#Weak Hero spoilers

[inconclusionchemicalsdontexplode]

They Regina Georged my man

[himichako]

that's a meow meow if i've ever seen one

[weakhero-diaries]

Weak Hero TMI /Trivia:

Chief Mourners: Why did Seokhyeon, Hakho, and Jihoon wear yellow armbands during the funeral service?

SPOILER ALERT

TW: grief, depression, death

DISCLAIMER: I'm not Korean, just learning about their culture.

The yellow armbands around Jihoon (Jimmy), Hakho (Jake) and Seokhyeon (Kingsley)'s arms were the sign that they were the chief mourners of Baekjin (Donald)'s funeral. It means that these three were the substitutes for Baekjin's family in preparing the funeral from start to finish. Theirs was the role that his absent stepfather and/or kin were supposed to carry out.

I'll try to explain to you about their responsibilities. After reading this, hopefully you'll understand why they crumbled and seemingly grew up so fast.

Seokhyeon, Hakho, and Jihoon's responsibilities as chief mourners:

NOTES:

They didn't do it simultaneously since usually there's an agreed upon division of labor among chief mourners of a funeral;

For nos. 3, 5, 6, 7 & 18, since Baekjin, Seokhyeon, Hakho and Jihoon were minors, then per Korean laws the bank accounts that they and the Union used were under their parents' names, and the legal representative was hired under their parents' names too.

Choosing and preparing Baekjin's photograph to be displayed at the funeral hall;

Sending an obituary and/or a death notification to Baekjin's school and to the Union members/related people as soon as his time of death was established;

Hiring a legal representative to be present when Baekjin's personal effects were released before his autopsy started. Since Baekjin had no immediate family and his death was from non-natural causes where autopsy is a must according to their laws.

Being on standby to receive Baekjin's personal effects from said legal representative. Note that this must've been very VERY upsetting to them since these were the things that Baekjin wore on the night of the accident. Just imagine.

Ensuring that the legal representative from no. 3 was present to receive the autopsy reports and photos on behalf of them, usually 3 days - 1 week after the autopsy was performed. The autopsy report for an accident usually look like this:

6. Calculating and paying the expenses to register for funeral, cremation and charnel house (mausoleum) services;

7. Ensuring that everything is taken care of by the funeral & cremation services from there on, including:

The issuance of Baekjin's death certificate (it usually looks like this);

The renting of mourning clothes. These clothes usually look like this (basically what we see in the funeral episodes):

The availability of a funeral hall (complete with condolence money box, incense, floral arrangements etc). The hall is usually located at the basement of the hospital where Baekjin was taken to after the accident, and arranged by the hospital's funeral services that Seokhyeon/Hakho/Jihoon hired;

The availabillity of foods and chrysanthemum flowers provided for mourners during a 3-day funeral service, because Baekjin had no female kin who oversaw this. Note that there are usually several types of foods that MUST be served in a day on tables, like this (usually the minimum is 3 menus):

The availability of a crematorium and a fixed cremation schedule;

The allotment of a charnel house (mausoleum) space for Baekjin's urn and photos, and maybe some personal belongings. Note that for Baekjin to be placed next to his mother, either Seokhyeon, Hakho or Jihoon had to notify the funeral services person(s) in charge who then notified the mausoleum in advance. Later, the persons in charge forwarded their payment of the space to the mausoleum. (EDIT: Or they registered it by themselves and paid directly to the mausoleum).

8. Spending 2 nights and 3 days in that funeral hall for a 3-day funeral service, in the same mourning clothes (if personal bellongings, these were usually later burned or shelved, never worn twice). Note that there's usually no comfortable sleeping arrangement in funeral halls, so they must've slept on the floor on hard pillows and thin blankets for 2 nights;

9. Greeting and welcoming all the mourners during the three 3-day funeral service and ensuring that they signed the guestbook. Note that mourners usually come after school/work hours from 6-11 p.m so Seokhyeon, Hakho, and Jihoon had to finish showering, eating, etc before those hours;

10. Receiving and storing the condolence money. The condolence money is usually placed in envelopes like these:

And the box where these envelopes are stored look like this:

