I am in a fan wall hibernation nowadays…until @ally-le calls for duty!😘

Love to Hate You was a nice, but forgettable Valentine binge. This OST is too nice to forget.

Lovey Dovey by TAEIL #BeaniePlaylist2023

#2022RoundUp: Day 29: Freestyle: Uploading my 2022 Year in Review on my fanwall

2022 Year in Review: Extending the comfort zone with watch buddies.

When the clock struck midnight on the first of January 2022, New Year’s Depression struck me. I had spent the latter half of 2021 in therapy while on a long sick leave from work, and I absolutely dreaded the idea of spending another full year feeling stuck in my own mind. There also wasn’t any comfort to be found on the K-drama horizon, which rubbed more salt into my mental wound. Collecting K-drama beans with the occasional completed oldie in between was no longer cutting it, so I had no choice but to step out and extend my comfort zone.

Twenty-Five Twenty-One was not on my radar, until some Beanies invited me to join them for the first episode. I accepted on a whim and ended up staying the full eight weeks. At the same time A Business Proposal checked all the boxes for a cozy solo watch. Again, Beanies swooped in during the first half to demand weekly reports on Samantha, Rachel and the Archaeopteryx, followed in the second half by another group watch invitation. Miraculously, I still had time left to keep up with a third Beanie watch group for Healer and Shining Inheritance as well.

Watching Shining Inheritance in turn brought The Law Café to my attention. Many were also anticipating and discussing the romcom, which made my solo watch feel like I was attending yet another livestream. Love in Contract did not gather much attention at the start. Maybe this show would win solo watch of the year? Yes, you guessed correctly, the second half evolved into the umpteenth non-solo watch.

This is an ode to all my Beanie watch buddies. Although I always watch K-dramas either by myself or with a good friend, I could not help but feel lonely at times. There were loved ones who had unconsciously retreated as soon as I confided in them about my mental health issues, causing seeds of doubt about myself to sprout up in the process. This contrasted a lot with the casual way of Beanies, who provided a safe space in the streaming room where anyone could choose to bare their souls or merely be present in all their glory.

Fortunately, it rarely got too serious with all the camaraderie, laughter and recommendations. There were final nudges for me to start that one classic I still had to watch, like Misaeng or I am not a Robot. On other occasions I found myself trying adaptations that opened doors to other sources of entertainment like anime, Thai and Chinese dramas. The best recommendations, however, were the nostalgia fueled ones. Mystic Pop-Up Bar was my first K-drama rewatch ever with my friend who had not seen this gem before. Last but not least, I also went back to British shows I had been missing out on for years in favor of K-dramas.

Judging by a K-drama perspective, 2022 has been a year of lows in my humble opinion. Thankfully, my personal K-drama slump year ended up being a blessing in disguise. It gave me a beautiful opportunity to reflect on my watching habits and how I could improve them. While I sadly cannot predict what K-dramaland 2023 will bring, I see no reason to worry. With all these new sources of entertainment I discovered, there will always be something interesting to watch and someone to watch with. The more, the merrier.

#2022RoundUp: Day 28: Freestyle: The Leonidas Awards!💝

Don’t panic, you did not miss anything, this is just a joke that escalated quickly!😅

@eazal and I are among the founding mothers of this roundup and therefore she considers it her duty to nag me out of writing hibernation every year in order to participate in the roundup.🙄 Since we both are very fond of Leonidas chocolate boxes, I jokingly suggested we did something similar like the bean count for roundup entries this year. Basically, for every roundup entry you post, you earn a virtual box of Leonidas chocolates.🍫

It certainly motivated me to write more entries than I usually do. I collect few Beans every year, which gives me fewer options to choose from when answering the prompts, so I usually only write prompts if something comes to mind. The main goal of the roundup is to have fun and do whatever you feel like, but I always try to participate as often as possible to challenge my writing skills and creativity.💪🏻

Enough babbling, on to the award!

Congratulations Eazal for completing 18 official roundup prompts! That Egypt holiday might have slowed you down at the beginning, but you came back stronger than ever and easily obtained the crown with grace and wisdom!👑

18 virtual Leonidas boxes for Eazal and 7 virtual Leonidas boxes for me!💝🥳🎉

#2022RoundUp: Day 19: Your guilty pleasure: A Business Proposal

As I was lamenting the big romcom draught at the end of 2021, I feared I would never get to watch another one. Late February brought salvation in the form of this webtoon adaptation. I remember joking to other Beanies about how I was going to cheerfully inject myself with the trash that A Business Proposal obviously was going to be…and I honestly cannot decide whether it was trash or not.🤭

Every year I have this one show that just sings to me, though I recognize the actual siren in disguise from miles away. The show fit that guilty pleasure label perfectly in the leadup until the premier. The seeds of doubt were planted as soon as I started watching….just like everybody else. Does it still count as a guilty pleasure if almost everybody you interact with is watching? Secondly, does it count as trash if it parodies the K-drama romcom genre on purpose?🤔

Perhaps A Business Proposal does not count as a guilty pleasure on paper, but it certainly felt like one. I cannot think of a better compliment than that.❤️

Five years already, and I am still as lost.

#2022RoundUp: Day 16: Your 2022 crush: Kang Hyung-Suk

Who can say they get chosen as ultimate crush two years in a row?

