#......... Moonjo would be so proud

[braceletofteeth]

let’s say vegas and moonjo are acquaintances in someway.

maybe vegas studied in korea for a while and noticed some people in his uni going missing, maybe moonjo was involved with the korean mafia and vegas had to secure a partnership, maybe moonjo and jongwoo relocated to thailand to start a new life.

either way, they meet, they hit off, they exchange dental torture tips. vegas looks at moonjo being an absolute simp for jongwoo and thinks ‘rip to him but i’m different.’

then pete happens.

I go a little insane every time I think about what you sent here, honestly. It opens room to so many questions... Where, when and how Vegas and Moonjo could have met; their impressions of each other and the influence their partners have over them; Pete and Jongwoo’s own impressions of Vegas’s and Moonjo’s relationship… I mean, can you imagine the four of them in the same room, having a friendly chat? It has the potential to be really entertaining, and also to go so, so wrong.

But let’s stay focused (I'm trying! I'm really trying!).

First of all, I think the idea of Vegas getting exposed to the Very Normal Relationship™ of Moonjo and Jongwoo and his inner response to it being “that could never be me” is SO funny. Especially if it's not because they're weird, but because they're cringe. Count me in on the maiming and the torture, the manipulation and the emotional instability, but finding religion in a lover? Yikes. That’s the real crazy.

Bonus points in that scenario if Vegas and Moonjo were acquaintances before Moonjo found Jongwoo. It would totally go against Vegas’s expectations. Which is to say, no fucking expectations, have you met that guy? Moonjo cares about no one. At least Vegas has Macau, and his father (that doesn’t care about him in return, but one day he will, of course). Moonjo is completely alone. By choice. He can’t stand anyone. Not even the woman who raised him. Even the people he entertains himself playing mind games with, are eventually disposed of and forgotten. Vegas might find himself in a position where the two of them are able to (almost) see eye to eye, and socialize, but he would know better than to let his guard down around him. That’s not a man you can trust your life with. Or your head. Definitely not your head.

Which probably makes Vegas wonder, as of meeting Jongwoo, just who would be stupid enough to trust their heart with him?

And here comes the shocker, for Vegas, and maybe for everyone who has ever crossed paths with those two: that’s not what happened. Jongwoo isn’t some naive darling that fell madly in love with Moonjo without knowing what he was in for; he’s not a pet Moonjo is keeping around until he finds a more amusing one (that would be Kihyuk). Jongwoo actually did something extraordinary, when he didn’t even have the intention to: he made Moonjo vulnerable. He’s the one that got Moonjo’s heart in his hands. And for Vegas, who met Moonjo pre-Jongwoo, that is… bizarre. Surreal. Unbelievable. It makes no sense, because Moonjo is supposed to be like Vegas, and people like them never show weakness in front of anyone, because they know, they learned, that when you do that, you get hurt. You lose. You die.

But Jongwoo changed something in him. Moonjo could die by his hands, and he’d still feel like he won. There’s no bad nor wrong between them, therefore, he’d take anything Jongwoo gave him. There is no one else besides him, and no one after. Jongwoo changed him.

And yet, he didn’t change. For the rest of the world, Moonjo is still the same. He still lies, he still kills, and he still regards everyone with the same indifference he always did—only he has Jongwoo by his side now, and to him it makes all the difference.

Vegas wouldn’t know what that feels like. He doesn’t even want to. Rip to Moonjo, but he’s different. He’d never let someone have so much power over him. Maybe Moonjo can afford that, because, after all, he has nothing but himself and his art, but Vegas is a businessman, who has a legacy to carry on. One day, he’s going to rule an empire, and it’s going to be all his. He doesn’t need, doesn’t want to be helped or understood by anybody that’s not family. He’s different from Moonjo, and he’s different from Kinn. They are fools. They’re going to be betrayed, or killed, or left. They are going to suffer, they are going to lose, and it’s going to be their own fault. Vegas is better than that. He does the betrayal, the killing, and the leaving, before it’s done to him.

And for some time, that's all he believes in.

… Then Pete happens. Vegas happens to Pete, Pete happens to Vegas, and Vegas finally gets it.

When he loses, but Pete stays by his side, that makes all the difference.

