This is just gonna be the whole show isn’t it. We’re gonna be here till day 10, the election, betrayal no. 4, and episode 16. Was this intended to be a one setting show? ಠ_ಠ
I am so very, very, glad I am not watching this show. Yet I am also sad because it means there could have been another show with the same actors I could have watched instead. 😥
FRAQ. I wasn’t gonna start this because I hate terminally ill tropes and then an extremely fluffy but mentally unstable KKN fell in love with her at first sight right after she killed someone, which is exactly my kind of weird, AND NOW I’M WEAK FOR THEM.
This was a bad idea.
SUWON AND HWASEONG FORTRESS: PART ONE
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. RED SLEEVE CUFF has ended and I decided to drop it at Episode 12, and thus avoided the last 5 episodes, which, from what I hear, is probably for the better.
But I have nothing more to contribute to the drama itself; it is my final and overall impression that this drama did not know what to do with its story, or what it needed to be, to be a good story, specifically the best version of itself, but as we all were, or well I was anyway, very apprehensive going into this in the first place, worried it was going to burn out, well I’m just left being ironically not very surprised.
Instead of a last Hangout Thread though, I wanted to post something about Suwon. You can treat this as a hangout thread if you like, I don’t really mind, I’ll still tag you all – but the contents of this post are not related to the drama, and more to do with the real history behind the drama. Or rather one of the historical settings behind the drama.
In the years 1794 till 1796, King Jeongjo (San) built the Fortress and Palace of Hwaseong in Suwon, to house and honour the remains of his father, Prince Sado.
Jeongjo initially had plans to move the capital from Seoul to Suwon, and the fortress was built to include elements of a wall, defensive fortress, and town centre, in response to the collapse of the Korean front line during the Imjin war, where separate mountain fortresses were used for populace evacuation in times of war, and the towns themselves were less fortified. Significant portions of the Fortress were destroyed or damaged during Japanese Occupation and the Korean War but it has been almost entirely rebuilt/reconstructed. It is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
In 2019 I went to South Korea for around about three weeks, including travel time. I visited Busan, Sokcho and Seoul, mainly, with day trips to Gyeongju, Seoraksan National Park, and you guessed it, Suwon.
I cannot remember now how I found out about it – (I was probably looking up historic things to visit because I like going to historic landmarks)- but I went to Suwon nearer the end of my trip and time in Seoul, specifically to visit the fortress, and it ended up being in my top three favourite days of the entire trip. It was long (as most of them were), and it could’ve been longer, but it was a very satisfying and enjoyable day.
Obviously by now the modern city has outgrown the historic walls, so the fortress walls run in a big loop through the city, and you can walk along this entire length. There are multiple other features along the wall, including four main massive gates, several turrets, towers, sentry posts, pavilions, and secret gates, two culverts/ floodgates, and just below the hill the West side of the wall crosses, is Haenggung, meaning detached palace.
Suwon is about an hour south of Seoul by train, and I am not a very energetic traveller- that is, I get tired very easily and have to plan my days accordingly. (This doesn’t help when you’re alone in Seoul for 9 days, a city that literally only wakes up at night, and stuck in a hole in the wall hostel… rip…)
There was also the palace itself I wanted to go to, (taking the total number of palaces I visited on that trip up to, I think it was, 6). This meant that I only had time to walk half the fortress wall length. But I chose the bit with the hill, which meant I go to look out over the city whilst doing so. And also kill my knees by walking up the 50 and 1 millionth set of extant stairs. Please. Korea. Why do you love stairs so much. My knees.
I reached Suwon in time for lunch, and visited the palace first, before walking along a wee artistic district street to the easiest place to access the paths along the Wall, just opposite the South Gate (which is a roundabout now haha). Like most historic places in Korea, and most national parks, you have to pay to enter these- but they’re very cheap, only a couple of thousand won. Although in Hwaseong’s instance, despite the fact they give you a ticket and little sticker to say you have paid to enter the hill park and walk by the wall, I really don’t know how they manage to police it since the wall is open to the entire City of Suwon.
But never mind policing entry…
See- the other thing about this Fortress Wall is… that it’s so very, very easy to climb on to from the inside and … walk along… on top of the wall…
By the time I had passed two secret gates (which my writerly imagination had a lot of fun with), and snacked on some grapes at a pavilion, the part of my brain that if it sees something climbable MUST climb The Said Thing, was unable to be ignored and I gave into temptation. Not just to climb onto the wall to take better photos of various points, but also to walk along entire sections of it.
…
Did I get stared at? Oh my gosh yes.
Where there any signs telling me not to? Not a single one.
Would I totally go back at sunset and do it again? Absolutely.
Nobody said anything either. Lol.
When I reached the North Gate however, apparently the biggest gate of its kind in South Korea, I was by this point extremely tired and very hungry.
And it was at that point also, that my phone decided to spontaneously combust! Er… that is, suddenly did not connect to the data from the SIM card plan I had been relying on all trip, got stuck on an outgoing ghost call I didn’t make (and there it remained stuck for … two years, I might add), and the battery dropped like it had just been thrown off a cliff, or it too had been set on fire. (This was, if any of you remember related stories, where my Zombie Phone adventures began. I to this day, have no idea why it suddenly decided to reject the SIM card.)
I would’ve liked to have walked farther but that was it for me.
So I bought a letter opener, which is a very normal touristy item to buy, managed to find the right bus to take off the gift shop wifi, and then went and got Galbi. For one. Because apparently that’s what Suwon is known for. Well, the galbi, not the… for one.
You can’t actually order Korean BBQ for one person in Korea- you basically have to order for two, and then hope you’re hungry enough to eat all of it yourself. You usually are, but it can be very expensive, and also really lonely. Because man is Korean BBQ made for… having… friends.
I didn’t used to get lonely when travelling alone, and I still prefer it in certain scenarios and circumstances, but meals in Korea are so much of a cultural fellowship thing. After a point I started to specifically get really lonely not having anyone to eat with or go find interesting food with.
Nonetheless I miss Korea like crazy and would definitely go back to Suwon to explore it more, both the modern city and the fortress. Just maybe with a friend next time haha. .
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Below are some of my pictures from the trip, and I will share a second post a bit later as well, because I can’t fit them all in one.
Having good memories of historical places I have been to of the relevant era definitely lessens the burn of RED SLEEVE sucking. That and I stopped caring. 😛
Thus concludes my RED SLEEVE HANGOUTS. Thank you all who joined and participated- I fell off a bit at the end but I hope y’all don’t mind.
Here’s to the next, and hopefully much better, sageuk.
x
Love the pictures! I would really like to see Suwon, it’s #1 on my list should I ever go back. Red Sleeve was not a disaster for me at all, it just feels like they wanted to tell a romance that happened to feature real historical figures. I’m glad I watched it, plus the performances were great and it was beautiful. But you definitely saved on Kleenex by checking out early 😆
(IIRC- I took a bus from the main train station to the city centre opposite the palace, first, and that helped orientate me. I have no idea what you did, I’m just trying to think of useful tips for next time! haha)
That was a low budget trip back in 2017 and I relied on public internet and physical map xD (I know it’s silly, I learned from that and have since purchased a SIM card for net every time I go). Also, I’m no longer shy to ask around so I’m sure I’ll be able to find the place next time. Another thing, I remember they had some construction going on then, which made it harder to find the entrance.
I LOVE Kakaomap and KakaoMetro! Now, I’m starting to miss Korea.
Physical map! Omo. I kinda love that that’s so old school hehe.
But yes to the SIM cards, eh. I was in Seoul for just 3 measly days in 2017 as well and only did public internet then and like no research… although my SIM card kaarked it just before the end of my trip in ’19 (so annoying- at least by that point I knew what cafes had wifi), it was definitely the best decision.
Ah! Maybe they were working on part of it. Oh well! Hope you get there next time~
Thank you for this wonderfully evocative post and the pics. Your writerly voice is captivating and engaging. I daydreamed that I was travelling too as I read your post. How fortunate were you to go in 2019 before the pandemic made travelling for fun a distant dream.
I was about to ask for some tips on solo travel until I read your “prolly should go with a friend”. I guess you still had lots of fun.
Let’s just leave this post to Suwon and Hwaseong. This interests me more than the show I want to stop talking about 😂
I mean I can give you some tips anyway if you’d like! hahaha
What would you like to know? Haha For Korea or just in general?
1/?
Like I said, usually, I am fine travelling alone, I enjoy it- although perhaps I’m growing out of it somewhat- but I just felt it so much more on that excursion to Seoul especially, than like ever before. For a lot of reasons I think.
I stayed there for too long, for one. I was in Seoul for 9 days at the end of my trip, which was about 1 or 2 days too many methinks. I like visiting cities, but I’m not a big city person, and Seoul is one of the biggest metro areas in the world, so after that long, the city started to drain on me. Probably partly why I enjoyed Suwon so much tbh, because it got me OUT of Seoul lmao.
I also just specifically found – Seoul in particular, tends to, as I said, wake up at night, and things like the night markets, and Seoul night life, I think would be easier to navigate, and better enjoyed, and also somewhat safer, if you have someone to go with.
I went to one of the famous markets during the day, and it was packed in its centre, shoulder to shoulder- I tend to hate crowds and this was borderline claustrophobic, so this was awful for me. I didn’t have anyone to guide me, and I wasn’t confident enough in my spoken Korean (which is poor anyway) to push myself through and order for myself- so I left almost immediately after arriving. It’s something like that I think that I would find going with a friend or several, would be more enjoyable. Especially someone who SPOKE Korean.
And kinda in a similar vein with eating— Eating alone can be fun, but eating in Korea is culturally something you do WITH people, to extend friendship, or a romantic interest, or workplace relationships, or as a sign of thanks and respect, but also as a sign of inclusion, and hey, eat with us, we want to know more about you; that’s why in kdramas treating people to meals is always such a big thing, and why “have you eaten” doubles as “how are you”. You can’t help but wanting to share that with someone after a certain point.
Another one of the things I think that didn’t help, was that my accommodation in Seoul was really average.
In Seoul for accommodation you basically have two options if you are not rich- you either get a really good location, near everything you want to see, and with easy access to the main subway lines, for a really good price! but it’s cheap and nasty.
Or you get nice accommodation for the same price, but it’s an hr away from everything by subway.
It’s really hard to get both, and prices for good accommodation in the city centre tend to sky rocket.
I went for location over quality, and this was a bad idea.
It was cheap, and that was good, but it was a sort of hole in the wall type hostel, where they rented out individual rooms on airbnb, with a shared kitchen and shared bathrooms, and there was no window in my personal hole.
