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Beans of Wisdom: Blessings and curses

[You may recognize mary’s name around these parts, since she’s been a longtime reader, commenter, and Song Jae-rim’s most prominent ambassador of appreciation — and also frequent wise bean contributor. So we’re happy to bring her onboard the Dramabeans team, where she’ll be doing a lot of her magic behind the scenes, though you’ll see her around in posts as well. And now, for the comments of the past week! –javabeans]

 
This week in Beans of Wisdom… it’s mostly about luck, prayers, and curses as the fickle Drama Gods play with our hearts and OTPs.

Kender starts the week with her theory on what’s special about the lead pairing of Beautiful Gong Shim. In “Drama viewership ratings for the week of May 16-22, 2016” at comment #5.1.12, she writes about Namgoong Min’s Ahn Dan-tae:

He’s such a weirdo, too, which I love. Usually Kdrama leads are either cold with a gooey center or rough but with a heart of gold, but he’s just so strange and different, he’s absolutely hilarious to watch.

Gongshim is similar, for that matter; she may think she’s normal, but the truth is that she’s super weird, too. And I love her for it.

I CANNOT WAIT until our two weirdos get together, let me tell you!

Well, I’m sure that when the leads get together, Kender will be the first to know because Gong-shim’s crew is filming right in her neighborhood. Lucky her. Can we call this Beans of Jealousy instead?

 

Meanwhile, I’m sure this is a problem faced by many fans who haven’t gotten Namgoong Min’s murderous characters out of mind yet. loophole said in “Beautiful Gong Shim: Episode 1,” comment #31:

I don’t know, but I keep looking at every corner and any secret door at Namgoong Min’s house. Can’t help but think he might have someone locked up again.

 

In “Mirror of the Witch: Episode 3,” Ikhh connected some old dramaland dots at #4 between Yoon Shi-yoon and his hateful stepmother character:

I felt so weird watching takgu’s beloved mother became jun’s evil stepmother

jomo:

I thought the same thing!! She LOVES him, why is she sooo mean?
They probably loved doing those scenes together, too.

earthna:

Yes! They loved each other so much in Takgu so when she’s being evil to Jun here, I scream at my screen “No! He’s your son!!”

Dramaland likes to toy with our emotions, don’t ya know?

 

Learn from the cautionary tale of MistyIsles. In “Mirror of the Witch: Episode 4,” she wished for more curse action in comment #6, but forgot to specify how much.

Drama: I will kill everyone you love.
Me: ooh, fun stuff. Love a good curse.
Drama: *enacts curse.*
Drama: *kills (almost) every side character I love.*
Me: wait no.
Me: I didn’t think you meant literally.
Me: auugh stooooop!!!
Drama: *stabs both leads with arrows for good measure.*
Me: *cries over (spoiler redacted) for days.*
Me: who do you think you are? Gaksital?
Despite it tearing my heart out, though, I am absolutely loving this show. It’s shaping up to be exactly the sort of dark fairytale I was hoping for.

Please stop tempting the Drama Gods, MistyIsles.

 

Speaking of blessings, you know you’re lucky when your only problem is what to call a two-episode extension for a show you like, as shown by the discussion in “Oh Hae-young Again climbs in ratings, gets 2-episode extension.” Started by (in my Unbiased Opinion) the wisest beanie ever, mary, in comment #4:

So are they calling eps 17-18 Oh Hae Young Again Again?

to which Lime Chilli replied:

Or “Oh Hae Young Again, Still”

followed by Lola:

Another Another Miss Oh.

and a final option by Alessar:

Another Oh Hae Young Again!

 

In “Drama viewership ratings for the week of May 16-22, 2016,” risa notes (#10.1.1) in reference to Oh Hae-young Again and tvN:

Yes, the drama landscape has been so much better since they cam along. I’ve come to think of tvN as “tv for Noonas”.

 

Jokes aside, Oh Hae-young does generate a lot of insightful discussion on love and life. In “Oh Hae-young Again: Episode 7,” Miranda gives us a good analogy on why our Oh Hae-young’s relationship with Do-kyung is more complete than his previous one with Noh Hae-young. In comment #14.2.3:

The problem with DK and Pretty is that while they connect on all other levels, they SUCK at communication.

We’ve seen that DK’s default is stoic silence, even when it would be much better to say something. We’re a little blind to it because our OHY tends to goad him into action or speaking, so we get a practically chatty version of him. When you think that stoic DK was paired with superficially bright Pretty, who likely actively avoided any sort of negative conversation, you end up with two people completely unprepared to handle a conversation about the nature of pity within love.

