Beanie level: Eunuch in drag

FLs I’ll never forget – From all dramas I’ve watched in 2021
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Female Lead I’ll never forget – 2021
Jeon Do-Yeon as Lee Bu-Jung
Her Quote “Rather than what you Become, what you Do is more important.” heals me, comforts me magically, on another level! Her words had put a smile on my face when I was really low, what else you would want from a drama character, Human Disqualification indeed came as a healer for me!



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All what I’ve watched since I started watching kdramas, for 3 months.
My roundup 2021 (instead of round up, for me it should be Startup-2021, no? 😀

1. Forest of Secrets S1 – S2
2. My ajusshi
3. Signal
4. The Good Detective
5. Tunnel
6. Mad Dog
7. Beyond Evil
8. The Veil
9. Life
10. Lost / Human Disqualification
11. Squid Game
12. Mouse
13. Move to Heaven
14. The Devil Judge
15. The King: Eternal Monarch
16. Voice – s1 s2
17. Are You Human too?
18. Memorist
19. Sunbae, don\’t put on that lipstick
20. Hometown
21. SISYPHUS: The Myth

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Guys! I was writing my Round-up on my Fanwall, it is allowing only 200 characters,not letting me write beyond,I saw others\’ fan wall & it was way beyond 200 letters! Am I at wrong place???

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    You’d have to type it up somewhere else, in my case, notes app on my phone. Then copy paste it here. It will allow you to post more than 200 characters then. Just don’t edit it once u paste it here.

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      Ahh… thanks a ton!!

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      Weird… but thank you!!!

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      I just type it in a “reply” box under one of my old posts and copy and paste from there. It saves going in and out of your browser.

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    I’m glad I wasn’t the only one with this problem! I was just about to post the same question.

    Does it have anything to do with how much we have used the fan wall until now?

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      No the fanwall posts have always been like that. You need to write somewhere else, even as a reply and then copy paste. I usually do it from my phone however, if you’re on your laptop or desktop then one way doesn’t work it’s either using the mouse or the keyboard to copy paste, I don’t quite remember right now.

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      If you’re doing it on your computer, use the mouse to paste it. If you use the keyboard shortcut, the 200-word limit still applies.

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Everybody\’s talking about Red sleeve cuff, is it really worth watching, as my first Sageuk?

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    To be honest, it’s hard to say now because there are only 6 episodes out. But it’s pretty good.

    Maybe you should start by one that is already over. If you’re not scared by lengthy dramas, Six Flying Dragons was good or Nokdu Flower (that was more about commoners than Palace intrigues). My Country was shorter and full of emotions.

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    I’m not a sageuk watcher…. but since everyone is singing its praise so I just watched ep 5 and 6. It’s worth the while because the acting is all around good and the production value is top notch, especially blending in the orchestral music to heighten the richness of the whole experience. Will backtrack ep 1-3 tomorrow.

    At the same time, this story has the most intriguing backdrop from Joeson. I always find the Prince Sado story fascinating and RS’s focus on his son is just as fascinating.

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    I am watching it with my mom and sister. It is very enjoyable and the actors are doing a great job.

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    There is only 6 episodes of this drama to base my opinion on but so far its been top notch. Acting, music, cinematography and healthy dose of court politics expected in this genre.

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    This is the right pick as your first drama because the politics is almost as good as a mystery thriller. If you are looking for romance, then it has ample amount of that too but then, it might end on a tragic note.

    As a first time watcher you might be confused with the ministers, especially at night in the dark because they all wear the same robes (😂😂 Well, that was the case with me). Even the titles of all the people in the palace, minister’s occupation, the different clans and every other official ruling term might be confusing but but then you will soon learn to differentiate it😁

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    Oh as your first Sageuk! Oh I dunno! I really wanna say yes but a first Sageuk seems like such a important thing hehe
    I mean I think I just jumped into them blind back in the day, but then I started with a fusion fantasy sageuk lol.

    Sageuks can be such a divisive genre- not in a bad way, just that typically I’ve found, especially with classic trad sageuks, like this, you either like them or you don’t.

    I personally think the complimentary history of trad sageuks often makes them more enjoyable, (when they’re done well that is) but this might not be the case for everyone; you might just need Junho instead 😂

    If you like history, and don’t mind that being a spoiler, and that being an incredibly sad spoiler in this case, this might be ok, but as has been mentioned, it might be confusing for a bit if you’re unfamiliar with the setting.
    But we’d all be happy to answer any questions you might have about anything if necessary. 🖤

    That being said, although so far it is doing well, a lot of us are nervous because of the writer’s previous sageuk credits, so I do just have to mention that haha.

    If you decide to watch! Welcome to the world of Sageuks!

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      Ohh okay!
      That’s so nice of you all to assure me with your help if I encounter any questions while watching! So I’ll just dive in it!!
      Thanks again everyone @kurama , @sirena , @epyc2010 , @sicarius @emsel @jillian @jorobertson 😊
      Btw guys I just finished binge watching The Devil judge, and came out as a fan of Ji sung, any other good drama of him, or drama like devil judge (where the chemistry btwn ML’s is top notch!?)

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        No worries! We like new sageuk peeps hehe

        Unfortunately I can’t personally help with Jisung, as I’ve only seen 5 episodes of Devil Judge of him and nothing else hahaha

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        I liked him in Kill Me Heal Me and thought it was good. I also liked Familiar Wife and Secret Love. If u are a fan of Jisung and Kim Min Jung, they were in an old drama, New Heart, together. I have not seen it so unable to comment on that.

