It’s already February, everyone! Time to wish you all a Happy Lunar New Year 🧧, AND, Happy Valentines Day! ❤️😘
In this month’s post, I cover:
1. Why I’m on Patreon, and why I hope you’ll consider supporting me on Patreon;
2. Which Patreon-related reviews are due this month;
3. What shows I’m considering for coverage on Patreon, to replace shows that have completed their cycles, and
4. What you can expect, as a patron.
I hope you guys find this helpful &/or informative, and I hope you’ll consider supporting me on Patreon! ❤️
Why I’m on Patreon
My work was put on hold indefinitely because of the pandemic, and with that going on for quite some time, it became the trigger that made me decide to blog full-time. It’s what I know, and it’s also what I love.
I love dramas, and I love writing, and I love writing about dramas, but I also need to find a way to make it sustainable, so that I can keep my lights on, and pay my bills; that kind of thing.
That’s where Patreon – and everyone who values what I do on this blog – comes in.
I put a lot of work into the reviews that I post on the blog; a lot of thought, time, and effort goes into each review.
If I were to add all the time that goes into the episode notes, which then go into the review, and then add the time it takes to actually craft the review, I estimate that each review takes about a week of man hours – or more.
If you value and enjoy the work that I do here on the blog, please do consider supporting me on Patreon. 🥰
New tiers on Patreon!
I’ve introduced 4 new tiers to my Patreon page, for those who are able to, and want to support me in a deeper way.
You can check out that announcement here, or view the tiers on Patreon here!
As a token of my appreciation, these 4 tiers will receive access to voice notes, which I aim to put out weekly.
If you do choose to support me at these deeper levels, you are enabling me to do more for the site, as well as empowering me to do more for myself and my family as well – and making this blogging thing that much more feasible, as a long-term full-time gig.
If you value the work that I do here on the blog, please consider supporting my work on Patreon. ❤️
Psst! If you’re curious about the nuts and bolts of the work that goes into maintaining this blog, here is a Dear kfangurl post about this very topic; I hope you enjoy!
Reviews due to post this month
We’ve got three reviews due to post this month; here’s when you can expect to see them.
Welcome to Samdalri [Korea]: 11 February 2024
Perfect Marriage Revenge [Korea]: 18 February 2024
I Know I Love You [China]: 25 February 2024
Do stay tuned for that! 😃
Replacement shows I’m considering
This isn’t yet cast in stone, because I’d need to check out the shows to make sure I like them enough to cover them on Patreon, but here are the ones that I’m considering:
Welcome to Samdalri [Korea]: likely to be replaced by Doctor Slump [Korea]
Perfect Marriage Revenge [Korea]: to be replaced by Amidst a Snowstorm of Love [China]
* Other back-up shows I have in mind (in case the shortlisted shows don’t make my cut): Captivating The King [Korea], Like Flowers In Sand [Korea], A Shop for Killers [Korea], Tell Me That You Love Me [Korea].
** There will be no replacement show for I Know I Love You [China] because this was covered as a bonus show on the Foundation Tier.
If you have other great shows to suggest, do let me know in the comments! Please do remember to bear in mind their airing schedules, though!
Patreon tiers and their benefits
This is what the Patreon roster looks like, at the moment:
Foundation Tier (US$1): Entertainment news and other tidbits + the first set of episode notes of all shows covered on Patreon (2 eps for kdramas, 4 eps for cdramas)
+Bonus show: I Know I Love You [China]
Early Access (US$5): +Knight Flower [Korea]
Early Access Plus (US$10): +Perfect Marriage Revenge [Korea]
VIP (US$15): +Marry My Husband [Korea]
VVIP (US$20): +Welcome To Samdalri [Korea]
Ultimate (US$25): +A Journey To Love [China]
* Just to be clear, the tier benefits are cumulative, so if you sign up for the Ultimate tier, you wouldn’t only receive episode notes for Lost You Forever, you’d receive episodes notes for all the other shows as well!
* For actual examples of episode notes, you can go here. 😊 These are my E1-2 notes for Knight Flower [Korea].
Patreon Highlights
If you’re new to my Patreon page, here are a handful of things you might like to know:
1. ALL tiers receive my first set of episode notes for any show that I’m covering on Patreon.
Therefore, if you’re curious about my notes for A Journey To Love, but aren’t sure whether you’d like them enough to want to join the Ultimate tier, joining the US$1 Foundation tier will give you immediate access to A Journey To Love E1-4 notes.
After this, if you wish to upgrade to the Ultimate tier, Patreon would simply charge you the difference, while immediately unlocking all the posts that your new tier entitles you to. That’s exactly what Michelle did with Vincenzo, and I’m happy to report that it worked out really well! 😃
Important note! Going forward, on the new schedule, this would be 2 episodes for kdramas and 4 episodes for cdramas (due to the shorter episode lengths).
2. The Ultimate tier also receives E1 notes for all shows that I’m watching (or have checked out), INCLUDING shows that I’m NOT covering on Patreon.
