#at this stupid ho

[areyoutheretoru]

[trashgyrl]

silly secretly evil guy smiles after purposely failing the games to make his team freak out

[just-a-twinge-of-cosmic-angst]

Serious contender for Classic Who's Stupidest Death

[junebugdunes]

what was he expecting, honestly

[katamarv1]

I can’t believe the squid game directors were bold enough to add that 3 hour long sex scene between 001 and 456 in season 2

[i-dreamed-i-had-a-son]

I cannot emphasize enough how much everything In-ho did during his time in the games was in service of breaking down Gi-hun. Every glance, every story, every comment was incredibly and deliberately calculated.

His first interaction with Gi-hun immediately places the blame on Gi-hun for the games continuing: "I pressed the O because of you." He also explicitly asks for Gi-hun's help on behalf of the group. This sucks Gi-hun into being a mechanism of the games themselves (not just a player, but one telling others how to play) while robbing him of his agency to do so: whereas he was confident in helping during the first game, because it was his choice, In-ho's request forces him to share about the Dalgona prematurely, and he then has a nightmare about misleading the players. This also leads to many players becoming hostile when the game is not Dalgona, which--who could have guessed?--In-ho jumps in to stop. He orchestrated the situation so that Gi-hun would feel maximum pressure and guilt, before In-ho himself relieves it to build trust between them.

Then there are the introductions. In-ho uses Gi-hun's name before they are introduced, which may have been a genuine slip, but was very likely intentional given his response. In-ho's method throughout the games is to parallel and associate himself with Jung-bae, Gi-hun's only actual friend (he saves him during the merry-go-round games; he eavesdrops on Jung-bae's conversation with Gi-hun and directly uses the "get me a soju" line from that conversation to subconsciously build Gi-hun's trust in him during the firefight). So when he uses Gi-hun's name, he says he does so because he heard Jung-bae doing it, and Gi-hun allows him to continue--this creates the first of the links between them. But then, when they are properly introduced, In-ho laughs that "Seong" just means "last name;" in doing so, he implies to those who don't know him that Gi-hun may not be telling the truth, and in context of their conversation (focused on the significance of their names) highlights how Seong Gi-hun is "no one special." He's just an everyman.

Another reason that "slip" was almost certainly intentional is that In-ho is very deliberate about showing moments of weakness. His breakdown during the Six-Legged Race was designed to both further stress Gi-hun (and if Gi-hun had failed, they were in the very last groups present, so they could have been selectively spared as needed) and to strengthen their bond, as Gi-hun got to "encourage" In-ho; then In-ho helped Gi-hun and the team win by kicking with him the final time. Even cheering along with Gi-hun while the other teams went was in service of cementing their connection; and, any time a team failed, In-ho got to observe Gi-hun's reactions under the guise of empathy. In-ho may have felt some genuine emotions while cheering or comforting Gi-hun, but they aren't to be trusted.

That's particularly true because of his biggest "weak" moment: telling Gi-hun why he is in the games. The show confirms, when Jun-ho finds the winner file, that In-ho actually did join the games years before (from his family we know that it was because of his wife's illness), and that he won them himself. So he isn't lying about the details of his personal story--and he even gets emotional--but it is, once again, all in service of ensnaring Gi-hun and earning his trust. In-ho is not faking all of his emotions, but he is controlling and weaponizing them, which is why none of his apparent fondness for Gi-hun can be trusted. He uses his emotions as a tool, rather than being affected by them.

The ultimate result of this manipulation is that Gi-hun is made to feel that everything that happens is his choice (even the things he didn't choose). From the beginning, In-ho has ascribed his choices to Gi-hun. Throughout the games, there are several moments where In-ho explicitly has Gi-hun choose for him; other times, In-ho suggests an approach and Gi-hun shoots it down, and In-ho always coalesces. Gi-hun gets to have "his way." But "his way" doesn't seem to work, and he, like the rest of the players, is changed by the games. His final plan, as In-ho forces him to face, involves a sacrifice of some for the good of the many. Only after he admits this (through his silence) does In-ho agree to help. Then, during the firefight, when Gi-hun tries to give In-ho the ammunition he risked his life to get, In-ho asks, "Are you sure?" Gi-hun's choice to trust In-ho leads to him running out of ammunition earlier, forcing his surrender; meanwhile, In-ho still "dies," and Jung-bae is shot in front of Gi-hun's eyes. None of Gi-hun's choices made things better--they made it all his fault. He is left with the blame, as the Frontman (who is In-ho! And always has been!) tells him point blank.

But none of Gi-hun's choices have really been choices. They have all been based on lies, within a system that uses the information they have to actively orchestrate events against him. The same is true of the players in the game; their choices are not free, because their circumstances (largely caused by unfairness in the world) have trapped them. The baseness they resort to is not what they would do if they really had the choice, and some are even able to choose virtue within the hellscape, but over and over, the system facilitates the dominance of cruelty. And In-ho, the personification of that system, targets Seong Gi-hun, the "Everyman," to make him submit to it--to make him choose to believe that there is no other way.

[damnsoybeans]

I know that a lot of people feel as if Inho was acting while being in the games as Youngil, in the second voting scene and many others, but I don't think it was entirely an act, his real opinion might still be seeping through. During the scene I referenced earlier, when one of the players said that they want to keep going because they need more money for their family to have a chance, Inho answered with "And what if you die? Your family won't even see your body. You think they'd really want that?", and I feel as if he still is resentful at himself for the fact that he wasn't there when his wife passed away. When talking to Gihun, telling him about his wife, it wasn't a complete lie either. Sure, that happened 9 years prior, but it wasn't just a made-up story, as far as we know. Inho is ruined and has lost faith in the world, but what I'm trying to say is that he stayed true to some of his beliefs. Him and Gihun aren't even that different in their view on the world, but Inho's just way more... brutal, and realistic, in a way. And the reality of it is what Inho is trying to prove to him. That people are messed up and there's no hope.

[iianian69]

[cybertron-smash-or-pass]

Bayverse Optimus

[potionio]

- Weren't there five of you? - Yeah.

Sloane Gardner. Donovan Gardner. Alana Bloom. Kit Stafford.

[selliho6530]

I'm pretty sure In Ho was constantly flashbacking to his dead wife if Gi Hun was a woman...

Like, I'm sure he would have flashed the thought "just as stubborn..."

[bl1ssfulelleon]

Bro I hate it when they connect two characters Js bc they have same last names.. like..

“OMG KANG SAEBYEOK? AND KANG NOEUL? SISTERS CAUSE THEY HAVE THE SAME LAST NAMES!!”

okay so does that mean cho sangwoo and cho hyunju are related now? NO!!!

“WAIT WHAT IF KANG DAEHO’S SISTERS ARE KANG NOEUL AND KANG SAEBYEOK!” And their only evidence is the similar surnames.. no.. kang is just a common last name..

It’s okay if you headcanon that they are related but don’t say it’s “canon” just because of their surnames,, 😪

[inpursuitofnunchi]

[shedscaper]

My theory of Ho's gf being a spy was debunked in the funniest fucking way oh my god

What do you MEANNNN Mr Technology got his ass duped by the most obvious chatbot ever😭😭

[kitsunexgari]

During the carousel game (or whatever it was called) when Inho just kind of vanished and then there was mild panic that he didn’t survive but he popped up like “here I am” are we supposed to assume he just went in a room by himself because he knew no guard was going to shoot him anyway? Or was that explained somehow and I just missed it? Also sorry if anyone brought this up before but I couldn’t find a post on it.

[katamarv1]

Someone needs to take our art programs away from us bro😭🙏