There was a mini fridge in my room, and free rice, but there were also insects in the kitchen and bathrooms… It was dingy, and not relaxing, and I found it really, really hard.
As I said, I get tired really easily traveling, so somewhere to go back to, to rest and rejuvenate for the next adventure, was something I needed, but didn’t have.
I found myself just spending as long as possible away from my room during the day, but this just made me more tired, and triggered my anxiety more, but I had no one as support and nowhere else to go, other than… well more tea shops in Insadong. There was no way I had energy for night life by the end of this either, nor I did wake up feeling refreshed.
So one of my primary tips, whether you are alone or with someone else, is pay for Good Accommodation. Just do it.
My hey days of hostelling are over, and they tend to be a certain kind of accommodation, that is not really my scene. They tend to attract certain kinds of people, younger generations and backpackers, that’s common, as well as party orientated people, which, though I want fellowship, I am not. They’re also not relaxing places to stay, because they usually have stairs (yeah I have thing against stairs), the rooms are more like communal living, bunk beds etc, than a place for true rest. For me, when travelling, I want somewhere after a long day of exploring to come back to and rest. I don’t know why there is this massive culture among travel ideologies of constantly having to do things, with no rest. It’s both absurd, and actually impossible for some people. You can’t properly enjoy yourself if you’re constantly burnout. 8 years ago I could manage the hostel life better, but not anymore. And tbh, the place I stayed in Seoul was worse than a hostel. So unless you are someone that thrives off that kind of environment, I think it is more worth it to pay that little bit extra to have somewhere nice to stay. I should’ve done this in both Busan and Seoul, although Seoul was the worse of the two. Sokcho had one of the best Airbnbs I’ve ever stayed in though.
Another tip I would suggest is do a shittone of restaurant and eating research before going. In and around where you’re staying, or going for the day, as well as specific things you want to try.
Again this would be easier with someone who knows the foody places, but you’ll save so much time trying to figure out where to eat, especially if you need food asap or last minute. I didn’t do this quite enough.
I also think making food part of the thing to do would probably be a good idea? I kinda did this too but I think I’d also do it more next time. Like actively just have entire days where food is the main attraction and event. Haha.
Supermarkets in Korea are expensive, eating out is cheaper, or going to actual markets- which again benefit from prior research. Convenience Stores are actually Convenient. Seoul is at least two thousand won more expensive than Busan.
A lot of my tips tend to come from how I personally travel. Thus I don’t know how applicable these will be to you specifically but I guess that is one tip for solo travel then- figure out how YOU travel; how you work, what you need, what you like.
For Korea specifically:
– Get Kakao or Naver Maps, or both, it will save your life. The phone apps have English versions, you can bookmark locations easily, they have inbuilt subway and bus timetables that only steered me wrong once, and they cover the entire country.
– Get a T-money card- this can be used for intercity buses and subways country wide, and even at some shops works like a cash-card.
– If you’re there for long enough that it will be worthwhile, and going to places where wifi will be scarcer, get a Korean SIM card for the data plan alone. Honestly, I’d recommend this anyway, because it means you always have a map, a dictionary, and a browser at your fingertips.
I’m sure I can think of more but that’ll do for now, this is already so much hahah
Thanks Sic for such a detailed post. We tend to be similar when it comes to wanting good rest, and not being a big fan of big cities (I think a country’s history is more unique than anything else so that needs exploration during travel) and also food but not as much to give it an entire day haha. Idk if Korea will ever be possible for me. As you said having someone alongside that speaks Korean or the native language of the country makes traveling and especially eating out easier. Maybe someday when beanies plan their Korea trip, some of us can help with their Korean skills 😝. Plus thanks for the insight on the accomodation facilities, transport and eating culture. I could gather some from dramas but didn’t thinks “have you eaten” also refers to” how are you”.
Ahahaha! Absolutely yes to a country’ history. Idk man… you say that… but there’s just so many tea shops to cover, and so much food to try… 😛 😛 it’s ok, I can do a whole day of food with someone else hehehe maybe @bammsie. Definitely bammy actually haha. And you can just join for the bits you want to.
I managed fine with my broken Korean and pointing at things on the menu, but the opportunities would be more if I had someone that spoke it.
Haha yes! Sounds like a plan.
Hey, not a problem, glad they were helpful/interesting in someway!! ^-^
(You ever notice how parents will always ask their kids, especially those living away from home, if they’re eating well? And always bring them side dishes? Food is a love language hah. )
Yes, I enjoyed Sic’s photos and travel tips more than the last episodes of the show (thank you, Sic, for the photos and the tag <3). Ironically, when the show was still ongoing, I craved every single post about it. I lurked in dramabeans to see if the number of comments on the RSC hangout thread had increased and to wait for Sic’s tag 😅. I read “What we’re watching” and open threads to see if anyone was talking about it. But now, when the show is talked about all over the internet, I don’t care anymore 😂. Although I did enjoy the show until I quit, I don’t get the hype about it. Do Junho and Se-young take all the credit?
I don’t know if the last qs is meant to be rhetorical but I’ll answer it anyways lol. I think Junho’s rising popularity at the time of the release of the show did help. Though, it still didn’t start off with really high ratings. It’s the return of the tsundere, the push and pull between the main leads and the wait for the couple to be together that never gets old. All these tropes are cliched but always attract audiences. Tbh the last point is also why I kept watching till the end.
Lol I’m similar Healer. I was enjoying it at first, and relished in the conversations initiated on here about it… but now it’s over, and I dropped it, I don’t care. In fact I care even less since it seems to me it is overhyped and overrated for what it is.
@wapz: That’s a genuine question, not rhetorical 😅. I think the RSC production team promoted the drama very well. Junho talked about his diet on several shows, he appeared on MBC radio star and on other radio shows with Se-young twice… But again, other production teams do that all the time too. So ultimately it’s as you said, it was the cliches and the chemistry shown in the drama and behind the scenes between the leads that attracted audiences.
@ Sic: Exactly. Because it is overhyped and overrated, it made me care less 🙂
Thank you for sharing your adventure in Korea, Sic! I look forward to having my turn to go there with a very, very, very long list of historical places to visit, LOL. I love eating at my Korean friends’ homes. They are always so generous with food, and I get to take home kimchi and rice cakes every time.
Thanks to you, I’ll be making galbi (cheater’s version) for dinner. Yummmm!
I haven’t seen the last few episodes of RED SLEEVE yet, and it’s becoming a bad habit for me. I don’t think I’ve ever finished a sageuk this year, but I have gone back and rewatched some from old favorites like Conspiracy in the Court, Hwang Jin-Yi, Shin Don, Chuno and Queen Insoo, etc. I think I connect more with the older writers than we have now. They were well versed in their craft, and I find their interpretations fascinating and eye-opening.
Anyway, I love this kind of wall post. I know I’ll come back and reread it.
I went to quite a few on this trip anyway, but I think I would go to even more if I ever get back haha.
Ah I have a Korean couple I know from church actually that has invited me round for dinner. I need to get back to them about that! I want Kimchi jigae! haha
I finished 3 somehow, but… well… you know how they all were haha.
I want to watch a good sageuk now, I need to CLEANSE my brain with one!
I’d love to be your “friend” eating Korean bbq the next time you go! It sounds lovely! And I can just tag along. I’m a much better tag-alonger than planner. Ask my hubby. 😆
Ahahaha! Awww oh please, and good! Tag-alongers are perfect because they’re chill with whatever the planner has planned. Add a dash of spontaneity and we’re good to go.
1- FL you will never forget.
I personally really liked that one abandoned car park that turned up a minimum of three times this year. It did a lot of heavy lifting.
2- ML you will never forget.
Bead Boy, who was definitely totally the actual Protagonist of Special Royal Inspector and Joy…
3- The drama with the best costumes / wardrobe.
Ah yes… Ju Ji Hoon’s styling in Jirisan- 10/10. He should unquestionably keep that haircut…
4- That mess you watched and you still wonder why.
COuldn’t be Jirisan, it was impeccable.
5- The drama that will always live in your memory.
Jirisan’s beautiful scenery, shot so lovingly, with such care, all those dramas with accurate physics, especially Sisyphus, every time they DIDN’T pull out the sharp pointy thing or extract dna from ashes… oh wait.
6- The OST you are obsessed with.
Well you see now, the OST of Jirisan, just fit its story so perfectly, the themes of the lyrics matched the themes of the show well and really elevated the main characters’ romantic storyline…
(actually I unironically like Stay by O3ohn though lmao)
7- The OTP you didn’t think you would adore.
Obviously JJH² from Jirisan-
8- The drama beanies convinced you to watch and you can’t be grateful enough.
I would like to thank my own hubris… for starting more dramas than average this year… and hating most of them, and for starting Special Royal Inspector And Joy when I wasn’t gonna only to get stupidly attached and subsequently burnt… and Park Shin Hye for making writing my shitpost lore INCREDIBLY easy for me.
9- The oldie (not 2021) you loved the most.
Both So I Married An Anti Fan and Mouse actually aired in 2012 and have been sitting in the basement for 9 years and you can’t convince me otherwise.
10- Best confession.
Jirisan had a wonderful confession doncha know.
It was so stirring, and heart wrenching, what a beautiful reunion and bittersweet moment after such a tragic separation. It was so emotionally moving and cathartic to see those two finally meet after so long, after such hurt and pain… truly iconic *sniffs*.
11- Secondary character that stole your heart and the show (SL, villains, kid…).
Jirisan, The Mountain, ofc. Both SL, villain, and a child at heart… probably. Also probably hiding Jeffrey in a suitcase somewhere.
12- Best quote / oneliner. “a mountain is just a mountain” ”It had been such a long time since I was able to have that much fun.”
13- Drama beanies loved but you didn’t / Drama you loved but beanies didn\\’t.
My version of everything that aired this year.
14- Most memorable scene.
Death By Sentient Mountain.
HM: Whatever the ever-loving shit Mouse and Sisyphus’ first episodes were.
15- Saeguk Special Edition: most unnecessary death.
(… I’m still sensitive ok…)
16- Best non human character (animal, mythological / magical creature, braincell, etc.).
Jirisan, the Mountain, please, without a doubt.
17- Best idol turned actor.
You know, Yoon Kye Sang, as he was part of g.o.d. for five years, is technically… an idol actor.
18- Best cameo.
Ju Ji Hoon in his own show.
19- Your 2021 crush.
I didn’t have any crushes this year, none whatsoever… *Stuffs Bead Boy and Sun into her handbag and then stuffs the handbag behind her back surreptitiously*
20- That shirtless scene out of the blue you are so grateful (screenshot will be welcomed).
Things that would’ve made Jirisan better: this probably. Because it certainly wouldn’t have made it worse.