This has included E1 notes for shows like:
True Beauty, Lovestruck in the City, Sweet Home, Shanai Marriage Honey (Japan), Must You Go?, Love In Between (China), A Thousand Goodnights (Taiwan), Zombie Detective, Here’s My Plan, Hello, Me!, Taxi Driver, At A Distance Spring Is Green, Monthly Magazine Home, Takane and Hana, You Are My Spring, The Witch’s Diner, D.P. (Deserter Pursuit), My Name, Forecasting Love and Weather, The One and Only, Everything and Nothing, You Are My Hero (China), Lesson in Love (Taiwan).
I call these posts Early Access Extras, and as a patron on the Ultimate tier, on average, you can expect to see about 2 of these posts each month.
In case you’re wondering, whether I eventually review these shows on the blog, really depends on how my experience with the various first episodes works out.
I’ve carried on to review a number of the shows listed above, but I’ve also chosen not to continue watching a handful of them as well.
I’ve also introduced the occasional bonus show for this tier, starting with My Name, Hellbound and Soundtrack #1.
3. You can interact with me and with one another, on Patreon.
There is a comment feature on Patreon, so, much like here on the blog, you’d be able to comment on posts and share your thoughts with me and with other patrons.
There is also a private message function, so you’d be able to message me directly on Patreon, if there’s something you’d like to talk with me about, but you feel isn’t relevant to the posts on Patreon themselves.
Aside from a web browser, you can also access my Patreon posts and messages on the Patreon app. You can find the Patreon app on Apple’s app store here, or on Google Play here.
4. You can feel safe to pause your subscription, or move between tiers at any time.
Moving between tiers
Because you are charged upfront for the coming month, that tier’s privileges will continue to be open to you, even if you choose to move down a tier sometime during the month, or if you choose to pause your subscription.
For example, if you were on the Early Access Plus tier, and sometime during the month, you decided that you’d like to move down one tier, to the Early Access Tier, you can make that change right away.
But because you’ve already paid for Early Access Plus privileges, those will remain open to you until your next billing cycle. And then you will be charged your new tier rate, at the beginning of your next billing cycle.
If you choose to upgrade your tier, you can also do so at any time, and you will simply be charged the difference, eg, US$5, if you’re moving from the Early Access tier, to the Early Access Plus tier, and the additional privileges will be immediately unlocked for you as well.
You will then be charged the new rate on your next billing cycle.
Pausing your subscription
If you choose to pause your subscription, you will not be charged on the next billing cycle, and your Patreon benefits will remain open to you until the end of your current billing cycle.
Thereafter, feel free to reactivate it at any time.
Please let me know if this explanation isn’t clear!
5. There’s now an annual subscription option available!
I only activated this option recently, because someone expressed interest in it. I just.. hadn’t realized that you guys believed in me enough, to want to sign up on a yearly basis. 😅
With the yearly subscription, you receive a 5% discount, and you will be charged on each anniversary of your join date. The only downside to this, is you don’t have the flexibility to move between tiers from month to month, according to which shows spark your interest.
6. The Patreon page has become a cool little community!
Besides the episode notes, there are lots of other conversations going on, on the monthly Drama Exchange posts that I create.
One is the Drama Exchange: Spoiler-free zone, where you can safely exchange drama recommendations and chat about other things, without the danger of encountering a spoiler, and the other is the Drama Exchange: Deep Dive Zone, where you can discuss other shows that you’re watching, that I’m not covering on Patreon, in all its spoiler glory.
Since these posts have been introduced, literally hundreds of comments have been exchanged, on each one!
ALSO. As part of the Patreon community, you’ll get various updates from me, including personal updates that I don’t share elsewhere. I’m very blessed that the Patreon community has turned, effectively, into my inner circle. I’d love for you to join me, if you can! ❤️
I suppose it goes without saying, but just in case it isn’t clear, these conversations are open to all patrons at all tiers.
What about one-time contributions?
If you prefer, you can also support the blog through easy one-time contributions by clicking on this other cute lil icon below.
I’m told that you don’t need to have a Paypal account in order to do so, but if that changes, or is different in your region, a Paypal account is pretty easy to set up; there are no sign-up fees involved, and you don’t have to keep a balance in it, unless you actually want to.
You can choose to link a bank account, a debit card, or a credit card, to facilitate your contribution.
Thank you!
..And that’s about it, for this month’s updates! If you have suggestions for other things that you’d like me to include in these monthly update posts, do let me know in the comments, and I’ll see what I can do, to incorporate them into future posts.
I aim to publish future update posts on the first of each month.
Thanks for reading, thanks for your support, and thank you for being here! Big hugs to ya! 🥰❤️😘
Once again, you can find my Patreon page by clicking on this cute lil icon below:
January just flew by. Really looking forward to the reviews out this month as I really enjoyed all three of those titles. Now that the group watch is heading to the final week, I can finally finish I Know I Love You as well.
