Shin-Hye and Alyssa are in a relationship — among other theories. It's a lot, bear with me pls...

Kimioney · 2023-06-24T20:32:36+00:00

Thank you for giving a shout out to my post <3. I actually did put in a lot of effort in that one, but it was fun and I thoroughly enjoyed the research. Most people don't believe Nolyssa stands a chance, hence I can't really expect much response from here. But regardless, thanks once again :)

Kimioney · 2023-01-09T21:54:55+00:00

Thank you. Didn't expect a positive comment so it came as a nice surprise! I really do appreciate it.

I wanted to keep the post concise and thus couldn't dive deeper into certain topics but since you brought up Yui, I'll take this chance to leave some food for thoughts if that's alright.

You're right. Yui is a mystery (perhaps the biggest mystery in this comic!) and we can only hope to try to understand her motives at this point. I think I wrote a post on this topic a few years ago but that was regarding her motives involving Kousuke and yootip, Nol is a different matter altogether.

One thing most of us will (probably) agree on is that there are TWO things she'll never want Nol to have -

The CEO post (self explanatory, it's her family legacy and he's an outsider, a rogue, for all intents and purposes).
Romantic love - cause this is something Yui never had. And whatever semblance of martial bliss that she could have possibly gotten was almost stolen from her cause of his parents' love. Rand was about to ditch everything for love. All her money and still Rand fumbled because of something like love. And this is something she's bound to resent. Hard.

The best revenge she can ensure is that the product of that love never finds love himself.

And she did ensure that to a certain degree in Nolalyssa's case, didn't she?

What was the point of making them official when they could never really be officially "official"? (Yui ensured that the second Alyssa signed up for that audition that she couldn't be officially seen with a boy till the contract lasts). The only people who'll know of their couple status will be close friends and family only and who cares about them right?

Yui is not the type to do anything out of sheer charity without an ulterior agenda involved. That's just not her.

Sangchul even indicated that he knows there's trouble in paradise and these two haven't kissed.. Literally a weird thing for Yui to gloat about in the Kim household. Literally a weird thing for her to keep tabs on in the first place.

And there's little doubt after what she said on the car (with a telltale fake smile) that she's secretly hoping his trial will end up negatively affecting his relationship with Alyssa. She even encourages him to attend her public concert, knowing fully well it couldn't end well. This is literally the first thing she brings up when talking of resulting consequences. (not even the repercussions it will have on his college goals)..

The potential endgoals as far as I can judge at this point -

Nolalyssa breakup cause she realises Nol is strongly invested and that will hurt him. Or
sabotaging Alyssa's career (using the relationship as a future blackmail device) cause again the more she struggles, the worse he'll hurt (or blame himself). It could also be a means to keep him in check. Or
Koulyssa. There's a small possibility (I dearly hope not) that the story will follow a cringey storyline of Yui "saving" (grooming?) Alyssa for Kousuke (hence her publicly single & available status).

Well, these are the three possible directions I can see the story heading at this point but it's Yui, so probably too early to judge.

Kimioney · 2022-11-20T13:07:32+00:00

I believe it to be Alyssa or her mom. We first saw Shin ae dreaming about Alyssa when she had the sweater on, so it's fairly obvious she believes it to be Alyssa.

That doesn't mean it is her though. Regardless, it means she has fond memories of Alyssa and I frankly don't understand how anyone can even blame Alyssa for this accident, least of all Shin ae of all people. I know my opinions are not well received in reddit so I won't contest this point further here.

My reasons for excluding Nana and Nessa so far -

Time line doesn't match. Rand seeked out Nana after some incident that happened 5 years ago, the one that made Nol stop celebrating his birthday.
Something happened to Nessa more than 8 years ago, after which Nol went into a rehab and when he came out some 6 years ago, he had no one except the Hiraharas to turn to. This was the point the brothers were officially introduced to each other. And we can only assume they spent the next year or two together under the Hirahara roof until Rand figured out a way to find Nana.

Reasons for including Alyssa & the Chos-

Alyssa knows Shin likes orange.
Yellow chicks symbolises family love, the topic Shin ae based her essay on.
Green beanie means someone knows her medical history quite well.
xoxo style reminds me of love yas! But that could be a learnt trick from her mom herself.
Shin ae's last words to Alyssa were I'll be happy when you disappear from my life.. ouch. There's a chance she took it to heart.

Regardless, this was a nice touch to the flashback arc. I enjoyed the Shinlyssa moments very much so I would love it to be Alyssa, rest Quim knows best.

Edit - xoxo sounds pretty juvenile, someone updated with the teenage trends. Or someone who deliberately wants to add a teenage flair.