11. Arranging with the funeral services to ensure that there was food and drink for these mourners (since Baekjin had no female immediate family);

12. Receiving any standing wreaths from organizations that are connected. Note that standing wreaths in Korean funerals usually only come from organizations and not individuals, so probably if there was one, it would only be from Yeoil High since all of Baekjin's other contacts were made in an illegal business setting. Standing wreaths usually look like this;

13. Going to the crematorium and attending the cremation process along with select mourners;

14. Receiving Baekjin's ashes in a container (usually an urn purchased through the funeral services);

15. Going to the mausoleum and attending the placement of Baekjin's urn, photos and select belongings in the mausoleum/charnel house;

16. Thanking other mourners properly on behalf of Baekjin's family.

17. Counting the condolence money and deciding what to do with it afterwards other than covering the funeral costs.

18. Paying off Baekjin's personal debts and The Union's (if there was any), and dividing the remaining money and assets (probably needing to hire a legal representative again).

Honestly learning about all of this made me sympathize with Jihoon, Seokhyeon and Hakho more. I sadly realized that in a better time and a better place these three might have been real friends to Baekjin. It's not too late for the three of them yet.

[hael987]

omg @lutawolf I just watched ep 7 and that scene where Soo-Ho finds out Shi-Eun was hurt and even hospitalised, and goes to find him and the tension in that scene at the door.

The look in his eyes. When he clocks the cast on the hand and he’s trying to keep his cool but he’s seething underneath it all.

The pain 😭 the love 😭 the care 😭 the fact the Shi-Eun probably never even had anyone in his life to ask him that before and actually mean it 😭

The subtle lip tremble and clenching at the end, tamping down on his emotions when he realises Shi-Eun is going to continue to hide it from him to try protect him. He’s trying to keep his cool. He’s so close to losing it. The sadness of knowing he’s hurt. The rage at those who did it and maybe also himself because it happened and he didn’t even know when it’s related to him. The guilt, thinking it’s his fault.

Still taking the time to care about Shi-Eun’s schooling. He knows it’s a thing Shi-Eun values in his life so even amongst all this pain and anguish he makes sure Shi-Eun can still do it because he knows it’s important. And the fact that Shi-Eun even risked it for him in the first place? Devastating. The way it also means "stop avoiding me, I don't want you to hide from me, I’m here with you".

The controlled and calculated manner in which he broke the guy's fingers afterward, the pure fury in that action. He is seething and with one action we all know why. The contrast between this Soo-Ho and the one we see when he’s with Shi-Eun. What happens when you touch his reverse scale.

@maryallenc-tries-to-write you were so right about what you said before, it’s a different flavour but it’s so great to watch Shi-Eun fight to protect him and then him lose it over Shi-Eun (and then I assume we see Shi-Eun lose it next ep but I haven't watched yet) unlike Stephen’s determined but passive forbearance of suffering to protect Gray and keep him out of the loop as he shields him from it all, scoring 100 on the test and everything else he did, and Gray not being able to do anything until after the fact (when he loses it after the loss and goes after Bryce and Oswald's gang) in the webtoon. Both equally moving, but definitely different. That feeling of mutual protection in the series is great to watch.

And the manner of Shi-Eun’s loss (for lack of a better word) of Soo-Ho is equally as devastating as Gray’s loss of Stephen. Shi-Eun still losing his light from his life despite fighting hard to protect him really got me so emotional. That promise of “see you tomorrow” that Soo-Ho’s now not going to be able to keep 😢

[i-want-all-the-cookies]

Weak Hero thoughts, rants, and spoilers for chapters 263 to current.

Sorry if this gets lengthy, but I got some feelings to express.

So, I gave myself a few days to process my thoughts and emotions on the conclusion of Weak Hero. To try and make sense of the direction the author decided to take his story on. And honestly, I'm still left feeling let down and disappointed.

In my opinion, one of the greatest slights an author can do to their fanbase and to their work, especially if it's a lengthy story, is to end the story abruptly. To me that is the equivalent to a slap in the face. A big slap to all the fans who have invested their time, energy, and possibly even money to the story the author has been creating. Years of tuning in and refreshing pages, only for the ending to feel so damn rushed.