I think it’s especially interesting that Pretty claims she smiles through tears because DK doesn’t like her crying. That’s not something we’ve seen in his interactions with our OHY – he silently tends to her and sits next to her, but doesn’t offer any overt comfort. Maybe Pretty is so hyper attuned that she read that as rejection, whereas our OHY seems to know exactly what it is: sympathy and care taking.

If you envision a relationship as a sphere, it feels like DK’s natural setting is to only color in a small portion of his half. Pretty seems to have filled her half and expanded into his to make up for the gaps, but our OHY basically insists that DK color his own damn half in. She is not afraid to point out his flaws and his shortcomings, and I think Pretty’s instinct was to cover DK’s shortcomings. That a good trait when presenting a united front as a couple; it’s not so good when it’s happening inside the relationship, because then it’s fragile and can be easily shattered.

 

Then in “Oh Hae-young Again: Episode 8,” Callie shares her thoughts on how to love (and cross the road) in comment #24:

Ugh, such a bittersweet conversation. He’s so close but he’s still too afraid of what he’s feeling to admit it. And she won’t accept it until he meets her halfway. Both the instances of her walking into traffic and him being unable to cross because of the bicyclists felt so symbolic of their relationship. He wants to go to her, but he just can’t, there’s too many obstacles in between them. Even when the bikes were gone, he remains on the opposite side of the path.

 

Meanwhile, Jackpot beanie Itenoria is having an epiphany in comment #11 of “Jackpot: Episode 18”:

I think we’ve been had. Dae Gil isn’t the lucky one with the jackpot fate. That honor belongs to In Jwa. Get imprisoned but not tortured, Jackpot. Get almost beheaded, but Choi Sukbin dies and the messenger gets to the execution ground in time, Jackpot. Yeoning almost beheads you anyway, but is stopped by his guard, Jackpot. Almost get sentenced again but Sukjong collapses, leaving the crown prince to make the decision, Jackpot. Almost get cut down by one of the best swords master in Joseon but the girl whose father you killed and who you raised on lies, hatred and revenge sacrifices herself, Jackpot. Almost get cut down anyway, but the one man who should wish your death the most, who you’ve tortured and broken every bone in his body, whose father you’d kept imprisoned all the while making him think he’s dead, whose life you’ve gone out of your way to make miserable, suddenly has the epiphany that the girl he’d declared he wasn’t going to marry due to her connection with you, the one he’d pushed on to his little brother, died for you and therefore you mustn’t die, Jackpot.

In Jwa, you lucky you. Truly, your very essence is a Jackpot.

Bashful83 thinks it’s not luck that’s helping the villains but a general lack of competence and budget mismanagement:

But palace security ALWAYS sucks in EVERY sageuk – regardless of which dynasty is in power.

I mean seriously – most of the palace guard should be attending disciplinary meetings for failure of duty. Continuously.

Just think of the money which could have been saved by not having any walls.

But wall or not, bmore predicts the exact moment when lucky In-jwa will fall. Just read comment #22:

Not sure what is worse, her and the entire waste of her character, or the repetitive and highly predictable inability of anyone to stop Lee In Jwa. I detest these kind of characters and these kind of scenarios in kdrama and sageuk is rife with them. Episode after episode of him being smarter than everyone else, smirking his way through every scene, until episode 23.5 when he is suddenly not smarter and some nonsensical out of the blue solution to defeating him happens.

 

Some shows like “Dear My Friends: Episode 4” are blessings in themselves for giving us a better appreciation of other people. As Purple shares in comment #8:

I cried while watching this episode, it contained so much feels.

I’m used to seeing the actresses as mothers and grandmothers in other dramas, and it’s a welcome change to see them being their own person, and having their own stories here.

In the same episode, wise beanie Gina reminds us that our bodies may grow old, but our hearts can stay young forever:

I love this drama. How it portrays the older generation is by far the best I’ve ever seen, anywhere, anytime, from any culture.

I’m much closer in age to the older set of this drama than the young ones. No matter how long we’ve walked the planet, we possess same heart we had when we were 20-something, just a tad more complex because of the decades piled on.

Well said, Gina. We’ll keep those precious words in mind (and heart)!