I had a relatively slow January in terms of drama completions but more than made up in the last 5 days by completing four excellent shows [Death’s Game, Welcome to Samdal-ri, Our Sister’s Soulmate (J-Drama) and Like Flowers in Sand].
As for the Patreon coverage titles, every one of those are promising and Trent already weighed in on a few of them. Sean also did not take to Doctor Slump but that’s a title I was really looking forward to so hoping that it just has a rocky start.
Wish you a Happy Lunar New Year 😊
Hi ABVm, how did you find Like Flowers in Sand, did you enjoy it?
@Elaine – Very much so. The series was a solid mix of sports (ssireum), romance, mystery, and slice of life. What it did very well was keep the viewer guessing until the end. Personally, the reason I found this show engaging was because I was able to root for Baek-du almost immediately. He was just too adorable. A selfless and pure-hearted guy whom you can’t help but love.
It was so funny seeing him convinced about Du-sik’s identity and always doing whatever he felt was right with all his heart. Du-sik was like a classic tsundere. I haven’t seen this trait in too many drama characters. It’s used abundantly in anime/manga. So the interactions between the two of them, in particular, really felt refreshing. I thought the pacing was just right, and all in all, it ended satisfactorily. I thought the ssireum matches were entertaining, and I sort of wish the series had more of those. I do appreciate it when a series incorporates sports with proper attention to detail.
Oh, forgot to mention, halfway through A Shop for Killers (4 episodes; next two have dropped, still have to get to them later today or tomorrow), and quite enjoying it. Both Lee Dong-wook and (especially) Kim Hye-jun are doing a good job and there’s some good action and fun plot. It’s short, though, don’t know if you want to devote a Patreon slot to it?
Ah, I’m curious about A Shop for Killers, on the premise alone. Although, it also strikes me as the kind of thing where I’m into the premise more than that show itself (like Kidnapping Day, I think), but, I should definitely give it a look to see how I take to it!
Although, it’s also true that I tend to have more interest than actual hours in the day, to watch all these dramas! 🙈😂
Boy, I sure hear you about more interest than hours. I’m determined to try to get better about saying “you know, that sounds like it might be good, but it’s just not enticing enough to take a flyer and jump in.”
One thing I liked about Shop for Killers is that it starts totally, 100% in media res, and then goes to flashback to backfill the story. Which is a technique that largely works (so far)!
@Trent @KFG – I thought the first four episodes were superb. I found ep 5 a little bit off target and some of ep 6, but by the end of it, I was like ooh ahh. Definitely a show to have a gander at 😊🤩😊
Wow, February, how did that happen?
So, somewhat to my surprise, I have checked out Dr. Slump (2 episodes) and Captivating the King (4 episodes), and… I am finding Captivating the King to be the more compelling watch so far?
I thought the first two episodes of Dr. Slump were more uneven than I was expecting, and Park Hyung-sik’s character is honestly sort of unlikeable (I realize this is probably to give him room to mature/grow, yes?). I mean, it does have flashes of good stuff, and I think it has potential, but I’m definitely not sold yet.
On the flip side, Captivating the King has a lot of factional politics, which is normally a death-knell, but… it’s had a lot of intensity, some of the Shakespearean flavor of mid-to-late Red Sleeve already, and that has made it more interesting (so far) than I thought it would be.
Maybe check out the first couple episodes of both, see how they vibe for you?
Ooh, thanks for weighing in, Trent!! I have to confess that I wasn’t super into the politics-heavy slant of Captivating the King, and more drawn to the enemies-to-lovers premise of Doctor Slump, but it’s absolutely true that it all comes down to writing and execution. Something that sounds cute could totally land as meh, while something that sounds boring, might actually be very compelling. I’ll keep that in mind and check out both, thanks!
ETA: If I end up liking both, who knows, I could give both slots on Patreon, since I’ve got a few opening up anyway!
I know, right? I’m not saying Captivating is all aces, but for a show that doesn’t shy away from the politics, it’s done a good job of centering the relationships and interpersonal connections (not as good as Bloody Heart, which as you know I liked more than anyone else, but still good).
Also, it is traveling essentially the same ground as the recently-completed My Dearest, historically speaking, but from a different angle (much more royalty/court centered) and with a fictionalized royal roster (no King Injo, for instance, just a fictional stand-in; the luckless Crown Prince here is the king’s (fictional) younger brother, etc.). Which has been interesting, to me at least, if no one else.
Doctor Slump does have a pretty good premise, and who knows, it may still make good on it! The high school flashbacks have been kind of annoying (to me, at least), but we haven’t been overburdened with them so far. And I do feel like Park Shin-hye’s character has had some good, watchable moments…
Trent, I, on the other hand, totally loved the high-school flashbacks! I was watching them with a silly grin on my face and I somehow felt as I went back in time too. Back to the Heirs days!
@Trent – I’m finding Captivating The King is a very good show. I dropped Doctor Slump after one episode