Michelle Topham

Just ordered the first volume of the novel. Can't order all 5, as I'm currently in the U.S. and would have to carry them all back to Austria next month :) Will be ordering the last 4 volumes when I get back home though, as the story in this alone is wonderful.

it's more fantasy than BL. And beautifully done -- epic story, fascinating characters, superb acting, gorgeous cinematography and a unique plot. Beautiful soundtrack that really sticks with you too.
Be aware, the first episode is a little confusing, but get through that and it all starts to make sense. I'm only in the middle of Episode 8 at the moment, but this is one of the best Asian dramas I've watched in a long time. Can't believe I haven't watched it up until now :)

Ignore the laughably low rating. It's excellent - beautifully acted, interesting cinematography and an intriguing plot.

It's so pretty, isn't it? I've had it on repeat on Spotify for the last 3 days :) -- https://open.spotify.com/track/7ItsOX85K4rXqGgjq8u2XA?si=c3297f35849a4efc

And overall, Tell Me That You Love Me's soundtrack was one of the best K-drama soundtracks I've heard in a while.

I'm absolutely obsessed with this one -- Seo Young Ju's 'Silent Ode to You' -- gorgeous.

https://open.spotify.com/track/69XM1o5AFSw1HKM3QnmxfD?si=748f450fed0345e1

Yep. And that's how those lies start to spread, when the original person is so confident and sounds like he/she knows what they are talking about, so another person spreads them, and another and another. And, of course, like the Chinese Whispers game, it gets worse and worse and even more of a lie with every new re-telling.

And before you know it, an actor who went to bed having announced a possible new project wakes up to the Internet talking about him being married to a cheater, having 3 children out of wedlock and, oh by the way, did you know he killed someone in a car crash when he was drunk?

ZERO TOLERANCE is my resolution this year, as I've spent too long just scrolling past comments riddled with lies, and started to realize we all need to fight back against it. It's poison and it destroys actors' careers and, for some, causes them to end their lives.

And thanks for deleting the misinformation about her being a single mother -- and, no, there's nothing wrong with being as single mother. It's just that she wasn't one.

No, WTF is wrong with you? Spreading lies you cannot even be bothered to spend 5 minutes checking before you spew them. In the space of 5 minutes, you spread the lie his wife was problematic as she was a single mother (she's not), and that's why his career looks unstable (it's not -- he's signing on to new projects and considering others, while his own agency is producing the next drama he will likely star in -- proving he also has financial backing).

You also insinuated things look bad for him as he started his own agency (proving you know nothing about the Korean entertainment industry, as any actor with any common sense eventually starts their own agency, as have many Korean actors who are the most successful).

And everything you said was simply to "prove" you know more about Song Joong Ki's career than anyone else in the forum. You obviously don't.

And I responded as I did, and will continue to respond that way, as I have ZERO tolerance for people spreading lies, especially about Korean actors.

The Korean entertainment industry has a MASSIVE problem with suicides by celebrities and, in many of those cases, they were due to so-called "fans" starting to spread gossip and lies, or magnifying a tiny mistake an actor made so that they became "the worst thing anyone has ever done" and tens of thousands of other fools joining the harassment and making things even worse.

You would think after Lee Sun Kyun's suicide not even a month ago, caused by police harassment and tens of thousands of people lying about him online, that people would now be more careful about what they say.

But no, it's the same fools spreading similar lies about a different actor just so they can feel better about their own sorry little lives.

ZERO FUCKING TOLERANCE for any of it.

And here's a hint -- don't get your news from Twitter and don't spread information about an actor, until he/she or their agencies have confirmed it.

And she's NOT a single mother. Stop spreading lies. It makes you look stupid and helps destroy his reputation. Sad so many so-called K-drama fans are like this. It's bloody poisonous.

Don't believe what gossipers on random forums tell you. That's the problem with the K-drama community. People who spread gossip and lies based on something they've "heard" or "think". It's what's caused a large number of actors to commit suicide over the last few decades. Idiots spreading lies.

Oh do stop spreading lies. It's so annoying. Most actors who are smart start their own agency, that way they aren't paying an agent massive percentages of the income they earn, and there is zero accurate information about him being blacklisted. Just idiot "fans" spreading rumors.

Absolutely correct. I used to be left-wing up until a few years ago when I realized much of the left-wing had gone batshit crazy :) Now I'm middle of the road leaning conservative but, as Elon Musk said, "middle of the road conservative" is now where the left used to be before they went extreme left and "woke" and destroyed everything.

And yep on the extreme on both sides, (although the extreme on the left nowadays seems to be a majority of the left, unfortunately). Both as lunatic as each other, and best avoided :)

EDIT: And btw, the left-wing used to be the open-minded ones. Now they're the ones screaming for censorship, calling everyone "racist", a "homophobe", a "bigot", a "transphobe", "a pedophile" etc towards anyone who disagrees with their lunacy and, in America at least, are the ones heading the cancel culture bullshit.