I was really holding out for a small sliver of hope, I wanted to "trust the process." Maybe there would be an introduction to an amazing plot twist, or a great revelation to understand and explain why the storyline turned into what it did. But at this point, with only the epilogue left, none of that is gonna probably happen, and I'm left wondering why?

I've even wondered if the kdrama had any influence on how Weak Hero ended. Would it have been different if the kdrama never existed? Did Seopass just get tired of his story and the characters, maybe he wanted to move on to something else already? Cuz any which way that I try to look at it, I just can't comprehend why he chose that ending. Especially for Donald. One of the most charismatic characters in the series. The final boss, who possessed both brains and unmatched brute strength. A master strategist who managed to unite a whole district. A literal unbeatable character.... who he gets done in by a wayward truck!?! Right after the biggest fight in the series!?! Like, are you for fucking real? That's how his demise happens?!!?

I'm not even a Donald fan! He was never my fave (that honor always went to Jimmy ❤️), but even I expected more for him. Donald didn't even go down swinging, kicking, barely hanging on by the skin of his teeth. His death happening in the same way he lived his life, like some sort of poetic justice. No. We got none of that. Instead, we get a self defeated Donald, who was reaching out to the universe for someone to stop him, and who purposefully? didn't avoid the truck???

I'm sorry but no, DONALD DESERVED BETTER!!! HE, AS A CHARACTER, DESERVED BETTER!!!!

AND THEN, we get thrown some pity crumbs at the end with Stephen. Which to me was just another rushed ending. We get some half assed reunion. No backstory on what Stephen had to go through. No idea what his thoughts were while recovering from his near fatal drop. Did he ever think of Gray? Did he ever try looking for him?

Was I the only one that expected more from Stephen and Gray's reunion??? I can't be the only one completely disappointed, or am I?

I am however grateful we got to see Stephen again, I really am, and that we got a conclusion for him. Since it didn't happen with some of the other plotlines.

For instance, what happened to the Mapo guys, and Changhui saying they were going to wait for an opportunity to strike back? Am I the only one that remembers this?

And where the capital F was Wolf's backstory? He's a fan favorites and we get nothing? No idea on why he's a such a psycho or the reasoning behind his 3 second rule? Or even why he has it out for Grape so much?

And let's not forget about this guy! He never even got a name!

There's more, but I'm not gonna go into all of that right now since I don't want to just trash this series. I fell in love with it for a reason, and now I want to talk about the parts that I enjoyed, and that made me remember why I  loved this series so much in the first place.

Like...

The fact that Jimmy wanted Donald's recognition. Even after talking crap about him every chance he got~ lol. He still valued him as a capable leader and cared about how Donald perceived him.

And how Jimmy's signature wrist swish was influenced by Donald!!! I would have never in a million years thought that Donald was the reason and inspiration for it.

And I absolutely loved how Jimmy and Wolf were bickering at the end. It completely reminded me of siblings arguing with each other at any and every opportunity! I know there's gotta be some underlying respect and friendship for each other there, waaay deep inside, somewhere in a dark crevice of their little crazy hearts. 😆

And cuz I want to gloat too, I'm gonna add Jimmy whooping Gerard's butt. Take that shuttle patch!

I was also pretty surprised by how distraught Phillip became after Donald's death. Especially considering that the last time Phillip had any real interaction with him, Donald pretty much blew him off. Phillip not being important enough for even a backwards glance. For Phillip to still remember what it was like standing next to someone like Donald, and to have all those emotions come out of him just broke my heart.

And I am not about to forget my lovely Colton! Our very first villain. Pervy villain at that! And how much growth he's had, even as a secondary character. I went from feeling disgusted at him to wanting to give him all the hugs and support in the world.

I love you Colton you big doof! 🫶

And with that last thought I end this. Because as much as I hate the ending, I can go on and on about the things that I did like.

