bloomingtide

Yeah finally a decent SML again, have seen too many assholes lately regarding that, but yeah, he is still SML and to quote my favorite sketch to that topic: You have to face the reality of the situation, you are SML it is never going to happen 🤣 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XkNwhHxGVE)

I just love that after Mr. Queen I finally get a new (semi-)royal chaos couple. It has been too long tbh hehe

Thank you. It is not really hard work, i just love the drama and its characters so much, haha. I find the way it portrays grief and shows what it does to people is incredibly validating and relatable. Plus the veeeeery healthy trust/affection and communication between the leads is one of the best i have ever seen in a kdrama. Probably why my first time appearing in the top contributor list is for this drama, haha.

I made a forum post now about that particular topic to point people at, as i fear it will be a circular one, like idk mr. queen's ending or something (which i liked btw) xD And it gets tiring to repeat the same things to ppl unable to empathize what the characters went through/why they act how they act tbh.

Anyway, I hope the same, bc so far too many 2022 kdrama's went out with a whimper or faceplanted at the end, but i am quite confident this writer will manage a good ending for everyone (who deserves it heh) Prayer circle for DJ's dad will be safe, tho 😬

Aaaaand this is a pretty shitty gendered response and assumption. We danced this ill-stepped tango before with another user already telling you how it is, so i am not going to deem it with further regard. You have made up your mind about it/me/others here anyway, why bother?

This is my first drama with this actor. so lmao. I just KNOW how debilitating grief of losing a loved one can be, is all. And that is shown extremely well and in a relatable way in this drama. If this makes me biased because i can feel and understand how fundamental wrecking grief/guilt of this kind is, so be it. Be glad if you can't empathize to this point as it does mean you have not been there.

First of all, IT HAS BEEN TWO YEARS. Any normal, emotionally stable person would have moved on by now. Reason given for the breakup or not. Plus, fact is there is never a good enough reason if you are on the receiving end of a break-up, you will always feel jilted. But Taehee in fact had a life altering reason to want to move on away from Chungha. And if Taehee told her the full story it would not have made her feel any better. Based on her attitude, it would only make her cling on him more. She can't move on cause she's dependent on him. Imagine if she knows that he was about to propose. Chungha would most likely hear nothing he said after he uttered the word "proposal" and zoom in on that and her efforts "to win him back." Rather than, you know, understand that he broke up with her because seeing her triggers his trauma and hence she is the stark opposite of comfort to him. (The guy cannot even bear to be under the same roof with her, after all.)

Telling her would just give her false hope, because hey, he wanted to marry her two years ago. Why not wait longer until they can get back to that? Plus, as said before she ignored even the most basic things Taehee clearly and repeatedly told her, to the point where the man just mentally sighed at her "I will wait for you even if you told me not to, xoxo" message. NOTHING he says or does goes/went through to that woman. She has continuously proven in several episodes and every encounter with him that she doesn't understand him, nor even cares to, because her own (hurt) feelings and needs are paramount to his, whenever they meet.

And yes, she has a right to feel upset, an end to a relationship and not getting what you want sucks, is never easy. But it has been two years and she has to deal with this on her own. She is responsible for her own emotional wellbeing, the compartmentalization of her feelings, the hurt. Not Taehee. At this point and time, he does not owe her anything anymore. Neither time, engagement or reasoning, especially after she repeatedly ignored his boundaries and wishes to leave him alone and to move on, without her.

Sure, we can see that she's also grieving in her way and that is coming at a cost just like with him. Yet her reaction is incomparable in source of the grief and in their actions. One ended a relationship because of a death of a loved one—that she cannot fill and should not—but the other is trying to wedge between a budding relationship and his desire to move on and heal, because she's responding to her desire for his love because he rejected that love and hurt her.

i was close to it, but then the "sexy" scene with her laughing and the angsty end scene happened and i was SOLD on the mains once more hehe. SML is nice and his story a lot of could have beens while ML shares FL's high chaotic energy and is a lot of "what will be" aka him falling haaaaaard for FL without even realizing it until it is too late. And I can't WAIT, hehehehe

This writer does not even know the words "character development" so how do you expect her to progress her characters, least in a sensible way. She only knows the opposite: REGRESSION. Lmao. Hence FL gets even wooooooorse, but so do the other characters.

IKR? I said it before and say it again, we desperately need more kdramas that are written like this. Aka without the usual bullshit of miscommunication, misunderstandings, out of character reactions/action of leads for added drama/conflict where none had to be to begin with, lies/keeping things from each other. You know this whole overdramatic bullshit that is used as a lazy laaaaazy narrative device to drag out a conflict/situation instead to solve it like an adult according to their ages. We also need more lead relationships written like this that are build on mutual understanding, love, trust and communication.

