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This is precisely why I dislike Netflix translations. Subbers know no nuance -_-

And the Start-Up references continue on. As soon as the 'mistaken pen-friend' gets solved, we get the 'rainbows leading to good places' bit! This is why I love tVn dramas for their Easter-Eggs! <3

Maybe..... just maybe....
Baek Yi-Jin uses his Christian name as an international journalist?

Like if somebody asked me if I listened to Park Chae-Young's music.... I would blink, and go huh?
Yeah, we know her as Rose (anne Park) and maybe that's why Min-Chae also doesn't recognize Yi-Jin's Korean name, lol! :P Maybe Baek Yi-Jin currently goes by something like Justin Baek? xD

Yes, I acknowledge that! I think that's why they got different 'older actors' for Hee-Do (& possibly even Yi-Jin) but not Hee-Do's Mom. Also, they could prolly sell it as Min-Chae sees her Dad only once/ twice a year. She also doesn't recognize her mom from the pictures, and she's lived with her for all 15 years. But not recognizing Yi-Jin's name too.. is surely a big red-flag. :P

1. Yi-Jin and Hee-Do are very much together, but not in the 'conventional' sense. They aren't married, but are co-parenting Min-Chae. Because first half of their life, Hee-Do was busy touring internationally as an athlete, and later, Yi-Jin is touring as an established reporter.
2. Since they aren't married, they decided Min-Chae would not have either of their last names. Kim is Yi-Jin's mom's last name, so that works?
3. Yi-Jin & Hee-Do would have exchanged rings for sure, but never registered officially. This directly calls back to how Hee-Do believes her Mom must have sold off her wedding ring, and Yi-Jin's parents being in love, but 'divorced on paper'.
4. In fact, going by the year, Hee-Do would have been pregnant with Min-Chae in 2005 (as she is 15 in 2021?). Hee-Do would be 25. Now because they actually fell in love at 21 & 25 respectively, I do believe Min-Chae is a younger sibling. She has an older brother (with the same last name Kim) who's 18 at this point, who used to live with Yi-Jin. [The 'separated siblings with unconventional last-names' trope from Start-Up, yes!]. We'll see a family re-union right in the finale, when Yi-Jin comes back home along with Min-Chae's older brother! [this also lines up with the fact that it's probably December 2021 in the show, and also Christmas vacations!!]
5. Because Hee-Do's life unwillingly mirrors her mom's (i.e. unintentionally being a single-mother), I believe Yi-Jin's also has to mirror his parents (i.e. being a separated couple because of circumstances, 'older sibling with dad, younger sibling with mom' kind of an arrangement) for the sake of creative & poetic continuity!
6. Tvn loves doing these dramas, where families and couples don't have an unconditional 'happily-ever-after' together. Yet, the times they are together... are some of the moments when all of them truly come alive! I think Crash Landing on You is one such example! ^^
7. I believe Min-Chae's package from Dad was an international package, no wonder he has no idea 'what's in trend' these days! xD

Edit: I admit a lot of this could be horseshit. But if i don't get an ending close to this, I'mma write an FF soon after! :P

My Theory (since we already are trolling Start-Up by having NJH play an unwilling fake pen-friend). Read on below! :P

I really like how all 'fake-dating' scenarios boil down to 'oh, we're not *actually* dating. we're just friends/ helping each other out/ pretending' etc. But then, the OTP spends 90% of the time subconsciously, behaving like an actual couple, very much in love! Aww :')
At this point, Ha-Ri's right. If you don't really hate the company of the other person, might as well date for real. You never know, it might end up being something productive! 💕

That fake 'blind-date' personality of hers.... that's based on Young-Seo's weird cousin who speaks with random English words, & always tries to sound ~fAnCY~
Dang, I know I make fun of my best bud's weird cousins ALL the time. Yep, that's peak 'best-friend' behavior! xD

Yes, ep 12 was so twisty, I think we all need a week to process just that ep alone!!!!!! Like there was a story within a story, and that too, within a third story. It was insane! xD

Yes, I think my reply above directly links to my comment below about why Tien-Ti needs to die first. Because, the Kawas would have already 'left', (i.e. pushed to Pinokayan by 'Fali' where they cannot exist).
Only Lemed and Orad would be remaining (& Toem too), and Lemed will reveal to Orad the truth, to make him disappear as well, and make Kakarayan 'wake up from his sleep.' Once Orad 'disappears' after learning the truth about his identity, no more rain will fall.!!! Thus, the last rain would have fallen the day Tien-Ti dies (as per Lemed's arrangement!) :D
And this is exactly what Toem wishes to prevent because she's in love with Orad. She would rather keep Tien-ti alive (by protecting her) than risk Orad discover the truth, and then disappear T_T
Ugh, I love Toem so much!
Edit: Yes, I love the fact you mentioned.... that everything boils down to Tien-Ti. Kakarayan, Toem and even Lemed/ Fali... At the core of everybody's plans and aspirations is Tien-Ti, at the end of the day! Kakarayan's intentionally, and Lemed/ Toem's unintentionally! :')

