts and takes spliced together ruins the tone and pacing and emotion of a kiss. About how best to cut back on the number of takes and cuts to get a better result. That’s what this series is all about. And I often talk about how you could just do it, whatever kiss scene it is, in one shot and let the actors and the internal movement and writing deliver the emotion and story.
Now this is not to say that I think every kiss scene SHOULD or NEEDS to be one take. (Some great kiss scenes have cuts, because they use those cuts, properly.)
But they COULD BE. And one take, would pretty much always be better, than fifty bajillion and schizophrenic editing.
One takes are not unusual in filmmaking. They’re a bit of A Thing™ if you will. Often a bit of a gimmick as well (sometimes an annoying one).
But we’re not talking about films here. Or even broader tv, where it’s more likely to happen. We’re talking about kdramas. The worst kdrama kiss scene I have reviewed, of the ones recorded in the Royal Kiss Analyst Files, has 38 cuts in it.
Within the Industry Standard of kiss scenes, THE Kiss Scene if you will, in Kdramas, I don’t think I have EVER seen a one take kiss scene.
And I have seen a lot of kdrama kiss scenes. I even went and rewatched a bunch and watched a whole bunch of ones I hadn’t seen before whilst writing this, for scientific comparison! (My brain is fried.)
There’s probably one I missed, like I haven’t seen all of them ever, yet, sheesh. But the closest I found is Late Autumn has 2 long takes, and 1 cut (lonnnnng very long takes), and there’s a scene in Love Struck in the City (that I dropped) of them on the roof of the camper, which technically has kissing although you can’t see much (points taken off for that and the context), and is technically 1 take.
But for the purposes of this Analysis Entry, the quantity of one take kiss scenes in kdramas is very, very low, almost zero, and I had to go looking for these other ones, there were none off the top of my head to compete, and in my opinion, there are still none to compete.
☠
Because it’s not just that this has no cuts in light of all the ones that have so many that is impressive. It’s not just using the one take for the street cred of using a one take either. No, it uses this one take for a purpose and it executes it really well.
This is a stupidly well directed kiss scene for any show, let alone this show, and I am honestly kind of mad about it. Shit, this is a well-directed scene, period.
The brief context here is that these two characters are reuniting after a long time of separation and traumatic angst (understatement of the month), and the shot immediately before is a close up of Park Seo Joon tearing up as he sees Han So Hee across the street.
Then the camera lets him walk across the street on his own first, without intruding on the characters in any way. It lets them reunite distantly, it lets them have that moment on their own, which brings weight to their separation, before it moves us the audience in to join them, so that we can then also appreciate the reunion. And it’s not rushed either, they take their time getting to it, they hug first, and there’s pauses and caresses, before they go in for the kiss. It is understated and simple and it works really well to elevate the emotions of what this kiss and reunion mean!
And the reason I’m mad about it is because the show itself. Is DUMB.
Story and Writing:
About a year ago I wrote a mini essay about how it’s really hard for me to categorise a Favourite Kiss Scene of All Time and also a Best Kiss Scene of All Time due to how many factors go into making a Good Kiss Scene. (It’s linked in the Archive⬆ if you want to read it.)
In summary, the Technical side of the Kiss Scene is just one part of it. The cuts, the camera angles, lighting, framing etc etc. The other two main parts of this are how all of the technical elements contribute to the Story itself, and also the Story as a separate Thing. Because a Kiss Scene cannot and does not exist in a void.
I will give this kiss scene, a 2/3. It is technically proficient, and it uses its techniques to contribute to the story really well.
It’s the story those techniques are contributing to itself, and the rest of the execution I have a problem with, and because Story and Context is a legit File Category, I would not be able to write this Analysis without mentioning it, that wouldn’t be fair.
☠
I do not like this show, I think it is stupid, social commentary or no social commentary. I was excruciatingly bored in Season 1, which for a science fiction horror show based on real war crimes, is not the emotion one should be feeling. I should have at least felt actual horror at the subject matter, and I did not.
And I specifically did NOT like the romance in Season 1, at all. I thought it was really weirdly directed, and poorly acted, and that there was no chemistry for some reason. And it was super awkward and made no sense and I didn’t know WHY it was happening, and I didn’t believe why it was happening or to the extent that it was happening either.
I seriously have never questioned Park Seo Joon’s ability to act more than when I was watching Gyeongseong Creature Season 1. And I have always found Han So Hee very bland, one note and rather monotonous, and she was like that here too. There was very little emoting.
Which all made it very hard to believe that these two were falling in love, let alone eventually madly, soulmate, destiny crushing, spanning years and continents, lives ruined, bloodshed (all literally), epic fantasy romance in love type shit. (Which. IT’s SUPPOSED TO BE. *wtf hands*) And it got to the point where I spent most of the drama thinking that they were completely miscast for their roles, and wishing, desperately wishing that they were played by literally anybody else.
Thank you!!! You would probably enjoy the other entries in this series then, as some of them go into more depth about the egregious sins of excess cuts haha.
Thanks, I’ll check them out 👍
When it comes to single take scenes, this particular scene https://youtu.be/fDiCKgRJfxc?feature=shared from a J-drama stood out for me (along with the drama itself, for having multiple such scenes). It’s a drama called Unmet: A Neurosurgeon’s Diary, unfortunately not legally available (coz duh, Netflix holding back a global release 🙄)
Interesting! 3 cameras but one “take”. I’m sure if I had context it would all mean more. It’s definitely well made. Unfortunately, even though the darkside has never been an issue for me, I am not really much of a Jdrama watcher; I’ve seen like… two 😅
If we expanded the context to the technique in general though, that would be a much longer list of examples even in kdramas.
E.g. Like Flowers in Sand had lots of slow long takes and I loved it, but despite that it didn’t use them during its kiss scenes! lol
I’ve only watched three J-dramas myself. This one was quite Kdrama-esque in its story and presentation, and I liked it the best (I guess I am now attuned to the “Kdrama style” 😂). It’s a heartwarming human drama at its core, but the slow pace and the purported “mystery” might not be for everyone.
Here is the context of the linked scene with some unavoidable spoilers (sorry, I am a little verbose and yet confusing here 😅): our mysterious ML is a neurosurgeon who is always intent on “curing” people with serious brain ailments (like our FL, his colleague, who has amnesia). But we don’t know why he is like that even as his colleagues say a cure is impossible? (It’s not his story, it’s HERS, but he shines in this scene). The FL engages him in a small talk, and as they ask about each other’s siblings, she says, “So, where is your brother now?”. He says he has passed away, followed by a self-reassurance that “It’s okay”, but then promptly turns away to hide his tears (the video ends here, but that’s only about half of the entire scene).
The Rest… (More spoilers) But by then, the flood of emotions has already taken over our impassive ML and he can’t help but give us the REAL CONTEXT (to his uncharacteristic breakdown, and to the overarching story). His severely disabled brother was sent away to a facility. The young boy cried as he was reluctant to go. The ML says that back then he thought it was “the best” for his brother, but he admits that a part of him was relieved to have his brother out of sight. He questions if his “cure all” attitude as a surgeon is not really a noble urge to enlighten the lives of people with “unmet needs” (hence, the name of the drama), but merely his impatience to lighten the burden on caregivers…. And this part was enacted by this male actor through completely improvised lines… I’ll leave out the FL’s reaction to avoid further spoilers, but THAT part was improvised by the actress as well! And it all felt SO REAL! And beautiful!
This drama has zero kiss scenes 😂, but a very strong central love line is there. The other scene that wowed me (I am not good with technicalities 😅) involved the same male actor, with the camera following him inside a house. The camera is shaky, there are a lot of emotions (which were, again, improvised, coz the BTS story by the director says the actor was not told about a “hidden letter” that he found “by chance” and reacted to spontaneously). It felt like a documentary! Acting stood out as much as direction in this drama.
It’s funny you should mention no kiss scenes, as despite me taking it upon myself to analyse them, for fun mostly, some of my favourite romances or pairings in kdramas, but also in general, don’t have any kiss scenes. I mention that more in the Bonus Essay.
Thank you for the context! I don’t mind spoilers and you were not confusing. That’s quite impressive that there was a lot of improvising. Well done to the actors and to the PD for encouraging and trusting them!
I forgot to mention, even in all my editing, that this is the only kiss scene of this quality in this entire show, which makes it stand out like a sore thumb and annoy me even more 🤣.
Gracias. It’s been a while since I drew a Christmas design and I was getting withdrawals haha. Was nice to complete something again.
Hope you have a good day!
Hahaha thank you Kiara! I was looking up Thank You in Maori earlier in the year, and it seems rather inconsistent, between Tena Koe, Kia Ora, and other options. Anyway, consider yourself thanked.
I had a great birthday overall, yes, and spread out over the week, as the party was a week before the actual birthday haha.
You are welcome! So glad to hear that you had a great birthday. 😊
Kia Ora is the most convenient to me. 😂 It’s like Aloha. Hello, thank you, love you, goodbye, haha.
if I had a nickle for every time something New Zealand related has turned up in #My Sweet Mobster, I’d have two nickles, which isn’t a lot but it is weird that it happened twice.
fig (1.) AJ Hackett Bungy T-shirt (coincidentally, extremely location specific to your’s truly).
fig (2.) Whittaker’s Wellington Roasted Coffee Supreme specialty chocolate bar.
I saw the tell tale packaging and went “wait a minute” and rewound to check 🤣🤣
Yeah I kind of figured they’d have to be doing something like that. Not sure how else production would easily get one otherwise 😂
The murmuring of the staff outside on the road droned behind him as the afternoon wore on.
He looked out the van window.
The road behind the barrier dipped down sharply to a creek at the bottom and then rose again to a small knoll. There was a pagoda on top of it, its teal green and red paint almost sparkling in the warm sun, a jewel set in a forest of yellow and bright aspen, fading summer birches turning their leaves to autumn. It was the most beautiful thing he had thought he had ever seen.
It was tantalising. He wished he could be up there, under the painted eaves of the shrine, looking down at the valley beyond, the wind on his face, the sweet burble of the creek and the birds in his ears, breath in his lungs again. Oh! To be able to breathe.
Well… whyever not.
His heart beat loudly in his chest. It blocked out all other noise.
It was right there. A ten-minute walk at tops.
And then the thought grew.
They were all focused on the tyre. On getting him to his next schedule on time. And the next one, and the next one. Nobody was watching the right-hand door. Nobody was watching him. Nobody would see him go. And that meant, he didn’t have to come back.
Before he even realised what he was doing, his phone was out and he was transferring most of his money to his private card. The one with the Other Bank. He scheduled a message to the manager. He took off all his rings but one, and took out anything unnecessary in his wallet. He looked down at his shoes and light leather jacket. They would have to do. He shut the screen between the driving pit and his seat.
“I will have a nap then”, he had said when the driver had told him about the tyre, “don’t worry about me.”
They wouldn’t check on him till Daejeon.
He stepped out of the van. The road was hot. Autumn was late. The staff were still talking. Discussing. There were no cars. He shut the door softly. Nobody paid any attention to it.
He crossed the road.
And hopped the barrier and never looked back_
He took his time walking up to the pagoda. The sun was warm, and his clothing black. When he reached the top the blue haze of distance blurred the valley beyond and mountains hung close and he felt very far away from everything and very alone.
He lay in the pagoda and stared up at the dancheong tracing patterns and past lives and chasing thoughts he could not catch till the sun sank into the blue haze and turned everything purple. His chest was heavy.
The staff were long gone when he walked down the path back to the road. He stopped by the stream and splashed the cold water over his face, wiping off the sweat and the makeup and the mask. It sent a shiver down into his belly and he could feel it burning behind his ribs. He gasped and stood there dripping over the stream breathing heavily, watching the water slip and gurgle over the brown rocks, distorting his reflection.
It was dark when he made it back to the road. There was one street lamp marking the track to the shrine. He stood opposite it on the pull over bay with his jacket slung over his shoulder and stuck out his thumb, damp hair clinging to his forehead, staring at nothing. He could feel the weight of a thousand days on his limbs.
The first car that passed stopped.
It dropped him off in the first town south without his jacket. He had offered money but the driver asked for the designer item instead. He didn’t care.
There wasn’t much in the town. It was only two streets, a loop off the highway, the second lying parallel to the main street on the north side, on the bank of the creek.
There was a store. A couple of tent bars. Three restaurants, all small and family owned with local fare. A row of trade shops. A bookshop cafe. A pharmacy and a doctor’s clinic in one. A community hall with a tiny civil servant office attached and an atm outside. Two motels; one cheap and dark, one a nicer looking two story hanok house with a 3.5 star rating on a sign over the door. Something the town would boast.
It most likely serviced the farms and orchards on the hills behind, and as a pit stop, and not much else.
He checked into the hanok house and paid in cash. They brought food to his room with makgeolli and he downed the bottle straight and passed out.
He checked out the next morning. He didn’t know why. He didn’t know where he was going to go that night.
The heaviness was only growing. Like something that had been lurking and sitting there for so long was now breaking out. There was a numbness behind his eyes.
He ended up at a tent bar by 5. It was hot, the air was electric; there was a storm coming.
Thunder clapped and he startled as he was rising from his table.
He didn’t know when the storm had started. It was late. The table in front of him was littered with soju bottles. The owner was tidying up. It must’ve been very late.
The tent flap opened and the patron’s husband came in, ushering in a pile of boxes out of the rain.
There was a momentary meeting of places, otherwise disconnected by the thick canvas walls that seemed to draw a line between realities; the slicked streets and sheets of the storm collided with the orange glow and enclosed space of the tent, and the intense smell of hot country earth swiftly becoming wet, mixed with the bittersweet headiness of rice wine.
The world spun. His mouth tasted metallic, and he was shaking but he didn’t realise it. He fumbled a wad of bills out of his pocket, and stumbled out into the elements.
It was like being hit by a truck.
The sudden coolness of the late Summer rain against his skin was like the shock of the little valley creek all over again but stronger, only it didn’t clear his head, so much as his heart. Keen and clarion like the lightning that flashed and backlit the mountains across the valley, drenching him in the blue light of cold fire mixed with the toxic neon of the town lights, he felt the immense weight finally break, and lift off him, only to be replaced by a cutting, rushing, all enveloping pain.
He collapsed drunk under the eave of the book shop, as the rain poured down, and cried.
Shin Myung looked out the passenger seat window of the truck, the few street and store lights trailing down the pane in watercolours. There was a man, no, a boy really, sitting under the door of the bookshop, one knee drawn up to his chest, hand draped over, one leg stretched out in front of him, his torso wracking with sobs.
She remembered a boy in a red t-shirt playing in the cabbage fields a long time ago. The boy running home to be thrown high into the air by his father and sweet laughter echoing in a now empty room.
She reached for the umbrella and got out of the truck, walking over to the young man and crouching down in front of him.
‹‹ 괜찮으세요? ›› “Are you okay?”
Through the numbness the voice came. He looked up and met her eyes.
Something swift and sharp cut through her like a knife then.
“Where are you from?” She asked above the rain.
“Where am I…” tears sprang from his eyes again. He shook his head.
She tried again.
“Where are you going?”
“I don’t know,” he said, in the smallest voice imaginable.
“The motel?”
He shook his head again.
“Away. Not here.”
She looked around. The tent bar was closing, the patron hurriedly stacking chairs now in a
bright yellow rain jacket.
“Not here, eh. Alright then.”
She held out her hand.
He stared at it.
“Up you get.”
Tentatively he accepted the hand and she pulled him up. He stumbled but she supported him with one short and sturdy arm around his waist to the truck door.
He stood shivering in the rain looking at the open door with the seat and the warm heater air blowing on his face. He blinked.
“Get in,” the older woman said with a smile.
He got in. His head was on fire. The world went in and out of focus as the woman drove the truck out of the town and across the bridge over the creek and up a road lined with cherry trees with fiery leaves.
The truck pulled up at a large horseshoe shaped hanok farm house.
He was slightly more conscious now, but still tipsy and shivering. He got out of the truck and his head swam with a wave of nausea. A day’s glasses of soju all rushed to his head at once.
He followed the ahjummah inside wordlessly. Her husband looked up from his place on the couch reading the newspaper, seemingly unsurprised by the otherwise unexpected visitor.
He bowed automatically but could find no words.
The woman clucked under her breath and instead of staying for introductions, she steered him immediately towards a bathroom to the right of an open spacious central kitchen, pulling a towel and some spare clothes apparently out of thin air.
“Get yerself in there and have a shower, kid.” Her voice was low and soothing against the spiky noise in his brain, and the ache in hi…[Read more]
I wrote this in January 2021, and finalised this section’s main edit in March 2022.
Whilst watching Frankly Speaking #11 this afternoon, I was reminded of it and thought I would share.
It’s from a kdrama plot bunny idea, but there is no more of it to share unfortunately, sorry.
(Also formatting this was a p a i n .)
I know exactly what you are saying. I am working on something and what comes out is sometimes so different than what’s in my mind. Often, the core thoughts get lost in the framing, construction and formatting. But I suggest you still put it out. It’s incredibly rewarding. I feel like I have my own movie running in my head and living in that world has been gratifying.
