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What can I say . . .

This video makes my heart dance.

Yeon Woo Jin. My heart.

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I’m LOVING these videos that fans are making putting Yeon Woo Jin and Park Min Young together in an imagined drama.

Clearly everyone feels the chemistry from Seven Day Queen and wants to see more of them together. I hope directors and their agencies take note.

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I seriously think they are in love for real. I will have to be convinced otherwise. I have never seen him like this - relaxed and funny at the same time. And so commanding of attention. He is usually very reserved and quiet. And her reaction. The laugh. The pat. I see real life chemistry. I hope it’s true.

omg yeon woo jin is so witty! this is one of the best line poems I have ever heard!!! (ft. park min young’s reaction) HAHAHHA

연우진의 ‘7왕비대박’ 오행시 7일의 왕비? 저거 뭐야? 왕 재밌겠는데? 비도 오는데 오늘 챙겨봐야겠다. 대박!!! 박민영 나와!

Yeon Woo Jin’s 5-line Poem for ‘Seven Day Queen Dae Bak’ Seven Day Queen? What’s that? It seems really interesting? Since it’s raining, I shall watch it today. Daebak!!! Park Min Young is (acting) in it!

p.s. ‘Bak’ and ‘Park’ is the same word in hangul

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Seven Day Queen | Queen for Seven Days | 7일의 왕비

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Well that was just about one of the best kdrama final episodes I have ever seen.

Heartbreak, romance, surprises, conclusions, lessons - it was a very well done and thorough. Clearly well planned by the writers and director. Too many kdramas have slapped together endings that piss me off and make me feel betrayed. Not this one. I was very happy that it was so well done. An ending befitting the quality of this drama. Exactly what I referred to as a “satisfying ending” in my previous post “Surviving Kdrama Heartache.”

Are there things I would change? Only a few. I’ll get to that in another post. For now, I want to savor and remember this wonderful drama with a warm heart.

Our leads were amazing. Awards are well deserved.

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Surviving Kdrama Heartache - Part 2 Kdrama Endings: The Good, The Bad, The Brutal

So here we are.

The final two episodes of Seven Day Queen.

I can hardly believe it. The end of another beloved kdrama. For me I have to say goodbye once again to my sweet Yeon Woo Jin. But I can also look forward to his next projects. It’s ok. I know I will see him again soon. 

There is this familiar feeling creeping up in me. Do you feel it, too? A kind of odd mixture of sadness and fear. Sadness because it’s over and fear because . . . well what if the ending is horribly sad? It’s entirely possible. How do I handle it?

Let’s face it, we’ve all known that it was a very likely possibility that this drama will have a sad ending. We hope for the best, but given the title, and the foreshadowing from the very beginning, how can we expect a happy ending?

I’m a veteran of a number of kdramas and I can pass on my own personal sage advice. After all, we all love kdramas and sadness is part of the package. We know this going in.

I’m not going to mention any dramas by name so that I don’t spoil anything for anyone who has not seen them. But I bet you will recognize some of your own experiences with your favorite dramas.

1. Kdrama sadness can be good. Kdramas allow us to experience a wide range of emotions in a safe environment. It’s not real. We come to love our characters and actors and we hate to see anything bad happen to them. But, we can be consoled that it’s not “actually” happening nor is it happening to us.

2. Let the tears flow. Tears are cleansing. Keep lots of tissues handy. You will recover. I promise.

3. Happy endings aren’t always the best outcome. In all honesty, I have not seen too many historical dramas with a happy ending. The lives of the ruling class were pretty brutal and full of jealousy, greed, vengeance and blood shed. Think about it - would a happy ending even feel right? The few happy endings I’ve seen, well, sure, they made me smile. But they felt, somehow, too safe. Too “written” for lack of a better word. In my experience, sad endings actually feel more ‘real.’ The best drama I have ever seen was one that made me cry harder than I ever have in my life. The ending left me wailing so badly that my neighbors must have thought someone in my real life had died. But damn, was it a good drama!

4. You can have a sad ending that is also positive. Sounds weird, right? But it happens and it can work out well. Perhaps someone is dethroned yet looks toward their future in a new life. Someone is killed but they held onto their principals and truths until the end. Or perhaps someone is killed but they made the ultimate sacrifice for love. Things like that can give us a sense of hope and meaning even when the story ends in a sad way.

5. Have as few hopes and expectations as possible. Try not to have any. I know, I know. But I have found this helps a lot. Train yourself to not hope for or expect a happy ending with any drama. This is what I do every time I start a new drama. I tell myself going in that I’m probably going to be crying my eyes out during the final episode. I have been devastated by sad endings that I did not expect. My very first kdrama was a crushing blow. I cried hard. Not only did I cry, I felt betrayed, shocked and confused.  As an American, I’ve been spoiled by happy endings. Pretty much every show or movie in the US has some sort of happy ending. Heroes win, the lost are found, love triumphs, or we all have a good laugh. NOT in Korea!  Wow. Nope. I’ve seen many a hero lose or get killed. And you know what?  I LIKE it better that way. I like not knowing how a story will go or end. This is the beauty of kdrama. Not knowing which way a story or character will go makes it far more interesting.

