#so jisub

[hommeunculus]

SO JI SUB [ 소지섭 ]  •  Singles Magazine Korea, November 2022 photographed by Kim Sun Hye

⸻  credit: chutzpah agency

[colvmbvs]

Be with You ‘지금 만나러 갑니다’ (2018) dir. Lee Jang-hoon

[kdramahunter]

oh my venus

The plot for this one is just outdated and in my opinion can be a little controversial. The chemistry between the two main characters is cute but it's not jaw dropping.

I believe it was dragged out more than it needed to be, there were times when they showed flashbacks of things that happened an episode ago and it wasn't a small flashback it would be a whole 10 minutes worth, which made no sense to me.

I also do have to confess I've noticed i dont enjoy the acting of Shin Mina and that makes me be biased towards any dramas she is in, but I try to always give them a chance.

The ending was just too much for me... quite cheesy i guess

Plot: 20

Acting: 90

Ending: 30

TOTAL: 47/100

recommend? no

links:

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[iloveyouseoulhq]

Para muitos, So Jeup não passa de um vizinho famoso, com 45 anos de idade, Ganzi atualmente é fisioterapeuta, mas quando não está ocupado você conseguirá vê-lo pelo bloco 01, onde mora. A personalidade do apartamento 109 é conhecida por ser cativante e dedicado, em outros momentos o que fala mais alto é seu lado rigoroso e canalha. Heterossexual e atendendo pelos pronomes ele/dele, tem quem diga que ele se parece com So Jisub, mas sinceramente? Eu não acho tanto, para ter certeza basta dar uma olhadinha no @ils_ganzi.

biografia:

TW: menções à: suicídio, morte, depressão.

Vindo de uma família rica no meio empresarial da capital coreana, não foi surpresa alguma que o jovem Jeup fosse coagido a seguir os passos do pai ao ingressar na Korea University, no curso de Administração. Seu futuro era apenas um: engajar nos trabalhos da firma do patriarca, uma empresa acionista que contava com ações nas mais diversas propriedades pelo país. Um futuro certo, estável, bem remunerado e que muitos gostariam de ter… Muitos, exceto Jeup.

Além da aversão a qualquer tipo de atividade econômica e que o obrigasse a ficar sentado atrás de uma mesa, lidando com números, o herdeiro primogênito e único da família So tinha outros planos.

Desde criança tivera alguns problemas com a saúde fraca, que o faziam ficar de cama ou visitando hospitais com frequência, ao invés de aproveitar brincando no enorme quintal da família. A possibilidade de que pudesse desenvolver uma doença crônica pulmonar era grande e, se seus pais continuassem o colocando em uma "bolha de proteção", ela aumentaria ainda mais. Foi assim que, então, o médico pediatra sugeriu que o pequeno passasse a praticar esportes para um melhor desenvolvimento do sistema imunológico e fortalecimento do corpo e organismo.

Em cinco anos, o menino já havia tido uma melhora significativa não apenas em sua saúde, como também em sua personalidade. O antes quieto, fraco, desanimado, deu lugar a um enérgico e curioso Jeup. Não havia um só esporte que não gostasse, fosse os que tivesse praticado (taekwondo, judô, basquete, baseball) ou os muitos outros que apenas conhecia; mas foi ao completar dez anos de idade, que teve contato direto com o seu primeiro grande amor: a natação.

O clique foi instantâneo. A capacidade cognitiva do garoto ainda não era desenvolvida o suficiente para que compreendesse profundamente os próprios sentimentos relativos à natação, mas eram o bastante para entender perfeitamente uma coisa: era como estar em casa. A aptidão imediata de Jeup com o esporte aquático logo chamou a atenção dos instrutores do clube onde era matriculado, que foram os primeiros a incentivá-lo a participar das futuras competições entre clubes.

Anos se passaram, inúmeros títulos municipais e regionais foram ganhos, e Jeup ㅡ agora um adolescente com uma saúde impecável ㅡ continuava cada vez mais certo de que o seu lugar era ali, entre as raias das piscinas. Porém, infelizmente, seu pai não pensava o mesmo.

Ao se ver obrigado a se graduar em algo que, sinceramente, odiava, se sentiu perdido. Isso, até descobrir sobre o clube esportivo de natação da Universidade e de conhecer três pessoas que mudariam sua vida totalmente.

A primeira delas, com certeza, foi o professor responsável pelo clube que, depois de conhecer o garoto por um ano e saber sobre sua história com o esporte, foi o maior incentivador à Jeup a trocar sua graduação e, também, aquele que proporcionou o empurrão inicial em sua carreira como atleta.

