If you didn’t already know, we’ve got a special series to kick off the new year! Guests posts, by patrons on Patreon, sharing their personal drama stories, mostly around the topic of “How did you get into dramas?” and “What does your first drama mean to you?” – with flexibility to go off on personal tangents, of course. 😁 Feel free to share your stories too, in the comments!

This guest series is MC‘s brainchild (thanks MC! 😘), and you can read more details, and check out her inaugural post here, Sean‘s post here, and Shahz‘s post here. After today’s post, there will be five more guest posts by mystery guest writers, whose identities will be revealed when their various posts go live. Woot! 🥳

Today’s post is brought to you by JJ, whom, as you might remember, is Shahz’s bestie around these parts. 😉 Perhaps it’s got something to do with that bestie connection, that JJ also prepared this post, while feeling somewhat under the weather. As (I think it was) j3ffc – whoops, turns out it was Merij! – who put it, are these two even two separate people? 😁😂

Thank you for digging deep for this, for us, JJ. LOVE YA. ❤️

I hope you guys enjoy!

~ KFG ❤️

Hey Guys!!! Its me again !!!! 

Are you ready to do this? Are you ready for total lack of punctuation? Spellng mistakes? Run on sentences galore? Hyperbole? And most importantly lots of Kdrama Love! Well, if you are, let’s do this!!!! And if not, go read Trent’s Monster Baby. 😊 He knows all about punctuation, and man, does he know how to use a semicolon!

Many thanks to MC for the wonderful idea for a Mini Series on our gateway dramas and some of our all time favorites dramas. If you have not had a chance, make sure you swing over and read MC’s inaugural post on this mini series. She wove a beautiful tale. 🥰

And to our fearless generous leader, KFG, many, many, many thanks AGAIN for allowing us to put our words on her beautiful space. So kind of you. Thank you so much! 🥰🥰🥰

What was your gateway drama and why / what it meant to you?

YAY! I finally get to talk about Sci Fi and Fantasy Kdramas ad nauseam! 🥰

I did touch on my gateway drama being Bride of Habaek (BOH) in my post about my favorites for 2021, so excuse the repetition and indulge me, as I am so very happy to discuss this little gem again more with all of you.

How did I find BOH? Well, Netflix suggested the Show to me after I finished the Netflix Series – “The Witcher,” which I found a tad too dark for my taste, even if it was a true fantasy Show and had Dragons.

In my opinion, so much Fantasy and Sci Fi has gone far too dark and horror and lack of hope for my taste, AND I have been a true Sci Fi Fantasy Fan for YEARS. Years!

I am not new to this rodeo at all. It’s my wheelhouse and where I prefer to hang out at all times. But my favorite genres  had started to wear me out over the years with all the violence, bad guys winning and the heroes mucked in grey zones, and total absence of heroes. Ugh. Is it that hard to have Puppies and Unicorns, People? Really, is it too much to ask? 😤

So back to this Show from Netflix called Bride of Habaek. Yes, of course, my brain went Bride of Frankenstein- “Its ALIVE!!!!” Whose wouldn’t, right?!!? 😂😂 😂 Gosh! I really do love to digress constantly 😂

I peeked at this Bride of Habaek and I think my brain literally short-circuited from the opening introduction, with the music (it’s always the music, people, always. Ok, except for Hospital Playlist, but other than that, it’s always the music) woven in with the images.

Gods? Men with long hair in robes? Another World? Mythology? Gorgeous vibrant sets? What am I watching? I still love the opening introduction to this day. And no, I am not telling you how many times I have watched this Show. Nope, not gonna. Ok, I’ll say I have seen the whole Show without Fast Forwarding (FF) more than five times, but that’s all you will get out of me. 🤭😇

Back to my short-circuited brain, as the Show began with an opening gorgeous wide lens shot of the sand and water with the sun setting, and I am thinking, am I watching a movie? What is happening here? And then, the camera settles on a man and a little girl having a conversation about another world and I am hooked.

More, please. What world will we be traveling to today, thank you very much. Sign me up for Sci Fi Fantasy Airlines, please. I am all buckled in and ready to go. 🛫

And then OMO a Humpback Whale is on my screen. Hello Fantasia! Ok, so would I have preferred a dragon, of course! But a Humpback Whale, gorgeous creature moving so beautifully through the air. I’ll take it! What more do ya got for me, Show?

Well, we have this wonderful opening with mythology being explained about the World of the gods, but then, we cut to a woman standing on a bridge with a red coat holding a white rose with a beautiful song playing.

What? What just happened? Hello, Whiplash! What happened to my mythology and gods and the other world? Did I blink too long and miss something? Uhhhhh… And then woman in the red coat is in the water! What? Say it with me, “Whiplash”.

Oh! Perfect moment for a total let me digress comment 😂

This was my first introduction to the beautiful tank work Korean Dramas do so well. Beautiful underwater scene (however, Bossam sure takes the top spot for an incredibly gorgeous underwater scene) with the woman in the red coat in the water. Brain trying really hard to catch up and failing miserably even if we are in my Fantasy Wheelhouse.