[maryallenc]

the first time i watched sieun not even punch beomseok at the last episode, i felt a little let down, if only because i was comparing it with the webtoon.

one of the main appeals of the webtoon was how fucking cathartic it is to watch sieun not only beat up, but also humiliate assholes who deserve it. sure, it was great watching him swing that dumbbell, stab with a pen, and bludgeon with the fire extinguisher (ignoring the tragedy of it all, ofc), but then he hesitates with beomseok, the one who was most directly responsible for putting sooho in a coma.

to sieun, beomseok was expressively the most unforgivable. in the webtoon, at least. there was just. so much anger towards beomseok. all for what he did to sooho.

but in the drama? sieun was also heartbroken. not only for sooho, but also for what became of their circle. he doesnt understand any less on why beomseok went this far, but throughout the drama, sieun was honest-to-god trying to understand beomseok so much.

sieun has a friendless background and obviously doesnt know what to do when beomseok started his bullshit. honestly, even i wouldnt know. but he kept checking in. he gave him the benefit of the doubt. finally, he told him to stop.

beomseok didnt stop, and we all know how the story ended.

sieun at least can figure out that it was bc beomseok was hurting. he doesnt know the details, but beomseok had given enough, had been vulnerable with them, that he can read between the lines. it was still no excuse.

but heres the thing: i, as a watcher of the show, knew the details. beomseok is a whole different character in the live action drama than the webtoon. he wasnt a mediocre wallflower. it wasnt teenage pride and an inferiority complex that pushed him to ruin soohos life. he was an abused and traumatized kid.

still not an excuse. but.

the more i think about it, i realize that no, if sieun punched beomseok in the drama, its not going to be satisfying like in the webtoon.

beomseok in the drama kept getting hit and punched and shoved by the people around him, even sooho. so for his comeuppance to be beat up by sieun? well hes already expecting that. he just wants to get it over with, like he usually does with most of his life.

so when it ended with sieun, with all the unhinged rage and heartbreak, not beating beomseok who was pretty much resigned and expecting it? it feels right somehow.

i dont know. its still not all that clear to me yet. but at the very least, i can at least say that im no longer disappointed that sieun didnt beat the shit out of beomseok like in the webtoon.

the situations too different to play that out the same way.

[azusaluvclub]

WEAK HERO 256 SPOILERS ‼️‼️

out of all my predictions for how weak hero would end, donald getting hit by a SEMITRUCK was not one of them-

its too early to say if this is the end for him but like 😭😭 what ????? and i was gonna get on here and talk about the flashback between him and myles but now i cant because im at a loss for words yallll....

seopass ur a cock

[weakherodiaries]

Weak Hero Musings (8): On Baekjin's Fate

SPOILERS ALERT

This one is super long and I'm sorry for that.

A. WHY BAEKJIN (DONALD) MUST DIE: THE SOCIAL PROTEST AND THE LAWS (for the counter-argument, please read point B).

Disclaimer: I'm not a Korean lawyer and I'm sorry for any mistakes.

The thing is, I understand that this webtoon is a social protest medium mixed with the action genre. I'd suspected that this was the case since early on, when Sieun (Gray)'s backstory was revealed. I Googled and found that there were kids whose fates mirror Suho (Stephen)'s. And there are other real cases that the webtoon included too.

These cases are probably just the tip of an iceberg. I'm sure that Seopass and Kim Jinseok know so, so much more about their social problems than I do. Through the webtoon, I can sense that they hope to make strong statements. "Our child welfare policies are bad". "The bullying problem is a national epidemic". "Our urban development plans are harmful to the society". "There's something wrong with our educational system". Etc etc.

In this lens, Baekjin (Donald) must die for the statements to be impactful. His demise as a complex character will probably matter, especially since this webtoon has quite a following and a new adaptation is coming.

Since the webtoon is serious about child welfare, I'll try to take it seriously when it comes to real juvenile criminal proceedings. I'd since learned that had his crimes been uncovered, and had Baekjin survived and made a full recovery, he would've possibly stood trial in the Criminal Court, instead of in the Family/Juvenile one. Because he was a genius head of a criminal organization, he would've been considered competent in the eyes of the law.