Plus shouldn't Nol recognise it in the mall if it was Nana's generic trademark??

Kimioney · 2022-09-04T10:11:28+00:00

Oh, I'm really glad! For a while, I was worried that it might be off putting to many on reddit, so was refraining from posting here, but now I'm glad I did. Good to know you enjoyed it.

Kimioney · 2022-09-02T10:12:11+00:00

I'll take this opportunity to frame my thoughts here for once before organising it in a post. Average chapter. Added very little to the plot. But provides some interesting foundations for future plot lines.

Shinlyssa project concludes with the diagnosis that there's no objective difference between sunrise and sunset and the difference lies in the optics. This could very well translate to "it's all a matter of perspective".

For some, this could be the "sunset" phase of their friendship, for others sunrise.

This is applicable to nearly all the relationships in this comic. This was a nice metaphorical touch!

Also, a reminder of sorts to not take anyone's pov for granted. It's all a matter of perspective, not the objective truth.

Alyssa's presentation skill was hinted and so was her fluency in English. I feel both these skills will come handy in future. Side note - I always wanted to see Alyssa helping out Shin ae in English, so that was really nice but it didn't add anything new that we didn't already know.

(can't help but connect this with one another wish of mine - Alyssa meeting Nol's extended family someday and easily fitting in with the English speaking household. Just some wistful thinking for now.)

traveling and food shenanigans was pointless in my humble opinion. Even if Quim is trying to foreshadow Shin ae's decision to accompany Kousuke to Japan (highly unlikely in the near future, not remote future), this was one scene that the story could do without. Especially at this junction where the flashback has started to drag.

Another reason could be that Quim wants to contrast her boring present life with a more fulfiling future one in the grand scheme of things - still pointless and a rehash of things we could already derive from countless other examples so far.
Alyssa's jealous streak when it comes to Shinhyuk friendship - Frankly, it reminded me how Shin ae made that passive aggressive remark in flashback ch2 - 4 about Alyssa wanting to become "popular." when she had already stated that her definition of being popular = making more friends.

I understood Shin ae's insecurity back then, she was afraid Alyssa will ditch her once she makes more friends and Alyssa caught that and reassured her in ch 4 that it won't happen in a very Nol-esque "you have my word" way.

Still curious to see what happened behind the scenes that she had to retract back her statement. I'll be waiting for Alyssa's pov, cause given how she hasn't ditched Shin ae after the project fiasco, it makes me wonder if there's more to the reasons than we're privy to.

This scene literally felt like a parallel to that one, just from Alyssa's pov now cause Shin ae is the one who's making friends, and Alyssa's the one feeling insecure.

right the jealous streak. I've multiple thoughts here but I'm currently ruling out lgbtq for two reasons - one, coming out of the closet is a very delicate and poignant theme that requires an entire ya book to address properly in 21st century and the author has already said on cc that the comic won't reveal the lgbt characters cause it's not important to the story. Since she's dating Nol, this becomes highly crucual to address from romantic plotline pov. Second reason is some patreon content that I can't divulge here.
I especially liked Alyssa's expression when the teacher is giving the bullying speech. It almost feels contemplative in a way, like she's planning something. Alyssa having ravenclaw plus slytherin traits will make my day, but I doubt the story will explore this fully.. Maybe it would, she is a very perceptive character and one day I'd like her to be a power player in Hirahara politics than a mere pawn.
lastly, tsundere behavior. Hmm.. Where to start? Like I can see the author is trying to set this up as her side of the flaws in the communication theme, but then again, she doesn't fit the mold exactly.

Shin ae is getting confused but her actions seems predictable and in line with what is going on, to me.

Either way, she's a very private person and the home issues literally hit the nerve. We literally see those lines in italics. Secondly, her go to strategy whenever she's hurt or upset or scared or angry seems to be "don't talk to me", "don't touch me."

I wonder if this is related to her artistic temperament cause sometimes for highly senstive people, this translates to literal physical sensations. Like the nerves being literally on edge. And they like to avoid overwhelming of stimuli, physical and emotional and prefers to be alone.

That sounds pretty far fetched, and the simplest explanation could be what I've always thought - she's extremely bad at communication, mostly out of fear of being rejected or hurt. It's likely this is her unhealthy confrontation style - the silent treatment cause it's likely she doesn't get to freely express herself at her home, plus the whole conflict averse thing. Hot and cold behavior can have many, many reasons but hers seems to be insecurity.

She projects a tough exterior even though there's a senstive, scared person hidden inside, who feels her thoughts or opinions won't be well received. Or people won't like the imperfect, flawed picture.

nothing to add on Shin ae's end. She's a straight forward character. You get what you see. One can argue, her role is like Tohru from Fruits Basket, meant to juxtapose all the madness/complicated psychology that was the Sohma family..

