San's love language: Words of affirmation

Something that he's been craving to hear from Deok Im.

Remember when Deok Im said she'd protect him, he engraved those words deeply into his heart, to the point of confessing, "How can I possibly not love such a woman?"

Remember how brightly he smiled to the point of disbelief when Deok Im answered "I missed you too" during his first visit to her after she became his concubine.

San always tells Deok Im how much she means to him.

How much he loves and adores her, that he wants to make a family with her.

How he becomes powerless and broken whenever he sees her cry.

But Deok Im either cuts him,

Stays silent,

Or gives him a blatant rejection.

He knows she has deep feelings for him too. There's no way that she doesn't love him back. But since he's not receiving a clear-cut answer, he just satisfies himself with the fact that she's his anyway, regardless of what she feels.

But then until her last breath, Deok Im sealed her heart. She just imparted a subtle response on her true feelings about him. He wasn't able to obtain the ultimate thing he wanted from her – a direct love confirmation – and he beat himself up for that to his deathbed.

Deok Im's love language: Acts of service

Something that Deok Im cannot demand from him as he is not in the position to do so.

Deok Im saved him a lot of times, putting her own life on the line.

She frantically looks for solutions when he's in trouble.

However, sadly, San cannot do the same for her.

Remember that time when Deok Im was wrongfully accused of stealing Lady Yeong's book, the least he could do for her was to send her to exile.

When she was defamed for supposedly having a relationship with a royal guard, he chose not succumb to his personal feelings and go against the rules to save her, even if it means her death.

Poor Deok Im excitedly waited for him to arrive to celebrate the news of her pregnancy, hinting that she's ready to confess her hidden feelings for him (remember the yellow pouch she made with San's sisters which they intend to give to their husbands? It was at this point when I thought Deok Im considered him his husband, the father of her child, her family. This very pouch symbolizes her love🥺) But he never came; instead, he went to comfort his queen. And so she snapped out of reality that he was never hers.

He scolded her instead of comforting her for the loss of their child. But Deok Im took the initiative to compose her shattered self and went to him to cheer him up.

He couldn't even save her best friend from the death row, despite having the power to do so.

She's always there whenever he needs her, but he always makes her wait.

She's already contented to be by his side and serve him as a court lady, even if the thought of him being with another woman kills her inside. There's this line in the novel, "As expected, the distance between us is just right. Being further away is somehow hurtful, yet to go closer there is fear. He is there, and I am here. It’s just enough to make the heart flutter a bit. Nothing too sad, nothing too much." But he cornered her by saying she won't see him ever if she rejects him again. I bet she thought, "How can I live without seeing him? Merely seeing him living well is already enough for me." So our girl made the toughest decision. She sacrificed her entire freedom just to be with him. If that is not love then I don't know anymore.

Disregarding the afterlife scene, their love story is just so poignant. How ironic. They love each other so much, but weren't able to meet each other's needs. I can't help but cry thinking about this.

Hah~ I just wanted to write this as I'm preparing to let go of my lingering attachments towards this drama. My heart really aches for these two. I read Junho's interview yesterday and looks like our boy is also not functioning well after the drama ended. Good to know, we shouldn't be the only ones to suffer you know. Kidding!

And so, here's The Red Sleeve in a nutshell:

And oh by the way, I'm officially sending off this drama through this 2 FMVs I've made. Care to watch? 😊

The Red Sleeve FMV - San x Deok Im - Troublemaker

The Red Sleeve FMV - San x Deok Im - Shouldn't Be

When I saw that kite, I knew that it was you. It could only be you. When I thought that I could die, your face came to mind. I prayed to the heavens for one more chance… to see… your face… Deok Im.

I have a family friend who worked at our local Salvation Army headquarters as a a secretary. This particular office took all the Christmas donations for children in need, put them in a warehouse, and on a designated day the staff and their friends picked through them all, taking whatever they wanted. She saw people hauling away bikes donated for specific families. Some local children had hundreds of dollars of gifts donated in their name, and on Christmas they received three cheap things, items likely not even from the person who sponsored them.

My friend quit, and I’ve not given them a dime of my money since then.

I’m a wildfire and disaster logistics specialist.

I deal with a lot of agencies who provide disaster relief.

I used to say the Salvation Army’s disaster services were the one (literally the ONE) good thing they did.

They would come in, set up a canteen trailer, make and pass out hot coffee and donated food in a disaster, usually being one of the first agencies to get there and the last to leave.

Then I found out.

Every time they did this, regardless of if they were actually invited or deployed by the agency in charge (usually FEMA, sometimes others) they would SELF-DEPLOY. Meanjng they would just show up. Ok. That’s not TOO bad, sometimes agencies have to take initiative and get there before the red tape is sorted out. BUT. They, after they left at the end of the incident, they would send FEMA or the host agency a BILL. They used one or two paid employees (usually the driver of the truck and a supervisor); and many VOLUNTEERS, but they would bill for EVERYONE’s Labor at standard federal rates. They would bill for the food they distributed even though it was all donated by another agency or private parties. They would bill for the coffee they made and the supplies. Except they would use electricity from the shelter location, water from donations or from the shelter, and in many cases, they would get the coffee and industrial filters DONATED, but bill for them at retail prices.

Salvation Army reached out to Milknmuffins and asked what shelter she’s at with the promise to address the abuse in it. She…ended up saying where she was. She was thrown out onto the street. It’s also all on Twitter.

They invited her to a personal talk so she could explain the situation in person.

And then they threatened her with a screenshot of a rape-threat made supposedly by her:

And then threw her out into the street while claiming she broke house rules that

THE GOOD PLACE (2016-2020)