Haha yes I commiserate and I agree it’s good to get it out!
I have lots of WIPs though and this is just a side one, that I don’t work on very often; although it has *themes* in it I come back to a lot, other stories take precedence overall.
Although I’m liable to get distracted from both by new plot bunnies, every other day a new movie. 😂
I’m sure some of them would like to forget it exists. Indeed, it is in many respects, best forgotten! Unfortunately I’ve made shitposting my entire personality, and so remember far too much of it, and also my art wouldn’t be where it is today without it so… you know.
Good to see you back @sicarius, Sic!
I enjoyed Song Joon-ki’s QOT cameo. I missed him in tvN’s VINCENZO (2021). His Eunseom/Saya (and Eunseom/Ipsaeng bromance) were for me probably the best parts of tvN’s ARTHDAL CHRONICLES (2019).
LOL. OH MY WORD! @seeker Cera! What are you doing to me (😳)? I had no idea Eunseom and Ipsaeng were reunited in VINCENZO. I am a long-time fan of Kim Sung-cheol. According to MDL he was only in 2 episodes (8 and 20). I may just watch those 2 episodes to find out EXACTLY what was going on. You made me even look up what ‘fujoshi’ means lol.
*Bows deeply* Happy to be of service. It was a Big Deal when the drama was airing. While everyone was anticipating the reunion it was perhaps not “this” way. But it was very well done and the amusement park date was the highlight. The BTS were even more fun!
I liked the Magic Horse cameo in Vinnie better 😉
(Also you didn’t really miss anything substantial by skipping Vincenzo Bong-Soo, imo anyway. Not even for the cameos.)
My pastor poked fun at the congregation today at Sunday Service (that just so happens to also be Easter Sunday Service):
He said, “I’d been saying ‘Happy Easter’ to people all morning here, but the responses I’ve been getting in return have been unexpected ones— just a “Happy Easter” right back at me. But how are we REALLY supposed to respond when someone tells us “Happy Easter” ?? Let’s try this again: Happy Easter!”
Congregation: “Indeed, Christ is risen!!”
^ The response he had been expecting all morning and finally got LOL 😂
A Dramabeans milestone has been reached! 1000 Comments on a Fanwall Thread!
Hooray hooray! And a big congratulations to all who participated and to @cozybooks!!!!! (I hope this helps you level up 😂)
It is also the second last day of Love, February, and Shrove Tuesday.
Thus with this achievement, I will bid thee all a Happy St Valentine’s Day, and adieu till Easter.
🖤💜💜💜🖤
To infinity and beyond… thank you for guiding us my Queen and bringing us home. Have a blessed time. We will eagerly await your return at maybe 2000 …!!?? 😂👏👏👏👏👏👏
Sicarius’ Guide to Killing People: A SHOP FOR KILLERS SH🔪TPOST
I am qualified to make this post because my name means Assassin in Latin. And why yes I am insufferable to watch movies with, why did you ask.
Every year I watch half a dozen plus shorter action x various genre kdramas, and I like maybe one of them if we’re lucky.
And at least once a year I sit down write out a big rant about action, and fighting and weapons and injury authenticity, in reaction to one or more of these shows, and title it much the same thing every time, and then I never post it. (e.g. my My Name Shitpost @eazal, I’m so sorry 😂)
So, consider this not so much of a shitpost about Shop For Killers per se, and more of a locked and loaded rant that I have waiting in the wings at literally any given moment any time I watch anything remotely akin to this show, and that Shop for Killers is just the sacrificial lamb of this present moment, and the one I am choosing to channel my frustration through.
THINGS IT DID RIGHT:
Most of what it got right was in the first 4 episodes, then it kinda started getting more and more dumb… so sad.
1. Sound Delay and the Speed of Sound (aka the actual only reason I am making this post at all because I wanted to SHARE ABOUT IT BECAUSE IT’S COOL)
See: video @ 2:10 specifically, it goes into this in depth.
But basically, when you’re dealing with long distance rifles, the bullet is travelling faster than the sound of the rifle, so to the person being shot at, they will not see the gun being fired, the sound of it hitting, and also HEAR the gun being fired all at the same time.
They GOT THIS RIGHT! I was SO EXCITED THAT THEY GOT THIS RIGHT. I don’t think I’ve EVER seen a movie or a tv show get this right.
When Seongjo is sniping at them from the bridge, we hear Seongjo shoot, then our protagonists (and uhm, some other guy) hear the bullet fly past them, and THEN they hear the delay of the gun firing from THEIR position.
They get the sound design with the sniper rifle right every time they shoot it. Top marks for that. 10/10.
2. Also, during the sniping scene: Recoil is a bitch, she is tiny, and that gun is big, and it would HURT, yes, and throw her across the room, yes!
(Alas, the recoil in the rest of the show isn’t as consistently accurate…)
3. “but it’s not enough to beat a man holding a knife” (Episode 4)
Yeah, if you enter a knife fight, especially unarmed chances are one but probably both of you are gonna end up fxxked up, correct, please do not enter a knife fight without a superior weapon, not even an equal one, just run, Jinman is correct here.
Knife fights are MESSY and dangerous and you WILL get cut up at bare minimum!
(Ofc then it goes and proceeds to show a bunch of unrealistic disarmaments, and well-choreographed but nonetheless knife fights that mostly ignore this… but what can you do.)
4. I liked the use of Muy Thai as a fighting art, that was fun. Not sure about the realism of her training times, but in terms of martial arts actually useful for fighting, Muy Thai is one of them. So, neat to have that awareness at least. It also has several cameos by Karambits, one of my favourite knives, a wicked little melee knife.
(Unfortunately, not really any decent, truly realistic karambit fights… as usual.)
THINGS IT DID NOT/ GENERAL RANTING:
Well, you could just watch the rest of the video in terms of guns, so, all of that, too, but I’m going to mention specifics and other stuff anyway lmao.
– Hyenas are cool. And barking doesn’t necessarily make an animal weak lmfao. I know it’s a metaphor, it’s just a dumb metaphor so it annoys me. (Inaccurate Weapons and Inaccurate Zoology are constantly fighting for my attention and which one annoys me more.)
– No earplugs, y’all are reeling, and deafer than Beethoven.
The Grey Man was a terrible movie. It was just point blank, a bad, an awful movie. Gosling slept walked through it. But, hilariously, ironically, everyone wore earplugs!!!!!
Guns are loud. Rifles are REALLY loud. Wear ear protection.
– How many times must I say this, Grenades have a kill radius of 5m and an injury radius of 15m, and you threw two. That asshole in ep 5 is dead. Not kinda messed up but still looks recognisable, not unrecognisably messed up, just dead. Very dead. Completely dead.
And our protagonists are a lot more injured than that.
How did you get the sound physics of sniper rifles correct, and the damage of a grenade wrong. Even Little Woman got this right. Please.
– Listen
The whole – THE WHOLE BALE THING???? *tears out hair* yeah, so that is basically the entire conflict the show hinges on, what about it.
First, Bale SHOULD be dead from those injuries. I’m not sure why this drama seems to think explosions cause just an ✨aesthetic✨ amount of damage and scarring.
But even so,
If someone like him is threatening you? And your family? And kills people for fun? And you have him under the knife?????
1. You stab him in the heart, breaking his sternum like you did anyway.
2. And THEN! you take OUT the knife so he bleeds out faster, cos the knife will be keeping him alive essentially at that point (minus the explosions and other injuries).
3. And then you slit his throat.
4. And you slit it well and truly.
Why would you leave any and I mean literally any possibility of him living
This show acts smart until it does the dumbest shit ever
You had time to cut his throat, you numbskull. The show just established you keep your cool in bloodshed x minutes ago. But you went for the gun???? Why make it all emotional and dramatic!
It’s a lot harder to come back from a severed jugular and carotid artery. He WILL bleed out before he can get to medical attention.
But if you’re worried his Cha Dal Geon Immunity to Death Gene will overcome even a severed jugular, cut a couple of other main arteries at the same time.
Knife’s right there, babe. Wrists, groin, armpits, neck.
Why must these shows exist only at the expense of the Supposedly Intelligent Main Character’s Intelligence. That’s rhetorical.
But really?? You should’ve put a bullet in Bale’s head three missions ago. Maybe three bullets seeing as how he has the Cha Dal Geon Immunity to Death gene. I mean that’s what *I* would’ve done… if I was a mercenary with at least an existent moral compass, no matter how broken. He’s not that good of a merc for you to have kept around as a liability for that long, surely. Come on.
I hope your absence after your fake death was because you were killing him PROPERLY this time?? Were you successful? Or did you leave him the SLIGHTEST possibility of living, again.
– Speaking of Fake Deaths, very obvious from episode one, not showing his face, and her hard sus reaction, but also he had to be alive because if he wasn’t alive he’s the biggest idiot on planet earth to kill himself over such a ridiculous blackmailing trick, when he’s been set up as … you know… not THAT much of an idiot. So instead, he’s just enough of an idiot that if he weren’t, the show wouldn’t exist … not that that would be a loss to me personally, but maybe to some others it would.
The entire show hinges on you [Jinman] not killing him [Bale] right the first time, but I just don’t get, you know… why you didn’t kill him right the first time.
If it’s something dumb like Flex Cop I can ignore a lot of these common action flaws more easily but if you’re taking your killing as seriously as this… then actually take it seriously, gosh.
– Other Speed RUN
The deaf arms dealer was cute. RIP buddy. I’m sorry about your arm.
IV pull – DING
Most of the fight scenes ranged from decent to ok to wtf was that. There was quite a wide range of styles and consistency in accuracy there, and in the aftermath lol.
I don’t think anyone reloaded enough but that’s normal 🙄 I also don’t know why our little mole was the only one wearing a bullet proof vest… Minhye sure could’ve used one.
I kind of got sick of all the fights at the end, and the structure of the show, which started out a lot better than it ended.
.
.
.
There’s more I definitely missed and or could’ve ranted about but for Version 1 of this rant, that’s all for now.
Till the next dumb action show, misuse of guns, grenades, or character that pulls out something they’ve been stabbed/shot with … whichever comes first. Maybe the next one will be a sageuk and I’ll rant about arrows.
In the meantime, I will go back to wondering why everyone in Nokdu Flower treats Yi Hyun as the Evilest of Evils for being an 19th Century Sniper.
*sorry for badmouthing Flex X Cop there, but it IS on the dumb, fun but dumb, comedy action, Skunk end of the spectrum. I am enjoying it a lot, but it’s action is just silly. That Helicopter scene? Aiiiyaaa.
The problem is I think they worked backwards (I haven’t read the book) – the niece with the reveal of the gun shop is the focal point, that’s what it wants to be about – so we have to work back to how we got to this point – her parents dying, etc etc – but by doing that, if it’s not believable enough, like here, it’s just annoying and stupid. But if Bale was killed properly, then we wouldn’t have the rest of the show that they so badly wanted to focus on, you wouldn’t have any Shop for Killers. Idk then have a smarter backstory, why don’t you 🙄🙄🙄
I liked him just from his five seconds at the beginning, and then he was dead and I was like nooo! Was happy to see him back briefly only to lose him again haha
I didn’t even watch the show, but I read your essay carefully and enjoyed all the details.
They just ignore all of them in fight scenes in dramas because they think a hero with earplugs or bulletproof vests or running when she sees she can’t overcome the situation and it’s too dangerous to handle, is not COOL enough for a hero.😅
Why thank you.
But I happen to think the opposite is cooler and more interesting, so where does that leaves us 😆😆😆 ofc, I am not most people’s target audience…
I enjoyed the show, but I do agree with all the negatives and the grenade stuff irked me to no end, especially as you pointed out tjat the protagonists escaped with little to no harm. Grenade power is not some secret knowledge that exists only among armed people, but is a general knowledge that even civilians know about.
Bale is a trigger for the entire sequence of events, so we just have to grudgingly acknowledge his existence as a guy with Cha Dal Geon’s gene of immunity. By the way is there any hope for Vagabond S2🤣🤣🤣
I will not begrudge his existence at all; they could’ve tried harder 😂😂😂
Vagabond should’ve aired two years later than it did, then it would’ve got a S2 lol.
I too thought that there were too many fights which were differently choreographed. Maybe this abundance of action directors led to vastly contrasting fighting styles and inconsistencies.
You’re so correct while no one expects anything from Chaebol Cop this kind of widely varied “action” is more irritating than awe-inspiring.
Having lots of stunt directors on an 8 episode Disney kdrama would be weird but maybe… Are there actually many listed? Cos welp, if so haha… Maybe all the different shades of fight were on purpose?? Some were just outrageous, like Minhye’s fight in the locked down living room lol.
Absolutely.
And something like this clearly takes its action and genre a lot more seriously, in that it’s designed to be a dark action show, akin to other Korean Noirs, Asian gritty action like the Raid, or the John Wick style flick, and if that’s the case, I tend to expect more of such things, especially, especially, if they get Something as right as Sound Delay in rifles.
The inconsistencies at that point immediately become not something to look over, but a glaring larger flaw in the work. They didn’t care to get it consistent, and that’s telling.
I don’t know how many action directors were there just that the “action” seems diverse.
My idea of “action” was always with a side of comedy like those Jackie Chan movies we watched as kids. While I don’t know about technicalities but I loved reading about them in your post and agree that they should not undermine that which makes it good in the first place. 😀
Late to the party, just starting. Just occurred to me that if Minhye was wearing a plate carrier, then (I suspect) you’d be squinting to see if the plates were properly inserted, worn at the correct height, etc.
… I’m gonna take this as a compliment. Also I’m always glad to be missed, and to see you turn up still from time to time – I like to know you’re alive at least.
I absolutely ADORE watching Inside’s How Real It Is (and similar breakdowns) on YouTube. I learn a lot without sitting through a boring lecture but actually watching snippets of the movies and having experts annihilating some of it. 😂
Hello All. I hope you\’re all enjoying Love, February.
Sicarius\’ Guide to Known Inappropriate Words* February 2024 UPDATED and MASTER Version:
*aka words that trip the spam filter, like forbidden candy.
It has come to my attention that I should\’ve just made this a google doc earlier, instead of the time consuming Photoshop Image I have used in past versions, but I think, as useful as links are, a visual aid helps a lot of people – you can SEE it, right there (and also I like making it LOOK pretty haha).
Nonetheless, this version is just a link.
I have combined my (always ongoing) current list of Known IWs and my Guide to Dealing with Them (that I also have posted on my wall previously) into one Google Doc, with open link sharing, for easy access for all Beans, past, present and future.
@kmromrell for your spreadsheet project! Here!
(I am sure btw, I have other resources that would be useful for that lying around, but consolidating them is not priority and I grow weary these days.)
I may make this Open to Editing later on, so that anyone who finds a New IW can simply add it to the file themselves. But till then, keep tagging me if you find one or notice an update!
Perfect, I’ve added it to the Beanie Resources folder under “How to Dramabeans”. I shortened the shortcut title a tad to make sure Beanies could see the full title/author. Let me know, though, if you’d prefer that to be changed. Thanks so much for compiling this and sharing it out!
Yes, I’d love to add any other resources you have, but no pressure on timing — the folder will be here and ready whenever you’ve got the time. 🙂 If you want any help consolidating those resources, I’d also be happy to help convert them from post-form to document-form — we’d just want to make sure to change the document ownership to you afterward.
If anybody else sees this and is aware of other resources that should be added, let me know!
That’s wonderful! I think Toki will participate again this year.
If I don’t see you ladies in the next couple of months, at least I know you are both ok.
MDL or fan-wall. All good!
Beanmelons rescinded. Well, not entirely. But most of them. I thought this might happen.
“Can the fact that we’re so different be the reason? I mean, no two people in the world are completely the same. If a person with one arm falls in love with another person with one arm, would it be ok? People say they will soon start to hate and resent each other. But I’m not [so] sure. Fine. Let’s say it is true. Then wouldn’t it be okay to stay together until they start to hate each other? Wouldn’t it be okay to give it your all until you start to hate everything? Even if your love is not the same in shape and size. Even if it may not be fair. Wouldn’t it be ok for us to love until then?”
This is the opening line of the show.
It is a common narrative technique, to start your story, be it film, television, novel, play, et al, with an idea, a proposition, that is also the end point of the story, where the story is going to end up.
Therefore, the objective of the story becomes to show how and why this proposition comes to pass.
It’s a bold narrative move, because you reveal your cards early.
If you reveal your ending at the beginning, you must justify that being your ending in everything you are about to do and show, in every part of the story, the storytelling process, and in every storytelling device.
Everything must be so wholly and truly working towards this goal, that by the time you give your audience this ending, it feels inevitable that this was the ending, that this was always intended point, and this was, in some respects, the only point possible to have reached. Reaching that point should be rewarding or cathartic in some way.
It doesn’t have to be “happy”, but it must make sense, and it must be satisfying in how we got there.
This is, in fact, true for all stories, but in my opinion even more so if you use this opening technique, because you are by default limiting your narrative options.
The only other possible option is to deliberately reject this proposition.