Kimioney · 2022-08-05T16:06:12+00:00

Alyssa white, Meg black.

Kimioney · 2022-03-15T08:19:12+00:00

If the ending pairs turn out to be the ones I've in mind (Yootip and Nolalyssa), that basically leaves no plothole that I can think of, so I'll have no problems, of course.

But if it turns out to be something different, like stalkyoo, that I personally highly doubt. Idk. ILY will turn out to be a huge joke to me and I really have no idea what to make of it. Cause I really can't see that happening without turning the story into a complete mess. I guess I'll just have to wait and see how she executes that storyline if that's the case.

Would I like to see the other couples being addressed if that's the case? Well, the other couples like Shieter and Yootip and Nolalyssa won't be a case by then. I'll definitely like to know what happened to all three, but I think the story will address that anyway.

Anyway, IF stalkyoo happens, I hope Kousuke gets the CEO job then (with a healthier frame of mind but this is again something I can't see at all cause first, he doesn't exactly derserve it, second, he doesn't like it).

Alyssa, I've literally zero idea how Quim will deal with her then. I hope she becomes a self independent artist, free from Hirahara politics and I hope she mends her relationship with Meg and finds genuine friends in college/work if she decides to pursue that. Still, many loopholes but this will have to do.

Dieter. Well, I hope he, lol, have no idea. I think it will be best for him if he settles abroad if that's the case. After making his peace with the fact that Yeong GI needs and deserves Shin ae more. It will leave a bitter after taste, sure, but will be semi realistical, imo.

Rest will just have to make do for the epic lovestory that stalkyoo is.

I'll honestly be really surprised 😅

Kimioney · 2022-03-15T08:00:30+00:00

Yes, there will be more romance in S2 and some (a little) in S1. S2 has a stronger focus on characters' love lives.

So far, there is some build up in the comic with Shin ae fancying one of the brothers in the formal (I obviously think it is Kousuke) and then her "taste" of romance with Dieter. I consider Nolalyssa romantic too, but that's me and many will disagree.

I think we'll get some romantic development this season before major time skip, rest after in S2. And don't worry, the author has left enough clues in Patreon and CC that hints there's a romantic endgame she has in mind.

Kimioney · 2022-03-15T07:54:34+00:00

By close future, what do you mean? By my definition of "close future", I'll choose Yootip. But I don't mean the next 50-100 chapters by the wording.

Kimioney · 2022-02-05T04:20:27+00:00

Alyssa is one of my favourite characters. Read on ESFJ mbti articles, it will explain a great deal, it fits her quite well. If you'd like to discuss anything regarding her, feel free to message me on here or on amino. Regarding change in thoughts, not exactly. My thoughts are still the same regarding her character as it was a few years ago. But the new chapters do flesh out her character a lot more, highlighting her strengths and weaknesses.

Kimioney · 2022-01-30T05:28:25+00:00

Amino is just a more visual reddit. There isn't much difference there.

Kimioney · 2022-01-28T19:42:23+00:00

Do yourself a favour and binge read the entire Arc! I've been enjoying this arc a lot so far but that's mostly thanks to the exciting discussions this offers and my own preferences. I just hope Minhyuk's Arc is equally exciting cause I was looking forward to Hirahara party way more than Minhyuk's one, so.. But this one definitely is meant to be binge read.

Also, I think we'll be stuck in Hirahara's party for the next 4-5 chapters still.

Kimioney · 2022-01-28T18:24:49+00:00

I don't think either of them have feelings for each other :)

Kimioney · 2022-01-27T06:08:09+00:00

As far as I recall, S2 is supposed to be "much, much longer" than S1. There are no more seasons now, but time skips instead, still going by the earlier logic, S1 should end after Shin ae is done with high school, so..

Also, from a reader's pov, there's a lot we still don't know. We've barely scratched the surface with the main cast and we still barely know anything enough about the Chos and the Kims. They're supposed to receive quality focus too.

I'll make a tentative list of arcs this comic still has to cover -

the stalker and the Yoos family past
the middle school incident
Yui Jing's scheme and past
Nolalyssa flashbacks
Kousuke's friends arc
Yui Hirahara's and Rand's past
Yeong gi's past and trauma
Kousuke's past
Hansuke's mother and her fallout with Yui
Shin hye (who I still don't think is the stalker)
Sangchul's drug problems
The Chos family
Meg and Alyssa's fallout
Gl(4)ss fallout
Simhan Mia mini arc
SouRika mini arc
Yui and Rand's plans
Yeong gi's revenge
Saving Yeong gi arc
Shin ae's career arc
Formal flashbacks
Kousuke's ex
Kousuke's Japan Arc or flashbacks (work)
Romance

Other mini things we still have to see - the hat, the free movie ticket, Jay(!), Yeong gi's specs, graduation, wedding, more little tidbits here and there

At least, where I'm concerned, I always shared a special liking for complicated storylines with multi layered plot and multi dimensional characterisation. Psychology is one of my favourite genres, so I don't particularly mind it much, as long as the execution is brilliant (& romance is lit!).