Taehee and Dongjoo are exceptional in kdramaland with their maturity dealing with issues in general, but in particular with how they are tackling difficult conversations. They listen to what the other has to say instead of accusing or jumping to conclusions, they offer comfort for each other, be it in words or simple presence and they are completely honest and open with each other, while remaining kind and empathic every step of the way. They voice their feelings, concerns and reassure each other, and notice on their own when it is needed (Taehee with seeking her out after he paid respect to his ex's mom and make sure she knows how he feels and no longer worries, And DJ with hugging him in the yard bc she noticed he was feeling down.) THIS is how you write a healthy, mature, mutually affectionate relationship on equal footing, without any push and pull, fake animosity bullshit. Instead, their relationship is refreshingly normal, They are just two people trying to love each other as best as they can despite their shortcomings and past scars. They naturally grew from (bickering) strangers to friends to lovers, like it actually happens irl. They have an innate understanding for each other that does not even need words, but still they can and will use them so their partner is clear on what they meant, feel and want. As it should be. And just like that, Taehee and Dongjoo have raised my standards for kdrama couples SO SO HIGH, ngl.

It is sad that a healthy relationship with mature adults actually *acting* like adults is exceptional or noteworthy in kdramaland, actually. but yeah *sigh* What is more depressing is due to the drama being so overlooked, most of the people won't even ever see it, but tbh that is their loss at the end of the day, lol. I just wish more people would talk about this show and how well done the writing in general is, so the cast and crew would get their deserved praise. Oh well. Sigh.

👀👀👀 Oh my synopsis got approved and is up now. Nice, no more badly worded asian wiki summary haha 🎉

Yeah that, as said before she was always meant to return as we meet her in episode 4, buuuut her role in the story got extended after Itaewon happened tho. Now tho, she has served her purpose as a character. Her arc is over (there is nothing more to tell about or to do with her) and ended on a positive, hopeful note. I liked it actually, because she recognized on her own that she cannot go on like this and should stop hurting herself. And free from her mother's influence, she can start on working on learning to be responsible for her own wellbeing and to love herself instead to seek out external approval/emotional stability from others only. Along with a long jeju island vacay for ths sad gurl, hopefully.

As said before i bet we are going to see her again in the ending episodes, just to give the viewers an update on how she is doing on her process of healing and to show that she also will be okay, in time. Not that i care at this point, mind, but i expect it to happen lol. And now with having experienced grief and regrets of things left unsaid/not done herself, maybe she has gained a modicum of understanding why Taehee acted as he did (two yrs ago) Who knows, wonder never cease lol.

Captain of our ship, hahaha.

Happy to hear, i plan to write a very extensive one these days too, as there are barely any. No pressure to update it tho, do it on your own terms <3

It indeed is, the things he does with his face, all these microexpressions to show what his character feels at any given moment should be illegal at times, haha. Hope he has to cry less very soon however. Bc episode 12 looked exhausting to act in, with all of the big crying scenes he had tbh, aww

Oooooh i have seen that movie. Him barking and all xD I loved it but given how Junyoung reacts whenever someone praises his acting in L&L, i wasn't the only one with 2nd hand embarrassment hahaha. The poor man, introverted as he is and all, but hey, gotta do what brings in the woooon hehe. Such a cutie indeed <3

They actually did that, but indirectly. News reports of the culprit being caught and it "being a random crime of robbery" are heard on the radio while TH is driving. As said before, the drama requires a bit more attention than your average kdrama, because it does not spell everything out for you in an extra scene. Some explanations/plot stuff happen while the characters do other things but are not the focus of the scene (aka news reports via tv or passersby who talk about it or watch news on their phones, with Taehee next to them. Things like that :)

Are you still watching MIHY? If so you may want to update this review as it is pretty old by now and not really saying much about the overall show tbh 😉

Next on my list, write a review, dl episodes for Sony Vegas, search for music for edits and complete the missing tags here.

I didn't like love all play much either (way too makjang in the end) but it tickles me that both leads of it have now their new dramas airing atm. Lop's ML is to see in 'Unlock My Boss' btw 😆

Also he laid out in pretty clear language both, in words and body language, repeatedly, that they are done, that he's moved on from both her and her mother-but SHE'S the one who keeps coming back. Moving into his place without even asking and then following through, completely ignoring his discomfort with it. Demanding that he eats with her in misusing the errand service for it (the guy is working and thought she was a client to the point where he canceled his plans with DJ for it, dammit.) Invading his personal space, disregarding every single thing he says, his agency. She's the one that frames everything about her feelings, her emotions. We never see her show empathy to anyone, because her feelings are paramount to everything/everyone.