A segunda, foi seu colega de quarto do dormitório, quem se tornou seu melhor amigo e aquele à quem via como um irmão, como sua família ㅡ mais do que seus próprios de sangue. Aquele que a perda lhe causou enorme dor.

E, a terceira, foi sua ex; uma colega do curso de Administração por quem se apaixonou e começou a namorar, até que foram forçados a um casamento devido um desastre natural provido de uma irresponsabilidade causada por conta dos hormônios ocorrer: uma gravidez inesperada.

Jeup, com dezenove anos, viu seu mundo mudar. Tivera uma grande discussão com seu pai ao ponto de ser quase deserdado ㅡ caso não fosse sua mãe insistir no contrário; agora estava matriculado no curso de Educação Física; seguia em competições de natação em níveis nacionais; tinha um irmão em quem podia se fortalecer; iria se casar e seria pai.

Esse último fato era o que mais o assustava, ao mesmo tempo que lhe causava uma felicidade absurda. Seria pai. Talvez apenas o convite a se juntar à equipe nacional coreana de natação poderia competir com a gama de sentimentos entre esses dois fatos, mas não havia comparação no mundo inteiro para o que sentiu ao segurar sua filha em seus braços, aos vinte anos.

Apesar de receberem o apoio da família de sua ex e de sua própria mãe ㅡ escondida do patriarca So ㅡ, Jeup era responsável por sua família. Os primeiros anos certamente não foram nada fáceis, eram coisas demais para lidar, coisas demais para aprender e amadurecer. Toda vez que se sentia cansado entre as aulas da faculdade e os treinos oficiais de natação, Jeup pensava em sua, então esposa, que precisou trancar a faculdade para que pudesse criar a filha e, porra, como se sentia culpado por sequer cogitar desistir. Pensar nelas era o que lhe dava forças para seguir em frente com seu sonho de atleta nacional paralelo à vida acadêmica; já tendo se especializado em Metodologia da Natação e nas áreas de Treinamento e Gestão Desportiva durante sua formação, engajou no mestrado nas áreas de Musculação, Saúde Esportiva e Reabilitação em seguida da graduação.

Por mais que ambos fossem bastante cientes de que aquele casamento estava fadado ao fracasso desde o início, Jeup e sua esposa faziam o possível dentro de seus próprios limites para manter um relacionamento saudável ao longo dos anos e, apesar da chama da paixão já ter se apagado nos corações dos dois, havia um incomparável carinho entre eles. Porém, isso não era o suficiente e depois de sete anos de casados, o divórcio ocorreu.

Mais uma vez, seu mundo mudou e sabia que tinha sido para o melhor, para todos. Ainda mantinha uma amizade com sua ex-esposa, desejava vê-la feliz e, jamais, por razão alguma, deixava faltar algo para sua filha, fossem coisas materiais ou sua própria presença. Mas essa não seria a única mudança que viria.

Começou com uma ligação durante a madrugada, quatro anos depois. Seu melhor amigo, seu irmão, havia cometido suicídio.

O choque que Jeup recebeu com aquela notícia foi tão grande, que mal sabia explicar como havia chegado ao hospital inteiro, pela forma como dirigiu. Sentado no chão daquele local que agora ganhava mais um motivo para odiar, relembrou de todos os momentos ao lado daquele cara que foi sua família por onze anos e de todos os momentos que havia perdido, quando estava ocupado demais. Não se lembrava ao certo como tinha sido o enterro, apenas lembrava de olhar para a mãe de seu amigo, tão desconsolada por ter perdido o filho, enquanto segurava firme a mão de sua pequena.

Nos anos seguintes, o atleta enfrentou periodicamente o que chamam de "slump": uma queda no desempenho esportivo. Ainda que seus trinta anos pudessem ser um fator para tal, o que causou essa quebra de ritmo em seus tempos cronometrados não tinha nada a ver com sua idade avançada e, sim, com após um acompanhamento psicológico, ser diagnosticado com depressão.

Já não bastasse isso, um ano depois, aos trinta e três, sofreu uma distensão muscular grave no ombro esquerdo, ocorrendo uma ruptura dos tecidos musculares, durante um treinamento para um torneio mundial, rumo às Olimpíadas novamente.

Dessa vez o mundo de Jeup girou de um modo errado, infeliz. Parecia que o homem havia voltado a ser aquela criança fraca, quieta, desanimada, de décadas atrás.

A única pessoa que conseguia lhe arrancar algum sorriso era sua filha ㅡ então uma pré-adolescente de treze anos ㅡ, e foi graças à ela, à presença dela, que conseguiu seguir em frente com as sessões de fisioterapia, mesmo sabendo que sua carreira como atleta nacional havia chego ao fim.

