Sunshine Aficionada

Indeed I wonder, how on earth do I transition from the most intense Super Junior drooling period to SHINee love? I am so excited for that beautiful piece of paper coming in the mail…touched by the fingertips of ten of my idols. I’m not going to get too excited yet, because I will blog about this surprise like crazy when the time comes. So this will be a short entry…or so I planned.

I’ve been resisting SHINee for many, many months. Nine, ten? At least twice as long as my Super Junior resistance. Partially it’s because sometimes kpop and entertainment companies *cough*SM*cough* grate on my nerves. Partially it’s because I’m still in that terribly biased “DBSK is unparalleled in this world” mentality. And of course, it’s partially because I didn’t like any of the most popular SHINee songs: Replay, Love Like Oxygen, and Ring Ding Dong. Not to mention I didn’t bother to research the five boys enough to know their ages. I didn’t want to gawk and squeal over them only to find out they’re all younger than me, thus making me more of a pedophile than I ever want to be. Thank heavens only the maknae, Taemin, is younger than me. Both my biases in SHINee are older than me. Yesss. I have permission to drool.

It was probably love at 20th sight with Jonghyun, and drool at 20th sight with Key. Nothing wrong with taking my time before consciously deciding to become a SHINee fan. Even though it was love at first sight with Jaejoong and Kyuhyun, it took me perhaps 50 performances to fall in love with Junsu and Yesung. And I don’t love them any less.

I wouldn’t blame the SHINee boys for this…delayed spurt of love on my part. I would place the blame on their stylists and songwriters. The true lovable characters of these boys aren’t disclosed from live performances which are SM’s pride and joy but the boys’ hard work and toil. It takes candid moments, although even these instances are recorded by a camera or observed by a watchful eye, or otherwise I wouldn’t be able to feast myself upon tidbits of their blooming lives. The radio shows and Music Bank wins are what have endeared the boys, specifically Jonghyun, to me beyond anything I have previously felt.

My first impression of Jonghyun: WOW. I was terribly prejudiced against young, newbie groups the first time I ever laid eyes on him. But honestly, I was stunned speechless by his vocals. Nothing soft or gentle or sweet or tender. It was so, so RAW. Strong, deep, powerful, unyielding, even invincible. His voice reflects his character, too. Jonghyun is the straightforward sort of guy, one who is bold enough to say what he wants and how he feels, thus giving him a ‘bad boy’ image on the surface (and in appearance…oh those striking eyes and gorgeous cheekbones). To leader Onew, Jonghyun is the kindest SHINee member, one who is “always thinking after others silently and secretly, in a way that is not done openly and takes care of the people around him in this way.” Jonghyun of course praises Onew as the most caring and considers himself the “lousiest” (least kind/thoughtful) in the group. By this I bet he’s referring to his bad boy exterior, but underneath he’s actually a big softie.

Want proof? Here it is: SHINee’s Music Bank Win for ‘Juliette’

(Oh, and here are English/Karaoke subs of a hot Ring Ding Dong performance…Jonghyun sure doesn’t need to tell me that he’s a ‘decent guy.’ )

Oh my darling Jonghyun…to see a man crying out loud, on stage, in the full view of millions…this can only show how much he’s dedicated to his music, how much effort and hard work he invested in the song he composed, which he is finally being rewarded for. My heart was pounding, my hands were trembling, my eyes were watering at that moment…to see generous and caring Yesung hug and protect Jonghyun again and again, and similarly Siwon holding Onew…it was that moment when I went from just a fan to a devoted admirer and supporter of SHINee. The boys have a long and challenging road ahead of them, and I want to see them grow, learn, succeed, and make mistakes every step of the way. Although Jonghyun is my oppa, I sometimes feel like a protective noona or something. Whatever, regardless, I’m taking him home with me. xD

I am sure that in love, too, he isn’t two-faced and doesn’t play games or sulk in petty jealousies. His ideal kiss (excuse me while I faint) is so simple compared to the other boys’, yet I find myself yearning for it the most. He’s a realistic sort of romantic who wants to kiss under the streetlights by the girl’s home before he leaves after sending her home. *dies*

Now, as for Key…what can I say, he’s the triple threat! Vocalist, rapper, dancer, not to mention a gifted varsity water-skier. He looks super hot in his slick hairstyle, even when his hair is dyed that beautiful dark rainbow of reds, purples, and greens. I wonder how his partially shaved hairstyle in Lucifer will fare. Unfortunately I do nothing but drool over Key, as some elements of his personality, and his description of the ideal woman, do not appeal to me. Physical attraction to him only. As for leader Onew, physically he is not my type, but I LOVE his personality. Meanwhile, I love practically everything about Jonghyun, thus establishing him as my bias.