 

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Yay, it's mary!!! :-)

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oye.....
mary strikes again.
was i the only one who noticed that the wisest beanie ever title was awarded to mary.

love you mary, I imagine you reading out your comments with expressions and in my imagination you are a vertically challenged, short haired perpetually smiling bespectacled, pretty pixie who looks about 12. was I right on atlas one count

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Oh no, the "wisest beanie" part was from me. It's a self-awarded title ^^

Sorry, I need to remain anonymous so police can't track me down when I run away with SJR.

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wow I got a reply...

No worries mary if and when you run away with SJR hopefully with his consent you might have safe houses in every country ready for your use.

You see beanies are a force to be reckoned with

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Dear Mary,
I read this post Gossip-Girl-ish. Please remain anonymous ^__^

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Little ol' me is featured in beans of wisdom?! Shucks. ?

For real tho, the comments and discussions that go on in the OHYA recaps increase the enjoyment of an already great show by 10000%

So glad I didn't wait to marathon it. I forgot how much fun it is to experience a good show as it airs.

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That's the reason why I watch dramas while they're still airing. It's so hard to release my feels when I marathon something because the hype is over. The discussions add so much to the experience and OHYA is such a great medium for amazing discussions.

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You two are so right. I tend to be behind on watching currently airing shows. I wish I had watched Signal while it was on.

Anyway, I enjoy reading the different perspectives in OHYA's recap threads. And I love that OHYA gives us a lot of things to discuss about. :)

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I am not a person who would have the patience to wait until a good show is over to marathon it. And you're right, floating along with the hype is fun. But I'm so glad I found 'Signal' near the end of it's run (episode 15) and had the chance to marathon it. I felt like I had no air between episodes!

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Yo, mary! Honestly, I've never shipped anyone with Song Jaerim harder than I ship you two.

Re: Gina's comment
That's nicely put. It reminded me of the book God Never Blinks by Regina Brett. It said there that we're not just one age. Inside us is a 5-year-old, a 14-year-old, a 20-year-old, basically every age. It never goes away. They just all pile up and come out from time to time. :)

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Yes, me too. I only ship JR and Mary. These two are the OTP. ^^

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*blush* Thank you, and thank you, mary!

BTW...it was JaeRim that hooked me into this world of Kdrama (TMETS to start) and he woke the fangirl in me I thought was long dead. I'm old enough to be his mom so I while I believe he's one of the best looking guys out there, it's his outlook on life he reveals in his work --- whether onscreen, bts, interviews, fan meetings and esp. his charity work --- that keeps me interested in his career, which I hope is long and successful.

But as a fangirly ajumma, I approve this ship! ?

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Yay, mary! It's about time :) So happy to have you on the team!

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Me, tooooo! Hooray for Mary!!

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LOL about that MOTW comment i was also impressed with how easly the shaman dropped her chances to kill Yon hee by 50% killing the taoists. I think she was probably lieing about the ritual that could kill Yeon-hee all along. I think she wanted the taoist protect the kid until her 17 birthday until the curse gets activated, so she can get her killed and absorve the powers.Otherwise, why whould she kill them?Think about it, she should have know that her powers didn't improve before the ritual, therefore Yeon-hee wasn't really dead. So the only one that can kill her is her brother.

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yeh for Mary

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Hail Mary!

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Mary, yay and yay!!

jomo, I love you!!!!

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As soon as I read that the post was done by Mary, I just can't stop grinning. You're the best, Mary!!!???

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woots I love Beans of Wisdom, its like recapping the comments of the recap. oh. RECAPCEPTION. :o

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Commentcaps or recapments?!

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Commentcaps for the alliteration.

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Yeah, it's our mary! Welcome onboard, mary! I knew that this day was gonna come!

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OMG OMG OMG! mary's officially on board! And jomo's back! I'm doubly happy, because they are two of my favorite commenters ever. (I just realized that they have a lot in common: They're both really funny, creative, kind... and libidinous.) I'm so happy mary's evil genius will be used for the greater good here on DB. We know who'll be doing the SJR interview for DB someday! And jomo, I hope to read you often-- you've been sorely missed!

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Yes, totally agree with you...I miss jomo so much

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*waves to YY* Hi YY, I was really excited to see you were back, too. (I don't know whether or not you saw it, but I commented on your return in the second installment of Beans of Wisdom.)

Every once in a while during a DB anniversary or giveaway, etc., tons of lurkers come out of the woodwork saying that they've been reading DB for years, and just never, or very rarely, comment. So even if you're not getting a lot of "welcome back"s, I know there are plenty of other Beanies who've missed you guys, too.