Foi difícil se reerguer do fundo do poço onde se sentia estar estagnado, mas aos poucos reaveu sua vida, retornando para a equipe nacional de natação mas, dessa vez, como treinador. E era engraçado como só então se deu conta de sua fama, de quantas pessoas torciam por ele e seguiam acompanhando seu trabalho no ramo esportivo. Inclusive, nos anos em que trabalhou como treinador, foram os em que mais aceitou as ofertas para ensaios de fotos, ficando ainda mais conhecido entre os atletas de derivados esportes e seus fãs, tomando cuidado em dobro para que seus romances casuais não fossem parar em alguma manchete escandalosa.

Assim se passaram doze anos e tudo que Jeup queria agora, era um pouco de sossego longe dos holofotes do ramo esportivo. E ele veio por meio de seu antigo instrutor de natação da universidade, o qual mantinha contato frequente durante o tempo e que, nessa ocasião, lhe contou sobre a sua aposentadoria e retorno à sua cidade natal. Entre uma conversa e outra, com um novo incentivo e ajuda de seu velho amigo, Jeup se perguntou qual seria a possibilidade de poder exercer um novo cargo em outra profissão, já que se aposentar estava fora de cogitação ㅡ o homem ainda era muito ativo e tinha uma disposição de ferro. Não demorou muito para que entrasse em contato diretamente com a gerência da renomada academia STAY FIT ㅡ confiante com sua influência e currículo ㅡ, assegurando seu cargo no novo emprego como fisioterapeuta, após ter anunciado publicamente seu afastamento do posto como técnico da seleção nacional. E, já que queria coisas diferentes para essa nova fase de sua vida, planejou também sua mudança no início do ano de 2023.

O fato de agora morar em um condomínio significava não possuir mais uma piscina própria como em sua casa, porém a banheira de sua suíte compensaria o último fato.

[sunsetandthemoon]

“I’m still a little scared of the ocean. Why? When I was in elementary school, I was a boy scout. But one day, Joon Pyo forced me to join the Sea Cadets. But the kids from other schools hazed me in the ocean. With you was my first time back to the ocean after that. Boy Scout, Girl Scout, youth association, and Sea Cadet. Everyone has trauma from those places.”

THE EIGHTH SENSE (2023)

[25shadesoffebruary]

The Eighth Sense | Ep 6

[bisexualnamjoonie]

“if you take two steps away from me, i’ll take three steps towards you. if you take one step, two steps forward, i will be here waiting.” — kim jihyun, the eight sense

[itagakimizuki]

— Should I skip class and go out on a date? THE EIGHTH SENSE (2023)

[sollucets]

THE EIGHTH SENSE | EPISODE TWO

[piganatur]

Lim Jisub's mannerism and body language as Seo Jaewon is so intricate and fascinating (sorry for the crappy screencaps I can’t gif to save my life OTL) When Yoonwon tells Bitna about the club rule that underclassmen should refer to upperclassmen by the title sunbae (❌ no oppa and the likes) for a few seconds, Jaewon pulls out of the conversation (even Jihyun is more present, smiling a little at the side) looks at Jihyun from the corner of his eye then down at the table. It’s like he either logs off because the freshmen girls’ cutesy act let’s just say... isn’t his cup of tea OR (and my bet is this) he’s already mourning the loss of his chance to hear Jihuyn call him hyung. That tiny detail explains why he reacts so strongly when Jihyun finally calls him hyung on the beach and I’m in awe bc once again, Lim Jisub is an actor who acts... the TALENT

[hoppipolla]

Alcohol and characterisation in The Eighth Sense

Alcohol is a recurring theme in The Eighth Sense.

In everyone’s imagery, alcohol is an inherent part of the college experience due to alcohol often acting as a social lubricant.

If alcohol is usually seen as the embodiment of excess, irresponsibility and carelessness, it isn’t always the case. In literature and cinema, alcohol is also used to shed a light on the complexity of the human condition.

Alcohol can either help the characters release their inhibitions and allow them to be vulnerable, or it can destroy emotional bonds and relationships because the characters’ loss of control under the influence of alcohol makes them say or do things they can’t take back or undo.

What I love about The Eighth Sense is how nuanced and accurate they are in showing how life is. Whether it be the way they portray friendships, seemingly mundane conversations etc., everything feels authentic because it is never two-dimensional. The same goes with alcohol. T8S subtlety highlights how alcohol is a force that can either be destructive or positive depending on the person we’re talking about.