If anyone has read up to this point…wow, thank you for bearing with me. But I must emphasize that although I tend to drool a lot, even in my dreams, I do this only in my spare time or when completing mundane chores or exercising. I mean, when my heart is already beating so powerfully and I’m bored out of my mind yet physically engaged, why not? Although I DO have an unchangeable habit of gluing myself to the screen whenever my boys are featured, I can’t be obsessed with them 24/7. So I guess what I’m trying to say is that I may be excessively devoted, but not yet truly insane. My idols are my stress-relievers, my haven especially whenever I get sick from listening to the repetitive screeching of my crude and hypocritical parents.

So this is why I’m so thankful, so blessed, to be able to enjoy the music and dance of boys who have each sacrificed so much in their lives, not to selfishly gain fame and fortune, but to pursue their dreams and share their talents with people like me who are as far from the spotlight as can be. I feel like I have known these idols my whole life, but I am nothing more than a complete stranger to them. Indeed I can do so little to support them. I can’t cheer on for them from the audience when they perform on stage, I can’t help with their song recording, dance choreography, or promotions, I can’t award them the honors they deserve, I can’t hold them when they cry. We are geographically, linguistically, and occupationally so far, yet I foolishly hope to be close to them in spirit for the celebration of humankind’s greatest pleasures: song and dance.

With that said, I eagerly await the release of SHINee’s second studio album, Lucifer, which will come out today in Korea. For the first time I am on time for a new album release! I am super excited to see the boys evolve from cute to hot to finally sexy. Mmmmm.

Edit: WOW. Every song on Lucifer is…*dies* Quasimodo is my favorite, even though I don’t understand any of the lyrics.

Taemin Minho Jonghyun Key Onew

Keep SHINing, my boys. ♥

FOUR DAYS OF INCESSANT DROOL. If lightning struck me right now I would still retain the dumbstruck expression that’s been on my face for several days. I have always been a music aficionada, but I never thought I would one day become so intensely captivated by DANCE that I actually forget about anything else going on in my life! After all, dancing is on my list of ultimate fail activities (along with swimming and drawing), none of which I can attempt satisfactorily even to save my life. Okay, well maybe I can swim a bit to save my life, but the others are true fail.

So, this Monday a light bulb lit up in my drool-occupied mind. I remember being totally engrossed in some Mirotic cover dances a few months back. 5-man performances in Korea and Thailand, and even one in a Massachusetts college by female students! Audiences cheered them on like they were the real thing. I was so impressed with the accuracy of their dance moves compared to the original DBSK dance. Well, a few days into July, I was about to be knocked off my socks by a single dancer. Not that I’m wearing any socks in this ridiculous heat anyway.

You ready? Say yes. Okay then, here’s his YouTube channel: DarrenTP

If you have any interest in any popular music at all, SUBSCRIBE. NOW.

I will refrain from the first comment that I’m itching to bellow out to whoever prowls my blog. (That blunt but honest comment is, “AIN’T HE GORGEOUS?!”) I didn’t just say that. Let’s focus on his dancing. He’s completely self-taught and has only started dancing frequently for about a year. It takes him anywhere from just half an hour to two hours to get down all the moves to any dance song. Maybe a little more to perfect the dance. That alone is a pretty impressive feat.

But the actual dancing is what should cause all of your jaws to drop to the ground. Holy moly! THAT BOY CAN MOVE!! I’m not kidding. There is a beautiful fluidity, a liquid grace, in Darren’s movements that I haven’t seen in professional performers, much less in amateurs. Throw in charisma and attractiveness, and here we have it: the first dancer to make poor little me’s knees wobble in awestruck delight.

I watch every one of his dance covers carefully so that I don’t miss the best details: his adorable smiles whenever he does a happy dance or makes a tiny mistake in adjusting his attire, pelvic thrusts, placing hands on that lovely location around the center of his belt, moonwalks, gliding, sexy shoulder rolls, body waves, beautiful footwork, spins, mouthing the lyrics, flouncing hair, popping, ripping his singlet, dancing in a blazer with no shirt underneath, exposing his chocolate abs…aaah I could go on forever but I’m already out of breath, haha.

And something else to admire is the variety of the dances he covers. There are the manly dances like Mirotic and HEY (Don’t bring me down), purely sexy dances like Love Song and I Need a Girl, suave dances like Wedding Dress, cute dances like Balloons, and even girl dances like Lupin, Oh!, Run Devil Run, and Gee. I think it’s incredible that he can dance moves clearly most suitable/appropriate for girls without any apprehension. Take that, you jealous and narrow-minded sorry bunch of YouTube critics.