In order the have that level of uncertainty, you have to allow your characters to fail or be killed now and then.

But now, here is the most crucial factor of all . . .

Whether happy or sad, the most important factor in the final episode of a kdrama is that it be satisfying. What do I mean by satisfying? That the ending  is well thought out and brings the entire story to a thorough conclusion. I have watched some wonderful dramas that ended so suddenly and shockingly that it was like riding in a car on a lovely journey then suddenly hitting the brakes and running off a cliff to your death. Endings like this can make us angry at the entire drama.

I’ve seen other dramas end too neatly and quickly. After a 20 episode struggle, suddenly everything falls conveniently into place without any effort in the final 10 minutes. Endings like this are also maddening. It’s as if the writer(s) suddenly looked at the clock and had to craft an ending immediately.

A good, satisfying, well written ending can be either happy or sad in my book. What it must do is stay as true to the characters and story line as it did for all of the preceding episodes. It must take its viewers into consideration, letting go of them carefully and thoughtfully.

When you are given the gift of such an ending, you can well survive any pain and heartache that may come your way. You will feel it deeply, you will grieve for the loss of your beloved characters. But, if the writers have given you a well thought out and satisfying ending, you will be able to move on because you have had a complete conclusion.

If you don’t get a satisfying ending, well, come on back and we’ll all complain about it together!

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If you missed Part 1 of my Surviving Kdrama Heartache series, you can catch it here:

Surviving Kdrama Heartache - Part 1 Chae Gyung’s Loss of Innocence

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Heartbreaking.

I swear, if Yeon Woo Jin doesn’t get a pile of drama awards for his work in this series, there is no justice in this world.

20170726 Yeon Woo Jin, Queen for Seven Days [Ep.17] This is too harsh for her.

전하! 제 아내는 아무 잘못이 없사옵니다. 제 아내. 제 아내를 처소로 돌려보내 주시옵소서. 전하! 아니 형님. 채경이한테 너무 가혹한 일이옵니다. 제발. 제발. 제발… 안돼. 가. 가.

🙅 Please don’t repost my gifs and ‘reblog’ it instead.

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Seven Day Queen | Queen for Seven Days | 7일의 왕비

[Making Film #07]  Kissing Scenes / Seo-No

Woo Jin and Min Young are so adorable together. They make me happy. Look how they are with each other when they are not acting - she touches him when she laughs, he helps her up off the floor. So sweet!!

Seeing behind the scenes with Chansung takes the sting out of his death for me. I was very impressed with his acting skill. I wish they could have waited a couple more episodes to say goodbye to him. I will miss him.

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Seven Day Queen | Queen for Seven Days | 7일의 왕비

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.    .    .    .    .

“If I said that you when I was a coward and a liar, I thought you would not believe me.”

“I see. I am beginning to see, little by little, your sincerity.”

.    .    .    .    .

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“She was the one who treated my body. But in the end, the one who saved me . . . is you.”

This may be one of the greatest lines in this drama so far.

- Anyway, why do not whistle anymore?

- It has been a while since I have whistled. Because whenever I whistle, it made me think of you.

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.                                                                             .

Please let them become a real couple 

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.                                                            .

“Remember me like this”

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This whole scene....OMG...incredible.

While I knew that it wasn’t likely that he’d be spared, the whole time I hoped that Seo Noh would be saved somehow. I am shocked and traumatized by how this went down. Which is not a complaint about the drama at all. Quite the opposite. That is what a good drama will do to you. Among other things, a good drama will break your heart. My heart is shattered right now.

Chansung is an amazing actor.

Seo Noh: There’s Seo Noh here, and there’s Seo Noh there. Because there are Seo Nohs everywhere, everytime those people die, I feel as if my father and I are dying.

seo noh:( 

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WooJin is SEXY & DANGEROUS!

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Seven Day Queen | Queen for Seven Days | 7일의 왕비

How to Survive Kdrama Heartache - Part 1: Chae Gyung’s Loss of Innocence

[Spoilers through Ep 14]

If you watched Episode 14 and you’re reading this now, congratulations. You’ve had your heart slashed, scarred, shattered and broken and you survived.

Are you ready for more?

I have a confession to make - part of the reason I love kdrama so much is it’s ability to make me cry. I’m normally not a big crier in life. But I never watch a kdrama without a box of tissues within reach.

I’ve read lots of comments recently, and spoken to friends, some of whom say they can’t watch anymore of Seven Day Queen because they are afraid of the pain and the heartache. They don’t want any more. They fear a sad ending.