If rejecting the proposition, when that wasn’t deliberate, or some other theme of the show somehow becomes more inevitable, more necessary, if Something Else becomes more True, than the ending you have already revealed… you have failed your task, and failed to reach your goal.
—
The opening line of the show, as previously quoted, is the show’s proposition.
First it expresses doubt over love between two people who are “too” different.
Second, it expresses that a tragic ending must be inevitable for these two people, implying that the differences become irreconcilable.
Then the narrator expresses doubt over this and says well, even if that is true, it is better to love anyway.
I agree with the last statement. It is better to love than to never love at all (see: here and here). But the narrator only expresses this within the frame of reference of that love eventually becoming hate.
The motto itself seems confused. In the example scenario given, it’s not even that these two are two different that is really the focus, but that being different will end in hate. Similarly, it’s not “love in spite of” that is the focus, but the “until” that given emphasis.
So, for this show to justify this being its opening line, it must now go out of its way to show that the differences between the leads are irreconcilable, and that it will also end in hate, whilst also trying to balance that with the idea of Love, even if it is temporary, being an ultimately good thing.
—
The reason I have always felt unsure of loving this show, always felt a lurking sense of foreboding, or some impending narrative direction that I knew I would hate, is because of this opening line and because I immediately felt it was confused and would be hard to deliver on well.
But more specifically, it is because after it announced this statement as its opening line, the show then spent the next 10 to 12 episodes doing a quite frankly better and sounder job of telling a story about Communication, about the different forms of communication, about wanting to overcome great obstacles and differences and fears, about the nuances of communication and language and form and semantics, with positivity and strength and hope, than it did telling a story of how we might reach this joint ending-opening point in any kind of satisfying way.
For every hint of dissonance, and temporality, for every line about transience and things being lost or passing, for every lurking shadow of doubt, that pointed back to the proposition, there was a direct thematic idea in contradiction to it, that spoke of overcoming this, of facing conflict and becoming stronger for it, becoming stronger together for it, of growing from scars and past hurt, and of pursuing things and choosing to love even when it is hard.
So the proposition and rejecting the proposition were in competition against each other, and the latter, was narratively stronger and more true than the former.
One can have deliberately conflicting thematic points, and this can be a good thing, for example: if one eventually wins out over the other, or if their juxtaposition serves to shed light onto something.
But, instead of spending time building towards any clear end goal – for the claim, or against it, or doing anything with this contradiction, by having the stronger one mean something, or balancing that tension, either between thematic ideas, or in the initial motto itself – this show spent more time building a kind of thematic ambiguity, so much so that it was entirely possible for this show to swing either in direct opposition to its opening point, just as much as it was possible for it to swing back on it.
—
And then they break up, and the 8th last line of the show is its opening line, confirming my suspicions that to reject the proposition was never going to be its point, that it really meant to end up here all along.
But we have not got here in a way that this felt earnt, and justified. The show has not spent its whole being reaching this point, proving that this, this is how it was supposed to be, as it must, as it should’ve, if it was going to reveal its cards like that at the beginning. And it has not used its contrasting themes to help prove this point either.
And even in ending up here, it then actually ends, not WITH this, but AFTER this; instead of with the opening line as its ultimate final point, it concludes with two other moments that don’t feel wholly satisfying for either possible ending- either the hopeful, overcoming, or the bittersweet one.
Jinwoo introduces himself again, and Moeun smiles, and then we cut to credits.
And over the credits our leads walk hand in hand down their train track and at the end of the end, the end after the end, Jinwoo finally says in voiceover, in echo of the show’s title, “I love you, Moeun”; he finally confesses.
But this too feels like a false ending.
The show’s title is TELL ME THAT YOU LOVE ME, but its proposition is something entirely different. And Jinwoo never tells Moeun that he loves her to her person, but he says her name out loud, in the only spoken line he has in the entire show, to nobody, in heartbreak after their break up.
For a show about Communication, it feels cheap to have the leads break up due to a breakdown in communication, in the name of some Other Theme that was not shown to be any stronger than this.
But if they get back together without us seeing them overcoming this breakdown, this conflict, then you have not only denied them their bittersweet ending, that you initially chose for them, no matter how unjustified that has been, you have also denied them true development for a happy ending – for the ending that could’ve instead rejected the proposition on purpose.
There can be no whole or satisfying bittersweet ending, and there can be no whole or satisfying happy ending either.
You have only given your audience false propositions, and false promises, and false endings.
1. In being ambiguous in body, instead of picking an end goal and dedicating itself to reaching that goal, thus betraying its beginning.
2. In not balancing its contradicting themes to reach or support that end goal.
3. In its contrary themes becoming stronger and truer than any other intentional theme.
4. In the ending denying either the original claim, or the rejection of the original claim to be the true ending, satisfying the ambiguity, and nothing else.
And I do not know why. And I am left disappointed, but somehow not surprised, and not as heartbroken either as I initially thought I would be, just let down.
I am left wondering if you really intended to end with or meant the opening point at all, such was the ambiguity, but to make ambiguity itself the point betrays too much else to be a rational conclusion, such was the rest of the show’s thematic core.
Because so much of you was Right and True and Beautiful.
I think Koreans are specifically bad at this technique because they rarely have the script fully finished before shooting starts. I have noticed in a lot of shows that this technique is used only as an idea, a device, to start the show, not to finish it. It is more disappointing when the show is excellent in other areas.
Yeah, this is a part of Television writing, one that is not actually exclusive to Korea, I have never liked, writing as you air/shoot/go. It’s always seemed counterintuitive to me 😂.
I’m not convinced finishing the script is neccesasrily the direct cause though. Whilst pre planning your script should happen and will help, often the problem with not knowing how to finish or where to take a show, or what you want your show to be is a deeper more fundamental writing issue, and not an easy fix through episode count, or pre writing alone.
Ugh. I was never going to watch this show, but this form of disappointment is truly terrible and I’m sorry you had to endure it. I hear you taking the good with the bad, and I applaud the effort, but the way I’m feeling recently–that’s often not good enough.
Yes as much as there was a lot to love about this show, I will never be able to ratenor rank it higher as a favourite or best overall or overlook its failures.
I’m just kind of glad the disappointment was mostly dealt with last week actually, and I was mentally prepared to write this and for the ending.
Thank you for your review. I had a strong sense of discomfort towards the latter half of the drama but could not even express why. You have to beautifully and loving analyzed each and every point. I was very happy to start the drama, interested enough to finish, do not regret watching it but still 🤷♀️. Thank you for putting in words all the things which made us feel so warm and heard and then … something like radio silence from the show. 😀
Thank you so much Cera! Yes that discomfort you mention I had the whole drama haha despite the greatness of the beginning, but I too don’t regret watching, but I’d hard to have another disappointment after a year of seemingly endless ones.
Radio silence! I love that term haha. Very apt feeling. An edited line from the essay was “the feeling of being washed up or beached, and thirsty”.
Oh! yes like drinking salt water which makes you more thirsty. 🤣 Well nothing can out-Heartbeat Heartbeat *fingers crossed*. 2023 dramas made me little more sympathetic. Just like we cannot plan a “perfect” life, we cannot get “perfect” dramas. Just few moments of perfection as suffice IRL as well as dramas.
Hahaha the metaphysical question of whether or not you can truly get “the perfect drama” has always been one at the back of my mind, but whilst that may not be truly or realistically possible, I like to hope still for dramas that are still Good and point to Goodness, and, those that don’t drop the ball at the end! It is possible! But it seems they are getting fewer and far betweener. Ah well. I keep watching and waiting haha.
I feel that je ne sais quoi Korean-ness was the secret sauce. Now in trying to appeal to global audiences we have one foot here, one there and then **splash** down we go!!
No but seriously, skunks are incredibly weird-looking up close. You may think you know what one looks like but you don’t. Your brain expects a black cat with a white stripe and a squirrel tail, but their proportions are all wrong, and I do a double-take every time I see one. It must be even harder for artists who don’t live in a place where they are backyard fauna.
Oh I kNOW. FRAKKING MUSTELOID TAXONOMY THAT ISN’T A MUSTELID. *throws things*. Euplerids and Viverrids are weirder still though, so… at least I’m not drawing a Fossa????
I love weird animals but man. And I thought the Archaeopteryx was annoying to figure out! Actually I should be fine once I get the geometry down but it is eluding me thus far.
Happy New Year Sic! I hope 2024 proves to be a better year for your drama wise hahaha but also in general, hope the year brings you good health, prosperity and happiness 💜
Wow great catch. I see numbers that I want to capture on the horizon and then come back to check how close I am to it only to discover it’s gone over by 1, not bitter at all😬
Sorry random question alert: I am sending this while I remember, what was the name of the anime you recommended I watch which has a time travel/two people in different eras communicating theme? I watched the film Ditto and it reminded me of the anime storyline you had mentioned but again I forgot to ask at the time.
Yes, it was like the recommendation for Healer a drama outside of my comfort zone but one I enjoyed. Thank you for the recommendation a really novel story, executed well.
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
December 31, 2024 at 5:16 PM
🌟💜✨ ~ anno domini two thousand and twenty five ~ ✨💜🌟
korfan
December 31, 2024 at 9:36 PM
Happy New Year!
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
December 31, 2024 at 9:51 PM
And to you!
Eazal
January 1, 2025 at 3:51 AM
Happy 2025, my dear Sic. May 2025 be a year of blessing to you and your loved ones.
🌸 Seeker 🌸
January 1, 2025 at 8:30 AM
Wish you a very Happy New Year. I do hope we get to see you more around these parts in 2025. 😊❤🤗
tabong is ironing the crosswalk
January 1, 2025 at 4:49 PM
Happy new year, Sic! 💚
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
December 30, 2024 at 6:48 PM
2024 or as I like to call it, The Year of stubbornly calling dramas by the
wrongI meanotherI mean, The Better Title.And the year I have barely shared a single Kdrama opinion, which for the most commented beanie is definitely new.
It also means I am wildly out of every loop possible there is to be out of.
In light of this, I don’t really know if anyone cares, but I guess, here you go:
.
.
.
🍈☠ AD 2024 Roundup, Melonia Recap and Complete Watchlist, in order of Started, with Mini Reviews. ☠🍈
Deduce of it what you will.
0. Welcome to Samdalri
This is a 2023 drama by one week but I have not really talked about it at all and since I meant to write an essay on it and then didn’t, I’m adding it here anyway.
I think this is unironically one of if not the best thing to have aired in 2023, easy. Not of all time, but 2023? Definitely. And I stand by this, even though I know it is far from a popular opinion. It is by no means a perfect show, and the ending doesn’t quite grasp its own point, which is disappointing after being so strong for so long, but nonetheless this, surprisingly, doesn’t diminish the show much for me.
1. The Nokdu Flower (2019)
I am stuck at Episode 11. I have issues with this that I struggle to put into words that can also be shared. I find the exploration of individual character worldviews and several key ideological concepts in this to be strangely shallow and poorly understood, despite appearing otherwise. It is frustrating, as I was looking forward to this, and it pains me to be so disillusioned yet again, with yet another highly acclaimed drama on my watchlist.
I do intend to come back to this but it will have to be at a later date because I think it will be a difficult finish.
2. Like Flowers in Sand
I enjoyed perhaps most in this the directing and the visual development of the setting, with the long shots and long takes, and multiple things happening in a scene, in the background and moving through the frame etc. I loved Kim Baek Du and I enjoyed the characters and for the most part, the story. I felt the ending was a bit underdeveloped, considering all the show’s moving parts, and it was probably trying to do too much, but it is easily recommendable.
3. Fantasy Sonata / Love Song for Illusion – Dropped Ep 1
Not worth further commenting on.
4. Flowers that Bloom at Knight
Unfortunately, I found this to be consistently the same kind of boring the entire time, and could not engage with its social or cultural conversations. I thought the leads had good chemistry together that was egregiously never capitalized on, but that the overall plot, and ending, was written poorly.
5. A Shop for Killers (Shitposted)
This could’ve been fun had they taken as much care and consistency in the plot and thriller building and the rest of the action and attention to detail, as they did in the first couple of episodes, and during the sniper scene. Alas, it resulted in yet another rather stupid and annoying dark action show instead.
6. Flex X Cop
Consistently, somehow, the best thing during its entire airtime.
It lost a lot of its upbeat crackiness and directing adeptness after the first 4 episodes, which was weird, and later it started to become a bit of a slog, and the ending made some annoying decisions, but there was a genuine thread of thought-out character development, and the characters were likable and easy to root for, which is saying something given everything else around it.
Unfortunately, I found the FL’s acting to drag down the leading couple, which is a shame because I think Ahn Bo Hyun should do one of these kinds of action shows at least once every two years because he was excels in this style of role. I don’t want a season 2 though.
But if you want a fairly enjoyable and watchable police procedural, you could certainly do a lot worse.
7. Queen of Divorce – Dropped Ep 2
*shakes head*
8. Dr. Slump
Forgettable. Trite and tacky writing. Absurd directing decisions. Started off cute and nice, and at times occasioned to have a brain and therefore an insight into mental health, but devolved into nonsense inconsistency. Park Hyun Sik too OTT. Park Shin Hye’s best work probably. Haneul was very relatable until they kept forgetting their show was supposed to be about Mental Health, they literally exposition-narrated every single conflict resolution and Mum had the best development. FFWD necessary.
I am pleased to announce however, that Park Shin Hye can now kiss. Not sure why it took her being married and being paired with PHS to get there but ok!
9. The Impossible Heir
Hate watched from beginning to end. That’s gonna happen a lot in this thread. You’ve been warned.
This show is a Master Class in What Not To Do.
That is the only reason anyone should ever watch it.
The OST however, is actually fantastic, and the best part of the show, and I’m mad Disney still hasn’t released it.
10. Queen of Tears
Hate watched from beginning to end. Kim Hee Won proves she’s a hack.
On the other hand, I think everything it did was actually extremely on brand for it; it could hardly have done less without betraying itself. It’s just that whatever IT was, was bad through and through.
My galaxy brain take is that a more inspired casting decision would’ve switched Kwak Dong Yeon and Park Sung Hoon. If you’re going to waste both their talents and give them nothing meaningful to do with their skillsets, then at bare minimum give them the inverse of the roles they can play in their sleep, because at very least that would’ve been more entertaining.
Kdramaland will apparently never recognisse KDY at this point nor recognize the vision I have for him. Alas.
11. The Midnight Studio
Not very good, but a guilty pleasure, and watchable, somehow.
12. War of Faith CDRAMA – Dropped Ep 5
Similar problems to Nokdu Flower but translated to a republican cdrama about finance set in the 1930s… you do the math.
13. Blood Free
☠ Memento Mori ☠ and fxxk this show.
(Hate watched from beginning to end.)
14. Chief Detective 1958 – Dropped Ep 2
I found Episode 1 and 2 to be half boring, half funny, and half not my style, and so to avoid another eventual skim or hate watch so soon after QoT, I Dropped it early.
15. Will Love in Spring CDRAMA
Painful. Had to drag the progress bar at the end. I like the two lead actors, but if this thinks it understands character development, it is sorely mistaken.
16. Frankly Speaking
Supremely average, but if that’s its greatest crime compared to the rest of this list, well… Unfortunately, I also keep forgetting it exists.
Shallow despite having some good themes on paper.
17. The Atypical Family
👀 you gotta scroll aaaaallll the way to the bottom if you want to unlock my opinions on this drama.
18. Uncle Samsik – Dropped Ep 6
Superfluous but well-acted. Not an unwind drama.
19. The Midnight Romance in Hagwon – Dropped Ep 4
I’m no stranger to the evils of education systems, its tenets, tenants, and the beasts they create, but unless it also has a much needed helping of several of my biggest catnips, I am unlikely to be able to sit through a drama about it, no matter how good it may or may not be.
20. Crash
Could’ve been a decent procedural with a fun and different approach because of the traffic crime focus, but alas it was not. She did drive a cool car though.
21. Cinderfxxkingrella
Mmmmm no. No, I hated this. Lmao
(Hate watched beginning to end)
22. My Military Valentine
So 2014, it hurts.
RIP Song Jae Rim.
23. My Sweet Mobster
*sigh* Should’ve given me this script. I could’ve made it so much better.
24. Connection – Dropped Ep 1
Mmmm unbelievable.
25. Miss Night and Day
The Howl’s Moving Castle Princess Fiona Sailor Moon-ification of Jung Eun Ji
Trash love drama till it wasn’t.
Highkey a crackship drama though, don’t even know why.
26. Our Baseball WEB DRAMA (2019)
One more episode would’ve been less depressing. I was rooting for them!
27. Dashing Youth CDRAMA – Dropped Ep 22 of 40
I appreciate, as a weapons lover, wuxia’s love for swords, especially THIS wuxia’s love of swords. TWO umbrella swords? You spoil me.
Unfortunately this was not nearly as entertaining as its counterpart, Blood of Youth (and I don’t even like BOY’s ending), and it frequently focused on all the wrong things, and just made me sad about Ruofeng, leading to a midway drop.
