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[Staff Spotlight] Get to know mistyisles

Explain your username (and/or avatar).

My username is inspired by stories my grandmother made up for my siblings and me when we were kids. I used a version of it on a blog I started in high school, and it kind of evolved from there into my internet username for a number of sites. My avatar is from the DAY6: Even of Day music video for Where the Sea Sleeps. (DAY6 is my favorite band, and that MV is special both as a fan and personally.)

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

First drama was Playful Kiss. But the one that hooked me permanently was Boys Before Flowers.

Name a job or two that you’ve had in the past.

Straight out of university, I taught English in China for four years!

Have you ever lived a moment that you thought belonged in a drama?

When I studied abroad for a semester, I remember joking that I was staying in the Flower Boy Next Door apartment complex – seriously, every resident my roommate and I met there was suuper good-looking, and the ones we interacted with were all very nice, too. (But no, I didn’t end up dating any of them…)

What drama genres do you especially like?

I’ve had favorite dramas in many different genres, but I tend to gravitate towards fusion sageuk, fantasy, sci-fi, crime, thrillers, and youth.

What drama genres do you especially dislike?

I’m not the biggest fan of melodrama, slice-of-life, or medical dramas, unless something about the characters or storyline really grabs me. I also don’t enjoy horror.

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

Nobody Knows’s Cha Young-jin. I see a lot of myself in her, but I also see a lot of the person I want to be: strong, independent, and secure in herself without being callous or unempathetic. Thinking about her inspires me to work at being the person my younger self needed. (And hooray for introverted characters who don’t lose their introverted traits as “character development”!)

What drama character would you want to be?

Aside from the aforementioned… maybe Her Private Life’s Sung Deok-mi? An interesting, stable job in a creative field, friends with my favorite idol, and loved by THE Ryan Gold? Sounds pretty great to me! (But we’ll pretend that childhood friend/almost-like-a-brother/thinks-he-owns-her guy doesn’t exist, because no thank you.)

What was your major in school?

English Writing, which was a hybrid between literature and creative writing.

What’s a random skill you have?

I play the piano, though it’s been years since I took formal lessons.

Favorite non-Korean movie and/or TV show?

Probably Doctor Who.

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

If I could only choose one, I think it would have to be Hongjoong of idol group ATEEZ. The guy’s mind is a fascinating place, and I feel like it would be a really deep but chill conversation.

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

Definitely sloth. I’ve had to learn to set and self-impose deadlines, because if I don’t have a deadline, it very likely won’t get done – even if I want to do it.

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

The main story is set during the Japanese occupation. A baby is kidnapped and raised to become an assassin to carry out his surrogate father’s revenge on the political leaders who betrayed him. When the child grows up, he returns to Korea and joins an (allegedly) Olympic-bound basketball team to hide his true identity. But as he secretly carries out his mission, he becomes entangled with a female reporter who’s tasked with hunting down and exposing his alter-ego. During one of their encounters, she shoots him in the hand, not recognizing who he is. The bullet takes off his thumb. This forces him to learn an entirely new basketball technique so he can keep his cover. The show ends just as he is about to be unmasked and with a literal bomb hurtling through the air, threatening a second season that will never happen because literally no one wants to watch it.

 
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OH, MistyIsles, I remember you from an old theme of the month! So nice to meet again like this 🥰

It's so good to see Nobody Knows getting the attention it deserves!

And your hybrid drama is Basketball and City Hunter, right? Sounds utterly horrendous 😂

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Yes, all the love to Nobody Knows! 🧡

That is correct! Haha it was both fun and horrific to write as well.

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@mistyisles, I knew you did your own first great reviews from Monthly Magazine House. Your writings are excellent and it looked like the best newbie of 2021 and I'm excited to recap you on Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha. (Note: I saw on Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha's Wikipedia page says that it was a slice-of-life! You can do it even though you dislike slice-of-life genre.) Good luck!

BTW, @mistyisles, I was also a fan of Day6 and (sometimes) Doctor Who and your four-year English teacher stint in China was so proud of you! :) Very good for you playing a piano!

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Aw, thank you for your kind words! The good news is that Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha has some fun and interesting characters so far, so I'm not too worried. 😉

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Hiiiiiii~! (And yay for Doctor Who!)

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Yess Doctor Who is 🧡!

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Yay, new minion! I enjoyed the Monthly House recaps also!

I'm definitely a sloth too. It's been an interesting journey with that. I used to put everything off until the last minute because I didn't want to do it, but now I get everything done early so I can get it over with and start being lazy again.

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Thank you!

It is an interesting journey for sure. I'm working on getting to that point myself, but it's definitely still hit or miss sometimes.

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Hi mistyisles,

Looking forward to read more of your writings in DB 🤗

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Thank you!

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I too want to be a Sung Deok-mi when I grow up, stable job plus it being my passion, personality, confidence, friends and family and Sajanim being the cherry on Top what more could a human being want...??

But is playing the piano truly a random skill??

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Haha I suppose it's not totally random, but it was the main one that came to mind. 😅

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Hi,

I think @branwen did the final recap for Monthly Magazine Home. Since you @mistyisles , were the other recapper for the drama, I would like to know your thoughts on the final episode. You haven't mentioned romance as a genre you either like or dislike, so it would be nice to read your take of the dreadful climax.

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Yeah... It wasn't the WORST ending I've seen by any means (see my above most hated drama 😉), but it was definitely a huge let-down. Not only did it not make sense character-wise, it was also frankly boring -- when characters stop acting like the people I've gotten to know during the course of the show, I stop caring about what happens to them.

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@mistyisles, thank you for this introduction and thanks for bringing your special background to us Beanies! We are grateful for your work 👏🏽
And I laughed so hard I could feel the tears starting as I read about “the bullet takes off his thumb and forces him to develop an entirely new basketball technique” 😂

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Thank you! Hahaha believe it or not, I did not make that part up! I only changed who shot the bullet.

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That actually happened in Basketball? Omo🤗 I guess I quit watching before that! Good grief.

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You were wiser than me, then. I also wasn't kidding about it ending with a literal bomb in the air...

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🤔 oh, now you’re making me sorry I missed that! Sounds amazing.

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@bbstl Depends on your definition of "amazing"...

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@mistyisles

Day6 is also my favourite band!! Your avatar makes me want to re-watch the Where the Sea Sleeps' MV. The animation was so delightful! I miss the OT5 comebacks! At least we have YoungK's solo debut to look forward to next week.

I'm looking forward to reading your recaps/reviews and I'll have to add Nobody Knows to my ever growing list of dramas to watch.

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I am SO excited for YoungK's solo debut! But yes, I already miss OT5. 😥

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A wonderful turn of phrase, a real gift for writing, and a sense of humour! I can't wait.

Mistyisles, I love you already!

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Aww thank you!

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Hallo mistyisles~

LOL I thought at first it was Gaksital x City Hunter and wondered why you'd hate one. I'm glad it was Basketball you hated after all XD

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LOL nooooo I love both of those!

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