Not only is T8S detailed in their representations, but it also brilliantly uses alcohol as a means of characterisation in the sense that whenever drinks are shared, poured etc., a lot is said about the characters.

Episode 1

Not only did the opening scene amazingly foreshadow what is going to happen next in the most beautiful yet confusing way (for now), the following scenes efficiently set the tone of the series.

One of the first scenes of episode 1 takes place in the pork’s place Ji Hyun works in. At every table, drinks are poured and shared since we’re in a university bar/restaurant after all. The camera lingers at every table and the discussions we overhear contribute at drawing a nuanced portrait of how alcohol is used to either cope with a situation or allow more personal conversations to take place.

A girl who’s been recently dumped is seen in a drunk state and her friend’s comment informs us that her drinking habits might have been the reason she got dumped in the first place. Alcohol is introduced as a paradoxical form of escapism: it numbs your pain only to bring you back to a harsher reality.

At another table, a guy who’s failed his interview complains about it to his friend who clumsily tries to show his support. Alcohol functions here in a positive capacity for it allows this one guy to vent his feelings and release tension. His friend can easily empathise with him because he has experienced the same kind of failures – alcohol thus helps people emotionally connect with one another.  

Before talking about Jae Won’s table, let’s talk about Ji Hyun for a bit.

Ji Hyun is a newcomer in every sense of the word. The starting point of his adult life was reached when he decided to leave his hometown to go to college in Seoul. Everything feels new to him – both the newly-acquired freedom he now has as a young adult but also the code of the city. He has a lot to take in but he’s doing a great job.

It makes sense that, in this scene, Ji Hyun is seen struggling to keep up with the restaurant’s effervescence – his boss tells him which tables to serve next and asks him to hurry a bit. He still needs some guidance. However, his unfamiliarity is reinforced by the “mistake” he makes when bringing another bottle of soju to the table with the three girls. It might look like a mistake of little consequence – and it is in a way – but it immediately singles Ji Hyun out and places him as an outsider, as someone who is still learning to navigate his way through the city.

Interestingly enough, Jae Won is also placed as an outsider because of his return from the military. Although Ji Hyun’s and Jae Won’s situations are completely different, they are both adjusting to an unfamiliar environment.

Now on to Jae Won’s table. To Jae Won and his so-called friends, alcohol menaces their identity or the image they’ve built for themselves. In episode 4, we learn that Tae Hyung is the teacher’s assistant meaning he must be someone the teachers trust. I’m assuming he must be a diligent student although his behaviour, so far, has been saying otherwise. I’m saying all this because although he is a good student (let’s assume he is although it’s quite hard to believe given what we’ve seen of him), he has a real inferiority complex. He feels deeply threatened by Jae Won because of his self-discipline and his family situation. His inferiority complex is only ever visible when he is in a drunken state. (I’ll talk about it a bit more later on in this analysis.)

If alcohol clearly is a destructive force when it comes to Tae Hyung, it isn’t the same for Jae Won. He drinks alcohol because that’s what college students do. He drinks because his friends drink. He drinks because that’s what socially acceptable for someone his age. Jae Won’s attitude towards alcohol highlights how much alcohol has become an almost necessary means to socialise in our society. In most cases, telling people that you don’t drink alcohol automatically makes them think that you’re either not trying hard enough to fit in or that you’re just not fun. But these are social constructs – you can have a fun college experience without drinking alcohol for instance – and Yoon Won perfectly emphasises that fact when she tells Tae Hyung to keep the “shitty tradition” to himself in episode 3(cf. the campfire scene when Tae Hyung is preparing the penalty drink.). Drinking alcohol in college has become a tradition and traditions are socially constructed and established.

Although Jae Won has come to develop a drinking habit, I don’t think he’s ever lost complete control of himself when drinking. Throughout episode 1, he repeatedly tells Tae Hyung to drink less and even tells Ji Hyun to “not drink too much” with his boss. Just like he is very attentive to the image he conveys to others and to the impressions he gives off, he wants to keep things under control. People expect him to be the “worry-free” cool guy and such a person shouldn’t be seen overwhelmed with deep emotions, both released and muddled by alcohol.

The restaurant scene gives us an overview of how alcohol influences people’s behaviours and it does so by providing us a rather polarised overview. Alcohol either makes you lose control of yourself (Tae Hyung pushing Jae Won to the ground for instance) or it can help create/develop emotional connections (the two guys talking about their failed interviews).

The rest of episode 1 then qualifies this statement with the character of Ji Hyun’s boss with whom drinking is not about being destructive or positive but about quality time.