28. Serendipity’s Embrace
This is the second drama of Kim So Hyun’s I have spent more time daydreaming about my non-existent slice of life romance with her and Lee Jae Wook than I have spent watching the actual drama.
Also, I think it’s a crime for Chae Jong Hyeop to not play sunshine characters. If he’s not smiling, what’s the point.
29. Romance in the House
Sometimes I watch dramas for the barest hint and suggestion of a theme I like, and this will get me through an Entire Drama.
Even when the drama does NOTHING to suggest its actually going to do anything I like with t…[Read more]
earthna
December 30, 2024 at 8:30 PM
I really enjoyed the directing in Like Flowers in Sand. It was beautiful. I didn’t realize how much I liked the show until it ended.
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
December 30, 2024 at 8:36 PM
It really was! It has it’s own distinct personality and style. I loved the colours as well, it just really felt like a real location, and somehow comforting despite the subject matter sometimes haha.
Snow Flower
December 31, 2024 at 7:43 AM
Like Flowers In Sand, The Atypical Family, and Mr. Plankton are my favorites of 2024. Happy New Year!
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
December 31, 2024 at 5:16 PM
Twinnning!!!!! Happy New Year to you too!
Midnight
December 30, 2024 at 8:49 PM
I have discovered in recent years that this is one of the special points that makes me fall in love with a drama.
I hate watched Freaking Fairytale too. I don’t hate watch. I drop shows that I hate. The only reason I do it is if I like one thing about it. I wanted to watch Jun, because he, like KDY, is phenomenal in acting.
And you are not alone in hating No Gain either. I hate-ff’ed-through to the end and wrote a shit post about it.
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
December 30, 2024 at 8:56 PM
A special point to be sure, one that happens often? Nooooooo~
Undoubtedly you will not agree with this but Confession: I thought Jun was terrible in the Impossible Heir, and not very good in Cinderfxxkingrella either. I think he needs to go back to playing just Normal Guys because he can’t really do anything else. 🤣🤣🤣
Don’t ask me why I hate watch, but if there was one thing I watched that show for it was his umbrella. 😆
Where is your shitpost on NGL! I must have missed it! That was one of the few dramas I actually came out of my hole to write words about this year haha. I forgot to post the mini essay on my wall, but it’s on the final recap.
Midnight
December 30, 2024 at 9:19 PM
Not often at all! It has happened to me maybe two or three times in 20 years.
I didn’t watch Impossible Heir but have you watched Class of Lies or Brave Citizen? Disclaimer: I’m not recommending them!! I found huge plotholes in CoL on rewatch, and BC gave me nightmares for weeks. But both were worth it for him.
I didn’t post my shit post! 😂 I kept it in my notes and just go read through it whenever I feel particularly violent! 🤣
I hated the show too much and it was too soon after it ended so most people were still talking about loving it I didn’t feel like posting it at all. And the other reason is that as I didn’t finish the show properly I didn’t edit the post either. It’s just a collection of things I hated, from mostly the first half.
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
December 30, 2024 at 9:59 PM
You dodged several bullets in Impossible Heir.
I have not! The only Jun projects I have seen are Please Don’t Date Him, Imitation, May I Help You, his cameo in D.P. and this years fare. I think his favourite role of these was May I Help You. But there’s every possibility I haven’t seen his best work haha.
Oh! Hahahaha! I relate. I have lots of unpublished writing 🤭
I hated that show so much the love it was getting was driving me to the edge so I finally said something and then everyone wanted my list of reasons for hating it. Walked right into that one, woops.
Midnight
December 31, 2024 at 12:37 AM
I LOVED MIHY too. I’m not saying those other shows are his best work, but seeing him in villain roles was a serious eye-opener for me. Me, as a person who nearly never fall for the villain.
Healer’s
December 31, 2024 at 12:56 AM
I didn’t hate Freaking Fairy Tale but didn’t like it either. Everything in the show just felt too easy, and that’s why it felt bland to me. They could have made it into a movie and I would have enjoyed it more.
@midnight Upon request, would you post your NGNL review? 😅 Doesn’t need to be on your fanwall, would it be alright for you to post it somewhere on my fanwall, in a comment? I’d love to read it. Because I didn’t like that show either (I didn’t hate it though). When someone said it’s the best romcom of the year, I always wondered what I missed that I couldn’t see the same thing.
Healer’s
December 31, 2024 at 1:00 AM
@midnight
Here’s my post about dropping NGNL. I ended up finishing it anyway, but my opinion didn’t change.
https://dramabeans.com/members/claire2009/activity/1628374/
Midnight
December 31, 2024 at 3:37 AM
@claire2009 I’ll post it under the same link you’e shared 😁👌
Healer’s
December 31, 2024 at 3:49 AM
@midnight Thank you 🫰
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
December 31, 2024 at 5:39 PM
@midnight
The middle section of MIHY was such a comfort drama watch for me. I liked him and Haeri together too, they had a great chemistry. I have yet to be convinced of him as a villain! Maybe one day he’ll surprise me.
@claire2009 I would’ve hated it as a movie too. It thought it was being clever by trying to be subversive and it was not.
Anne18
December 30, 2024 at 9:19 PM
Yay, some of your favourites were my favourites too!
I loved Atypical Family, and every word you have written about this golden drama is gold (agree 100℅ 🤝🙂)
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
December 30, 2024 at 10:03 PM
Ooooh what other favourites did you have that overlapped?
Thank you! Yes, completely unexpected but current love of my life.
Anne18
December 31, 2024 at 5:45 AM
Actually, my “some” means exactly two of our favourites overlap (Flex x cop that I recently finished, and Atypical Family that I had live watched). But that’s considerable amount of overlapping coz I only finished 4 dramas this year, with other two in the sleep-watch or skip-watch category 😂
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
December 31, 2024 at 5:34 PM
Hhaha it’s also considerable considering I never like that many shows haha. What other two did you watch?
Anne18
December 31, 2024 at 6:43 PM
My Demon and Miss Night and Day (I struggled to remember the name as I struggled to remember the plot when I watched it 😂)
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
December 31, 2024 at 9:09 PM
Lmaooo Miss Night and Day was all over the place so yeah easy to forget things.
tabong is ironing the crosswalk
December 31, 2024 at 1:03 AM
I enjoyed it!
It’s always nice reading you, Sic. 💚
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
December 31, 2024 at 5:33 PM
And as always, thanks for reading 💜
redfox
December 31, 2024 at 1:11 AM
hahaha so unhinged
I was one who started liking Atypical Family maybe episode 3. Then went back and watched first 2 again and loved from the start and then realised WTF, this is the second drama of JKY that is among my favorites.
I loved the unpredictability and weirdness.
But unlike most beanies I was not a big fan of the child actors and didnt quite get what was there to gush about THAT much. I just liked that it was an off-road drama and exploration of possibilities – like a freeflow writing exercise. which it actually could have been, it had a freshness of “just some project I made as a student for fun”. Usually I don´t feel from dramas that the writer had fun. But here most certainly. it tingles!
and I have to add they balanced dark scenes with brighter clothes or props or lights so I could actually see whta was on screen unlike some very good kdramas where you can use a telescope and it is still too friggin dark. AF was well filmed.
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
December 31, 2024 at 5:20 PM
Oh yeah no, I liked it from Episode 1.
I liked the kids, but I liked the father daughter relationship more.
Hmmmm it didn’t feel free flow to me, haha felt like it knew what it was doing even if what it was doing appeared wild af. It also felt more intelligent than a student project, although I definitely think the writer had fun here! And yes, it was also well directed.
Isa is always time travelling
December 31, 2024 at 2:05 AM
The Atypical Family is my favorite show this year, and even though I thought few beanies liked it, now watched the spreadsheet of bean distribution… I guess I was wrong. It is one of the most “beaned” dramas.
I agree with everything you said about it. It’s a little gem in my book.
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
December 31, 2024 at 5:40 PM
Maybe we all thought that so we all kept it to ourselves till the end! (I don’t know, I wasn’t here haha)
earthna
December 31, 2024 at 3:53 AM
But why is dramabeans only showing me up to 29? I wanna see what you said about Atypical Family 😭
Anne18
December 31, 2024 at 5:39 AM
Click on the “read more” link where it ends
earthna
December 31, 2024 at 9:30 AM
It just ends with … and I can’t click it. Maybe I’ll try on my desktop. Thank you!
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
December 31, 2024 at 5:20 PM
Probably DB being glitchy and or I broke it, again. But yes, desktop will probably help!
earthna
December 31, 2024 at 11:04 AM
I liked this post but dramabeans told me I can’t do it because I already liked it before.
Anyway, I am now on my desktop and the read more function finally worked. I teared up reading your thoughts on Atypical Family. It is also my best drama of the year (although I only finished a measly 7). None of them were likeable and I even thought it was boring at first but the more I watched, the more I got hooked and I found myself loving all the characters by the end of it.
I also don’t like time travel stories much because they’re usually bad. Going back to the past just messes the timeline so much and dramas tend to just wing it towards the end because they can’t fix what they’ve messed up. This is why the only time travel I completely liked is the one used in One Piece (manga) because they can only jump forward; what’s done is done and you can’t change it. Like you, I don’t like superheroes too so I was really against Gwiju in the beginning. Stop playing hero, dude! But wow *cries*
It’s so hard to explain my feels for it but I love Atypical Family so much ;A;
Thank you for this, Sic!
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
December 31, 2024 at 5:56 PM
🤣🤣🤣
Awwww! Cute.
Boring at first. My goodness. Glad you came round!
You see but that was the entire point, wasn’t it! or one of them, that he had a hero complex and it was killing him. But the show wasn’t against saving people at all, just in the right way if you will and it recognises it as a strength, but also when it can go wrong; his desire to save people had become corrupted, an obsession, a demon, and so he got stuck in the past, and then in his own head. vs. the end where he saves those he loves in selfless sacrifice.
Two of the only other time travel stories I like are Your Name (animated movie), which is only technically time travel because there are two timelines that overlap and interact with each other, and The Map of Tiny Perfect Things, which is a time loop movie. Both of these and Atypical Family, I think succeed in their TT, for me, but also in general, because they treat their TT not so much like a sci fi, which is what a lot of people like it for, and not like a social commentary metaphor, which is another common approach, but like a fairytale, like a fantasy writing tool, and like the story elements of a Myth or Folk story. Undoubtedly this will be one of the reasons why some people won’t like it, but as I think adhering to Myth is one of the Truest forms of Story, I think it is great.
earthna
December 31, 2024 at 7:11 PM
Yes! That was the point indeed. I went from not caring to cheering them on. It was also nice to read recaps on db. Beanies were not liking it at first and some were even thinking of dropping it but if you read the finale comments, a lot had come around and liked the show.
Ohh I’ll check out MoTPT. I haven’t seen that one yet. Thank you!!
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
December 31, 2024 at 9:24 PM
If done right, chatacters who are supposed to be unlikable at first are one of my catnips, so I can get behind them easily, not condoning them but get behind their story.
When done right, you get something like Atypical Family, Extracurricular and Lookout.
When done wrong, you get something like Queen of Tears and To My Hyeri.
Tell me what you think when you do! Remember: it’s a Fairytale!
🌸 Seeker 🌸
January 1, 2025 at 10:12 AM
Thank youbfor such a good read.
Guess what Park Sung Hoon was offered Kwak Dong-yeon’s role in Queen of Tears. 😂 He rejected it in favor of Eun-delulu because he thought villains get more attention. 🤦♀️🙈🤷♀️
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
January 1, 2025 at 10:52 AM
NOOOOOOOOO he TYPECASTED HIMSELF? we’re doomed 😭🤣
🌸 Seeker 🌸
January 1, 2025 at 5:23 PM
Well after Squid Games he will do a timeslip fantasy drama as the ML playing a king who is a tyrant but also a gourmet who will fall for the charms 🙄 of the timeslipped chef Yoona.
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
January 2, 2025 at 5:45 PM
First of all, there is no SG S2. or 3.
Second of all, woowww… and Kang Hana as SFL? Decisions were made here and none of them are good.
🌸 Seeker 🌸
January 2, 2025 at 7:54 PM
I’m generally very supportive of artists and their need to put food on the table but yes sometimes it is difficult to cheer them on in their career choices. 🙈🤷♀️😂
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
January 3, 2025 at 12:08 PM
Oh I meant more… PSH can obviously pick his own roles, to which your comment is accurate 😂, but the other two might not be able to (not all actors can), and it wasn’t their choice to cast themselves against each other in those specific roles, in that specific cast hierarchy, in this specific plot either… which is more what I was getting at hahaha.
🌸 Seeker 🌸
January 3, 2025 at 8:21 PM
In a world where social media popularity is a consideration for casting decisions, this is no surprise. 😱🙈
kiara
January 9, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Happy New Year, Sic! I didn’t know you were watching some C-dramas.
Are you watching Kwak Dong Yeon in Rented in Finland?
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
January 9, 2025 at 7:10 PM
Happy New Year to you too!
Hahhhh noooo I don’t watch variety any more except on very rare occasions.
You said the same thing in 2023 about cdramas except I watched way more then haha. The cdramas have no been going well lately. RIP.
kiara
January 13, 2025 at 9:44 AM
You should check it out when you get a chance. Dong Yeon is even better irl. I didn’t know he could sing. 😎
I can’t seem to finish anything K or C-dramas. I’m enjoying ” Star Wars: Skeleton Crew” with the family, and that’s about it.
HopefulRomantic 🦋 Tigermoth 🦞
January 11, 2025 at 12:48 PM
I can’t believe I missed this when you originally posted!! Great list and great comments/insights!! Samdalri, Like Flowers in Sand, and Flex x Cop were my favorite 2024 watches 👍
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
January 11, 2025 at 7:20 PM
Awww thank you! Nice to see someone else also enjoyed Samdalri 💜.
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
December 29, 2024 at 7:14 PM
Royal Kiss Analyst Files: ENTRY 11
Royal Kiss Analyst Files Archive
.
.
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I was thinking over the last couple of months how I haven’t really done many shitposts this year (one, in fact. and only two essays. shock horror. actually, I haven’t really been on dramabeans very much at all … 👀), and I haven’t done any new entries into the Royal Kiss Analyst Files, and that particularly felt rather remiss, and that I should at least get one written before the year’s end.
For a long time, there were none that I felt like writing about. I was getting desperate, even. And I wish it was a different one, I really do. But there is, unfortunately, only one kiss scene I can possibly write about this year.
The proof I needed. The hypothetical kiss scene I say every kiss scene could be, and many should be. This is it. This is that one.
And trust me, nobody is more shocked than me that I am doing this for THIS DRAMA of ALL things.
*steeples fingers. deep breaths*
Frakking Gyeongseong Creature Season 2: Episode 5
Let us break it down.
Time:
total shot 1:29
just kiss 35 seconds
Cuts:
…
None.
There are None.
There are. No cuts. In this kiss scene. A great big whopping. 0.
Mmm yeah, you read that right.
The bane, of Kdrama Kiss Scenes. The thing I like to make fun of, all the time. The thing that makes these files what they are, the counting of cut scenes. And there are none. Blissful, sweet, none.
Who would’ve thought.
You can take a moment if you need to.
Shots/Camera Angles:
It’s … it’s 1 take. Because there are no cuts. So, it’s one shot.
But because the camera still moves, both in position and focus, there are probably half a dozen ways you could write this in a script depending on your scriptwriting teacher and the director.
I’ll break down the specific camera movement for you anyway though.
It starts with a behind the shoulder medium shot.
Park Seo Joon moves through the shot, and the focus follows him, and changes to a long shot when he reunites with Han So Hee. The camera is mostly stationary at this point, with only a little bit of panning.
And then there is a very long and slow tracking shot, as they hug, and then eventually kiss, and the camera slowly but continuously gets closer and closer.
It ends on this time a slight low angle medium shot, and the tracking stops briefly.
And then it ends.
The actual camera frame doesn’t change, just the focus and the position of the camera.
So if you want to be pedantic there is 1 shot/take, and 4 camera positions: Medium stationary, long shot stationary, tracking, low angle medium stationary.
Hence why I am tempted to count the time of the whole take as the Kiss Scene. But it really doesn’t matter because…
Cuts to Time (cuts per second) Ratio:
If there are no cuts, did I mention that already, that there are no cuts? Then the ratio is…
0:35 or 0:108… lmfao
The ratio is redundant.
It’s not even worth creating a new tier for this on the Cuts Per Second Ratio Ranking, because that tier would just be “One Take”.
I talk about this all the time. About how too many cuts and takes spliced together ruins the tone and pacing and emotion of a kiss. About how best to cut back on the number of takes and cuts to get a better result. That’s what this series is all about. And I often talk about how you could just do it, whatever kiss scene it is, in one shot and let the actors and the internal movement and writing deliver the emotion and story.
Now this is not to say that I think every kiss scene SHOULD or NEEDS to be one take. (Some great kiss scenes have cuts, because they use those cuts, properly.)
But they COULD BE. And one take, would pretty much always be better, than fifty bajillion and schizophrenic editing.