21- That cute little drama.
Gosh I wish there was a cute little drama this year…
22- Best secretary / assistant.
Considering it took me like 10 whole minutes to think of an actual normal non shitpost entry for this category????? Thing 1 and Thing 2 <3
23- Best bromance / womance.
Ju Ji Hoon and the Mountain.
Bead Boy and Taec, in SRI+J’s true canon.
I can count at least two female dominant cults this year, so those.
Thing 1 and Thing 2.
24- Your secret pleasure.
The Suitcase 500.
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Now I’m going to disappear into the new year till I have something worthwhile written to post from my numerous drafts and half promised works~~
Merry Liminal Spacemas, and, oh all right- Happy New Year.
I recently finished watching Crime Puzzle so my impromptu freestyle category is for 2021 Violent Dramas.
Most Violent Death, Highest Body count, Worst use of violence in a kdrama… So many contenders, where does one start. 🙃
My personal entries for most Interesting and Inventive Violent Deaths of the Year, go to Taec’s Death in Vinnie, apparently All of Mouse, even though I didn’t watch it, and The Tree Guillotine Death in Crime Puzzle. ಠ_ಠ
If you have any bloody… favourites… please feel free to share. There were many. Like Asin’s zombie biowarfare on the entire continent of Eurasia…
Is it just me or was there a weirdly high number of excessively violent dramas this year? (none of which used their violence very well I might add…):
Taxi Driver
Mouse
Vinnie
My Name
Crime Puzzle
Bad and Crazy
Squid Game
Devil Judge
Dr. Brain
Penthouse
D.P.
The Veil
Kingdom: Asin of the North
Hellbound and The Uncanny Counter I definitely missed, but I didn’t find SYHH violent or bloody at all, and definitely not excessively so. It’s horror but it’s not violent.
May I add DARK HOLE (which did finish for LJH (1984) to the list.
Interestingly of your list Sic I watched and finished only two: D.P. and THE VEIL. MOUSE was a drop after 4 episodes.
D.P. defense. In the case of D.P. violence/bullying was integral to the plot from the beginning to end. Although it was a tough watch I personally think the violence was handled well (if I can put it that way). Unlike most dramas this drama did have an impact on the SK public and politicians. For example: https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/art/2021/09/398_315278.html
(As a fight guy, I give full marks to Jung Hae-in and Lee Jun-young not only for their acting ability but their physicality in their D.P. fight scenes together. Excellent. That must have taken a lot of training.)
I only watched the first ep of Dark Hole and forgot most of it but that’s probably a definite contender lol. Dare I ask how finishing that went… pfft
Ah tbh, I do actually agree that D.P. wrote and handled its violence better than everything else on this list, and definitely used it for purpose in the narrative.
I think I just instinctively added it because I ended up really disliking the drama overall and found it’\s final way of presenting its message to be too bleak, meaningless and hopeless. (As a piece of artwork, despite impact on the public.)
So I guess it doesn’t fit the “overly excessive and doesn’t use it well” criteria, but it is still very violent.
And just like Squid Game, and Extracurricular, I don’t see the point in a second season; it told its story, even if I don’t like it. Where are they going to take it???
I don’t really know if it’s so secret but this 100% goes to So I Married An Anti Fan.
Look. This show is technically not good. It is technically a grandiose trainwreck among trainwrecks. But oh my gosh was it *cathartic.*
Quite often I will deliberately try to lower my expectations for a show so that in the inevitable event that it burns me, I will, at least in theory, be less disappointed. This doesn’t always work, because I am very invested in the art of storytelling overall, and will always desire and crave Good Stories, and so when I can see where a show goes wrong, or where I wanted it to be better, that hope for something better tends to lead to disappointment anyway, because I still want to find that one more story, one day, that doesn’t suck.
Alternatively, this can turn to anger towards a show’s utter lack of respect or regard for its craft, if it manages to suck that extra much.
So, it’s very rare for me to actually have no true investment in a show- and still like it… and still keep watching it…
That is, I can DROP your show, because I stopped caring about it, and not care as much about it going off the rails because of that.
But to have no emotional investment in a show to the point where it could do ANYTHING? And I wouldn’t Care? Where I can watch no matter how bad it is, no matter what technical or metaphysical crimes it commits, and it DOESN’T ANNOY ME? And my hyperanalytical brain DOESN’T go insane watching it???
That is very, very rare.
And its name, is So I Married An Anti Fan.
I do in general have about 1 or 2 of these watches a year, that I call “Trash Loves”*, that meet the criteria of “not giving a shit about how bad it is” to various degrees, but I think Anti Fan meets the criteria probably the most successfully so far.
It was an entirely sublimely cathartic watch.
It is objectively terrible and technically awful and I love it; Everyone changes motivation 5 times an episode, the main OTP go from Madly Toxic and Dysfunctional to the Only People In The Room That Communicate literally Overnight, for no reason, the side characters are all loathsome, there is no true character development or central theme, the dialogue is cringey, the acting awkward, the directing 10 years old, the show dramatically and inevitably forgets its own premise, the ending is WEAK and drags and is dumb and there is a birth secret AND an unearned redemption arc AND a double truck of doom, and it is- ~amazing~- because I had zero emotional investment in it.
A masterpiece in “so bad it is good”; I looked forward to it every week.
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*Secret Royal Inspector and Joy was in this Trash Love category until they killed Bead Boy. It may remake this list if and when I stop feeling bitter towards it… Big If.
2021 Round Up Day 20: THAT SHIRTLESS SCENE OUT OF THE BLUE YOU ARE SO GRATEFUL (SCREENSHOT WILL BE WELCOMED).
Abs are overrated. Bone structure is so much more interesting… this post is dedicated to @smaltwalt because he doesn’t like it when I talk about Skulls. *Ahem*
Shout out to these two for having very distracting zygomatic arches, supraorbital ridges, and nose bridges. ^-^
Enjoy my silly scribbles~
Aight, time to play speed catch up on the Round Up for the days I missed (and actually have content for.)
2021 Round Up Day 13: DRAMA BEANIES LOVED BUT YOU DIDN’T / DRAMA YOU LOVED BUT BEANIES DIDN’T.
Well for the former
…………………………………………… *starts singing Yakko’s World again*
Where would you like me to start?
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I didn’t like (some of them I straight up loathed, oooh have fun guessing which):
VINCENZO
DP
IMITATION
ALICE IN BORDERLAND
THE KING’S AFFECTION
LOVESTRUCK IN THE CITY
WORK LATER DRINK NOW
DOOM ( but that one feels less controversial than it did x many months ago)
SUNBAE, DON’T PUT ON THAT LIPSTICK
I didn’t like
KINGDOM: ASIN OF THE NORTH
MY NAME
or even on a technical and overall level, BOSSAM: STEAL THE FATE
I think RACKET BOYS and BEYOND EVIL are both severely overrated, but weirdly can’t fully tell you why right now for the latter.
Neither did I really love DALI AND GAMJATANG as much as I could’ve and think I will find it rather forgettable in the long run.
I didn’t like SQUID GAME, but at least on here, that’s not too outrageous to say. (To the rest of the world though…)
And boy oh boy I didn’t love RUN ON as much as I so dearly wanted to and can’t rate it well because my disappointment in it is too great. Possibly the biggest disappointment of 2021.
…
Is that enough examples for everyone? ^-^
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DRAMAS YOU LOVED BUT BEANIES DIDN’T:
Er well I only loved one show, and fortunately enough other beanies also love it enough that I don’t think it really counts under this category.
I suppose a trash love here would count but like… they’re trash loves for a reason.
👍☠️ Queen of Salt out~
Oh Doom was super polarising when it aired. You either loved it and defended it, or you loathed it. I don’t really remember what the end consensus was though because I stopped paying attention to it and dropped it haha. So it still kind counts, but is less relevant.
And I have seen a lot of people liking and even loving Lovestruck by the end too so *shrugs*.
Nahhhhhhhhh you don’t get to do this, you just killed Bead Boy! And then you had a dumb SG reference! That’s not how you keep me as your friend. And I just missed him the whole episode despite watching it at 2x speed lmao.
BRO. OF all the ways for you to kill him OF ALL THE WAYS. THAT’S WHAT YOU WENT WITH??????? PATHETIC. *flips table* DON’T TALK TO ME I’M IN MOURNING.
Wait what round up round up day was it? “DAY 15: Most Unnecessary Sageuk Death” YEAH WELL HI YES THIS, THANKS.
Bead Boy I kinda knew it was coming but you don’t deserve this babe. I was gonna tribute you anyway you know… but now it’s even more imperative.
😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
something something so did joyi’s mum something something themes of the show would’ve supported a better ending for him something somethng this sageuk filial piety death trope is cliched and lame something something else cos this drama isn’t really techncially worth writing essays on but bead boy is end something
They had to make it extra dumb too with his bitchy brother doing the deed and giving him pathetic last lines like come on, he’s been through much and You do him extra dirty like that? Tsk. Rude.
Counterpoint: it was necessary for his Mummy’s final act of revenge served cold at the end.
You illegitimate son murdered your legitimate end. I waited 20 years for this. Bye!
It’s not like this show had any real character development, and I’m uplifting a character the show wasn’t actually ever going to treat the way I wanted it to, I know this… but this does kinda just make Bead Boy a plot device.
And if I didn’t like him so much maybe this revenge would taste sweeter and be more satisfying. Or alternatively I would be up for the sickening tragedy of that in some wildly different show.
But why am I still talking about this, it’s frakking Special Royal Inspector and Joy lmao
Yes yes yes I suffer for everyone’s amusement, we know, you’re welcome. Everybody asks where’s the next shitpost Sic, but nobody asks how are you Sic, just always expecting the next breakdown for their seratonin well WHAT ABOUT MY SERATONIN HUH? and here I am doing my best to entertain you all with my broken heart IT’S FINE, I’LL BE FINE! Be Enetertained! That’s why I’m my own court Jester…
I feel the same. His death wasn’t necessary. He was going to turn himself in and atone for his sins. His brother and father need to die painful deaths! 😡
I’m trying to remember one other time I wanted to just spit fire due to a male not-lead death that seemed just…argh…and…my brain actually remembered: Prince Yangmyung in The Moon Embracing The Sun I mean, yes, plot difference because potential future throne conflict because court polly tickers always gotta stack their decks for more drama–so the “unnecessary” part can definitely be argued against in this case–but still…UGH…😭
I know there are others that also seemed “really?!?!” at the time, but that’s the first one that came to mind that gave me a similar level of NOOOOOOOOOoooooooo! 😮
16 just made me more salty… everyone else gets to live their life (a theme of the show) and be happy, even her mum her also committed crimes BUT NOT BEAD BOY. I reject his death as canon humph.
