bloomingtide

think so, bc i can't picture trashboi sitting down with a stack of magazines to craft that lmao

Yes. Your time machine broke after all. That must have been stressful ;)

I should start a clown costume count in my weekly summaries, because there are so many hahahaha. The baggy suits on AJH are so very unfortunate, bc he definitely has height and figure for some nice nice fitted ones. YD's date dress was so cute tho, hope to see more of it (even if i have little hope to actually experience it, lol.)

Please do so. I understand YD out of the pov of being the child of a single mother myself, but cannot provide the pov of being pregnant outside of empathy/empathizing.

lol i was wondering about that too. Very weird, honestly. I think it is due to Viki having the main rights to it, maybe? So they are limited what they can publish now, but that one singular episode out of fifty is very bizarre nonetheless.

1) This is basically korean soap opera. Depending on whether or not you have watched family dramas before, you have to expect a different narrative structure and pacing to the regular kdrama shows. However, the writer here does not drag conflicts out and makes characters actually communicate with each other in a sensible fashion. Well, most of the time, anyway. Nonetheless there are over the top situations such as hairpulling, screeching, crying, scheming, manipulative villains (SFL/Joseon Granny) etc all the overt nonsense you find in a makjang. Just roll with it. It also settles down tonally into softer melo later on. The stages and sets are pretty olden days (well, okay ugly lol) since family dramas have a lower production quality and budget than regular glamorous kdrama. Plus appealing to the nostalgic factor for the often middle-aged korean viewers tuning in, I guess.

2) Characters evolve more slowly but realistically, into a good and bad direction than in regular kdrama, due to the screentime and larger amount of eps available. This also means they are all at their worst selves at the start of the drama. The ML now is a fully other person than he was at the start, same for FL's family, for example. You have to have patience with a LOT of them, but the payoff will be worth it.

3) It is day to day storytelling. Meaning little time passes in all the episodes. We accompany the characters through each continuous day/night cycle, see what they are doing each day. Keep this in mind when wondering why the leads act like strangers around each other at times. Because they literally are. From the moment of their cohabitation and start of contract to ML's confession only three weeks have passed in the story, even though these are 10 eps to watch for you (after the first 10, setting it all up.) Hence why the romance feels starting late between the leads, but it is actually happening fast. Their romance arc has only started now (eps 20 and up,) with a lot of hindrances still in their way, of course. (if you like the male chasing female first trope, oh gosh you are right here, because does ML Taekyung ever deliver on that with a golden retriever-like eagerness, lol)

4) Do not get worked up by asshole characters too much or you will have a very bad time. It is best if you see Joseon Granny and SFL for the clowns they actually are and never take them too seriously. They are cartoonish/over the top mustache-twirling for exactly that reason. But in truth they are just narrative tools to create conflict and in SFL's case bring the leads (closer) together. Without them, the leads would have never met, as FL would have married her then bf and ML would have stayed a forever bachelor estranged to his family. There would be no story. So keep this in mind whenever they are clowning on your screen with their kindergarten lvl of schemes and being shitty ppl, heh.

5) You will like some characters more than others and that is okay. Try not to get hung up on their scenes, because each of them gets their share of screentime to advance their respective arcs. Just roll with it or fold laundry during it or something haha. Your opinion and lvl of care on/about them could change over the long course of the story as they develop as characters.

Hope you enjoy it tho, it is a long haul commitment, but imo the leads are so so worth it. Cute and healthy dynamic af, especially later on with how they defend/help/communicate with each other etc. They are so sweet they give me diabetes while still having enough weight on their dynamic with all the possible angst/conflicts to come.