One takes are not unusual in filmmaking. They’re a bit of A Thing™ if you will. Often a bit of a gimmick as well (sometimes an annoying one).
But we’re not talking about films here. Or even broader tv, where it’s more likely to happen. We’re talking about kdramas. The worst kdrama kiss scene I have reviewed, of the ones recorded in the Royal Kiss Analyst Files, has 38 cuts in it.
Within the Industry Standard of kiss scenes, THE Kiss Scene if you will, in Kdramas, I don’t think I have EVER seen a one take kiss scene.
And I have seen a lot of kdrama kiss scenes. I even went and rewatched a bunch and watched a whole bunch of ones I hadn’t seen before whilst writing this, for scientific comparison! (My brain is fried.)
There’s probably one I missed, like I haven’t seen all of them ever, yet, sheesh. But the closest I found is Late Autumn has 2 long takes, and 1 cut (lonnnnng very long takes), and there’s a scene in Love Struck in the City (that I dropped) of them on the roof of the camper, which technically has kissing although you can’t see much (points taken off for that and the context), and is technically 1 take.
But for the purposes of this Analysis Entry, the quantity of one take kiss scenes in kdramas is very, very low, almost zero, and I had to go looking for these other ones, there were none off the top of my head to compete, and in my opinion, there are still none to compete.
☠
Because it’s not just that this has no cuts in light of all the ones that have so many that is impressive. It’s not just using the one take for the street cred of using a one take either. No, it uses this one take for a purpose and it executes it really well.
This is a stupidly well directed kiss scene for any show, let alone this show, and I am honestly kind of mad about it. Shit, this is a well-directed scene, period.
The brief context here is that these two characters are reuniting after a long time of separation and traumatic angst (understatement of the month), and the shot immediately before is a close up of Park Seo Joon tearing up as he sees Han So Hee across the street.
Then the camera lets him walk across the street on his own first, without intruding on the characters in any way. It lets them reunite distantly, it lets them have that moment on their own, which brings weight to their separation, before it moves us the audience in to join them, so that we can then also appreciate the reunion. And it’s not rushed either, they take their time getting to it, they hug first, and there’s pauses and caresses, before they go in for the kiss. It is understated and simple and it works really well to elevate the emotions of what this kiss and reunion mean!
And the reason I’m mad about it is because the show itself. Is DUMB.
Story and Writing:
About a year ago I wrote a mini essay about how it’s really hard for me to categorise a Favourite Kiss Scene of All Time and also a Best Kiss Scene of All Time due to how many factors go into making a Good Kiss Scene. (It’s linked in the Archive⬆ if you want to read it.)
In summary, the Technical side of the Kiss Scene is just one part of it. The cuts, the camera angles, lighting, framing etc etc. The other two main parts of this are how all of the technical elements contribute to the Story itself, and also the Story as a separate Thing. Because a Kiss Scene cannot and does not exist in a void.
I will give this kiss scene, a 2/3. It is technically proficient, and it uses its techniques to contribute to the story really well.
It’s the story those techniques are contributing to itself, and the rest of the execution I have a problem with, and because Story and Context is a legit File Category, I would not be able to write this Analysis without mentioning it, that wouldn’t be fair.
☠
I do not like this show, I think it is stupid, social commentary or no social commentary. I was excruciatingly bored in Season 1, which for a science fiction horror show based on real war crimes, is not the emotion one should be feeling. I should have at least felt actual horror at the subject matter, and I did not.
And I specifically did NOT like the romance in Season 1, at all. I thought it was really weirdly directed, and poorly acted, and that there was no chemistry for some reason. And it was super awkward and made no sense and I didn’t know WHY it was happening, and I didn’t believe why it was happening or to the extent that it was happening either.
I seriously have never questioned Park Seo Joon’s ability to act more than when I was watching Gyeongseong Creature Season 1. And I have always found Han So Hee very bland, one note and rather monotonous, and she was like that here too. There was very little emoting.
Which all made it very hard to believe that these two were falling in love, let alone eventually madly, soulmate, destiny crushing, spanning years and continents, lives ruined, bloodshed (all literally), epic fantasy romance in love type shit. (Which. IT’s SUPPOSED TO BE. *wtf hands*) And it got to the point where I spent most of the drama thinking that they were completely miscast for their roles, and wishing, desperately wishing that they were played by literally anybody else.
That was Season 1…[Read more]
Anne18
December 29, 2024 at 7:17 PM
This is an excellent analysis! Too many cuts kill “real” emotions!
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
December 29, 2024 at 7:30 PM
Thank you!!! You would probably enjoy the other entries in this series then, as some of them go into more depth about the egregious sins of excess cuts haha.
Anne18
December 29, 2024 at 8:05 PM
Thanks, I’ll check them out 👍
When it comes to single take scenes, this particular scene https://youtu.be/fDiCKgRJfxc?feature=shared from a J-drama stood out for me (along with the drama itself, for having multiple such scenes). It’s a drama called Unmet: A Neurosurgeon’s Diary, unfortunately not legally available (coz duh, Netflix holding back a global release 🙄)
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
December 29, 2024 at 9:59 PM
Interesting! 3 cameras but one “take”. I’m sure if I had context it would all mean more. It’s definitely well made. Unfortunately, even though the darkside has never been an issue for me, I am not really much of a Jdrama watcher; I’ve seen like… two 😅
If we expanded the context to the technique in general though, that would be a much longer list of examples even in kdramas.
E.g. Like Flowers in Sand had lots of slow long takes and I loved it, but despite that it didn’t use them during its kiss scenes! lol
Anne18
December 30, 2024 at 1:45 AM
I’ve only watched three J-dramas myself. This one was quite Kdrama-esque in its story and presentation, and I liked it the best (I guess I am now attuned to the “Kdrama style” 😂). It’s a heartwarming human drama at its core, but the slow pace and the purported “mystery” might not be for everyone.
Here is the context of the linked scene with some unavoidable spoilers (sorry, I am a little verbose and yet confusing here 😅): our mysterious ML is a neurosurgeon who is always intent on “curing” people with serious brain ailments (like our FL, his colleague, who has amnesia). But we don’t know why he is like that even as his colleagues say a cure is impossible? (It’s not his story, it’s HERS, but he shines in this scene). The FL engages him in a small talk, and as they ask about each other’s siblings, she says, “So, where is your brother now?”. He says he has passed away, followed by a self-reassurance that “It’s okay”, but then promptly turns away to hide his tears (the video ends here, but that’s only about half of the entire scene).
The Rest… (More spoilers) But by then, the flood of emotions has already taken over our impassive ML and he can’t help but give us the REAL CONTEXT (to his uncharacteristic breakdown, and to the overarching story). His severely disabled brother was sent away to a facility. The young boy cried as he was reluctant to go. The ML says that back then he thought it was “the best” for his brother, but he admits that a part of him was relieved to have his brother out of sight. He questions if his “cure all” attitude as a surgeon is not really a noble urge to enlighten the lives of people with “unmet needs” (hence, the name of the drama), but merely his impatience to lighten the burden on caregivers…. And this part was enacted by this male actor through completely improvised lines… I’ll leave out the FL’s reaction to avoid further spoilers, but THAT part was improvised by the actress as well! And it all felt SO REAL! And beautiful!
This drama has zero kiss scenes 😂, but a very strong central love line is there. The other scene that wowed me (I am not good with technicalities 😅) involved the same male actor, with the camera following him inside a house. The camera is shaky, there are a lot of emotions (which were, again, improvised, coz the BTS story by the director says the actor was not told about a “hidden letter” that he found “by chance” and reacted to spontaneously). It felt like a documentary! Acting stood out as much as direction in this drama.
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
December 30, 2024 at 8:58 PM
It’s funny you should mention no kiss scenes, as despite me taking it upon myself to analyse them, for fun mostly, some of my favourite romances or pairings in kdramas, but also in general, don’t have any kiss scenes. I mention that more in the Bonus Essay.
Thank you for the context! I don’t mind spoilers and you were not confusing. That’s quite impressive that there was a lot of improvising. Well done to the actors and to the PD for encouraging and trusting them!
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
December 29, 2024 at 7:30 PM
I forgot to mention, even in all my editing, that this is the only kiss scene of this quality in this entire show, which makes it stand out like a sore thumb and annoy me even more 🤣.
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
December 24, 2024 at 10:54 AM
“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”
🌟🎄🌟 ~Merry Christmas, everyone!!!!!~ 🌟🎄🌟
Nessa (Bebe) 🌹
December 24, 2024 at 10:56 AM
Merry Christmas, Sic 💫
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
December 24, 2024 at 9:02 PM
May God bless you and keep you!
Nessa (Bebe) 🌹
December 24, 2024 at 10:57 PM
The same to you 🙌🏻👏🏻 Christ is born!
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
December 25, 2024 at 12:05 AM
And Christ will come again! Yippee!
bong-soo
December 24, 2024 at 12:49 PM
Amen and same to you @sicarius! It is already tomorrow where you are.
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
December 24, 2024 at 9:01 PM
Future privileges 🤭
A blessing for when you get there haha.
Isa is always time travelling
December 24, 2024 at 1:18 PM
Beautiful drawing as always!! 🤩
Merry Christmas, Sicarius! ✨✨✨🌠✨✨✨
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
December 24, 2024 at 9:01 PM
Gracias. It’s been a while since I drew a Christmas design and I was getting withdrawals haha. Was nice to complete something again.
Hope you have a good day!
Kurama
December 24, 2024 at 1:36 PM
Beautiful drawing! You’re talented!
Joyeux Noël, Sic ! 🥰
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
December 24, 2024 at 9:00 PM
Thank you! And to you too 🫶✨
Healer’s
December 24, 2024 at 5:12 PM
Merry Christmas, Sicarius 🎄🎄🎄
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
December 24, 2024 at 8:59 PM
Hope you have a blessed day!
🌸 Seeker 🌸
December 24, 2024 at 9:09 PM
Merry Christmas Sic! 😊❤
🎄🥳🥂🎉
🌸 Seeker 🌸
December 24, 2024 at 9:09 PM
Thank you for sharing your art.
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
December 24, 2024 at 10:27 PM
My pleasure!! 💜
Reply1988 -❣️Mother Bean❣️
December 24, 2024 at 9:19 PM
Thank you for popping in to share this beautiful reminder of the reason for the season.
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
December 24, 2024 at 10:27 PM
Hey, always, you’re welcome. One of my favourite things, doing that.
FlyingTool
December 24, 2024 at 9:52 PM
Merry Christmas!
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
December 24, 2024 at 10:26 PM
He lives! Every notification I get from you is like “oh good, he’s still there, somewhere” hahaha
Christ is born, have a great holiday season ^_^
korfan
December 25, 2024 at 1:26 AM
Merry Christmas!
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
December 25, 2024 at 11:03 AM
Merry Christmas Korfan! Hope your day is coming along splendidly and spills over into all the other days of Christmastide too!
HopefulRomantic 🦋 Tigermoth 🦞
December 25, 2024 at 7:59 AM
Merry Christmas Sicarius!!! Thank you for sharing your beautiful artwork as a reminder of the reason for the season and the hope of Jesus’ birth!!! 🫶
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
December 25, 2024 at 11:06 AM
Awww it’s a pleasure! May you be filled with hope for the whole year ahead and all to come too x
HopefulRomantic 🦋 Tigermoth 🦞
December 25, 2024 at 11:38 AM
Thank you, Sicarius!!! 🤗 I hope your year is filled with blessings! ❤️
Cori
December 25, 2024 at 12:16 PM
Beautiful artwork Sic! Merry Christmas ⭐️
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
December 25, 2024 at 10:41 PM
Thank you Cori! Hope you had a blessed day x
Snow Flower
December 26, 2024 at 7:00 AM
Christ is born! Glorify Him!
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
December 26, 2024 at 6:42 PM
Amen!!!
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
August 31, 2024 at 12:56 AM
Another year, another birthday drawing, and another Spring ^-^
Hope everyone has had a lovely day~ 💜
Isa is always time travelling
August 31, 2024 at 1:04 AM
Happy Birthday! And enjoy the spring! 🎉🥳💐🌺🌸
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
August 31, 2024 at 9:06 PM
Thank you Isa! I have been enjoying the start of it so far. Although it’s been rather rainy (which is fine, because we had a drought of a winter).
Midnight
August 31, 2024 at 1:56 AM
Happy Birthday!
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
August 31, 2024 at 9:06 PM
Gracias, Midnight! 🖤
miso
August 31, 2024 at 1:57 AM
Happy Birthday!
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
August 31, 2024 at 9:07 PM
Grazie mille!!!!!🖤
Kurama
August 31, 2024 at 2:02 AM
Happy Birthday!
Wish you a beautiful day!
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
August 31, 2024 at 9:07 PM
Merci beaucoup, Kurama! It was a very nice day actually.
tabong is ironing the crosswalk
August 31, 2024 at 2:03 AM
Awww. Happy birthday, Sic!
I hope you keep doing what you love in all the years to come.
Enjoy the spring. 💜
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
August 31, 2024 at 9:08 PM
Tusen takk, my friend! I’m working on it 😉
Healer’s
August 31, 2024 at 3:19 AM
Happy birthday, Your Majesty 💐🎂🍻
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
August 31, 2024 at 9:08 PM
Thank you kindly, my most gracious subject 🖤💐
HopefulRomantic 🦋 Tigermoth 🦞
August 31, 2024 at 4:01 AM
Happy Birthday Sicarius!!! 🎂 🥳
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
August 31, 2024 at 9:09 PM
Diolch, diolch! 🖤
korfan
August 31, 2024 at 4:04 AM
Happy Birthday! Have a great day! 🙂
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
August 31, 2024 at 9:10 PM
I have learnt new thank yous semi recently, so Mulțumesc, dear Korfan~!
🌸 Seeker 🌸
August 31, 2024 at 5:00 AM
Wish you a great day and a most wonderful year ahead. May all your legal
and also a few illegalwishes come true. 😊❤🎂🕯Hwaiting!!
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
August 31, 2024 at 9:11 PM
Köszönöm, my dearest Cera! A few illegal wishes would not be unappreciated 🤭🤭👀👀👀 (⚔)😂😂
Reply1988 -❣️Mother Bean❣️
August 31, 2024 at 6:17 AM
Happy Birthday 🥳
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
August 31, 2024 at 9:12 PM
Danke schön, Reply! Hope you have been well ^-^
Reply1988 -❣️Mother Bean❣️
August 31, 2024 at 10:39 PM
🥰
Peridot
August 31, 2024 at 7:25 AM
Happy Birthday, Your Majesty!
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
August 31, 2024 at 9:12 PM
Shukran, good subject!
loveblossom🌸
August 31, 2024 at 7:42 AM
Happy Birthday! Your drawing is beautiful!
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
August 31, 2024 at 9:13 PM
Dziękuję x2, loveblossom! It was fun to draw.
Nessa (Bebe) 🌹
August 31, 2024 at 7:52 AM
Happy happy birthday 🥳
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
August 31, 2024 at 9:13 PM
謝謝 Bebe~~~
Cori
August 31, 2024 at 12:10 PM
Happy Birthday 🍈🍨👑 And what a beautiful drawing!
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
August 31, 2024 at 9:14 PM
Hehe thanks and thanks again! (and for the ice cream 😉 )
Snow Flower
September 1, 2024 at 11:17 AM
Happy birthday!
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
September 2, 2024 at 9:15 PM
Obrigada, my friend!
Dorotka
September 1, 2024 at 3:54 PM
Happy and springy birthday!! 🍦🍹🥷
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
September 2, 2024 at 9:16 PM
Efkharistó 🖤🖤🖤
bong-soo
September 1, 2024 at 7:45 PM
Belated Happy Birthday Sic!
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
September 2, 2024 at 9:16 PM
Dankey!
kiara
September 2, 2024 at 9:38 PM
Rā Whānau ki a koe
Rā Whānau ki a koe
Rā Whānau ki a Sic! 🎂
Rā Whānau ki a koe
I hope you had a wonderful birthday, minus that one drama. 😂
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
September 2, 2024 at 9:41 PM
Hahaha thank you Kiara! I was looking up Thank You in Maori earlier in the year, and it seems rather inconsistent, between Tena Koe, Kia Ora, and other options. Anyway, consider yourself thanked.
I had a great birthday overall, yes, and spread out over the week, as the party was a week before the actual birthday haha.
(P.S. I dropped it at episode 2 lol)
kiara
September 2, 2024 at 10:08 PM
You are welcome! So glad to hear that you had a great birthday. 😊
Kia Ora is the most convenient to me. 😂 It’s like Aloha. Hello, thank you, love you, goodbye, haha.
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
September 2, 2024 at 11:48 PM
Yes, very like Aloha! Very multi purpose.
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
August 28, 2024 at 3:33 AM
Ahhhhh, is that where you find them, is it? Noted… :takes notes:
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
August 28, 2024 at 3:33 AM
Trying to decide if this concept would be better as a Title Unknown Spinoff, or to be incorporated into Melonia Lore. Pfft.