I watched episode 15 last night and when Tae-soo was run through THE BACK by Do-soo my immediate reaction was WHAT!!, AGAIN!! A repeat of the demise of Dae-yeop in BOSSSAM without (unlike DY) any consolation in his last moments. That was bad.
BEAD BOY SPAM END. I’m avoiding the wall cos of RS spoilers lmao.
Babe, If you don’t survive I will be immortalising you like Cooch immortalised that hawk in that one Footrot Flats comic by carving a crude likeness out of a log aka a sculpture 10 times the size of the hawk… *references nobody will get… -_-*
NO DON’T YOU DARE, JUST RUN AWAY AND LIVE YOUR LIFE AS A BETTER PERSON PLEASE I’M PRETTY SURE THE PUNISHMENT FOR MURDER IS STILL DEATH.
It doesn’t have to be cos this show ISN’T historically inaccurate and never HAS BEEN and can end ANY WAY IT LIKES BECAUSE OF THAT but, but… it has to properly realise that and stop pretending its trying to say something FIRST. Now, all we need is for the Prince to not be dead and to pardon him… 🙏
I KNEW IT. I KNEW HE DIDN’T KILL THE PRINCE. And all because he decided he LIKED the Good Prince actually AWWWWWWWWWW.
He’s just a little misguided is all. Occasionally murders physicians, but is good at heart, really…
Bead Boy and the Terrible, Horrible, Not so Good, Very Bad Day.
So I actually had this wild crack idea the other week that maybe somehow Bead Boy was Joyi’s brother instead and wanted this show to go absolute dumbass makjang… well I mean it went makjang and gave him a birth secret … just not the cracktastic one my brain thought up… lmao.
This one IS curated to hurt him even more though! So. That’s … nice. Because we have to put him through even more extra trauma, don’t we.
Hmmmm Joyi and Bead Boy have parallel maternal trauma, but Bead Boy doesn’t resent his “mother”, and Joyi does or did… you know who else has shared maternal trauma where the male counterpart also craves love and acceptance from his evil father in the wrong ways?… … Zu- Zutara…
I’m- I’m so sorry, I’ll stop now… 😂😂😂 (I probably won’t…)
💜🍍☠️ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠️🍍💜
January 7, 2022 at 5:28 PM
In other news, OBS is Melona Approved.
Ally
January 7, 2022 at 5:48 PM
I thought of you while watching this. No wasted melonias here, my Queen.
Eazal
January 16, 2022 at 3:45 AM
Same here, when I was watching I was thinking, Sic must be proud this melonias have accomplished their duty!
Snow Flower
January 10, 2022 at 2:31 PM
It is on my list. I need my Jun Ho fix, so I am watching Just Between Lovers now.
💜🍍☠️ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠️🍍💜
January 7, 2022 at 5:28 PM
This is just gonna be the whole show isn’t it. We’re gonna be here till day 10, the election, betrayal no. 4, and episode 16. Was this intended to be a one setting show? ಠ_ಠ
Lily left the valley
January 8, 2022 at 1:01 AM
I am so very, very, glad I am not watching this show. Yet I am also sad because it means there could have been another show with the same actors I could have watched instead. 😥
💜🍍☠️ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠️🍍💜
January 7, 2022 at 5:04 PM
FRAQ. I wasn’t gonna start this because I hate terminally ill tropes and then an extremely fluffy but mentally unstable KKN fell in love with her at first sight right after she killed someone, which is exactly my kind of weird, AND NOW I’M WEAK FOR THEM.
This was a bad idea.
#The One and Only
Eazal
January 16, 2022 at 3:45 AM
I hear you. I will try this one sometime this week.
💜🍍☠️ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠️🍍💜
January 6, 2022 at 11:45 PM
SUWON AND HWASEONG FORTRESS: PART TWO
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(did I walk all the way out onto that curved part of the wall in front of the gate you can see? maybe… )
korfan
January 7, 2022 at 1:48 AM
Thanks for sharing your pictures!
Eazal
January 16, 2022 at 3:47 AM
Thanks for sharing them.
I need to travel again. I really need it.
💜🍍☠️ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠️🍍💜
January 6, 2022 at 11:38 PM
SUWON AND HWASEONG FORTRESS: PART ONE
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RED SLEEVE CUFF has ended and I decided to drop it at Episode 12, and thus avoided the last 5 episodes, which, from what I hear, is probably for the better.
But I have nothing more to contribute to the drama itself; it is my final and overall impression that this drama did not know what to do with its story, or what it needed to be, to be a good story, specifically the best version of itself, but as we all were, or well I was anyway, very apprehensive going into this in the first place, worried it was going to burn out, well I’m just left being ironically not very surprised.
Instead of a last Hangout Thread though, I wanted to post something about Suwon. You can treat this as a hangout thread if you like, I don’t really mind, I’ll still tag you all – but the contents of this post are not related to the drama, and more to do with the real history behind the drama. Or rather one of the historical settings behind the drama.
In the years 1794 till 1796, King Jeongjo (San) built the Fortress and Palace of Hwaseong in Suwon, to house and honour the remains of his father, Prince Sado.
Jeongjo initially had plans to move the capital from Seoul to Suwon, and the fortress was built to include elements of a wall, defensive fortress, and town centre, in response to the collapse of the Korean front line during the Imjin war, where separate mountain fortresses were used for populace evacuation in times of war, and the towns themselves were less fortified. Significant portions of the Fortress were destroyed or damaged during Japanese Occupation and the Korean War but it has been almost entirely rebuilt/reconstructed. It is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
In 2019 I went to South Korea for around about three weeks, including travel time. I visited Busan, Sokcho and Seoul, mainly, with day trips to Gyeongju, Seoraksan National Park, and you guessed it, Suwon.
I cannot remember now how I found out about it – (I was probably looking up historic things to visit because I like going to historic landmarks)- but I went to Suwon nearer the end of my trip and time in Seoul, specifically to visit the fortress, and it ended up being in my top three favourite days of the entire trip. It was long (as most of them were), and it could’ve been longer, but it was a very satisfying and enjoyable day.
Obviously by now the modern city has outgrown the historic walls, so the fortress walls run in a big loop through the city, and you can walk along this entire length. There are multiple other features along the wall, including four main massive gates, several turrets, towers, sentry posts, pavilions, and secret gates, two culverts/ floodgates, and just below the hill the West side of the wall crosses, is Haenggung, meaning detached palace.
Suwon is about an hour south of Seoul by train, and I am not a very energetic traveller- that is, I get tired very easily and have to plan my days accordingly. (This doesn’t help when you’re alone in Seoul for 9 days, a city that literally only wakes up at night, and stuck in a hole in the wall hostel… rip…)
There was also the palace itself I wanted to go to, (taking the total number of palaces I visited on that trip up to, I think it was, 6). This meant that I only had time to walk half the fortress wall length. But I chose the bit with the hill, which meant I go to look out over the city whilst doing so. And also kill my knees by walking up the 50 and 1 millionth set of extant stairs. Please. Korea. Why do you love stairs so much. My knees.
I reached Suwon in time for lunch, and visited the palace first, before walking along a wee artistic district street to the easiest place to access the paths along the Wall, just opposite the South Gate (which is a roundabout now haha). Like most historic places in Korea, and most national parks, you have to pay to enter these- but they’re very cheap, only a couple of thousand won. Although in Hwaseong’s instance, despite the fact they give you a ticket and little sticker to say you have paid to enter the hill park and walk by the wall, I really don’t know how they manage to police it since the wall is open to the entire City of Suwon.
But never mind policing entry…
See- the other thing about this Fortress Wall is… that it’s so very, very easy to climb on to from the inside and … walk along… on top of the wall…
By the time I had passed two secret gates (which my writerly imagination had a lot of fun with), and snacked on some grapes at a pavilion, the part of my brain that if it sees something climbable MUST climb The Said Thing, was unable to be ignored and I gave into temptation. Not just to climb onto the wall to take better photos of various points, but also to walk along entire sections of it.
…
Did I get stared at? Oh my gosh yes.
Where there any signs telling me not to? Not a single one.
Would I totally go back at sunset and do it again? Absolutely.
Nobody said anything either. Lol.
When I reached the North Gate however, apparently the biggest gate of its kind in South Korea, I was by this point extremely tired and very hungry.
And it was at that point also, that my phone decided to spontaneously combust! Er… that is, suddenly did not connect to the data from the SIM card plan I had been relying on all trip, got stuck on an outgoing ghost call I didn’t make (and there it remained stuck for … two years, I might add), and the battery dropped like it had just been thrown off a cliff, or it too had been set on fire. (This was, if any of you remember related stories, where my Zombie Phone adventures began. I to this day, have no idea why it suddenly decided to reject the SIM card.)
I would’ve liked to have walked farther but that was it for me.
So I bought a letter opener, which is a very normal touristy item to buy, managed to find the right bus to take off the gift shop wifi, and then went and got Galbi. For one. Because apparently that’s what Suwon is known for. Well, the galbi, not the… for one.
You can’t actually order Korean BBQ for one person in Korea- you basically have to order for two, and then hope you’re hungry enough to eat all of it yourself. You usually are, but it can be very expensive, and also really lonely. Because man is Korean BBQ made for… having… friends.
I didn’t used to get lonely when travelling alone, and I still prefer it in certain scenarios and circumstances, but meals in Korea are so much of a cultural fellowship thing. After a point I started to specifically get really lonely not having anyone to eat with or go find interesting food with.
Nonetheless I miss Korea like crazy and would definitely go back to Suwon to explore it more, both the modern city and the fortress. Just maybe with a friend next time haha. .
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Below are some of my pictures from the trip, and I will share a second post a bit later as well, because I can’t fit them all in one.
Having good memories of historical places I have been to of the relevant era definitely lessens the burn of RED SLEEVE sucking. That and I stopped caring. 😛
THE END.
💜🍍☠️ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠️🍍💜
January 6, 2022 at 11:40 PM
@yongsital, @ladynightshade, @jorobertson, @kiara, @mrsz6, @missh, @marcusnyc20, @lindag, @hanie, @bbstl, @velvetstuff, @magajesj, @kurama, @wapzy, @neener, @susanf, @epyc2010, @emsel, @jillian, @eazal, @ramenqueen, @caro77, @ndlessjoie, @dncingemma, @jossie4cheryl, @sparks121, @snowflower, @cozybooks , @jingbee, @peony, @claire2009, @ally-le, @pinkyp, @esther95 @diniyuukie @unniunni
As usual, anyone would like to be added, or removed, just let me know.
