Halloween '10

best costume this year goes to a cute chinese couple that came to Boba Bear yesterday night dressed up as Mr. and Mrs. Fox from Fantastic Mr. Fox. They did it so well, too, with their clothes and all! hahahaha they were really excited I recognized their costume.

I wanted to take a picture of them/ with them so badly but I had no camera and I thought it'd be slightly creepy.. hehe.

i don't understand how these douchey-ass guys have such absurd standards for women yet don't seem to realize how much more pathetic and unattractive they themselves are.

oh wait, i guess that's what we call delusional.

Sometimes I'm struck by how pretty some people are.
Then I hear them speak.
Illusion shattered.
Haha.

No Captions Necessary

<3

Guy(?) Love

So. Good.

Yong-ha shush-ing Sun-joon. The boy is quite touchy, no? ;)

Jae-shin tying up Yoon-hi's loosened pant bottom mid-conversation.
Such a quietly sweet gesture.

Sun-joon beaming at Yoon-shik. <3

Regarding Episode 12, can I just ... "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!" (And a "I knew it!")

Basically, Yong-ha guesses that Sun-joon is conflicted over his feelings for Yoon-shik (Oh yeah- so I call her Yoon-shik when referring to her in connection with people who know her as a guy. I call her Yoon-hi in context with Jae-shin, because he knows she's a girl). They have this little talk about masculinity and the nature of sexual attraction. Sun-joon asks Yong-ha if it isn't more natural for a man to enjoy spending time with a fellow guy that he's comfortable and close with rather than a girl he barely knows (a thinly veiled reference to himself, Yoon-shik, and Hyo-eun). Yong-ha asks if Sun-joon's finding himself more attracted to males than females, and Sun-joon awkwardly stammers a no but proceeds to state that at a certain point, attraction could develop amongst good friends.
Yong-ha cloyingly responds, "the desire to get close and to touch?" When Sun-joon uncomfortably averts his eyes, Yong-ha laughs and admits that he's experienced that before. Sun-joon looks up expectantly and Yong-ha answers "With Geol-oh." (aka Jae-shin! muahaha- I thought those two were sexy together.)
He adds that at those times, he questioned his masculinity, but quickly fixed it with the help of a very special book (basically an old fashioned porno)- a book he hands over to Sun-joon to look over at times of confusion.
He ends the conversation (and I love him for this) gently advising Sun-joon not to worry too much, saying that it isn't a sin to like someone, whoever that person may be. :)

Yong-ha & Jae-shin ^__^ 

This scene in combination with the previous scene where he tricked Jae-shin into showing his care for Yoon-shik by lying about his/her well being made me so giddy with joy. Song Joong-ki has made this character so lively, layered, and lovable!

Also, I love when my suspicions (more like hopes) about man-love in k-dramas are proven correct. Like in 남자이야기 with Kei + Chae Do-woo! (Woohoo that was my favorite because it was such a tiny detail yet the only crack into the mind of the super mysterious Kei! I loved that he was this cold-blooded killer who could kick anybody's ass but was obsessively faithful to his physically abusive, sociopath of a boss. It was such an interesting touch to the whole twisted story of power and revenge.) I love its "normalizing" effect. Korean people definitely need as much of it as possible.

But yeah. Poor Jae-shin! He's actually a really good fit for Yoon-hi, but so is Sun-joon. It's funny because they're both so different, yet they mesh well with the different aspects of Yoon-hi. I think Jae-shin is adorable because he knows she's a girl and therefore treats her with a lot of care (although he developed symptoms of attraction to her before he discovered her femaleness). However, Sun-joon is great because he challenges her head-on and helps her grow into a stronger person. I loved his "confession" to her, because it was more a confession of his respect and admiration for her intelligence and strength of spirit, than some standard lovey-dovey (lusty) shit.
One of the biggest reasons I love boys falling in love with girls-in-drag is because it takes away some of the gender divide. The male leads fall in love with certain inescapably feminine traits of these guy-girls, but it's after they've already established them as equals, so it's the best of both worlds. except for when the male lead tries to get over his "homosexuality" and pushes the guy-girl away. or when the girl gets found out after the male lead has gone through his whole painful process of accepting that he is in love with a man. Part 1 has already started in SKK Scandal, but now I'm fervently waiting for the good part, when Sun-joon will come to terms with his awesome self and announce his love for Yoon-shik in the next episode or so (ignoring the inevitable pain of Part 2 for now).
Basically, I'm waiting for a second rendition of the infamous Coffee Prince man or alien speech.
...Expectations too high? :D (Choi Han-kyul <3 4eva! ^__~)

Blue Valentine

Jesus Christ he is gorgeous. Voice, nose, scruff, eyes, height... everything. Even if I don't love all his characters, I love him as an actor (not just cuz he's fucking hot, either).