HopefulRomantic 🦋 Tigermoth 🦞
August 28, 2024 at 4:38 AM
*adds to grocery list* ✍️
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
August 28, 2024 at 2:43 PM
1x Husband, they’re down in the aisle between the cleaning supplies and the ice cream.
HopefulRomantic 🦋 Tigermoth 🦞
August 28, 2024 at 3:23 PM
😂👏👏👏 I wish it were so!
tabong is ironing the crosswalk
August 28, 2024 at 12:13 PM
I took a screenshot of that moment too. 😂😂
I love the dialogue in this show.
🌸 Seeker 🌸
August 29, 2024 at 5:09 PM
Great news. Also how very er, … convenient. 😅😂
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
July 25, 2024 at 3:16 AM
if I had a nickle for every time something New Zealand related has turned up in #My Sweet Mobster, I’d have two nickles, which isn’t a lot but it is weird that it happened twice.
fig (1.) AJ Hackett Bungy T-shirt (coincidentally, extremely location specific to your’s truly).
fig (2.) Whittaker’s Wellington Roasted Coffee Supreme specialty chocolate bar.
Neolttwigi
July 25, 2024 at 3:53 AM
oooh that went by so quickly I didn’t notice the Whittakers. Apparently they are selling into Korea- they even have a Korea Fb page! https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100069821377064
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
July 25, 2024 at 2:09 PM
I saw the tell tale packaging and went “wait a minute” and rewound to check 🤣🤣
Yeah I kind of figured they’d have to be doing something like that. Not sure how else production would easily get one otherwise 😂
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
June 6, 2024 at 12:41 AM
LOST STARS: Episode 1, Runaway
————————————————————————————————————————————————————
The murmuring of the staff outside on the road droned behind him as the afternoon wore on.
He looked out the van window.
The road behind the barrier dipped down sharply to a creek at the bottom and then rose again to a small knoll. There was a pagoda on top of it, its teal green and red paint almost sparkling in the warm sun, a jewel set in a forest of yellow and bright aspen, fading summer birches turning their leaves to autumn. It was the most beautiful thing he had thought he had ever seen.
It was tantalising. He wished he could be up there, under the painted eaves of the shrine, looking down at the valley beyond, the wind on his face, the sweet burble of the creek and the birds in his ears, breath in his lungs again. Oh! To be able to breathe.
Well… whyever not.
His heart beat loudly in his chest. It blocked out all other noise.
It was right there. A ten-minute walk at tops.
And then the thought grew.
They were all focused on the tyre. On getting him to his next schedule on time. And the next one, and the next one. Nobody was watching the right-hand door. Nobody was watching him. Nobody would see him go. And that meant, he didn’t have to come back.
Before he even realised what he was doing, his phone was out and he was transferring most of his money to his private card. The one with the Other Bank. He scheduled a message to the manager. He took off all his rings but one, and took out anything unnecessary in his wallet. He looked down at his shoes and light leather jacket. They would have to do. He shut the screen between the driving pit and his seat.
“I will have a nap then”, he had said when the driver had told him about the tyre, “don’t worry about me.”
They wouldn’t check on him till Daejeon.
He stepped out of the van. The road was hot. Autumn was late. The staff were still talking. Discussing. There were no cars. He shut the door softly. Nobody paid any attention to it.
He crossed the road.
And hopped the barrier and never looked back_
He took his time walking up to the pagoda. The sun was warm, and his clothing black. When he reached the top the blue haze of distance blurred the valley beyond and mountains hung close and he felt very far away from everything and very alone.
He lay in the pagoda and stared up at the dancheong tracing patterns and past lives and chasing thoughts he could not catch till the sun sank into the blue haze and turned everything purple. His chest was heavy.
The staff were long gone when he walked down the path back to the road. He stopped by the stream and splashed the cold water over his face, wiping off the sweat and the makeup and the mask. It sent a shiver down into his belly and he could feel it burning behind his ribs. He gasped and stood there dripping over the stream breathing heavily, watching the water slip and gurgle over the brown rocks, distorting his reflection.
It was dark when he made it back to the road. There was one street lamp marking the track to the shrine. He stood opposite it on the pull over bay with his jacket slung over his shoulder and stuck out his thumb, damp hair clinging to his forehead, staring at nothing. He could feel the weight of a thousand days on his limbs.
The first car that passed stopped.
It dropped him off in the first town south without his jacket. He had offered money but the driver asked for the designer item instead. He didn’t care.
There wasn’t much in the town. It was only two streets, a loop off the highway, the second lying parallel to the main street on the north side, on the bank of the creek.
There was a store. A couple of tent bars. Three restaurants, all small and family owned with local fare. A row of trade shops. A bookshop cafe. A pharmacy and a doctor’s clinic in one. A community hall with a tiny civil servant office attached and an atm outside. Two motels; one cheap and dark, one a nicer looking two story hanok house with a 3.5 star rating on a sign over the door. Something the town would boast.
It most likely serviced the farms and orchards on the hills behind, and as a pit stop, and not much else.
He checked into the hanok house and paid in cash. They brought food to his room with makgeolli and he downed the bottle straight and passed out.
He checked out the next morning. He didn’t know why. He didn’t know where he was going to go that night.
The heaviness was only growing. Like something that had been lurking and sitting there for so long was now breaking out. There was a numbness behind his eyes.
He ended up at a tent bar by 5. It was hot, the air was electric; there was a storm coming.
Thunder clapped and he startled as he was rising from his table.
He didn’t know when the storm had started. It was late. The table in front of him was littered with soju bottles. The owner was tidying up. It must’ve been very late.
The tent flap opened and the patron’s husband came in, ushering in a pile of boxes out of the rain.
There was a momentary meeting of places, otherwise disconnected by the thick canvas walls that seemed to draw a line between realities; the slicked streets and sheets of the storm collided with the orange glow and enclosed space of the tent, and the intense smell of hot country earth swiftly becoming wet, mixed with the bittersweet headiness of rice wine.
The world spun. His mouth tasted metallic, and he was shaking but he didn’t realise it. He fumbled a wad of bills out of his pocket, and stumbled out into the elements.
It was like being hit by a truck.
The sudden coolness of the late Summer rain against his skin was like the shock of the little valley creek all over again but stronger, only it didn’t clear his head, so much as his heart. Keen and clarion like the lightning that flashed and backlit the mountains across the valley, drenching him in the blue light of cold fire mixed with the toxic neon of the town lights, he felt the immense weight finally break, and lift off him, only to be replaced by a cutting, rushing, all enveloping pain.
He collapsed drunk under the eave of the book shop, as the rain poured down, and cried.
Shin Myung looked out the passenger seat window of the truck, the few street and store lights trailing down the pane in watercolours. There was a man, no, a boy really, sitting under the door of the bookshop, one knee drawn up to his chest, hand draped over, one leg stretched out in front of him, his torso wracking with sobs.
She remembered a boy in a red t-shirt playing in the cabbage fields a long time ago. The boy running home to be thrown high into the air by his father and sweet laughter echoing in a now empty room.
She reached for the umbrella and got out of the truck, walking over to the young man and crouching down in front of him.
‹‹ 괜찮으세요? ›› “Are you okay?”
Through the numbness the voice came. He looked up and met her eyes.
Something swift and sharp cut through her like a knife then.
“Where are you from?” She asked above the rain.
“Where am I…” tears sprang from his eyes again. He shook his head.
She tried again.
“Where are you going?”
“I don’t know,” he said, in the smallest voice imaginable.
“The motel?”
He shook his head again.
“Away. Not here.”
She looked around. The tent bar was closing, the patron hurriedly stacking chairs now in a
bright yellow rain jacket.
“Not here, eh. Alright then.”
She held out her hand.
He stared at it.
“Up you get.”
Tentatively he accepted the hand and she pulled him up. He stumbled but she supported him with one short and sturdy arm around his waist to the truck door.
He stood shivering in the rain looking at the open door with the seat and the warm heater air blowing on his face. He blinked.
“Get in,” the older woman said with a smile.
He got in. His head was on fire. The world went in and out of focus as the woman drove the truck out of the town and across the bridge over the creek and up a road lined with cherry trees with fiery leaves.
The truck pulled up at a large horseshoe shaped hanok farm house.
He was slightly more conscious now, but still tipsy and shivering. He got out of the truck and his head swam with a wave of nausea. A day’s glasses of soju all rushed to his head at once.
He followed the ahjummah inside wordlessly. Her husband looked up from his place on the couch reading the newspaper, seemingly unsurprised by the otherwise unexpected visitor.
He bowed automatically but could find no words.
The woman clucked under her breath and instead of staying for introductions, she steered him immediately towards a bathroom to the right of an open spacious central kitchen, pulling a towel and some spare clothes apparently out of thin air.
“Get yerself in there and have a shower, kid.” Her voice was low and soothing against the spiky noise in his brain, and the ache in hi…[Read more]
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
June 6, 2024 at 12:43 AM
I wrote this in January 2021, and finalised this section’s main edit in March 2022.
Whilst watching Frankly Speaking #11 this afternoon, I was reminded of it and thought I would share.
It’s from a kdrama plot bunny idea, but there is no more of it to share unfortunately, sorry.
(Also formatting this was a p a i n .)
Minnie🫘👩🏻🚀Pioneer and Teacher 👩🏻🏫🌱🏹
June 6, 2024 at 3:36 PM
Sicarius, you write beautifully. I loved the imagery. I guess there must have been a lot more of this inside your head.
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
June 6, 2024 at 4:49 PM
Thank you very much! I do have more ideas for it, some more concrete than others.
Minnie🫘👩🏻🚀Pioneer and Teacher 👩🏻🏫🌱🏹
June 6, 2024 at 4:56 PM
I know exactly what you are saying. I am working on something and what comes out is sometimes so different than what’s in my mind. Often, the core thoughts get lost in the framing, construction and formatting. But I suggest you still put it out. It’s incredibly rewarding. I feel like I have my own movie running in my head and living in that world has been gratifying.
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
June 6, 2024 at 5:09 PM
Haha yes I commiserate and I agree it’s good to get it out!
I have lots of WIPs though and this is just a side one, that I don’t work on very often; although it has *themes* in it I come back to a lot, other stories take precedence overall.
Although I’m liable to get distracted from both by new plot bunnies, every other day a new movie. 😂
Minnie🫘👩🏻🚀Pioneer and Teacher 👩🏻🏫🌱🏹
June 6, 2024 at 5:39 PM
Forgive my ignorance, but what is a WIP?
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
June 6, 2024 at 7:37 PM
Work In Progress, so lots of writing projects that are a work in progress. ^-^
Minnie🫘👩🏻🚀Pioneer and Teacher 👩🏻🏫🌱🏹
June 7, 2024 at 5:54 AM
Got it. Thanks!! I would love to read some.
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
June 12, 2024 at 12:21 AM
I appreciate the interest! There’s probably some other stuff I can share/ have shared a long time ago on my wall but would have to hunt for it haha.
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
April 1, 2024 at 4:12 PM
And a purple blooded half vampire also known as Carrot Boy.
Thanks for making my Sh☠tpost Lore canon lmao.
Queen of Tears #8
🌸 Seeker 🌸
April 1, 2024 at 10:55 PM
🤗 Welcome back my Queen!! Hope you had a good sabbatical!! 👐
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
April 11, 2024 at 8:17 PM
*two weeks later*…
🌸 Seeker 🌸
April 11, 2024 at 11:15 PM
We still love you!! ♥️
K-dramas attune us to time skips!! 🤭 That means we have a HEA. 😊
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
April 12, 2024 at 11:48 PM
asdfghjkl but a badly written one! tragic!
🌸 Seeker 🌸
April 13, 2024 at 1:40 AM
Badly narrated perhaps but happy nevertheless.
tabong is ironing the crosswalk
April 2, 2024 at 12:14 AM
They should’ve mentioned that he also tried to seduce a chaebol girl with amnesia for revenge.
I love all the references, but I really wanted a DOTS joke because of the reunion. It probably would’ve been weird to add it tho.
🌸 Seeker 🌸
April 2, 2024 at 1:46 AM
Wasn’t #3 a former solider stationed abroad a reference to DoTS.
emsel
April 2, 2024 at 2:10 AM
It was DoTS.
tabong is ironing the crosswalk
April 2, 2024 at 3:52 AM
Yep, but I meant between the characters. Like a joke between Ji Won and Joon Ki.
That’s why I feel like it would’ve been weird (but hilarious). Vicenzo making jokes with Hae In about the military would’ve been so freaking random. 😂
🌸 Seeker 🌸
April 2, 2024 at 5:31 AM
Oh that way! 🤣 Also wasn’t she a superior officer or maybe just the daughter of one. Hehe.
tabong is ironing the crosswalk
April 2, 2024 at 9:04 PM
I don’t remember anything about DOTS. 😆
I only remember that I was more invested in the second ship (Ji Won and Jin Goo), than the main one.
🌸 Seeker 🌸
April 2, 2024 at 9:53 PM
And that right there is why we’re friends. 🤣 Same pinch chingu. 💃 Now I’ve re-named the dancing girl emoji as Tabong.
tabong is ironing the crosswalk
April 3, 2024 at 2:10 AM
😂😂💚
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
April 11, 2024 at 8:19 PM
I mean they also literally have a love line with each other in Arthdal, so not having an Arthdal joke imo is actually even more remiss.
tabong is ironing the crosswalk
April 11, 2024 at 8:33 PM
Omo! You’re right!!
…I always forget that show exists. Maybe they did too?
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
April 11, 2024 at 8:48 PM
I’m sure some of them would like to forget it exists. Indeed, it is in many respects, best forgotten! Unfortunately I’ve made shitposting my entire personality, and so remember far too much of it, and also my art wouldn’t be where it is today without it so… you know.
tabong is ironing the crosswalk
April 11, 2024 at 10:30 PM
“also my art wouldn’t be where it is today without it”
At least you got something from it! More than most of us.
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
April 12, 2024 at 11:49 PM
Right!? Gotta take the wins haha
emsel
April 2, 2024 at 2:11 AM
Are you watching QoT or just this spl cameo?
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
April 11, 2024 at 8:19 PM
Uhm no, I am watching it.
bong-soo
April 2, 2024 at 8:51 AM
Good to see you back @sicarius, Sic!
I enjoyed Song Joon-ki’s QOT cameo. I missed him in tvN’s VINCENZO (2021). His Eunseom/Saya (and Eunseom/Ipsaeng bromance) were for me probably the best parts of tvN’s ARTHDAL CHRONICLES (2019).
🌸 Seeker 🌸
April 3, 2024 at 2:18 AM
Then perhaps some handy YT edits of the Vincenzo Tae-oh romance may be of some interest.
https://youtu.be/ag4vfw8su-8?si=kNd4EpOCP_3Aj3Cm
bong-soo
April 3, 2024 at 4:43 PM
LOL. OH MY WORD! @seeker Cera! What are you doing to me (😳)? I had no idea Eunseom and Ipsaeng were reunited in VINCENZO. I am a long-time fan of Kim Sung-cheol. According to MDL he was only in 2 episodes (8 and 20). I may just watch those 2 episodes to find out EXACTLY what was going on. You made me even look up what ‘fujoshi’ means lol.
🌸 Seeker 🌸
April 3, 2024 at 6:18 PM
*Bows deeply* Happy to be of service. It was a Big Deal when the drama was airing. While everyone was anticipating the reunion it was perhaps not “this” way. But it was very well done and the amusement park date was the highlight. The BTS were even more fun!
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
April 11, 2024 at 8:21 PM
I liked the Magic Horse cameo in Vinnie better 😉
(Also you didn’t really miss anything substantial by skipping Vincenzo Bong-Soo, imo anyway. Not even for the cameos.)
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
March 30, 2024 at 6:11 PM
༒ ℌ𝔞𝔭𝔭𝔶 𝔈𝔞𝔰𝔱𝔢𝔯, ℭ𝔥𝔯𝔦𝔰𝔱𝔬𝔰 𝔄𝔫𝔢𝔰𝔱𝔦! ༒
HopefulRomantic 🦋 Tigermoth 🦞
March 30, 2024 at 6:34 PM
Happy Easter Sicarius!! Your art is really cool – thank you for sharing it!
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
April 11, 2024 at 8:22 PM
Thank you very much! You’re most welcome. And Happy Eastertide (which it still is) to you too!
Nessa (Bebe) 🌹
March 30, 2024 at 10:03 PM
Happy Easter, indeed! Christ is risen! 🙌🏻
Nessa (Bebe) 🌹
March 31, 2024 at 4:31 PM
My pastor poked fun at the congregation today at Sunday Service (that just so happens to also be Easter Sunday Service):
He said, “I’d been saying ‘Happy Easter’ to people all morning here, but the responses I’ve been getting in return have been unexpected ones— just a “Happy Easter” right back at me. But how are we REALLY supposed to respond when someone tells us “Happy Easter” ?? Let’s try this again: Happy Easter!”
Congregation: “Indeed, Christ is risen!!”
^ The response he had been expecting all morning and finally got LOL 😂
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
April 11, 2024 at 8:26 PM
He is risen indeed and indeed again!