Baekjin's crimes are severe. Theft, breaking and entering, destruction of property, tampering with evidence, assault and battery, corruption, blackmail, extortion...you name them. Baekjin would've ended up in prison for some of his crimes, (maybe for 2-4 years or more, depending on how the prosecution and the court see his mitigating circumstances as an abused and abandoned kid) and he would've been heavily fined for the others.

Afaik there's no total expunction of criminal records in South Korea. Even though 5 years after he was released the records could be deleted from public view, law enforcement officers would've still been able to access them until his death. Undoubtedly, this would've created difficulties for Baekjin to apply to universities and to look for jobs. Barred from many opportunities, the future would've been bleak for Baekjin and he might've turned into a reoffending criminal.

Perhaps it was better for him to die.

B. WHY BAEKJIN (DONALD) SHOULDN'T HAVE DIED: THE FUNCTION OF FICTION

In spite of my understanding, to say that I was flabbergasted from Baekjin's death is an understatement. I was reeling from the shock. I know that he's a fictional character but there's even a research on how the human brain can sympathize with both fictional characters and real human beings.

So, in my brain, Baekjin is both that relentless juvenile criminal and the downtrodden kid whose life was cut short.

Baekjin deserved to live. To make amends, and build great friendships with the Eunjang and Union kids, and other people outside of those circles.

He deserved to go to karaoke and scream from the top of his lungs with those friends. To play online and arcade games. To play basketball, soccer, or baseball. To read and rant about animes, novels, mangas, and webtoons. To have his life read in Tarot. To eat at random roadside food stalls. To go to cinemas, make some noise and be shushed at. Or to use a friend's streaming account and refuse to pay the bills. To sing and dance at school festivals.

He'd probably never be able to go to a decent university if this was real life but since this is fiction, why wasn't he allowed to go to a local university and rant about his know-it-all professors? Why was he not allowed the chance to doze off in early morning classes like any other kids, being glued together by a bazillion cups of coffee (yes I still remember that cute fanart)?

Why was he not given the opportunity to present a new Math formula, and receive an echoing standing ovation afterwards? That kid had never been appreciated in his life, fgs.

Didn't he deserve to get a job and whine about it while drinking, eating out, and logging in to online spaces like the rest of us? And maybe someday he would've even dated, got married, got divorced, raised kids, or stayed single forever and traveled the world.

We'll never know.

Why, why, when life's already tough on real juvenile delinquents and criminals, must it be made tough on a fictional one? Doesn't fiction exist not only as a medium of protest but also as an entertainment and a catharsis?

[voidnoidoid]

Donald Na: Undefeatable, A Weak Hero Character Analysis

(Note, this is based off the currently released free chapters, so no fast pass spoilers here! Spoilers for those who aren't fully caught up yet.)

After reading the conclusion of the Eunjang v Union fight, I had some thoughts about who Donald is, why he became the way he is now, and more thoughts about how the fight ended and his parallels with Gray. Apologies if this becomes rambly im just writing off the top of my head. To begin with,

Who Is Donald?

From the very beginning of Weak Hero, Donald Na has been set up as the big bad, the final boss, the overarching antagonist. He is the sole mastermind behind the Union, controlling it from above in his luxurious office, only descending to force rebellion back in line much like he did with Ben and Myles. He was established as cruel, cunning, intelligent and menacing; but most important of all: untouchable.

Time and time again we see Donald's sheer strength forcing even the most powerful of fighters into submission. He's both the brains and the brawn, with incredible charisma to boot. He's the sovereign ruler of the Yeungdeungpo region. It's clear he hasn't seen a real challenge in some time. Until the final fight, us readers have never seen Donald so much as break a sweat, even in his (one sided) fight against Changhui Han.

He's got everything planned out, nothing seems to phase him and he is adaptable to any plan, seeing as he worked around all the setbacks Eunjang threw at him.

However, Donald's many layers have been peeled back, allowing us to glimpse moments of a troubled childhood that explain why Donald is the undefeatable monster he is now.

Why Is Donald?