Plus, other than the extremely traumatic event of taehee's brother's death, it is also shown that their dynamic is of Taehee being the emotional giver, and Chungha just taking, taking and taking. In all their confrontation scenes, Chungha is demanding something, be it pity, lodging, time, miraculous mental recovery, and more.

Sure, before the big traumatic event maybe Taehee was willing to bear this and also the brunt of her caustic mom's disapproval, but afterwards? Especially when she's a walking reminder of the pain (though this one is not her fault)? It had reached the point where he'd nothing left to give, as the emptiness and grief swallowed him whole and hadn't spat him out until DJ came into his life. Like he said, he was dead inside, just going through the motions, surviving instead of living. He didn't think he deserved to feel anything either out of fear to forget his guilt in a happy moment, as mired in trauma and grief as he was. Dongjoo changed that, presenting him a future to live for, to feel again, in a positive or negative way, to move on, instead to pull him back into the past and the most painful moment/failure in his life like CH did every time she appeared in front of him.

Made a longer post about Taehee's/Chungha's relationship dynamic using the context clues the drama gives us here, and it ain't pretty. Suggest to read the surrounding comments there too, as it has been talked about pretty extensively by now.

https://kisskh.at/723801-il-dang-baek-butler#comment-11863147

Stuff happens, people break-up. There are all sorts of reasons for falling out of love…it doesn’t necessarily make those feelings shallow or fickle. And Idk why .people fail to realize how earth-shattering and soul-destroying losing a family member can be? Especially when it’s a child, and when you’re indirectly the reason for it, and when they die right in front of you. That’s enough to ruin your life for years, like it did to TH.

So yeah, TH went through a deeply tragic and traumatic loss, and just didn’t have the emotional capacity to be in a relationship any longer, to go through the motions of being a supportive boyfriend as if nothing happened when EVERYTHING had changed on a foundational lvl. CH might have thought that he broke up with her because he blamed her, but TH never says anything to suggest that. He only blames himself.

He’s cold to her because she’s quasi become a trauma trigger, is a reminder of his failings and what's ifs that didn't come to pass …which yeah sure is not her fault. But she’s being a unfair to him too. Two years have passed since they broke up. She just can’t expect things to suddenly go back to the way they were. Grief and time both change people. TH is a different person now. CH and her mom both act as if he owes her his love, but love doesn’t really work like that. It sucks for her that things and his feelings for her have changed…but she cannot forcing her way back into his life when he’s trying to move on, just because SHE wants to.

The needy and emotional dependent personality of hers and the toxicity of CH's mother may have just become too emotionally draining on top of his grief. The drama is not showing many detals as to how CH reacted after his brother’s death, but in the scene of their breakup she made it all about her feelings while never really validating or playing down his grief/trauma. TH appreciates DJ because she is there for him emotionally, validates his feelings without pressuring him to open up or move on, understand him. I feel CH wasn’t, nor did any of these things. Or else you would not have Taehee talking about how he could have gone through it if Dongjoo had been at his side, how it would have been better.

Hence, TH and DJ are better suited to each other because they can and will be there for one another in tough times instead of amplifying each other's misery through miscommunication and pressure to perform certain roles in their relationship. It's really not that hard to understand, especially after seeing how selfish CH is and how little she cares about TH's feelings and desires. She is constantly projecting her own needs on him and asking him to be, do and feel things he isn't, doesn't want to do nor feel. We also never see her comforting him, even in the hospital flashback scene when she realizes what happened with his brother and he cries over his dead body, she stands there emotionless looking on from a distance.

With all that in mind, it is pretty obvious that CH was a burden to TH at that time instead of a source of comfort/someone who understands/empathizes like Dongjoo does two years later. Even if that wasn’t her intention and she didn’t do anything wrong and it was unfair to dump her… when someone is going through the worst moments of their life and their girlfriend is only making it worse, the relationship should end. It’s so fucking obvious.

Haha, yes. I knooooow the camping trip with the boy was meant to mirror his tragic family backstory, but i also caught me thinking "Taehee is going to be an awesome dad later on" as he was effortlessly caring for and "roundhouse playing" with the boy <3

Also it is quite the story to tell later their kids on how he met his wife: While breaking up with her hahaha