Episode 5 + 6 WALL HANGOUT THREAD:
https://www.dramabeans.com/members/sicarius/activity/1278213/
Episode 7 + 8 WALL HANGOUT THREAD:
https://www.dramabeans.com/members/sicarius/activity/1280270/
Episode 9 + 10 WALL HANGOUT THREAD:
https://www.dramabeans.com/members/sicarius/activity/1282424/
Episode 11 + 12 WALL HANGOUT THREAD:
https://www.dramabeans.com/members/sicarius/activity/1283607/
EPISODE 13, 14, 15 WALL HANGOUT THREAD:
https://www.dramabeans.com/members/sicarius/activity/1285357/
Thus concludes my RED SLEEVE HANGOUTS. Thank you all who joined and participated- I fell off a bit at the end but I hope y’all don’t mind.
Here’s to the next, and hopefully much better, sageuk.
x
bbstl
January 7, 2022 at 8:45 AM
Love the pictures! I would really like to see Suwon, it’s #1 on my list should I ever go back. Red Sleeve was not a disaster for me at all, it just feels like they wanted to tell a romance that happened to feature real historical figures. I’m glad I watched it, plus the performances were great and it was beautiful. But you definitely saved on Kleenex by checking out early 😆
💜🍍☠️ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠️🍍💜
January 7, 2022 at 1:12 PM
Yeah I’m not a cryer so I doubt that would’ve happened even if I’d finished it lol.
mugyuljoie is preciousss
January 7, 2022 at 11:46 PM
Looking forward to Jang Hyuk’s next, with or without a fan.
Kurama
January 6, 2022 at 11:53 PM
Comment was deleted
Kurama
January 6, 2022 at 11:57 PM
I want to go back to Korea!
I should have in 2020, but COVID happened and the same for 2021 and 2022…
I didn’t visit Suwon but it looks pretty 🙂
💜🍍☠️ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠️🍍💜
January 7, 2022 at 12:06 AM
I would recommend it! It was a lot of fun~
neener ~ Inside the Magic Shop ~
January 7, 2022 at 2:26 AM
I remember getting lost trying to find Hwaseong when I visited xD Have to visit again because I wasn’t able to climb the hill side.
💜🍍☠️ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠️🍍💜
January 7, 2022 at 1:40 PM
Oh no!!! Kakao maps were my very best friend tbh hahaha.
💜🍍☠️ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠️🍍💜
January 7, 2022 at 1:50 PM
(IIRC- I took a bus from the main train station to the city centre opposite the palace, first, and that helped orientate me. I have no idea what you did, I’m just trying to think of useful tips for next time! haha)
neener ~ Inside the Magic Shop ~
January 8, 2022 at 3:32 AM
That was a low budget trip back in 2017 and I relied on public internet and physical map xD (I know it’s silly, I learned from that and have since purchased a SIM card for net every time I go). Also, I’m no longer shy to ask around so I’m sure I’ll be able to find the place next time. Another thing, I remember they had some construction going on then, which made it harder to find the entrance.
I LOVE Kakaomap and KakaoMetro! Now, I’m starting to miss Korea.
💜🍍☠️ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠️🍍💜
January 9, 2022 at 3:54 PM
Physical map! Omo. I kinda love that that’s so old school hehe.
But yes to the SIM cards, eh. I was in Seoul for just 3 measly days in 2017 as well and only did public internet then and like no research… although my SIM card kaarked it just before the end of my trip in ’19 (so annoying- at least by that point I knew what cafes had wifi), it was definitely the best decision.
Ah! Maybe they were working on part of it. Oh well! Hope you get there next time~
I know right!!!!! They’re just so good! haha
neener ~ Inside the Magic Shop ~
January 9, 2022 at 11:29 PM
That whole trip was so old school, got lost a lot of times but met kind people throughout the trip as well.
I’ll definitely come back!
DancingEmma
January 7, 2022 at 9:25 AM
Thank you for this wonderfully evocative post and the pics. Your writerly voice is captivating and engaging. I daydreamed that I was travelling too as I read your post. How fortunate were you to go in 2019 before the pandemic made travelling for fun a distant dream.
💜🍍☠️ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠️🍍💜
January 7, 2022 at 1:48 PM
Awww thank you so much!!!
Yes I was so glad I got that trip in before all the madness, indeed I was.
wapz
January 7, 2022 at 1:21 PM
I was about to ask for some tips on solo travel until I read your “prolly should go with a friend”. I guess you still had lots of fun.
Let’s just leave this post to Suwon and Hwaseong. This interests me more than the show I want to stop talking about 😂
💜🍍☠️ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠️🍍💜
January 7, 2022 at 4:50 PM
I mean I can give you some tips anyway if you’d like! hahaha
What would you like to know? Haha For Korea or just in general?
1/?
Like I said, usually, I am fine travelling alone, I enjoy it- although perhaps I’m growing out of it somewhat- but I just felt it so much more on that excursion to Seoul especially, than like ever before. For a lot of reasons I think.
I stayed there for too long, for one. I was in Seoul for 9 days at the end of my trip, which was about 1 or 2 days too many methinks. I like visiting cities, but I’m not a big city person, and Seoul is one of the biggest metro areas in the world, so after that long, the city started to drain on me. Probably partly why I enjoyed Suwon so much tbh, because it got me OUT of Seoul lmao.
I also just specifically found – Seoul in particular, tends to, as I said, wake up at night, and things like the night markets, and Seoul night life, I think would be easier to navigate, and better enjoyed, and also somewhat safer, if you have someone to go with.
I went to one of the famous markets during the day, and it was packed in its centre, shoulder to shoulder- I tend to hate crowds and this was borderline claustrophobic, so this was awful for me. I didn’t have anyone to guide me, and I wasn’t confident enough in my spoken Korean (which is poor anyway) to push myself through and order for myself- so I left almost immediately after arriving. It’s something like that I think that I would find going with a friend or several, would be more enjoyable. Especially someone who SPOKE Korean.
And kinda in a similar vein with eating— Eating alone can be fun, but eating in Korea is culturally something you do WITH people, to extend friendship, or a romantic interest, or workplace relationships, or as a sign of thanks and respect, but also as a sign of inclusion, and hey, eat with us, we want to know more about you; that’s why in kdramas treating people to meals is always such a big thing, and why “have you eaten” doubles as “how are you”. You can’t help but wanting to share that with someone after a certain point.
💜🍍☠️ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠️🍍💜
January 7, 2022 at 4:50 PM
2/?
Another one of the things I think that didn’t help, was that my accommodation in Seoul was really average.
In Seoul for accommodation you basically have two options if you are not rich- you either get a really good location, near everything you want to see, and with easy access to the main subway lines, for a really good price! but it’s cheap and nasty.
Or you get nice accommodation for the same price, but it’s an hr away from everything by subway.
It’s really hard to get both, and prices for good accommodation in the city centre tend to sky rocket.
I went for location over quality, and this was a bad idea.
It was cheap, and that was good, but it was a sort of hole in the wall type hostel, where they rented out individual rooms on airbnb, with a shared kitchen and shared bathrooms, and there was no window in my personal hole.
There was a mini fridge in my room, and free rice, but there were also insects in the kitchen and bathrooms… It was dingy, and not relaxing, and I found it really, really hard.
As I said, I get tired really easily traveling, so somewhere to go back to, to rest and rejuvenate for the next adventure, was something I needed, but didn’t have.
I found myself just spending as long as possible away from my room during the day, but this just made me more tired, and triggered my anxiety more, but I had no one as support and nowhere else to go, other than… well more tea shops in Insadong. There was no way I had energy for night life by the end of this either, nor I did wake up feeling refreshed.
So one of my primary tips, whether you are alone or with someone else, is pay for Good Accommodation. Just do it.
My hey days of hostelling are over, and they tend to be a certain kind of accommodation, that is not really my scene. They tend to attract certain kinds of people, younger generations and backpackers, that’s common, as well as party orientated people, which, though I want fellowship, I am not. They’re also not relaxing places to stay, because they usually have stairs (yeah I have thing against stairs), the rooms are more like communal living, bunk beds etc, than a place for true rest. For me, when travelling, I want somewhere after a long day of exploring to come back to and rest. I don’t know why there is this massive culture among travel ideologies of constantly having to do things, with no rest. It’s both absurd, and actually impossible for some people. You can’t properly enjoy yourself if you’re constantly burnout. 8 years ago I could manage the hostel life better, but not anymore. And tbh, the place I stayed in Seoul was worse than a hostel. So unless you are someone that thrives off that kind of environment, I think it is more worth it to pay that little bit extra to have somewhere nice to stay. I should’ve done this in both Busan and Seoul, although Seoul was the worse of the two. Sokcho had one of the best Airbnbs I’ve ever stayed in though.
💜🍍☠️ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠️🍍💜
January 7, 2022 at 4:51 PM
3/x
Another tip I would suggest is do a shittone of restaurant and eating research before going. In and around where you’re staying, or going for the day, as well as specific things you want to try.
Again this would be easier with someone who knows the foody places, but you’ll save so much time trying to figure out where to eat, especially if you need food asap or last minute. I didn’t do this quite enough.
I also think making food part of the thing to do would probably be a good idea? I kinda did this too but I think I’d also do it more next time. Like actively just have entire days where food is the main attraction and event. Haha.
Supermarkets in Korea are expensive, eating out is cheaper, or going to actual markets- which again benefit from prior research. Convenience Stores are actually Convenient. Seoul is at least two thousand won more expensive than Busan.
A lot of my tips tend to come from how I personally travel. Thus I don’t know how applicable these will be to you specifically but I guess that is one tip for solo travel then- figure out how YOU travel; how you work, what you need, what you like.
For Korea specifically:
– Get Kakao or Naver Maps, or both, it will save your life. The phone apps have English versions, you can bookmark locations easily, they have inbuilt subway and bus timetables that only steered me wrong once, and they cover the entire country.
– Get a T-money card- this can be used for intercity buses and subways country wide, and even at some shops works like a cash-card.
– If you’re there for long enough that it will be worthwhile, and going to places where wifi will be scarcer, get a Korean SIM card for the data plan alone. Honestly, I’d recommend this anyway, because it means you always have a map, a dictionary, and a browser at your fingertips.
I’m sure I can think of more but that’ll do for now, this is already so much hahah
wapz
January 9, 2022 at 4:23 AM
Thanks Sic for such a detailed post. We tend to be similar when it comes to wanting good rest, and not being a big fan of big cities (I think a country’s history is more unique than anything else so that needs exploration during travel) and also food but not as much to give it an entire day haha. Idk if Korea will ever be possible for me. As you said having someone alongside that speaks Korean or the native language of the country makes traveling and especially eating out easier. Maybe someday when beanies plan their Korea trip, some of us can help with their Korean skills 😝. Plus thanks for the insight on the accomodation facilities, transport and eating culture. I could gather some from dramas but didn’t thinks “have you eaten” also refers to” how are you”.