2021 gave me a tie between two attractive policemen (Won-Takie!❤️). One of them was Choi Eun-Cheol in Hometown ChaChaCha. A pure, charming and adorable soul in uniform.🤭Imagine my utter delight when the actor, Kang Hyung-Suk, appeared as Woo Gwang-Nam in Love in Contract. I already waxed poetry about the guy on Day 11- Favourite bestie, so I will try to contain myself.🤗

Honestly, I did not stand a chance. Any Korean actor willing to portray LGBTQIA+ characters as decent human beings, earns brownie points in my book. Also, I need to recheck the dictionary for ‘charming’, because Eun-Cheol has nothing on Gwang-Nam in that department. Eun-Cheol showed goodwill to learn, but Gwang-Nam already knows. Whether it is housework, kicking butt or friendly gossip, he is your man.🥰

AND. HE. CAN. SIIING.😍

Runner Ups: Lee Seung-gi, because I finally understand all the fuzz😘
Kim Min-Kyu: portraying a character with and without glasses in A Business Proposal😘

#2022RoundUp: Day 9: The oldie (not 2022) you loved the most:
Misaeng, I’m Not a Robot, Healer and Because This Is My First Life.
After years of talking about wanting to watch these shows, I finally did!🎉

#2022RoundUp: Day 6: Best OST/BGM: With – 2521 cast

This song is actually my second favorite (after Love, Maybe – Melomance), but it offered some comfort while I was feeling lonely and grieving some lost friendships.

The song debuted during that infamous beach scene, and I had to pause during the refrain. Nam Joo-Hyuk. was. singing.👂Now, I do not have a particular opinion about Nam Joo-Hyuk, but as far as I am aware the guy is not a professional singer. However, my amateur musical ear just knew it was him and would not let me focus on that beautiful beach scene as long as I had not confirmed this.😅

It is a common to hire actors that are professional singers as well to perform an OST for the K-drama they appear in. Just let the OTP harmonize a romantic ballad in the recording booth and you are all set. Nam Joo-Hyuk was not an obvious choice, so I wanted to merely confirm his voice and then replay the beach scene.

Nam Joo-Hyuk was indeed one of the singers…along with the other four of our beloved group of friends.😍Bona was the only professional singer among them, which made the song feel a lot more authentic to me. Professional singers might sound nicer to the ears, but I sometimes feel disconnected if the singer I hear and the actor I see on screen are not the same person.

So I was a happy and sobbing mess when I realized Hee-Do, Yi-Jin and the others were singing lyrics that might as well have been their lines in the K-drama. On top of their beautiful solos the non-professionals also paired off with their bestie of the opposite gender for the refrain. No harmonizing, just two (platonic) soulmates of the same mind singing in one and the same key and sounding twice as powerful in the process. I mean, Ji-Woong and Seung-Wan singing about holding hands tightly and trusting each other? Friendship goals.😘

#2022RoundUp: Day 4: Greatest disappointment: K-dramaland 2022.

Gosh, it has been aaaages since I used my fanwall! But whatever @ally-le says, goes.😉
This one played on repeat during and after Business Proposal.🥰
#BVIPP2

#2021RoundUp: Day 23: Best bromance / womance.

SONYEONDAAAN!🏸I saved the best for last: our 7 Racket Kids from Racket Boys!💖

I have never been this interested in other teenagers before, not even when I was one myself! The romances were portrayed in an innocent manner with little skinship because the actors were minors, but the absence of skinship made the use of other love languages shine brighter. Their first loves might not last forever, but these kids already show the potential to be good life partners that I never experienced in my youth.😘

You might have read it between the previous lines, but my teenage years are not exactly a fond memory for many reasons. I suffered many platonical heartbreaks to the point that I questioned the value of friendship, which of course contributed to the already bitter taste of my youth. With that mindset it was hard to understand at first how friendship was the ultimate deciding factor whenever these kids faced badminton dilemmas.

Woo-Chan refused to move to another town because he wanted to stay with his badminton pals. Nerd In-Sol initially played badminton to relieve stress after studying, but joined them to make friends. Airhead Hae-Kang switched sports because his past friends betrayed him and had his conditions for joining the badminton team at first. This adorable little pest quickly got adopted by his teammates and from then on there was no way back for any of them.🤭

This show is a gem worthy of a rewatch and I will always be grateful for what it taught me about relationships, friendships and communities.💖

#2021RoundUp: Day 21: That cute little drama.

The great shaman Ga Doo-Shim👻👧

Nam Da-Reum and Kim Sae-Ron receive a lot of Beanie praise, and this show made me understand why. Both are very talented and I look forward to a few years from now, when they will be the leads in bigger productions. The plot was nothing new, but it was a good fit for its short length and leaves room for more seasons that I certainly will tune in for. The only, truly memorable thing about this show however: 20.minutes.a.week.😡

#2021RoundUp: Day 20: That shirtless scene out of the blue you are so grateful for (screenshot will be welcomed).

If you asked me to participate in this entry a few years ago, I would have been very affronted. However, if other Beanies can be honest with themselves and each other, I don’t see why I should lie to myself any longer…🤭

My pick is not from 2021, but from an older K-drama I watched this year. It also does include a (very wet) shirt, but that is the only thing you should pay any attention to in the end.😉 Before you start nitpicking about the rules, I would recommend you to read the prompt title again and imagine how you would have felt if you accidentally paused the episode on this view.☺️

Also, you call him Dumbo Ears @eazal, really?? With that body??😘

(Let’s Fight Ghost, episode 6, 40:34)

#2021RoundUp: Day 19: Your 2021 crush.
Police officers are the new chaebols in K-dramaland!👮

On your left: Choi Eun-Cheol (Hometown Chachacha).❤️
Diligent and generous…to a fault, traditional in a charming way and adorable to boot!😘

On your right: oori Won-Takie (Dali and Gamjatang)!🔥
Workaholic, loyal, protective, prioritizes family, the ideal big bro/bestie/boyfriend, biceps.🤭