An appreciative shout out to all the wise, witty, and wonderful commenters here on DB, sunbaes and hoobaes alike-- y'all are jjang!

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Hi, anotheraddict *waves back*...thanks for the kind mention, and your warm and lovely welcome post. You made my day!

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anotheraddict made my day, too! Thanks for the kinds words of re-welcome. :)
You guys are so nice. I love this community muchly, and lord knows I have spent lots of time here.

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YY - you are my favorite, it is no secret.
♥️♥️♥️♥️
One of these days, I'm gonna fly over to your land, knock on your door, and say, "I need a hand towel stat!" and you'll say, "JOMO!"
?
Wouldn't that be grand?!

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That made me laugh so hard LOLOL! Definitely instantaneous recognition! After "JOMO!", I will say, very, very SLOWLY, without any pause or stop:

"Y-O Y-O-Y-O-W-H-A-T-'S-U-P-B-R-O"

I kinda think this will add to the dramatic effect of two old friends like you and me meeting for the first time.

One of these days, I'll fly over to YOUR land, knock on the door and play a violin creakily, yellow wig on my head, with my best zombie face on. How 'bout that?

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LOL
After I run screaming past you out into the street in horror, I will return and welcome you into my home with a big hug.
There you can choose to rest on any piece of furniture, but be careful, there may be a K-actor or two in the room "acting"...

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+1000

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Hello!!! :) :)

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+ 1000

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Darn. This comment was meant as a reply to #12 @anotheraddict but googletagmanager was disabled.ㅜㅜ

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Three cheers and a ? for Mary! But I for one will pout if this means fewer regular comments from her ...

OHYA is generating a special level of conversation and I'm glad to see Miranda's post called out. At first reading it set me back in my chair, too.

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Mary is on board? Yayy! I love reading your witty comments and this is another avenue for you to unleash your pent up thoughts.

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Three cheers for Mary! <3

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mary! Welcome!

*waving*

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Yay, Mary!

Yes, you'd think by now I would have learned, but apparently not...

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I'm too chicken to watch MotW, but your dialogue cracked me up.

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Bwahahaha, it still made for good entertainment! Also, good for you, Mary, we're all proud of you (and so, so jealous)!

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I had the most hilarious imagination going on while reading your dialogue, ROFL.

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Hi Mary!
Well suited for this I think- your suggestions of dramas for me to watch have been spot on so far, so I think you have many Beans of Wisdom to share. Hehe.
It's really nice to see the Dramabeans family growing so much recently and really appreciate everyone's hard work.

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Wow! I never thought my comment would be featured in Beans of Wisdom.

And a very big welcome to Team Dramabeans, Mary.

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mary !

Congratulations on your selection to the Council of Drama Review Goddesses.

Now that you're famous, I expect to see your name involved in a dating scandal involving SJR in the near future.

Do you have fan club ? If so, I'd like a autographed 8 x 10 glossy photo , please.

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We are the mary fan club, right here.

Fan club name: Applebutts
Fan club color: Blush Pink
Lightstick design: don't ask

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Imagine Mary putting up all comments about Rim in Beans of Wisdom and most the comments are about his butt LOL.

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Me, a featured comment? I don't deserve this honor. *grateful sobs*

I actually haven't seen them filming in a little over a week, but that doesn't mean much since they could be doing it during the day when I'm at work. (The part I saw being filmed where Namgoong Min was yelling at Minah is in episode 4, btw. Anyone whose seen that ep can probably guess which scene, since his character doesn't yell a lot.) I thought I saw them the other day, but it turned out to be a different drama, alas.

Seriously though, if any Beanies come to Korea you should seriously consider making Ilsan a stop on your trip. I've lost track of the number of times I've seen film crews, and even if I don't actually see them filming I recognize the areas later in dramas. (Oh Hae-Young Again, for example, has filmed several scenes in Western Dom and LaFesta, which are shopping centers. Running Man also tends to film around here a lot.)

In more fangirly stuff, wahhhhhh Beautiful Gongshim episode 6 tonight! I'm SO EXCITED.

************SPOILERS***************

The final scene in last night's episode had me flailing like crazy. He confessed! Ahahahaha oh my god and the way he did it too. "From now on I'd prefer if you weren't close with any other men." Kyahhhhh and the look on his faceeeee as he goes in for the kisssss!!!!

I just hope they don't turn it into a joke or something and Gongshim understands what he means. She can be pretty (intentionally?) dense, that girl. (I bet the kiss doesn't happen though, dammit. She probably headbutts him.)