💜🍍☠️ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠️🍍💜
January 9, 2022 at 3:59 PM
Ahahaha! Absolutely yes to a country’ history. Idk man… you say that… but there’s just so many tea shops to cover, and so much food to try… 😛 😛 it’s ok, I can do a whole day of food with someone else hehehe maybe @bammsie. Definitely bammy actually haha. And you can just join for the bits you want to.
I managed fine with my broken Korean and pointing at things on the menu, but the opportunities would be more if I had someone that spoke it.
Haha yes! Sounds like a plan.
Hey, not a problem, glad they were helpful/interesting in someway!! ^-^
(You ever notice how parents will always ask their kids, especially those living away from home, if they’re eating well? And always bring them side dishes? Food is a love language hah. )
Healer’s
January 8, 2022 at 4:59 AM
Yes, I enjoyed Sic’s photos and travel tips more than the last episodes of the show (thank you, Sic, for the photos and the tag <3). Ironically, when the show was still ongoing, I craved every single post about it. I lurked in dramabeans to see if the number of comments on the RSC hangout thread had increased and to wait for Sic’s tag 😅. I read “What we’re watching” and open threads to see if anyone was talking about it. But now, when the show is talked about all over the internet, I don’t care anymore 😂. Although I did enjoy the show until I quit, I don’t get the hype about it. Do Junho and Se-young take all the credit?
wapz
January 9, 2022 at 4:27 AM
I don’t know if the last qs is meant to be rhetorical but I’ll answer it anyways lol. I think Junho’s rising popularity at the time of the release of the show did help. Though, it still didn’t start off with really high ratings. It’s the return of the tsundere, the push and pull between the main leads and the wait for the couple to be together that never gets old. All these tropes are cliched but always attract audiences. Tbh the last point is also why I kept watching till the end.
💜🍍☠️ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠️🍍💜
January 9, 2022 at 3:43 PM
Lol I’m similar Healer. I was enjoying it at first, and relished in the conversations initiated on here about it… but now it’s over, and I dropped it, I don’t care. In fact I care even less since it seems to me it is overhyped and overrated for what it is.
Healer’s
January 10, 2022 at 3:28 AM
@wapz: That’s a genuine question, not rhetorical 😅. I think the RSC production team promoted the drama very well. Junho talked about his diet on several shows, he appeared on MBC radio star and on other radio shows with Se-young twice… But again, other production teams do that all the time too. So ultimately it’s as you said, it was the cliches and the chemistry shown in the drama and behind the scenes between the leads that attracted audiences.
@ Sic: Exactly. Because it is overhyped and overrated, it made me care less 🙂
kiara
January 7, 2022 at 2:35 PM
Comment was deleted
kiara
January 7, 2022 at 2:37 PM
Thank you for sharing your adventure in Korea, Sic! I look forward to having my turn to go there with a very, very, very long list of historical places to visit, LOL. I love eating at my Korean friends’ homes. They are always so generous with food, and I get to take home kimchi and rice cakes every time.
Thanks to you, I’ll be making galbi (cheater’s version) for dinner. Yummmm!
I haven’t seen the last few episodes of RED SLEEVE yet, and it’s becoming a bad habit for me. I don’t think I’ve ever finished a sageuk this year, but I have gone back and rewatched some from old favorites like Conspiracy in the Court, Hwang Jin-Yi, Shin Don, Chuno and Queen Insoo, etc. I think I connect more with the older writers than we have now. They were well versed in their craft, and I find their interpretations fascinating and eye-opening.
Anyway, I love this kind of wall post. I know I’ll come back and reread it.
💜🍍☠️ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠️🍍💜
January 7, 2022 at 4:53 PM
I went to quite a few on this trip anyway, but I think I would go to even more if I ever get back haha.
Ah I have a Korean couple I know from church actually that has invited me round for dinner. I need to get back to them about that! I want Kimchi jigae! haha
I finished 3 somehow, but… well… you know how they all were haha.
I want to watch a good sageuk now, I need to CLEANSE my brain with one!
x take you time/
Ally
January 7, 2022 at 5:46 PM
I’d love to be your “friend” eating Korean bbq the next time you go! It sounds lovely! And I can just tag along. I’m a much better tag-alonger than planner. Ask my hubby. 😆
💜🍍☠️ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠️🍍💜
January 9, 2022 at 4:00 PM
Ahahaha! Awww oh please, and good! Tag-alongers are perfect because they’re chill with whatever the planner has planned. Add a dash of spontaneity and we’re good to go.
cozybooks
January 14, 2022 at 9:51 AM
So fun! Ahaha we just missed each other, I went home in early spring of 2019. 🙂
💜🍍☠️ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠️🍍💜
December 30, 2021 at 10:02 PM
2021 ROUNDUP SH☠️TPOST EDITION:
.
.
.
1- FL you will never forget.
I personally really liked that one abandoned car park that turned up a minimum of three times this year. It did a lot of heavy lifting.
2- ML you will never forget.
Bead Boy, who was definitely totally the actual Protagonist of Special Royal Inspector and Joy…
3- The drama with the best costumes / wardrobe.
Ah yes… Ju Ji Hoon’s styling in Jirisan- 10/10. He should unquestionably keep that haircut…
4- That mess you watched and you still wonder why.
COuldn’t be Jirisan, it was impeccable.
5- The drama that will always live in your memory.
Jirisan’s beautiful scenery, shot so lovingly, with such care, all those dramas with accurate physics, especially Sisyphus, every time they DIDN’T pull out the sharp pointy thing or extract dna from ashes… oh wait.
6- The OST you are obsessed with.
Well you see now, the OST of Jirisan, just fit its story so perfectly, the themes of the lyrics matched the themes of the show well and really elevated the main characters’ romantic storyline…
(actually I unironically like Stay by O3ohn though lmao)
7- The OTP you didn’t think you would adore.
Obviously JJH² from Jirisan-
8- The drama beanies convinced you to watch and you can’t be grateful enough.
I would like to thank my own hubris… for starting more dramas than average this year… and hating most of them, and for starting Special Royal Inspector And Joy when I wasn’t gonna only to get stupidly attached and subsequently burnt… and Park Shin Hye for making writing my shitpost lore INCREDIBLY easy for me.
9- The oldie (not 2021) you loved the most.
Both So I Married An Anti Fan and Mouse actually aired in 2012 and have been sitting in the basement for 9 years and you can’t convince me otherwise.
10- Best confession.
Jirisan had a wonderful confession doncha know.
It was so stirring, and heart wrenching, what a beautiful reunion and bittersweet moment after such a tragic separation. It was so emotionally moving and cathartic to see those two finally meet after so long, after such hurt and pain… truly iconic *sniffs*.
11- Secondary character that stole your heart and the show (SL, villains, kid…).
Jirisan, The Mountain, ofc. Both SL, villain, and a child at heart… probably. Also probably hiding Jeffrey in a suitcase somewhere.
12- Best quote / oneliner.
“a mountain is just a mountain”
”It had been such a long time since I was able to have that much fun.”
13- Drama beanies loved but you didn’t / Drama you loved but beanies didn\\’t.
My version of everything that aired this year.
14- Most memorable scene.
Death By Sentient Mountain.
HM: Whatever the ever-loving shit Mouse and Sisyphus’ first episodes were.
15- Saeguk Special Edition: most unnecessary death.
(… I’m still sensitive ok…)
16- Best non human character (animal, mythological / magical creature, braincell, etc.).
Jirisan, the Mountain, please, without a doubt.
17- Best idol turned actor.
You know, Yoon Kye Sang, as he was part of g.o.d. for five years, is technically… an idol actor.
18- Best cameo.
Ju Ji Hoon in his own show.
19- Your 2021 crush.
I didn’t have any crushes this year, none whatsoever… *Stuffs Bead Boy and Sun into her handbag and then stuffs the handbag behind her back surreptitiously*
20- That shirtless scene out of the blue you are so grateful (screenshot will be welcomed).
Things that would’ve made Jirisan better: this probably. Because it certainly wouldn’t have made it worse.
21- That cute little drama.
Gosh I wish there was a cute little drama this year…
22- Best secretary / assistant.
Considering it took me like 10 whole minutes to think of an actual normal non shitpost entry for this category????? Thing 1 and Thing 2 <3
23- Best bromance / womance.
Ju Ji Hoon and the Mountain.
Bead Boy and Taec, in SRI+J’s true canon.
I can count at least two female dominant cults this year, so those.
Thing 1 and Thing 2.
24- Your secret pleasure.
The Suitcase 500.
.
.
.
Now I’m going to disappear into the new year till I have something worthwhile written to post from my numerous drafts and half promised works~~
Merry Liminal Spacemas, and, oh all right- Happy New Year.
🐝🍋☠️🐝🍋☠️🐝🍋☠️🐝🍋☠️🐝🍋☠️🐝🍋☠️🐝🍋☠️🐝🍋☠️🐝🍋☠️🐝
parkchuna is still Running Errands
December 31, 2021 at 2:03 AM
I don’t care what you call it, I swear this is like a love post for Jirisan *runs to the safety of the mountain*
💜🍍☠️ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠️🍍💜
January 6, 2022 at 11:47 PM
A satirical one maybe 😉
emsel
January 7, 2022 at 8:33 AM
My eyes only caught “mountains” numerous times! You seem to be obsessed that this seems more like an eulogy to “Jirisan” 😏
bbstl
December 31, 2021 at 8:03 AM
Please don’t be gone for long, oh My Queen 👑
💜🍍☠️ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠️🍍💜
January 6, 2022 at 11:47 PM
Is a week too long?
bbstl
January 7, 2022 at 8:46 AM
Welcome back 🎉🎉🎉
am1993
December 31, 2021 at 9:27 AM
Well Anti Fan was actually sitting in the basement for awhile…lol
💜🍍☠️ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠️🍍💜
January 6, 2022 at 11:47 PM
I know XD XD
FlyingTool
December 31, 2021 at 9:59 PM
Good to see you’re keeping memories of Jeffrey alive. Brought a tear to my eye (right).
💜🍍☠️ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠️🍍💜
January 6, 2022 at 11:46 PM
He will plague me till the second coming most likely.
💜🍍☠️ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠️🍍💜
December 29, 2021 at 11:51 PM
2021 ROUNDUP FREESTYLE:
I recently finished watching Crime Puzzle so my impromptu freestyle category is for 2021 Violent Dramas.
