Mushroom Staff

aeri and jihyun joining forces to humble (more like end) jaewon's "friend" the moment he went too far was too good

something something our leads almost always meeting at odd hours of the night, shared intimate gestures, from soft whispers to intertwined fingers, masked by the depths of shadow and darkness. something something a sense of breathability and freedom permeating these meetings and undoubtedly absent from those attended during the day. something something there is a safety and familiarity in darkness for those of us who are queer, as for most, and for most of our history, nightfall was, and in many ways stills remains, the sole sphere of daily life where we are able to exist freely and intimately.

THE EIGHTH SENSE EP 2

I have to start with the scenes after the intro. In the first ep Jaewon sat with his back to the fish tank

this shot feels so oppressive. First, the focus is on the fish swimming in the tank, then it shifts to the therapist lady meanwhile Jaewon remains out of focus with his back to the viewer, blocked in by both sides. The lights in this shot are insane, it’s like the different sides of a coin.

Fast forward to the second ep

Now Jaewon faces the camera but he won’t look up and he is shown through the fish tank. It’s like he’s in the deep now, up until the moment he stands and leaves, kind of scaring the fishes that scatter for a moment. Once again, note the reflection of the lights.

Episode two is just as solid as the first one. Finally a drama where the extreme close ups are incorporated into the story for a reason and not just to be aesthetic (which ofc they still are) (I’m totally not side eyeing Nevertheless,) Could the shower scene be that insane without the extreme close ups? Nope.

There’s so much to unpack here. Like Jaewon being so soft around Jihuyn. I mean it only took them one (1) bus ride to the sea to act like bffs yet the moment Jihyun wakes up Jaewon has the nerve to pretend he doesn’t know what his name is and ask him again….boy you’re such an unbothered chill sunbae *cackles* Never have I witnessed such a tragedy going down over the assignment of rooms. The sheer disappointment of not sharing a room with the freshman you’ve only just (presumably) learned the name of... Jaewon really had to pause like that before (and after) reading Jihyun’s name, huh? pls chill

Can we take a hot second to appreciate that in Free Bird’s promo shots and posters (so in the past when Eunji and Jaewon were presumably together) Eunji is always seen wearing a blue suit while Jaewon wears black. And when Jaewon takes Jihyun to the shop, he deliberately chooses two identical black suits for them so they would have that couple look match. Aaand Eunji also wears a black suit now (trying to match with Jaewon) but it’s one she chooses herself not like the one Jihyun wears that Jaewon chose for him.

I’m completely normal about the dressing scene just like I was completely normal about the phone strapping scene in The crossing. (Although I have to mention that Jaewon is still so soft around Jihyun it kinda hurts, all heart eyed and shit)

Jaewon taking care of Jihyun, telling him he must be cold so warm up like Jaewon himself wasn’t in the same sea and couldn’t possibly feel cold. At this point, he’s still taking care of Jihyun like a good sunbae but he’s doing all that multiplied by 10000. He’s running the extra mile every given time and I’m not sure he’s even aware of it. Sometimes it’s a conscious decision but other times it’s just his curiosity and attraction to Jihyun. Like when they play the ‘I like you’ drinking game, Jaewon stops clapping the second he utters Jihyun’s name. Unlike the others, he doesn’t stop because Jihyun won’t continue the line and the game stalls, he turns to Jihyun, waiting for his reaction and his system crashes. It crashes a lot around Jihyun.

Jihyun is such a complex little bean, not enough people talk about him. He says he’s afraid of a lot of things but that never stops him. When he talked with his boss about the places people coming to live in Seoul visit he said he only went to the Gangnam station area once. His boss lady asked 'Have you ever gone on subway line 2?' and Jihyun said he didn’t. They talked about the Han river parks and the next time Jihyun visited a park by taking subway line 2.

He joins the surf club even though his roommate and hometown friend can’t understand his reasons for joining (and, even though he can’t swim which made me go BOI the things you do for a hot dude) Although he acts like he wants to spend time away his roommate and messes up by visiting the Han river park an hour away from their university, he still calls his roommate, sends a text to his mum, keeping in touch with the familiar people in his life. He also does that on the beach like an anchor in times he’s in need not to feel scared and that’s so precious. He does things his own way, going through the process of trial and error, constantly trying not to be scared.

I’m still loving Yoonwon to bits. Besides Jaewon, she’s the only member of the club genuinely happy that kwiyomi has joined. She welcomes him and keeps being nice to him. Her singing at the bonfire healed my soul and I don’t even like singing in films but she’s magical.

Yo, the confrontation scene between Eunji and Jaewon? The fact that after Jaewon tells her he has zero feelings for her (neither good nor bad) a club member comes out and passes between them saying 'It’s cold, so cold'. That’s how you put down the groundwork for a scene. I think Eunji is so pissed because she knows something’s up. But then Jaewon says 'Let’s give each other that basic courtesy.' He means it both ways. He won’t tell others about why they broke up (from an outside perspective, it would be Eunji’s fault). In turn, Eunji should back off and not question the inner workings behind their breakup. But then she does, and Jaewon literally logs out of that conversation, and it is ridiculously in-your-face. He rather chooses to go to Jihyun than speak with his ex for another second. In that scene, before Eunji leaves, her looking at Jaewon looking at Jihyun is so powerful. Her eyes tell that she knows.

I’m having such a ride. Can’t wait for next week.

Hey folks, if you want to fight back against the twitterfication of tumblr USE IT LIKE IT'S TUMBLR!!!!!! REBLOG THINGS!!!!!! USE THE TAGS TO SCREAM AT YOUR FRIENDS!!!!!!!

Here’s the new environment study I was working on over the past few days!

a short comic for trans day of visibility about being isolated during the quarantine months

Baby, don't you know you read my lips? You're coming to my dreams now Night or day / mon amour by GEMINI (제미나이)

Okay I'm going mad so here's my fucking theory.

Theory: They made the biggest fucking thing out of showing us the scene at the therapist and him asking about 4 weeks meds. She gave him 3 weeks. I'm pretty sure episode 6 is pulling a top ten anime betrayals on us and man's just been overdosing on his meds, in psychosis , took himself to the beach alone. None of this happened.

Very dreamy sequences

The dialogue about giving him trauma feels unnatural compared to the rest of the show plus we don't actually see it come from their mouths it's just dubbed over the scene

Gas station man just giving out shit for free for no reason?

NC scene suddenly has a bed?

They're kissing outside in broad daylight (I mean it's possible but hmmm)

No scene before the opening

The music video that came out yesterday or whenever also was kind of trippy

Again the way all this was cut?

And he sat alone at the beach at the end, in what version of happenings would he end up sitting there alone?

I'm just spitballing but there's still full 2 episodes coming and there can't just be....the consequences for two episodes.

Please discuss.