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        “Familar Wife” is another of Ji Sung that was really good ❤

        Also, most beanies here would recommend “Kill Me Heal Me”, but I haven’t yet watched it.

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        @unniunni You’re very welcome 🙂

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      My first sageuk was Faith, and I didn’t know what a sageuk was… it was interesting and learned about Goryeo and Joseon.
      Faith is an easy one if you get over Female lead and you learn about a very interesting period of time in history.

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        I think my first full sageuk, that is not just parts of a show that in the past, like You From Another Star, was Arang and the Magistrate… lmao.

        Faith, as far as I know, was written by Song Ji Na, who is actually a good writer, but from what I know of Faith it’s the directing that lets it down lol. I don’t think I could ever watch it now though.

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    It’s hard to give objective advice about this if, like me, you rarely pass a sageuk by. 😃 To get the best out of it, you should look into the history too. Of course not all are historical fiction. Some are fusion and pure fantasy. Red Sleeve is charged with the sexual tension between the leads. That certainly helps the momentum. You might find The Crowned Clown a good one too. But as I said, they are my go to dramas. Funnily enough the only one I couldn’t watch was Owner of the Mask.

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      ajkdhfgak oh no if you recc TCC, then I have to unrecc it HAHAHA. Don’t start watch TCC Unni! I implore you! 😂

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        My husband loved it and it’s v rare for him to watch a kdrama. He won’t watch contemporary ones and he’s fairly impatient with almost everything, but he loved that. Now he’s watching The King’s Affection. Tell me @sicarius why would you not recommend TCC?

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          TCC, dramalover, is infamously (no really I have a rep), my most hated Kdrama of all time.

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            Each to his own 😆

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            The reasons being are many, and complex. If I had to summarise, I find the treatment of the King’s character, the moral themes, and the resolution, to be fundamentally technically flawed, reprehensible, and unsatisfactory.

            These doesn’t cover all my thoughts and feelings about it, but it is just easier to link what I have already written on it–

            Midshow essay: https://www.dramabeans.com/members/sicarius/activity/709687/
            My final essay: https://www.dramabeans.com/members/sicarius/activity/734770/

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            Ok I’ll read it. Get back to you later.

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            Great reading/writing @sicarius I get your frustration. Before I read your critique, I thought about how I understood the drama. I remembered that I read it as an allegory that asks a question about the best sort of ruler for the kingdom. What if the king were the people, from the people, of the people? What if someone who satirized the king in the most devastating clownish ways, became the ruler? Would he be a better ruler than the king, especially when everything about the king was damaging for the people? I love a bad boy as much as anybody, and I love a redemptive arc, failed or otherwise. For a long time, I thought the death by the sea was a fake out, and he would reappear to complicate things, but he didn’t. His lonely and terrible death was the saddest thing, and I agree with @leetennant that it was profoundly symbolic, but I’d argue, far from meaningless. His death was the death of the ruler who had cold-heatedly engineered his ascendancy. It’s the death of the old order. He was not a good king for his people. He had no sense of them as a people. He was wrong in every way, and he was everything that symbolized a corrupt hereditary line of the ruling elite. I agree with what you say about the intention of the drama, “They wanted, I think, to tell the story of someone from a lower class who is better at serving the people of a nation than those who have been corrupted in power; they wanted to tell the story of what it would be like to put someone like a Clown on the throne”. But they go further than that. As LT says, his death “felt bigger than this one person”. It works if you look at it as an allegory and the individuals as symbolic. It becomes a story about “the people”, knowing their own needs, and governing themselves, and that’s why the drama has the doppelganger. They flip the coin. The bad king is killed (in reality and symbolically) and the good king, who looks just the same, is the right ruler, the one who is fit to rule the kingdom for the people because he is of the people. It would have been revolutionary and completely subversive and unimaginable in that era. It’s quite profound, and it’s something Tolkien would absolutely endorse. I get that you are looking at the character development through a writer’s eyes, but I don’t know that seeing it as you would write it makes the most sense of it. The king could never have had a redemptive arc because he belonged to the old order and that was done with when someone of the people became the ruler and ushered in a new era. The people are everything. They are the source of real strength in this country. When all else fails, the people fight for and save the country. That’s the fundamental Korean narrative, and it’s not simplistic but founded in very real history.

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            will read and reply on the morrow! … although should we be discussing this on this thread if Unni hasn’t seen? Spoilers you know hahaha

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            Happy to discuss elsewhere. Just occurred to me too that the Clown is the King’s redemptive arc. (Sorry couldn’t help myself)

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          I think The Crowned Clown is kinda like “the journey is more important than the destination”. I liked this drama, it was beautiful and the actors were great. But the end didn’t make any sense…

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    I want to recommend few of my fave but as your first sageuk though… I dont want to be responsible if you end up turning away from sageuk 😂😂😂

    But as for now, I’m liking The red sleeve

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    @unniunni don’t read the long bit I wrote below in response to sic if you would like to avoid spoilers for The Crowned Clown. Sorry!

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      heyy it’s completely fine dear, no need to sorry!
      anyways I didn’t read it, I knew what you guys were talking about!

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@yuyuu
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Designed header for my account, how’s it?
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Night – Rooftop – Music – Sharing Food – Silent Stares and #Lost
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    Their facial expressions! So subtle. SO GOOD. I feel like I always need to replay their scenes together!

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      Haha, same here, while taking these screenshots I probably saw this more than thrice! 🤭

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“I can guess what kind of instant noodles you got”
“Wow”
I’m already in love with this pair!
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It was so heartwarming to see her smile, even when it was a faint one. Can’t wait for her to be happy!



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Same Vibes!



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For me these were the most precious gifts given in any kdrama 💕

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