[Staff Spotlight] Get to know dramallama

by dramallama

Explain your username (and/or avatar if you wish).

Llamas are very friendly and curious animals, much like me. But when they are bothered or provoked, their fights can be very dramatic and I, too, will spit, wrestle, and kick to fight my way up the social ladder of my herd. Just kidding. Although llama fights do vaguely resemble drama fights, I simply chose my username because “llama” rhymes with “drama.”

What is the first drama that you watched (or the first drama that made an impression)?

Since my grandma was a big fan of dramas, there was always some drama playing in the background throughout my childhood. But the first one that left an impression was Autumn Fairy Tale. It had multiple elements and tropes that would rarely be combined into a single drama today—birth secrets, terminal illness, and an angsty and gorgeous second lead in Won Bin—so it was basically a drama on steroids. I remember finding only the last three episodes on videocassettes and watching them over and over and over. I was hooked.

Tell us about job or two that you’ve had in the past.

I’ve done some research in science, and the one project that gets the most alarming responses is an experiment measuring the behavioral effects of cocaine on rats. It’s yet the cruelest thing I’ve ever done in my life.

What’s your favorite drama that you recapped?

Misaeng. Having no prior knowledge about the webtoon, I had no expectations for the show, and initially, I don’t think the drama had much of an audience outside of its cult following. So it was incredible to experience the growth in popularity through the recaps, and it was rewarding for me to grow attached to a show that I wasn’t expecting to relate to and love so much.

What drama genres do you especially like?

Rom-coms and any crime show—dark, procedural, or comedic.

What drama genres do you especially dislike?

I try to avoid kimchi-slap/plastic-surgery-double-identity/birth-secret makjangs and dramas longer than 30 episodes. Long-term commitment scares me.

Is there a drama character you’ve ever strongly identified with, and why?

Go Hyun-jung’s character in Dear My Friends. She wasn’t always likable, but she was so relatable in an uncanny way. The painful grudges that tainted the love between mother and daughter were far more violent than what I’ve experienced with my mom, but during the show’s run, my mom would call me and imply that her character was similar to me. Yikes. I could emotionally empathize with the character, but I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing. On a lighter note, I did also relate to Park Shin-hye’s hermit character in Flower Boy Next Door. It’s nice to imagine myself as Go Dok-mi, knowing that my Enrique will one day coax me out of my shell in his panda suit.

What drama character would you want to be?

I dream of being Park Min-young’s character in Healer because she’s spunky, spontaneous, and fearless. Oh, and that night-errand boy the drama is named after. If he’s not a part of the package, I want a refund.

What was your major in school?

Neuroscience, public health.

What’s a random skill you have?

Volleyball. I still love playing pick-up games whenever I can, since it makes me feel alive and functional. Plus, it gets me out of the house.

Favorite non-Korean movie and/or TV show?

Criminal Minds, Scrubs, Community, and, more recently, Jane the Virgin with its cheeky telenovela tone, which makes me hopeful for better cultural blending of Korean/American TV.

Which Hallyu celebrity would you actually want to meet and spend an hour with?

Rain. He’s a jack of all trades and arguably a master of all of them, and I want to have a real unfiltered conversation about everything he’s ever done and what he’s learned. I imagine that he’d have some good life advice, but I’d probably miss most of it because of how starstruck I would be. It’s not every day that you’re graced by the presence of a legend.

Which of the 7 deadly sins would be your undoing? (Pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, or sloth.)

Gluttony. The universe blessed me with zero food allergies, and I interpreted that as a mission to eat everything. The third circle of hell is for future me to deal with.

Your favorite drama has an unholy alliance with your most hated drama and produces a mutant baby drama. Describe the plot.

A poor high school girl meets a super-rich guy in Canada. Turns out, they both go the same school full of rich and elite chaebol heirs. The rich dude likes her, so as a romantic gesture, he asks her to pull out the enchanted sword in his chest. But she’s distracted by the dude’s frenemy in the ugly black hat because he gives her tea that erases her memory. Angsty and sad times ensue, but they are all reincarnated as the same people who are still rich and can get everything they want. Except for the poor girl. She is always poor.

 
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