Yes, if you like the male chases female (in denial) first trope after being oh no oh shit i am in love how did that happen this is the show you didn't know needed lmao. And Ahn Jae Hyun brings such a puppy-like innocent and eager note to his character being first time ever head over heels for a woman. So cute and their dynamic gives me diabetes in general <3

However don't forget this drama is basically korean soap opera so not just focused on the leads but their two more or less dysfunctional families a lot too. And its pace is slower/different due to the 50 eps. So the lead loveline does take a lot of time to start even, while story-wise only a few weeks have passed there. I also wrote a few survival tips for ppl new to family dramas as they are a quite special kind of genre lol, to avoid or mitigate your possible frustration with it: (under spoilers)

(Not so) Quick rundown: It is basically about a career woman facing an unplanned pregnancy and navigating impending (single) motherhood with all of its struggles, especially in a very conservative society that shun/condemn her for it. And a marriage, longterm commitment averse man and ob/gyn doc who is the son of a single mother that remarried late into a wealthy family that shun and mistreated him for not being their blood ("just adopted") So he avoids them whenever possible, is estranged to all of them and keeps ppl at arms length in general. Those two meet under the oddest circumstances again and again and help each other. So to get out of their respective predicament with their demanding disapproving families the mutual benefiting contract relationship and 'marriage' is devised.

But of course, during their time of cohabitation ML falls hard while telling FL not to fall for him (lol) and suddenly is facing the question whether or not a future for them is possible. To turn fake into real married and becoming the father with all that entails of a child that ain't his. All while navigating the big lie of his paternity within their families and their growing feelings for each other, an obsessive, delusional SFL trying her worst to break them apart, as well the mounting guilt for lying to their nice, supportive inlaw parents (particularly FL.) Basically their dynamic is like "marriage is for suckers" bachelor turning into head over heels, whipped husband starting to rethink all his beliefs while being very keen on pursuing FL romantically after realizing his feelings. Whereas his 'wife' is far more reluctant to restart their contractual relationship into something real after being cheated on, belittled and dumped by a deadbeat fuckboi of an ex only a month ago. Thus she feels the need to protect herself from anew heartbreak on top of protecting her unborn child that is her first priority in general. All while also already caring a lot for her (not) husband but trying not to.

The leads are very caring, kind people who have a healthy relationship with each other after some mishaps at the start. They are both finding support in the other, after being beaten down by life and their more (ML's) or less (FL's) dysfunctional, demanding families. They grow into easy banter and communicate well with each other too. Well, after a steep learning curve of living together and generally starting off on the wrong foot, or wrong car i should say 😂upon their very first meeting, that is. Generally they are so sweet together they give me diabetes while still having enough weight to their dynamic with all the possible angst/conflicts to come, particularly regarding FL's child.

And that's just the leads. There is also FL's brother as single father, ML's adoptive siblings who face unexpected pregnancy on one side and an unfulfilled wish for children on the other in regards of pregnancy being a topic. So maybe these kinda additional info will help you here, heh.

Given what we know about this rotten psychotic apple, are we really surprised about this fact?

Haha thankl you. I actually rewatched that bit for a refresher and also got one on what an absolute trashgoblin this ex of hers is, wow. TK should have punched this asshole way even harder than he did. (Well, seems he will get another opportunity soon hahaha) He did not give a date on how long it took to establish physical intimacy beyond that "it took forever" though. Given they dated for nearly a year (and Jinjja came to be on their 300 days celebration) well he pretty much ditched her right after sleeping with her then.

So yeah garbage fire of human waste aside, this indeed indicates that YD needs a long time to get comfortable with physical intimacy. Tho given JH's rotten personality, i can imagine why she was not comfortable enough to open up to it earlier maybe. I would not be surprised either if he was pushy too in this regard and very much focused on what he wants/needed only. And as soon he'd gotten it he discarded her for the next prize. Yikes. Not to mention that he wrecked her self-esteem/trust in regards of relationships and idk finding herself attractive with cheating on her, i think.

So Taekyung does need to tread softly and slowly here with any attempt of touch and let her dictate the tempo, be respectful of her boundaries etc Though with his warm and honest puppy way of loving her, i doubt he will struggle with restoring her trust in this regard and make her feel safe and appreciated, given enough time and patience. Like he is the polar opposite to that fuckboi in many regards and has shown to be good in observing her reactions and react/adjust himself accordingly.