Based on the short flashbacks of Donald's childhood, (as of right now more fleshed out episodes are being released but I haven't caught up yet) he grew up in poverty with an abusive father and sickly mother. He is seen wearing tattered clothes and was gaunt and scrawny. Another was of his getting his school reports scattered on the ground, meaning he was bullied by his peers despite being one of the top scorers in his class or the entire school. At one point he was driven to desperation and broke into a bakery just to eat. This explains why he likes eating bread so much.

Donald grew up with nothing. No money, no respect, no friends, no food, not even a loving family. Despite trying the best he could in school, he could never be equals with anyone, in fact the seem to look down on him more for doing so well whilst not having financial stability. Because he grew up with nothing, he strove to obtain everything.

Donald went from dressing in rags, to wearing branded goods from head to toe. He went from having no support system, to creating an army of thugs to serve under him: The Union. He went from being powerless, to having an entire region under his thumb, manipulating everyone from kids to adult business owners. No longer was he the scrawny little boy but now a powerful, cunning, imposing presence.

It was all calculated. In a recent episode, Donald himself mentioned that he did everything he could to not only look the part, but play the part of big bad mastermind. He got tattoos all over his body to seem more intimidating, he beat down every enemy to strike fear in them, he created a steady source of income to keep his goons loyal, not just by threat of violence but also money.

To me, Donald seems like someone who tried desperately to reach the top so that nobody could ever hurt him again. And he succeeded, at what cost?

Is It Lonely On the Top? Eunjang vs The Union

Now that he's gotten everything he wanted, did it make him happy? Perhaps it did, perhaps it didn't. With almost everything under his thumb, it is only natural that Donald craved a challenge, whether unconsciously or not. Hence, when Eunjang high started making a move, it became new motivation for Donald to keep going.

Of course, Donald already had plans with his many businesses but Eunjang proved to be a source of amusement, then annoyance, then rising to be a legitimate threat. As Eunjang toppled more of Donald's executives and cemented itself as a group to be taken seriously, Donald's empire began to crumble. With one single variable, many of Donald's plans had a wrench thrown in them. He grew complacent at his spot in the top. Long he had gone without a worthy challenger that he took his power for granted. Little did he know, Ben was building up strength to face him head on once more, together with a certain white mamba.

Not everything could be under Donald's control. Case in point: the Eugene Incident. Because of one careless mistake from one of the company shareholders who approved Eugene's design without thinking, the flaws in the companies Donald had a stake in were exposed and a large portion of profits went down the drain. To make matters worse, he sent Dongha out only to capture Eugene and bring the boy to him, but Dongha ended up beating him to a pulp and facing the wrath of Gray Yeon, escalating the incident further and provoking Ben's wrath even more for real. The Eugene Incident was the catalyst for the big war between the Union and Eunjang.

All this time, the Union had been weakening. Wolf and Philip turned tail and sided with Eunjang for their personal reasons, and Jake wanted to resign from the Union for good. Donald was losing more and more manpower. This escalated into the massive Union v Eunjang war to end all gang wars. However, this was all a backdrop for Donald's main fight: between Ben Park. Leader vs Leader. However yet again, Donald would not get what he wanted, all because of one of his closest allies: Kingsley Kwan.

Kingsley is a curious character who's only been shown as Donald's right hand and most trusted confidant. His backstory has yet to been revealed but clearly, he is very important to Donald and only has his best interests at heart. Kingsley is the closest thing Donald has to a friend. Yet, Kingsley unintentionally betrayed Donald by kidnapping Ben Park, taking away the fight Donald wanted most. Donald lost trust in his closest companion, and lost the chance for a fair fight with the one person he thought had a chance of taking him down.

This brings into account what Jake said at the end of the big fight: that deep down, Donald wanted to be defeated. Donald wanted someone to challenge him, to fight against his tyranny and show him the taste of failure. On the surface, it would seem that Donald only wanted to fight Ben just to crush him and show everyone who's boss, but I believe that deep down, Donald really wanted this to all end. His motives are unknown thus far but I think it has something to do with Gray.

