#homecha meta

[deonideatta]

I'm kinda sick rn so I had to make this list through a lot of sniffling but here's a list of some ways homecha's portrayal of the main romance is ticking all my boxes

The love triangle! There was no possessiveness, no arguing over who gets the girl without any consideration for what the girl herself wanted, no friendships were ruined, du shik and ji pd are still on pretty good terms, ji pd respected hye jin's choice and she and him still have a pretty good relationship. Plus ji pd was not left in the dust or mishandled by the plot to invoke sympathy in viewers, rather we see there's a chance for him with the writer. There was even a line about how much love triangles suck. As a licensed love triangle hater I approve

The character development, especially on hye jin's part. Look how far she's come from the beginning, love that for her

The way du shik's jealousy was dealt with. Personally I really dislike jealousy plotlines, so I loved that du shik was able to talk it out with hye jin, and apologize for lashing out. I also like that it doesn't seem forced, like they slotted it in to hit all the usual romcom drama targets, but that it actually makes sense given what we've been shown so far about du shik's fear of abandonment. I also like that it was recognized how childish jealousy can be, while still allowing du shik to process it and deal with it properly. And the scene where he cringes at himself for stealing ji pd's drumsticks was so funny skdms

The sappiness. It's so sappy I sometimes feel like I'm going to get cavities and I love it. Yes I cringe sometimes, but they're in the honeymoon phase, they'll probably tone it down over time

The communication. Lack of communication has been the downfall of many a kdrama couple, and I'm super happy that they aren't going that route here. There are many points where they could have had a completely unnecessary fallout due to communication problems, but so far we've seen them deal with their problems head on, ask for each others opinions, and generally de-escalate potential misunderstandings pretty quickly. It really gives me hope that they won't hit us with the break up-time skip-reunion combo in the final eps

No noble idiocy!!! There's the whole 'I don't deserve to be happy' thing, but nevertheless du shik doesn't push hye jin away! So many of us were sure that he'd reject her in ep 9, but he didn't, and I was over the moon. Idk I just love that the counselling he's had and his love for hye jin are enough for him to see through the tricks his mind plays on him instead of forcing us to sit through like 3 eps of "nooo we can't be together because I ~don't deserve love~"

Speaking of which, the fact that du shik actually goes to therapy. Sort out ur issues in healthy ways besties

The lack of mean cliffhangers. Every episode so far has ended with something so pleasant, and as someone who's still crying tears of joy over ep 12's ending I really appreciate it. It's nice to finish an ep feeling content and warm

This most recent episode. Even after suffering at the hands of misleading previews a billion times I still went into ep 12 worrying about what the preview had shown, especially du shik meeting his old classmate. But there was none of the dramatic earth shattering backstory reveal I expected, and instead it was as sweet as ever. This year I developed trust issues due to events that won't be discussed so it was lovely to have that expectation completely subverted

And on the topic of ep 12, that last scene??? The way that du shik didn't feel threatened or belittled by hye jin's money, the fact that he reciprocated her gift giving in a way that was meaningful to him, the fact that he told her not to worry about what he or anyone thinks about the way she spends her own money

And the fact that they didn't draw out the misunderstanding towards the end of the episode, they could easily have escalated it and had them fall out over it, but they talked about it, they didn't have du shik put distance between them for no reason, and we got a whole kiss out of it all :D

The banter. Small thing but I love that they kept it up even after they started dating

In conclusion the writers for this show are really out here doing the most, and I love it. They've subverted so many bad kdrama romcom cliches while still delivering a drama that is sweet and lovely to watch, and it really is refreshing

[dramarants]

something about homecha on tumblr feels just like run on era… comforting slice of life, a seemingly simple show with more complexity the more you think about it, flawed and utterly realistic characters with meaningful side plots that have you rooting for everyone, funny romcom moments, and this sense of community online where people are all rambling and creating and sharing these different takes that resonate deeply with each other. I just feel so fulfilled by homecha both when watching it and logging on here after, the same way run on did almost a year ago.

[ayushipop]

something about the way dushik just looks at hyejin and says "you've changed a lot, you're a different person" and the scene getting interrupted makes me feel like there's a purposeful imbalance in the dialogue.... we're expecting hyejin to have the chance to say something about the kind of person HE is, whether he's changed or remained the same, but we don't get that. (almost feels like he's narratively refusing to be commented on, when he's the one to have an opinion on everything else) lines of dialogue like that, i think, usually have the context of a check-in, a moment for characters to reminisce or reflect on their current position compared to where they began.

given the characteristic back-and-forth of their interactions, we're left with a similar feeling to what hyejin feels and seems to express in the preview for the next ep: "why are you becoming a stranger?"

but the thing is, they still don't fully know each other. it's weird, because the points of connection they do have are very deeply rooted: the trust they've built from the ground up, their loneliness, the polar bear and penguin—but they don't talk much about those. they remain mostly unsaid but understood.

even some things they don't know about, they have an odd parallel-connection: hyejin being the one to walk away from her college boyfriend, who implicitly rejected her, but SHE took the initiative to dump him. whereas dushik's line about "everyone who's left me, it's my fault that they did." despite not knowing everything about his past, we know that a lot of his family has died, often in unavoidable ways like heart attacks, and he's twisted that around to blame himself for it despite DEFINITELY not having an active role in them "leaving" him.

dushik and hyejin talk a lot to each other. not just talk, communicate and comprehend. most of the time, they recognize when they're acting petty or childish or narrow-minded and they don't gloss it over or hold grudges or overcomplicate. but they're yet to talk about the deepest, most painful and yet most integral parts of themselves and their pasts.*

in other words: sikhye traumadump WHEN

*dushik knows about the shit from hyejins childhood, but an interesting observation i saw is that her dad was the one to tell him that, not her. as viewers we're clued into her past, but within the narrative hyejin herself hasn't opened up about it

[leeknown]

Yo is that show good?? I keep seeing it on my feed and romcoms are the only thing I watch LOL - Bella💕

@stray-but-okay

yes!! it's been great so far, there's no frustrating miscommunications between characters happening yet and the love triangle isn't in-your-face. there's also focus on how the female lead grows closer to the people in the community and how everyone 'grows' together :D

and a more objective take from a few meta posts i've read on the homecha tag, unlike typical romcoms:

homecha portray the ladies rlly good 1. they don't sit around waiting for a knight in shining armour to come to their rescue lool 2. great mom 3. sweet grannies

the second lead is super chill despite being in a love triangle

the male lead is wholesome asf

[deonideatta]

We've reached the overthinking part of the week and I've been thinking about the way du shik's reaction to hye jin seeing the photo shows that most likely something else happens before to put him more on edge, as so far (correct me if I'm wrong) whenever his past is brought up we've only seen him deflect rather than lash out. The fact that hye jin says smth like "why do you keep trying to become a stranger" also implies that this isn't the first time

Still, I have a stronger feeling than usual that the preview may be a bit misleading (as previews tend to be), so ig we'll see how it all goes

[ayushipop]

me and pyo miseon at mark 1:01:42 of episode 16:

[dramarants]

a bit of a rant regarding the ksh scandal so skip if you need

I’m just really miffed not even at him or the girl or the reporters, just that homecha was such an incredible journey and the way it all fell apart leaves such a bitter taste in my mouth. I still have so many more beautiful gifsets and meta and brilliant work left in my queue from when the show was airing, things that ppl shared bc they were moved or inspired to the point of creation, and I feel like I can’t fully appreciate it anymore bc I almost feel guilty for some reason? even though no part of anything has to do with me or the writers and even ksh was technically “cleared” or whatever. it’s just hard to revisit for some reason smh