It’s sweet how Jae Won directly acknowledges the fact that Ji Hyun does have friends once Ji Hyun tells him that he is planning to drink with his boss (see end of episode 1). By doing so, Jae Won confirms the idea mentioned previously saying that alcohol creates emotional bonds and that sharing drinks can be interpreted as quality time.   

Ji Hyun’s boss is a kind of parental figure to Ji Hyun: not exactly like a mother because she acts friendlier but her experience and the pieces of advice she gives him make him value her opinion. She’s a sort of lighthouse to him. He comes to see her on his day off because he doesn’t want to be alone in his room. She gives him a sense of home and safety which he hasn’t been able to find ever since he left the countryside he grew up in. 

Drinking with her is easy and it feels comfortable. It allows them to talk about their experience and share a bit of themselves.

Episode 2

The Free Bird lil’ trip to the beach is a means to get everyone to know each other and to introduce surfing to the freshmen. Usually, whenever you’re new to a club or when you’ve just entered college, you have to go through a fresher initiation and, more often than not, this initiation rite includes alcohol.

Jae Won warns Ji Hyun that he’ll most likely have to drink a lot since he’s a freshman and suggests that he should get some sleep while he still can – he also gives him a hungover drink after their surfing session. (“Everyone is going to make the freshmen super drunk.”) Ji Hyun had a feeling this would happen and I love how firm he was with his answer: “I can decide not to drink.”

As seen in episode 1, Ji Hyun doesn’t hate drinking but when he drinks, it’s because he wants to. He doesn’t want to give in to peer pressure nor does he seek to amaze everyone by getting drunk. Drinking implies quality time to Ji Hyun, hence the scene where we see him alone on the beach at night, listening to music, with a can of beer next to him. He is alone with his thoughts and alcohol feels like a nice companion to have in such times.   

As I’ve said before, Jae Won likes being in control and it shows in the way he behaves and the way he drinks. In episode 1, he begs his friends to drink moderately. Not alcohol-related but in episode 2, he tells everyone to be careful when going surfing (“Safety comes first.”). Jae Won always strives to make things go smoothly. This is in keeping with his habit of masking: he doesn’t want to upset anyone so he indulges them and by doing so, he is not able to show his authentic self.  

If drinking is seen as a social lubricant thus enabling someone to fit in, the way you drink is also important. In episode 1, Tae Hyung mocks Jae Won for not drinking whatever he was drinking down in one. This suggests that even your drinking style is scrutinised by others which means people can and often do assume things about you just by looking at the way you drink. However, Jae Won ignores his comment and if you pay attention, you can see that Jae Won seldom drinks beer/soju/[insert name of whatever drink is poured] down in one. It’s silly but it makes me happy that Jae Won still allows himself to drink the way he wants to.

It's also worth noting how Ae Ri is socially aware of what it means to drink when in college. She knows what is expected of her and the way she skilfully opens the soju bottle reinforces this idea. Everyone is impressed by her skills, even Ji Hyun who is clearly uncomfortable sitting in that bench with everyone but still accepts the drink he was poured.  

Then comes the campfire scene and the drinking game because drinking games are, then again, a must-have when you’re around a campfire, aren’t they? Personally, I hate drinking games because they’re awfully pressuring. They make me tense and I worry about what might happen. If the “Like You” game is thankfully rather “fun” and not that pressuring, Ae Ri and Bit Na start to worry once Tae Hyung is preparing the penalty drink (episode 3). I’ll talk about it in the Episode 3 part.

Yoon Won is aware of how alcohol can make things escalate quickly and that’s why she tells Jae Won, during the barbecue, that they should protect the freshmen if things start getting out of hand. Although alcohol is not inherently something bad, it demands restraint and that’s something many people lack hence why the presence of alcohol might make some people tense and worried.    

Episode 3

I’ll talk about Jae Won and Ji Hyun’s first kiss along with their almost kiss in episode 4.

I said that I would mention Tae Hyung’s inferiority complex again and so here I am. His complex shows when he accuses Yoon Won of looking down on him when she tells him how forcing the freshmen to drink the penalty drink is “outdated”. He says so while being drunk. Tae Hyung is such a confusing character tbh. His friendship with Jae Won is even more so.