In other words, if you post a tweet they don't agree with, they all rush to get you banned as you are just not ALLOWED to have an opinion different from theirs.

Younger left-wingers (ages 16-30) are absolutely the worst (the AOCs of the world). Very narrow-minded, see the world within a small tunnel, and anyone whose opinions don't fit into that tunnel must immediately be shut down or cancelled. It's a shame, as they're missing out on so much if they would just open their minds.

Luckily much of the world, the normal left and the normal right at least, are waking up to their woke b.s., and it's looking very much likely that it will collapse quite soon. That time can't come soon enough :)

Ah, it might be 30 then. And yep, many, many more than 30 :)

Honestly, I do not understand the toxicity of so many K-drama fans -- Korean and international.

I always think they must have a pretty sad life to not only waste it being vile about someone they have never and will likely never meet, but then also attacking the fans who are supporting the actor/actress.

All of it is so unnecessary, and so disgusting.

"Your opinion is bad". Hahahaha. Glad you liked it. I didn't.

You can add Jo Min Ki to that sad list -- he killed himself in 2018. (https://mydramalist.com/people/1684-jo-min-ki)

Yellow Handkerchief was the first ever K-drama I watched, back in 2003, and he was the first Korean actor I thought was wonderful.

He killed himself after supposedly admitting he was guilty of sexually harassing his students (he was teaching at a university), when for the longest time he had said he was innocent of the accusations.

But that's what Korean society and the Korean news media/police do. They harass the person so long, they will eventually say they're guilty just to get it to stop.

And I always think about Choi Jin Sil and Choi Jin Young's mother when I see a list of Korean actors who have committed suicide. (Their mother was alive, while I think their father had already died?)

Imagine having two of your children kill themselves (he actually killed himself about 18 months after she did, so was the same age as his sister when she died). Must have been terrible for their mother.

Yep, I gave up. You report, and they're still there spewing their bile a month later. I think it's probably run by a very small staff, and they just don't have the time unfortunately.

He was pushed into suicide by the police (a 19-HOUR interrogation right before he killed himself), the Korean news media and their constant harassment of any celebrity they think "made a mistake" and a certain vile segment of Korean netizens who apparently have such pathetic lives they take pleasure in destroying someone else's.

He was probably so distraught by the time that 19-hour interrogation ended, and with NO ending of the investigation in sight (which was bogus bullshit and nothing less than harassment right from the start), he probably just thought he could spare his wife and kids more anguish by just removing himself from their lives.

Unfortunately, it is also in Korean culture that the "honorable way" to fix something is to just kill yourself as it helps save the family's reputation.

A warped way of thinking, but definitely responsible for a certain percentage of Korea's high suicide rate. (A Korean commits suicide every 39 minutes -- an astonishing statistic).

This article explains it better:

https://asiatimes.com/2020/07/why-south-koreans-kill-themselves/

And this, from that article, explains much of why celebrities kill themselves:

Korea is more a shame than a guilt culture,” said Breen. “In Christian culture, there is that cycle of repentance and forgiveness, and some mercy is built into the legal system, but you don’t have that so much here, so the sense of shame is overwhelming.”

Hence, suicide becomes a method of evading humiliation. “Suicide is not an act to take responsibility … but rather an act to avoid responsibility,” said Cho.

Evasion may be an unavoidable last resort given the possibility a successful defense is so slim. Public opinion is vindictive, and the judicial system, with extremely high conviction rates, arguably favors the prosecution over the defense.

“The system is seen as unfair and vicious, so once you fall foul of it, any sense of fair play or expectation of a reasonable outcome is not there,” Breen said. “You are done for.”

AS FOR ME... :)

For me, suicide would be the absolute last thing I ever did as, when you do, these fuckers win. And I'm too big of a bitch to ever let that happen. It's such a pity more Korean actors/singers don't have that "fuck you" attitude as well, as they'd be better off if they did.

Doesn't make any sense, does it? I think it's around 50 (?) as I hit the limit last week, and it won't let me block any more people -- just says I've hit the limit. But I just deleted one person to add Iarami, as that person has severe problems, and I have no interest in having someone like that in any capacity in my life :)

Well said.

I am so sick of the vile people in the K-drama community, both Korean and international, who think it is acceptable to destroy someone's life or to still go after them when they are dead simply because that actor's/singer's so-called 'morals' aren't the same as theirs (because, of course, THEIRS are better morals than everyone else's).

All of these vile people need to be ostracized by decent people, until they have no-one to talk to but each other.

I usually respond once, to let them know I think they are the worst kind of person, and then from then on just act like they don't exist. Life is to short to allow that kind of evil into it.

Unfortunately, MDL has a limit on the number of people you can block. But... for people like this vile person, if your block list is full like mine, just skip over their comments without reading them. That way they are talking to the air :)

Go away. It's people like you who destroyed this man's life. I have no words for the absolute contempt I feel for you.