I agree with your pastor- your congregation needs to up their game! hehe
korfan
March 31, 2024 at 5:53 AM
Happy Easter!
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
April 11, 2024 at 8:27 PM
Thank you korfan! I hope you have been well.
Snow Flower
March 31, 2024 at 1:04 PM
Alithos anesti!
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
April 11, 2024 at 8:27 PM
🙏🙏
Isa is always time travelling
March 31, 2024 at 2:43 PM
Happy Easter, Sicarius! 🌼🌺🌻
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
April 11, 2024 at 8:27 PM
Thanks Isa!
kiara
March 31, 2024 at 5:52 PM
Happy Easter, @Sic! Hope Lent brought you a peaceful experience!
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
April 11, 2024 at 8:28 PM
Komawo Kiara. I feel like it flew by haha
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
February 13, 2024 at 2:30 AM
A Dramabeans milestone has been reached!
1000 Comments on a Fanwall Thread!
Hooray hooray! And a big congratulations to all who participated and to @cozybooks!!!!! (I hope this helps you level up 😂)
It is also the second last day of Love, February, and Shrove Tuesday.
Thus with this achievement, I will bid thee all a Happy St Valentine’s Day, and adieu till Easter.
🖤💜💜💜🖤
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
February 13, 2024 at 2:31 AM
@reply1988 @seeker @claire2009 @cozybooks you can discuss you know what on here if you want 😂😂😂 I love you all, byeeeee~~
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
February 13, 2024 at 2:34 AM
my mdl
https://mydramalist.com/profile/Sicarius
owl 🦉 🫰
February 13, 2024 at 12:59 PM
Go cozybooks! 😃
🌸 Seeker 🌸
February 13, 2024 at 2:39 AM
🩷 ❤️ 🧡 💛 💚 🩵 💙 💜 💖
🌸 Seeker 🌸
February 13, 2024 at 2:40 AM
To infinity and beyond… thank you for guiding us my Queen and bringing us home. Have a blessed time. We will eagerly await your return at maybe 2000 …!!?? 😂👏👏👏👏👏👏
Healer’s
February 13, 2024 at 2:52 AM
💖
I was too excited to discuss so I went to try and finally managed to do it!!
🌸 Seeker 🌸
February 13, 2024 at 7:02 PM
❤
bong-soo
February 13, 2024 at 7:36 AM
Sic, thanks for the notification. Congrats @cozybooks.
bbstl 🧹
February 13, 2024 at 8:19 AM
Wait, what? You’re giving US up for Lent???
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
April 11, 2024 at 8:29 PM
Well it’s supposed to be a sacrifice isn’t it… 😛
bbstl 🧹
April 11, 2024 at 9:54 PM
Is it? My 7 yr old nephew announced that he was giving up reading for Lent 😂
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
April 11, 2024 at 10:31 PM
If he’s a big reader that’s probably a big deal. That’s also very cute.
bbstl 🧹
April 12, 2024 at 9:03 AM
He hated reading.
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
April 12, 2024 at 11:48 PM
Oh no 😅😅😅
cozybooks
February 13, 2024 at 7:06 PM
Hehe thanks Sicarius!! It’s been a wild, wild ride ahahahaha 🙂 and here’s to the many other random hangouts to come on beanie walls everywhere 🙂
ladyjaye
March 23, 2024 at 3:50 PM
I hope you are doing well, Sicarius. You crossed my mind today.
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
April 11, 2024 at 8:28 PM
This is so sweet of you, thank you~! I know I am replying late but it is nice to be thought of 💜
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
February 7, 2024 at 8:22 PM
Sicarius’ Guide to Killing People: A SHOP FOR KILLERS SH🔪TPOST
I am qualified to make this post because my name means Assassin in Latin. And why yes I am insufferable to watch movies with, why did you ask.
Every year I watch half a dozen plus shorter action x various genre kdramas, and I like maybe one of them if we’re lucky.
And at least once a year I sit down write out a big rant about action, and fighting and weapons and injury authenticity, in reaction to one or more of these shows, and title it much the same thing every time, and then I never post it. (e.g. my My Name Shitpost @eazal, I’m so sorry 😂)
So, consider this not so much of a shitpost about Shop For Killers per se, and more of a locked and loaded rant that I have waiting in the wings at literally any given moment any time I watch anything remotely akin to this show, and that Shop for Killers is just the sacrificial lamb of this present moment, and the one I am choosing to channel my frustration through.
THINGS IT DID RIGHT:
Most of what it got right was in the first 4 episodes, then it kinda started getting more and more dumb… so sad.
1. Sound Delay and the Speed of Sound (aka the actual only reason I am making this post at all because I wanted to SHARE ABOUT IT BECAUSE IT’S COOL)
See: video @ 2:10 specifically, it goes into this in depth.
But basically, when you’re dealing with long distance rifles, the bullet is travelling faster than the sound of the rifle, so to the person being shot at, they will not see the gun being fired, the sound of it hitting, and also HEAR the gun being fired all at the same time.
They GOT THIS RIGHT! I was SO EXCITED THAT THEY GOT THIS RIGHT. I don’t think I’ve EVER seen a movie or a tv show get this right.
When Seongjo is sniping at them from the bridge, we hear Seongjo shoot, then our protagonists (and uhm, some other guy) hear the bullet fly past them, and THEN they hear the delay of the gun firing from THEIR position.
They get the sound design with the sniper rifle right every time they shoot it. Top marks for that. 10/10.
2. Also, during the sniping scene:
Recoil is a bitch, she is tiny, and that gun is big, and it would HURT, yes, and throw her across the room, yes!
(Alas, the recoil in the rest of the show isn’t as consistently accurate…)
3. “but it’s not enough to beat a man holding a knife” (Episode 4)
Yeah, if you enter a knife fight, especially unarmed chances are one but probably both of you are gonna end up fxxked up, correct, please do not enter a knife fight without a superior weapon, not even an equal one, just run, Jinman is correct here.
Knife fights are MESSY and dangerous and you WILL get cut up at bare minimum!
(Ofc then it goes and proceeds to show a bunch of unrealistic disarmaments, and well-choreographed but nonetheless knife fights that mostly ignore this… but what can you do.)
4. I liked the use of Muy Thai as a fighting art, that was fun. Not sure about the realism of her training times, but in terms of martial arts actually useful for fighting, Muy Thai is one of them. So, neat to have that awareness at least. It also has several cameos by Karambits, one of my favourite knives, a wicked little melee knife.
(Unfortunately, not really any decent, truly realistic karambit fights… as usual.)
THINGS IT DID NOT/ GENERAL RANTING:
Well, you could just watch the rest of the video in terms of guns, so, all of that, too, but I’m going to mention specifics and other stuff anyway lmao.
– Hyenas are cool. And barking doesn’t necessarily make an animal weak lmfao. I know it’s a metaphor, it’s just a dumb metaphor so it annoys me. (Inaccurate Weapons and Inaccurate Zoology are constantly fighting for my attention and which one annoys me more.)
– No earplugs, y’all are reeling, and deafer than Beethoven.
The Grey Man was a terrible movie. It was just point blank, a bad, an awful movie. Gosling slept walked through it. But, hilariously, ironically, everyone wore earplugs!!!!!
Guns are loud. Rifles are REALLY loud. Wear ear protection.
– How many times must I say this, Grenades have a kill radius of 5m and an injury radius of 15m, and you threw two. That asshole in ep 5 is dead. Not kinda messed up but still looks recognisable, not unrecognisably messed up, just dead. Very dead. Completely dead.
And our protagonists are a lot more injured than that.
How did you get the sound physics of sniper rifles correct, and the damage of a grenade wrong. Even Little Woman got this right. Please.
– Listen
The whole – THE WHOLE BALE THING???? *tears out hair* yeah, so that is basically the entire conflict the show hinges on, what about it.
First, Bale SHOULD be dead from those injuries. I’m not sure why this drama seems to think explosions cause just an ✨aesthetic✨ amount of damage and scarring.
But even so,
If someone like him is threatening you? And your family? And kills people for fun? And you have him under the knife?????
1. You stab him in the heart, breaking his sternum like you did anyway.
2. And THEN! you take OUT the knife so he bleeds out faster, cos the knife will be keeping him alive essentially at that point (minus the explosions and other injuries).
3. And then you slit his throat.
4. And you slit it well and truly.
Why would you leave any and I mean literally any possibility of him living
This show acts smart until it does the dumbest shit ever
You had time to cut his throat, you numbskull. The show just established you keep your cool in bloodshed x minutes ago. But you went for the gun???? Why make it all emotional and dramatic!
It’s a lot harder to come back from a severed jugular and carotid artery. He WILL bleed out before he can get to medical attention.
But if you’re worried his Cha Dal Geon Immunity to Death Gene will overcome even a severed jugular, cut a couple of other main arteries at the same time.
Knife’s right there, babe. Wrists, groin, armpits, neck.
Why must these shows exist only at the expense of the Supposedly Intelligent Main Character’s Intelligence. That’s rhetorical.
But really?? You should’ve put a bullet in Bale’s head three missions ago. Maybe three bullets seeing as how he has the Cha Dal Geon Immunity to Death gene. I mean that’s what *I* would’ve done… if I was a mercenary with at least an existent moral compass, no matter how broken. He’s not that good of a merc for you to have kept around as a liability for that long, surely. Come on.
I hope your absence after your fake death was because you were killing him PROPERLY this time?? Were you successful? Or did you leave him the SLIGHTEST possibility of living, again.
– Speaking of Fake Deaths, very obvious from episode one, not showing his face, and her hard sus reaction, but also he had to be alive because if he wasn’t alive he’s the biggest idiot on planet earth to kill himself over such a ridiculous blackmailing trick, when he’s been set up as … you know… not THAT much of an idiot. So instead, he’s just enough of an idiot that if he weren’t, the show wouldn’t exist … not that that would be a loss to me personally, but maybe to some others it would.
The entire show hinges on you [Jinman] not killing him [Bale] right the first time, but I just don’t get, you know… why you didn’t kill him right the first time.
If it’s something dumb like Flex Cop I can ignore a lot of these common action flaws more easily but if you’re taking your killing as seriously as this… then actually take it seriously, gosh.
– Other Speed RUN
The deaf arms dealer was cute. RIP buddy. I’m sorry about your arm.
IV pull – DING
Most of the fight scenes ranged from decent to ok to wtf was that. There was quite a wide range of styles and consistency in accuracy there, and in the aftermath lol.
I don’t think anyone reloaded enough but that’s normal 🙄 I also don’t know why our little mole was the only one wearing a bullet proof vest… Minhye sure could’ve used one.
I kind of got sick of all the fights at the end, and the structure of the show, which started out a lot better than it ended.
.
.
.
There’s more I definitely missed and or could’ve ranted about but for Version 1 of this rant, that’s all for now.
Till the next dumb action show, misuse of guns, grenades, or character that pulls out something they’ve been stabbed/shot with … whichever comes first. Maybe the next one will be a sageuk and I’ll rant about arrows.
In the meantime, I will go back to wondering why everyone in Nokdu Flower treats Yi Hyun as the Evilest of Evils for being an 19th Century Sniper.
Goodbye!
☠☠☠
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
February 7, 2024 at 8:29 PM
*sorry for badmouthing Flex X Cop there, but it IS on the dumb, fun but dumb, comedy action, Skunk end of the spectrum. I am enjoying it a lot, but it’s action is just silly. That Helicopter scene? Aiiiyaaa.
Kurama
February 7, 2024 at 9:22 PM
For Jin-Man was stupid, you can’t be naive in this job. And because of that a lot of people died and his niece couldn’t have a normal life.
I wished to see more about the deaf arms dealer 😥
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
February 7, 2024 at 9:32 PM
The problem is I think they worked backwards (I haven’t read the book) – the niece with the reveal of the gun shop is the focal point, that’s what it wants to be about – so we have to work back to how we got to this point – her parents dying, etc etc – but by doing that, if it’s not believable enough, like here, it’s just annoying and stupid. But if Bale was killed properly, then we wouldn’t have the rest of the show that they so badly wanted to focus on, you wouldn’t have any Shop for Killers. Idk then have a smarter backstory, why don’t you 🙄🙄🙄
I liked him just from his five seconds at the beginning, and then he was dead and I was like nooo! Was happy to see him back briefly only to lose him again haha
Ziziboice
February 7, 2024 at 9:47 PM
I didn’t even watch the show, but I read your essay carefully and enjoyed all the details.
They just ignore all of them in fight scenes in dramas because they think a hero with earplugs or bulletproof vests or running when she sees she can’t overcome the situation and it’s too dangerous to handle, is not COOL enough for a hero.😅
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
February 7, 2024 at 9:51 PM
Why thank you.
But I happen to think the opposite is cooler and more interesting, so where does that leaves us 😆😆😆 ofc, I am not most people’s target audience…
Ziziboice
February 7, 2024 at 10:01 PM
I think so too, being realistic is more interesting that being a dumb and lucky hero. 😄
emsel
February 7, 2024 at 10:29 PM
I enjoyed the show, but I do agree with all the negatives and the grenade stuff irked me to no end, especially as you pointed out tjat the protagonists escaped with little to no harm. Grenade power is not some secret knowledge that exists only among armed people, but is a general knowledge that even civilians know about.
Bale is a trigger for the entire sequence of events, so we just have to grudgingly acknowledge his existence as a guy with Cha Dal Geon’s gene of immunity. By the way is there any hope for Vagabond S2🤣🤣🤣
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
February 7, 2024 at 10:33 PM
I will not begrudge his existence at all; they could’ve tried harder 😂😂😂
Vagabond should’ve aired two years later than it did, then it would’ve got a S2 lol.
🌸 Seeker 🌸
February 12, 2024 at 11:06 AM
Thank you for a very informative post. 😊
I too thought that there were too many fights which were differently choreographed. Maybe this abundance of action directors led to vastly contrasting fighting styles and inconsistencies.
You’re so correct while no one expects anything from Chaebol Cop this kind of widely varied “action” is more irritating than awe-inspiring.
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
February 12, 2024 at 12:59 PM
Having lots of stunt directors on an 8 episode Disney kdrama would be weird but maybe… Are there actually many listed? Cos welp, if so haha… Maybe all the different shades of fight were on purpose?? Some were just outrageous, like Minhye’s fight in the locked down living room lol.
Absolutely.
And something like this clearly takes its action and genre a lot more seriously, in that it’s designed to be a dark action show, akin to other Korean Noirs, Asian gritty action like the Raid, or the John Wick style flick, and if that’s the case, I tend to expect more of such things, especially, especially, if they get Something as right as Sound Delay in rifles.
The inconsistencies at that point immediately become not something to look over, but a glaring larger flaw in the work. They didn’t care to get it consistent, and that’s telling.
🌸 Seeker 🌸
February 13, 2024 at 5:03 AM
I don’t know how many action directors were there just that the “action” seems diverse.
My idea of “action” was always with a side of comedy like those Jackie Chan movies we watched as kids. While I don’t know about technicalities but I loved reading about them in your post and agree that they should not undermine that which makes it good in the first place. 😀
FlyingTool
August 27, 2024 at 6:04 PM
Late to the party, just starting. Just occurred to me that if Minhye was wearing a plate carrier, then (I suspect) you’d be squinting to see if the plates were properly inserted, worn at the correct height, etc.
I’ve missed your posts!
🌸 Seeker 🌸
August 27, 2024 at 7:15 PM
🤣🤣🤣 Same.
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
August 27, 2024 at 8:29 PM
… I’m gonna take this as a compliment. Also I’m always glad to be missed, and to see you turn up still from time to time – I like to know you’re alive at least.
bomibeans
February 26, 2024 at 9:27 PM
I absolutely ADORE watching Inside’s How Real It Is (and similar breakdowns) on YouTube. I learn a lot without sitting through a boring lecture but actually watching snippets of the movies and having experts annihilating some of it. 😂
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
April 18, 2024 at 3:31 PM
The only problem ofc being that then you just gain more and more thinga not never be satisfied with in film etc. Many such cases
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
February 4, 2024 at 4:44 PM
Hello All. I hope you\’re all enjoying Love, February.
Sicarius\’ Guide to Known Inappropriate Words* February 2024 UPDATED and MASTER Version:
*aka words that trip the spam filter, like forbidden candy.
It has come to my attention that I should\’ve just made this a google doc earlier, instead of the time consuming Photoshop Image I have used in past versions, but I think, as useful as links are, a visual aid helps a lot of people – you can SEE it, right there (and also I like making it LOOK pretty haha).
Nonetheless, this version is just a link.
I have combined my (always ongoing) current list of Known IWs and my Guide to Dealing with Them (that I also have posted on my wall previously) into one Google Doc, with open link sharing, for easy access for all Beans, past, present and future.
@kmromrell for your spreadsheet project! Here!
(I am sure btw, I have other resources that would be useful for that lying around, but consolidating them is not priority and I grow weary these days.)
I may make this Open to Editing later on, so that anyone who finds a New IW can simply add it to the file themselves. But till then, keep tagging me if you find one or notice an update!