So I thought even though none of the dances he does are mirrored, I could still learn a few moves and use the videos as tutorials of sorts, right? Wrong. I thought Gee would be easiest, since it’s a girl dance, but man he even does girly moves better than me. -__- Medium fail. Then I tried Purple Line. Except for the motions occurring during “Purple Line let me set up my world,” I couldn’t keep up with the rapid moves at all. Ultimate fail. Out of breath, I tried Wedding Dress. The movements that I could reasonably do in a small space with headphones on weren’t too bad. Somewhat fail. And I attempted all this using his nearly perfect, full perspective dances. Now I can fully appreciate how he got all the moves down from MVs that always jump between singing/dance/story footage and feature way too many dancers. I take my hat off to Darren.

I admit Darren’s completely got me under some sort of spell. Usually I am a total grammar nazi and can’t stand the sight of no capitalization, no apostrophes, and excessive abbreviations and chatspeak. But he’s young and busy, so I’ll overlook it. Especially when that’s all totally overshadowed by his sense of humor, decency, kindness, and superb talents (dancing, singing, guitar, and excellent drawing). Did I mention that he’s an Australian-born Chinese who admires DBSK above all other Korean groups and still likes fandoms like Gundams, Pokemon, and Dragon Ball Z? Well if you know me, that’s CHECK CHECK CHECK CHECK (on my imaginary ideal guy list) WHOPPEE!!!! After all, I lived in Australia for three years, am also Chinese, am an eternal fan and supporter of DBSK and find it fantastic that they have such an amazing male fan as well, and love Gundams and other nerdy fandoms!

Haha, but the problem is, I’m going to have to totally shatter my “can’t like younger guys” philosophy. He’s 16 and I’m nearly 18, which makes a 14-month or so age difference, even though a few months back he said he’d be fine dating in the age range 15-18. Not to mention that because of his height (185cm), the ideal girl for him would be 168-172cm, which he later changed to 165-172cm and finally changed to “anything above 155cm is fine.” LOL it stinks to be shorter than even his minimum requirement. xD And of course I can’t forget that he still lives in the land down under.

But I did manage to ask him two questions anonymously on his formspring. And since I ask the most polite and literate of the current total of 914 questions…I get the nicest and longest responses. Even though he answered my last question at 1AM Melbourne time, which was just a few hours ago. I’m going to dispel the anonymity and post my questions. It doesn’t matter since I’ve also commented abundantly on the YouTube videos and his Facebook fan page, so just exactly what I think of him is still a mystery to the public. xD

Hi Darren, do you have any siblings or pets? Also, would you be willing to do a cover for Boom Boom by Super Junior? I think your dancing is phenomenal! I will always support you. ^_^

thanks ^^ i prob wont be doing boom boom.. i got a younger sis n no pets

What’s your favorite Gundam model and series? And are you a fan of Bulma?

bulma? x) shes cuter than chichi atleast LOL ummm freedom ! i love kiras gundam

Darn, no cover of the hot Boom Boom dance. But at least we have a favorite Gundam in common, LOL. Random extra comments: I adore Australian accents. And the outfit he wore in the Wedding Dress cover.

I think I’m going to dub Darren the ‘prince of kpop dance covers.’ Because he is.

Edit: I couldn’t resist asking another question. I’m terrible.

Your dance outfits are so suave! My favorite is the attire you wore for your first Wedding Dress cover. Will you wear it for a cover in the future? I totally swooned when you wore that one. I’m introducing your channel to friends like crazy, haha.

thanks a lot XD i like to try pick clothes that suit the dance.. sometimes doesnt come out right XD

Edit 2: Another question. He’s so humble.

So how are you liking Tumblr? I prefer regular blogging but I might just get one to follow you. Ah, you shirtless at the end of the preview really surprised me…you’re making even us older girls blush happily. @_@ And you ARE as fine as Taeyang!

LOL i am no where near as fine as taeyang hmm tumblr is ok.. stupid how you cant comment or anything.. but yeh ^^

His FB fan page status: HIT 2000 SUBSCRIBERS ON YOUTUBE!! THIS IS GREAT

My comment: Yay, congrats!

Yep you reached exactly 2,000 subscribers at July 10 1:18am in your time zone because I had accidentally refreshed your YouTube page at that time while messaging my friend and then told her about it. Haha, no creepy intentions on my part.

His comment: woah o.o LOL thanks for tht LOL! i was like sleeping XD

I. am. such. a. creep.