But during the whole episode he is alternately seriously sweet and maddeningly childish, like the embodiment of the little boy who who plays well with his crush all day and then pulls on her pigtails when he thinks his feelings are showing too much. It's no wonder Gongshim has had no inkling of his super-obvious (to the rest of us) feelings. He's basically set himself up for failure with the way he plays hot-and-cold with her. His only real hope now is that he can make Gongshim's crush on Junsu transfer to him somehow before Junsu gets his act together.

************END SPOILERS***************

So yeah, definitely excited.

I'm also watching OHYA and MOTW, but they don't really inspire the same flaily fangirlyness that BGS does, for some reason. (I know the reason, and its name is Namgoong Min.)

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Oh, it's most definitely gonna be a joke. Or at least that kind of drama It's just that kind of drama.

Aside from all the comic hijinx, what made episode 5 for me was SPOILER

The sister (Gong Mi) finally getting kicked out of that corrupt world she insists to be part of. I hope it's permanent. Get a taste of the poor lawyer life with Ahn Dan Tae or something. Just don't steal him from Gong Shim.

SPOILER

BTW, are you the same person whose kid studies in the Sassy Go Go school?

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I've thought the same thing kuromitsu. It would be a good life-changing lesson for Gong Mi to have to work pro-bono with Ahn Dan Tae, BUUUUTTTT every time those two exchange glances I start muttering under my breath "no no no - stay away, stay away". Gong Mi needs to be totally ignored while Gong Shim has the two men fighting over her!

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I haven't had a chance to watch ep 6 yet thanks to a husband who doesn't share my taste in dramas, but from the preview it definitely looked like it was played as a joke.

And no, that's not me. I don't have any kids yet.

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"I know the reason, and its name is Namgoong Min."

That's a really good reason. He is the goofiest goofball to ever goof here and I love it.

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I've loved him for a long, long time. (Nearly as long as I've loved Kang Dong-won, now that I think about it!) He's a really silly person who tends to get typecasted (or at least he used to) as the kind and gentle second lead. I'm so glad he's finally broken out of that!

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Meee tooo... BGS just inspires the fangirliness in me... just like healer times.... I was thinking it would never happen to me after healer again...but BGS did it..... and of course the reason is Namgoong Min.

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Yaaaay! It's mary!! Hi mary. I'm so happy for you and can't waait to read more from you!!

Now ill go read the post itself. I skipped to the comment section to read what fellow beanies had to say!

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When I saw that this post was by mary...this is wow! Mary's wishes are coming true one by one.
Have mary met SJR in real life? Could we have an update if this comes true as well?

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Yay for Mary! It's always good to see a fellow DB commenter become part of the writing team. Though, to welcome her would not be right as she is already such an integral part of this area of the internet :) I never read any of her Song Jae Rim- centric comments, but I can imagine her love when the first comments on a SJR post are about her, rather than about SJR.

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when I find myself thinking of dramas
jae rim's mary comes to me
spilling beans of wisdom, let it be

and in my post drama worries
she's right here at dramabeans
spilling beans of wisdom, let it be

couldn't resist. ;) mary, keep up!

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totally loved that 'tvn tv for noona's' comment... and also died laughing for Another Oh Hae Young Again... and for 'I don’t know, but I keep looking at every corner and any secret door at Namgoong Min’s house. Can’t help but think he might have someone locked up again." Beans of Wisdom is awesome..!

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I suggest mary also contributes to "What we're watching" :--)

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Since were writing odes to Mary...

Mary’s now a DBeginner
and her first post is a winner.
Mary loves her SJR
like Indy loves the fastest car
where Rookie Rossi won today.
Let’s give them both a big Hurray!

Welcome to the DB crew
Can’t wait to read more words from you!

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Welcome back Jomo! You have been absent too long.. Looking forward to your comments again.

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At long last, another pome from jomo
Causing me to smile and exclaim "Omo!"

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This made me smile...jomo's crazy poems are legendary!

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What Gina says is very true. You feel the same as you did when the 'adult' you came to being which is prob usually in most people's twenties. And in your head and heart, that's who you are... UNTIL you look in the mirror and you get the jolt of reality and understand why people in their thirties think it's ok to call you aunty!

We will all get there, IF we are lucky.

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♥ beanies, you crack me up. Stay awesome ^^

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maryyyyy!!!! welcome aboard! looking forward to your posts...

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no one mentioned ninjas. not too wise.

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