Most Violent Death, Highest Body count, Worst use of violence in a kdrama… So many contenders, where does one start. 🙃
My personal entries for most Interesting and Inventive Violent Deaths of the Year, go to Taec’s Death in Vinnie, apparently All of Mouse, even though I didn’t watch it, and The Tree Guillotine Death in Crime Puzzle. ಠ_ಠ
If you have any bloody… favourites… please feel free to share. There were many. Like Asin’s zombie biowarfare on the entire continent of Eurasia…
Is it just me or was there a weirdly high number of excessively violent dramas this year? (none of which used their violence very well I might add…):
Taxi Driver
Mouse
Vinnie
My Name
Crime Puzzle
Bad and Crazy
Squid Game
Devil Judge
Dr. Brain
Penthouse
D.P.
The Veil
Kingdom: Asin of the North
Please, what’d I miss☠️
knewbie
December 30, 2021 at 12:54 AM
Hellbound, The Uncanny Counter and even Sell Your Haunted House.
💜🍍☠️ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠️🍍💜
December 30, 2021 at 2:56 PM
Hellbound and The Uncanny Counter I definitely missed, but I didn’t find SYHH violent or bloody at all, and definitely not excessively so. It’s horror but it’s not violent.
bong-soo
December 30, 2021 at 7:27 AM
May I add DARK HOLE (which did finish for LJH (1984) to the list.
Interestingly of your list Sic I watched and finished only two: D.P. and THE VEIL. MOUSE was a drop after 4 episodes.
D.P. defense. In the case of D.P. violence/bullying was integral to the plot from the beginning to end. Although it was a tough watch I personally think the violence was handled well (if I can put it that way). Unlike most dramas this drama did have an impact on the SK public and politicians. For example:
https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/art/2021/09/398_315278.html
(As a fight guy, I give full marks to Jung Hae-in and Lee Jun-young not only for their acting ability but their physicality in their D.P. fight scenes together. Excellent. That must have taken a lot of training.)
💜🍍☠️ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠️🍍💜
December 30, 2021 at 3:05 PM
I only watched the first ep of Dark Hole and forgot most of it but that’s probably a definite contender lol. Dare I ask how finishing that went… pfft
Ah tbh, I do actually agree that D.P. wrote and handled its violence better than everything else on this list, and definitely used it for purpose in the narrative.
I think I just instinctively added it because I ended up really disliking the drama overall and found it’\s final way of presenting its message to be too bleak, meaningless and hopeless. (As a piece of artwork, despite impact on the public.)
So I guess it doesn’t fit the “overly excessive and doesn’t use it well” criteria, but it is still very violent.
bong-soo
December 30, 2021 at 3:45 PM
Let me tell you finishing DH was tough. I told LJH (in my mind), “you owe me one”.
Well I consider the debt paid with LJH’s extended cameo in SRI&J.
Apparently there will be a D.P. 2:
https://www.soompi.com/article/1503608wpp/jung-hae-in-and-goo-kyo-hwans-d-p-confirms-plans-for-2nd-season
JHI may be glad to get back into fatigues after SNOWDROP 😇.
I know nothing about the original webtoon that D.P. is based on so I have no idea if D.P. 2 will be continuation from 1 or something new.
💜🍍☠️ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠️🍍💜
December 30, 2021 at 4:33 PM
And just like Squid Game, and Extracurricular, I don’t see the point in a second season; it told its story, even if I don’t like it. Where are they going to take it???
mmmmm
December 30, 2021 at 11:23 AM
There are a lot of violent dramas this year because I avoid violence like plague and I only completed around 10 dramas this year.
💜🍍☠️ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠️🍍💜
December 29, 2021 at 9:00 PM
2021 Round Up Day 24: YOUR SECRET PLEASURE
I don’t really know if it’s so secret but this 100% goes to So I Married An Anti Fan.
Look. This show is technically not good. It is technically a grandiose trainwreck among trainwrecks. But oh my gosh was it *cathartic.*
Quite often I will deliberately try to lower my expectations for a show so that in the inevitable event that it burns me, I will, at least in theory, be less disappointed. This doesn’t always work, because I am very invested in the art of storytelling overall, and will always desire and crave Good Stories, and so when I can see where a show goes wrong, or where I wanted it to be better, that hope for something better tends to lead to disappointment anyway, because I still want to find that one more story, one day, that doesn’t suck.
Alternatively, this can turn to anger towards a show’s utter lack of respect or regard for its craft, if it manages to suck that extra much.
So, it’s very rare for me to actually have no true investment in a show- and still like it… and still keep watching it…
That is, I can DROP your show, because I stopped caring about it, and not care as much about it going off the rails because of that.
But to have no emotional investment in a show to the point where it could do ANYTHING? And I wouldn’t Care? Where I can watch no matter how bad it is, no matter what technical or metaphysical crimes it commits, and it DOESN’T ANNOY ME? And my hyperanalytical brain DOESN’T go insane watching it???
That is very, very rare.
And its name, is So I Married An Anti Fan.
I do in general have about 1 or 2 of these watches a year, that I call “Trash Loves”*, that meet the criteria of “not giving a shit about how bad it is” to various degrees, but I think Anti Fan meets the criteria probably the most successfully so far.
It was an entirely sublimely cathartic watch.
It is objectively terrible and technically awful and I love it; Everyone changes motivation 5 times an episode, the main OTP go from Madly Toxic and Dysfunctional to the Only People In The Room That Communicate literally Overnight, for no reason, the side characters are all loathsome, there is no true character development or central theme, the dialogue is cringey, the acting awkward, the directing 10 years old, the show dramatically and inevitably forgets its own premise, the ending is WEAK and drags and is dumb and there is a birth secret AND an unearned redemption arc AND a double truck of doom, and it is- ~amazing~- because I had zero emotional investment in it.
A masterpiece in “so bad it is good”; I looked forward to it every week.
.
.
.
*Secret Royal Inspector and Joy was in this Trash Love category until they killed Bead Boy. It may remake this list if and when I stop feeling bitter towards it… Big If.
(also please this helmet scene asdfghjk)
Chil Cheon-po
December 30, 2021 at 1:17 AM
I binge-watch this drama, and I couldn’t stop clicking next, I loved it!😆😍
💜🍍☠️ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠️🍍💜
December 29, 2021 at 8:44 PM
2021 Round Up Day 20: THAT SHIRTLESS SCENE OUT OF THE BLUE YOU ARE SO GRATEFUL (SCREENSHOT WILL BE WELCOMED).
Abs are overrated. Bone structure is so much more interesting… this post is dedicated to @smaltwalt because he doesn’t like it when I talk about Skulls. *Ahem*
Shout out to these two for having very distracting zygomatic arches, supraorbital ridges, and nose bridges. ^-^
Enjoy my silly scribbles~
tabong
December 29, 2021 at 9:42 PM
I don’t know about skulls but I think Kim Jae Wook has a similar structure. Nam Goong Min reminds me of him…
Plus, no one asked me but in my case I love cute stuff, so Kim Min Jae smiling (dimples!!) are my shirtless scenes of the year.
💜🍍☠️ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠️🍍💜
December 29, 2021 at 10:12 PM
Oh beware saying so-and-so looks like so-and-so around me; I’ll probably break out the photoshop again to prove whether or not I agree with you… pfft.
Smiles a lovely and definitely need credit.
tabong
December 29, 2021 at 11:21 PM
Well you should probably ignore me, I’m always wrong about those kind of stuff, haha.
💜🍍☠️ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠️🍍💜
December 30, 2021 at 12:44 AM
I’m just obnoxious it’s fine 😂😂😂 don’t worry you’ve escaped it today cos I don’t have time.
tabong
December 30, 2021 at 1:41 AM
Hahahaha, then I’m thankful for your busy agenda!
Maq
December 31, 2021 at 9:40 AM
Grrrrrrr.
💜🍍☠️ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠️🍍💜
December 29, 2021 at 8:31 PM
Aight, time to play speed catch up on the Round Up for the days I missed (and actually have content for.)
2021 Round Up Day 13: DRAMA BEANIES LOVED BUT YOU DIDN’T / DRAMA YOU LOVED BUT BEANIES DIDN’T.
Well for the former
…………………………………………… *starts singing Yakko’s World again*
Where would you like me to start?
.
.
.
I didn’t like (some of them I straight up loathed, oooh have fun guessing which):
VINCENZO
DP
IMITATION
ALICE IN BORDERLAND
THE KING’S AFFECTION
LOVESTRUCK IN THE CITY
WORK LATER DRINK NOW
DOOM ( but that one feels less controversial than it did x many months ago)
SUNBAE, DON’T PUT ON THAT LIPSTICK
I didn’t like
KINGDOM: ASIN OF THE NORTH
MY NAME
or even on a technical and overall level, BOSSAM: STEAL THE FATE
I think RACKET BOYS and BEYOND EVIL are both severely overrated, but weirdly can’t fully tell you why right now for the latter.
Neither did I really love DALI AND GAMJATANG as much as I could’ve and think I will find it rather forgettable in the long run.
I didn’t like SQUID GAME, but at least on here, that’s not too outrageous to say. (To the rest of the world though…)
And boy oh boy I didn’t love RUN ON as much as I so dearly wanted to and can’t rate it well because my disappointment in it is too great. Possibly the biggest disappointment of 2021.
…
Is that enough examples for everyone? ^-^
.
.
.
DRAMAS YOU LOVED BUT BEANIES DIDN’T:
Er well I only loved one show, and fortunately enough other beanies also love it enough that I don’t think it really counts under this category.
I suppose a trash love here would count but like… they’re trash loves for a reason.
👍☠️ Queen of Salt out~
tabong
December 29, 2021 at 9:56 PM
Feels good to know I’m not the only one that didn’t like TKA, (I dropped) or Dali.
I don’t think beanies loved Lovestruck or Doom, tho. I remember we were watching Lovestruck but not fully aware why. Hahaha.
💜🍍☠️ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠️🍍💜
December 29, 2021 at 10:13 PM
*Minority Opinion High Five*
Oh Doom was super polarising when it aired. You either loved it and defended it, or you loathed it. I don’t really remember what the end consensus was though because I stopped paying attention to it and dropped it haha. So it still kind counts, but is less relevant.
And I have seen a lot of people liking and even loving Lovestruck by the end too so *shrugs*.
tabong
December 29, 2021 at 11:27 PM
I also dropped Doom, but I think it was 50/50 till the end.
I didn’t know a Iot of people liked Lovestruck by the end, tho.
beffels
December 31, 2021 at 2:51 PM
I think we were hypnotised by Lovestruck and it had short episodes and it was the holidays 😅
amruta1009
January 7, 2022 at 7:31 AM
Oh my god you came after them all lol
💜🍍☠️ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠️🍍💜
January 7, 2022 at 1:10 PM
*sips tea* Other people may have loved 2021 as a year in dramaland… I did not 😛
💜🍍☠️ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠️🍍💜
December 28, 2021 at 4:25 PM
Headcanon it’s Bead Boy and his posse in their next life lol.