Michelle Williams is awesome, too. She is uncannily talented at expressing and transferring her vulnerability to the screen. I already feel all gooey and heartbroken for her from this 1 minute trailer! Can't wait to see it~.

Cutieee! and SKK Megazord! yeah!

Sorry, I'm watching Sungkyunkwan Scandal right now and he is sooo damn cute in it! I just wanna take a bit outta him! rawrr.

He says things that are kinda wacky in this offhanded, flamboyant manner that makes you question if he's being serious or not, but everything he says actually rings true and is surprisingly insightful.
For instance, when Yun-shik and the gang go to intern at the city government office, Yong-ha arrives wearing one his outlandishly colorful outfits (and top of that, he spins to show it off) instead of the required uniform.

When Yun-shik asks why he's not wearing a uniform, he hilariously responds- "Do you know why Joseon is in such a shit state right now? It clothes all its officials in the same uniform without regard to individuality or expression of personal taste (essentially squelching them). How could any good policies come from those hard heads?"

It's such a scathing critique of the ruling ideology disguised in entertaining pizzaz, which makes him my favorite little dissenter. I'm hoping there's more substance to that pizzaz and that he's got some serious opinions and backstory going on. I love how his true character is slowly being revealed to us bit by enjoyable bit. At first, he was just an elitist, hedonistic comic relief with questionable motives (lovable all the same), but then he was revealed to be best friends with the school outcast and generally pissily unkempt Jae-shin, who also happened to have a secret side job as a masked rebel fighting to bring down the corrupt ruling party, and happened to NOT be a random street rat like we all assumed, but the son of the head of the opposing party and whose older brother died fighting to bring the corruption to light (along with Yun-shik's father, as we find out).
And now Yong-ha's friends with the low-class Yun-shik and the son of the ruling party head/ left state minster, Sun-joon?
TELL ME MORE, SHOW!

I love that these kids are as politically invested and motivated as their elders, but are fueled by compassion rather than greed (which is how they're able to become friends despite their differences). I love that they try to be adult-like yet are all still so naive. I love that they all think their own ideologies are solid solutions to the world's problems but experience the gut-wrenching feeling of inadequacy when faced with the cruel reality. But what I love most of all is that they build themselves back up together through camaraderie and juvenile fun. Like Yong-ha said, individuality and freedom of expression are important, but these four go beyond that and prove the strength of their combined effort and skills.

I see them starting out as individual brick walls of differing strengths and attributes:

Yong-ha: charm, cunning, connections
Jae-shin: passion, physical prowess
Yun-shik: female perspective, lower-class perspective, intelligence, drive
Sun-joon: focus, drive, intelligence, morality

They're each stronger than most other individuals, but not enough to fight back a system of collaborative wrongdoing.
They all have a stronger sense of self (and pride) than most people, too, so it takes a lot for them to break. However, once their walls are knocked down, they happen to be together and wind up helping each other build each other's walls back up. In the process, though, they discover that they have all been working on the same wall, mixing all their special bricks and constructing one mighty wall of super-strength (think of it like the Megazord from Power Rangers :P). And that shit is cemented with love, loyalty and FUN TIMES.

exhibit A:

tying up some drunkenly passed out guards and writing "thief" on their faces

They're gonna change the world, y'all! ;)

Yong-ha: "Whooooooo I love life!"

Yun-shik: "hee, boys are so fun. Hm, Yong-ha's kinda cute. and so's Jae-shin. but OMG SUN-JOON. His FACE IS SO CLOSE TO MINE. and OMG. MY HEAD. IS ON. HIS SHOULDER."

Sun-joon: This is disturbing. Why am I doing this again? Wait, am I having fun? Is this what fun is? and why is this boy next to me so pretty and why does he smell like spring blossoms and everything nice?

Jae-shin: These idiots ... why do I hang out with such fools? ...Okay, this is kind of funny. Heh. Heh heh. goddamn. 

Russian lit. and Japanese tea

Dostoevsky + a pot of sencha makes for a relatively successful and pleasant end to a cold wednesday night. I am actually thankful my laptop ac adapter is broken because it's forcing me to read more.

hello, hello!

Awwww, these kidsss! ^__^

Their hairstyles are a bit of an abomination (I forgive Onew, though, because it's for the musical "Rock of Ages") but other than that, they are so freakin' adorable! Like little roving puppies. Their earnest sweetness is so endearing because it seems so unpretentious (which probably means they're just good actors- heh). This should have been their summer single rather than Lucifer!! It reminds me of their "누난 너무 예뻐" days, which in my book is a good thing.
Anyway, I love the last scene when Onew's about to 고백해 (confess). That face he makes! He looks like he's gonna laugh and poo at the same time. but nope, it's just his personal pep talk face. :D
AHhhh I want Onew Dubu as my pet. He'd be my favorite pet ever! He's like a mix of a mischievous little kitten and a clumsy but well-meaning puppy.

:)