It is generally a very interesting dynamic in this regard though. Here you have a man who kept it mostly on a safe, physical level in his prior relationships, and has a lot of experience in that... from which YD will profit later on. (Since he strikes me as an attentive, respectful lover who is only satisfied when his partner is too 😏) Now though, he is for the first time completely and utterly emotionally invested and in love. So everything; every moment spent with the woman he loves, every word and touch bears much more meaning with it. Which is new to him and he has to learn to navigate that, and also not to scare YD with his puppy-like enthusiasm of wanting to be with and around her 24/7, haha.

And on the other side you have a woman who needs time, reassurance and emotional investment to be(come) comfortable with physical touch, not to mention intimacy (again), especially after being betrayed and belittled by her last boyfriend like that.

Kinda feel like that they are perfect for each other here too as they complement and can learn from each other in this regard, heh. Also i would love for Yeondoo to surprise Taekyung and us all in being the one initiating their first kiss. I bet if this happens, the doctor would need a doctor afterwards. His poor heart, can you imagine? 🤭

You may wanna read that then:

https://kisskh.at/743119-the-real-thing-appears#comment-13410705

well i would give him one point then for that, should this be the case. So he would only have like 9998 points on my shit-list, lmao. (The other point subtracted was for laughing into poison ivy's face)

ah see, now you broke your time machine haha

You know what you mentioned is actually what i had expected to happen before they split up for a while and mom team working together to mediate between them. During that time, idk 2-3 weeks or so, they would miss each other and notice that life is better with the other in it, realize feelings and then start dating in honest. But writer said nope and did all that in breakneck speed, including separation (for a night or two, lol) and falling in love (TK) all while the living situation and lie remains as it is.

I actually think YD's need to stick around and with TK superseded really thinking it through regarding her guilt and how to then end things. Imo, in the moment of proposing it she only thought about TK and him asking for a chance and not really beyond that of the other technicalities. It feels very much a decision made out of her feelings for him, bc as much she is afraid to commit, she also does not want to look back at it years later and wonder what could have been. So she is permitting herself that much at least.

It does make things more messy bc TK's love for her will only solidify and deepen from here on out, but it could also a chance for the both/three of them and the fam for something beyond that. Especially when, much driven by guilt, she helps inok to empower herself and also cleans house there regarding the dysfunction in that timespan to provide Inok but also TK with a better living situation. I think doing that will bring the fam closer together in general, and maybe even let them grow fond of YD so the fallout is not as sharp then. Idk how they are gonna handle the big lie but i doubt YD is gonna want to leave after TK worked his magic on her for eight full weeks 🤭 (just look how much he got her waver after a single day heh) (Plus lots of opportunities for him to bond with Jinjja too during that time. The first child movements is typically around 20 weeks which falls perfectly into that timeframe after all. Coincidence? I think not :D)

You know how slimy seagull said to trashbag that the marriage would be over in three months? Now what if, instead of the expected breakup they decide to register their marriage instead, lol. Would be a great curveball to the expected story trajectory and okay okay... i just wanna see her stupid face when nothing happens and they continue being happy instead lmao.

Yeah, they look the same age. I hope we get more of her character and story soon, like a name and stuff, lol. Because she has been featured too much already to be just a rando throwaway character tbh

Nah they don't have given any details about it thus far. Mainly because everyone focused so much on them having a one night stand that they forgot to ask further, lol.

The only thing a then drunk TK babbled out is that they did not just meet one but many times. He listed places where they actually met aka clinic, ice rink (can't remember the others rn) but Bong Nim did misunderstand it as them having dated lol. But beyond that their camping story should be safe, hehe

yeah, on both, the car AND him, lol.

It certainly did leave a lasting impression, though. As we now see with him, a month later 🤭

Well, we will see. My bet is still on Jang Ho heh.

That is an ideal number tbh, or close to it at least. Which would be zero. 😂

Oh for sure. Which is why i say TK is gonna murdering JH if he tries to even *breathe* into YD's direction. 😂 Particular now where he is head over heels for her, hahaahha. And i am here for it, ngl. I love how much TK hates the guy, bc saaaaame. Such a feckboi, if a funny one.