I feel like Tae Hyung embodies everything Jae Won hates the most and yet they’ve been “friends” since freshman year. Tae Hyung never minces his words and he is even more direct and harsh towards Jae Won when he is drunk. However, they always end up hugging each other, kissing each other on the cheeks, and saying things like “You know I love you?” or “We’re bound together forever, okay?”. The thing is, despite Tae Hyung being jealous and envious of Jae Won, he somehow values his friendship with him. The fact that he doesn’t want to lose Jae Won is paradoxical because he does enjoy seeing Jae Won’s mask crack, hence him inviting Eun Ji over in episode 1 and pairing Jae Won with her in episode 4. However, the way he reacts – see the toilet scene in episode 4 – to Jae Won’s controlled anger and annoyance implies how he hadn’t foreseen Jae Won’s reaction. He is quite taken aback and it feels as though he has finally realised that the Jae Won he knows might not be the real Jae Won.

Okay, we’re back to the campfire scene now. Notice how we didn’t see Jae Won getting drunk. Most of his drinking happened off-screen and I think this is such a brilliant way to highlight the fact that most things about Jae Won go unnoticed.

Now, once again, alcohol is presented as a means to fit in or to look “cool”. When Ji Hyun drinks the penalty drink, everyone is shouting and getting overly excited when they realise that the “quiet kid” has a high alcohol tolerance, as if having a high tolerance gave you some kind of prestige.

In the same vein, alcohol seems to stretch the limits of what’s possible or reasonable. Alcohol comes often hand in hand with a sense of euphoria hence the fact that there’s always someone who wants to go for another round. Alcohol makes you feel relaxed and confident and these feelings don’t last long given the anxiety-inducing society we live in. Hence the fact that the members of the surfing club – as soon as they got back from their trip – all wanted to go for another drink. Everyone had a bad hangover but still they all went for another round (because that’s what college students should do?? See Yoon Won’s words addressed to Ae Ri “When we were freshmen, we drank until morning”.). Everyone knows how badly they’re going to regret it next morning but they’re so caught up in the moment that they don’t think about what tomorrow might bring. And so everyone just keeps on drinking. Even Jae Won asking Yoon Won “Should we get another drink?” made me smile because Yoon Won was obviously not in a state to go for another drink but Jae Won still asked. It’s no wonder alcohol is associated with excess and irresponsibility: once you start drinking, it seems as if no matter the number of drinks you have, it’s never enough. There’s always room for one more.

Although episode 3 kind of conveyed a pretty common alcohol imagery, it still manages to highlight how alcohol can also help release someone’s fears and doubts and allows for deep conversations – especially on the mysteries of the human experience – to take place.

When Jae Won and Yoon Won have a drink together, it has nothing to do with the drinking that happened around the campfire. Jae Won and Yoon Won have nothing to prove to each other. Drinking together, just the two of them, is them spending quality time with each other. Something that seems to not have happened since a long time.

It’s the first time we see Jae Won relaxing – besides when he is with Ji Hyun – and it’s so beautiful to see him being a bit giddy and genuine. He is feeling overwhelmed but he still allows himself to let go of his mask and talk a bit about how he feels. One of my favourite scenes is when he told Yoon Won that he was a bit nervous talking in English to the barista. I adore that scene!! Jae Won never voices out his worries and him telling how nervous he felt so simply was heart-warming.  

Listening to Jae Won talk about his first impression of Yoon Won and how he didn’t like her at first because she was everything he couldn’t be says a lot about his character. Yoon Won is strong-willed and speaks her mind whereas Jae Won is constantly masking and he feels like he cannot be himself around others. But the fact that these two have stuck together despite their differences makes their friendship even more precious.

Another thing I absolutely love about that scene is this dialogue:

JW: “By the way Yoon Won. It felt good to surf after all this time.” (The translation felt a bit off in this part so I changed it. It might not be 100% accurate.)

YW: “Of course it feels good.”

When you know that Jae Won initially came back to the surfing club so that Eun Ji doesn’t get blamed (for what exactly? This has yet to be determined.), this sentence is even more touching. Because Jae Won seldom does things for himself. The moment he went surfing alone gave him the space he needed to finally listen to his emotions. Perhaps he is only ever himself when he is lost at sea, surrounded by nothing but the deep water. When he is surfing, nothing matters except the next wave and what Jae Won needs is for the next wave to wash over his overwhelming feelings. The sea feels liberating to him and gives him a sense of freedom.

Episode 4

Jae Won suppresses his feelings whenever he is with other people. Back in episode 2, Jae Won tells Eun Ji that he is keeping his basic courtesy for her and so the least she could do is to have some consideration for him. Jae Won could have snapped at any time and blamed it on the alcohol but he minded his words and controlled his tone. It’s only when he notices Ji Hyun that he freezes and suddenly feels too tired to keep on talking to Eun Ji. From the moment he sat next to Ji Hyun, his mask was long gone. He looks weary and the truth escapes his lips.