To tie up this (kinda disjointed) section, Donald's newfound power and domination only isolated him from forming any meaningful connection with others. His desire for defeat and victory conflicted with each other, but I think he only realised what he truly wanted when he finally fought with Gray.

Donald Na vs Gray Yeon: Two Sides of the Same Coin

These two are shown to have interesting parallels with each other, going so far back as to have Jake comment on the similarities between them.

Both Donald and Gray are shown to have a lust for power and love for the thrill of fighting. Donald fights to cement himself as the strongest, and Gray fights to teach bullies a lesson, and to protect those he cares about. Gray slowly develops a dark bloodlust, which he hones as his deadly precise and calculated fighting strategy. Donald let his bloodlust consume him in his rise to power and control.

They are also similar in their intelligence, planning and problem solving skills. Both make plans and like it when events happen according to predictions. Donald makes lengthy schemes and manipulates people behinds the scenes, getting angry when things don't go according to plan. Gray only fights when he is certain he will win, with the exception of his Wolf beatdown. Gray analyses his opponents and "studies up" so he can have every advantage to beat them, making up for his lack of physical strength. Donald relies on his superior strength and cunning to carry him through fights, to which he has become complacent but he can adapt on the fly too.

The two have also battled in their academic prowess, duelling each other in creating and solving math problems. Usually, the questions are formulated by Donald, and Gray comes up with solutions to solve them. Notably, the questions set by Donald are complex and mind boggling, but Gray comes up with a creative and straightforward way of solving them. This implies that since they have a similar way of thinking, Gray could easily see a path through the problem. Or on the other hand, Gray is more innovative, creating a new way of problem solving that even surprised Donald. This battle of intellect has been Donald's way of getting to know Gray. Donald's statement at his final math problem was "this is the last time we play together, white mamba." Implying that all this time, Donald was toying with and testing Gray's capability, yet also enjoying the mental exercise and anticipating their in-person meeting.

Personally, I think that the key difference between Gray and Donald is the presence of a Stephen. Or... Friends. Gray's backstory shows that before Stephen came into his life, he was just drifting. An empty shell that kept searching for something, anything to fill the void in his heart. Gray lacked a purpose, endlessly consuming random knowledge and "studying like an idiot." Stephen was a welcome friend, a light in Gray's darkness, and became the purpose for Gray to keep living. Stephen became Gray's catalyst to change the world around him and stop standing by. Since Stephen made an effort to change his surroundings for the better, Gray decided to do the same, albeit in a more violent, cold manner.

Both Gray and Donald are connected by the concept of "absence" or "lacking". While Gray wasn't financially struggling, his parents weren't around and he didn't have friends. He lacked emotional connection with others, and lacked a purpose for living, thus creating that empty void within him. Gray became motivated by friendship to create a better environment for himself and his friends. Donald on the other hand lacked safety, security and power, so this became his personal purpose to rise above everyone and have the control he lacked as a child. However, he lacked FRIENDS, those other people he could count on emotionally.

Gray made new friends who he cares about and who care about him, but Donald sits atop a lonely throne, having nobody but himself he could fully depend on, since everyone around him disappointed him in one way or another. He has no equal, not even Kingsley. That was who Donald was looking for: a friend, an equal.

Donald made this realisation during his fight against Gray, who repeatedly outsmarted him using cunning tricks, who was the only one brave enough to take him on aside from Ben, and who was the other contender who pushed him to the brink. Ben made Donald realise the fear of losing, but Gray made him realise what he was chasing after this whole time. He thinks to himself, near the end of the fight that in another life, if things played out differently, could he and Gray have been friends? This means that Gray is the one he finally saw as equal to him, the one he wanted to befriend. He found someone who could potentially understand him, but circumstances pit them against each other. And when he beat Gray, any hope of potential connection was shattered.

Donald's Defeat: Last Man Standing

Technically, Donald won the fight against Ben and Gray, and against Eunjang. On paper, this is a huge win for the Union. Logically, this would mean that Donald could further his conquest and rise even higher on the chain of power. However... this ended up being the Union's loss overall. Donald wanted someone to beat him, he wanted someone to take him down a peg, he wanted a true equal in strength, character, ideals, which Ben and Gray had combined. (Ben's sheer power and Gray's character) But after Donald won, there wasn't any point in going on. He knew he was the strongest, but he wanted to be proven wrong. Now there is no chance of anyone who could take him down anymore.

