Totally Captivated, indeed
Wow, I'm on a roll these days.
Sooo, I've just finished reading the eighth chapter of Totally Captivated volume 6 and am now in a profound state of anguish.
I have been putting off reading this chapter (as opposed to the way I generally pounce on every new chapter the moment they're up for grabs) because, honestly, Mookyul's will-he-won't-he-renounce-the-creepy-chairman palaber was starting to weigh on me.
But this chapter just restored the TC universe to its rightful position/default setting (read: angst).
I can't say I didn't like the way Yoo Hajin handled the Moo Kyul/Ewon reconciliation in prior chapters (though I wish Ewon could have stayed single a little bit longer. I had also hoped he wouldn't hurt his poor long-suffering friend quite that much in the process of angsting his ass off [literally]). The storyline took such a turn that, in retrospect, I don't think it could have played out any other way (though I do reiterate that I wish Ewon could have taken some time to sort his issues out and to regain some much needed emotional balance).
I'd say I miss serious, driven Ewon (because, let's face it, it feels like he is getting more and more consumed by
Moo Kyul), but I can see now that the author is actually going somewhere with all this. We have been told repeatedly that Moo Kyul has had to make some very difficult decisions in order to survive (in style) and that his way to success (if one can call it that) has not been strewn with roses, candy and rentboys. Plus, Moo Kyul Eun is a pretty broody character who likes to wax rhapsodic about his sufferings and moral dilemmas. However, I've always suspected Ewon's background is much more angst-worthy. We actually know next to nothing about Ewon's past, except that he met (and accidentally groped) Moo Kyul briefly in elementary school.
We do know present Ewon who appears to be a fairly balanced individual (or at least, he was before he got all wrapped up in Moo Kyul and his shady dealings): he is intelligent, self-reliant, pragmatic up to a point, and rather sociable. That's the image he projects and, up until now, I was willing to take it at face value. But the new chapter makes it clear that Ewon has some dark things lurking in his past. The guy told everyone his parents were dead and now, out of the blue, the chairman springs the intelligence that Ewon's folks are actually living in Anyang. Then Sangchul proceeds to make a mess of it by telling Ewon the "good news", which is the start of a somewhat dramatic chain reaction.
What could possibly be reason enough for Ewon to run away from a man who has become the object of his obsession unhealthy attachment. I wouldn't have put it past the Ewon of yore who was always on the verge of bolting. Not that he is not afraid or skittish anymore: it's just that he now has different cause for fear. Where past Ewon was dead scared to depend on anyone or to get hurt, he is now afraid for Moo Kyul.
It's interesting to note that Ewon used to be extremely wary of Moo Kyul because of the grief he knew the mafia boss would unavoidable cause him; now, however, he'd go to any lengths to protect the cause of said grief. You say neediness, I say masochism.
As easy as it would be to blame Moo Kyul for this not entirely welcome change, it would be somewhat unfair. From the very beginning, Yoo Hajin has been dropping hints that there might be something more to Ewon, but this very subtle foreshadowing got eclipsed by Moo Kyul Eun's larger than life personality. What with him threatening, swanning all over the place in natty outfits, ordering people around and resorting to violence more often than not, it's very easy to miss Ewon's haunted expression. It's such a shame too because this character is a creature of contrasts and paradoxes: he is friendly to the extreme, yet he manages to keep people at arms' length; he craves affection but is completely closed off (to the point that he has to be bullied into a relationship); he is a caretaker, but probably the most self-destructive character in the manhwa (which is no mean feat); he is wise beyond his years, but can also be terribly misguided; and the list goes on...
Seriously, Ewon is scary. And the most interesting thing is that he knows something not quite right is festering behind the personable boy façade and tries to spare others the shock of finding that out. He smiles, he studies, he cleans up after mafia slobs and generally keeps to himself....
Coincidentally, here's the first image we see of Ewon:
Talk about misleading.
... Until Mookyul pushes him into a corner.
That's when Ewon's emotionally messy nature really comes through. There's something downright poignant in the fact that that was he had been trying to avoid all along: by not getting too serious with Jiho --even though he maybe wanted to--, by remaining flippant when it came to sentimental entanglement, even by trying to dismiss Moo Kyul's advances. That puts me in mind of this scene :
Way to freak the boy out.
Chalking all this to childhood traumas seems like dumping a bucketful of kdrama tropes on those characters' heads, but it seems to be the path the story is headed and I don't really object. Totally Captivated taught me early on to embrace the drama-like antics :). Therefore, I now place my bets: Ewon has been subjected to some really rough treatments at the hands of his parents/mother, which is why he balked and is now running away from Moo Kyul. I look in my crystal ball and see PTSD in the near future. Also, Moo Kyul not being particularly helpful.
Heh. From the very beginning, I've been chanting "Don't hurt Ewon" like a litany (in vain, as it turned out), but it now comes to me that Yoo Hajin has avoided a sad case of Break The Cutie by having Ewon be preemptively damaged, probably even more so than Mookyul.
I've never been one for pointless angst and I should be irate that my favourite character in this manhwa is having a tough go of it, but this is actually pretty sweet. Um, those latent sadistic inclinations of mine probably complement Ewon's masochistic streak...
...Okay, now I'm off the curse those damn cliffhangery chapter endings.