I wouldn’t say that alcohol made Jae Won bold enough to kiss Ji Hyun. It might have helped but I believe that Jae Won was just overwhelmed by Ji Hyun’s presence. Ji Hyun’s directness and genuineness aren’t things Jae Won is used to. Ji Hyun cares enough to ask him if he is okay. Ji Hyun trusts him enough to tell him about his fears. Ji Hyun is everything Jae Won lost. He is everything he couldn’t be.  

Their first kiss felt incredibly intimate. Jae Won poured his heart out in the gentlest way. Ji Hyun’s confusion after their kiss is both due to the kiss itself but also because of what was silently said during the kiss. The way Jae Won looks at him afterwards… He is also taken aback by the intensity of his own feelings.   

Jae Won’s grace resides in the fact that his vulnerability is something he willingly gives to Ji Hyun. Alcohol is often said to help people lose their inhibitions and loosen their tongue but Jae Won stays in control no matter how much alcohol he drinks. Sure, he’ll start doing silly things with Tae Hyung but he’ll never drink to the extent of forgetting what happened the next day. What I want to say is that Jae Won doesn’t need alcohol to be vulnerable and the scene with Ji Hyun at the Han River Park proves my point.

Jae Won is on his way back from his therapy session. Ji Hyun is on his way to meet Ae Ri. Jae Won is not okay and Ji Hyun sees that as soon as their eyes meet. The moment Ji Hyun smiled back at Jae Won, his apprehension to meet Ae Ri disappeared and nothing else mattered except for the fact that Jae Won was standing right in front of him with no one around.

Many things happened during the Han River scene and I can’t talk about all of them in this post so let me just focus on the fact that Jae Won asked Ji Hyun to buy coffee and not beers. I might be overanalysing things but I found this to be highly relevant. Jae Won is already in a vulnerable state and he doesn’t want alcohol to muddle his thoughts. Jae Won is teaching him something new and it’s making him think that maybe, just maybe, his therapist was right. Maybe it’s not too late for him to chase after his dream. But he only allows himself to think that for a brief moment because as he was about to tell Ji Hyun his dream, he suddenly brushes it off as if it wasn’t worth mentioning. Ji Hyun is sad to see him become withdrawn but he knows he can’t force him to tell him anything. This scene echoes that one scene in episode 1 when Jae Won mentioned his brother and then let his voice trails off. Every time Jae Won is about to talk about himself, he cuts himself off as if his own feelings don’t matter. It’s so painful to see him like that.

I’m fast-forwarding a bit here to the moment Eun Ji leaves the restaurant after having relentlessly humiliated Ji Hyun at work and being disrespectful to the restaurant’s owner. Ji Hyun’s boss asks him if Ji Hyun wants to have a drink with her but he declines. His refusal to drink at that moment is in keeping with the fact that Ji Hyun associates alcohol with quality time. However, after what Eun Ji put him through, he isn’t exactly in the mood to talk and when you drink with someone, you rarely remain silent.

I know what you’re going to say. Ji Hyun then offers Jae Won to stay a bit to drink some beers on the rooftop. But Ji Hyun is not in the same mood now that he was when he left the restaurant he works in. He doesn’t want Jae Won to go just yet and so he needs an excuse to make him stay. By offering to drink some beers with him, Ji Hyun is in fact telling him that he wants to spend more time with him. He is telling him that he wants to talk to him a lot more, that he has things to ask him, and that he has things he wishes to know about him. But he can’t quite tell him all these things directly. He needs a little push and alcohol is said to make people a little braver.  

Ji Hyun needed courage to tell Jae Won about the Namsan tower. It felt a bit random for Ji Hyun to tell him that at that moment which makes me think that he had thought about telling him before. In life, everything is about timing and sometimes you want to tell something to someone but it’s never the right time. If, for some reason, the right time never comes, you have to be brave enough to say the things you wanted to say even when you’re aware that no external forces are there to make things easier. Ji Hyun couldn’t find the right moment to tell Jae Won about his wish to go to the Namsan tower with his special person and so he had to make do with the timing he was given. When Jae Won says “I wonder when you can go there.”, Ji Hyun’s eyes answer him. His answer is so loud and I found it beautiful that Jae Won leans in for a kiss at that moment because he knows what Ji Hyun is telling him.   

The mood of this scene is different from that of the Han River scene, hence the presence of alcohol. Instead of being vulnerable, I’d say they’re being honest with their feelings and it shows in their gazes. Ji Hyun feels a sense of yearning arise in his heart as he looks at Jae Won and so does Jae Won who watches him with a searching gaze.