[grave-the-demon]

its actually so over for me

ive never been very good at remembering to brush my teeth and ill go days without doing so

but now im regularly brushing them because.... because everytime i brush my teeth i think "moonjo would be proud of me!"

GIRL JUST CAUSE HES A DENTIST-- HE'S ALSO A SERIAL KILLER CANNIBAL LIKe

I BOOKED A FUCKING DENTIST APPOINTMENT!!!!!

[sofarraway]

If live-action!Jaeho met webtoon!Jongwoo, he wouldn't even live long enough for Moonjo to kill him. I mean we're talking about a guy who got fired for beating the shit out if his ex-boss, and casually talked about it with his friends like it's nothing later on. A guy who punched a stranger's face in public place full of witnesses just because the stranger was being annoying at the wrong time. A guy who willingly and cold-bloodedly hunted down everyone in his apartment, and butchered them one by one. A guy who even in his hallucinated state--though broken--was still fierce and invincible as fuck.

[somebodycallixii]

just saw this quote and.......... hm. really makes you think!!!!!!!

Thoughts about Strangers from hell have been swimming in my head all day and i cant stop thinking about the similarities to NBC's Hannibal and Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl, so i starting looking up quotes from both of them and theres just so many that fit with Strangers From Hell?? these are the ones i liked the most so far.

(I wanted to make one of those compliation quote posts but I didnt wanna steal gifs or anything. So if someone wants to use these for something please feel free!!! im just obsessed with all of this!!!)

gone girl:

“I was told love should be unconditional. That's the rule, everyone says so. But if love has no boundaries, no limits, no conditions, why should anyone try to do the right thing ever?"

“Love makes you want to be a better man—right, right. But maybe love, real love, also gives you permission to just be the man you are.”

“Because isn’t that the point of every relationship: to be known by someone else, to be understood? He gets me. She gets me. Isn’t that the simple magic phrase?”

“Bang bang bang. I understand now why so many horror movies use that device-the mysterious knock on the door-because it has the weight of a nightmare. You don't know what's out there, yet you know you'll open it. You'll think what I think: No one bad ever knocks.”

"The only time you liked yourself was when you were trying to be someone this cunt might like. I'm not a quitter, I'm that cunt. I killed for you; who else can say that?"

hanibal:

"With all my knowledge and intuition I could never entirely predict you. I can feed the caterpillar, I can whisper through the chrysalis, but what hatches follows its own nature and is beyond me."

"Did you believe you could change me the way I've changed you?" "I already did."

“Where does the difference between the past and the future come from?” “Mine? Before you, and after you."

"killing must feel good to God too, he does it all the time-- and are we not created in his image?"

"You fantasize about how you would kill me. Tell me, how would you do it?" "With my bare hands."

I had a hard time finding quotes from SFH without me basically re-watching everything, so if you have any that come to mind please add on to the list!

[toxicsweetness]

Maybe a little something for an AU where Moonjo had taken Seokyoon under his wing instead of torturing him? And like.. what Moonjo thinks about it or him or something? (Ngl, after the meat scene I sort of thought this was where that was going lol)

Short and sweet from Moonjo's POV, I hope this is satisfactory anon🖤 It's always been so heartbreaking to me to think about how Seokyoon's entire history is filled with people leaving him (voluntarily + death) and then his doom is spelled out when the one person he'd bonded with and trusted abandoned him. :( I've never written Moonjo before and I sort of want to throw myself out a window, it's bound to be terrible

Trigger warnings: Death, blood

It's easy. He is so eager to please, so much like the one who came before. The unfortunate mistake. (He doesn't put a name to the face in his memories, doesn't linger on why he doesn't.) Yes, Seokyoon is eager, but not as willing.

He is scared more often than not, wearing the emotion plainly on his face, flinching whenever someone draws too close. His eyes stray and scan for exits, escapes, potential sources of help. He doesn't act on them and Moonjo isn't particularly worried about that changing.

But still, Moonjo watches. He knows his gaze is a heavy force felt by the other, whether he actually sees the owner of it or not, the weight enough to keep him from doing anything unexpected. It's so easy with Seokyoon, gentle nudges and simple reminders working almost astonishingly well.