And then Hello Whiplash again we are BACK with the gods! What are you doing to me, Show? Can we please stick to one world for a moment, so I can find my fantasy footing? I mean, I am good and in the right wheelhouse, but Hello can we have some longer consistency phlease?

And then Whiplash ONCE AGAIN; we are now seeing the woman who was on the bridge, then in the water, and now in her office as a psychiatrist. Huh? Show, WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME???? 🤪🤪🤪

And yet, I kept watching. 🤔 Ok, so maybe I was waiting for the gods to return and that other World. 🤩

And then, all of a sudden (ok maybe 5 or 10 mins later) a naked man (god) fell from the sky onto our leading lady (Hello Terminator!) And I thought, ok, I am in. Who wouldn’t be at this point, right? I am not alone here, am I? 😬

I bet everyone thought I would include the screen shot of this scene I just mentioned. Not gonna happen. You will just have to go watch BOH to find it! 😇

And while watching the naked man fall from the sky was fun and all, I want to mention how our Female Lead really had my attention from the opening bridge scene. She was gorgeous and so believable in that moment, even though I had no clue what was going on, as one minute she was on the bridge, and the next she was in the water. And then whiplash to being in her office. She made me take notice.

The Show’s appearance is so vibrant with colors. So many primary colors in the beginning and just the scenery and each world we saw. Everything felt alive and bold and beautiful, and just rich with detail, color, and life. And after watching the dark and dreary Witcher, my brain was saying “Yes, please, more. Keep going. Lets see how this goes.”

Funny enough,  I found myself laughing at so many of the lines, set ups, situations, and characters, and comedies are just not my thing. However, humor I love, and this Show kept infusing the humor at these different twists and turns that I found myself laughing out loud many a time.

Of course, so much was silly, but I was totally having it and looking forward to more of what Show wanted to serve up. The “Blow Up Castle” on the island always makes me laugh even if it’s completely ludicrous and would make KFG roll her eyes. And, I, unapologetically, LOVE IT. 😂😂😂

Sniffle, KFG never got into this show even though I tried to promote Bride of Habaek heavily to her in an email exchange. I forget I am dealing with a pro of Kdramas while I am the novice, coming in saying, OMO you have to watch this show.

Alas…. I am not sure if anyone else over on Patreon has seen this Show? Maybe it’s only me? Don’t tell me….sniffle. 😢

What I will tell you now is this Show has my most  favorite ending lines of any Kdramas I have seen in the past year. I am not sure what the original Korean says and I constantly complain about Netflix’s Subs, but these English Subs works for me quite well. I don’t think Shahz will be surprised about why I love what the Show had to say at the end. 🥰

“People can survive anything with the strength that they have.
But life would be better with love, of course.“

❤️❤️❤️❤️ ❤️

Well, there you have my story around my gateway drama to this fantastic world of Kdramas.

Did I convince anyone to watch Bride of Habaek? Or at least, peek at BOH? Phlease say YES! Or please let there be someone else who loves this show as much as I?!?! If not, that’s ok (actually, I am straight up lying here 😂 as its soooo NOT ok 😭). Someone else has to love this Show, too. Shahz? Sniffle….

Oh, and did everyone think I would end my gateway drama and NOT talk about Bride of Habaek’s OST?!!! How could I pass on talking about BOH’s OST?!!!!

Bride of Habaek OST is the first Kdrama OST I ever purchased, and I listened to the entire soundtrack for weeks. Weeks! Which probably turned into months. 😬

The original OST is 11 songs, but most people post only six songs for some reason. I suggest the full OST, of course 🥰

Opening Title Song – Hello Awesome Intro

And this one just makes me smile

Two of my emotional faves off the OST

And here is the Full OST 🤩

Well that wraps up the awesomeness of Bride of Habaek! And yes, I rewatched this one while working on this post and loved my umpteenth rewatch. 🥰

What are your most memorable or favourite dramas and the stories behind it?

After watching Bride of Habaek, I rolled right into The King: Eternal Monarch and the World stopped. Literally.

Well, ok, so that’s a ton of hyperbole, but had to emphasize how much I love TKEM and it makes me so sad that TKEM did not do well in Korea AND people are pretty much split about this Show. Ugh. WHY? Don’t tell me. Ugh. Really, don’t. Please…..

Once again, sniffle, KFG wasn’t a fan of another Show I LOVED. I mean looooooved.  Sniffle. Insert Ugly Cry here. 😭😭😭

Buuuuuuut, her sister loved the show like I did and thought the writing was brilliant, just like I did. And my Sci Fi Buddy, Adrian, loved the Show as well, and he, too, thought the writing was brilliant. Sooooooooo, who knows why it works for some of us, and not others.

Shahz started this show with much trepidation from both of us if she would like the Show or not. And Score! She has been loving TKEM so far. YAY, ME! Thanks, Bestie. 🥰

Y’all. I am telling you, TKEM is a fantastic Sci Fi/Fantasy Show that tells you just enough and then lets you use your brain to figure out the rest. And writer-nim said she intentionally did not spell everything out for her audience, because she trusted them to be smart enough to figure everything out. AWESOME! Hello, Sci Fi / Fantasy gears working overtime.