Thank you very much for your time. Peace!
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uQw3vqY3kSnUdwxiKy4IhuC2coEwgCtruzh-dxHFctA/edit?usp=sharing
bbstl 🧹
February 4, 2024 at 5:04 PM
You’re the best! 👑🍈👏🏽
Nessa (Bebe) 🌹
February 4, 2024 at 5:11 PM
Thanks a bunch, Sic!!
TheOutsideJoke (@kmromrell)
February 4, 2024 at 11:05 PM
Perfect, I’ve added it to the Beanie Resources folder under “How to Dramabeans”. I shortened the shortcut title a tad to make sure Beanies could see the full title/author. Let me know, though, if you’d prefer that to be changed. Thanks so much for compiling this and sharing it out!
Yes, I’d love to add any other resources you have, but no pressure on timing — the folder will be here and ready whenever you’ve got the time. 🙂 If you want any help consolidating those resources, I’d also be happy to help convert them from post-form to document-form — we’d just want to make sure to change the document ownership to you afterward.
If anybody else sees this and is aware of other resources that should be added, let me know!
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
February 5, 2024 at 11:43 AM
Oh no worries about shortening it, at all.
Thank you! I’ll let you know if I think of anything and/or need a hand.
🌸 Seeker 🌸
February 4, 2024 at 11:22 PM
Thank you so very much. 🫰
kiara
February 5, 2024 at 10:26 AM
I was about to message you and Toki. Hope you are doing well, @Sic.
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
February 5, 2024 at 11:44 AM
Been so tired lately alas. Also thinking of staying off dB for Lent so may have to message you and Toki about Nokdu on MDL or something haha.
🌸 Seeker 🌸
February 5, 2024 at 11:49 AM
Take care and have fun. Come and chat with us when you’re free. 😍
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
February 5, 2024 at 1:00 PM
Thanks Cera 🖤🖤🖤
kiara
February 5, 2024 at 12:00 PM
That’s wonderful! I think Toki will participate again this year.
If I don’t see you ladies in the next couple of months, at least I know you are both ok.
MDL or fan-wall. All good!
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
February 5, 2024 at 1:01 PM
Hahaha yes you’ll know why we’re AWOL at least
Healer’s
February 6, 2024 at 7:04 AM
Thanks heaps, Sicarius!!
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
January 17, 2024 at 8:15 PM
TELL ME THAT YOU LOVE ME: Final Essay 🍀
18/01/24
Beanmelons rescinded. Well, not entirely. But most of them. I thought this might happen.
This is the opening line of the show.
It is a common narrative technique, to start your story, be it film, television, novel, play, et al, with an idea, a proposition, that is also the end point of the story, where the story is going to end up.
Therefore, the objective of the story becomes to show how and why this proposition comes to pass.
It’s a bold narrative move, because you reveal your cards early.
If you reveal your ending at the beginning, you must justify that being your ending in everything you are about to do and show, in every part of the story, the storytelling process, and in every storytelling device.
Everything must be so wholly and truly working towards this goal, that by the time you give your audience this ending, it feels inevitable that this was the ending, that this was always intended point, and this was, in some respects, the only point possible to have reached. Reaching that point should be rewarding or cathartic in some way.
It doesn’t have to be “happy”, but it must make sense, and it must be satisfying in how we got there.
This is, in fact, true for all stories, but in my opinion even more so if you use this opening technique, because you are by default limiting your narrative options.
The only other possible option is to deliberately reject this proposition.
If rejecting the proposition, when that wasn’t deliberate, or some other theme of the show somehow becomes more inevitable, more necessary, if Something Else becomes more True, than the ending you have already revealed… you have failed your task, and failed to reach your goal.
—
The opening line of the show, as previously quoted, is the show’s proposition.
First it expresses doubt over love between two people who are “too” different.
Second, it expresses that a tragic ending must be inevitable for these two people, implying that the differences become irreconcilable.
Then the narrator expresses doubt over this and says well, even if that is true, it is better to love anyway.
I agree with the last statement. It is better to love than to never love at all (see: here and here). But the narrator only expresses this within the frame of reference of that love eventually becoming hate.
The motto itself seems confused. In the example scenario given, it’s not even that these two are two different that is really the focus, but that being different will end in hate. Similarly, it’s not “love in spite of” that is the focus, but the “until” that given emphasis.
So, for this show to justify this being its opening line, it must now go out of its way to show that the differences between the leads are irreconcilable, and that it will also end in hate, whilst also trying to balance that with the idea of Love, even if it is temporary, being an ultimately good thing.
—
The reason I have always felt unsure of loving this show, always felt a lurking sense of foreboding, or some impending narrative direction that I knew I would hate, is because of this opening line and because I immediately felt it was confused and would be hard to deliver on well.
But more specifically, it is because after it announced this statement as its opening line, the show then spent the next 10 to 12 episodes doing a quite frankly better and sounder job of telling a story about Communication, about the different forms of communication, about wanting to overcome great obstacles and differences and fears, about the nuances of communication and language and form and semantics, with positivity and strength and hope, than it did telling a story of how we might reach this joint ending-opening point in any kind of satisfying way.
For every hint of dissonance, and temporality, for every line about transience and things being lost or passing, for every lurking shadow of doubt, that pointed back to the proposition, there was a direct thematic idea in contradiction to it, that spoke of overcoming this, of facing conflict and becoming stronger for it, becoming stronger together for it, of growing from scars and past hurt, and of pursuing things and choosing to love even when it is hard.
So the proposition and rejecting the proposition were in competition against each other, and the latter, was narratively stronger and more true than the former.
One can have deliberately conflicting thematic points, and this can be a good thing, for example: if one eventually wins out over the other, or if their juxtaposition serves to shed light onto something.
But, instead of spending time building towards any clear end goal – for the claim, or against it, or doing anything with this contradiction, by having the stronger one mean something, or balancing that tension, either between thematic ideas, or in the initial motto itself – this show spent more time building a kind of thematic ambiguity, so much so that it was entirely possible for this show to swing either in direct opposition to its opening point, just as much as it was possible for it to swing back on it.
—
And then they break up, and the 8th last line of the show is its opening line, confirming my suspicions that to reject the proposition was never going to be its point, that it really meant to end up here all along.
But we have not got here in a way that this felt earnt, and justified. The show has not spent its whole being reaching this point, proving that this, this is how it was supposed to be, as it must, as it should’ve, if it was going to reveal its cards like that at the beginning. And it has not used its contrasting themes to help prove this point either.
And even in ending up here, it then actually ends, not WITH this, but AFTER this; instead of with the opening line as its ultimate final point, it concludes with two other moments that don’t feel wholly satisfying for either possible ending- either the hopeful, overcoming, or the bittersweet one.
Jinwoo introduces himself again, and Moeun smiles, and then we cut to credits.
And over the credits our leads walk hand in hand down their train track and at the end of the end, the end after the end, Jinwoo finally says in voiceover, in echo of the show’s title, “I love you, Moeun”; he finally confesses.
But this too feels like a false ending.
The show’s title is TELL ME THAT YOU LOVE ME, but its proposition is something entirely different. And Jinwoo never tells Moeun that he loves her to her person, but he says her name out loud, in the only spoken line he has in the entire show, to nobody, in heartbreak after their break up.
For a show about Communication, it feels cheap to have the leads break up due to a breakdown in communication, in the name of some Other Theme that was not shown to be any stronger than this.
But if they get back together without us seeing them overcoming this breakdown, this conflict, then you have not only denied them their bittersweet ending, that you initially chose for them, no matter how unjustified that has been, you have also denied them true development for a happy ending – for the ending that could’ve instead rejected the proposition on purpose.
There can be no whole or satisfying bittersweet ending, and there can be no whole or satisfying happy ending either.
You have only given your audience false propositions, and false promises, and false endings.
1. In being ambiguous in body, instead of picking an end goal and dedicating itself to reaching that goal, thus betraying its beginning.
2. In not balancing its contradicting themes to reach or support that end goal.
3. In its contrary themes becoming stronger and truer than any other intentional theme.
4. In the ending denying either the original claim, or the rejection of the original claim to be the true ending, satisfying the ambiguity, and nothing else.
And I do not know why. And I am left disappointed, but somehow not surprised, and not as heartbroken either as I initially thought I would be, just let down.
I am left wondering if you really intended to end with or meant the opening point at all, such was the ambiguity, but to make ambiguity itself the point betrays too much else to be a rational conclusion, such was the rest of the show’s thematic core.
Because so much of you was Right and True and Beautiful.
But in the en…[Read more]
Midnight
January 17, 2024 at 8:41 PM
I think Koreans are specifically bad at this technique because they rarely have the script fully finished before shooting starts. I have noticed in a lot of shows that this technique is used only as an idea, a device, to start the show, not to finish it. It is more disappointing when the show is excellent in other areas.
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
January 17, 2024 at 9:49 PM
Yeah, this is a part of Television writing, one that is not actually exclusive to Korea, I have never liked, writing as you air/shoot/go. It’s always seemed counterintuitive to me 😂.
I’m not convinced finishing the script is neccesasrily the direct cause though. Whilst pre planning your script should happen and will help, often the problem with not knowing how to finish or where to take a show, or what you want your show to be is a deeper more fundamental writing issue, and not an easy fix through episode count, or pre writing alone.
Midnight
January 17, 2024 at 9:54 PM
Very well put.
WEnchanteur
January 20, 2024 at 7:05 PM
Comment was deleted
Seon-ha
January 18, 2024 at 4:42 AM
Ugh. I was never going to watch this show, but this form of disappointment is truly terrible and I’m sorry you had to endure it. I hear you taking the good with the bad, and I applaud the effort, but the way I’m feeling recently–that’s often not good enough.
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
January 18, 2024 at 11:36 AM
Yes as much as there was a lot to love about this show, I will never be able to ratenor rank it higher as a favourite or best overall or overlook its failures.
I’m just kind of glad the disappointment was mostly dealt with last week actually, and I was mentally prepared to write this and for the ending.
🌸 Seeker 🌸
January 18, 2024 at 9:15 AM
Thank you for your review. I had a strong sense of discomfort towards the latter half of the drama but could not even express why. You have to beautifully and loving analyzed each and every point. I was very happy to start the drama, interested enough to finish, do not regret watching it but still 🤷♀️. Thank you for putting in words all the things which made us feel so warm and heard and then … something like radio silence from the show. 😀
🌸 Seeker 🌸
January 18, 2024 at 9:17 AM
* You have
tobeautifully …💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
January 18, 2024 at 11:39 AM
Thank you so much Cera! Yes that discomfort you mention I had the whole drama haha despite the greatness of the beginning, but I too don’t regret watching, but I’d hard to have another disappointment after a year of seemingly endless ones.
Radio silence! I love that term haha. Very apt feeling. An edited line from the essay was “the feeling of being washed up or beached, and thirsty”.
🌸 Seeker 🌸
January 18, 2024 at 11:57 AM
Oh! yes like drinking salt water which makes you more thirsty. 🤣 Well nothing can out-Heartbeat Heartbeat *fingers crossed*. 2023 dramas made me little more sympathetic. Just like we cannot plan a “perfect” life, we cannot get “perfect” dramas. Just few moments of perfection as suffice IRL as well as dramas.
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
January 18, 2024 at 12:34 PM
Hahaha the metaphysical question of whether or not you can truly get “the perfect drama” has always been one at the back of my mind, but whilst that may not be truly or realistically possible, I like to hope still for dramas that are still Good and point to Goodness, and, those that don’t drop the ball at the end! It is possible! But it seems they are getting fewer and far betweener. Ah well. I keep watching and waiting haha.
🌸 Seeker 🌸
January 18, 2024 at 12:57 PM
I feel that je ne sais quoi Korean-ness was the secret sauce. Now in trying to appeal to global audiences we have one foot here, one there and then **splash** down we go!!
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
January 18, 2024 at 1:55 PM
Hmmmm 🤔
I think it’s a breakdown in story and meaning that is more worldwide and deeper and fundamental but … that also definitely doesn’t help.
Cecee is done DramaQueening
January 19, 2024 at 3:58 AM
Yessss, the full post interpretation we rightly deserved!!!!
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
January 6, 2024 at 8:13 PM
Why are SKUNKS SO HARD TO DRAW-
LT is Irresistibly Indifferent and reminded of the slow march of death
January 6, 2024 at 8:30 PM
The eternal question
Elinor is back on Sweater Patrol
January 6, 2024 at 10:45 PM
Dissertation topic right there.
Elinor is back on Sweater Patrol
January 6, 2024 at 10:49 PM
No but seriously, skunks are incredibly weird-looking up close. You may think you know what one looks like but you don’t. Your brain expects a black cat with a white stripe and a squirrel tail, but their proportions are all wrong, and I do a double-take every time I see one. It must be even harder for artists who don’t live in a place where they are backyard fauna.
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
January 6, 2024 at 11:17 PM
Oh I kNOW. FRAKKING MUSTELOID TAXONOMY THAT ISN’T A MUSTELID. *throws things*. Euplerids and Viverrids are weirder still though, so… at least I’m not drawing a Fossa????
Elinor is back on Sweater Patrol
January 6, 2024 at 11:58 PM
Next skunk suit iteration: the seven-species-jammed-together-in-one model.
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
January 7, 2024 at 1:50 AM
I love weird animals but man. And I thought the Archaeopteryx was annoying to figure out! Actually I should be fine once I get the geometry down but it is eluding me thus far.
zindigo
January 7, 2024 at 10:37 AM
Have you tried Pepe le Pew for inspiration? 😉
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
January 7, 2024 at 4:13 PM
He’s too cartoony for my style! Also funnily enough, for cartoons, Flower and Bluebelle from Bambi are weirdly more accurate.
zindigo
January 7, 2024 at 4:52 PM
There’s a skunk in Bambi!
https://www.pinterest.com/wendyc1965/bambi/
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
January 7, 2024 at 5:32 PM
Yes I know, Flower and Bluebelle! haha
zindigo
January 7, 2024 at 6:55 PM
Oh lol! Sorry! I didn’t remember the characters names 😬
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
December 31, 2023 at 3:00 AM
☆ May the LORD be with you all, in Anno Domini Two Thousand and Twenty Four. ☆
Healer’s
December 31, 2023 at 4:13 AM
Happy new year, Sicarius 🥂 I’m closely behind you entering the new year 🎉
lapislazulii
December 31, 2023 at 5:20 AM
Happy New Year Sic! I hope 2024 proves to be a better year for your drama wise hahaha but also in general, hope the year brings you good health, prosperity and happiness 💜
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
December 31, 2023 at 6:41 PM
Awww thank you so much Lapis. I hope so too hehe
emsel
December 31, 2023 at 6:33 AM
Happy New Year, Sic!!!
🌸 Seeker 🌸
December 31, 2023 at 7:53 AM
Comment was deleted
🌸 Seeker 🌸
December 31, 2023 at 7:54 AM
Happy New Year my Queen. Hope this is the best-est year of your rein and Melonia is the happiest queendom ever!! ❤ 🖖 🎉 📯
mmmmm
December 31, 2023 at 10:48 AM
HNY, Sic! 🙂
🎉
korfan
December 31, 2023 at 6:40 PM
Happy New Year!
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
December 30, 2023 at 5:14 PM
🍈💜☠ We will call that an End of Year Milestone Reached in order to send her off well: ☠💜🍈
🌸 Seeker 🌸
December 30, 2023 at 10:21 PM
What perfect figures. 👏 🥂 🎉
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
December 30, 2023 at 10:36 PM
I know right?!
Reply1988 -❣️Mother Bean❣️
December 31, 2023 at 1:01 AM
Wow great catch. I see numbers that I want to capture on the horizon and then come back to check how close I am to it only to discover it’s gone over by 1, not bitter at all😬
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
December 31, 2023 at 12:13 PM
Oh I feel you, the over by 1 can be so frustrating! Haha
Reply1988 -❣️Mother Bean❣️
December 31, 2023 at 1:15 AM
Sorry random question alert: I am sending this while I remember, what was the name of the anime you recommended I watch which has a time travel/two people in different eras communicating theme? I watched the film Ditto and it reminded me of the anime storyline you had mentioned but again I forgot to ask at the time.
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
December 31, 2023 at 12:13 PM
Your Name??? It’s an animated film, and one of my only exceptions to liking time travel themes hahaha.
Reply1988 -❣️Mother Bean❣️
December 31, 2023 at 1:09 PM
Thank you I found it. I just remember you saying it was a must see when we were listing Chinese and Japanese dramas that stand out.
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
December 31, 2023 at 6:33 PM
Hope you enjoy it! I am due for a rewatch soon actually
Reply1988 -❣️Mother Bean❣️
January 1, 2024 at 2:13 PM
Yes, it was like the recommendation for Healer a drama outside of my comfort zone but one I enjoyed. Thank you for the recommendation a really novel story, executed well.
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
January 1, 2024 at 3:59 PM
Yay! Glad to hear you liked it! It’s one of my favourites. Exquisite animation and music too.
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
December 30, 2023 at 4:53 PM