#just silly hccc

[soultiio]

at some point in their lives, izaya started calling shizuo sunshine. as usual, shizuo thought "oh this mf is being annoying", he thought the nickname was purely ironic. some kind of joke. even shizu-chan, that affectionate but derogative nickname, was like that so he said to himself to dont pay him much attention.

now that they are in a relationship, somehow, somewhat (how did that even happen??) izaya keeps calling him shizu-chan, sunshine, moron, protozoan, the last two are meant to be insulting that's so obvious, but when izaya drags the words and wears a playful and genuine smile, shizuo only can fake his annoyment "who are you calling a moron, stupid flea?" izaya jumps around and swings his knife, not stabbing him but always trying to. shizuo always avoids it. izaya makes sure he does it.

and the first two? izaya is always saying shizu-chan, shizu-chan, all day, all night, shizuo is already used to it. sunshine is a different thing, it makes his heart stop (or flutter?), blinks confused because he doesn't know what's behind it. is he laughing at me? is he being annoying on purpose? does he want something from me? or is he being genuine? what the fuck does sunshine is supposed to mean anyway? is it the hair? the strenght of the sun compared to his own?

"shizu-chan, you are not listening to me"

"i was listening"

"what did i say?"

"..."

"i was listening my ass. sure, now pay attention to me, sunshine"

and he pretends he listens because what else can he do?

[iamherefortheships]

HCCC Thoughts Ep11 and Ep12

I wasn’t planning to do a detailed post on the weird awesomeness that these episodes have been but seeing the whole spectrum of reactions on the newly in love couple...I thought I might also join the club and share some thoughts.

On Hye-Jin’s behavior - 

One of the things about Hye-jin that has been very clear is that she is unambiguous in how she feels or how she expresses how she feels. 

She is coming from an absent parent household, she had to support her own way thru college. As she admits in her own words, her youth was about ‘keeping her head above water’. In that context, her ex-bf’s insult takes even more meaning coz not only he attacked her outer appearance but he basically poked at the things that she may have looked down upon herself ( her being not as wealthy as other college kids or just not fitting in). She was so adamant about making a life for herself that she ignored any other distraction.

 And so she learns to be reserved, standoffish, keeps to herself...but there is no indication in any of the previous episodes that that’s how she is with the people she is comfortable with. In fact she is impulsive and does foolish things (first episode drunken messaging on her boss, buying expensive shoes ...etc). Also, when she lets her guard down, she gets all cutesy and funny - remember her drunk episode with du-sik where is basically pole dancing and being all goofy. I think that’s the real her with people she loves or comfortable with (and I think she has always been comfy with du-sik or she wouldn't have gotten drunk). And she is the calm, reserved, professional to the outside world.

And now she has found someone that she CAN’T HELP loving, who LOVES her back! They both say in their confession - they couldn't help it. To fall in love with someone while resisting it, and having that person love you back is a huge high ! And these two have been falling in love and now its out there...so of course they cant keep away from each other. That’s no different from many newly in love couple....

And ofcourse, Hye-jin who ‘plans every minute of her life according to a life span of 99 years’...has a very specific idea of what she wants to do with her boyfriend. Of course she has a list, and she is going to go around checking the box..that’s how she operates.  She even says she is going to the art gallery with her BF coz that’s a thing to do - not because she cares about art which is weird but refreshingly honest.

And Du-sik is the more laid back of the two...so he resists her stupid ideas till he knows that she has this wish list of things she wants to do...and he feels lucky that this woman he loves wants to do all those things. And they keep it real TBH, the fact that Du-sik calls her out on her foolish behavior or teases her, tells me the writers have deliberately set her up this way. It’s intentional and it works.

And it’s cringeworthy to us coz these are THEIR PRIVATE moments that we get to see. They behave foolishly INSIDE their own homes ...their public behavior is remarkably restrained and respectful....

If people can’t be cringey when in love, in the privacy of their own homes...then what’s the point LOL???

Anyway..this kind of got away from me. But I had thoughts about Hye-jin and how unfairly female leads get treated from not being nice enough to being too nice!! A few weeks ago she was too arrogant, stand offish , thought herself better than du-sik…now she is totally into him and hovering around like a puppy …and still not likeable. What’s a girl gotta do !LOL!

PS- I do agree that for people in the mid-30s this seems slightly childish but their journey getting here was extremely mature so this letting down their hair and being honest and silly works!

Also this became too long, so more thoughts on the rest of the show later!

[iamherefortheships]

Homecha ep 14 works only because of the brilliant acting..but are they kinda losing the plot?

HCCC is one of those shows that the superb acting and the nuanced script elevates the plot from its very basic self. Because the leads are so amazing, that we have been able to overlook some of the silly romantic tropes and actually enjoyed them. Because the surrounding characters are well thought out that we have continued to stay invested in their stories even though they have nothing to do with the main plot of the show.

For me the strongest part of the show has been realism (yes, even with the tropes esp we-met-in-childhood-trope!). And for the first time I felt losing a bit of that in the episode...I know am disappointed but I struggle to find criticism coz everyone delivers so beautifully on the cast.

Let me start with the things that worked and I loved:

- Hyejin remarkable maturity on handling relationship  - and also has she just been around for 4-5 months? - this is quite a whirlwind romance and for her to show such a measured response is remarkable (do not get the hate for her...loving someone involves a lot of trust and if they dont seem to trust you back , it really difficult to make that relationship work...so for her to understand that this may not be that simple, and he needs space is amazing)

- Miseon and Eun-chol - these cuties now provide the light in the darkness also serving as a contrast to the main leads

- Validation of what we all suspected that Choi Hui is gay , sad storyline but I will take any representation over none

- Every scene KSH was in ....this dying under his own pain look in his eyes  - not many actors can get that right. I am beginning to suspect that this script is written to showcase KSH many good angles and expressions. 

What worked but I still didn’t like

- Hwa-Jeong and Yeong-guk’s reconciliation. Beautifully written, performed perfectly. No flaw in the scene itself but I don't like this plot development at all. They had fundamental differences in their marriage ...and I don't know if there was enough foundation to actually make it work. This seems like an over eager attempt to give everyone happy endings.

What I didn’t like at all

Pacing issues - Not with Hyejin/Dusik storyline. I think that’s real and very well handled. They are taking it slow and dusik is getting the time to figure things out. My pacing issue is with Dusiks trauma build up in front of the audience. I have  a bad feeling that they are going to make this into this giant hot mess and make his guilt and shame unsalvageable. Urgh..

Trauma overload - this is just not okay. I mean Doha dad’s storyline was not required. Dusik being blamed for his GF and brother-like friend’s death is horrible enough. He is carrying so much guilt already what’s the point of dumping this on him too. It adds nothing to the story

Coincidences - Okay so Doha’s father being somehow hurt by Dusik. Seung-hyeon being related to that women who was Dusik’s brother’s wife. Not believable at all. We are firmly in melodrama world now.