It's suspicious. There is a meekness to the young man that Moonjo doesn't totally trust (there's always something, always, even in the face of perfection there must be something wrong, something dangerous, something to keep him on guard). Seokyoon's escape attempts and meaningless little rebellions ended quickly after being given an ultimatum, and Moonjo finds that in itself dangerous (can find danger anywhere). For the time being, however, he's deemed the other to be harmless.

"Good." His voice cuts through the silence, smooth but still startling - Seokyoon flinches badly and drops the blade. Moonjo watches it fall, the sound of it hitting the floor echoing around the small room much louder than his voice had been. Red is streaked across one of Seokyoon's forearms, spots his jawline, and the light from outside the window reflects across the liquid as he trembles.

But he's also looking directly at him. Moonjo can see from his body language alone that the other is trying to decide if he believes him, to believe that he did well in the face of his fear and growing self-hatred. That he'd made someone proud - or at the very least, satisfied, not at risk of running off and leaving him again like everyone else had.

Moonjo tilts his head and waits, arms crossed, the smell of iron thick in the room. It takes a half second longer than he would have guessed, but the line of the other's shoulders relaxes slightly, glances back towards the body that was currently painting his shoes crimson.

"What do I do now?"

Yes. Seokyoon was so easy.

[sofarraway]

Strangers From Hell x The Merciless

Parallel! Also I find it interesting, the contrast in dynamic between Jongwoo and Moonjo vs Hyunsoo and Jaeho. And the different kind and level of 'broken beyond repair' that Im Siwan's characters suffered in the end of the stories.

Jaeho's feeling towards Hyunsoo was almost mutual. They were what some people call by soulmate. It's almost healthy. But circumstances leaded Jaeho to do something so gravely unforgivable to his beloved. Which unavoidably ended up with both of them being irreparably damaged.

Jongwoo's feeling toward Moonjo, in my opinion, was a mix of anger and fear. While Moonjo's feeling toward Jongwoo was... I don't know... was it love? Well even if it wasn't, it would become love eventually. But Jongwoo looked at him as friend only in the beginning. They were the very definition of protagonist vs antagonist, undoubtedly. Very very unhealthy relationship. Jongwoo ended up very damaged as well, yes, but not to Moonjo. He would look at Jongwoo's end state and be so proud of him.

If you ask me which of them (Jongwoo vs Hyunsoo) was the more broken one, I won't be able to answer. But I do think Hyunsoo is the more hopeless one. He really lost every thing he had. And I think this makes me kinda understand why Moonjo spared Jieun's life. Also isn't it interesting how the seemingly healthier relationship became the more destructive one in the end?

[sofarraway]

Post-canon, do you ever think Jongwoo tries to manipulate Moonjo? (Whether to get back at him in his own way sometime, because it's their love language, or because he wants an end result from Moonjo, etc. etc.)?

And how do you think it would go, if he does (for whatever reason)?

Gosh this question makes me sHUDDER IN EXCITEMENT

Well to me the answer would be yes. I think Jongwoo has this quality inside of him that is hard to change, no matter how hard Moonjo (or anyone, or even the society) tries to manipulate. Quoting hannibal, "With all my knowledge and intrusion... I could never entirely predict you. I can feed the caterpillar and I can whisper through the chrysalis, but... what hatches, follows its own nature and is beyond me."

And that very quality is the one thing that makes him so hard to break. Not in a way that matters, at least. He'll bite back. He'll attack back. Again, and again, and again. He'll learn to mirror Moonjo. He'll learn how Moonjo plays his game. He'll learn how to beat Moonjo in his own game. In other words: yes, he'll diligently try to manipulate him.

And since that very quality--aka his nature, his quality, his core, whatever it's called--is the very quality that makes Moonjo fall for him in the first place (the kind of quality that Kihyuk lacks, unfortunately), Moonjo would welcome it open handedly. It would be a sick game of obsession between them. He'd be so damn proud, even if Jongwoo manages to destroy him, especially if Jongwoo manages to destroy him.

But whether or not Jongwoo does manage to manipulate him, is a whole another question. It wouldn't be the same kind of manipulation game that hannibal and will graham have. Moonjo is way too superior to Jongwoo in any and every aspect. That even if Jongwoo manages to win, it would because Moonjo let him win.

That's just my opinion tho! I can be wrong! Hehehe. What do you think? :D