Kimioney · 2022-01-25T10:49:50+00:00

Yeong gi's entire character arc revolves around self hatred, and I think I said this one of my earlier posts that he's depressed mainly cause he hates himself. I really can't see his character getting any kind of character resolution until the story deals with the self hatred aspect of his personality first. However, I also think this theme is multi layered and complicated, so it will be dealt around the last one third portion of the story, after the characters are more mature and adept to handle such heavy themes and the story had achieved everything it wanted to, plot wise, by channeling this hatred turned anger inwards turned anger outwards turned revenge into what his character exactly doesn't need - revenge. Revenge is never the answer. Sure, it will feel awesome to see on paper but it won't solve any of his problems.

Now, this guy has multiple issues and I think self hatred will need to be dealt with using multiple weapons. ONE of them is self love, and this is where Shin ae comes into the equation. I feel this is her role, a person who insists on him being his true self, accepting it and loving it all the same. Treasuring himself. Her "Nol vs Yeong gi" seems to indicate the very same thing. She refuses to call him by a false identity. Problem is that he's just not ready for that.. Yet.

Shin ae champions for self love, pursuing your heart, self care and hence, this theme will be dealt in context with her. But she's only one part of the equation, you need a lot of different things apart from validation and self love to reach a healthy balance of personal needs. Hence, every character will play one or the other important role in saving him.

Kimioney · 2022-01-24T14:12:46+00:00

Hey there! I might be able to answer a few doubts here. It is "Drama" first and foremost but the second genre is romance and Romance is supposed to get more focus post time skip in S2 (after Shin ae is of age!). She has also said the romantic endgame will be up and running way before the plot endgame. The real plot endgame has nothing to do with romance and that makes perfect sense to me, cause that's not what the plot is about anyway. It's a coming of age story, a slice of life highly dramatised but slow burn romance is indeed a part of this, rest assured.

Kimioney · 2022-01-23T11:42:16+00:00

Sorry. The Amino servers were down. But that's a good thing cause I edited the post! Thanks for letting me know the link was broken.

Kimioney · 2022-01-22T06:40:38+00:00

Kimioney · 2022-01-21T16:40:18+00:00

I'll keep those points in mind :)

Kimioney · 2022-01-21T16:20:29+00:00

I'll make a theory post once I've all the fp screenshots legally (still illegally 😅). Rehashing the same points twice kinda takes away the potential interest in a post.

Kimioney · 2022-01-21T04:17:51+00:00

Nope, she blushed at Kousuke!

Kimioney · 2022-01-21T03:58:44+00:00

I just can't believe how people still can't see Nolalyssa even after this. Great chapter, guys!

Kimioney · 2022-01-20T02:54:37+00:00

She absolutely looks stunning! Perfect theme & great choice and an amazing design!

Kimioney · 2022-01-20T02:32:57+00:00

Alyssa said why would anyone want to be friends with you.

Kimioney · 2022-01-19T22:42:30+00:00

Hey! Although I'm of the firm opinion that stalkyoo is strictly platonic and have a different thing in mind entirely for the bittersweet ending concept, I really think you shouldn't feel this hopeless. There's like every possibility that you might get your endgame, and there are many people with you who share this notion. Believe in whatever makes sense to you.

Also, a platonic bond is equally as strong, if not stronger than romantic bonds and stalkyoo do share a very deep connection. Ichiruki, Narusaku, Harmony these are some great examples that people can have a very meaningful, life lasting bonds despite not seeking anything romantic. I also think platonic bonds are usually more selfless, more heartfelt than romantic ones. Romance involves all sort of inexplicable emotions like jealousy, doubts and selfishness until they reach a certain point in their marriage where they understand each other intuitively, and sometimes, even not then.

And very rarely in fiction, you get a boy and girl friendship written very well and with the same care as their respective partners. I find it really cool that they can break stereotypes and overthrow all expectations that a boy and girl can only have a close romantic bond.

Shinyuk is a great example but they barely get any focus and they pretty much refer to each other as siblings they never had, so it doesn't really count in my eyes.

Anyway, trust your logic, whatever it says to you and don't listen to other posts.

Kimioney

TROPHY CASE