Clearly Toem wishes to prevent Orad from learning the truth about himself, and she realizes for that to happen, she must protect Tien-Ti (instead of killing her, when she was 5), after she sees that every iteration of the 'future'/ 'reflection of time' ended with Orad disappearing, whenever Tien-Ti was implied to have been dead. On paper, it looks as if she's protecting Orad, but to achieve that, she's also secretly protecting Tien-Ti.
Similarly, Kakarayan wishes to protect Tien-Ti for obvious reasons. And to prevent her from dying (& her world collapsing as per Lemed/ Fali's arrangement), he needs Orad to protect Tien-Ti on his behalf.

Kakarayan, being the supreme God knows Toem's motivations. While their end-goals appear directed towards two different people, they achieve the same purpose. Ugh, what a brain-melting story indeed! ^^

Kakarayan is the 'supreme/ ultimate' God. He lives in Pinokayan with Lemed (the Deity of Dreams & Illusions). It's implied, that the 'world' created by Lemed is an illusion, which we see from ep 1 to ep 12. It's the world where Lemed goes by the name Fali.
This 'world' exists only at the request of Kakarayan, who asked Lemed to 'put him to sleep' & build a new world after the previous 'world' of Tiyamacan abruptly comes to an end when Kakarayan 'wakes up'.

Kakarayan's grief of losing Tiyamacan causes him to weep, and from those tears, Orad is 'born'. As per the animated legend, he's also very much a Rain God, but Orad's real identity is that he's a manifestation of Kakarayan's will/ desire/ hope to be with Tiyamacan, since Kakarayan himself cannot. And just how when Kakarayan 'wakes up', the world collapses... similarly, because Orad is told a lie about who he is, the world will again stop to exist, once Orad learns the truth of his existence, as that will again wake up Kakarayan. [Which is why Lemed is so adamant on Orad learning the truth about his identity, so that he can disappear and the 'real' Kakarayan can wake up. Even if that will destroy the world Lemed himself has created, along with the Kawas, Tien Ti, and everything else. And he succeeds in doing it, in ep 12]

Because Tiyamacan (& her world) and even Tien Ti (& her world) are built by Lemed..... I think it's perfectly okay for Kakarayan to fall in love with those creations. I mean, every religion talks about God, and God's love for us, and all of nature & other creations (although this story displays the romantic angle of that love for one such creation!)

As for naming the kawas himself.... in Tien Ti's world, Orad was naming the kawas (which were created by Lemed), because Orad is the 'messenger of Kakarayan' and very much his shadow, so that makes sense. In the last episode, in Tien-Ti's world 2.0, Kakarayan himself is awake [he doesn't need to be asleep as Orad knows the truth about his existence from the very beginning]. Thus Orad is living happily with Tien-Ti, and Kakarayan goes about doing his own 'godly duties' like naming the Kawas, which are once again newly created by Lemed. And no, 'Fali', 'Toem', 'Cariciw' and 'Raka' no longer exist as kawas as they were Fali/ Lemed's creation in the previous world. Whereas Orad can continue to exist as a Deity, as he's directly born from the tears of Kakarayan himself! :"D
Hope I cleared some of your confusion!

They have subverted all cringe-worthy tropes with A-grade comedy so far, so I trust writer-nims to play this as a Start-Up parody, and nothing more! :P Haha, to think even NJH is in on the joke! xD What a troll! <3

Never has a sentence hurt me more than 'Min-Chae, you have a gift from your father!' T_T
E-motion-al Da-mage.

Oh. Ep 8 ending was major 'Start-Up' esque confusion. Intense flashback to some trauma. NJH, why you do this man? :')

Hana spiked Thyme's drink...

Fingers crossed. The full story is out already, so they don't have an excuse this time! ^^

Dual citizenship seldom does exclude you from conscription.

Trailer: https://youtu.be/uMsXZZoD2p8

T-version. We honestly don't know how the K-remake will turn out. Plus the original had great performances and beautiful music, that just cannot be exactly replicated. The original isn't even that old, so it's available in HD print. Also, there are certain cool Visual Design elements in the original, like the opening and ending credit scenes... that imo, you shouldn't miss out on! ^^

I'm loving it! April 9th is gonna be stacked! <3 Jtbc and Tvn are hitting it out of the park! :)
Ps. This one has hard eng subs!
https://youtu.be/-SFycNrZQio