The Union was just a means to an end, a method of accruing more power and wealth, all of which has lost its meaning for Donald. Hence Donald essentially put the Union on hold. His unrivalled might is still evident as he beat the piss out of Myles Joo and his cronies while severely injured. But mentally, he's destroyed. He's lost his purpose and meaning and snapped.

So what does he do? He tries again by seeking out Gray. In a semi-crazed delusion he calls out to Gray from below an overhead bridge for them to fight again. Only then could he relive that sense of connection and rekindle the hope of defeat. Gray and the eunjang gang are understandably shocked... but Donald is too fascinated with Gray to care. He just wants to fight again, to understand Gray even more.

Then he got hit by a truck (Donald isekai when?). The only thing that could take down Donald wasn't even a person but a whole vehicle.

In the end, Eunjang lost the fight but won the war, as Donald became demoralised and shut down Union activity. Donald lost, as he lost what he desired most (friendship) and whatever he still had didn't mean anything anymore. He was someone who lost himself in dark ambition, and deep inside wanted someone to save him from his endless spiral of violence that he trapped himself within as its kingpin.

AFTERWORD/NOTES

holy shit sorry I procrastinated hard on writing this... if u read this far thanks and I hope you enjoyed and I hope my points are clear enough. this really became a stream of conscious thing haha. weak hero brain rot never ends. ok but genuinely I hope Donald survives the truck crash bc it would be such a cop out if he died and I dont think seopass wld do that. (NO SPOILERS PLZ THX)

edit: shit I got spoiled

[weakheroforever]

Who the hell invited him here /j

[perosp3ro]

I cant bro lol (spoilers below)

LMHOOOOO RIP DONALD LOL

[itsmewhisps]

This is my Enemies to lovers trope

[himichako]

does he know how many people would've shat themselves seeing him try to hit donald na with a book

[weakhero-diaries]

Weak Hero Musings (10): On the Wasted Potentials of That Death

SPOILER ALERT

(Parts 1-9 were posted on my other blog @weakherodiaries)

A part of me is still resentful that Baekjin (Donald)'s death does nothing to end the criminal enterprises of Changhui's Cheongang (Sky River) and Lee Chungil's network.

Don't get me wrong, I never wanted for Baekjin to become a murder victim. But to simply use his death to highlight the problems of child abuse, youth mental health, and loss of true friendships, to me, wastes the potentials of his death.

Because Baekjin wasn't just an abused minor, he was also a juvenile criminal.

The story is no longer about school violence because Baekjin's crimes were tied to those two crime syndicates.

So I used to wish that Baekjin's death was the result of criminal intent (a conspiracy to murder) by either Cheongang or Lee Chungil. The death would've served as the punchline for the story, and brought the Union and Eunjang kids together. Conspiracy to murder through traffic accidents is a classic trope in kdramas and films, so I thought that my expectation was reasonable (I know, the joke's on me. Insert sad clown laugh: Ha. Ha. Ha). However, since Baekjin's funeral proceeded without the appearance of the law enforcement before, during, or after, I knew that I was hoping in vain.

With the Eunjang and Union kids as eyewitnesses in the syndicates' trials and/or investigations, every character would've had the chance to shine as weak heroes too. They would've pulled through, not by muscles, but by brain and bravery.

With how things are going now, I'm worried that the webtoon might just end openly with Eunjang and Union kids' brawl against Cheongang's or Lee Chungil's thugs. How regrettable would that be, since this story has never been simply about brawls.

[orngbanana]

i'm going to blow myself up what the fuck

[keiicom]

THAT'S IT THAT'S THE END??????? I'M LOSING MY SHIT RHRJDVTMFCFVCJDJSGDJSJWBFBDF SCREAMING CRYING FUCKING SOBBING ON THE FLOOR

RICKY WHEN I CATCH YOU RICKY???? RICKY WHEN I CATCH U