*the real headcanon is actually he lived*
LT is Irresistibly Indifferent, Dame Judi
December 28, 2021 at 5:42 PM
I’m going to go out on a limb and say that you’re not happy about Bead Boy dying
💜🍍☠️ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠️🍍💜
December 28, 2021 at 5:44 PM
No? What gave it away 😛
💜🍍☠️ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠️🍍💜
December 28, 2021 at 4:25 PM
Nahhhhhhhhh you don’t get to do this, you just killed Bead Boy! And then you had a dumb SG reference! That’s not how you keep me as your friend. And I just missed him the whole episode despite watching it at 2x speed lmao.
💜🍍☠️ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠️🍍💜
December 28, 2021 at 4:17 PM
BUT BEAD BOY ISN’T.
💜🍍☠️ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠️🍍💜
December 27, 2021 at 9:34 PM
BRO. OF all the ways for you to kill him OF ALL THE WAYS. THAT’S WHAT YOU WENT WITH??????? PATHETIC. *flips table* DON’T TALK TO ME I’M IN MOURNING.
Wait what round up round up day was it? “DAY 15: Most Unnecessary Sageuk Death” YEAH WELL HI YES THIS, THANKS.
Bead Boy I kinda knew it was coming but you don’t deserve this babe. I was gonna tribute you anyway you know… but now it’s even more imperative.
😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
Kurama
December 27, 2021 at 11:38 PM
I told you, the redemption for this kind of characters always is death…
All my condolences!
💜🍍☠️ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠️🍍💜
December 28, 2021 at 2:17 AM
Maybe in Kdrama land… That doesn’t mean IT SHOULD…
Kurama
December 28, 2021 at 2:45 AM
He did a lot of bad things to please his Daddy… But they could have given him a heroic death at least.
💜🍍☠️ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠️🍍💜
December 28, 2021 at 4:16 PM
something something so did joyi’s mum something something themes of the show would’ve supported a better ending for him something somethng this sageuk filial piety death trope is cliched and lame something something else cos this drama isn’t really techncially worth writing essays on but bead boy is end something
gem28
December 28, 2021 at 1:07 AM
I wanted to break my monitor……Tae Su deserves happiness.
💜🍍☠️ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠️🍍💜
December 28, 2021 at 2:18 AM
They had to make it extra dumb too with his bitchy brother doing the deed and giving him pathetic last lines like come on, he’s been through much and You do him extra dirty like that? Tsk. Rude.
sirena
December 28, 2021 at 6:34 AM
@gem28 I wanted him to find happiness as well!
Ally
December 28, 2021 at 5:10 AM
I see a fanfic in bead boy’s future—-by sic…
My condolences.
That was pointless.
💜🍍☠️ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠️🍍💜
December 28, 2021 at 4:14 PM
Gosh if I have the energy. The writing words aren’t really flowing atm alas. I want to SEND HIM OFF RIGHT YE KEN. pfft
LT is Irresistibly Indifferent, Dame Judi
December 28, 2021 at 5:45 PM
Counterpoint: it was necessary for his Mummy’s final act of revenge served cold at the end.
You illegitimate son murdered your legitimate end. I waited 20 years for this. Bye!
💜🍍☠️ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠️🍍💜
December 28, 2021 at 5:53 PM
It’s not like this show had any real character development, and I’m uplifting a character the show wasn’t actually ever going to treat the way I wanted it to, I know this… but this does kinda just make Bead Boy a plot device.
And if I didn’t like him so much maybe this revenge would taste sweeter and be more satisfying. Or alternatively I would be up for the sickening tragedy of that in some wildly different show.
But why am I still talking about this, it’s frakking Special Royal Inspector and Joy lmao
Ally
December 28, 2021 at 7:54 PM
It’s so entertaining, though. Your pain is, that is.
💜🍍☠️ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠️🍍💜
December 28, 2021 at 8:01 PM
Yes yes yes I suffer for everyone’s amusement, we know, you’re welcome. Everybody asks where’s the next shitpost Sic, but nobody asks how are you Sic, just always expecting the next breakdown for their seratonin well WHAT ABOUT MY SERATONIN HUH? and here I am doing my best to entertain you all with my broken heart IT’S FINE, I’LL BE FINE! Be Enetertained! That’s why I’m my own court Jester…
mugyuljoie is preciousss
December 29, 2021 at 2:27 AM
Is this where I point out that The Queen beheaded me for less?
sirena
December 28, 2021 at 6:34 AM
I feel the same. His death wasn’t necessary. He was going to turn himself in and atone for his sins. His brother and father need to die painful deaths! 😡
💜🍍☠️ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠️🍍💜
December 28, 2021 at 4:14 PM
Well at least his father suffers in eternal torment knowing he killed his true son but like -_-
Lily left the valley
December 28, 2021 at 9:40 AM
To quote Galaxy Quest, “THIS SCENE WAS BADLY WRITTEN!”
I was ready to throw something when he didn’t even have a chance to not-die-just-yet in this scene to have a better “ending”. 😠
mmmmm
December 28, 2021 at 1:01 PM
Is there a more unnecessary death than poor Dae-yeob from Bossam?
💜🍍☠️ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠️🍍💜
December 28, 2021 at 1:30 PM
😂😂😂 narratively they’re probably equal in dumbness. But because I was more attached to Bead Boy… I’m a little bias lol.
Lily left the valley
December 28, 2021 at 2:31 PM
I’m trying to remember one other time I wanted to just spit fire due to a male not-lead death that seemed just…argh…and…my brain actually remembered: Prince Yangmyung in The Moon Embracing The Sun I mean, yes, plot difference because potential future throne conflict because court polly tickers always gotta stack their decks for more drama–so the “unnecessary” part can definitely be argued against in this case–but still…UGH…😭
I know there are others that also seemed “really?!?!” at the time, but that’s the first one that came to mind that gave me a similar level of NOOOOOOOOOoooooooo! 😮
💜🍍☠️ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠️🍍💜
December 28, 2021 at 4:13 PM
16 just made me more salty… everyone else gets to live their life (a theme of the show) and be happy, even her mum her also committed crimes BUT NOT BEAD BOY. I reject his death as canon humph.
Lily left the valley
December 29, 2021 at 6:51 AM
I still eagerly await the further adventures for bead boy when you write them. ☺️ Please @ me when a new chapter comes out!
💜🍍☠️ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠️🍍💜
January 6, 2022 at 11:46 PM
(i WILL. I WILL GET THERE. SOMETHING IS IN THE PLAN. IDK WHAT BUT SOMETHING HAHA)
bong-soo
December 31, 2021 at 4:56 PM
I watched episode 15 last night and when Tae-soo was run through THE BACK by Do-soo my immediate reaction was WHAT!!, AGAIN!! A repeat of the demise of Dae-yeop in BOSSSAM without (unlike DY) any consolation in his last moments. That was bad.
mmmmm
December 31, 2021 at 11:37 PM
😭
bong-soo
January 1, 2022 at 6:14 AM
Happy New Year @mmmmm!
mmmmm
January 7, 2022 at 2:15 AM
HNY Haraboji! 😄
💜🍍☠️ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠️🍍💜
December 26, 2021 at 5:26 PM
BEAD BOY SPAM END. I’m avoiding the wall cos of RS spoilers lmao.
Babe, If you don’t survive I will be immortalising you like Cooch immortalised that hawk in that one Footrot Flats comic by carving a crude likeness out of a log aka a sculpture 10 times the size of the hawk… *references nobody will get… -_-*
LT is Irresistibly Indifferent, Dame Judi
December 26, 2021 at 7:58 PM
Hello from the one person on this site who knows what Footrot Flats is.
Also for eventually giving us this awesome OST
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWNLVogchpU
💜🍍☠️ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠️🍍💜
December 26, 2021 at 10:14 PM
I know @bammsie knows it too! So two people! Yay!~
dramalover4ever
December 27, 2021 at 6:24 PM
Make it two.
sirena
December 27, 2021 at 7:35 AM
I’m rooting hard for Bead Boy.
💜🍍☠️ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠️🍍💜
December 26, 2021 at 5:24 PM
NO DON’T YOU DARE, JUST RUN AWAY AND LIVE YOUR LIFE AS A BETTER PERSON PLEASE I’M PRETTY SURE THE PUNISHMENT FOR MURDER IS STILL DEATH.
It doesn’t have to be cos this show ISN’T historically inaccurate and never HAS BEEN and can end ANY WAY IT LIKES BECAUSE OF THAT but, but… it has to properly realise that and stop pretending its trying to say something FIRST. Now, all we need is for the Prince to not be dead and to pardon him… 🙏
💜🍍☠️ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠️🍍💜
December 26, 2021 at 5:15 PM
I KNEW IT. I KNEW HE DIDN’T KILL THE PRINCE. And all because he decided he LIKED the Good Prince actually AWWWWWWWWWW.
He’s just a little misguided is all. Occasionally murders physicians, but is good at heart, really…
Ally
December 26, 2021 at 6:03 PM
…occasionally murders physicians…🤣 I should probably keep a wide berth—but I’m all in this reconciliation ship he’s on.
💜🍍☠️ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠️🍍💜
December 26, 2021 at 10:15 PM
The important thing is that he knows he was wrong, Ally… 😛
💜🍍☠️ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠️🍍💜
December 26, 2021 at 5:12 PM
Bead Boy has been so ready to break the entire show. Poor baby. He still needs his hug. Taec just became an impromptu counsellor.
💜🍍☠️ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠️🍍💜
December 26, 2021 at 5:05 PM
Bead Boy and the Terrible, Horrible, Not so Good, Very Bad Day.
So I actually had this wild crack idea the other week that maybe somehow Bead Boy was Joyi’s brother instead and wanted this show to go absolute dumbass makjang… well I mean it went makjang and gave him a birth secret … just not the cracktastic one my brain thought up… lmao.
This one IS curated to hurt him even more though! So. That’s … nice. Because we have to put him through even more extra trauma, don’t we.
💜🍍☠️ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠️🍍💜
December 26, 2021 at 4:58 PM
Hmmmm Joyi and Bead Boy have parallel maternal trauma, but Bead Boy doesn’t resent his “mother”, and Joyi does or did… you know who else has shared maternal trauma where the male counterpart also craves love and acceptance from his evil father in the wrong ways?… … Zu- Zutara…
I’m- I’m so sorry, I’ll stop now… 😂😂😂 (I probably won’t…)