Sooo, I've just finished reading the eighth chapter of Totally Captivated volume 6 and am now in a profound state of anguish.
I have been putting off reading this chapter (as opposed to the way I generally pounce on every new chapter the moment they're up for grabs) because, honestly, Mookyul's will-he-won't-he-renounce-the-creepy-chairman palaber was starting to weigh on me.
But this chapter just restored the TC universe to its rightful position/default setting (read: angst).
I can't say I didn't like the way Yoo Hajin handled the Moo Kyul/Ewon reconciliation in prior chapters (though I wish Ewon could have stayed single a little bit longer. I had also hoped he wouldn't hurt his poor long-suffering friend quite that much in the process of angsting his ass off [literally]). The storyline took such a turn that, in retrospect, I don't think it could have played out any other way (though I do reiterate that I wish Ewon could have taken some time to sort his issues out and to regain some much needed emotional balance).
I'd say I miss serious, driven Ewon (because, let's face it, it feels like he is getting more and more consumed by
Moo Kyul), but I can see now that the author is actually going somewhere with all this. We have been told repeatedly that Moo Kyul has had to make some very difficult decisions in order to survive (in style) and that his way to success (if one can call it that) has not been strewn with roses, candy and rentboys. Plus, Moo Kyul Eun is a pretty broody character who likes to wax rhapsodic about his sufferings and moral dilemmas. However, I've always suspected Ewon's background is much more angst-worthy. We actually know next to nothing about Ewon's past, except that he met (and accidentally groped) Moo Kyul briefly in elementary school.
We do know present Ewon who appears to be a fairly balanced individual (or at least, he was before he got all wrapped up in Moo Kyul and his shady dealings): he is intelligent, self-reliant, pragmatic up to a point, and rather sociable. That's the image he projects and, up until now, I was willing to take it at face value. But the new chapter makes it clear that Ewon has some dark things lurking in his past. The guy told everyone his parents were dead and now, out of the blue, the chairman springs the intelligence that Ewon's folks are actually living in Anyang. Then Sangchul proceeds to make a mess of it by telling Ewon the "good news", which is the start of a somewhat dramatic chain reaction.
What could possibly be reason enough for Ewon to run away from a man who has become the object of his obsession unhealthy attachment. I wouldn't have put it past the Ewon of yore who was always on the verge of bolting. Not that he is not afraid or skittish anymore: it's just that he now has different cause for fear. Where past Ewon was dead scared to depend on anyone or to get hurt, he is now afraid for Moo Kyul.
It's interesting to note that Ewon used to be extremely wary of Moo Kyul because of the grief he knew the mafia boss would unavoidable cause him; now, however, he'd go to any lengths to protect the cause of said grief. You say neediness, I say masochism.
As easy as it would be to blame Moo Kyul for this not entirely welcome change, it would be somewhat unfair. From the very beginning, Yoo Hajin has been dropping hints that there might be something more to Ewon, but this very subtle foreshadowing got eclipsed by Moo Kyul Eun's larger than life personality. What with him threatening, swanning all over the place in natty outfits, ordering people around and resorting to violence more often than not, it's very easy to miss Ewon's haunted expression. It's such a shame too because this character is a creature of contrasts and paradoxes: he is friendly to the extreme, yet he manages to keep people at arms' length; he craves affection but is completely closed off (to the point that he has to be bullied into a relationship); he is a caretaker, but probably the most self-destructive character in the manhwa (which is no mean feat); he is wise beyond his years, but can also be terribly misguided; and the list goes on...
Seriously, Ewon is scary. And the most interesting thing is that he knows something not quite right is festering behind the personable boy façade and tries to spare others the shock of finding that out. He smiles, he studies, he cleans up after mafia slobs and generally keeps to himself....
Coincidentally, here's the first image we see of Ewon:
Talk about misleading.
... Until Mookyul pushes him into a corner.
That's when Ewon's emotionally messy nature really comes through. There's something downright poignant in the fact that that was he had been trying to avoid all along: by not getting too serious with Jiho --even though he maybe wanted to--, by remaining flippant when it came to sentimental entanglement, even by trying to dismiss Moo Kyul's advances. That puts me in mind of this scene :
Way to freak the boy out.
Chalking all this to childhood traumas seems like dumping a bucketful of kdrama tropes on those characters' heads, but it seems to be the path the story is headed and I don't really object. Totally Captivated taught me early on to embrace the drama-like antics :). Therefore, I now place my bets: Ewon has been subjected to some really rough treatments at the hands of his parents/mother, which is why he balked and is now running away from Moo Kyul. I look in my crystal ball and see PTSD in the near future. Also, Moo Kyul not being particularly helpful.
Heh. From the very beginning, I've been chanting "Don't hurt Ewon" like a litany (in vain, as it turned out), but it now comes to me that Yoo Hajin has avoided a sad case of Break The Cutie by having Ewon be preemptively damaged, probably even more so than Mookyul.
I've never been one for pointless angst and I should be irate that my favourite character in this manhwa is having a tough go of it, but this is actually pretty sweet. Um, those latent sadistic inclinations of mine probably complement Ewon's masochistic streak...
...Okay, now I'm off the curse those damn cliffhangery chapter endings.