To this I say - stay with it. Embrace the pain. There are many reasons why it’s worth it. Chae Gyung’s choice to face reality is a perfect example.

So much happened in Ep 14 that I did not see coming. In fact, this entire series so far has been filled with moments I never saw coming. I purposely don’t watch any previews so that I will have no clue whatsoever of what is going to happen. I want to be totally surprised. This episode was one of the most powerful and painful that I’ve seen in a kdrama in a very long time. I had about 5 tissues left in my box and I used every last one. Fortunately, I have a new box ready to go.

At the center of our heartache, the loss of Chae Gyung’s innocence. It was absolutely heartbreaking. The scene where she confronts Yeok and reveals to him that she burned off her tattoo completely destroyed me. It also destroyed Yeok, which destroyed me even more.

Chae Gyung had a pure heart, and a pure and honest faith in her man. Until she started being fed suspicions and saw signs that he could not be trusted. She started sneaking around, seeking the truth. Her pure heart was tainted but yet she tried to maintain her faith and purity. Finally, she had to let go and allow herself to think the unthinkable - that the man she had loved her entire life may not love her and was only using her to become King.

Once she decided to face this and accept the possibility of losing everything, her entire world changed. She could no longer have a pure faith or a pure love. In that transformation, she found courage and strength. She wised up. While this was painful and gut wrenching, in the end, she will become a much stronger person. Not only for herself, but for anyone in her life. And eventually as Queen, for the people of her land.

With the loss of her innocence also came her own independence. She could look at the love of her life without looking to him for all the answers.

The way this happened was so painful, both physically and emotionally, but it was also amazing and beautiful. For many episodes now, I have literally been yelling at my screen for Yeok to tell Chae something - anything. Include her. Tell her the truth. Or at least tell her you have a plan and to trust you. I felt like at some point he would do this. But NO!  It was Chae Gyung who confronted HIM. She took charge and put all her cards out on the table. She told him what she knew and called him out on his shit.

As hard as it was, I absolutely LOVE that it was Chae who brought everything out in the open. In that moment, she became a strong woman, a force to be reckoned with. She was powerful, honest and fearless. She was magnificent!

On a personal note, she also inspired me as a woman, too. I tend to be a traditionalist when it comes to personal relationships. I tend to look to the man to, well, be a man. But Chae Gyung made me realize how a woman can be both strong and vulnerable at the same time and inspire her man to become a better person.

Yeok could have raised hell and gotten mad like a lot of guys would in this situation. But he didn’t. He was touched. Her brutal honesty and sincere feelings touched him deeply.

But Chae could not bear him being so sweet in this moment. She knew she was on the edge between who she was and who she was becoming. If she weakened now, it would all be for nothing.

She asked him, “Who are you?” He could not answer but instead looked again at her back. Becoming fully aware of her suffering, both inside and out, Yeok breaks down. He realizes immediately how wrong he had been to hide everything from her. How his dishonestly has only hurt her instead of protecting her like he’d thought. Because of his love for her, he felt her pain and, in turn, her pain causes him greater pain.

As if her tears didn’t have me crying enough, his tears ruined me.

And now we are truly certain of something for the very first time. He genuinely loves her with even breath of his being.

He speaks of running away, like she had begged to do before. He doesn’t want this life for her, or them, anymore. The throne now means nothing to him. In her heart, she wants to trust her Yeok like she always had, but she is too broken right now to do it.

Revelations like this come through pain. Changes like Chae has gone through come through pain. Yeok’s awakening only came when his own heart was broken brutally. As heartbreaking as it was, it was such a tremendous relief to have things out in the open, to know the depth of their love for each other, and to see a mighty new Chae Gyung be born.

To be perfectly honest, much as I absolutely adore her, naive Chae Gyung was starting to get on my nerves. But I was torn. I wanted her to be pure and sweet, but I also wanted her to be strong and be her own woman. In the end, the only way she could become one was to let the other go. I will miss that part of her, but I am very glad for a new, stronger Chae. And I expect there’s still plenty of sweetness left in her. He may have a lot of work ahead of himself coaxing it back out of her.

We, too, experience our greatest changes through pain. This is why . . .

This is why we must not avoid pain but walk on courageously through it. Some of our greatest lessons and most positive life changes are born through the death of something that we’ve held onto. That process will be painful, but it will be worth it.

This is one reason we must not fear the pain and the heartache. Love is not always happy. Love can be painful. A real and honest love will come with harsh realities and difficult times. When the pain leads us to a better place, the entire journey is beautiful.

Sometimes you have to walk on through the storm to see the most glorious sunrise. 

Next time: How to Survive Kdrama Heartache - Part 2: Kdrama Endings - The Good, the Bad and the Brutal

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These cuties! Too adorable for words.

They are always laughing together. Who else hopes they become a couple in real life?

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I do not… wish to become king at the expense of my loved one’s happiness.