Part 2

[hommeunculus]

SO JI SUB [ 소지섭 ]  •  Singles Magazine Korea, November 2022 photographed by Kim Sun Hye

⸻  credit: chutzpah agency

[colvmbvs]

Be with You ‘지금 만나러 갑니다’ (2018) dir. Lee Jang-hoon

[pickletrip]

The Eighth Sense

Episode 10: We have to give it a try

Title card credit @blmpff

[iliketodecompose]

kiki's pedantic gripe w t8s english subs

to preface: i don't mean this in bad faith at all. it is not not my intention to insult anyone who worked on subtitles for t8s, as it's very hard, often thankless work and i think the fact subtitles exist at all is brilliant. it makes the show a hell of a lot more accessible, even if they have their inaccuracies. if anything, i made this post more so as a vehicle to explain korean. everything else just stems from my love for this language, and my criticisms are secondary to that for me... so i hope at least this is slightly informative !!

the pattern i have noticed is the subs will.. mostly communicate the same sentiment? but not just. translate what's being said.??? ..

FOR EXAMPLE

jaewon asks if he can get a cigarette off of jihyun and jihyun replies (i believe, it's a little hard to make out) "저 연 언피워요" = "I don't smoke tobacco."

the '연' here i believe is short for '연초' which is a word for 'tobacco' and as the person in this thread explains (the person who asked the initial question was actually querying the line jihyun says that i am currently talking abt lmfao) people who don't smoke at all say, for example "담배를 안 피워요" = "i don't smoke cigarettes" (including e-cigarettes/vapes), the key word here being '담배' which means 'cigarette'. as the same person goes on to explain, people who vape would tend to specify that they don't smoke tobacco, as they do smoke cigarettes, just not tobacco ones. this would lead us to imply that jihyun vapes, even when translated into english as "I don't smoke tobacco" right?

the way the viki team chose to subtitle this is "I only vape". which i feel illustrates my point quite well. the point is gotten across!! yay!! but it's not what.. he says... like .. in terms of the vocabulary... and to me this choice, as representative of many like it, does a bit of a disservice to korean as a language and to the people that aren't familiar with it. conveying the same sentiment, in my opinion, is not the same as an honest translation, and it frustrates me a little that these subtitles are many peoples' only access to the show.

pls let me know if u have some knowledge I don't or if im incorrect in any capacity!!!!!!

@fierrochase-falafel u might find this interesting :-3

[mare-sanguis]

Topics discussed in The Eighth Sense

The obvious most omnipresent throughout the drama, the ones which dont need any explanation, first:

Depression

Anxiety

Trauma

Bullying/Harassment by Seniors

Alcoholism

Apathy

Now onto the ones which can easily be looked over:

Feeling like an outcast/trying to fit it:

Jihyun trying to act as if he knows what he's doing throughout a lot of scenes in the drama. For example when he orders the shots or goes to the han river far away from his dorm

Violent outbursts

When Jaewon beats up Taehyung after he mentions how Jihyun "died". A pretty common thing in people with bottled up emotions and a long list of mental health disorders, especially for people with depression or anxiety disorders

Suicidal thoughts > Mood change after listening to music 

The scene of Jaewon sitting at the Han river was a clear indication of suicidal thoughts, but then followed up by a beautifully put sequence of him getting up, waiting to try again after listening to music. It's done amazingly because music can heal and help channeling emotions. The scene gets dismissed and laughed about way too much by people who have watched T8S when its so important

Sexual harassment/Assault 

Every single thing Eunji did to Jaewon when they got "back together" - from her kissing him even if he didn't want to/gave consent, to her making sexual innuendos ("let's sleep at a hotel"). All this while he was clearly uncomfortable and not himself

Near death experience/Personality change

When Jihyun drowned, he had a near death experience. Then, after he woke up from it, his personality changed. Its a pretty common things as well for those who also experienced near death. Peoples persistence of attitude can change. And T8S portayed it pretty well

Anger/Resentment

Taehyung joking about Jihyuns death. How he was mad at Jaewon the whole time, ignored his calls/texts and when they sat together at the comitee he was still acting all resentful. We can all think what we want about him, but he wasn't just an asshole in the sense of just being an asshole to make the story more challenging he portrayed another parts of humanity

Abuse by parent 

When Jaewons dad was yelling at him where he was the whole night, if he way drinking until late. How he was blaming him and telling him he should get a grip on himself 

Toxic therapists 

I don't know if it was Inus and Werners intention but they gave us a very well done toxic therapist. She's that type mentally unstable people would be afraid to encounter or to leave in case they would judge them. She's that type those people wouldn't leave because they think they're lost without them.