YOU GUYS.

The blog is 10 years old today! TENNN! 😱🤯 That’s literally multiple lifetimes, in blogging years?

The reason I say that, is because when I started blogging, common wisdom was that most blogs didn’t last past the one year mark. And so, if a blog lasted more than a year, then it had a chance of actually having a more lasting presence.

It’s blows my mind, that 10 years ago, I started this blog, ON A WHIM(!), just to see what it was like to have a drama blog, and 10 years later, here I am, and here we are. Wow. 🤯

I feel like I ought to say something extra wise and momentous, to mark the occasion, but.. I’m not sure I’ve got anything wise or momentous enough, to say. 😅

But, let’s see what I manage to rustle up, anyway. 😁

Notable milestone over 10 years of blogging

The main milestone that I’m most proud of right now, is that we hit 10 million views a couple of months back, in October. That’s 10 million views in 10 years!

How neat is that?? 🤩

THANK YOU for 10 million views, you guys. 🥰

It’s a milestone that I never thought I’d reach, but which came sooner than I could have expected. You guys made that possible. ❤️

5 Lessons from 10 years of blogging

In no particular order, here are 5 thoughts that come to mind, when I think about what I’ve learned through 10 years of blogging.

Most of these are reminders to myself, really, but if you find them useful too, in any way, that would be awesome. ❤️

1. I’m still learning, growing and changing

While I would love for the blog to be completely consistent across the board, with all reviews and other posts, to be of similar depth and quality, and while I would also love to never contradict myself, like, ever, that’s just not possible.

The reason is because I’m only human, and therefore, I’m changing and growing all the time. My drama tastes are evolving all the time as well. Stuff I loved 10 years ago may not appeal to me now. Stuff I enjoy now, might shock Past Me too.

And that’s ok.

(Repeat to self: that’s ok, it’s really ok. 😅)

2. People come, and people go

Seriously, this is one of the hardest things, about having been around the blogosphere for 10 years.

Like I mentioned earlier, lots of people who start blogging, don’t continue blogging past the first year. Some blog for a few years, and then move on to other things.

This means that blogging friends come and go, and, by the same token, readers come and go, too. And that’s hard, for me. 😭

I have such fond memories of friends that I’ve made on this online adventure, and my big wish is that they would have never gone away.

But, life goes on, and I have to console myself, that this is life, and that ALSO, maybe one day these friends might come back, in one way or another.

3. Haters gonna hate

I try my best to be a positive presence here on the interwebs, because, well, that’s kinda who I am; I try to be a positive presence in real life too.

Sometimes, though, people can be really nasty or unkind in their words, and that, well, sucks.

I’m learning not to take it personally, and I’m reminding myself that more often than not, it’s really not about me. Haters are just gonna hate, no matter what I do or don’t do.

Best to let it all slide off me, and just carry on.

4. Resilience is key

Some people ask me what my secret is, to being a longtime blogger, and I think the answer is, just.. don’t go away. 😅

I’ve had drama slumps where I didn’t blog for more than a month, and since it takes only about 30 days to form a new habit, it would’ve been too easy to just walk away from the blog, during one of those slumps.

But I didn’t.

Most likely because the blog is an outlet for my drama thoughts, and so, when I finally had drama thoughts I wanted to put into words again, it was natural that I came back to the blog.

If you’re in the blogosphere and want longevity, stick around, and don’t go away. 😁

5. You still gotta do what you love

In a changing landscape where creators are looking to expand their reach via Tiktok, YouTube and podcasts, I’ve been asked more than once, why I don’t create content on those platforms too.

The truth is, it takes A LOT of work to produce content for just one platform, especially if you want to do it well.

I don’t have the time nor expertise to create good video or podcast content, to be honest. And if I were to put aside time to learn how to do it, I wouldn’t have time to keep up with the blog (and Patreon too).

At the end of the day, I got into blogging because I enjoy writing. And I figure that if I want to have longevity at what I do, I ought to stick with something that I enjoy.

So, even though lots of folks do enjoy watching Tiktok and YouTube videos, and listening to podcasts, I’m hoping that there will also be lots of folks who still enjoy reading about dramas – because that’s the part of the sandbox where I’ll be playing. 😁

10 Posts I’m most proud of, from 10 years of blogging

In no particular order, and off the top of my head, I’m most proud of these 10 posts, at the moment.

I hope that if you haven’t checked any of them out, that you’ll consider taking a gander:

1. My Open Thread episode notes for Nirvana in Fire. These were a real challenge, especially since Show is complex AND 54 episodes long. I’m proud that I survived. 😅

2. My post on food and culture, which was sparked by a comment in response to my review of Let’s Eat. Revisiting it now, I’m actually very pleasantly surprised that I sound so thoughtful and coherent. 😅

3. My review of The Red Sleeve, which is a legit monster. I found myself putting a lot of thought into the episode notes, and breaking down why certain characters behaved in certain ways, or why certain narrative decisions were made.

4. My Healer review, which, for a while, held the title of most monstrous review on the site. That show captured my imagination and stole my heart, and I will always have a soft spot for its review. 🥰

5. My review of My Mister. It came to my attention that I got dragged in some forums for saying that I didn’t see a romantic loveline between our leads, but y’know what, I poured a great deal of heart into my review, and I’m proud of it.

6. My overview of iconic dramas over the years. This was a post that grew much bigger than I’d originally anticipated. The end result feels fairly robust, and I’m proud of that.

7. My overview of sageuks. This is a topic that I honestly didn’t feel knowledgeable enough to answer, so I’m pretty proud that the end result is.. not bad. 😅

8. My post on supporting actors, including veteran character actors. This was a very illuminating exercise for me, because in preparing to write this post, I learned so much about the background of these excellent actors.

9. My post on the female gaze vs. the male gaze in kdramas, because this was an interview with VOGUE India, and I was super stoked to work with a big name, mainstream magazine.

10. My recent review of c-drama Love Like The Galaxy, which is a monster in its own right. I’m happy that aside from covering all the main sources of spazz and squee (and there were many! 😍), I also managed to provide some cultural and language insights.

BONUS: This isn’t quite a blog post, but I’m super chuffed to have guested on the Dramas Over Flowers podcast! If you haven’t listened to it yet, you can check it out here! ❤️

In closing

I.. am not sure I managed to say anything as wise or momentous as I’d hoped, in this post, but, thank you for reading, thank you for being here, and thank you for making it possible for me to do what I love.

Thank you for being part of my world, and thank you for allowing me to be part of yours. 🥰

For something fun (and delicious 😋), could we all eat some cake today, wherever we are, at some point, so that my not-so-little bloggie’s birthday legit gets celebrated around the world? 😄

Feel free to share a photo of your slice of cake (or cupcake, or muffin, or ice cream cake, or swiss roll, or any kind of cake) with us in the comments!

(I hear that that helps to reduce calories.. 😉)

KFG ❤️