And can we talk about the total no damsel in distress here Female Lead Kim Go Eun! Tough as nails. Handles her own life with ease and makes no apologies for who she is in her life. Can we say awesome female lead?! I mean seriously, who doesn’t want to hang out with her or have her cover your back?!

And of course, we cannot forget Lee Min Ho as our hip, laidback, loved-by-everyone young math science geek King. Seriously, he rows, people! Does anyone know how hard that sport is? And how awesome that sport is? I do, I was a coxswain back in the day 🥰

The world-building, the storytelling, the appearance out of nowhere, of a man on a white horse.

Hello, let’s throw Knight in White Shinning Armor on its head and make the White Knight a Horse (and a female horse to boot), and have the King fumbling around in another World. Hello! Its “Dude in Distress” and NOT “Damsel in Distress.” 😂😂😂 Oh Come On! Who didn’t see that coming? “Dude in Distress” – HYSTERICAL!!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

And here we go again, my talking about Music.

TKEM is the second Kdrama OST I ever purchased and Hello, I left the planet listening to this OST. No hyperbole this time.

I am so glad they released the full album with the songs and the original score. I cannot get enough of this OST. Which probably makes rewatching TKEM so easy, and this one I have seen so so so many times. So many. Did I mention so many? I mean so many times. Did I say that already? 🤭 Gosh, I sure do love me some repetition, don’t I?! 😬🥰😝

My Favorite Song from TKEM (Spoilers)

My Second Favorite Song from TKEM (Spoilers)

My Third Favorite Song from TKEM (Spoilers)

Full TKEM OST – Yes, its 1hr 52 mins long and that’s ok. Please listen to the whole thing. 🥰 You will thank me at some point…I hope. 😇

Sniffle, I want to talk about TKEM so much more and all the ins and outs, but that’s Spoiler territory. So, once everyone watches it AND LOVES TKEM, then we can discuss all the intricacies and why this Show just rocks over on the Drama Exchange on Patreon.

Or maybe I can convince KFG for a Group Watch of TKEM. 🤣🤣🤣🤣 For now, we will just have to move on to my next all time favorite Fantasy Kdrama. 🥰🥰🥰

Y’all! I cant tell you how I dragged my feet to watch Guardian: The Lonely and Great God all because of Netflix’s synopsis.

What, a High School Girl with 600 year old Goblin? Well, isn’t that taking the older man younger woman trope a bit too far, people?! I kept seeing Guardian on Netflix and kept ignoring said Show for months until….drum roll phlease I watched Coffee Prince. Hello Gong Yoo. 🤩🤩🤩 What had I been missing? 🤭🤭🤭

I had to now go find Guardian at all costs. And I slammed right into Guardian only being available on Viki. I had just reached a crossroads people. 🧐

Do I sign up for Viki or stay in the “safety zone” of Netflix? Netflix had been letting me down by not providing enough content of Kdrama shows I wanted to see. I’d found some relief with Hulu, but they really did not have a wide selection of Kdramas, then. Might still be the case?

The dilemma became, if I sign up for Viki, my friends and family will probably not ever see or talk to me again, with all those Kdramas at my finger tips. Oh what to do…. What to do! 🤔🤔🤔

I did the only sensible thing one can do in this situation, I signed up and went for the Viki PassPlus. 🤩🥰🤩🥰🤩🥰

If I thought TKEM was amazing and the World stopped, Time stopped with Guardian, literally.

The opening music sucked me and never let me go until the end. Talk about a week-long binge hiding, from all responsibility and friends and family and and and….OMO. I think I ate that week. Cant swear to it though. 🤔 Pretty sure didn’t answer my phone. Might have left the house. Questionable though. 🤔

How did I wait this long???? What is wrong with me? Why did I wait this long??? 🤔🤔🤔

While, I have watched Bride of Habaek and The King:Eternal Monarch so many times, I have been only able to watch Guardian once. Can you believe that? Its true. 😬 Seriously.

The Show moved me so much, that when I went for my second watch, I had to stop and wait. I need another week where I throw caution and responsibility to the wind and just sink into this show. I have been waiting for the right time. Maybe I am just waiting for Shahz. 🥰

Guardian Introduction Song aka “Time Stopping Song for JJ” (Spoilers)

Favorite Song (FMV Spoilers)

Beautiful Song (Spoilers)

Full OST Guardian

One last thing!

One funny note to share with everyone is that when my Sci Fi Buddy Adrian and I discussed TKEM, I lamented over the fact KFG did not love it as much as we did. And I said, “But, Adrian its such a great Sci Fi Fantasy Show” and he says to me “JJ, it’s not a Sci Fi Fantasy Show, it’s a looooooooove story”. Stopped me in my tracks and I busted out laughing!!!!

😇🤭🤪🧐😅🤩🤔😬🥰😝😂🤣😭🤩🥰

So People, I guess everyone can see right through me even though I claim Sci Fi & Fantasy are totally my wheelhouse. My top three favorite Kdramas so far of all time are all about Love. And really, when we get down to it, isn’t that what Life is all about?   

❤️ Love ❤️

~JJ